The sports coverage and announcing thread

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Mariotti was a hack.

 

Great, great press release from the Sun-Times.

 

We wish Jay well and will miss him -- not personally, of course -- but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days.

[Guest WhackingCockDick]

I hope they retain the same cavalier demeanor when they're boarding up the doors (obviously not because one guy left, but for bigger reasons) at their lousy rag. Nobody's reading the sports section for Rick Telander.

 

Because he writes like this.

 

It fills up space.

 

It really does.

 

Someday you'll understand.

 

I went to Northwestern, you know.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I hope they retain the same cavalier demeanor when they're boarding up the doors. Nobody's reading the paper for Rick Telander.

 

Because he writes like this.

 

It fills up space.

 

It really does.

 

Someday you'll understand.

 

I went to Northwestern, you know.

 

 

Looks like he took a page out of the Bill Plaschke handbook.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I won't argue that Rich Telander is a great columnist, honestly I never read him. Mariotti though just stirred up shit, blasted everyone in sight for breaking the beloved sanctity in sports. Or something like that, I'm having trouble articulating. I think Czech likes Mariotti solely because Jay hates Ozzie Guillen. Right or wrong, that doesn't make him a good columnist.

 

If you want a truly bad columnist though, check out Bill Conlin in the Philly Inquirer,

[Guest WhackingCockDick]

The national talking head Mariotti, who does little for me, isn't the same person as the local columnist. I liked Mariotti because he didn't pull punches with the local teams and their management/ownership, which is something most writers have forgotten to do.

 

The Trib owns the Cubs, so nothing heavy there. The Bears are generally beyond reproach (except for when they didn't immediately extend everybody after the Super Bowl, when the Sun-Times, pandering to its base, claimed it was because the rich old owners didn't want to pay the workers/black guys/black worker guys) now that the Mike McCaskey storm has passed. CBS Radio is the rightsholder for the Bears and White Sox, so everything on the Score and WBBM will be nice and safe. Nobody went back to paying attention to the Hawks until like a year ago, so just skip this sentence completely.

 

But the worst case of all is how everyone seems to tremble in fear of the Reinsdorf clubs. I don't know if it's because Jordan's Bulls won six titles, or because the man himself wields a great deal of power, power that I can never know, but nary a bad word is said about him, his management, his teams, his anything. John Paxson is allowed to keep trotting out teams of well-behaved sixth men with nobody giving it a second thought. Paxson gets overruled by the meddling owner who hires a coach who has never coached in his life, because it was the cheapest option. The papers should've been howling in disbelief, that the third-largest basketball town, one with a tradition of dynastic excellence, is settling for such personnel moves. The media disapproval was in no way at the level it should've been, because Jerry's a good guy. That's why Doug Collins was gonna come back, because Jerry's a good guy, till Doug might've been too expensive, at which point Jerry was not such a good guy to Doug and hired Vinny instead. It's everywhere. "He's a good guy." Not really. He broke up Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall for not being company men, then limited the White Sox' television audience to 20,000 households while the country watched the Cubs, forever relegating his team to second-class. He extorted a ballpark out of the taxpayers, colluded with Bud Selig against the players, and conspired to push Fay Vincent out so that Selig could run baseball. He broke up the Bulls because players don't win championships. Currently he's in the business of determining the ownership of his crosstown competition. This isn't a good guy. That's a bad guy, and that's not even covering some of his shady non-sports dealings, like covering legal fees for naughty back-pocket politicians.

 

Then there's all things White Sox. This is a team, if only to the extent of its manager and TV broadcasters, known across the country for behaving very strangely. The whole organization is never not complaining, posturing, threatening, swearing, pouting, accusing, and generally acting unprofessionally. Look around. Other clubs don't do this. The shit that Jerry Reinsdorf, Kenny Williams, Ozzie Guillen, Hawk Harrelson, and the rest of them get away with (add Steve Stone to the list of south side asswipes. He has recently threatened to punch his radio station's midday host in the nose for criticizing him) would never fly anywhere else where the owner didn't have so much de facto editorial control. Mariotti was the only voice to call these organizations out for their behavior, which is so often boorish and embarrassing to the city. Like I said, we can do without the ugly guy in the glass office screaming over Woody Paige, but we need a check on The Chairman.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Speaking of, check out this letter from Roger Ebert to Marriotti that's supposedly being passed around the office..

Dear Jay,

 

What an ugly way to leave the Sun-Times. It does not speak well for you. Your timing was exquisite. You signed a new contract, waited until days after the newspaper had paid for your trip to Beijing at great cost, and then resigned with a two-word e-mail: "I quit." You saved your explanation for a local television station.

 

As someone who was working here for 24 years before you arrived, I think you owed us more than that. You owed us decency. The fact that you saved your attack for TV only completes our portrait of you as a rat.

 

Newspapers are not dead, Jay, and this paper will not die because you have left. Times are hard in the newspaper business, and for the economy as a whole. Did you only sign on for the luxury cruise?

 

There's an old saying that you might have come across once or twice on the sports beat: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

 

Newspapers are not dead, Jay, because there are still readers who want the whole story, not a sound bite. If you go to work for television, viewers may get a little weary of you shouting at them. You were a great shouter in print, that's for sure, stomping your feet when owners, coaches and players didn't agree with you. It was an entertaining show. Good luck getting one of your 1,000-word rants on the air.

 

The rest of us are still at work, still putting out the best paper we can. We believe in our profession, and in the future. And we believe in our internet site, which you also whacked as you slithered out the door. I don't know how your column was doing, but we have the most popular sports section in Chicago. The reports and blog entries by our Washington editor Lynn Sweet have become a must-stop for millions of Americans in this election year. After a recent blog entry I wrote about the Beijing Olympics, I woke up at 5 a.m. one morning, when North America was asleep, and found that 40 percent of my 100 most recent visitors had been from China. I don't have any complaints about our web site. So far this month my web page has been visited from almost every country on earth, including one visit from the Vatican City. The Pope, no doubt. Hope you were doing as well.

 

You have left us, Jay, at a time when the newspaper is once again in the hands of people who love newspapers and love producing them. You managed to stay here through the dark days of the thieves Conrad Black and David Radler. The paper lost millions. Incredibly, we are still paying Black's legal fees.

 

I started here when Marshall Field and Jim Hoge were running the paper. I stayed through the Rupert Murdoch regime. I was asked, "How can you work for a Murdoch paper?"

 

My reply was: "It's not his paper. It's my paper. He only owns it."

 

That's the way I've always felt about the Sun-Times, and I still do. On your way out, don't let the door bang you on the ass.

 

Your former colleague,

 

Roger Ebert

[Guest Smues]

During the first break on PTI today ESPN came back mid commercial break and showed 5-10 seconds of Wilbon and Tony just talking, while waiting for the next segment. They didn't say anything important or that will get them in trouble, but I gotta saw a major network like ESPN shouldn't be making those kind of mistakes. That's 2000 WCW level right there.

[strummer 0]

a couple from the last few weeks

 

There is a female radio host whose name escapes me right now who fills in for Jason Smith overnight from time to time. She's pretty clueless

 

A few weeks ago she says "Brett Favre, 2 time Super Bowl champ landed in New York Saturday for his first practice"

 

and last night "Greg Maddux, who has quietly fashioned himself a hall of fame career the past 20 years, tied Roger Clemens in wins tonight" Yes, no one has noticed Greg Maddux being one of the best pitchers of his generation. No one ever talked about him.

[MFer 0]

During the first break on PTI today ESPN came back mid commercial break and showed 5-10 seconds of Wilbon and Tony just talking, while waiting for the next segment. They didn't say anything important or that will get them in trouble, but I gotta saw a major network like ESPN shouldn't be making those kind of mistakes. That's 2000 WCW level right there.

Saw that too...for a second I thought they planned that shit.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

During the first break on PTI today ESPN came back mid commercial break and showed 5-10 seconds of Wilbon and Tony just talking, while waiting for the next segment. They didn't say anything important or that will get them in trouble, but I gotta saw a major network like ESPN shouldn't be making those kind of mistakes. That's 2000 WCW level right there.

It actually happened during all three commercial breaks. I kind of think it was planned. Not sure why they'd do that though.

[cabbageboy 0]

That was curious, I noticed that PTI moment as well. I thought it might be a commercial for something but then it turned out to be a small blip.

 

I haven't read enough of Mariotti's work to 100% know what the deal is with him and Reinsdorf, but it sorta came off like one asshole badmouthing another asshole.

 

Regarding the Bulls breakup in 1998, it was just going to be over at that point. That year was the end of the golden era for the NBA (roughly 1981-98), and the lockout would have put an end to the Bulls' run either way. The whole mantra of "Players don't win championships, organizations do" is partially true and partially false, but those organizations are teams like the Lakers or Celtics. Organizations with a huge tradition of winning, and thus they can attract the big name talent. The Bulls however? They quite honestly don't have that kind of history. It's just the Jordan Era and not much else before then (1970-83) and not much since.

[Black Lushus 0]

Hannah Storm dressing like she's going to the club while hosting Sportscenter is awesome!

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Caught a little bit of Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's first show on Sirius this afternoon. I didn't listen for too long, but I was thoroughly unimpressed with what I heard. The whole production, including Russo's voice and demeanor, came off as so low rent. I've been told that his appeal is as a "typical sport's fan." The problem with that is the typical fan is a fucking moron. Is it too much to ask for insightful commentary from sports talk radio?

[Brett Favre 0]

a couple from the last few weeks

 

There is a female radio host whose name escapes me right now who fills in for Jason Smith overnight from time to time. She's pretty clueless

 

A few weeks ago she says "Brett Favre, 2 time Super Bowl champ landed in New York Saturday for his first practice"

 

and last night "Greg Maddux, who has quietly fashioned himself a hall of fame career the past 20 years, tied Roger Clemens in wins tonight" Yes, no one has noticed Greg Maddux being one of the best pitchers of his generation. No one ever talked about him.

 

Amy Lawrence. And yeah, man she sucks ass.

[Brett Favre 0]

Caught a little bit of Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's first show on Sirius this afternoon. I didn't listen for too long, but I was thoroughly unimpressed with what I heard. The whole production, including Russo's voice and demeanor, came off as so low rent. I've been told that his appeal is as a "typical sport's fan." The problem with that is the typical fan is a fucking moron. Is it too much to ask for insightful commentary from sports talk radio?

 

These days I only listen to Max Kellerman and Brian Kenny. That's top notch in sports radio, IMO.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I heard Kellerman and Kenny once, they seemed to have their stuff together.`

[Mik 0]

Bill Simmons has his first column published on ESPN.com all summer (he took it off to write his 2nd book)...and he managed to sneak in this fantastic jab at ESPN.

 

When I re-read that column this week, what scared me was that every decision was completely defensible except for backing a John Joseph Harrington-led team as my annual sleeper. I probably should have been fired for that, or at the very least, overruled on having Barack Obama on my podcast. (Hey, wait a second.)

[Guest דניא&#15]

They overruled having Barack Obama on his pocast because it would be foolish to waste the next president of the damn country on Nasal McReference's MP3 download.

 

So, NBC pregame. TOO MUCH BULLSHIT. Why are all these people here?

Bettis: warm and cuddly, actually not too bad in and of himself, but stop referring to this guy as if not saying "Bus" once every ten minutes makes him disappear

 

Peter King: face for journalism, go away

 

Olbermann: too much of this cocksucker everywhere. He's a leftist news analyst now. That is the path he has chosen. Get him off the nonpartisan landscape of sports, get him off driving campaign coverage when you have real news anchors like Brokaw and Brian Williams being used as Olbermann's correspondents and analysts. Thoroughly ass-backwards, inexplicable, inexcusable.

 

Patrick: I have about as much desire to re-enact 1997 sports coverage as I do the world champion Florida Marlins and Horseface back at the Broncos. He has a crappy pause-heavy low-carriage radio show. He's irrelevant without ESPN, his act is tired, get him out of here.

 

Tiki Barber: Between Tiki on every NBC program and Strahan on Fox, the media has overestimated the extent to which America gives a flying fuck about what retired New York Giants have to say. I await the CW's entry into late night talk, Stayin' Up with Jason Sehorn, coming this spring.

 

Here's your show: Costas, Collinsworth, Bettis. No clutter (everyone else), no long periods of laughing (hey CBS what up), and you have the requisite semi-articulate player that fans and producers demand.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Another thing that really irritated me, particularly on Football Night In America was how they just showed the EXACT same plays, OVER AND OVER again, except with different analysts! It literally went Collinsworth/Bettis/NYG reviewing the plays of the day.... Then let's send it to Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick to do the exact same thing! And then they'll send it back to the other group, except one of the Giants will be missing, but it'll be the same thing, and then they'll send it back to Olbermann and this time Peter King is with him instead of Dan Patrick! Yikes, they can't like, talk about the game or analyze what happened or try to work on something creative in there or something? Awful, awful show.

[CanadianChris 0]

Another thing that really irritated me, particularly on Football Night In America was how they just showed the EXACT same plays, OVER AND OVER again, except with different analysts! It literally went Collinsworth/Bettis/NYG reviewing the plays of the day.... Then let's send it to Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick to do the exact same thing! And then they'll send it back to the other group, except one of the Giants will be missing, but it'll be the same thing, and then they'll send it back to Olbermann and this time Peter King is with him instead of Dan Patrick! Yikes, they can't like, talk about the game or analyze what happened or try to work on something creative in there or something? Awful, awful show.

I was going to point that out myself. It almost seemed like it was three different shows merged into one giant mess.

[strummer 0]

Hannah Storm dressing like she's going to the club while hosting Sportscenter is awesome!

 

 

I was actually thinking about mentioning that in this thread.

 

I tuned in last week and couldn't believe how skanked out she was.

 

She looked pretty damn hot.

 

Pretty surreal for anyone who remembers her starting out as a college football sideline reporter for NBC in the late 80s/early 90s

[Guest דניא&#15]

The tragedy of Football Night in America is that for that first year, they were lightyears ahead of the other networks. Sure, they were still a little obsessed with pointing out the presence of Jerome Bettis (like, how can you miss him, m i rite), and yeah, maybe Sterling Sharpe added absolutely nothing whatsoever, but after a day of sitting through the CBS and Fox coverage, it was the most professional and insightful of the shows. (Remember, if you can, that 2006 was the year of the failed Joe Buck experiment where he'd anchor studio coverage from a parking lot full of screaming meatheads.) It looked classy, nobody was screaming, John Williams did the music, it was great.

 

I don't know if Ebersol just got too ambitious in making THE BIGGEST ANALYSTIEST SHOW IN HISTORY or something, but it completely threw off the balance of the program, the set, everything, to put Costas and Olbermann at the anchor desk and then stuff Collinsworth, enough of a seasoned pro at this broadcasting gig to transcend the Ex-Jock Analyst thing (Dan Marino has not done this. A serviceable impression of CBS Marino is to just look baffled and make a noise roughly like "durr'HUH?"), over in some plexiglass cell with the two black guys. The Countdown cross-promotion with Worst Football Person in the World or whatever was a failure straight out of the gate, and I'm pretty sure they're not doing that any longer. Peter King could've been a good addition as a reporter for like one segment a week, but it seems like he's always just sitting around with nothing to say, looking lost and out of place.

 

The Dan Patrick/Keith Olbermann reunion is stupid and a complete waste of time, which, when you're allotted 75 minutes minus ad breaks to replay football highlights, is really saying something. Everyone who takes so much as a passing interest in sports coverage is sick to death of the ESPN style of recap, which Dan and Keith pioneered and a hundredsome smirking douches have copied to this day. And just like Peter King having that "um...should I go now?" look most of the time, Patrick just sits there smiling the whole time, deferring to Costas and Olbermann. Like Leo said, there's no reason to run through the exact same highlights a second time...only now the Sportscenter hosts from 12 years ago are doing it. Malibu Stacy, new hat, etc. I'd like to go around the blogs and so forth to gauge the reaction to the latest sardine-packing of NBC's football coverage and see if others are as annoyed with it as I am. Maybe there's still time for them to retool this thing.

 

Not like it needed to be said again, but the blueprint for a quality studio show is Inside the NBA.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I agree. Even Monday Night Countdown is better. I just hate the fact that they keep recapping what happened that day over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And sometimes the recap only includes BRADY'S KNEE FUCKED UP! BRETT WINS WITH JETS! and ignores everything else.

[RepoMan 0]

I'm tired of the media fawning over Farve. Is throwing two TDs vs a Dolphin team coming off a 1-15 year that impressive. On Countdown, they're acting like Rogers is under pressure to match Farves' "great" performence.

[Guest דניא&#15]

Invoking the 1-15 record of last year's Dolphins is a tad disingenuous, RepoMan. Two separate entities. The consensus is that the Parcells regime has flayed the team back into shape, and that even in their Week 1 loss, they didn't look like the bumbling lost cause that they were in 2007. From what I watched, Favre had a pretty good game. Wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good, pretty good and all, yeah. Of course Rodgers is under pressure to not necessarily outdo Favre, but at least show why the Packers have so much faith in him. If he craps the bed, there will not be many happy campers in the upper midwest.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Favre had two great plays and the rest of the day he was just sort of there. Ultimately, it was more of the performance the DB that Pennington had been picking on that ended up with the game winning INT.

[Matt Young 0]

During the first break on PTI today ESPN came back mid commercial break and showed 5-10 seconds of Wilbon and Tony just talking, while waiting for the next segment. They didn't say anything important or that will get them in trouble, but I gotta saw a major network like ESPN shouldn't be making those kind of mistakes. That's 2000 WCW level right there.

It actually happened during all three commercial breaks. I kind of think it was planned. Not sure why they'd do that though.

 

They've been doing that 3 times a show for the last week and a half. They just showed Wilbon getting his makeup re-touched.

[devo 0]

Alex Escobar on first for the Brewers, Rickie Weeks up to bat. Bottom of the ninth.

 

Reds announcer: "I don't see why you wouldn't send Alex Escobar here! You just have to!"

 

Escobar runs. Weeks lines out. Escobar is doubled off. I smile broadly.

[RepoMan 0]

Brady's injury is the cover story in the FRONT section of the USA Today, and pepole wounder why so many pepole are happy about Brady's injury? The poor bastard's knee is apparantly more important stuff than Huricane Ike and increased suicide rates for returning vets. I don't know if this more of an indictment of America as a whole or just USA Today.

[Black Lushus 0]

Hannah Storm dressing like she's going to the club while hosting Sportscenter is awesome!

 

 

I was actually thinking about mentioning that in this thread.

 

I tuned in last week and couldn't believe how skanked out she was.

 

She looked pretty damn hot.

 

Pretty surreal for anyone who remembers her starting out as a college football sideline reporter for NBC in the late 80s/early 90s

 

Now I have to watch Sportscenter every Sunday! fuckin cunt!