A RECURRING print/ broadcast issue, last week, was whether America would watch an all-California World Series.
A generation ago, however, before baseball’s greed allowed the World Series to become prime-time counter-program- ming, before two teams that didn’t finish first could and would play in the World Series, and before sleep-deprivation became a consideration, this was a non-issue.
People – and not just baseball fans – watched the World Series because, after all, it was the World Series.
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WORLD Series lookalikes: Angels’ Game 1 starter Jarrod Washburn and actor Kiefer Sutherland.
What are the two movies that you’d never schedule against a live Notre Dame game? “Rudy” and “Knute Rockne – All American,” right? Saturday night, directly opposite ND-Air Force on ESPN, TBS aired “Rudy.”
Brian Mullen, the ex-Ranger and new Ranger radio colorman, has thus far proven to be an unpolished gem. He shows up like an NHL scout, well prepared to talk here-and-now hockey, and not just Ranger hockey, but their opponents, too.
Have you noticed, during highlights from NBA preseason games, how poorly these games are attended, especially those played in non-NBA arenas? My gut (located just around the corner from my wallet) says that teams will soon schedule more preseason games in home arenas so the tickets can be added to must-buy season subscriptions.
Thursday night, with the Terrell Owens stuff still on the boil, ESPN aired Georgia Tech-Maryland. And in the second half, and with a pile of football highlights to choose from, ESPN went to commercial by airing a tape of a Maryland player in a self-absorbed strut. Why ask why?
CBS’s NFL pregame show, with Deion Sanders’ full cooperation, continues to sell Sanders as a pathetic racial stereotype, a latter-day Stepinfetchit. Sanders’ flashy wardrobe has become a forced, unfunny focal point of the show, while last week Sanders reported that Emmitt Smith “pimp-slapped” a teammate.
Switching between Giants-Angels and Auburn-Florida, then ND-AF, Saturday, we realized that baseball is now played so slowly that the time between pitches is now almost exactly the time between football plays. And think about how much more goes on between whistles than pitches.
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MOMENTS after yes-terday’s game began, the Jets lost 15 yards to an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Santana Moss. Showboating has become so habitual, so gratuitous and even so rehearsed that Moss taunted defenders before anything personal could even develop. And to Fox’s Curt Menefee and Tim Ryan, it was no big deal.
The New York Times is again under attack for the results of its computer-generated Div. I college football rankings. Not at issue – although it should be – is why The Times spends so much time and space on something as idiot-embracing as pre, early and mid-season rankings.
If not for the fact that so many local radio sports talkers are hockey-ignorant – some are even mighty proud of it – Pavel Bure would’ve been the talk of the town, last week . . . Latrell Sprewell a pain in the neck to the Knicks? Who knew?
On-screen clutter can confuse the announcers, too. Late in Notre Dame-Air Force, ESPN posted a graphic noting that ND had 22 first downs to AF’s 10. But when it came time to parrot the graphic – that’s what sportscasters do – analyst Bill Curry came up with AF having 15 to ND’s seven. Huh? Curry was looking at the teams’ poll rankings displayed in the score box graphic.
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SPORTING News Radio, 620-AM here, continues to pocket the money in exchange for airing a sports collectibles show and a football tout show – both loud, obnoxious and outrageous scams – on Saturday mornings.
And an SNR voice continues to declare, before and after these hour-long, get-rich-quick cons, that it’s not responsible for the shows’ contents. That’s like declaring your innocence after starting an auto rental business that specializes in get-away cars.
SNR is a paid accessory to these scams.