The Embarrassment That Is TV

Recently I told someone that if I never again had the opportunity to appear "on-air" for television sports, I doubt if I would miss it. This in itself is disturbing because it's my chosen craft and has been as much a part of life as breathing. But there was a reason for my answer. I'm not sure I want to be associated with what has become the utter lack of professionalism in my field, and most of it comes down to what Don Henley once called those "bubble headed bleach blondes that come on at 5".
Let's take Kelly Tilgham first. I'm confident that she didn't associate what she was saying with African-Americans. It was just too blatant if indeed it was and would indicated she didn't have a working brain cell in her cranium. No, I believe she was just using an example that any number of people might use. Of course we all knew the Al Sharpton's of the world would come blustering out of their racial hole to condemn her and the G0lf Channel. This has always been interesting to me seeing as Sharpton is the guy who launched a blistering attack against the white population of Wappingers Falls NY many years ago after a young black woman was found left in a building covered with feces and she blamed white attackers. She later recanted, admitted she made the whole thing up, but phony Reverend Al never apologized for what he said. The man is a racist and a bold-faced liar. Anyway, I digress.
Tilghman, in my opinion, should not have been suspended 2 weeks. She made an innocent mistake. She apologized. End of story. As I've often been want to say, if you keep drilling something home you only bring attention to it, many times in a negative fashion. This was not something that needed to receive the attention it did.
Next up, Dana Jacobsen. What she said about Notre Dame was WAY over the edge, yet it's her right to say those things. I blame part of it on being a Michigan alum and I've always thought those people were wrapped too tight. But what she said, as correctly pointed out by my colleague John Molori on http://www.speedingbulletnetwork.com/, is that this was said at a PRIVATE even, a roast, where anything usually and always goes. The idea of a roast is to go overboard in both act and insult. What she said was not meant for public consumption yet someone felt the need to broadcast it, likely to embarrass her. Not necessary. Freedom of speech and all that.
However, she is a TV "personality", not to be confused with a journalist. She's eye candy, and we all know it. She should be smart enough to realize that when you have any amount of celebrity what you do may always come back to bite you in the ass, so you maintain yourself in public fearful that some PC lunatic will report you. Again, don't suspend her. Just make her wear Notre Dame colors for a month and if she survives the skin rash she will have paid her dues.
Here's another. Kirk Giminez is a sports reporter for SNY, the regional sports channel in NY. Recently over video clips of St. John's-West Virginia, he said, "[WVU's] Joe Alexander going baseline, and the white boy puts it in, reverse." You could hear the PC geeks tuning up in the background.
He was making a joke that everyone, black and white has made for years. Go ahead and "google" white guys and basketball and you'll be reading the posts until the next Ice Age. Oh, sorry, that's next year. My bad.
Of course he was scolded, but wasn't suspended, and it didn't make national headlines. Why, you ask? Regional sports network, that's why. And he's of Latin-American extraction, which in the minds of many let's him off the hook because he didn't say something about a black player. Classic double-standard. But he was trying to be sute, say something that would garner him attention, and hopefully impress his bosses that he's worth keeping at his likely ludicrously low salary.
Until News Directors, programers, and those in charge of hiring people who stop trying to be actors, who cease trying to show who can claim the most cleavage on air title, and who know how to tell a story without resorting to props and usless adjectives, my industry will continue it's slide into the gutter of babble. And don't kid yourself for one second. Many times these so-called reporters and anchors are asked to do things that a circus clown would consider beneath him or her.
It's an embrassment to those of us who have spent our lives trying to do solid work and present solid information while making entertainment second. And until we realize the difference between words said in hate and words said because those in the higher chairs want their people to be "out there" and "be recognized for something", we will always be subjected to drivel.
Someone needs to be ashamed of themselves. But they won't be. They don't have to be. Completing the line from "Dirty Laundry"..."I just have to look good, I don't have to be clear".
Couldn't have said it better myself.

The Bubbleheaded Bleach Blonde

OK, so neither one of them were blond but they should have been. Watching the Packers-Giants game, halftime hits, local FOX here in Boston goes to their studio for a "news update", which of course features no real news at all.
Female Zero says of the Pats going to the Super Bowl, "We never get tired of this!!!!" with her perky smile showing off perky other items. Live to the Stadium, Male Zero says "we asked the guys in the locker room of they ever get tired of this", which is like asking Britney Spears if she ever gets tired of going commando. Then after a few cliche sound bites from the locker rooms, Male Zero comes back on camera and smile "Yes, we never get tired of this".
We get it. You're cheerleaders. You have nothing original to say. You both prove once again how important it is for those IQ tests before procreation begins.
I'm tired. Wake me when we have the hilites of Paula Abdul's performance at halftime of the Super Bowl and she implodes. NowTHAT we never get tired of.

Don Shula Won't Like This

I've known Shula for many years, was actually a very young and wide-eyed radio reporter when I first met him. And I know all these stories about how he and the '72 Dolphins protect their undefeated record and all. Let me set a few things straight that most of the outside the bubble airheads have no idea of.
1. Shula is not jealous of the Patriots. Sure he's protective but he knows a great team when he sees one. All that trifle about him looking down his nose at the Patriots was complete and utter idiocy on the part of commentators looking for something to talk about.
2. There is no and there has been no popping of champagne by members of the '72 Fins when there was no undefeated teams left every season. Please, enough fairy tales.
3. There are a feww members of the old team that still have massive egos and want to make sure they're legacy isn't forgotten. The one who makes a fool of himself every year is a radio talk host in Miami. Afternoons. You figure it out. The you can turn the dial like every other intelligent homo sapien.
4. The NE Patriots of this season are without a doubt the greatest single season team in NFL history. Period. End of story. There has never in the history of this league been a team that at every position is so damn good. They will win the Super Bowl even if the Packers or Giants bring a 60 man roster. We have been watching history.
5. Tom Brady is NOT, and let me repeat that, NOT the MVP of this team. Quarterbacks are great for a number of reasons. Great vision, intelligence, poise, buxom babes, you get the idea. But NO QB becomes great without a great offensive line. None. Not a one. Go ahead, pick one, I dare you. The Patriots OL is the team MVP and, as happens with all offensive lines, will not get the credit the really deserve.
Oh, and on a side note, I've been living in NE for a few years now and soon to be leaving for much warmer climes. So I can say this with wisdom and knowledge. Here's hoping the Patriots soon change the only thing about that fracnhise that is not first-class. Their radio broadcasting team of Gil Santos and Gino Capelletti. WIthout a doubt the single worst and most incomprehensible broadcast team myself and so many others have ever been subjected to.
Quick, someone wake up Gino and tell him the game is over.

GolfWeek update:The RIght Move

Just heard they have fired Editor Dave Seanor due to the cover. Fitting indeed. I have been bounced many times in my career, as we all have in the media, and have never wished unemployment on anyone. OK, almost anyone. But in this case well deserved.
My only caveat would be if the cover was also approved by someone above him and he's the scapegoat. If so that would be an injustice. As it stands, his firing is warranted and he earned it.

Let the Excuses Begin For Being Racist

Honestly, I didn't see this one coming. I actually thought someone would do something stupid like this, but I never imagined a publication dedicated to the sport would be the first.
If you haven't seen it yet, I've included the cover of the latest "Golfweek" magazine. Publishers claim they did this to ignite a debate about what was said by Golf Channel reporter Kelly Tilghman. They claim they checked with African-American staffers to make sure they didn't mind. They claim it was all done in good taste.
Let's make this one simple. "Golfweek" did this to increase slumping sales in the magazine market and increase their visibility. They are not doing this for any noble reason, simply to sell magazines.
Of course black staffers wouldn't say anything about it for fear of losing their jobs, so that statement in itself is specious at best. A flat out lie at worst.
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is beside himself with anger as the bulletheads from Golfweek light a new fire, fan the flames, add gasoline and every other accelerant they can think of, creating a bonfire you can see from coast to coast.
Check out the Golfweek web site and see whom they list as partners. NBC Sports, the NCAA, and the Wall Street Journal to name a few. All three of those entities should be at the forefront of insuring racism is in no way connected with their names and businesses.
Following what is nothing more than a blatant racist grab for attention, those three reputable organizations should end their association with Golfweek immediately. Those with something more than a divot of intelligence will do the same when it comes to purchasing their publication or visiting the web site. They deserve a loud and deserved rebuke for in essence sending a message to every person of color in America.
Everytime we hear a racist comment, be it accidental or on purpose, the first thing that we think of is an old southern tradition harkening back to a time when blacks were sold and abused like common farm animals. Oh, and would you like to see our review of the latest golf equipment while you're here?
Stunningly stupid. Amazingly insensitive. And a band of really bad liars to boot.

Bullwinkle Said It Best

America's favorite espionage-fighting moose once looked at Rocky and said (make sure you think this in his voice), "I think I will now be sick". Bullwinkle must have been talking about what I just witnessed on television.
MSNBC, whom I watch on a regular basis because of their political coverage, featured Stephen A. Smith as a political commentator. Go ahead. Let that sink in for a moment.
Steven A. Smith, political analyst. A few moments more. Really, let it burn into your brain and sink to your feet. Which are likely on the floor. Which is where MSNBC's credibility just went, and even a little further below ground level.
The man is a clown without the makeup, a screaming Shannon Sharpe without the humor, Britney without the entertainment value, a repository for verbal excrement without a holding tank.
His sports comments are quite often done in a screaming fashion due to the lack of any reason or investigatory facts behind them. Watching or listening to him on television or radio has the appeal of listening to badgers being tortured or the appeal of accidentally being fed gym socks in place of filet. And now MSNBC has decided to use him as a political analyst.
Save us, Bullwinkle. Get Rocky in that chair. Or Boris Badanov with Natasha in something seductive standing behind him.
That or banish him forever to Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. Now THAT's TV I'd like to see.

No One Deserves it More

Back to a serious matter today, that being those in sports who deserve exactly what they get.
Mike Nifong, former prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse rape case, has been forced to file for bankruptcy, citing 2 major lawsuits totaling over $180M in possible judgements against him. After publicly displaying a complete cranial vacuum in slashing the reputations of those players, failing to follow legal procedures contained in a criminal Cliff Notes, and believing a gutter born hooker with no backing evidence, going broke means Nifong is getting off easy. While we must always try to muster compassion for our fellow man, I would rather grovel at the altar of Barry Bonds before granting this reprehensible individual a breath of stale air.
Pacman Jones, proving once again the being able to walk upright does not always mean working brain cells are present, pops a female lawyer in the face at an Atlanta strip club. Easy sparky, she was there in an official capacity dealing with a divorce case. This the same Einstein already involved in a court case from a Las Vegas strip club that involved a shooting leading to one man being paralyzed. The NFL recently did the smart thing and filed to separate themselves from a lawsuit filed against this bullet head. Let us hope the NFL takes the unprecedented step of issuing a permanent lifetime ban again Jones, leading to a conviction in any one case, and bidding him farewell for a long and relaxing time in the Graybar Hotel learning how to say "Yes Dear" to his cellmate.
Finally, the rumble of a real live match fixing scandal in tennis. This the sport that has long been populated by diaper wearing bubble babies who see themselves as genetically superior to we poor mortals. The same ones who treat the ticket buying public as little more than buzzing gnats there merely to worship them. The sport that forgives Martina Hingis for doing blow around the world because she's just a misunderstood poor little rich girl who never had someone to teach her any better. Allow me to cast one vote for the sport being faulted for being rife in match fixing and a plethora of evidence damning a good number of these whiners, perhaps to join Pacman and Nifong punching license plates.
Here's hoping they all get what they deserve, allowing sport to become that much cleaner in nature.