While reading a few TV blogs, media trade magazines and press releases, I find myself amazed that no matter what baseball tries to do in order to enhance the viewing and attending experience around the country, it's a sport that can never, ever, ever, ever win the battle against poor perceptions because of dwindling ratings.
So what is FOX going to do, cancel the World Series like they did to "Do Not Disturb"? As they're going to put "Til Death" out to pasture?
Oh, I can hear the conversation right now... of course, maybe "The Commish" (actually, not that one) might stumble through a few words in frustration:
Just arriving to the Major League Baseball headquarters in New York after a private flight from St. Petersburg, Bud Selig's executive assistant patches a call from whoever the heck runs the show in FOX's Los Angeles office.
FOX: Hey, Bud. Can we have a talk?
Bud Selig: (sips on his can of Diet Coke, recommended by Jeff Van Gundy) About what?
FOX: Well, it's about the World Series.
Selig: Great baseball, ain't it? James Shields was electric and those fans are just great...
FOX: Bud, (long sigh)... we're not going to renew the Series.
Selig: (spills Diet Coke onto his lap) WHAT?!?!
FOX: I'm sorry, Bud, but they're only pulling a 8.7/14 share.
Selig: (still spilling Diet Coke onto his lap) You're gonna do WHAT?!?!
FOX: We are not going to air the remainder of the Series.
Selig: Wait, wait, wait... you're going to... cancel the WORLD SERIES... our championship... one of your bigger money makers... the WORLD SERIES, which is better than, what?... damn near everything else on your programming schedule?
FOX: You're just not the NFL, Bud.
Selig: No one is! That's apples and oranges, you idiot! We're baseball. We have such a tremendous history from Babe Ruth to...
FOX: And we appreciate all you guys have done for us, believe me. Bud, we're just not getting the numbers.
Selig: You're going to cancel the World Series. Do you realize what you just said?
FOX: Bud, please don't make it harder than it already is. It's nothing personal.
Selig: Well, it's something stupid.
FOX: Now, listen here...
Selig: No, you listen! (Clutches his Hank Aaron-autographed bat) You want us to call A-Rod and Derek and Big Papi and Manny, buy some Rays and Phillies jerseys, fly to Philly tomorrow and play in Game 3?
FOX: Can you do that?
Selig: No, I won't do... are you f***in' serious?
FOX: We'll it's hard to make sexy out of Philly and Tampa.
Selig: Sexy? What, the two best teams in their respective leagues all season long meeting in the World Series isn't sex-ay enough for you? Oh, I'm so sorry. Well, I'll give Scott Boras a call then. Tell him to make some asinine commercial announcing that Andruw Jones is available for a $500 million contract and air it during Game 4. Or... ooh, ooh, how about I call Eva Longoria-Parker and ask her to sit in the stands with a Rays cap and jersey. Maybe Joe Buck can have America play "Guess the Longoria" and win a free taco.
FOX: (Matter of factly) Actually, we've talked to Eva before we called you and we're flying her out of San Antonio or wherever the heck she is right now.
Selig: Wait, I thought you were cancelling us all of the sudden. Just to think that we were going to contract those guys to get contracted ourselves. Now, you're going to rewrite the script?
FOX: Well, we wanted to talk about this last night, but with those games ending so late, we had to get to work.
Selig: You're in Los Angeles! The game ended at 9:06 over there and you could still get another tan or whatever you do at night over there. I have enough people here in the East bitching about the time games end and you're lying about how late the game ended? Come on.
FOX: Dammit, Bud! You don't seem to get it, do you? If we don't get ratings, we don't get advertisers and if we don't get advertisers...
Selig: Hey, I brought you Buck, the Yankees, the Red Sox and Budweiser! (Channeling his inner Tony Montana) Who put this thing togetha', mang?
FOX: You! The same fool that brought us... St. Louis and Detroit!
Selig: Oh my God, wait a minute... I have an even better idea than that Eva crap... I've seen the light... and... I see it... yes!... yes!... YES!... I'll call Barry. I'll say, "Hey, Bar, sorry about the collusion thing, but listen, can you and Ryan Howard have a Home Run Derby after the third inning and the winner gets to..."
FOX: (interrupts excitedly) Barry... as in Barack?
Selig: (Hangs up... and webbies himself to his private plane bound for the home office in Milwaukee)
Perception is reality, the saying goes. Modern players can never transcend time, athletes only care about the money and the fan is never wrong. Yet, all you need to do is dig a little deeper to find the truth. As a freelance sportswriter, my job is to give the audience a story around what just happened. As a consumer, I expect that sports will always provide more than I bargained for. As a fan, my hopes are to be enlightened by more than points. Welcome to the mind of a sports scribe.
Showing posts with label Joe Buck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Buck. Show all posts
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Props
Before we get ourselves revved up for Week 3, a quick note about Props.
While the blog covers all aspects of sports from its action to its culture to its business, the idea of Props was to highlight some of the finer things specifically in a game or its broadcast. Yet, this hasn't been an ordinary week considering all that has gone on in the past seven days: Hurricane Ike, Wall Street, etc. So, in regards to Week 2, let's spread the love a bit, shall we?
Kickoff - FOX: For as many issues some of us (myself included) have with FOX's NFL coverage, they are daring in their graphics innovation. With a defensive player now equipped with a headset to speak with his defensive coordinator, fans want to know which player has the green dotted helmet. In the scrolling starting lineup graphic, there's a green box and radio label that surrounds the picture of player who adorns the helmet.
During the first Giants offensive/Rams defensive series, Joe Buck pointed out that is was Corey Chavous, the Rams' free safety who wore the helmet as his team was torched by the Philadelphia Eagles for over 500 yards in Week 1. Now, maybe it just gives fans and media a scapegoat when their defense looks sloppy, yet, FOX did this to help satiate one of the league's great curiosities.
1st Quarter - Darren Rovell: Before all hell broke loose on Wall Street, the last seemingly positive financial news this week centered around the valuation of NFL franchises. Forbes releases the worth of each franchise annually and delves into what makes the league's proverbial cash registers go 'ching!' every second of the day. Forbes said that the average worth of a team has reached over $1 billion, with nineteen teams clearing that mark. These days, the NFL seems to be like The Juggernaut, only getting stronger as it moves without anyone truly questioning its power. So we're supposed to believe that every team is really worth its stated value, right?
Rovell questions how the venerable magazine came up with the numbers and in some way, puts them in perspective with the economic realities here in the U.S. This is not to say that a lie is being told so much as Rovell is telling folks to not take everything as gospel.
2nd Quarter - Matt Forte: The Chicago Bears needed something to be happy about and there's no doubt that Forte has provided a reason to smile a bit more. Their quarterback situation has been in shambles for decades, no one can name one wide receiver in the franchise's history outside of Chicagoland and Cedric Benson burned them baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. He's been impressive for a guy that they did not plan on playing much and was relatively unknown coming out of Tulane. Granted, it's been two weeks, but 215 yards in two games for a rookie RB against a stout Carolina front seven and an Indianapolis team hyped to open a new stadium isn't a bad start.
Halftime - Gene Deckerhoff. Just the coolest voice in the game.
3rd Quarter - Ed Hochuli: If you haven't heard by now, the most famous referee in American sports became its most infamous because of a blown call that cost the San Diego Chargers a potential win against the rival Denver Broncos. Yet, respect should be due to the man for not only admitting to his error - no matter how great it is in the overall scheme of a 16-game season - but for not hiding behind the overall body of officials or stubbornly telling the public (and himself) that he believed he made the right call at the time and stands by it. The referee's job is difficult enough as is and Hochuli had every ample opportunity to partake in a little CYA. It doesn't change the outcome nor will it make any member of the Chargers organization any less upset, but at least everyone can move forward.
With that positive slant given, two things need to be understood. First, for those folks who are getting into a tizzy about the call, aren't there a few other pressing concerns in society than this? Secondly, when a team's fortunes seem to be predicated on a botched call or play, the reality is that it should never come down to that in the first place! If the final score of a football game is 39-38, as exciting as it may be to watch, it should be an alarm for such porous defense played on both sides. (Thanks to Shutdown Corner for the reference).
4th Quarter - Keary Colbert and Koren Robinson: They were the winners of the "Seattle needs healthy bodies at wide receiver" sweepstakes. "Because we all know" - in the words of Stephen A. Smith - that right now, the Seahawks have more trainers and paramedics than flankers at the moment.
In all seriousness, this could be one of the good stories in the NFL this year. Robinson been sober for 25 months and returns to the franchise that drafted him six years ago. For anyone that has ever watched how a person's alcoholism can disrupt and devastate life, you wish for more redemptive stories as his.
While the blog covers all aspects of sports from its action to its culture to its business, the idea of Props was to highlight some of the finer things specifically in a game or its broadcast. Yet, this hasn't been an ordinary week considering all that has gone on in the past seven days: Hurricane Ike, Wall Street, etc. So, in regards to Week 2, let's spread the love a bit, shall we?
Kickoff - FOX: For as many issues some of us (myself included) have with FOX's NFL coverage, they are daring in their graphics innovation. With a defensive player now equipped with a headset to speak with his defensive coordinator, fans want to know which player has the green dotted helmet. In the scrolling starting lineup graphic, there's a green box and radio label that surrounds the picture of player who adorns the helmet.
During the first Giants offensive/Rams defensive series, Joe Buck pointed out that is was Corey Chavous, the Rams' free safety who wore the helmet as his team was torched by the Philadelphia Eagles for over 500 yards in Week 1. Now, maybe it just gives fans and media a scapegoat when their defense looks sloppy, yet, FOX did this to help satiate one of the league's great curiosities.
1st Quarter - Darren Rovell: Before all hell broke loose on Wall Street, the last seemingly positive financial news this week centered around the valuation of NFL franchises. Forbes releases the worth of each franchise annually and delves into what makes the league's proverbial cash registers go 'ching!' every second of the day. Forbes said that the average worth of a team has reached over $1 billion, with nineteen teams clearing that mark. These days, the NFL seems to be like The Juggernaut, only getting stronger as it moves without anyone truly questioning its power. So we're supposed to believe that every team is really worth its stated value, right?
Rovell questions how the venerable magazine came up with the numbers and in some way, puts them in perspective with the economic realities here in the U.S. This is not to say that a lie is being told so much as Rovell is telling folks to not take everything as gospel.
2nd Quarter - Matt Forte: The Chicago Bears needed something to be happy about and there's no doubt that Forte has provided a reason to smile a bit more. Their quarterback situation has been in shambles for decades, no one can name one wide receiver in the franchise's history outside of Chicagoland and Cedric Benson burned them baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. He's been impressive for a guy that they did not plan on playing much and was relatively unknown coming out of Tulane. Granted, it's been two weeks, but 215 yards in two games for a rookie RB against a stout Carolina front seven and an Indianapolis team hyped to open a new stadium isn't a bad start.
Halftime - Gene Deckerhoff. Just the coolest voice in the game.
3rd Quarter - Ed Hochuli: If you haven't heard by now, the most famous referee in American sports became its most infamous because of a blown call that cost the San Diego Chargers a potential win against the rival Denver Broncos. Yet, respect should be due to the man for not only admitting to his error - no matter how great it is in the overall scheme of a 16-game season - but for not hiding behind the overall body of officials or stubbornly telling the public (and himself) that he believed he made the right call at the time and stands by it. The referee's job is difficult enough as is and Hochuli had every ample opportunity to partake in a little CYA. It doesn't change the outcome nor will it make any member of the Chargers organization any less upset, but at least everyone can move forward.
With that positive slant given, two things need to be understood. First, for those folks who are getting into a tizzy about the call, aren't there a few other pressing concerns in society than this? Secondly, when a team's fortunes seem to be predicated on a botched call or play, the reality is that it should never come down to that in the first place! If the final score of a football game is 39-38, as exciting as it may be to watch, it should be an alarm for such porous defense played on both sides. (Thanks to Shutdown Corner for the reference).
4th Quarter - Keary Colbert and Koren Robinson: They were the winners of the "Seattle needs healthy bodies at wide receiver" sweepstakes. "Because we all know" - in the words of Stephen A. Smith - that right now, the Seahawks have more trainers and paramedics than flankers at the moment.
In all seriousness, this could be one of the good stories in the NFL this year. Robinson been sober for 25 months and returns to the franchise that drafted him six years ago. For anyone that has ever watched how a person's alcoholism can disrupt and devastate life, you wish for more redemptive stories as his.
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