Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media….
Richie Incognito: Dave Zirin in The Nation writes a follow-up column to his initial harsh critique Monday of Jay Glazer’s interview.
But I also now realize I did not in fact see the whole interview, which aired Monday in its entirety.Having now spoken with Jay Glazer and others involved in this story, I want to be honest and straight up about both.
First and most obviously, I was wrong in thinking that what was shown on Fox Sports NFL Sunday pregame show was the entire interview. The heart of my critique involved all the questions that I believed went unasked, as well as the choppy editing and quick cuts that made it appear as if the interview was sculpted to put Incognito in the best possible light. In fact many of the questions I took Jay Glazer to task for not asking, he did in fact ask.
Glazer, when you see the full interview, asked in a tougher tone about Incognito’s racism, asked more about the bullying and how far it extended, and asked whether the coaches “ordered the code red”. These questions are important. They also ended up on the initial cutting room floor, as I saw last night on Fox Sports. I maintain, given the importance of this story, that Fox did us all a disservice by not being brave and just saying “heck with the pre-game show. Let’s show this interview to the widest possible audience.” But they didn’t and that is not on Jay Glazer. (Glazer it is worth noting, disagrees with me about this, saying that they have “a responsibility to all the NFL fans who don’t care about this story.” I think the story is big enough that they should have just gone for it.)
Richie Incognito 2: Michael Bradley of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana writes about the media’s role in the controversy.
Because the NFL’s culture and traditions are so alien to the rest of us, it makes sense that the most effective commentary emerging from the Miami Dolphins imbroglio has come from former players. Unfortunately, a large swath of the media community has decided to weigh in on the situation, including many who have never stepped into a locker room in their lives, much less donned a helmet and shoulder pads at the highest level.
Since my football career ended in the sixth grade, I am not qualified to pass judgment on whether Richie Incognito’s treatment of fellow offensive lineman Jonathan Martin was over the line. Further, since so many of the facts about the controversy remain unrevealed, it’s even more difficult to form a responsible opinion about what happened and what it all means.
Richie Incognito 3: In his NPR commentary, Frank Deford gives his view.
Not surprisingly, in the explosive revelations about the Miami Dolphins team turmoil, most attention has been paid to the fact that, in the midst of a locker room predominately composed of African-American players, a white, Richie Incognito, slurred a black teammate, Jonathan Martin, with the ugliest racial epithet –– and was actually publicly supported by some blacks on the team. Incognito’s sadistic employment of the word has not only sickened but also astounded most of us.
However, I would submit that once we accept the inherent racism in this one dismal affair, the greater lasting impression will be to damage the sport of football itself, for the broader implications illustrate again how brutish our most popular American game has become.
SportsCenter: Richard Deitsch at SI.com examines SportsCenter using celebrity anchors from time to time.
Rare is the first-time SportsCenter anchor who can produce a 25.5 percent ratings increase from the previous week, but that’s what happened on Friday, Nov. 1 when the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter — co-hosted by a scrappy 44-year-old SportsCenter rookie — drew 813,000 viewers, up from 648,000 viewers for the previous Friday show.
The name of this incredible sports broadcasting prospect?
Ken Jeong.
Yes, the dude from The Hangover.
The talented actor/comedian appeared on SportsCenter 10 days ago amid much public relations fanfare and rewarded ESPN with a huge ratings bump for an edition of SportsCenter that struggles compared to its morning and late-night counterparts. So, was this a ratings ploy?
“One-hundred percent it was,” said Steve Bunin, the former SportsCenter and Outside The Lines staffer who now works in Houston as an anchor for Comcast SportsNet Houston. “My first thought was: That already is a give-up show. I don’t think there’s much shame in it. It’s fun. It’s a clear ratings ploy. If something heavy breaks, they’d sideline the celeb. It mostly sucks for the anchors desperately fighting for a chance to do that show, and yes, it’s another chip in the wall of pure journalism. But no more to me than so many other things they do. I saw a SportsCenter segment recently where they had Tim Legler speak for three straight minutes on one topic so that viewers could vote their opinion on the SportsCenter Facebook page. That to me is a clear example of time that could have been spent far better asking him about any other NBA topic.”
Leigh Montville: After a 24-year break, Leigh Montville returns to the Boston Globe.
When the Globe called and asked if I might want to write a weekly column again, picture at the top of the page, I didn’t have to think long. Why not? So here I am.
I tell people that I am Red Sox owner John Henry’s first free agent in his new journalistic enterprise. I am a Mike Napoli type of free agent, a veteran catcher/first baseman with possibly bad hips who might be able to help a little bit. I will do what I can do. I might even grow a beard, add some tattoos, maybe take off my shirt and go for a midnight stroll down Boylston Street if everything works out.
I am a team player, here to win a championship.
I also can use the money.
I am saving to buy a duck boat.
Jay Bilas: Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder has a podcast with the ESPN college basketball analyst.
Ian Eagle: Featured guest on the latest Sports Media Weekly podcast.
Artie Lange: The Sports-Casters has a podcast with Lange.
Lange explains his feelings about becoming a New York Times best-selling author for the second time and how the success of his book has validated his honesty. Also, Lange recalls some of his favorite moments as a co-host on the Howard Stern Show, talks about transitioning to host of his own show, and learning about interviewing from a legend.
Boxing on networks: Steve Kim of Sports on Earth writes about boxing migrating back to the networks. NBC is airing a heavyweight fight Saturday.
The bottom line is simple: while it’s the premium cable operators like HBO and Showtime that feature the sport’s biggest stars and write the biggest checks, it’s major networks like NBC that still have the largest stage for boxers.
“Look, it’s 100 percent of the country that can receive it, it’s 120 million homes versus 25 or 35 million, whatever the numbers are on HBO and Showtime,” said Kathy Duva, the head of Main Events, which is promoting the Adamek-Glazkov event and has an exclusive deal to provide content on both the NBC Sports Network and NBC. “No matter how you slice that, there [are] a lot of people who don’t have premium cable.”
Journalism 101: Jeff Pearlman on his site offers sage advice to students on what is required of them in a journalism class. Definitely will sharing with my students.
1. Ask questions. Ask 10 questions. Ask 100 questions. There’s nothing more off-putting for a teacher than the students who sit in the back, minding their own business. You probably don’t think we notice. Believe me, we do. Almost always.