Category Archives: Uncategorized

You thought Philly was tough: Israeli goalie called ‘laughing stock’ in Haaretz headline

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Saw this via a tweet from Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News.

Haaretz, a prominent English-language newspaper in Israel, completely obliterated goalie Ariel Harush following Israel’s 3-0 loss to Mexico in an international friendly.

The headline above was rather blunt.

Horn put out this tweet: “Harsh hometown headline about Israeli soccer goalkeeper. Can’t recall any DFW athlete referred to as ‘laughingstock.'”

Daniel Ben-Tal then further skewered the poor Harush.

The dry statistic is that Israel lost to 3-0 Mexico in front of 100,000 fans at the Azteca Stadium in an international friendly Thursday, but the real (anti-)hero of the game was Israel’s goalkeeper Ariel Harush who – how does one put this subtly? – underperformed.

The 26-year-old Beitar Jerusalem stopper made a complete hash of the first goal, somehow failing to intercept a hopeful 30-meter shot aimed straight at him.

Yep, Philly writers seem almost tranquil in comparison.

 

Stopwatch patrol: Verducci dissects mind-numbing pace of baseball; 29 more minutes of ‘dead time’

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Tom Verducci did a terrific piece at SI.com on the slow-play slog that now is baseball.

It should be noted that Verducci isn’t just a baseball writer these days. He is on Fox’s new A team for MLB and is frequently seen on MLB Network.

Usually, network executives and many announcers downplay the slow-play problem, as if we in the media are blowing it out proportion. Verducci even does that somewhat in his piece.

Complaints about games taking too long generally come from media people who’d rather be somewhere else than the ballpark.

Not true. I haven’t covered a game in years. My complaints are from the perspective of a spectator, TV viewer, and father of two teenage boys who don’t watch nearly as much baseball because the game moves too slow.

Regardless, Verducci has the numbers that show baseball is moving in slow motion. He writes:

In just 10 years you have added 29 minutes, 11 seconds of dead time per game while scoring 13.3 percent fewer runs.

Does that get your attention? It should, because you don’t need to go back to pre-cable, pre-DH days to measure the deceleration of pace of play. How the game is played has changed drastically in a short period of time. The two biggest causes have been:

1. The marked improvement in run prevention methodologies (detailed scouting information, defensive shifts, increased velocity, increased use of specialized bullpens, etc.).

2. The utter disregard players have for pace of play.

And more:

In just 10 years the time in between balls in play has increased 18 percent. What does that mean in actual dead time? You have to wait an extra 32.4 seconds today to see a ball put into play than you did only 10 years ago. Multiply that extra time by the average of 54.04 balls in play per game, and that’s how you get the added 29 minutes, 11 seconds of down time over the course of an average game.

Verducci offers some solutions to the problems that would involve changing the rules of the game. Baseball hates change, but he says the time has come.

Verducci concludes:

Of course, any time you bring up the possibility of changes to the game people get nervous. The default position in baseball tends to be “How can we keep it the same?” not “How can we move it forward?” There is an underlying motive to preserve the quaint myth that baseball has been the same game for 150 years. It’s not true.

The irony is that baseball has changed radically just in the past 10 years with no rules changes or enforcements in place. It has grown like an untended garden, with weeds diminishing its beauty. Let’s clean it up before it gets worse.

Glad to see Verducci take such a stand. He is an important voice.

Hopefully, baseball will listen.

Kenny Albert: Working both NHL conference finals have him wondering what day it is

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Surely, there must be some labor laws regarding abuse of sports announcers. Nobody in his right mind would sign up for Kenny Albert’s schedule in recent weeks.

Neil Best of Newsday reports:

When asked to recount his recent work and travel itinerary, he had to check his notes. “I’m definitely losing track of what day it is,” he said.

Not that he is complaining about a dizzying, pan-continental schedule calling both the NHL Western Conference finals on national television and the Eastern Conference finals on local radio. On the contrary.

“It’s been great,” Albert said. “It’s like an adrenaline rush for a month and a half during the playoffs.”

Later, Best writes:

Albert got the assignment to work the West finals for NBC before he knew the Rangers still would be playing in the East. When that happened, he knew he was in for an interesting couple of weeks.

He called games in Chicago on May 18, Montreal last Monday, Chicago on Wednesday, New York on Thursday, Los Angeles on Saturday, New York on Sunday and Los Angeles on Monday, after which he was to take a red eye back to New York, then travel to Montreal on Tuesday and Chicago on Wednesday.

In addition to an understanding family, Albert said he “has tremendous bosses at Fox, MSG and NBC who have all been great about allowing me to maintain this jigsaw puzzle of a schedule. Fox and MSG have been terrific about allowing me to work the Olympics and playoffs for NBC, and it has been a thrill to work deep into the playoffs.”

Albert, 46, said he slept for a couple of hours after Sunday’s overtime game and for another three on the flight to L.A. before arriving at Staples. “That was not an illusion,” he said. “I was in both places.”

David Diehl: Former Giants takes fast track as new NFL game analyst for Fox

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Considering David Diehl just retired from the Giants and isn’t a big name, he must have really nailed his audition to become a NFL game analyst for Fox. It will be interesting to see what Fox has here.

Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s a University of Illinois grad.

The official announcement:

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Versatile former NFL offensive lineman David Diehl joins FOX Sports in 2014 as an NFL on FOX game analyst.  The announcement was made today by FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Production and Executive Producer John Entz.

Diehl (@davediehl66) played his entire 11-year NFL career with the New York Giants where he started on two Super Bowl championship teams (2008 & 2012). The vocal leader in the locker room was selected to the 2009 Pro Bowl and was the only player on the Giants last season to predate Head Coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning. Diehl announced his retirement in January.

“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to still be involved in the sport that I love so much and that has provided me so much in my life,” said Diehl. “FOX Sports has a tremendous team of talented analysts, and I’m excited to join them and add my knowledge and experiences to the mix.”

Known as “Mr. Versatility” for his willingness to always step in where he was needed, Diehl started in several different offensive line positions including left guard, right guard, right tackle and left tackle. He concluded his career tied with Phil Simms for 12th on the franchise’s all-time list of regular-season games played with 164, missing only 12 games in 11 years. He started all 16 games in his rookie season of 2003.

“We’re really excited to have a former player with David’s credentials join our team of NFL on FOX game analysts,” said Entz.  “Our sense is that he’ll devote the same passion and preparation to his new career that he demonstrated in the trenches for 11 years, and he’ll quickly develop to lead the next generation of NFL game analysts.”

Diehl was drafted in the fifth round in 2003 by the Giants after playing college football at the University of Illinois.

Doug Collins Express: Hard for some TV analysts to resist urge to get back on sidelines

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My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana is on analysts who make the jump to coaching and newly fired coaches who find landing spots as TV analysts.

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There is a little-known shuttle that exists in sports. We’ll call it the Doug Collins Express.

The Collins Express is set up for TV analysts who jump to the other side to become coaches and managers. Then once the inevitable occurs and they get fired, the dejected former coach gets shuttled back to a network, where he resumes his work critiquing other coaches as an analyst.

Steve Kerr and Mark Jackson actually passed each other on the Collins Express in recent weeks. Kerr left a terrific position as the lead NBA analyst for TNT, not to mention working the Final Four for the CBS-TNT coverage of the NCAA tournament, to become the new coach of the Golden State Warriors. He replaces Jackson, who took the Express back to ESPN where he promptly was placed back in his old seat with his old pals Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy.

Perhaps nobody in the business has taken the shuttle more than Collins. After the Chicago Bulls dumped him in 1989, he did some analyst work for TNT. After getting fired by the Detroit Pistons in 1998, he went to work for NBC and TNT. Then Michael Jordan lured him back to coach the Washington Wizards in 2001. When that gig ended in 2003, Collins jumped on the shuttle and went back to TNT.

Once again, Collins used his frequent traveler pass in 2010, leaving TNT to become the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. By now, he has been given his own car on the shuttle, which he used again after leaving the 76ers last spring. However, instead of going to TNT this time, Collins went to ESPN.

An interesting dynamic is in play here. The lifestyle for a big-time sports TV analyst is quite nice. Big money, high profile, and nobody telling you suck because your team lost again.

But there’s also the other side: Nobody says you’re great after your team wins.

What these former players and coaches miss the most is the competition. Not only is there the thrill of victory, but there’s something to be said for the agony of defeat. The swings of emotions is the only thing they’ve known all their lives, dating back to when they put on their first gym shoes as kids.

It was that pull that eventually lured Kerr to the sidelines. It also could cost NBC its No. 1 hockey analyst.

Once again, Eddie Olczyk is being linked to coaching vacancies, this time at Carolina. He downplayed the speculation, but there appears to be no doubt that he will jump back in at some point.

Olczyk talks repeatedly of “unfinished business” stemming from his short stint as coach at Pittsburgh. The Penguins fired him in December 2005.

Last spring in an interview with me, Olczyk said, “I’m a hockey guy. There’s the unfinished business with the way I left Pittsburgh that’s always going to be there. Whether the opportunity presents itself remains to be seen. It’s always going to an enticing thought. It’s always going to be a stone I’m looking under.”

It is interesting to note that two notable lead analysts in their sports have resisted the urge to jump on the Collins Express: Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Gruden. Reports circulated over the weekend that Memphis Grizzles were interested in Van Gundy, but coach Dave Joerger decided to remain with the team.

It hardly is the first time Van Gundy’s name has been tossed in the rumor mill since he left the Houston Rockets sidelines in 2007. Since then, he has shined as ABC/ESPN’s lead analyst on the NBA.

Van Gundy had a standard line when asked if he would go back to coaching.

“My dad gave me good, sound, solid advice when I was coming out of college,” Van Gundy said. “He always told me, ‘Don’t worry about your next job. Just do the job you have as well as you can.’ That served me pretty well, and I’m trying to stick with that.”

Gruden, meanwhile, has enjoyed life in the ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth since being fired by Tampa Bay after the 2008 season. Most NFL observers didn’t expect him to last more than a year before returning back to coaching. Now he is about to enter his sixth season at ESPN.

At age 50, and given his burning intensity that he brings to the booth, it still seems to be just a matter of time before Gruden jumps back in again. In an interview with 95.7 The Game, Gruden’s former quarterback with Oakland, Rich Gannon, contends his former coach does have the itch.

“I think he’s gonna coach,” said Gannon, now an analyst for CBS Sports. “I think he wants to coach, but he’s in a great situation. He’s making a ton of money at ESPN, he’s watching his kids grow up, he’s getting to spend more time around the home which I think has been important to him and to Cindy. But trust me, I’ve had conversations with him. We seem to have them every off-season. He talks about he still has a desire to come back and coach and how competitive he is.”

Then again, another former Raiders coach, John Madden, walked away from coaching at the age of 42 and never returned. Let’s just say things worked out very well for Madden as a TV analyst.

Madden, though, seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Even though the lifestyle as an analyst is tremendous, the temptation to get back in the mix often is too great to resist.

It also works the other way. Once the coach gets fired, life as an analyst provides a perfect landing spot.

The Doug Collins Express operates 24/7 and travels to places near and far. All aboard!

Lineup moves for CBS: Zucker to host College Football Show; LaForce new sideline reporter for SEC games

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CBS officially names its replacements for Tim Brando and Tracy Wolfson for its college football coverage. Big step for Adam Zucker and Allie LaForce definitely appears to be on the fast track.

From CBS:

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CBS Sports has added Adam Zucker and Allie LaForce to its college football broadcast team. Zucker has been named host of COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, the Network’s pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show. LaForce joins as lead college football reporter, teaming with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson on the “SEC Game of the Week.”  The announcement was made today by Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports.

“Both Adam and Allie represent the next, great generation of sports broadcasters,” said McManus.  “We are extremely excited about the future of our college football coverage from the studio to the sidelines, and look for both to contribute to its continued and storied success.”

Zucker joins analysts Brian Jones and Spencer Tillman on COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, which airs on Saturdays from 3:00-3:30 PM, ET throughout college football season.  He has been lead anchor for CBS Sports Network hosting myriad studio shows including INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL and INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL.  Zucker joined CBS Sports Network in 2003 (then CSTV), shortly after its launch.  He has been an Associated Press college football voter since 2012.  In addition, Zucker has worked as anchor for CBS Sports’ college football studio show, COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, as well as the network’s college basketball and CBS Sports Desk studio shows.

LaForce joins as lead college football reporter working with Lundquist and Danielson calling the “SEC Game of the Week” as well as the Army-Navy game.  LaForce joined CBS Sports in 2012.  She currently hosts the late night show LEAD OFF on CBS Sports Network and serves as a college basketball sideline reporter, including working the NCAA Tournament the last two years.  LaForce also was part of CBS Sports Network’s NFL pre-game studio show, THAT OTHER PREGAME SHOW, last year.

Beckett’s no-hitter, Ryu’s perfect game bid sure to amp up pressure for greater distribution of Dodgers channel in LA

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Not sure this could have worked out any better for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

First, Josh Beckett throws a no-hitter on Sunday. Then Hyun-Jin Ryu had a perfect game through 7 innings Monday before falling short in his bid to make history.

Yet of the majority of Los Angeles couldn’t see the game because of distribution issues with the new Dodgers channel, SportsNet LA.

The Dodgers are counting on fans to pressure distributors like DirecTV to feel the pressure from customers to add the channel despite the premium price. Near back-to-back no-hitters should help the cause.

Last Friday, Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote about the situation:

The Dodgers lead the major leagues in attendance, with an average of 46,194 tickets sold for 22 home games, but an average of just 43,000 households are watching their games on TWC, according to Nielsen ratings, a drop of nearly 72 percent from last season, when games were carried by a Fox-owned station.

L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti chided Time Warner at an industry gathering last month, saying, “I hope that we can resolve the fact that our hometown baseball team, the Dodgers, is not currently seen on all of our boxes around the city.”

And a fan reaction:

“I’m mad about it big-time, like everyone else,” said Ruben Lopez, who was watching the game at a Figueroa Street bar about four miles north of Dodger Stadium. “Big-money companies get more and more money and we have this ridiculous TV situation. It’s bad for the fans.”

And that was before the last two Dodgers’ games. I’m sure phones are ringing at many distributors today in LA.

Buster Olney to write book on childhood friend who assaulted and killed his niece

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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Buster Olney is working on a book.

The subject, though, isn’t what you would expect from Olney.

Vermont Public Radio has an interview with the ESPN baseball analyst on his plans to write a book about a childhood friend who is serving life in prison for assaulting and killing his niece.

But this week, the Randolph native found himself in an unfamiliar and far more unsettling environment, when he attended the sentencing hearing for Michael Jacques, who admitted kidnapping and killing his 12-year-old niece, Brooke Bennett of Braintree, six years ago.

Like every Vermonter, Buster Olney was shocked and angered over the horrific crime, but he also had more reason than most to be focused on the story — because Michael Jacques was Buster Olney’s childhood friend. Olney has been working on a book about the case and his connection with his friend turned murderer. Jacques will now spend the rest of his life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Olney told VPR that he was friends with Michael Jacques as a child, but he was not at the hearing to support Jacques in any way. Their friendship ended abruptly, in their twenties, when Olney learned of his friend’s first sexual crime.

And more.

Olney’s sister called him the day after Brooke Bennett was reported missing.

“I didn’t know anything about the case, I had no details about the case, but I knew that ultimately it would go back to him, because I knew from childhood what a liar he could be and I knew his history of sexual crimes. It felt like you were just waiting for the inevitable and a few days later that’s when it came that he was the person of primary interest from law officials,” Olney said.

A couple of Jacques’ siblings have been cooperating with Olney in the writing of the book. “A lot of times when you read a crime book, it’s someone who drops in from the outside, and in this case, I know everybody,” Olney said. “You know, the ground where Brooke was buried literally adjoins my family’s farm, in a place that we played as kids.”

On why Olney is writing the book.

“I’ve had people in my own family touched with this and I’ve had friends, and heard their stories. In the case of sexual assaults, for whatever reason, the instinct people have is, ‘Don’t talk about this.’ And that’s what went on for more than 20 years in Mike Jacques’ case. There was sign after sign after sign of this enormous problem and a lot of times it was completely ignored or washed over. And Brooke’s father, Jim Bennett, asked the question as he spoke to Michael and spoke to the court, ‘How did you slip through the cracks?” Olney said.

“Well, we know with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight how that happened. The nature of sexual crimes is they are often not treated in the way that a regular assault is. And people should never forget, that’s what these are – these are violent assaults and should be treated that way, and not something that you shouldn’t talk about.”

Long break week for playoffs: 3 days between games for NBA conference finals; NHL not much better

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In case you haven’t noticed, the conference finals for both the NBA and NHL are spaced out this week.

On Tuesday, Miami beat Indiana in Game 2 of their series. Normally, following the every other day scenario during the playoffs, Game 3 would be Thursday in Miami. Nope.

Then Friday, right? Nope.

That’s right, Game 3 is Saturday. That’s a three-day break for a post-season that seemingly has no end.

The same scenario exists for the other NBA series. There is a three-day layoff between Game 2 of the West finals on Wednesday and Game 3 on Sunday. Not only is San Antonio up 2-0, but the long break gives their veterans more time to recover. Advantage, Spurs.

Meanwhile, in the NHL, the schedule for the Chicago-Los Angeles series called for only one game during a five-day span. Game 1 was Sunday; Game 2 on Wednesday; and Game 3 is set for Saturday night in LA. A similar set-up exists for the Montreal-New York Rangers series.

So why are both leagues making fans wait to watch the biggest games of the year? The answer, of course, is television.

Both leagues want their finals to start in June to accommodate ABC and NBC. May is sweeps month for the networks, with their prime-time series wrapping up for the season. They are locked into their schedules.

June is a different story, as the networks begin their summer programming that includes the NBA and NHL finals.

Yes, the long breaks are ridiculous. But so is the money the NBA and NHL receive from the networks. It makes waiting an extra day or two more than worthwhile.

 

 

 

 

New Fox Sports 1 show: Athletes hanging in a New York barbershop

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No, this won’t be like Andy and Barney hanging out at Floyd’s barbershop in Mayberry.

Here is the first episode. I’ll let Fox Sports explain what this is all about.

BACK OF THE SHOP’s premiere episode features Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, Yankees outfielder Alfonso Soriano, New York Knicks swingman Iman Shumpert and NBA legend Larry Johnson. Set in Jordan Sport Barbershop in the Bronx, Oritz, Soriano, Shumpert and Johnson chat about their current and former teams, the way locker rooms and clubhouses used to be, and much more. Episode 1 was taped last September, and filming for subsequent episodes resumed in April.

Episode 1 of BACK OF THE SHOP makes its television debut on Saturday, May 24 (7:00 PM ET) on FOX Sports 1 before re-airing in its regular time slot on Tuesday, May 27 (8:30 PM ET). Episode 2, featuring hip hop legend Snoop Dogg, Seattle Mariners superstars Robinson Cano and Felix Hernandez, Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant and New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, premieres Tuesday, June 3 (8:30 PM ET).

QUOTES FROM BACK OF THE SHOP – EPISODE 1

David Ortiz: “I told my boy (Soriano) the other day when we were playing at Fenway, I saw my man, he looked right in that (Yankees) uniform. I swear to God, that’s the uniform – he looked legit. He looked gangster.”

Iman Shumpert: “What about the Cubs, though?”

Alfonso Soriano: “They always prepare for the future, and the future never comes. In New York, it’s all about the present, all about now.”

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Shumpert: “What do you all eat in the clubhouse? You all eat chicken and beer? I heard stories.”

Ortiz: “Man, let me tell you, when that story came bout about the chicken and beer in the clubhouse, let me tell you, since I remember, the clubhouse always had chicken and beer. Why are they making a big deal about it now? I’m like, what’s going on? What’s different? Now we don’t have no chicken and no beer. What’s going on? Now I feel like there’s something wrong here because I’m used to seeing that. It’s like a game without a baseball bat.”

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Larry Johnson: “When I first stepped in the NBA, in the locker room at halftime, you could fire up a cigarette.”

Shumpert: “Yeah?”

Johnson: “Oh the NBA was like that. They have men in the NBA, man.”

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Shumpert: “I don’t want none of that baseball action, that’s for real. They be getting hit with pitches and all – I’m not with that.”

Ortiz: “Any athlete from any other sport, that’s all they worry about – getting hit by a pitch. I was talking to a couple of friends of mine that play for the Patriots that were like, no man, I prefer being crushed on the field than getting hit by a baseball. I was like, man, I see you guys getting knocked the hell out, and you’re going to tell me that a baseball hurts more than that? No way.”

Shumpert: “I don’t like elbows either, but I know that’s coming. When you play certain players, you just know, I’m gonna catch an elbow. Metta World Peace – he’s trying to win. If it’s a loose ball and you’ve got to go for it with Ron, he don’t care. People be like, he’s dirty. He ain’t dirty, he just wants that ball.”