The sport's machine known as ESPN is hard at work keeping a story from becoming a story...and they are succeeding. I am sure a memo went out in Bristol yesterday telling all major television and radio personalities to not talk about it. I am sure someone was on the phone with all of ESPN's radio affiliates to ensure they did not talk about it. The result? Most people do not even know what story I am alluding to right now.
What should be front page sports news cannot be found anywhere on ESPN.com, not the homepage and not the college basketball frontpage. Colin Cowherd, host of ESPN Radio's nationally broadcast show "The Herd," is a man who loves hot-button issues; he sometimes spends an entire show on just one of them. Yet, this morning, he danced around college basketball topics and eventually discussed how ridiculous it was that Syracuse fans stormed the court last night after beating Georgetown (although it was truly ridiculous, I'm pretty sure it didn't require 15 minutes of discussion on one of the most, if not the most, popular sports radio shows around the nation). Hosts Steve Mason and John Ireland of "The Big Show," 710ESPN Radio's afternoon drivetime sports talk show in Los Angeles, have a segment of their show entitled "The Big Show Interruption" where they supposedly debate the biggest sports topics of the day. While they felt the need to talk about the Clippers and whether they will make the playoffs, they did not even come close to discussing college basketball and what should have been one of the biggest topics in sports yesterday.
What ESPN did not count on, however, was GameTime, TBD© getting its hands on the story.
Love him or hate him (in the interest of full and fair disclosure, I lean towards the latter), Dick Vitale is one of ESPN's most loved and respected college basketball analysts, baby. Although he might not know anything about college basketball west of the Mississippi or north of the Mason-Dixon Line (hell, I'm not even sure he knows anything about basketball outside of the state of North Carolina), Vitale is one of ESPN's go-to-guys for major happenings around college basketball. This is why his opinion is well respected and many people want to hear what he has to say.
Vitale is slated to provide the color commentary for ESPN tonight when the University of Florida visits the University of Tennessee, a big game with the tournament right around the corner. That being so, yesterday morning News Sentinel's Sports Page, a sports radio show based in Tennessee, wanted to get Vitale's thoughts on the game. What they got, however, were Vitale's personal thoughts on Florida and its talent, as well as the contents of a "confidential" conversion Vitale had with Florida coach Billy Donovan. When hosts Mike Griffith and John Adams cut to Vitale live, Vitale did not know he was on. Instead, Vitale was in the middle of a conversation with a friend he was having breakfast with. Although Griffith and Adams were finally able to get Vitale's attention, the statements had been broadcast and Vitale was none the wiser. Griffith and Adams even tried to broach the issue with Vitale to give him the opportunity to explain and clarify his comments. That explanation, however, did not come until five minutes after Vitale had concluded the interview and had been contacted by someone at Florida. At that point, Vitale called Sports Page back, told Griffith and Adams how unprofessional they had been, and explained that his comments were merely in jest to a friend. (You can, and should, listen to Part I of the interview here, and Part II here).
Should Vitale's recanting really be the end of the story? I certainly do not think so. Obviously, ESPN has a great deal of interest in ensuring this, for lack of a better word, incident does not gain widespread media attention. A crucial part of ESPN's information comes from the personal relationships its analysts create with insiders of the various sports it covers. These "sources" expect their information to be held in confidence. So, it is a big deal that one of ESPN's most well known and highly regarded analysts would (a) be sharing this information with a friend at restaurant, as opposed to in his office or home, and (b) that he would even put himself in the situation where it could be broadcast over the airwaves. Things like this can affect ESPN's ability to get the information it needs
What about Vitale's credibility the next time he is calling a game or providing an interview? How are we to believe what he is actually saying? As the Sports Page interview shows, Vitale does not always give an opinion he believes to be true. Every interviewer will want to know how Vitale really feels. I, for one, thought the interview was great because it shows just how political people are, willing to say one thing when they believe something else just for the sake of their professional well being. Best of all, Vitale was not even willing to own up to it. I can understand denying the conversation he had with Donovan (more below), but Vitale could have at least just admitted he believes Horford is more talented than Noah. I feel like the 2008 Presidential Election is here already.
And what about the impact this could have on the Florida locker room? How hard has Billy Donovan worked to create a close bond and trust with his players, a familial atmosphere? Florida is a contender for the NCAA National Championship. It is late in the season and they have just lost two of their last three games. With the tournament right around the corner, a tear in the fabric of a team could have big consequences.
There is a legitimate story here that needs to be followed up on. Instead, ESPN is doing everything in its power to ensure this story does not get any bigger than it is. More appalling, however, is the double standard at work here; we all know that if this had happened to anyone outside of the ESPN family, you would be sick of hearing about it by now.
Hey Dickie V, I think it's time to call the fire chief, 'cause you're on fire, baby!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Where Do We Go From Here?
Back when I first decided to start this blog, I weighed the various pros and cons of following a professional sports team for an entire season. I knew that the season would eventually end and that I would have to find interesting topics for my readers to follow during the offseason. Sure, the NHL draft will need to be discussed, as will many free agent transactions, but will this bring my readers back? I knew my creative juices would have to bring their "A" game from mid-April to early October. What I did not expect, however, was that the Los Angeles Kings would be suffering through their worst season in nearly a decade. Does this mean I need to go to the bullpen in the middle of the fourth when I was hoping my starter could get me through six?
Do not get me wrong, I have a fairly deep bullpen with plenty of decent middle relievers. First out of the gate (and unintentionally related to this on going analogy), most players have reported to their respective spring training locations and, thus, baseball season is right around the corner. Now, do not get me wrong, baseball is a great topic and I am sure I will spend many posts during the NHL offseason talking about it. The Dodgers had a great offseason of their own. They may have over spent on a few of their additions, but many experts believe they are now a legitimate contender this season. But let's face the facts: when the Kings play their last game of this season, there will still be 157 games left in the Dodgers season. Yeah, it is definitely too early to call this reliever out of the pen.
Maybe it would be beneficial to test out one of the younger arms, see if they have what it takes to go the distance. I do not know how many of my readers enjoy The Hills, MTV's Laguna Beach spin-off, but there is something odd about this show (BAP's Guilty Confession #1: I watch The Hills; as scripted as the scenes are, and considering the characters are about as deep as a kiddy pool, I watch the show every week...well, you can't deny that the ladies are easy on the eyes). What is odd you ask? Try this on for size: MTV is lying to you. It is claimed that leading lady LC and her roommate Heidi (don't even get me started on Heidi) live in the Hillside Villas apartment complex. Simple research reveals that the actual Hillside Villas, which are not too far from my humble abode, are no where near as nice as the apartment in which LC and Heidi live. No upstanding Laguna Beach parent would pay for their child to live there. Where, then, do they live you ask? Park La Brea, an upscale apartment complex not too far from all of their favorite hangouts and eateries. Quite frankly, I do not want a liar on my pitching staff; it is not good for team chemistry. I will send it back the minors until it is ready for the big time.
[While I'm on the subject, what is with the sad state of television shows for teenagers and young adults now-a-days? Seriously. When I was in my formative teenage years I had TNBC (the ever clever acronym for Teen NBC...wow) to provide me with shows I could learn from. TNBC featured such classics as Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, California Dreams, and Hang Time. How could you not get behind a show like Hang Time? It was a show about a high school basketball team, which played on a court that looked more like a square than a rectangle, and was coached by both Reggie Theus and Dick Butkus. The shows may have been cheesy, but they had an important message for us to take with us. Because of shows like those on TNBC, I can definitively state that I am not the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl...but I digress.]
Maybe I should call on one of my more experienced relievers, always reliable. I could set my DVR to record all of the 90210 reruns on Soap (The Soap Opera Network), watch them, and relive all of the classic moments with my readers. It is weird, however, to see your collegiate alma mater dressed up as California University, home of the mighty Condors. And answer me this: when you were in college, did your student senate elections have twelve "political parties" running a president/vice-president ticket? Who would you vote for? The Greeks? The Latinos? The African-Americans? The Independents? The Progressives? These were actual "parties" running for elections. Of course, by this time, Kelly Kapowski had gained at least twenty pounds (no truth to the rumor that thirteen of those extra pounds were in her bra alone), changed her name to Valerie Malone, and became rather "easy." It is tough to watch an attractive young woman spiral out of control like that (Britney Spears' representatives could not be reached for comment). But, you do not want to tire out an older reliever too early; the reliable arm is more important to a late season push.
I guess I should talk to my starter, see if he has got anything left in the tank. Although the Kings have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs as of yet, I am a realist. The Kings were morally and mentally eliminated when they lost seven straight games going into the All Star break in late January. Normally, a team in the Kings position would be a heavy seller before the trade deadline, closing up shop and making preparations for the grand re-opening next season. That has not been the case. Sure they traded Craig Conroy and Sean Avery, but they signed Derek Armstrong (who many assumed already had his bags packed) to a two-year contract extension. Armstrong is probably having the most underrated season of all Kings players. He has already set a career high in assists and is on pace to set a career high in goals and points as well. He also has a plus/minus ratio of plus sixteen; an impressive stat in-and-of-itself, it is more impressive when you consider that the Kings have been outscored by forty-one goals this season.
More importantly, the Kings have gone 4-3-4 since the All Star break. They have earned points in eight of the last eleven games. That stretch includes a tough five game road trip to the southeast where they went 2-1-2. They followed that with a home-and-home split with Division-leading Anaheim, losing and in winning in a shootout. All this corresponds to the arrival of a 40-year-old goalie who has added some stability to the crease. The Kings acquired Sean Burke from Tampa Bay through waivers right before the All Star break. He is the fifth starting goalie the Kings have used this season, a new club record. Since his arrival, Burke has started ten games, posting a 4-3-2 record with a 2.22 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. The Kings are now only two points away from pulling themselves out of the conference cellar and four points from jumping up to twelfth in the conference.
A jump to twelfth would put the Kings one spot behind the surging St. Louis Blues, a team they will not be able to catch. I can not stress it enough, but Andy Murray should be a candidate for Coach of the Year. Since AM's arrival in St. Louis thirty-three games ago, the Blues have gone 19-9-5. After starting the season 7-17-4, AM has led the Blues back to .500. If you projected his impact out over a full eighty-two game schedule, the Blues would finish 47-22-13, good for 107 points, probably the forth of fifth seed in the playoffs, and a fifty point improvement from last season. As it stands now, with twenty-one games left in their schedule, the Blues are only nine points out of a playoff spot. The eighth seed is well within reach. It would be a turn around the likes of which has not been seen since 2000-2001 when the Los Angeles Kings surged in to the playoffs with a late season push. Is it a coincidence that that team was also coached by AM? I think not.
Hmm, I guess my starter has a few innings left after all.
Do not get me wrong, I have a fairly deep bullpen with plenty of decent middle relievers. First out of the gate (and unintentionally related to this on going analogy), most players have reported to their respective spring training locations and, thus, baseball season is right around the corner. Now, do not get me wrong, baseball is a great topic and I am sure I will spend many posts during the NHL offseason talking about it. The Dodgers had a great offseason of their own. They may have over spent on a few of their additions, but many experts believe they are now a legitimate contender this season. But let's face the facts: when the Kings play their last game of this season, there will still be 157 games left in the Dodgers season. Yeah, it is definitely too early to call this reliever out of the pen.
Maybe it would be beneficial to test out one of the younger arms, see if they have what it takes to go the distance. I do not know how many of my readers enjoy The Hills, MTV's Laguna Beach spin-off, but there is something odd about this show (BAP's Guilty Confession #1: I watch The Hills; as scripted as the scenes are, and considering the characters are about as deep as a kiddy pool, I watch the show every week...well, you can't deny that the ladies are easy on the eyes). What is odd you ask? Try this on for size: MTV is lying to you. It is claimed that leading lady LC and her roommate Heidi (don't even get me started on Heidi) live in the Hillside Villas apartment complex. Simple research reveals that the actual Hillside Villas, which are not too far from my humble abode, are no where near as nice as the apartment in which LC and Heidi live. No upstanding Laguna Beach parent would pay for their child to live there. Where, then, do they live you ask? Park La Brea, an upscale apartment complex not too far from all of their favorite hangouts and eateries. Quite frankly, I do not want a liar on my pitching staff; it is not good for team chemistry. I will send it back the minors until it is ready for the big time.
[While I'm on the subject, what is with the sad state of television shows for teenagers and young adults now-a-days? Seriously. When I was in my formative teenage years I had TNBC (the ever clever acronym for Teen NBC...wow) to provide me with shows I could learn from. TNBC featured such classics as Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, California Dreams, and Hang Time. How could you not get behind a show like Hang Time? It was a show about a high school basketball team, which played on a court that looked more like a square than a rectangle, and was coached by both Reggie Theus and Dick Butkus. The shows may have been cheesy, but they had an important message for us to take with us. Because of shows like those on TNBC, I can definitively state that I am not the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl...but I digress.]
Maybe I should call on one of my more experienced relievers, always reliable. I could set my DVR to record all of the 90210 reruns on Soap (The Soap Opera Network), watch them, and relive all of the classic moments with my readers. It is weird, however, to see your collegiate alma mater dressed up as California University, home of the mighty Condors. And answer me this: when you were in college, did your student senate elections have twelve "political parties" running a president/vice-president ticket? Who would you vote for? The Greeks? The Latinos? The African-Americans? The Independents? The Progressives? These were actual "parties" running for elections. Of course, by this time, Kelly Kapowski had gained at least twenty pounds (no truth to the rumor that thirteen of those extra pounds were in her bra alone), changed her name to Valerie Malone, and became rather "easy." It is tough to watch an attractive young woman spiral out of control like that (Britney Spears' representatives could not be reached for comment). But, you do not want to tire out an older reliever too early; the reliable arm is more important to a late season push.
I guess I should talk to my starter, see if he has got anything left in the tank. Although the Kings have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs as of yet, I am a realist. The Kings were morally and mentally eliminated when they lost seven straight games going into the All Star break in late January. Normally, a team in the Kings position would be a heavy seller before the trade deadline, closing up shop and making preparations for the grand re-opening next season. That has not been the case. Sure they traded Craig Conroy and Sean Avery, but they signed Derek Armstrong (who many assumed already had his bags packed) to a two-year contract extension. Armstrong is probably having the most underrated season of all Kings players. He has already set a career high in assists and is on pace to set a career high in goals and points as well. He also has a plus/minus ratio of plus sixteen; an impressive stat in-and-of-itself, it is more impressive when you consider that the Kings have been outscored by forty-one goals this season.
More importantly, the Kings have gone 4-3-4 since the All Star break. They have earned points in eight of the last eleven games. That stretch includes a tough five game road trip to the southeast where they went 2-1-2. They followed that with a home-and-home split with Division-leading Anaheim, losing and in winning in a shootout. All this corresponds to the arrival of a 40-year-old goalie who has added some stability to the crease. The Kings acquired Sean Burke from Tampa Bay through waivers right before the All Star break. He is the fifth starting goalie the Kings have used this season, a new club record. Since his arrival, Burke has started ten games, posting a 4-3-2 record with a 2.22 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. The Kings are now only two points away from pulling themselves out of the conference cellar and four points from jumping up to twelfth in the conference.
A jump to twelfth would put the Kings one spot behind the surging St. Louis Blues, a team they will not be able to catch. I can not stress it enough, but Andy Murray should be a candidate for Coach of the Year. Since AM's arrival in St. Louis thirty-three games ago, the Blues have gone 19-9-5. After starting the season 7-17-4, AM has led the Blues back to .500. If you projected his impact out over a full eighty-two game schedule, the Blues would finish 47-22-13, good for 107 points, probably the forth of fifth seed in the playoffs, and a fifty point improvement from last season. As it stands now, with twenty-one games left in their schedule, the Blues are only nine points out of a playoff spot. The eighth seed is well within reach. It would be a turn around the likes of which has not been seen since 2000-2001 when the Los Angeles Kings surged in to the playoffs with a late season push. Is it a coincidence that that team was also coached by AM? I think not.
Hmm, I guess my starter has a few innings left after all.
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