I realize this is far from an original thought, but it really is quite incredible how closely the story of the 2008 Rays matches that of the 1969 Mets.
Here's the article former Newsday scribe Tom Verducci wrote for SI on that subject a few weeks ago.
As I mentioned in my Tuesday newspaper column, one of the highlights of ESPN's pre-game show was a segment in which Tom Coughlin answered questions about himself while his daughter, Katie, and son-in-law/guard, Chris Snee, competed to see who knew him better.
Mostly, it was a draw, but Chris out-pointed his wife on the subject of what Coughlin listens to en route to work.
Katie guessed nothing, and surely not talk shows. Chris suspected Coughlin does check what the sports yakkers are saying about him and other subjects.
Sure enough, Coughlin said he usually turns on ESPN Radio in the morning. Hmm. Would ESPN have included the question if he had said he listens to WFAN?
Click below for more random "Monday Night Football" observations that didn't make it into my column.
Continue reading "Chris Snee knows Tom Coughlin listens to talk radio" »
Speaking of old-school newspaper stuff (see post below), I was amused by what Mike Tirico said in warning Tony Kornheiser not to assume a Browns' victory was certain as the clock wound down.
He put it this way: "Don't put a dash-30-dash on that story just yet."
Huh? Tony knew what he meant, but 99 percent of viewers surely didn't. That's what we used to type at the end of stories to indicate to editors that they were over.
I guess Mike picked that up in a journalism class at Syracuse in the 1980s.
Speaking of Tirico, it was cool that at one point he acknowledged viewers who might have switched over from watching the baseball playoffs on Fox, updating them on the action, just as Fox's Joe Buck had done Sunday night when he welcomed fans who might have come over at halftime of NBC's football game.
It's nice when announcers don't treat us like morons and acknowledge fans watch big events regardless of the network, so there's no use making believe other games and channels don't exist.
If my Tuesday newspaper column, which leads with a look at the state of "Monday Night Football" in general and Tony Kornheiser in particular, seems disjointed, that's because it is.
It's an old-school example of a newspaper article written on deadline before the event in question was over - in this case before Eli Manning made it painfully clear that Tony's pre-game essay comparing him to Peyton was a tad premature.
Nevertheless, I stand by my premise: That when deployed correctly, Kornheiser does bring an entertaining element to the booth, even if he rubs much of middle America - and some of the rest of it - the wrong way.
It struck me as ESPN ran vintage Monday night footage that if people think Tony is an annoying, overbearing former New York sportswriter, they should take a closer look at someone who really fit that bill: the late, great (and grating) Howard Cosell.
Check out this story from Syosset's own Len Shapiro in The Washington Post: John Madden is missing a game, for the first time . . . ever.
Apparently John and Al Michaels mentioned this on the air Sunday night. I didn't hear it, but Len did and followed up.
NBC swears there is nothing more to it than Dick Ebersol wanting to give Madden a week off so he could avoid traveling (by bus, of course) from West Coast to East for the Seahawks-Bucs game.
The Sunday after next is a bye for NBC because of the World Series, so this gives Madden a two-weekend break at his northern California home.
Cris Collinsworth will fill in for the big guy this coming Sunday night.
I'm struggling with the matter of the new Maureen McCormick tell-all, described in this disturbing article.
Do I actually read the book, with its tales of cocaine abuse, parties at the Playboy mansion and trading sex for drugs, thus shredding the happy, innocent memories of my first TV crush?
Or do I not? I welcome input from fellow late-fortysomethings on this one. Tough call.
OK, people, here is your chance to weigh in on what you think of the Mike Francesa-Joe Benigno pairing on WFAN so far.
Trust me, many of the station's staffers read the blog, so your opinions will reach the right people. As always, keep it focused on the content.
Newsday readers named Benigno their favorite local sports talk radio host in a non-scientific poll last year, but let's see how popular he is in this context.
We'll have a big, all-encompassing poll when the parade of potential sidekicks is over.
What does January Jones have to do with any of this? Not much, really. But I was thinking recently about how Francesa ripped "Mad Men" after the premiere episode and presumably hasn't watched it since. He was wrong.
Ms. Jones and I both perform on Cablevision-owned platforms - AMC and Newsday - but our paths have yet to cross, alas.
That's it for me today. Enjoy Lynbrook's own Tony Kornheiser tonight.
Heavens! I remembered five minutes ago there was an Islanders game this afternoon, and in short order after turning it on I saw the Sabres score two runs, then saw a 1970s-style fight break out.
Dudes, there are a lot of children in the building! Stop it!
I'm watching in pain today after our tree swing collapsed Saturday after years of rope-fraying, causing me to bruise my coccyx.
Normally I would not burden you with this information, but it did remind me of a sports-related incident:
In 1995 I was playing first base in the coaches versus writers game at Giants training camp when the large offensive line coach, Pete Mangurian, kneed me in the coccyx when trying to beat out an infield single, causing extreme pain that lasted for several days.
Mangurian later became head coach at Cornell. Now I think he is on Bill Belichick's staff. He coaches . . . yup, tight ends.
But I digress. They're still sorting out the penalties at the Coliseum.
During some of the many lulls in the Bengals-Jets game, my binoculars wandered not only to Jenn Sterger but also into the stands, where I tried to gauge the impact of Brett Favre's arrival on jersey sales.
Many people wrote about the run on Favre shirts in August, but really, No. 4 jerseys were not noticeably more prevalent than many others, including ones for players no longer on the squad.
I couldn't even tell you which number was most common. There were plenty of No. 10s, No. 28s, No. 51s, No. 80s and No. 12s. Plus some for current Jets.
My favorite: a faded Lance Mehl No. 56. Who knows, maybe it WAS Lance Mehl.
I used to see many No. 56 jerseys at Giants games, but it's not every day you see one in green.
(Often I wonder why anyone outside the New York area - other than transplants - frequents this blog in the first place. But I appreciate all readers equally. Thanks for your patience with the provincial stuff. I'll try to say something interesting about Idaho sometime. I spent two or three minutes there once. I drove across the border just to cross it off my states list.)
Only in the NFL can a great game between non-local teams hope to score a better rating than a lackluster game involving a local team on the same early season afternoon.
The Cowboys - always a ratings powerhouse - and Cardinals almost pulled it off Sunday, attracting 10.2 percent of households in the New York market.
The Bengals-Jets game averaged 10.8 percent in the afternoon.
Long-time readers will remember that from the very first SportsWatch column on Sept. 30, 2005 - in which I complained about the golf movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played" - the official No. 1 pet peeve here has been Hollywood playing around with the historical facts when producing based-on-true-story sports films.
Critics from the entertainment section never seem to be offended much by this. Critics from the sports department understand that it drives sports fans insane.
So it is with the new Ernie Davis movie "The Express," which got mixed but mostly positive reviews and which I have not yet seen.
Maybe I shouldn't after reading L.A. sports media columnist/blogger Tom Hoffarth go through all the gory factual details here.
Sigh.
I do not have DirecTV and thus do not have "Sunday Ticket" and thus do not have the "Red Zone Channel."
I'm a Cablevision guy through and through.
But I happened to be sitting near a colleague - not Glauber - in the press box Sunday and noticed him watching the Red Zone Channel on his laptop during the Jets game and testifying to its coolness.
Here is an article on that subject from Pete Dougherty in Albany, via Fang's Bites.
Mr. Dolan is on record as saying he very much would like access to "Sunday Ticket" and very much would be open to carrying the NFL Network if he got it.
Holy NFC East championship! Romo is out four weeks?! Wow.
What is the media angle on this? Have you seen the ratings the Cowboys get?
Good for Giants. Not good for Fox.
This is kinda cool: WatchDog made a list of the 15 favorite sports destinations on the Web in the latest issue of Sports Business Journal. (Let me know if this link only works for subscribers.)
I'm honored to be in the company of some of my favorite writers and/or reporters, including Leitch, Posnanski, Kriegel, Glazer and Extra Mustard.
Also, I notice that four of the people on this list - King, Glazer, Olney and me - used to cover the New York Football Giants on a daily basis.
I don't know what that means, but it's interesting. Or not.
Clearly the time has arrived to ask Mr. Dolan for a raise. As a show of good faith, I even will watch Boomer Esiason's show on MSG this week.
WFAN's Joe Benigno had to be torn watching the Jets Sunday, on one hand wanting his team to win and on the other knowing a Jets loss would be fodder for a must listen show with Mike Francesa at 1 o'clock Monday.
One of the highlights of Friday's Benigno-Francesa - sorry, Francesa-Benigno - pairing was when Joe announced on a 50,000-watt clear channel radio station that he does not like morning co-host Craig Carton. He added Francesa does not like him, either.
Wow. Even Glauber and I don't go that far . . . publicly.
This morning Carton mocked Benigno, saying this as he faked crying/whining: "I don't like Craig. I'm going to ingratiate myself with the big guy."
When I leave the beat I am going to ceremoniously throw all of my radios off a very tall building, then take a long vacation in a remote village in the Amazon.
Commenter "Neil Castiglione Palin Glauber Best," which I'm assuming is not his or her real name, wondered a couple of posts down whether I am aware of a sports media conference call for journalists that attracted zero callers.
I am not. But I was once on a call that had zero questions.
James Carville and Luke Russert were promoting their sports talk show on XM Satellite Radio. I called in, even though I did not have any questions. I guess I was not alone.
After each made an opening statement, the call was opened for questions. None were asked. That was the end of the call.
Did I ever mention that in 1992 I had a high school friend working for the Clinton campaign and on a visit to Little Rock got to sit in on a Carville staff meeting?
I have no comment on Carville or Clinton or Gov. Palin, because this is not a political blog.
Click below for ESPN/ABC's news release about Magic Johnson joining the studio show, effective Dec. 25.
(P.S. YES just made official what has been suspected for several weeks, that Mike Fratello will join Marv Albert on Nets games this season.)
(UPDATE: Neil Castiglione Palin Glauber Best's concerns were unfounded. I am on the call with Magic right now and there is no shortage of big-name writers and newspapers represented.)
(UPDATE: Here's an NY Times story from Monday about that famed 1992 war room.)
Continue reading "James Carville, Magic Johnson, Mike Fratello, etc." »
My editor and the Jets were kind enough to give me a Get Out of the Basement Free card and I made my way to Giants Stadium for the first time since the Pats-Giants game Dec. 29.
That was the night I stood inches from Gisele Bundchen on an elevator. Sunday the closest I got to Jets game day host Jenn Sterger was via binoculars from the blimp-like view in the press box. She had on tight jeans with sparkles on her tush.
Anyway, it was nice seeing many of my journalism friends, including Glauber, Boland and Boone.
Here is the column I wrote about the game.
At first I felt bad about how positive it is, given the "ugly win" gloom and doom I read elsewhere. Then I remembered the winless Rams beating the host Redskins the same afternoon, and the winless Lions losing by two points to the Vikings, who got booed at home, and I stopped feeling bad about giving the Jets props.
ESPN/ABC has scheduled a conference call for Monday to make some sort of NBA-related announcement.
Hmm. The advisory didn't indicate what the news is about, but I am going to take a stab at this based on informed speculation:
I know the Bristol Stompers had been speaking to Magic Johnson about joining the studio crew for the ABC portion of the NBA schedule, so if I were a betting man and if there were such a thing as betting on sports TV announcements . . . that would be the way I would go.
(UPDATE: I was right. ESPN/ABC announced the Magic thing Monday morning, as well as a contract extension for JVG, which I also learned Sunday night but chose not to throw into my informed speculation post. I am the master of my domain. Yeah, I know. Poor choice of words.)
I wrote a long story in the Sunday newspaper about the potential impact of the ongoing economic difficulties on New York sports - particularly on teams about to move into new buildings.
Since I wasn't the first sports business writer to tackle the subject, I figured I might as well be among the last.
Thanks to the executives and experts for going through their spiels one last time for the benefit of my readers and me.
These are the kinds of stories newspaper people have to write to be thorough and thoughtful on the issues of the day. So just take your medicine and read it, OK? Then I'll leave you alone and let you watch football.
One of the execs I spoke to was the Mets' Dave Howard.
So did Roslyn's own Darren Rovell of CNBC, who went into much more detail than I did with Mr. Howard on the Citi Field suites. It's right here.
It's a good thing I lost interest in the NFL Network vs. Big Cable dispute well before Cablevision bought Newsday, as now I can honestly say I'm trying to stay out of it and no one can accuse me of shying away because of who signs my checks.
Anyway, if you're still keeping score, the NFL won the latest round over Comcast in its bid to get back on a digital basic tier. Here's the story.
Just for old times' sake, here's my (still) official position on the NFL Network: In a rational world, it belongs either on a sports tier or as a choice in an a la carte system.
But in the real world - one in which Comcast can use its leverage to get wide distribution for channels it owns such as the Golf Channel and Versus - the NFL Network deserves a spot as much as if not more than many other outlets.
At a fair, competitive market price, of course.
Wow, tough choices early this afternoon on what to watch during the Cornell-Harvard commercial breaks on Versus.
Rutgers-Cincinnati on SNY (good Carlin-bashing fodder), Syracuse-West Virginia on ESPNU (real life rematch of apparently mischaracterized 1959 game between the teams depicted in new movie about Ernie Davis), Texas-Oklahoma on ABC (will Erin Andrews be there?).
Wait, come to think of it, I don't get ESPNU. Never mind.
(UPDATE: The Giants' Kevin Boothe, the best player out of Cornell currently in the NFL, relays a cheap shot at the school via Warren Sapp in today's NY Post.)
(UPDATE: Cornell scuffling in third quarter, 28-10. The play-by-play man just said he was Rich Ackerman. Is that OUR Rich Ackerman, WFANer and loyal WatchDog reader?)
(UPDATE: The Bengals' starting quarterback against the Jets Sunday went to Harvard!)
Tonight it's hockey and baseball. Apparently the Sarah Palin puck-dropping at the Rangers-Flyers game that I heartily endorsed the other day has been blasted by many as being politically motivated because Flyers boss Ed Snider is a big Republican donor.
I don't care. Let the hockey mom celebrate hockey, doggone it.
Speaking of the Islanders, did any of you have the same problem I did Friday night, in which the first period of the Isles-announcers version of the game did not appear on the overflow channel designated for said telecast?
I am looking into that situation.
Bob Cousy - a nice little point guard out of Andrew Jackson High in Queens - is out as a Celtics broadcaster, and he isn't happy about it.
Here's the story.
This just ain't right.
Yo, MSG, stick it to Comcast and the Celtics by bringing Bob home as a guest analyst!
I have to write a lengthy story now for the Sunday newspaper, so don't come here anymore today. In fact, take a break 'til Monday. Read Glauber instead.
And by the way, this weekend we are transitioning our e-mail system from Tribune (boo) to Cablevision (yay), so don't bother trying to send me anything because the system will be out of commission temporarily.
If it's important news, send a telegram.
(UPDATE: Now they say our e-mails will work until 12:01 a.m. Sunday. So feel free to e-mail Saturday. I just won't answer.)
When I do return to the blog Monday, it will be with a great vengeance and furious anger never before seen in these parts.
Whether it takes daily posts about Erin Andrews or hourly polls about Mike Francesa's supporting cast or other cheap blog gimmicks, my single-minded mission between then and Oct. 31 will be to increase my page views for a sixth consecutive month, a mark previously achieved by only one Newsday blogger.
Yup, Glauber. Sorry, Bob. Records are made to be shared.
(UPDATE: Check out this cuddly post from Glauber. Difficult to believe this guy covers football, isn't it? Sheesh. What's next? Brett Favre crying in a news conference?)
(UPDATE: Here's Glauber's response to the above.)
Media Matters, the folks who brought down Don Imus last year, this week uncovered some disturbing radio banter in Minnesota, of all places.
Turns out a couple of clowns (jokingly?) wondered whether Earvin Johnson had faked getting the virus that causes AIDS, prompting Magic to respond angrily. Click below for all that.
One of the strangest assignments of my career was writing the news story about Johnson's announcement in 1991. Of course no one would have believed you at the time if you had said Johnson would be alive and relatively well in 2008.
The next morning I read The New York Times' account and its lead paragraph and mine differed by a single word, as I recall. That was weird. You could look it up, if you had no life and nothing better to do.
Continue reading "Minneapolis yakkers claim Magic faked HIV/AIDS" »
Had a nice chat this morning with Dave Howard, the Mets' Grand Poobah of Business Related Stuff - and former quarterback at one of those Half Hollow Hills Highs (East, I think).
Among other things, I asked about the status of the Mets' discussions regarding a new radio contract now that their deal with WFAN is up.
"Good question," he said. "We have had an interesting competitive period of negotiations. There were two other stations that have expressed strong interest that have made offers. I think we’ll know relatively soon."
Howard wouldn't say what the two other contenders are or characterize the likelihood of the Mets returning to WFAN.
But I believe one of the two suitors was WNYM-AM (970). I also believe the Mets will end up back on WFAN, as I wrote a few weeks back.
Curious readers have asked when I will weigh in on the most pressing issue of our times: What lucky guy(s) or gal(s) Mike Francesa will tab for his supporting cast.
I quite enjoyed the trio of Francesa, Chris Carlin and Kim Jones, especially given the fact they were together for the quietest three-day period in the recent history of New York sports in October.
But as long as Mike continues to bring in prospective sidekicks, I will withhold final judgment. The Francesa/Benigno pairing Friday and Monday should be interesting.
(The best possible thing for Joe, of course, would be a Jets loss Sunday, which would make Monday at 1 a must listen.)
I am not going to point out that Joe is six months older than Mike, because far be it from me to be ageist. I have nothing against people over 50. My softball team has a shortstop who is 50!
Thanks for reading. I have to go now and look into rumors Mike will bring in Bill Mazer for a tryout next week.
It's always fun to watch Syracuse sports fans suffer, which is the basis of my pick for this week's comment contest award.
Our winner is "Andy," in response to my remark in a post about the Ernie Davis movie "The Express" that young readers might not be aware the Orangemen used to play home games outdoors.
Wroteth Andy: "As a Syracuse alum, this movie also serves as a reminder that SU used to play meaningful games that they'd even win occasionally."
In November of 1979 I attended what I assume was Syracuse's last "home" game outdoors. BC defeated the Orangemen at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca near the end of a season in which Syracuse played "home" games in Buffalo, Giants Stadium and Ithaca while the Carrier Dome was constructed.
Art Monk and Joe Morris played on that team, I believe. Way more people showed up than do for Cornell home games.
I still have not seen "The Express." Evidently Universal's public relations people don't know where to find me, as I'm kind of shy and not given to self-promotion. I'll take my daughter over the weekend and charge Newsday.
So far the critics have been somewhat mixed, but mostly positive. Newsday gave it three stars. Here is the review.
http://thebiglead.com/?p=8300#more-8300
Heavens, that MMA card on CBS Saturday night does not seem to have gone well at all.
UFC boss Dana White on the EliteXC event, via The L.A. Times:
"What happened on CBS makes me sick to my stomach. It disgusts me. I've been working . . . for 10 years now to show the world what an amazing sport this is, and what amazing people are in it. It goes against everything the UFC stands for."
(UPDATE: Here's video of Mr. White - using a lot of R-rated language - further offering his opinions on this.)
Gov. Sarah Palin is dropping the first puck Saturday night at the Rangers-Flyers game?!
Wow. Politics aside - since we no longer talk politics around here - I must admit I am enjoying the attention Gov. Palin has been bringing to both Alaska and to hockey in recent weeks.
She has done a service in reminding Lower 48 dwellers that the state and sport both are as American as Mike Richter.
Did I ever mention the only time I was invited to drop a first puck? It was at the men's hockey final of the 1984 Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, which I was covering for The Anchorage Times.
Wearing work boots, I thought I would stylishly slide the last few yards into the faceoff circle. But it turns out that freshly Zambonied ice is slippery, and soon I was on my back (and tush), looking up at University of Alaska-Anchorage center (and later head coach) John Hill, who shook his head.
I assume they still talk about that night during the long, dark winters of Yellowknife and have a chuckle at my expense over a few rounds of Molson XXX.
I think I have mentioned this here before. But that was before Gov. Palin started reading the blog. So, here's a fair warning, ma'am: Either put on skates, or walk gingerly.
Holy Duff!
I did a post earlier today in response to a couple of items in Chris Botta's new blog that I mostly intended as good-natured blog give-and-take to stir the juices and give Botta some free pub.
I forgot that nothing riles local hockey followers more than comparing and contrasting the three area NHL squads.
Yikes. Both Botta and I are getting bashed over this. I promise to follow up - in the newspaper, even! - with a more carefully considered exploration of the subject very early in the new season, especially the sensitive topic of pregame shows and the lack thereof.
OK? Now let me study my tape of Game Six of the 1979 Stanley Cup semifinals in peace. Good night.
I should have mentioned this Tuesday, but better late than never:
At 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, 1988, WNBC ceased to exist at 660-AM on the dial, and WFAN took over, improving its signal and picking up Mr. Don Imus, a pivotal event in the station's history.
I was much younger then. So was Don.
Former Isles mouthpiece Chris Botta is get
