The Best of Neil's Watchdog
Win Win
Win Win' is a winner
People who make sports movies have been, um, grappling with the matter for decades:
Is it easier to make an actor look like an athlete or the other way around? Most opt for the former, but Tom McCarthy, producer/director of the new film, "Win Win,'' wisely went with Alex Shaffer, an actual New Jersey state champion, to portray the high school wrestler at the center of the story.
Shaffer's only previous acting experience had been a small role in a middle school play. But he does a fine job as the initially detached teenager who wins over a suburban dad played by Paul Giamatti in the indie dramedy.
(The film is set in New Jersey but was filmed mostly on Long Island.)
"I was a little apprehensive,'' Giamatti told Newsday recently about working with an acting novice. "But he's an interesting kid. And being a wrestler, he's kind of used to taking instruction; he has that discipline.''
The wrestling scenes came naturally, naturally. But McCarthy also used Rocky Point coach Anthony Ciolino to help with the verisimilitude. Ciolino even scored a cameo as a ref.
In honor of the realistic wrestling scenes in the new film "Win Win'' and in recognition of the coming baseball season, let's look back at the worst baseball playing in movie history.
Feel free to e-mail with your own pet peeves -- Freddie Prinze Jr.? Ray Milland? Jimmy Stewart? Bernie Mac? -- but here are my bottom five:
1. William Bendix, "The Babe Ruth Story'' (1948). The Babe himself attended the opening of this all-time stinker and never recovered, dying three weeks later. Other filmgoers were temporarily sickened by Bendix's baseball skills.
2. John Goodman, "The Babe'' (1992). If the real Babe had been as disturbingly fat as Goodman, his baseball accomplishments would have been even more remarkable.
3. Anthony Perkins, "Fear Strikes Out'' (1957). The downfall of many an actor playing a jock is the simple act of throwing the ball. As Perkins discovered, it's harder than it looks.
4. Gary Cooper, "The Pride of the Yankees'' (1942). The movie remains a classic, but Cooper was no Lou Gehrig on the field, and filmmakers limited the baseball scenes.
5. Ray Liotta, "Field of Dreams'' (1989). Fantastic film, and no offense to Liotta, but my fellow sticklers and I just can't get past Shoeless Joe Jackson batting righty.
(One guy who definitely nailed the sport: Jackie Robinson in "The Jackie Robinson Story'' in 1950.)
Dislike of Barber cuts deep
Thank you to readers who weighed in on my request for help with this question:
Has any athlete in New York sports history who was among the 20 or so best players in his franchise's history been as disliked in retirement as Tiki Barber?
Short answer: no.
Some readers mentioned Roger Clemens, but he certainly is not among the best 20 Yankees ever, and he would be unlikely to be booed loudly at Yankee Stadium. I think.
Bottom line: There is no New York area player of Barber's stature who has encountered this level of negativity in retirement.
Sorry, but I still say it's out of proportion to his rap sheet.
Yankees shut out Yankees fans
ESPN2 televised Monday night's Yankees-Red Sox spring training game nationally, but when viewers in the New York area turned to the channel, many were surprised to find SportsCenter instead.
It wasn't on YES, either, because the network was carrying the Celtics-Nets game.
What happened? Because the game was outside ESPN's regular deal with Major League Baseball, the Yankees and Red Sox had the right to prevent it from being shown in New York and Boston.
Both teams exercised that right. The Red Sox-owned station NESN showed it in Boston. In New York, it was blacked out entirely.
Spokesmen for the Yankees and YES declined to comment on the decision.
Traditionally, teams are very protective of local TV rights. In this case it meant unnecessarily depriving fans of seeing the game between the ancient rivals.
Bobby V feels for Wilpons
Bobby Valentine is nearly a decade removed from his stint as the Mets' manager, but the ESPN analyst said he feels for the team's owners, who are in a precarious financial situation in the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal.
"I was associated with the Wilpons for four decades as a player, coach and manager, and Fred's love for his team and the game of baseball is unparalleled,'' Valentine said. "I think the situation is almost criminal. Well, it is criminal, and it's regretful that Fred had to be involved with it.''
Valentine said last month that he spoke to people interested in purchasing an interest in the Mets but added, "I'm not formally with any group that is actively pursuing this venture.''
