Larry Brown Sports » Policing the Media

Bengals Prove Steeler Homer Terry Bradshaw Wrong with Win in Pittsburgh

Larry Brown — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:56:27 +0000

If you were watching the NFL pregame show on FOX Sunday morning, you heard FOX analyst and former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw make a stern prediction he’d live to regret. In no uncertain terms he said the Bengals would not beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Look who’s laughing now, Terry:

Did FOX come back on air prior to the afternoon games for Terry to eat his words? Hope so because he and many other media members have doubted the legitimacy of the Bengals thus far. After this win, there’s no doubting how stout that defense is. Much like Carson Palmer said after the game, they’re not a Super Bowl team yet, but this is a good step. Heck, as crappy as the Bengals have been the past 20 years, winning the division is the Super Bowl.

Gus Johnson on Chris Johnson: He Has ‘Getting Away from the Cops Speed’

Larry Brown — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:50:09 +0000

Gus Johnson is known for some of his outstanding calls on CBS broadcasts, particularly his enthusiastic work during March Madness. In fact, it was only back in week one that he absolutely nailed the call of the Broncos last second miracle play by Brandon Stokley to beat the Bengals. While Gus is at his best reacting to the unpredictable action in front of him, he had a lapse in judgment when he used what seemed like was a “scripted” line while describing the first of Titans running back Chris Johnson’s touchdown runs on Sunday. When Chris broke away for the score, Gus’ description was “He’s got getting away from the cops speed!” Wait for the second run by Chris in this video to hear it.

Putting aside that the league is so image conscious that Roger Goodell enforces strict penalties for players who get into trouble with the law, this is just a stupid thing to say all the way around. I’m guessing that the last thing Chris Johnson, who to the best of my knowledge has never had any legal issues, wanted was to have the announcers compare his football run to that of someone escaping the police. Gus owes Chris an apology and should know better than that. Furthermore, the argument that it’s OK because it’s a black announcer saying it about another black person is ludicrous; such an analogy should never be invoked if it has no factual basis, which in Chris’ case, it doesn’t. If that was meant to be funny, I don’t see the humor in it.

Video courtesy of Awful Announcing, of course

FOX’s TV Camera Extends Onto Field, Causes Controversy on A-Rod Home Run

Larry Brown — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:53:54 +0000

Whether it’s been BCS games or baseball playoffs, we’ve often complained about FOX TV overproducing sporting events. Not to say that I or many others don’t have short attention spans, but it seems to me that along with showing you sports, FOX’s goal is to give you A.D.D. if you don’t already have it. This sentiment goes hand-in-hand with my often used mantra that less is more. Maybe FOX has finally learned that lesson given what happened in Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday night.

The Phillies were up 3-0 early and cruising until the controversy in the 4th. After a Johnny Damon flyout and a walk to Teixeira, A-Rod sliced a ball down the right field line, just inside the foul pole. In a Jeffrey Maier moment, the ball hit a FOX TV camera that was poking out over the fence (you can see it in the image above). The umpires later ruled the ball was on its way out so they awarded Alex Rodriguez with a two-run home run to make it 3-2 Phillies. The TV camera and the subsequent ruling seemed to have cost the Phillies a run. Even if the ball were heading out, there’s no reason why a camera should be sticking out over the fence onto the field. Sure it’s a million-to-one shot, but it happened, and FOX looks bad because of it. Maybe they realize now that it’s not about how many cameras you have (and at the least, to make sure they’re not interfering with the play), but about not screwing up the action. That home run by A-Rod snapped his slump and sparked the Yankees offense. They can thank FOX and the umpires for it.

UPDATE: The hit was ruled a home run because the ground rules had been agreed upon prior to the game and they said if a ball hit a camera it would be a homer.

LCS Start Times Hurt Dodger, Angel Fans

Larry Brown — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:37:55 +0000

The way MLB schedules playoff game start times often doesn’t make much sense. For instance, when the Rockies/Phillies game was postponed on Saturday because of poor weather conditions in Denver you figure they would bump the game to a time when better conditions were expected. Naturally they moved Game 3 to Sunday night because the weather in Denver is much nicer at 10pm than it is at say 3pm, right? Well it seems like similar logic was applied when scheduling a few of the LCS game start times. MLB decided it wanted to start games earlier rather than later to cater towards a young audience (supposedly). Well the price of making the games more East-Coast friendly is the Dodger and Angel fans get screwed. Let me explain.

The Game 2 start time for the Dodgers/Phillies on Friday (as pointed out by my buddy Luis) is 1:07pm PT. I realize that the recession has a higher portion of the state unemployed but come on! How can you start a freaking NLCS game during lunch time when most Dodger fans are at work? Are you serious? How about this for a change — have both games start at 7:07pm local time meaning the Angels/Yankees begins at 7pm ET and the Dodgers/Phillies begins at 10pm ET. The only people really getting hurt are Phillies fans since they have to stay up late to watch the game but it’s a Friday night. This still would work out well for TBS and FOX because they would get more of the NY and LA markets in prime time.

The exact same scenario happens on Monday hurting Angel fans on the West Coast that want to watch the game. They’ll likely be working during the 4:13pm ET start time. Someone please explain to me the logic in starting a League Championship Series game at 1pm for the local fans? Honestly, who decides these things?

Lopez Tonight Is the New Frank TV

Larry Brown — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:16:46 +0000

The MLB playoffs are here which means for baseball fans, the TV will be set to TBS for the duration of October. Anyone who watched the Twins/Tigers 163rd game on Tuesday and/or the lineup of games on Wednesday got a taste of what the next month will be like. And by that I mean a lot of blood clot medicine ads, enlarged prostate ads, Charles Schwab commercials, Ernie Johnson dancing shoes spots, and TBS programming promos. Lots of them.

Last year we had nothing but Frank TV spots jammed down our throats to the point where it was impossible not to hate the guy. It’s nothing personal against Caliendo because he’s a talented, humorous comedian, but the bosses at TBS need to understand that enough’s enough — feeling like one of those whack-a-moles at the arcade sucks. Last year they ruined Frank Caliendo for me and now they’re doing the same thing by wearing out George Lopez.

It’s only been two days of the playoffs and I’m already sick of the guy. How many times are the people going to crusade to his house demanding he start his show? And if you decide you’re going to hammer home these promos, could you at least have the decency to film a variety of them so we get to feel like we’re watching a different one each time? Also, a little advice for the TBS execs: if you’re going to hype up the show then you have to begin airing the show during the baseball playoffs while you have the audience. What’s the point of pumping us up constantly only to wait until November when your audience is watching the World Series on FOX, and being reminded to watch House instead (is that a FOX show?)? I used to think George Lopez was El Mas Chingon. Not anymore. Too bad.

Yet Another Reason Never to Televise Little Leaguers

Larry Brown — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:01:09 +0000

Seems like we come to this point every single year. Why on Earth is the Little League World Series shown on TV? Someone please explain to me why any of us (outside of friends, classmates, and family) should actually care about a bunch of 11 and 12-year-olds playing baseball? Why are regional rounds now televised? Why are their scores and highlights filling up my shows (other than because they’re ESPN properties)? I don’t want to watch these kids play just because it’s the “Little League World Series” any more than I would want to go down to West LA Little League on my free time to go watch some 11 and 12-year-olds throw the ball around. The Little League World Series has been good for three things and three things only: Danny Almonte, fat Sean Burroughs, and Derek Bell still having bags under his eyes at age 12. Oh yeah, it’s also been good for the following lesson in excellent sportsmanship, brought to you by our friends from Deadspin. This kid must have learned from Brad Penny how to pout:

Remind me again why I’m supposed to be interested in this? Does ESPN realize they’re making this kid suicidal? Do they enjoy televising tears on the faces of 11-year-old Japanese kids? I guess so.

Joe Morgan Lies Again When Clarifying Previous Lie on Sunday Night Baseball

Larry Brown — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:22:07 +0000

Something must be done to stop this ghastly man! Seriously, for anyone who said it was “mean-spirited” to create a website called Fire Joe Morgan, you’ve never watched Sunday Night Baseball otherwise you would understand why it was launched. And clearly after lies three years in a row, ESPN isn’t getting the message so it’s up to us to let them know we won’t take it. Anyway, getting to the point, last week on June 14th when the Cardinals were playing the Indians, Cliff Lee took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. That prompted commentator Joe Morgan to tell a story from his playing days about a pitcher on his team who had a no-hitter going.

Morgan said he advised pitcher Don Wilson to walk the great Hank Aaron before trying to seal the final out of a no-hitter. Wilson, according to the story, told Morgan to go back to second base, and Wilson proceeded to strike out Aaron for the no-hitter. History tells us that Wilson did indeed throw a no-hitter against the Braves but the only problem is that Morgan wasn’t playing that day which makes his little story (about suggesting the pitcher walk the tough hitter) a complete lie. Thanks to some of the blogs and astute listeners out there playing watch dog, Morgan was caught (once again) and he felt compelled to address the situation on Sunday Night Baseball between the Angels and Dodgers on June 21st. Here’s what he said:

“Jon [Miller], I want to correct something that I said last week — you weren’t here so you weren’t involved — but last week we were talking about Don Wilson pitching a no-hitter and I remember talking to him about Hank Aaron and saying it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he walked him. And he said ‘get away’ and he went out and struck him out. Well it happened in the dugout, not on the field. I got it mixed up with an incident I had with Al Hollins, who in a similar situation was pitching with me at the Giants, so I had the two confused.”

Get that, so Morgan clarifies his lie from last week, saying that the imaginary conversation between him and Wilson regarding Hank Aaron occurred in the dugout this time, not the field. And instead of just admitting that he never had the conversation with Wilson but just got in confused with an incident with Hollins, he told another lie while trying to cover his tracks. He said that the conversation occurred in the dugout. Well, considering that they were mid-inning and that Aaron came up with two outs, it would be pretty hard for Wilson and Morgan to converse in the dugout.

What did Wilson do, ask the umpire for time so he could run to the bench and go over the gameplan with Joe Morgan? Did he suddenly feel a need for sunflower seeds and bubble gum and that’s how he wound up in the dugout mid-inning? Someone explain to me how this “conversation” occurred in the dugout if Wilson was on the hill and one out away from a no-hitter when Hank Aaron came up. Why can’t Morgan just admit he’s wrong and apologize for getting mixed up? Doesn’t ESPN realize how bad he is? He tried to cover up lies with more lies. Somebody please spare us.

UPDATE: A comment from a previous story says Morgan was roaring and raring for another lie on Sunday night. Nice.

Joe Morgan Tells Yet Another Lie on Sunday Night Baseball

Larry Brown — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:00:24 +0000

This is almost becoming a habit for Joe Morgan and no longer a surprise. Two years ago, Morgan lied during a Sunday night game, saying he contributed to the Phillies blowing a big lead down the stretch of the ‘64 season as a rookie with Houston. A few problems: Morgan made his rookie debut in ‘63 and the Phillies never played the Astros during their collapse. Last year Morgan professed to be one of the stadium builders for the Cubs, saying the netting a Wrigley Field was named Banks Boulevard for all the home runs he hit up there. In actuality, the netting wasn’t put up until the end of Banks’ career and it never had that nickname. Now, for the third straight year, we’ve found Morgan lying yet again. The latest fib came right after Yadier Molina doubled in the 8th to break up Cliff Lee’s no-hit bid. As Morgan told it on ESPN, via Deadspin:

“I guess I can tell this story now, one of my great experiences when I was a young player. Don Wilson was pitching a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves. They had Orlando Cepeda, Rico Carty, Felipe Alou and Hank Aaron, of course. And they got to the ninth inning, he got two outs, no one on base, and Hank Aaron was the hitter. And in my infinite wisdom, I ran in to the mound. I said, “You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if Hank Aaron walked right here. He said, ‘Get back to second base.’ I proceeded to go back to second base. He threw three fastballs right by Hank Aaron. No-hitter.”

Sounds like a cool story, right? Well, here’s where he’s busted …

This would’ve been June 18, 1967, Joe’s third full season in the bigs. That Braves team did indeed feature Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou and Rico Carty — though not Cepeda, who was in St. Louis that year. And Wilson did indeed throw a no-hitter, striking out Aaron to end the game. None of that’s the problem. The problem, as a tipster points out, is that Joe Morgan wasn’t playing that day. Look at the box score. The Astros’ second baseman was Julio Gotay. Morgan, who was probably hurt, hadn’t played since June 3. He would pinch-hit the next two games, then return to the lineup June 21

OK, this is just like having Matt Millen, the world’s worst GM ever, occupy an “expert” analysis chair on TV — this guy has no credibility. How are we supposed to believe any story Joe Morgan tells on air when it’s been proven he’s a consistent liar? For goodness sakes, ESPN, get this guy off the air! Don’t you have any standards for truth?

The Lakers Will Win, for Kobe’s Scowl Will Not Let Them Down

Larry Brown — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:41:11 +0000

One of the big themes the media has latched onto for the postseason this year is Kobe Bryant’s attitude. Moreover, they concentrate on Kobe’s demeanor and emotion on the court. I really think it’s impossible to be a sports fan and not hear about Kobe’s “look of determination” which tells people that he “wants to win.” I feel like tossing a chair Bob Knight-style every time I hear this. Just take this opening paragraph following the Lakers’ Game 1 win:

Magic Johnson had his magnetic smile. Michael Jordan soared to the basket with his tongue hanging out. Kobe Bryant is baring his teeth and scowling in these NBA finals.

His young daughters don’t think much of Daddy’s attitude around the house, calling him Grumpy, as in the Seven Dwarfs.

The kind of stuff I’ve been reading and hearing lately makes me wonder if any of these media members or fans have ever watched basketball before, specifically the Lakers — I don’t think they have. It’s an insult to Kobe to suggest that he wants it more now than he did before, or that he’s trying harder now than in the past, or that he’s more determined this year than he’s ever been. Kobe Bryant has always wanted to win. Kobe Bryant has always worked his butt off in the gym. Kobe Bryant has always wanted his teammates to step up their game in crunch time. None of this is new and to suggest he has more desire now belittles the effort he put forth earlier in his career, including last year. Even his teammate Robert Horry said the same thing Tuesday morning on with Dan Patrick. Unfortunately the media doesn’t see it that way because they want to create an image that fits nicely into this year’s story.

Are you sure that Kobe’s not just having more success in the Finals this year because last year’s Celtics were one of the best defensive teams ever and this year’s Magic team throws Mickael Pietrus and Courtney Lee at him? Are you sure the scowl isn’t there during losses but only wins? Did Courtney Lee’s layup not fall because Kobe wanted it more? If you want to tell me that some of the other younger, less-experienced Lakers are more determined this year because they learned what it takes to win last year, then I can buy that. Just don’t tell me Kobe wants to win it this year and he’s more determined — that undermines everything he’s done throughout his brilliant career.

Sports Illustrated Places High School Sophomore Baseball Player on Cover

Larry Brown — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:12:40 +0000

I had some reluctance in even doing this post because I fear that I’m playing right into Sports Illustrated’s hands by mentioning their cover this week — the more buzz about the issue, the more people will want to buy it and purchase or renew subscriptions, the more it reinforces poor behavior by SI. Let it be known however, that I talked about their cover when Zach Johnson got the snub in favor of Tiger Woods following the Masters, and I talked about it recently when Royals pitcher Zack Greinke made the cover. To get back to it, SI decided to place a 16-year-old high school sophomore baseball player you nor I have ever even heard of on the cover of its storied magazine. The ~~athlete~~ prodigy to whom he’s compared in the article is LeBron James. I’m not sure exactly what SI’s trying to accomplish here — to prove to people that they were “first” in on the kid when the guy strikes it big, or to just start dumping all the hype and corresponding pressure on him so that they’re the first to ruin him?

I’ll admit that I went to go read the story because there was an element of shock to it, almost like hearing that a golf magazine put a noose on the cover or something. What’s so damn special about a kid who might not even be able to drive, considering he’s in a sport where most players need years of development in the professional ranks to blossom and that he’s so far away from the top level. There are two points I’d like to make here. The first is that I’ll read the magazine and talk about it anytime they have a good article — it can be something simple on a player like Albert Pujols who has earned the spotlight; I don’t want them to feel as if they need to “shock us” in order to get extra eyeballs. Secondly, I think it’s downright despicable that they’re using their powerful platform to promote and hype up some 16-year-old kid who could wind up discovering weed and booze by July, or worse yet, cocaine, crack, and tats. I’m sick of the A-Rods and Josh Hamiltons who couldn’t handle all the pressure and became either extreme unlikable or pissed everything away. If this guy really is that much of a prodigy, then I don’t appreciate respected outlets like SI ruining him at such a young age. At least let him win a Rookie of the Year award before you start singing his praises. How is it the that kid gets a cover while Jorge Posada wins four World Series rings, hits about 25 bombs and drives in around 90 runs a year for a solid decade, and never makes it into the front page? Something about that just isn’t right.

Oh yeah, and I can’t let this kid’s family get away without criticism. They’re equally responsible as SI for allowing this to happen — all they have to do is say “no” and the story doesn’t come out. Maybe they’re blinded by the fame, the luster, the hype, the buzz, and the money that can come with being on the cover of a magazine. It’s unfortunate because they’ve already lost sight of what’s most important for their son in the long run.

Larry Brown Sports » Policing the Media

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