Real Sports (October)

Real Sports Goes To Jail
Gumbel Talks To Denny McClain As Part Of Fine Episode

NEW YORK (AQB)--"I didn't do this. I had nothing to do with this. Not one damn thing. I'm here for no reason."

When somebody denies something, so much and so quickly, that often signals guilt. And this is probably the tragic truth in the case of former 30-game winner Denny McClain, who denies committing pension fraud before the cock crows numerous times on the latest Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Gumbel's excellent interview with the jailed McClain is just one segment on a fine Real Sports episode (10 p.m. ET Tuesday), which includes a profile of Spurs center Tim Duncan, a probe into the unintended consequences of Title IX and an examination of cockfighting.

Yes, cockfighting.

[NOTE: This show's review is based on an advanced copy for the media, which doesn't include studio scenes with host Gumbel.]

Gumbel's piece on the rise and fall, rise again, fall again of McClain is the sad examination of a man who apparantly wasted his talents, ruined his family and damaged relationships, all in pursuit of another buck.

McClain, serving an eight-year sentence after his conviction for pension fraud, denied the latest charges but even those closest to him don't believe the former major-leaguer. "I know he had to do something, because he's in jail now and he's in jail for a long time," says McClain's former wife, Sharyn McLain, who divorced him after his conviction.

"You just don't go to jail the second time around for a crime you didn't commit," says his daughter, Michelle. "This innocent person can't be thrown in jail all the time."

An HBO spokesman said it is the network's policy not to pay for interviews - and that it didn't do so here - although it seems McClain, who doesn't permit many interviews, could have sought financial compensation for his story.

James Brown's profile of Tim Duncan reveals Duncan's sense of humor, his pierced tongue and a nice pair of pythons on Brown. It appears that J.B. has been pumping the iron that Fox NFL counterpart Terry Bradshaw seems to have been neglecting recently.

The Duncan piece was one of Real Sports' best profiles among its recent episodes because it featured comments from many people, such as his girlfriend, business manager and teammates. I have been critical of recent Real Sports profiles (such as those on Jimmy Johnson, Lou Holtz and Derek Jeter) that didn't include more voices than just the person being featured.

Derek McGinty reports that while Title IX, the federal legistration created in 1972 to ensure women have equal opportunities to play collegiate sports, has helped raise the level of women's athletics, it also has produced the unintended consequence of forcing schools to cut men's sports - instead of adding women's teams - in order to comply with the law.

Although HBO isn't the first to discover this problem, McGinty and producer Sydney Trattner present a healthy look at the situation.

Finally, Larry Merchant examines the sport of cockfighting, which amazingly is still legal in Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Real Sports uses hidden video to unveil the vicious sport, which involves tieing blades to roosters legs to speed up the fight.

Obviously, this isn't an easy to sport to defend, yet Merchant finds a surprising defender in-house at HBO - boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., who raises game fowl for fighting purposes.

Fortunately for Jones, should legislation outlaw cockfighting in the remaining three states, he has another job he can fall back on. That is not always the case with the estimated 40,000 cockfighters.

"I haven't bothered nobody in my life," cockfighter Lenny Graves says, "and my roosters are a part of my family, the way I look at it, because that's all I know is roosters.

"That'll put me out of business."

Merchant's piece is very good; however, I just wonder when HBO will take a similar look at the sport of boxing, which is corrupt, just as vicious to some, but which HBO profits mightily from.

Grade: A-. HBO takes critical look at cockfighting, when will it do so to boxing?

Play dates: 10 p.m. Tuesday, 4 p.m. Thursday, 6 a.m. Monday, 8 p.m. Oct. 21, 10 a.m. Oct. 22 and 10 a.m. Oct. 24.