Real
Sports Not On Its Game
June
Show Lacks Journalistic Punch
By
Randy Williams
NEW
YORK (AQB)--The latest edition of HBO's award-winning Real
Sports with Bryant Gumbel features some interesting stories
but falls quite a bit short of the show's best efforts.
Below is a breakdown of each of the show's segments - a profile
of former tennis great John McEnroe, a look at
the controversy surrounding baseball umpires,
an examination of sexual harassment in women's sports
and a feature on star tennis sisters Venus and Serena
Williams.
The
profile of McEnroe includes an interesting interview by Jim
Lampley and some great footage of some of his greatest triumphs
(and arguments). In the piece, McEnroe talks of his love for art
and about his rivalry with Jimmy Connors, while campaigning for
a doubles spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team.
Though the segment talks about McEnroe's oft-controversial image,
it fell short in one critical area. Yes, it mentioned McEnroe
recently did something that "he swore he'd never do"
- broadcast a women's tennis match - but it failed to discuss
his sometimes contentious relationship with fellow tennis analyst
Mary Carillo.
In 1993, Carillo and McEnroe engaged in a war of words after McEnroe
said that women were less qualified than men to broadcast men's
tennis. Such comments by McEnroe sparked much controversy in the
tennis world, though they certainly weren't the first politically
incorrect remarks made by Johnny Mac.
Still, McEnroe offers some intriguing thoughts about what's wrong
with the game, even suggesting that the sport's structure favors
lesser players.
"I think one of the things they need is someone to look them
in the eye and sort of be a liaison perhaps. Commissioner
McEnroe is available," he said.
The
show's top feature is Frank Deford's Umps Ire, detailing
the controversy surrounding Major League umpires.
The
segment includes revealing interviews with Richie Phillips, leader
of the umps' union, and Sandy Alderson, baseball senior vice president
of operations, but boils down to a few key issues, including the
changing direction of the strike zone.
Umpire Jerry Crawford insists the strike zone hasn't changed during
his 22 years as an umpire, a claim disputed by baseball analyst
Tim McCarver, and Alderson says "I got worried when I
found out that players were more concerned with who was umpiring
the next day, than they were about who was pitching the next
day. OK? When you get to that point, you've got a problem."
In particular, Deford does a fine job of eliciting information
from Phillips without seeming combative. My only complaint is
the lack of interviews with active major league players.
Then again, players may have been hesitant to appear on the show,
fearing repercussions at the plate.
An interesting stat: Under Phillips' leadership, the umpires
have gone from a maximum salary of $40,000 in 1978 with no in-season
vacation to $250,000 with five weeks of off-time in 1999.
Meanwhile, Derek McGinty's piece on Venus
and Serena Williams, and their father, Richard, was decent
but not great.
Just once I'd like to see a story on the siblings that doesn't
focus on their father, who, despite being a consistent liar
and a crackpot, appears to have the best interests of his children
in mind. Yes, he's made statements that could best be described
as racist but I don't care about him: Tell me about the athletes!
McGinty's interviews show some of the sisters' personalities -
they giggle as they respond to questions - but aren't extremely
revealing. I think he took it easy on the sisters - laughing
after Serena admitted she intentionally hit Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
with the ball in a match - and could've done a much better job
in querying Venus and Serena on their perceived aloofness.
Not a stellar job by Mr. McGinty but, on the upside, at
least he lost the brutal hat he wore in last month's show.
The final segment, Bernard Goldberg's feature
on sexual harassment in women's sports, is the show's worst
effort but it's not Goldberg's fault.
For the life of me, I can't understand why the program focused
on incidents that haven't been more highly publicized.
Granted, it's a good idea to show viewers lesser-known cases to
indicate the wide range of the problem, but the program glossed
over accusations leveled at legendary North Carolina women's soccer
coach Anson Dorrance, a case that has been heavily reported
in the past year.
In
fact, HBO's partner, Sports Illustrated, delivered
a revealing feature on Dorrance in the Dec. 7 issue. How hard
would it have been for HBO to have used SI's S.L. Price, who wrote
the Dorrance article, to help in the reporting of this piece?
A
disappointing piece on a subpar show.
Grade:
C. Quite average.
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