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Updated 10:15
p.m. Sunday
Notes
& Quotes II
Summarizing
The Weekend That Was In Sports Media
By George Stahl and Randy
Williams
Random
musings about what two non-fathers saw and heard from our seats
on the couch on a television weekend dominated by the U.S.
Open and the Stanley Cup playoffs. If you saw or heard something
we've missed, please tell us on the Speak
Out page or via e-mail.
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weekend's topics include: |
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What
We Saw and Heard...
Good
lines:
1. "Phil Jackson is the only guy to go from working for
two Jerrys (Krause and Reinsdorf) to working for two Jerrys (Buss
and West)." - Dick Schaap on ESPN's The Sports Reporters
Sunday morning.
2.
"Don't need any more commentary than that." - NBC's
Mark Rolfing, after the network's cameras and microphones caught
Tiger Woods cursing after a disappointing shot Sunday.
3. "Off for some relief," Dick Enberg said as cameras
showed Payne Stewart slipping into the bathroom Sunday.
4. "They're not playing on a pool table." - NBC's
Johnny Miller, after a nice-looking putt by Tiger Woods veered off
course on the 17th green Saturday.
5. "(Pinehurst No. 2) has been more dangerous this week than
the corners of a Stars-Sabres game." - Mike Lupica on The Sports
Reporters.
Strong comments:
1. Lupica compared the non-call on Brett Hull's Stanley
Cup-winning goal to Don Denkinger's call against the St. Louis Cardinals
in the 1985 World Series.
2. "Shaquille O'Neal is already formed…I don't see Shaquille
O'Neal changing his act." - Mitch Albom on ESPN's The Sports
Reporters Sunday, discussing if the Lakers will change with
Phil Jackson.
3. "He treated Bobby Orr like a disposable napkin." - Boston
Globe columnist Bob Ryan, talking about swindler Alan Eagleson during
SportsCentury's piece on Orr, the Bruins defenseman voted the 31st
best North American athlete of the Twentieth Century.
4. "Thirteen
wins, no majors. Now is the time, Phil." Miller said as Mickelson
got set to tee off Sunday.
Foresight
award:
1. NBC's Roger Maltbie
was one of the few media members to pick Stewart before the Open.
In NBC's conference call Wednesday, Maltbie named Stewart and Nick
Price as two of his favorites, saying that Stewart has a "brilliant
short game."
2. ESPN's Barry Melrose and Darren Pang, continuing their
excellent desk work, predicted overtime before the third period
even started Saturday night.
3. Clement said Dallas goalie Eddie Belfour deserved the
Conn Smythe Award, given to the MVP of the playoffs, but added that
he may not get it because of his often stormy relationship with
the media. Clement was right - Joe Nieuwendyk, a teammate of Belfour's,
captured the award.
Top
call, rehearsed category:
"Deep in the heart of Texas, the Stars are shining." -
Gary Thorne, after Brett Hull's goal gave Dallas the Stanley Cup.
Annoying:
Analyst Patrick McEnroe kissing his brother's fanny and constantly
referring to him as "Mac" or "Johnny Mac" during
Sunday's Quality Challenge match between John McEnroe and Jimmy
Connors.
Subliminal
message:
The organist at Buffalo's Marine Midland Arena played ESPN's NHL
theme song on several occasions Saturday night.
Scary
Shaft stuff:
Fox's Joe
Buck scared us Saturday with his knowledge of the movie and former
television series Shaft. Not only did he know that actor
Richard Roundtree played the title character, but he also said Roundtree
doesn't like to talk about the show anymore. All this came out Saturday
during an in-game interview with Busch Stadium organist Ernie Hays,
who used play the recognizable Shaft theme song for former Cardinal
Lou Brock.
Funny stuff:
Mark McGwire complained, tongue-firmly-in-cheek, that it took Fox
three weeks into the network's baseball schedule before televising
a Cardinals game. "What am I chop liver?" he asked.
Just a thought:
On ESPN's Sunday SportsCenter, analyst Dr. Jack Ramsay suggested
that the Knicks start Larry Johnson and Kurt Thomas at forward,
Marcus Camby at center and Alan Houston and Latrell Sprewell at
guard. Ramsay said this would put San Antonio's 5'11" point
guard, Avery Johnson, on Houston or Sprewell, leaving New York with
a distinct height advantage.
What??:
Why did ESPN use so many soundbites from comedian Denis Leary in
the SportsCentury tribute to Bobby Orr. Yes, he provided some interesting
insight from the perspective of someone who was growing up in Massachusetts
during Orr's glory days, but he isn't what I'd call a prominent
sports authority.
Top stats/facts:
1. A Sunday ESPN graphic showed that Payne Stewart has led
the U.S. Open after the first-, second-, or third-round a record
11 times. By comparison, Jack Nicklaus only lead the championship
six times after one of the first three rounds.
2. During Sunday's Yankees-Angels game on New York's Fox5-WNYW,
analyst Tim McCarver recalled that current Anaheim coach Rod Carew
had 12 bunt base hits on two-strike counts in 1977. Carew won the
American League batting title that season with a .388 average.
3. Dr. Jack Ramsay, an ESPN analyst, noted that his 1977
Portland Trail Blazers are the last NBA team to win a title after
losing the first two games of the Finals. A SportsCenter Sunday
highlight of the clinching game six of that series featured a bearded
Bill Walton ripping off his jersey and throwing it into the stands
as the contest ended.
Just wondering...:
Bob Ley, while explaining the rules of soccer during Saturday's
U.S. game in the women's World Cup, said that if a player gets two
yellow cards, then the team would "play a man down." Shouldn't
that be "a woman down," Bob?
Overall,
Ley and analyst Wendy Gebauer were fine Saturday, but their seemingly
constant comments about how important
this year's women's World Cup is and how nice and respectful the
players are grew tiresome for those who watched the full game.
Prediction:
"If the Spurs win [game three on Monday], then you can get
out the brooms," NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller said Saturday.
Hustle
award:
After broadcasting the finale of the Stars-Sabres series from Buffalo,
an ESPN telecast which ended at about 1:30 a.m., play-by-play man
Gary Thorne hustled to St. Louis and covered the early afternoon
Mets-Cardinals game for New York's WPIX.
Top
shots:
1. NBC showed a close-up of Phil Mickelson's
ball rimming out at 15th hole Sunday.
2. HBO showed Maurice Harris, a last-minute fill-in against
Jeremy Williams, between rounds telling HBO analyst and one-time
sparring partner Roy Jones Jr., "I got him, Roy." Later
in the fight, Jones reported that Harris told his corner that he
had broken his right hand. Harris eventually won a 10-round unanimous
decision.
3. NBC showed Payne Stewart's ball in a divot at the fourth
hole Sunday, and then showed Stewart's ball in a similar divot in
last year's U.S. Open. The poor shot that followed in the 1998 U.S.
Open contributed to Stewart's downfall.
On
tap:
Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird was voted the 30th best North American
athlete of the 20th Century, as voted by a panel of 48 SportsCentury
experts. ESPN will air the 30-minute special at 10:30 p.m. EDT Friday.
Do
you agree with our assessment? SPEAK
OUT and let us know.
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