Hey, Knight, What's Up?

To the list of sports figures who have been less than friendly with TV crew members before becoming their colleagues, add Bobby Knight.

Knight's decision to join ESPN beginning March 12 is actually less surprising than any of those pictured with him above. Paul O'Neill and Kirk Gibson were downright surly toward camera operators, A-2s and stage managers during their playing days. Dave Winfield merely acted as if anyone associated with TV was completely beneath him.

But when their playing days were over and they became what they had once resented, things changed.

Well, Gibson didn't change much actually when he worked on Tigers games for FSN.

But suddenly O'Neill stopped sneering at the cameras and started smiling for them. Who knew he could smile? A YES Network paycheck did the trick.

Winfield changed his tune while stumbling through his taped on-cameras during his stint with FOX on the 1996 World Series. Each night as his takes numbered anywhere from the teens to the thirties, FOX crew members who had experienced his dugout behavior when he played, kidded Winfield that he was no All-Star in this field.

On the night of the thirty takes, the kidding stopped and the crew got downright pissed. Winfield repeatedly apologized, swore this take would be the one, before tripping over his tongue yet again. His career at FOX was short lived.

And what of Reggie? Nobody forgot about Reggie during his time working games for KTLA (Angels) and ESPN.

Nobody ever forgets Reggie. Even if you can't hear him.

The clip has no audio but if you couldn't read his lips, dear Reggie said "Get that camera off me or I'll f**king rip it off..."

Strange comment from somebody who always wanted the camera on him, huh?

Great guy, that Reggie.

And now here's Bobby Knight in a position to work with some of the very people he treated with disrespect over the years. He will encounter far fewer of them than he could have, because he will work from ESPN's Bristol studios rather than at game sites. Chances are though, someone involved with his inexcusable blow up at Jeremy Schaap still roams the ESPN campus and hasn't forgotten.

Need another reminder? How about walking out unprovoked during a taping and leaving the producers with no content:

Thanks to felixnightowl

Welcome to our little world, Bobby.

You'll feel at home soon. Sometimes we're not too nice either.

Name Change Can't Stop Wheels Spinning

Because there's nothing more consistent in New York sports TV than change, this probably won't raise an eyebrow.

FSN New York, which was once SportsChannel New York, and is the sister station of MSG Network, will change identity again March 10 when it is renamed "MSG Plus".

According to Newsday's Neil Best,

The channel will continue to carry programming from Fox Sports, including college football and hoops and the likes of "Best Damn Sports Show Period."

But one plan is to make the often haphazard schedule more coherent. For years, FSNY has been an odd mish-mosh, from boating to boxing to a lot of poker and a lot of old Fran Healy interviews.Another goal is to bulk up the local content itself.

That includes younger-skewing events such as high school games and more interactivity via MSG.com, as well as (next season) more programming directly tied to the Islanders and Devils.

Michael Bair, president of MSG Media, said the station wants to "frankly capitalize more than we have on the Islanders and Devils," properties he conceded "we have undernourished on some level for a number of years."If all goes well, MSG Plus will be treated as an "equal to the core channel, whereas in the past it might not have been treated that way," as Bair said.

The first difference viewers will notice is a new graphics package, including a 24-hour ticker.

That's all well and good for roughly half the year. You can call the channels anything you like but if there's nothing worth watching, nobody will watch. Owning an all-sports network in the NY tri-state area is great except when you own two of them but don't own the rights to televise baseball.

With the Yankees-owned YES Network and the Mets co-owned SNY around for the long haul, the math is very simple:

MSG+ MSG = 0 reasons to tune in from May to October.

Taxed By Kings, Flyers Hand Ducks Bill

When a team from Philadelphia makes "VENGEANCE" their slogan, believe it. The NHL, Anaheim Ducks and FSN West all do.

As is the custom when a West Coast or small market Canadian team plays in the east, the visiting broadcaster relies heavily on the home show for cameras, often employing only two of their own. Weekday games that begin at 4:00 PM don't usually generate much in terms of ratings. Broadcasters will likewise increase budgets for games within their local time zones when the audience is naturally larger.

Normally, a two-camera visiting NHL show will set up a tight (or iso) camera and a hand held. If the home show only uses one HH, the visiting show will put theirs at the near side corner opposite the home show's camera. The home show then adds the visiting HH feed to their compliment for replays and live cuts during action.

Back on January 29, the LA Kings took on the Flyers at Philly's Wachovia Center. CSN-Philadelphia was televising the game locally, with FSN West sending it back to Los Angeles. The Kings' show controlled two cameras and had individual feeds of CSN-Philly's.

However, the FSN West show opted to use two hard cameras instead of one hard and one HH. CSN-Philadelphia didn't appreciate giving all their camera feeds away without getting anything they felt was useful in return.

The game on the ice needed overtime to be decided and so did this new game being played in the offices.

And four days later on February 2, CSN-Philadelphia got their vengeance when the Anaheim Ducks came to town.

Although the Ducks were nothing more than innocent bystanders, their games are broadcast by FSN-Prime Ticket. In Southern California, FSN-Prime Ticket is to FSN West the equivalent of what ESPN2 is to ESPN nationally. Same company, different channel number.

CSN-Philly balanced the scales by only giving FSN-PT feeds of their game camera and the NHL-installed overheads above each goal. Caught in the crossfire, the Ducks' production team was left to make the best of what they had: the home show's game camera, their own tight, their own HH and two goal overheads.

Additionally CSN-Philly's actions were backed up by the NHL, which essentially means that two-camera visiting shows around the league will be sure to give a little back to their hosts.

BOMBED BACK TO THE STONE AGE

The US threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the stone age following 9/11.

KJZZ-TV in Salt Lake City threatens to do the same with our industry.


This was discovered on Craigslist:

Part-time Summer Video Work

---

Reply to: see below Date: 2008-02-15, 2:59PM MST

The Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake Bees are looking for individuals to fill the following positions: Camera Operator Instant Replay Operator Editor Techinical (sic) Director Utility/Grip

We are looking for creative individuals with experience and knowledge in shooting sporting/other events, video editing and interviewing. If interested mail your resume and demo reel to: Human Resources 301 W South Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84101

• Location: Utah Jazz/Salt Lake Bees
• Compensation: $50/event
• This is a part-time job.
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 575282979

Oh my lord, where to start?

Despite what your common sense is telling you, this ISN'T for a scoreboard feed in a minor league ballpark.

THIS IS THE REAL THING! Or as real as Salt Lake City gets, anyway (we kid, we kid).

We can look beyond someone's Utopian ideal that camera ops, tape ops, editors, TDs, and utes all deserve the same pay, as long as the rate is whatever the highest position normally gets.

Paying a utility TD money is fine and generous, but it wouldn't work in reverse. Can you name a TD that would work games for accepted utility wages?

But KJZZ takes that issue and goes about one hundred steps further. The pay is FIFTY DOLLARS per game for ALL positions! These games will be broadcast over-the-air in SLC with approximately 60 translator stations relaying the signal to viewers in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho. And that's not counting cable and satellite viewers in the region.

This ain't no public access channel. A quick look at the KJZZ line-up reveals that they have syndication deals for "Friends", "Scrubs", "Entertainment Tonight" and everybody's favorite self-promoting fraud, "Dr. Phil".

But they're going to pay FIFTY BUCKS to freelancers working on their baseball games?

We can't wait to see how that looks.

But if you can imagine, the future may look even worse.

Kim Jong Mil, leader of rogue regime threatening sports TV workers

KJZZ is owned by the Larry H Miller Group Of Companies which controls a vast array of retail, food and entertainment businesses, financial service institutions and automotive dealerships in seven western states. The Utah Jazz and the EnergySolutions Arena, plus the aforementioned Salt Lake Bees baseball team (AAA - LA Angels) all fall under the Larry H Miller umbrella.

Conveniently, KJZZ also broadcasts 40 Utah Jazz games, which includes 22 home games this season. SLC's freelance pool continues to work these games, but what about next season? What if KJZZ offers their FIFTY DOLLAR A GAME crew the home package for 2008 - 2009? Who's to say that FSN Utah wouldn't eventually follow suit for their games?

There's nothing to stop them. Utah is a right-to-work state, and while KJZZ's actions will no doubt result in a grass roots IATSE movement, there's no legal remedy against anyone not wishing to join.

According to the their web site:

The vision at KJZZ remains, "To enhance the quality of life in Utah."

Except perhaps, for the quality of life of Utah's TV freelancers.


(By the way, companies that can't spell "technical" correctly in their help wanted ads shouldn't expect to find many Mensa applicants knocking on their doors.)

Courtship Of Eddie's Father Kid Caught On Camera! Former Child Star Has Aged Well

(Thanks to Fan IQ)

A FSN Detroit camera caught this lovable lad in Toronto expressing his distaste for the Red Wings yesterday.

He probably reserves such gestures for Original Six games, so it's not so bad.

The host Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings 3 - 2 in OT. The happy tyke went home and beheaded his hamster.

Carolina 'Caines All Locked Up By FSN South, Sonics' Escape From Seattle Takes Shape

Good news for Ya-Man & friends: Carolina Hurricanes games will be seen on FSN South for at least the next five years. The new contract calls for an increase from 55 telecasts to a minimum of 65 per season. A minimum of 35 road games will be televised each season, as well as all playoff games exclusively available to local rightsholders.

The contract includes multiple options that could extend the agreement beyond five years.

Time Warner Cable and Baltimore-based MASN were said to be interested in acquiring the TV package as well, but couldn't even make a proposal to the NHL team because FSN's exclusive negotiating window hadn't expired.

Meanwhile the news isn't as good for Seattle's freelancers. Far from it in fact. Supersonics Chairman Clay Bennett gave a ringing endorsement to Oklahoma City's $120 million Ford Center improvement plan yesterday, another big step towards moving the NBA franchise.

On March 4, Oklahoma City residents will vote on a one-cent sales tax to pay for the improvements. A trial will begin on June 16 to decide whether the Sonics can buy out the remainder of their contract with the city of Seattle or if they have to play there until the deal expires prior to the 2009 - 2010 season.

The NBA would also have to approve of the relocation, which Bennett applied for last November after no new arena plan was offered in Seattle. "The goal is to come to Oklahoma", Bennett said yesterday according to the Daily Oklahoman.

For those keeping score, Seattle is the 15th largest market in the US while Oklahoma City ranks 45th.

That says plenty about Seattle's desire to keep the team and/or Bennett's judgment on where he can make more money.

Marshall Plan Creates Chaos At Key Arena

We've seen this clip posted elsewhere recently, but didn't watch it until a few minutes ago.

It seems Cleveland's Donyell Marshall didn't have his jersey on when he was sent into a game against Seattle.

"Coverage" and we say that loosely, is from FSN Northwest.

Yeah, it's funny on it's own, but there's a serious whip that's also pretty funny too.

Baaaaaaad Frog! You're A Baaaaaaad Frog!

......................The Frog ......................Courageous Cat, Minute Mouse

Do you remember "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse"? It was a dark cartoon that aired in the early 1960s featuring an odd pairing of cat and mouse superheroes.

Anyway, one of the big villians was "The Frog", who wore a derby, smoked a fat cigar and talked like Edward G. Robinson. No matter how devilish The Frog's schemes were, somehow, against all odds, by episodes end, Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse would save the day. And The Frog would be in jail.

What's this got to do with sports, you ask?

FSN Houston has evidence from last night's Warriors - Rockets game that The Frog is on the loose.

And he's up to no good!

(Thanks to Awful Announcing for the post.)

LAKERS BYNUM DROPS LIVE F-BOMB ON CHINA

The assault on our virgin ears continues!

LA Lakers center Andrew Bynum spoke a little too freely with FSN West's Patrick O'Neil during a live post game interview on Friday Night.

The broadcast was also fed live to China among other unsuspecting countries via NBA TV.



Bynum's goof was unintentional, and he was even kinda cute when he realized what he did.

This wasn't the first time a Lakers telecast has featured adult content. A promotional effort for Fox's reality show "The Simple Life" led to this infamous mid-game interview FSN West's Bill MacDonald conducted with Nicole Ritchie during the height of Kobe Bryant's 2003 sexual assault controversy.



We don't know whether Ritchie ever had her way Bryant or vice versa, but she sure as heck-fire had sex with somebody. Nicole gave birth to a daughter on Friday. Husband Joel Madden claims to be the father.

WHAT THE #&#@ DID THEY SAY?

Do you remember when analysts were always called color commentators?


Well a few off-color comments have been uttered on air lately. Disconnects between brain and mouth, Freudian slips, and good old fashioned racism popped up on no less than three recent broadcasts.



Example #1

December 28, 2007 - Atlanta Hawks @ Dallas Mavericks - FSN SOUTHWEST

Brad Davis, former NBA player and current Mavs analyst, describing a play:

“..When he has to full court press and grab and hold and everything else. And it gets to a point sometimes where the referees just get tired of f—ing calling fouls on them.”

Thanks to Sports By Brooks


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Call now! Operators are standing by.



Example #2

Kelly Tilghman, Golf Channel's main play-by-play announcer pulled a Fuzzy Zoeller last Friday at a PGA event in Hawaii.


Thanks to FAN IQ

Tilghman, according to the Chicago Tribune, "has apologized after saying during Friday's telecast of the PGA Tour's opening event that today's young players should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley."

In a statement issued Monday, Tilghman said: "On Friday during our golf broadcast, Nick Faldo and I were discussing Tiger's dominance in the golf world and I used some poorly chosen words. I have known Tiger for 12 years and I have apologized directly to him. I also apologize to our viewers who may have been offended by my comments."

Tilghman will face no disciplinary action.

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that she meant to say Woods should be chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged through Texas.


Example #3

Cris Collinsworth had an unfortunate slip of the tongue on NBC's NFL playoff game between Washington and Seattle last Saturday.

As posted by Awful Announcing, Cris is talking about the Skins pressure on Matt Hasselbeck when it sounds like he says, "When that guys' 'coming' right in her face."



Sounds like Cris may be spending a little too much time watching adult movies in his hotel room.

ANGELS ANNOUNCERS' ASSIGNMENTS SUBJECT TO SPIN CYCLE?

Back in November when the LA Angels announced their 2008 broadcasters, it was widely reported that Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler would split the season between TV and radio, calling around 75 games on KSPN and the rest on FSN West or KCOP.

Angels radio broadcaster Rory Markas, who has called games with Terry Smith since 2002, would now pair with Mark Gubicza 75 times on TV. Smith's role in the booth when Physioc and Hudler are on the radio wasn't defined. Jose Mota, whose 50 TV games in 2007 weren't embraced by the fans or the critics, would be given pre and post game TV work in addition to his play-by-play duties on the team's Spanish radio network.

However, if and when the game by game assignments for TV and radio are finally released, the 2008 schedule may not resemble what people thought it would be like back in November 2007.

Physioc and Hudler, who were cut from 150 TV games down to 100 last year, may only work 50 games on FSN West and KCOP, while calling upwards of 100 games on KSPN radio.

Meanwhile Rory Markas would go from 3 TV games in '07 to 100 in '08. Gubicza's profile would also rise considerably with 50 additional telecasts.

And Terry Smith?

He still seems to be the odd man out in this merry-go-round. If he isn't just relegated to pre and post game shows when Phys and Hud are on the radio, he'll be in the uncomfortable position of trying to be something more than an afterthought in his own booth.

These moves kind of make you wonder what the Angels long term plans are, don't they?

BOWLED OVER... AND BACK

Forgive the unexpected lack of updates. Turns out damn near everyone who contributes here was working one or more bowl games and those that didn't were still hung over from various wrap parties or just plain lazy (you know who you are).

.

Anyway, with the NFL regular season over and those meaningless BCS games behind us, things should get back to normal. No, make that things could get back to normal. No promises.

Getting almost as much attention as Britney's latest breakdown is the amount of airtime Fox gave to school bands in each of their first three BCS games. While it seems that many, many people didn't like it, WITH LEATHER may have captured the mass opinion best.

According to those counting, the band shots have increased with each game, including a jump from 58 in Wednesday's Fiesta Bowl to 110 in Thursday's Orange Bowl. Robotic and hand held cameras were dedicated not to cover the games, but to cover the bands! Although it didn't make air, a split screen showing opposing school bands was actually readied during at least one BCS telecast. Thankfully, plans to create a drinking game out of this were halted when even college students realized that they couldn't keep up.

A greater concern isn't how many band shots appear during the BCS Championship Game on Fox, but how many will appear after it.

The emphasis on showing school bands comes straight from Fox Sports chief David Hill, so the ripple effect could reach all the way down to the local level in Anytown, USA.

It has happened that way before.

In the past, Hill's personal ideas on coverage were implemented without fail by the various Fox Sports production teams. After all, a large part of their jobs is getting Hill's visions on the air. Ultimately, Hill is the boss at Fox Sports and what he says goes. Fair enough.

However, he's not the boss at Fox Sports Net and basically has no reason to care what the cable outlets do on the regional level. But somehow what he says ends often goes over at FSN too.

Go back a decade to when Fox acquired Major League Baseball. Hill was widely quoted as saying that baseball coverage was boring and the Fox would take steps to change that. Fox announcers were not to talk about anyone who was dead. Directors were instructed to cut from shot to shot, not dissolve. And the split screen, all but extinct for a decade, was revived with a vengeance.

The mighty Fox PR machine trumpeted these innovations to the press and when columnists like USA Today's Rudy Martzke bought in, every FSN employee with bigger aspirations took Hill's credos as gospel and altered their coverage of local sports.

It didn't matter that Fox Sports and FSN are about as connected as The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. It didn't matter that many Fox Sports executives wouldn't hire FSN personnel solely because they were FSN personnel. It didn't matter that David Hill couldn't name all the FSN regions, much less take time to watch their coverage. It didn't matter that while his baseball ideas may (or may not) have worked on a weekly, national level, they were disasters on a daily, local level.

Announcers everywhere were suddenly stripped of half their material. In baseball, where the past is at least as important as the present, fans watching the Pirates for example, only heard about the current crop of cellar dwellers, and nothing of the Clementes and Stargells of their history.

Executive Producers called their TV trucks from home to reprimand production teams on the spot for a violation of the cuts-only rule or to demand more split screens no matter how they actually worked in the telecast. Split screens featuring opposing players, teammates, battery mates, owners, GMs, fans, etc. cluttered the shows. Aggressive directors would cut from split screen to split screen, until more than once, the same player was on both sides of the split.

Some directors would literally come into a show determined to get a preset number of split screens on air as quickly as possible and be done with them for the duration of the game.

Fox Sports eventually moved away from such baseball edicts but it took more than two years after they abandoned the no-dead-guy, no-dissolve, ultra-split-screen mandate, for some of the regions to follow suit.

But now that school bands are priorities at the network, don't be surprised if they suddenly and similarly dominate college and high school sports on cable, beginning with basketball.

And don't be surprised if David Hill doesn't notice.

WE INTERRUPT THIS NBA GAME...

What to do when some idiot runs on the field (or court, in this case) has been the subject of debate for years. Decades ago, such disturbances were shown, including close ups of the moron wasting everybody's time.

More recently, steps have been taken to avoid showing anything to do with the incident, so directors often just go with tight shots of players, etc.

The other night in Indiana it seems nobody knew what to do, so for a while the good folks at FSN Indiana didn't do anything.


(Thanks to Sports By Brooks)

And that may be the best way to go. The glory seeker doesn't get his close up, but viewers get to watch security beat the crap out of the guy.

THEY YELL BIGGER IN TEXAS TOO

Better late than never!

The winner for most bizarre sideline interview of 2007 happened only yesterday at the Texas Class 5A Division 1 Championship Game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

FSN Southwest aired the game between (Euless) Trinity and (Converse) Judson High Schools that featured a halftime interview that bordered on the insane.


(Thanks to Skattershooting via Awful Announcing)

The poor sideline reporter said she had been doing this a long time, but we found no bio for her at FSN Southwest's web site. For the mental damage that interview must have caused, FSN should give her hazard pay and recognize her with their other on-air talent.

Don't mess with Texas or their high school football coaches!

BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO KNOW

The results are in for Playboy's Sexiest Sportscaster II poll.

Seriously, there can't be any losers. In our eyes they're all winners, so we'll list the top three like the Olympians of Sports TV they are:

Gold: Erin Andrews, ESPN
Silver: Lindsay Soto, FSN West / FSN Prime Ticket
Bronze: Krista Voda, FOX / Speed Channel

Congratulations to one and all! You've brought tons of positive and free publicity to the companies you represent. And while they outwardly claim to be insulted on your behalf, you've made your bosses and fellow corporate weasels very happy. Now may be a good time to ask for that raise.

Somebody thought it would be a good idea if we posted a slide show of the winner's photos.

We're still deciding.

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER... Except when it's been burned brown

Mitch Riggin welcomed by new friend, D. Baxter

Mitch Riggin, who spent the past few years directing Milwaukee Brewers games for FSN North - WI, is trading beer & brats for Cactus Cooler & Coppertone. FSN Arizona has hired the former TD to direct Arizona Diamondbacks games for the 2008 season. Riggin and his camera op wife Korina will relocate to Phoenix in December.

Sources say that there may be additional motivation for the change of scenery, besides spending winters in a climate more suited to people than penguins. Prior to his stint in Wisconsin, Riggin lived in the SF Bay Area, and has been a life-long fan of the SF Giants.

By taking the D'Backs gig, Riggin returns to the NL West, where he can see his beloved team 18 or 19 times a season rather than only 6 times. Riggin, a knowledgeable baseball man who unfortunately suffers from acute myopia regarding Barry Bonds, will no doubt spend many of his February and March days at Giants Spring Training camp in nearby Scottsdale asking, "Where's Barry?", to puzzled Giants' personnel.

Regardless of their reasons, moving from the NL Central to the NL West is an upgrade. So we'll say congratulations to the Riggins and hope they can stand the heat.

HDNET RECEIVES CLEAR SIGNAL FROM IATSE

Although some of the details remain sketchy, this much is clear: if somebody thought they could hire local crew for a sports remote in Southern California and easily sidestep IATSE, they thought wrong.

We’re told that HDNet found that out on Thursday at Staples Center during preproduction for that night's Ducks - Kings NHL game. In the past, HDNet utilized Pettigrew Crewing to hire and payroll any local crew for their shows. Pettigrew Crewing is one of several companies signed to the LA and SD area IATSE sports contracts, and they also provide similar services for ESPN and Turner Sports.

The motivation is unknown, but apparently HDNet bypassed Southern California entirely and crewed the show through Chicago (Carzoli). The local crew members were all IA card holders, but were told the show was non-union.

To make matters even more awkward, the HDNet show was actually a four camera dual feed with Fox Sports' FSN West, sharing Mobile TV Group's 10 HDX.

Now it gets really interesting.

The President/COO & General Manager of HDNet is Phillip Garvin, who also holds the same titles at Colorado Studios. Mobile TV Group is a subsidiary of Colorado Studios. Who else owns a piece of MTVG? Fox Sports, of course!

In fact, it was Garvin and Fox Sports who teamed to open Mountain Mobile in 1994 (coincidentally the same year the freelancers in Southern California formed a sports local with IATSE).

In 1999, Garvin and Fox opened Lone Star Mobile in Texas, and then Mobile TV Group after that.

So, an active imagination could envision a scenario that Thursday's events at Staples Center may have been the beginning of an aggressive stance by Fox Sports against IATSE freelancers as the two parties head toward negotiations for a new contract next July. If aggressive is too strong a word, perhaps it was just a test to see what would happen.

However, sources say that FSN West and IATSE have had a productive relationship, so an unprovoked act by Fox Sports appears unlikely.

An IA representative was dispatched to Staples and met with HDNet's production team. No aspect of the HDNet show was interrupted and the game was televised as planned. What happens next remains to be seen. HDNet returns to Staples Center on December 8.

Stay tuned for that.

We all know and work with lots of freelancers from Southern California. These were the guys who started the IATSE ball rolling in the regional sports TV industry. Southern California became the model for all the other regions who have unionized in the last 13 years. Many of the members were in their 20s when they felt that health benefits and pension plans were things worth fighting for.

Their fight included a four year work stoppage against LA-based VTE Mobile Television Productions, which played a key role in the eventual downfall of that company in 1998.

Now, those same guys are in their 40s, and they know those are things worth fighting for.

Maybe it would be wise not to test their resolve.