WON'T YOU BE MY CELLMATE?

K-Mac: Less of a danger to this community

NBA, NHL, Spring Training, March Madness.

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All of the above have combined to make your regular contributors too damn busy to, uh, contribute.

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But because madness isn't just confined to March, we must lose a little sleep posting this so you can lose a little sleep thinking about it.

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What the hell is with these guys anyway?

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From KUTV.com

Former ESPN Producer Arrested In Salt Lake City... Again

SALT LAKE CITY - A veteran freelance sports producer who worked for ESPN was again arrested in Utah this week for violating the terms of his release -- prior to a trial on child pornography charges.

Kevin Stewart McMahan, 50, was arrested last June at the Salt Lake City International Airport after authorities reportedly found several images of child pornography inside of his luggage. Officials searched his bag after a screener spotted a lighter inside.

Authorities then had his checked bags pulled off the airplane and allegedly found nearly 50 DVDs and videos on his laptop computer of juvenile boys performing sexual acts. Also reportedly found were hundreds of explicit photographs of young boys being molested.

At that time, he was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on numerous counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and drug possession.

In the days after, a judge agreed to release McMahan as long as he complied with a series of demands. One stipulated that he could not use a computer until at least his trial was completed.

On Monday, McMahan was re-arrested after admitting to some computer use. He was taken into custody and was later determined by a judge to be a danger to the community.

McMahan will next appear in court on May 1 to face the original charges from last summer.

McMahan has not worked for ESPN since his intitial arrest, according to ESPN managers.

Just plain sad.

BARRON BEHIND BARS BULLETIN

Don't look so down, Dan. That guy in Cell Block B says he'll be gentle with you.

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Freelance CBS technician gets 10 years in Lauderdale child sex sting
By Joel Marino Sun-Sentinel.com

SOUTH FLORIDA - A former CBS technician accused last year of attempting to make arrangements to film himself having sex with a child was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Miami federal court today, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Daniel Barron, 56, was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release, the department said.Barron, a freelance technical manager from New Jersey, was in Fort Lauderdale on Sept. 29 covering a Miami Dolphins game for CBS-TV.

He was arrested that weekend in an online predator sting operation handled by the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, the department said. For the sting, a Sheriff's Office detective entered an Internet chat room titled "Open minded parents" and posed as a father with a young daughter. Barron approached the undercover investigator in the chat room and arranged for the "father" to deliver him his 11-year-old daughter, authorities said. Barron used his CBS-owned laptop to conduct the dialogue,according to an arrest report.

Barron drove to a parking lot in the 1300 block of Southeast 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale, where he thought he would meet the girl and her father, police said. He was arrested. St. Lucie investigators coordinated with Fort Lauderdale police, the Broward Sheriff's Office and U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make the arrest.

A Fort Pierce grand jury indicted Barron on charges of coercing and attempting to engage in sexual activity with a person under 18 years of age on Oct. 25.

He had been held in a St. Lucie county jail until his trial.

15 years of supervised probation sounds like he's going to be a tech manager again one day.

If he makes it through those first 10 years, that is.

Production Dilemma #12 & 35

Let's return to a subject touched on a few months ago: what to do when some idiot runs on the field/court or does something from the stands that interferes with the game.

One argument calls for the talent to vaguely state what is or has happened but not to show it for fear that giving camera time to the culprit(s) glorifies that act and gives the idiots the attention they want.

The other side would prefer showing the person, with emphasis on what happens to them once they're caught (& beaten up by security), in the hopes of causing embarrassment and deterring future incidents.

On Thursday (2/28), ESPN went out of their way to expose a disgruntled fan who threw a water bottle on the court near the end of USC's victory at Arizona.

By the way, great job by the tape op (or producer) for instantly spotting the bottle being thrown in the background of the reverse free throw shot.

Using the telestrator, analyst Jay Bilas almost circled the correct person.

Thanks to Breitbart.tv via SbB

Soccer Coverage Has Balls, Lacks Kick

Here's a portion of an email we received regarding coverage of the East Asian Cup soccer tournament:

Don't know about where you live, but around here all the Asian kids are really smart. My kid does real well in school because he cheats off of them on all the tests.

I think a whole lot of the smart Asians moved away from their country [sic] and now only the dumb ones are left to work in sports TV.

Check out this soccer game. There must of been one hell of a collision, but every camera damn guy went with the damn ball. Meanwhile the director keeps cutting to the back of a coach's head for a reaction. What, we're supposed to see his hair stand up on end or something?

Damn morons have no replay worth a damn. I get madder and madder every time they show another replay. I think maybe they got one right, but no. They don't. Another moron follows the ball.

Thanks to Fan IQ

Tough to argue with his point.

That was China vs. Japan, by the way. The goal keeper for China kicked the Japanese player in the chest.

These guys hold grudges for centuries, don't they?

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.

Trade San Diego For Bristol? Not Exactly.

ESPN has a new coordinating producer for baseball and boxing.

Nick Davis was hired away from Cox Communications, where he produced San Diego Padres broadcasts for Cox's Channel 4.

Davis' job switch resulted in this terrific write up from John Maffei of the (SD) North County Times:

He's the most-valuable person regular viewers of Channel 4 have never heard of

Working behind the scenes in the production truck, he's one of those men responsible for the station's network-quality Padres broadcasts.

But after 17 years in San Diego ---- 13 of those with Cox Communications, Channel 4's parent company ----- Nick Davis, coordinating producer for Padres baseball, is leaving to join ESPN.

"I love San Diego and I love Channel 4," Davis said. "And I'll stack our telecasts ----whether it's Padres, San Diego State, USD or the high school championships ---- up against anyone."I didn't want to leave, but ESPN pursued me. And it was an offer I just couldn't refuse."

Davis, who lives with his family in Rancho Penasquitos, will be the coordinating producer for Major League Baseball and boxing --- two sports he loves ---- for ESPN.

That requires a move to ESPN's Bristol, Conn., headquarters. But he's not going away completely.

"Are you kidding, who would leave San Diego?" Davis said. "I'll rent an apartment in Bristol, but we'll keep the home in San Diego."Part of the deal with ESPN is that I get home as often as possible. Whenever ESPN has a baseball game on the West Coast, I'll be home for two or three days before or after the game. So it's not like I'm leaving for good."

Davis was a receiver at Purdue in his college days, earning a B.A. in communications, graduating in 1983.

He moved to San Diego in 1991. In 1993, he landed a job as producer and director for programming at Dimension Cable Services in Vista.

He joined Cox Communications in 1995 when it merged with Dimension.

"There is no finer person than Nick Davis," said Dennis Morgigno, station manager at Channel 4 and the man who oversees the day-to-day operation. "This is a great deal for Nick, but we hate to lose him."He takes an awful lot of pride in his work, and it shows on the air. In a way, though, this says a lot about what we're doing. I've been saying for years that our production is on par with anyone in the country. So for ESPN to recognize Nick and what we're doing, is pretty good."

Davis said the people at ESPN are very familiar at what's going on at Channel 4."And they love it," Davis said. "I think that validates the quality of our local production, and the fact we put the same effort into everything we do."

At ESPN, Davis will have a hand in scheduling as well as working with the network's talent."My goal is to increase the presence of the West Coast baseball teams on ESPN, especially on Sunday nights," Davis said. "I want to make sure there is a West Coast presence. That's an exciting prospect."

"Still, I hate leaving Channel 4 because it has been a big part of my life. And there are so many talented people there."

"But the opportunity to work at ESPN, ABC and Disney and the long-term ramifications was just too good to pass up."

In working with ESPN's baseball announcers Davis will be reunited with Rick Sutcliffe who in addition to his ESPN gig, worked with Davis on Padres telecasts from 1997 - 2004.

You will no doubt recall a moment those two shared on May 10, 2006. Following a day of golf in San Diego with actor Bill Murray, a less than sober Sutcliffe paid a visit to announcers Matt Vasgersian and Mark Grant the Padres TV booth at Petco Field. Davis was producing in the truck as brodacasting infamy fell all around him.

The original YouTube clip from the telecast was removed at MLB's request. Thanks to thecuddmancometh for reposting the audio portion.


Rick Sutcliffe served a one game suspension from ESPN for his conduct.

Nick Davis probably doesn't have to serve notice so something like this won't happen on his watch at ESPN.

Then again, considering the cast of characters already in Bristol, maybe he does.

Watch TV Monkeys Watch Left Turns

If you had any inclination to watch something called a Nationwide Series Race tonight at 7 PM (EST) on ESPN2, you can enhance your enjoyment by watching the TV crew as they televise the event. You can even chat with like-minded people at the same time.

TV Monkeys

You can see the goings-on in the control room, audio & sub mix, etc. It's actually pretty cool.

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Of course it would be really cool if the crew was covering something other than auto racing.

Player Puked (Hokie Hurled) - Crew Choked?

Sports By Brooks posted a clip yesterday from Wednesday's Raycom ACC basketball game between Virginia Tech and Maryland.

Virginia Tech's Dorenzo Hudson, (far side, top of key) could be seen struggling to keep himself together from the game camera. However, Hudson's pregame meal of steak, mac 'n cheese, and mashed potatoes (mixed with Gatorade) was hurled onto the court during the second of two free throw attempts.

A lengthy and rather humorous delay ensued as the affected area was given the hazmat treatment.

Brooks though was unhappy with the camera coverage of the incident. It sounds as if he wanted something a little more graphic than what was seen from the game cam angle.

We got a chuckle as several cam & tape ops agreed that they have seen more than enough of each other throwing up so there was little incentive to put forth great effort to document anyone else doing it.

We do know of a clip that may be more to Brooks' liking. It may take a while to dig up, but we'll post it when we do.

IBEW prepares to negotiate new FOX contract

Just in case you have an interest and didn't already know...

FOX Contract Negotiations

Hello Everyone,

FOX Sports contract negotiations are tentatively scheduled to begin in the middle of March.

Please contact your Business Manager for details and to inform them of your ideas/proposals.

We need to hear from you about what needs to be changed and added to the contract!

Include examples of situations as to why your proposals are needed.

We have also set up a FOX Sports contract web site to send us your ideas;

www.ibew.org/fox

Should you have any questions or need additional information, do not hesitate to contact me at anytime.

Thanks!

Ro Wratschko

International Representative
Broadcasting & Recording Dept.
IBEW
Washington D.C.
202.728.6147

Speak now or forever hold it!

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

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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.)

AMPEX2000 SAYS GOODBYE

"THAT WAS MY 15 MINUTES. THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION."

ESPN ADDRESSES BERMAN VIDEOS


Just as the Chris Berman video clip story looked to be complete, a surprise twist was added to the plot in the form of an official statement from ESPN.

Several bloggers (including ProFootballTalk and AOL FanHouse) received a message from ESPN VP of Public Relations Josh Krulewitz downplaying the significance of the Berman clips.

We'll get to that in a moment.

Following correspondences with Busted Coverage and Deadspin, Ampex2000 granted an exclusive email exchange to Sports TV Inside Out. The now-legendary whistle blower who posted five of the six Berman clips on YouTube effectively bade farewell to the public during the exchange, excerpts of which are reprinted below.

Sports TV Inside Out: Your screen name - we wondered if the name came from the Ampex 2000 model VTR from 1967 or perhaps you were a tape operator in 2000 when the material was recorded?

Ampex2000: Ampex 2000 was the work horse of the broadcast industry but now it's a relic. Chris Berman was the work horse for ESPN but now is also a relic. Both don't work too well anymore.

Sports TV Inside Out: The location. You list SF. Is that a reference to Berman's love for the Giants & 49ers or do you live there?

Ampex2000: Both. The screen name and the city worked out perfect for these videos.

Sports TV Inside Out: Sexual harassment has been a well documented complaint against ESPN talent over the years. Do you have any insight into why numerous ESPN talent treat female coworkers that way?

Ampex2000: It's a male macho I-work-for-ESPN-world.

Sports TV Inside Out: You must be enjoying the attention the clips have received. Is there any particular comment (on line or otherwise) that stands out?

Ampex2000: Yes. There were many very, very funny comments. Some folks were totally off base. The best one that made me really laugh was (I'm paraphrasing) "Keep the videos coming you are doing the Lord's work.) There are some amazing people out there with a great sense of humor who get it. The ones who take it so serious just don't get it.

Sports TV Inside Out: The Christian Defense Coalition, the same group that protested in Bristol and tried to get Dana Jacobson fired, have used your clips as further evidence that ESPN is in moral decay. They called for another protest for today in Bristol. What is your reaction to having motivated this group to call even more attention to Berman and mobilize themselves against ESPN?

Ampex2000: Well, being that none of this made air the Coalition should back off. This is just an example of rude talent and how this TV business just goes to some people's heads. Most (not all) talent out there are really nice folks. Guys like Chris however are allowed to keep going because nobody stands up to them.

Sports TV Inside Out: By this point you have to figure that Berman has seen the clips and faced some questioning from his wife, kids & coworkers. Any thought as to how he may have reacted when told of the clips & how he may have explained himself to his family?

Ampex2000: Oh, I'm sure the excuse will be that it was taken out of context. You could make the assertion for maybe the edited pieces. However, it really does not change the overall tone of who he is.

Sports TV Inside Out: Were you hoping for any specific reaction (even in private) from Berman or anyone else at ESPN?

Ampex2000: No. It was more for the public. A guy like that will justify it anyway he wants.....and will.

Sports TV Inside Out: Do you know of others who have incriminating tapes
of Berman or any ESPN talent in their personal collections?

Ampex2000: I know of one. But I think this person would not release it as the finger would be pointed too quickly.

By the way, that was my 15 minutes. Thanks for the attention. And actually I hope it gets some of these bloated egos deflated a little.

My bet is audio guys will be told to close their mikes. Stage managers will keep the area clear of people with camcorders. Tapes and hard drives will be confiscated. In some cases, feeds will be hard patched and no one will really address the problem of rude highly paid talent learning to treat people properly.

As our parents use to say.....If you have nothing nice to say........Then say nothing at all.

But just after sending the above responses, Ampex2000 wrote back with the news of ESPN's official statement from VP of Public Relations Josh Krulewitz.

ESPN ADDRESSES BERMAN VIDEOS

"The off air videos are now nearly a decade old and do not reflect his typical workplace demeanor, his relationships with co-workers, nor the contributions he has made to ESPN over many years," Krulewitz said.

"Chris has a tremendous connection with sports fans and his body of work should not be judged by a few minutes of unguarded language uttered years ago. We aren't excusing the language used and will be emphasizing to our workforce the importance of using appropriate language in the workplace."

Ampex2000: This is so typical of PR departments.

"Chris has a tremendous connection with sports fans and his body of work should not be judged by a few minutes of unguarded language uttered years ago."

You mean a few minutes of RECORDED and SAVED unguarded language uttered years ago. Even though it went on many many times! Geeze these folks just don't get it. You mean if all the crap he has spewed over many years was recorded at every venue and saved and released as his BODY of work they would find an excuse as that only represents his "recorded off the record body of work" and should no be judged as his "on the air work."

Sad.....................

And with that, Ampex2000 was history.

The Other Gray's Anatomy

DEADSPIN has a poll about Jim Gray's approval rating.

Results as of this posting:

Disapprove 69.5%
Approve 30.5%

We don't know if he voted, but we know which button NBC producer Sam Flood would click.

Head on over to cast your vote before the poll closes.

Announcer Acrimony At ABC

Ampex2000 has posted his/her 5th and possibly last Chris Berman clip.

In "Chris Berman has always hated Al Michaels", we'll see our hero rehearsing his throws from the ESPNZONE in New York back to the MNF game site.

About the clip, Ampex2000 wrote:

"Chris is envious of Al Michaels. He always complains about him. He complains about all his air time and anything he has to say. This time you can see how he really feels as his dislike for Al finally slips out."

Unless more clips are discovered in Ampex2000's library, this is the end of the barrage.

Maybe Boomer can finally get off the Budweiser Hot Seat.

At Least Bloggers Know Their A-B-C s

Two weekends ago, a misspelled name on the starting lineup element slipped by an entire ESPN on ABC college basketball production team.

(Thanks to Ballsiest.com)

Last weekend, it was an NBA crew's turn to air mistakes made during preproduction.

(Thanks to Ballsiest.com)

We don't want to see what they come up with this weekend.

But Ballsiest.com does, and if they find something we'll pass it on.


UPDATE
Not long after this entry was posted, we received an email claiming that the freelance ESPN graphics operators referred to above recently worked for a sign company as well.



See you in hell.

An ESPN clip without Chris Berman!

In this behind-the-scenes look at an ESPN college basketball broadcast from Murray State, producer Major Howe explains how it's done.



Major says he would pay to see many events that he gets to work on.

Good luck getting that raise.

222 Reasons Why We Miss The Montreal Expos

Olympic Stadium: First the fans, then the team. Now even the turf has left.

Talk to anyone who travels regularly working National League baseball games. Chances are they miss the Montreal Expos more than they had expected.

Washington DC has it's advantages, but it doesn't have Youppi or over-the-counter codeine available in every pharmacy. Americans working Expos games were always doing favors for friends, bringing back as many bottles of "222" as they could squeeze into their bags.


For the uninitiated, a "222" is a pain relief pill made by Johnson & Johnson - Merck. It contains 375 mg aspirin, 15 mg caffeine and 8 mg codeine. While perfectly legal in Canada, any product using codeine in the US requires a prescription.

When the Expos left Montreal for Washington, TV folks and sportswriters alike were faced with a shortage of "222s".

Accordingly, Toronto has become more popular than ever among us TV types.

So why are we bringing all this up?

Ampex2000 has posted "Chris Berman and how to smuggle Canadian 222s", on YouTube. Of his fourth posting, Ampex2000 writes:

"Chris Berman explains how to sneek 222's in the US and the pop he gets from it." (sic)

Although they've gone up in price as the US dollar tumbled, "222s" continue to be a big reason many are quietly saddened by the loss of baseball in Montreal.

CHRISTIAN COALITION BACK TO BLAST BRISTOL

Thanks to the Chris Berman clips, the same group of people who protested at ESPN's Bristol, CT HQ over Dana Jacobson's remarks are at it again.

We just don't have the energy to deal with this.

Deadspin has all the details.

BERMAN BASHER BREAKS SILENCE (we think), POSTS NEW CLIP, CLAIMS 2 MORE IN HAND

Ampex2000 has sent another Chris Berman clip to the court of public opinion in an effort to show the world the type of person Berman really is.

The latest entry is titled "Chris Berman Schmoozes a table for friends?" and is described as,

"Chris trying to be sincere?"

Did this one seem that bad to you?

Maybe it's us, then.

It's the end of Chris Berman's reputation as we know it, and Ampex2000 feels fine.

The poster of all but one of the Berman clips on YouTube was interviewed by Busted Coverage. Ampex2000 claims not to be the poster of the original "Chris Berman Goes Crazy" clip that started this whole thing back on December 30.

We have no way of knowing if this is legit, but other than several cases of awful spelling and grammar, there isn't anything obvious to make us scream fraud.

It's worth the read. Decide for yourself. We'll wait right here.

Chris Berman YouTube Video Poster Talks To Busted Coverage

If the two not-yet-posted clips make it onto YouTube soon, it stands to reason that the interview was on the level. But that wouldn't be definitive proof either, would it?

We'll just have to wait and see.

What are your thoughts?

By the way, did you notice the Tom Emanski ("Back to back to back A.A.U. National Champions") baseball video ad on the big screen in the background?

There's truly no escape.

TAPE OP'S TAPES TELL TALENT'S TALES

Ampex 2000: 1300 lbs. worth of shit stirring!

It looks like Chris Berman sure pissed someone off!

Using the name Ampex2000, a colleague of ours has posted three more clips on You Tube that shows a side of ESPN's Chris Berman that the public rarely sees.

The first Berman video to hit the net, "Chris Berman Goes Crazy", was posted on January 30 by new You Tube member winnarwinnar. Self described as a 23 year-old from Denmark, winnarwinnar has not posted anything since, but is no doubt proud to know that in only ten days on the web, his effort has been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

Whether winnarwinnar and Ampex2000 are one in the same isn't known (yet?), but they most definitely share the same negative opinion about Boomer.

We are wondering about the name. Could Ampex2000 be a reference to the industry's first color-capable VTR model (shown above), which debuted in 1967? If so, it could mean that this person is either quite the TV veteran or at least knows something about TV history.

However, these clips (and "Chris Berman Goes Crazy") were recorded during the 2000 NFL season, so perhaps the name was simply derived from the year combined with this person's craft.

Anyway, we'll see Chris Berman from the ESPNZONE restaurant in New York, where he hosted ABC's Monday Night Football.

"Chris Berman the WINE maven makes a pass" is the title of this first clip. Ampex2000's description:

"Chris Berman again shows why he is so obnoxious and is disliked by so many."

There is a well-known co-star in this piece that should not go uncredited. The object of Boomer's flirtation is none other than Philadelphia's own Becky Solomon. This highly regarded stage manager has spent much of her career shuttling between gigs in NYC and Philly. Becky no doubt has been the intended receiver of many passes over the years from numerous announcers covering every local and network-televised sport.



Ampex2000's description of clip #2, "Chris Berman the Linguist......nice mouth!" (sic), is clear and concise:

"Chris Berman again showing why he is the master."

The third entry from Ampex2000 is "Chris Berman Complains Again... about the prompter" in which,

"Chris Berman shows again how spoiled and rude he is".

Will there be more entries to follow?

Will any other notable announcers feel the wrath of Ampex2000?

The answer is on tape.

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.