Jul

2

Reflections on MASN/105.7

July 2, 2009 | by Ray Frager | Categories The Rest | Leave a Comment

Baltimore-centric note: After all this time that MASN has simulcast the afternoon chat-fest from 105.7 The Fan, you would think somebody would have figured out a way to stop that annoying reflection we see on TV each time the camera shifts away from the studio with Scott Garceau and Anita Marks. News updater and Third Voice Mark Zinno is kept secluded offstage in a soundproof booth. The problem is, the shots of Zinno also show a glare and reflection of somebody else in the glass Zinno sits behind. This hasn’t changed from the first simulcasts done by MASN.

For the moment, I suppose, MASN can say it’s the network’s tribute to Michael Jackson, an homage to the King of Pop’s “Man in the Mirror.”

Jul

1

ESPN untucked

July 1, 2009 | by Ray Frager | Categories The Rest | Leave a Comment

Justin Tuck

You can tell ESPN’s new SportsNation talk show, which debuts Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2, is going to be irreverent and off-the-cuff. Why? In a promo clip featuring hosts Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle, Cowherd wears a shirt that isn’t tucked in. Nothing says, “I’m going to speak my mind” like an untucked shirt.

The premise of the show is the content will be driven by what fans are talking about on ESPN.com’s SportsNation. “One of the goals of the show is to talk about things [buddies] would talk about,” Jamie Horowitz, the show’s producer. said during a conference call today.

Beadle said: “Your brain is never asleep on this show. … I don’t ever know what’s going to come out of Colin’s mouth, and I don’t think he does either.”

For his part, Cowherd said one of the things that makes Beadle a good partner for him is she “is not easily offended.”

We’ll see whether the audience feels the same.

# # #

My one question during the conference call was about how the show would handle it if the buzz on the Web site was all about a highly specious list of 103 steroid users from baseball six years ago. Horowitz’s answer dealt partly with how the media are more interested in reporting on performance-enhancing drugs than fans are with hearing about the matter. I probably phrased my question poorly, but that wasn’t really the point.

What I wonder is how much the show will follow the dictates of what the “Nation” is showing interest in, regardless of how responsible or tasteful  it might be to pass along. Just because you and your pals want to talk about it while tossing back a few, that doesn’t make anything fair game for broadcast nationwide.

# # #

During today’s College Football Live on ESPN, it was the state of Maryland’s turn in the spotlight. Early on, while giving an overview of the University of Maryland’s program, the network offered that the Terps have “been a model of consistency.”  You could make a better argument for UM having an up-and-down history, certainly when considering the past 20-some years. The Terps have had three losing seasons in their past five and posted two winning records from 1986 through 2000.

Jun

30

Why Mariotti is Right

June 30, 2009 | by Keith | Categories Internet | 3 Comments

The sports blogsphere is all a flutter today in response to Jay Mariotti’s rant against bloggers in his latest post on Fanhouse.

Much of the criticism of Mariotti’s piece is nothing new; the MSM doesn’t understand bloggers…bloggers are not journalists…the MSM should focus on doing its job.  And on and on.

Listen, I’m not a fan of Mariotti, but I do have some suggestions to all my blogging friends;

  1. Get over the criticism.
  2. You give Mariotti more attention by reacting to him.
  3. Mariotti’s contention that some bloggers need to act like journalists is right!

How can I say this you ask? Look what else is happening today that proves Mariotti’s point.

There is a list making it’s way across some blogs, many of them quite well regarded (I will not dignify them by listing them here) which, allegedly, is an UNCONFIRMED list of the 104 baseball players who tested positive as part of the 2003 drug testing conducted by Major League Baseball.

How irresponsible can these blogs be? You are publishing a list that is UNCOFIRMED! If a mainstream media reporter were to publish/blog this UNCONFIRMED list, they would be immediately taken to task by their editors.  And rightly so. Why should bloggers be any different?

Ken Rosenthal was right when he appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines when a blogger speculated that the increased power numbers of  a member of the Philadelphia Phillies may be the result of his taking performance enhancing drugs.  Speculate all you want with your friends over drinks, but once you publish your thoughts and accusations for all to see, whether in print or online, that takes your accusations to another level, one where we all should take more responsibility.

The blogger mentality of hiding behind reporting the list as “UNCONFIRMED” or citing the original source of the list should not make it acceptable to spread the rumor or innuendo.  It makes no difference whether the list is proven to be accurate at a later date.

I am not perfect when it comes to everything I write here at SMJ.  But I view this site as a journalistic endeavor and if I get a tip on a story, I will never throw out the information before it is completely vetted.  I will also never report that someone else is reporting the rumor.  If that means I am not first to report a story, that’s fine by me.  For me it’s accuracy over expediency.

Bloggers, stop complaining when someone in the MSM criticizes your work.  Find out the facts before you publish them.  Stop hiding behind your perceived security blanket called the blogsphere.

Jun

28

Doing the time warp in Baltimore

June 28, 2009 | by Ray Frager | Categories The Rest | 1 Comment

Some of you might recall George Carlin’s newscaster routine that opened something like this: “It’s 6 p.m. in New York. It’s 3 p.m. in Los Angeles. It’s midnight in London. In Baltimore, it’s 4:27.”

I was reminded of that as I drove around today listening to the Baltimore ESPN Radio affiliate, 1300 AM. This was at least the third time I’d noticed how the station runs taped network talk shows on Sunday afternoons. That would be only mildly annoying and perhaps sometimes not very noticeable if not for the fact that the tape job also included four-hour-old updates every 20 minutes. So after I’d already watched the end of the U.S.-Brazil soccer game, I was hearing how the game was about to start shortly.

OK, maybe not a lot of people listen on a Sunday afternoon and it’s a skeleton crew at the station, but you guys surely could do better than that, couldn’t you?

Jun

25

NBA draft > NFL draft

June 25, 2009 | by Ray Frager | Categories The Rest | Leave a Comment

The NBA draft is so much more enjoyable to watch than the NFL’s. It moves more quickly. The telecast has a much smaller cast. And, overall, it doesn’t have that air of overblown importance and ultra seriousness that infects the NFL’s.

The thing is, you get 25 people talking about each pick by the NFL teams, analyzing and analyzing as if we were talking about step-by-step instructions for repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. The NBA picks zip right along with comments from three or four people. That’s true although each draft selection is far more important to an NBA team than to an NFL team. Just look at the size of the respective rosters and how a single player can make such a large impact in basketball.

Plus, when is the last time an NFL team drafted a guy named Omri?





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