HBO Sports
Aug
02
Hard Knocks Set to Premiere This Month
Now that August is here, it means that the National Football League isn’t far behind. Training camps are underway all over the country and that’s especially true for the Miami Dolphins, the subject of this year’s edition of HBO/NFL Films’ Hard Knocks.
The premiere is set for August 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
With Chad “Don’t Call Me Ochocinco” Johnson and new coach Joe Philbin in the mix, there should be plenty of good television over the span of five weeks.
Let’s look at the HBO press release.
HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE MIAMI DOLPHINS
KICKS OFF ITS FIVE-EPISODE SEASON AUG. 7, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBOHBO Sports, in association with NFL Films and the Miami Dolphins, provides an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League in HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE MIAMI DOLPHINS.
The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround reality series – begins its five-episode seventh season, presented in HD, TUESDAY, AUG. 7 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other hour-long episodes debut subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, culminating in the Sept. 4 season finale.
Episode #1
Debut: TUESDAY, AUG. 7 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: Aug. 8 (7:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 9 (1:30 p.m., 2:10 a.m.), 10 (9:00 p.m., midnight), 11 (11:00 a.m., 11:30 p.m.), 12 (8:00 a.m.) and 13 (10:00 a.m., 11:15 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Aug. 10 (6:25 p.m.), 12 (11:45 p.m.) and 23 (11:15 p.m.)
The new identity of the Miami Dolphins under first-year head coach Joe Philbin begins to take shape as the team assembles for the start of training camp in Davie, Fla. Coaches take the players through week one of on-field drills.
A 30-person NFL Films crew is living at the Dolphins training camp, shooting up to 1,200 hours of video over the course of the series. Camera and sound crews are given unrestricted access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training facilities, living quarters and practice fields
That’s it.
Jul
18
Your First Look at Hard Knocks with the Miami Dolphins
This from HBO Sports and NFL Films. Check it out.
Hard Knocks with the Miami Dolphins premieres on HBO in August.
Jul
17
Bryant Gumbel’s Closing Comments on HBO’s Real Sports, July 17, 2012
HBO Sports has sent us an advance transcript of tonight’s Real Sports closing commentary by Bryant Gumbel. Often, Bryant’s words are to the point and tonight, he’s practically spot on.
Here he takes on Reggie Jackson’s recent comments about Alex Rodriguez and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Then Bryant talks about the HoF being a place of honor and not necessarily statistics. And with the Steroids Era players becoming eligible starting next year, Bryant gives voters a warning.
BRYANT GUMBEL CLOSING COMMENTARY
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
EPISODE #184
AIRS TONIGHT (7/17) @ 10:00 PM ET/PT“Finally tonight comes word that Reggie Jackson has wisely decided to pass on this weekend’s induction ceremonies at Cooperstown. You may have seen that Jackson recently caused a stir by suggesting that a variety of baseball notables didn’t merit inclusion in the Hall of Fame. Now, because his judgment was personal and his timing terrible, Reggie has since retreated from his stated views. But here’s hoping that the gist of what he said isn’t altogether lost on the Hall’s voters.
You see Reggie was basically right in contending that the hall should be special and its doors should not be opened just because someone stuck around long enough to collect 3,000 hits or 300 wins. Yes, the numbers are proof of some very good players. But as the former star pitcher Jim Kaat has often noted so astutely, Cooperstown’s supposed to be a Hall of Fame – not a hall of achievement.
If the voters are really so obsessed with honoring guys with the numbers, they’d be wise to start rethinking the exclusion of those megastars linked to steroids, and do it quickly. Because the next Cooperstown ballot will, for the first time, include among others, both the seven-time MVP Barry Bonds and the seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens. And while both men have a suspect past, it’s going to be hard to argue they don’t deserve a bust in Cooperstown. After all, a hall of fame that somehow excludes the game’s homerun king and its most honored pitcher and its all-time hits leader, would really be making a mockery of itself.”
That’s all. Real Sports airs tonight at 10 ET/PT
Jul
16
Real Sports Back on Tuesday, July 17
HBO’s Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, returns Tuesday with a profile of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Matt Kemp, a story about 1996 US Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu’s long-lost sister and an update on band hazing at Historically Black College and Universities. While 20/20 already did a story on Moceanu and her sister, I’m sure HBO’s version will have something 20/20 did not cover.
Here’s the press release from HBO.
GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH DODGERS ALL-STAR MATT KEMP;
TELLS THE IMPROBABLE STORY OF TWO GYMNASTS; AND
REEXAMINES MARCHING BAND HAZING AT HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS JULY 17, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBONow in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 184th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, JULY 17 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: July 17 (3:10 a.m.), 19 (2:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), 22 (1:00 p.m.), 23 (1:00 a.m.), 25 (10:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.), 28 (10:45 a.m.), 30 (11:30 p.m.) and 31 (6:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: July 18 (5:15 p.m., 1:50 a.m.), 20 (9:00 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 24 (2:00 a.m.), 26 (2:00 p.m., 12:30 a.m.) and 29 (7:00 p.m., 5:10 a.m.), and Aug. 1 (5:30 p.m.) and 4 (11:25 a.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: July 23-Aug. 13. The show is also available on HBO GO.
Segments include:
*The Toast of Tinseltown. Boasting a new $160 million contract, emerging superstar Matt Kemp is the heart and soul of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise. Kemp, 27, led the National League in home runs, runs batted in and runs scored last year, and was recently chosen to be a starting National League All-Star for the second straight season, despite a nagging hamstring injury that will keep him from playing in Kansas City. This current success stands in sharp contrast to his humble Oklahoma upbringing. In a REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Jon Frankel talks with Kemp about how the Dodgers have put their faith in him as a leader, and the pressures that come with that vote of confidence.
Producer: Michael Tolajian.
*Separated. Born without legs in the late 1980s, Jen Bricker was promptly given up for adoption by her parents. However, her foster parents treated her like a normal child, and she grew up in Illinois playing sports, despite her physical limitations. Around the same time, Romanian-American Dominique Moceanu was emerging as one of the United States’ best young gymnasts as part of the “Magnificent Seven” who captured team gold at the 1996 Atlanta games. Aware of her own Romanian heritage, Bricker rooted for Moceanu that summer, and, inspired by her idol, began competing and excelling in the sport. Recently, the two discovered an improbable bond much more profound than their shared interest in gymnastics, which would change both of their lives forever. REAL SPORTS correspondent Bernard Goldberg sits down with the two women to hear their moving story.
Producer: Joe Perskie.
*The Deadly Tradition. Among the most entertaining spectacles in college football is the game-day performance of the school band. Shockingly, behind the tradition and prestige of marching bands at historically black universities is a longstanding ritual of violent hazing, where bandmates hit, strike and even beat their counterparts. Two years ago, REAL SPORTS correspondent Frank Deford revealed some of the troubling incidents that led to the suspension of students and band directors, with victims filing and winning lawsuits. Yet the callous practice continued largely unabated. Last fall, at Florida A&M University, which was included in the Nov. 2010 report, drum major Robert Champion died after brutal hazing. Now, Deford leads HBO’s cameras back to the campuses to ask: Despite countless warnings, why does this dangerous initiation custom continue?
Producers: Josh Fine, Nick Dolin, Jake Rosewasser.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 15 times and has received 23 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. In January, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. In April, the show received the Emmy® in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism for Bernard Goldberg’s 2011 report on the college bowl game money trail.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That is all.
Jul
15
A Few Sunday Sports Media Thoughts
Let’s provide a few sports media thoughts on this Sunday. They’ll be in bullet form.
- Last Thursday’s release of Louis Freeh’s report on Penn State University’s conduct in the Jerry Sandusky scandal was the sports media’s version of the Obamacare Supreme Court decision. Unlike the Obamacare decision, no media outlet made errors in reporting. But there were a couple of errors in judgment in the aftermath.
First was allowing Matt Millen to go solo on SportsCenter to spout freely to defend Joe Paterno and his legacy. ESPN should have had one of its legal experts like Roger Cossack to discuss the contents of the reports. To let Millen go on to defend Paterno right after the report’s release was irresponsible. If ESPN was going to have Millen on, it needed to have an opposing viewpoint accompany him. Bad decision by ESPN.
Second was crackpot Bill James originally stating on his own site and then again on ESPN Radio’s Doug Gottlieb Show on Saturday that the Freeh Report had somehow exonerated Paterno. James currently works for the Boston Red Sox in an advisory role and while he did not make those statements representing the team, they have a conundrum knowing that the calls for James’ firing have already begun. Someone should have corralled James before he went on ESPN Radio and embarrassed himself. How James could believe the report that report exonerated Paterno is beyond belief. The Red Sox will have to take action on James. And no, this is not a First Amendment issue. Under an organization’s employe, that organization can fire someone for actions or statements it deems offensive or contrary to its values.
The Paterno story and its effects on Penn State will be going for a while, I’m afraid.
- I’m a fan of HBO’s boxing coverage from Jim Lampley to Larry Merchant, Emanuel Steward and Harold Lederman, but when it comes to Max Kellerman, the man is abrasive, obnoxious and a charlatan. Often, he repeats what Jim Lampley has already said. Larry Merchant is much better in the third analyst role. How Kellerman has worked for ESPN, Fox Sports Net and HBO is beyond me.
- After watching a few MLS and US Soccer games on NBC Sports Network, I’ve become a fan of how Arlo White and Kyle Martino call contests. With White in the traditional commentary box and Martino down on the field, the two have very good chemistry. I look forward to having them call Olympic Soccer in the UK at the end of this month.
- If I’m on a baseball team playing on a Fox Saturday Baseball game that’s being called by Kenny Albert, I’m calling in sick. In 2010, Kenny called two marathon games, a 20 inning affair between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals and a 13 inning contest between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. Then on Saturday, Kenny had another 13 inning game, this time between Detroit and Baltimore. Kenny is truly a baseball Marathon Man.
That will conclude the thoughts for today.
Jun
25
Our Monday Linkage
Let’s do some links on a rainy Monday in Southern New England.
Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at NFL Network’s new morning show.
Michael says ESPN has not confirmed whether Chris Berman will call a Monday Night Football game on the opening weekend of the season.
John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that CBS is about 80% sold for the Super Bowl.
Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal says Pepsi has signed a deal to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show.
Mike Ozanian of Forbes notes that the Miami Heat is on the verge of getting a huge deal with Fox Sports Florida.
Former ESPN First Take co-host Dana Jacobsen writes in her blog that she was molested as a child. Courageous for her to speak publicly about this.
Scott Roxborough and Stuart Kemp of the Hollywood Reporter note that yesterday’s Italy-England EURO 2012 Quarterfinal game became the highest-rated and most watched game of the tournament in Europe.
Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at ESPN going all in at Wimbledon.
Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age wonders now that LeBron James has won a championship, will he reach Michael Jordan levels in marketing?
Staci D. Kramer of paidContent says ESPN’s streaming of the NBA Finals drew a decent audience.
Ed Sherman from the Sherman Report writes that sportswriter Frank Deford will appear on tonight’s Colbert Report.
The Big Lead looks at alleged bias by the HBO Boxing crew from the Manny Pacquaio-Timothy Bradley fight.
Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing reviews the train wreck that was Charlie Sheen’s guest appearance on Fox Saturday.
Matt analyzes the moves by CBS and NBC to create their own sports radio networks.
Dylan Murphy at SportsGrid says a French soccer player cursed out a reporter after the team’s loss at EURO 2012 last week.
Also from SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty notes that Oprah Winfrey will interview LeBron James and the Miami Heat this weekend which has train wreck potential written all over it.
Evan Weiner at Examiner.com writes that the NFL has a long way to go to get a foothold in Europe.
Newsday’s Neil Best talks with some of the people who have worked at WFAN during its past 25 years.
The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says college presidents’ pleas to pray for the Jerry Sandusky abuse victims ring hollow. Did Phil want them to go to Jerry Sandusky’s jail cell and shoot him dead?
And Phil goes after his favorite target, WFAN’s Mike Francesa.
Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY talks with WFAN Operations Manager Mark Chernoff about the nation’s oldest radio station turning 25.
Jerry says a 1010 WINS sports anchor wants to go after those who mispronounce “Wimbledon”.
Bob’s Blitz has the WFAN 25th Anniversary lineup for this Sunday.
Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says a New York-Penn League minor league baseball team won’t have a radio partner this year.
Greg Connors of the Buffalo News talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that ESPN will be providing a lot of tennis action over the next fortnight.
At Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks talks with Danica Patrick about her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR.
Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes about ESPN’s extensive Wimbledon coverage.
Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has the sports calendar for this week.
Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune says all of San Diego State’s football games will be seen on TV, the question is where?
Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail suggests that the NHL expand Hockey Night in Canada to Sundays.
Raju Mudhar with the Toronto Star writes about technology and sports melding together.
At Frontstretch, Amy Henderson writes that TV is actually hurting NASCAR and turning fans off.
Back to Paul M. Banks at the Sports Bank and he has video of ESPN’s Jenn Brown taking batting practice at the College World Series.
MediaRantz reviews WFAN at 25.
MediaRantz says noted Florida sports radio bad boy Dan Sileo could be headed to the new CBS Sports Radio.
Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says NBC’s shuffle of the NHL Draft wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
Sports Media Watch says the NBA Finals’ ratings were down from last year.
SMW writes that MLB on Fox took a hit opposite the U.S. Open.
But SMW says this past weekend, MLB on Fox did significantly better.
Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo’s The Dagger blog writes that ESPN expects to replace analyst Hubert Davis with Jalen Rose on College GameDay.
Paul Magno at Yahoo says boxing may return to network TV as Oscar de la Hoya tries to bring a fight to CBS.
Kris Hughes at Rant Sports asks if Time Warner Cable could purchase the Longhorn Network from ESPN?
Gaslamp Ball talks with the head of Fox Sports San Diego.
And that will do us for today.
Jun
19
Bryant Gumbel’s Closing Comments on Real Sports, 06/19
Tonight, Bryant Gumbel went after some athletes whom he felt got their comeuppance. He didn’t spare any words in going after Terrell Owens, Floyd Mayweather, Curt Schilling and Manny Ramirez. Sometimes Bryant’s comments are way out in left field, but tonight, I agree with him.
Overall, this edition of Real Sports was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.
Here are Bryant’s comments:
Finally tonight, it may be time to question that adage that “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”, because some famous jocks who’ve been infamous jerks for a long time have finally been getting their comeuppance … and all in the last three weeks.
On May 30th, the veteran diva Terrell Owens, got kicked to the curb by the latest and probably last team that tired of his shenanigans… an indoor league football team at that.
On June 1st, Floyd Mayweather, the fighter who found it easier to get physical with the mother of his children than with Manny Pacquaio finally went to jail to begin serving a sentence for domestic battery.
On June 7th, we learned that the FBI is investigating former pitcher and fulltime blowhard Curt Schilling. A tea party guy, he evidently hates gov’t handouts, except when they’re to him. Schilling’s company, it seems, forfeited on a sweetheart Rhode Island state loan, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
On June 13th, the US anti-doping agency effectively said what so many have long suspected…that Lance Armstrong is a fraud and they’ve officially brought charges that may at long last cycle him out of the spotlight.
And on June 15th, Manny Ramirez, the 40 year old slugger whose been a major league pain in the ass for years, was given his release and would appear to be finally on his way out of baseball.
In the grand scheme of things, the problems of all these guys may not amount to much, unless you believe in karma…in which case, congratulations are in order, because you’re having one hell of a month.
And that’s our show for this evening. For all the good folks here at Real Sports, I’m Bryant Gumbel. Thanks so much for being with us and good night.
Very strong words from Bryant tonight. I particularly like what he said about Curt Schilling. No, I’m not a bitter Rhode Island taxpayer, not at all. Anyway, Bryant’s commentary gets an A.
Jun
18
Real Sports Returns Tuesday, June 19
The Emmy Award-winning Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel returns on Tuesday with three new stories and one update. One story will have an interview with former NBA coach Phil Jackson who talks about whether he’ll return to the league. Two stories have Olympic themes and one will focus on one of the most dangerous races in the world.
Lots of interesting stories. HBO gives us a preview.
Now in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 183rd edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, JUNE 19 (10:00 p.m. ET/PT & 9:00 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: June 19 (2:25 a.m.), 22 (10:30 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), 24 (10:30 a.m.), 25 (3:30 p.m.), 27 (6:00 p.m., 1:15 a.m.) and 30 (10:00 a.m.), and July 2 (11:30 p.m.) and 5 (7:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 20 (2:00 p.m.), 23 (9:20 a.m.) and 29 (6:00 a.m., 8:00 p.m.), and July 1 (4:15 p.m.), 3 (8:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.) and 9 (11:00 a.m., 11:00 p.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: June 25-July 16
Segments include:
*Philling Time. He’s won more championships than any other professional team coach in history. So why is Phil Jackson relaxing at his secluded house in Montana, instead of issuing orders from the bench of an NBA team? In an exclusive interview with the 11-time title winner, REAL SPORTS correspondent Andrea Kremer goes to Jackson’s rarely-seen compound in Big Sky country to discuss what’s ahead in his life and whether a return to an NBA team is in his future.
Producer: Nick Dolin.
*Holley Mangold. At 5’8” and 350 pounds, Holley Mangold isn’t your typical world-class athlete. Loud and bawdy, the 22-year-old won a spot on the U.S. Olympic weightlifting team after hoisting 320 pounds in the clean-and-jerk event. Sitting in the stands cheering her on was older brother Nick Mangold, All Pro center for the New York Jets. The siblings grew up playing all kinds of sports, but when Holley saw Nick play Pee Wee Football, she followed suit, playing offensive line from grade school through high school and becoming the first high-school female ever to play from the line of scrimmage in Ohio. When she took up weightlifting in college, however, she really set herself apart, ascending to the top of the sport in only four years. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated report, correspondent Mary Carillo catches up with Holley Mangold as she prepares for the fast-approaching London Olympic Games.
Producer: Lisa Bennett.
*Isle of Man. The Isle of Man, a 226-square mile island in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland, hosts motorcycle racing’s most prestigious event, the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, but the competition has been under heavy scrutiny for safety concerns since it began in 1907. The Snaefell Mountain Course, where the race is held during the final week of May and the first week of June, has resulted in 237 deaths, and the event was stripped of its world championship status in 1976. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel travels to the British Isles to learn more about this prominent, very dangerous, race.
Producer: Tim Walker.
*Lopez Lomong. Lopez Lomong is considered one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” After being captured by rebel soldiers during a brutal Sudanese civil war and suffering through weeks of watching others die at their camp, the six-year-old ran for three days until he reached Kenya, where he was placed in a refugee camp. Lomong spent the next ten years of his life as a refugee before being adopted by a rural New York family. He subsequently emerged as an elite talent in long-distance running, earning a scholarship to Northern Arizona University, where he won two NCAA championships, and a chance to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
When REAL SPORTS last talked to Lomong, he was training for the 2008 Games, at which he was chosen by his fellow Americans to carry the U.S. flag in the opening ceremonies and reached the semi-finals of the 1500M. Correspondent Mary Carillo reconnects with the 27-year-old as he prepares for the 2012 London track trials.
Producers: Jake Rosenwasser, Mike Sullivan.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 15 times and has received 23 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. In January, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. In April, the show received the Emmy® in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism for Bernard Goldberg’s 2011 report on the college bowl game money trail.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That’s all.
Jun
12
HBO To Re-Air Controversial Pacquaio/Bradley Fight
This Saturday, HBO Sports will air the controversial Manny Pacquaio-Tim Bradley fight that ended in a split decision for Bradley. And while fans watch the fight as it airs, they’ll be able to vote at HBO’s Facebook page to determine who won. After the re-air and the live Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.-Andy Lee, HBO will deliver the results of the fan voting.
It all begins at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Take a look at the HBO announcement.
It’s a special edition of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® when HBO Sports presents MANNY PACQUIAO VS. TIMOTHY BRADLEY, the exclusive replay of the world welterweight title fight, SATURDAY, JUNE 16 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team, which was ringside for the live coverage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, calls all the action. The telecast will be available in HDTV.
In his first fight of 2012, carried live Saturday, June 9 on HBO Pay-Per-View®, Pacquiao put his 147-pound title on the line against undefeated challenger Timothy Bradley Jr. The hard-fought battle resulted in Bradley being awarded a split-decision victory, which triggered a hot debate over the three judges’ ringside scoring.
Viewers will be able to watch the fight from bell-to-bell, judge the action for themselves and cast their votes at the conclusion of the Pacquiao-Bradley replay by logging on to Facebook.com/HBOBoxing. HBO Sports will reveal the results later that evening during the previously announced WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING middleweight title showdown between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee from El Paso (presented live ET/tape-delayed PT).
Other HBO playdates for both fights: June 17 (9:45 a.m.) and 18 (11:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates for both fights: June 17 (4:45 p.m.) and 19 (midnight)
Following the doubleheader, a new edition of “The Fight Game with Jim Lampley” debuts (midnight-12:30 a.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT) from the Sun Bowl in El Paso.
® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.
That does it.
May
29
HBO & NFL Films Announce Hard Knocks with the Miami Dolphins
After getting rejected left and right by teams and after a season’s absence, HBO and NFL Films have found a willing partner in the Miami Dolphins for Hard Knocks.
While you might think the Dolphins might be dull after the last edition of Hard Knocks with media darlings, the New York Jets in 2010, you think wrong. With a new coach in Joe Philbin and a potential quarterback controversy and an outspoken owner, the Dolphins might give HBO some juice.
The series will debut on August 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT marking the first time Hard Knocks will premiere on Tuesday each week instead of the customary Wednesday nights.
Let’s take a look at the HBO/NFL Films announcement plus a brand spanking new logo for the series.
HBO Sports, NFL Films and the Miami Dolphins team up for an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League when HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE MIAMI DOLPHINS debuts in August. The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround reality series – kicks off its five-episode seventh season, presented in HD, TUESDAY, AUG. 7 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other hour-long episodes debut subsequent Tuesdays at the same time, with an encore play every Wednesday in August at 11:00 p.m., culminating in the Sept. 4 season finale.
“We are delighted that HARD KNOCKS will be returning this summer and placing the spotlight on the Miami Dolphins, a venerable franchise that had an exciting off-season activity,” says Ken Hershman, president, HBO Sports. “This marks the first time that the series has featured a first-year head coach (Joe Philbin) and we are extremely grateful to both Coach Philbin and the entire organization for agreeing to participate. As always, there will be plenty on the line for veterans, free agents and rookies.”
“On the 40th anniversary of the greatest season in NFL history–Don Shula’s perfect ’72 Dolphins– it is perfectly fitting that Hard Knocks is heading to Miami to capture the start of a new era for one of the league’s proudest teams,” says NFL Films president Steve Sabol. “After Hard Knocks’ hiatus last summer, I know our team at NFL Films can’t wait to get back on the field.”
The cinema verité series will focus on the daily lives and routines of players and coaches as the intriguing Miami Dolphins, who compete in the ultra-competitive AFC East, prepare for the 2012 NFL season. HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE MIAMI DOLPHINS will chronicle first year head coach Joe Philbin and an intriguing mix of high-profile veterans, free agents and rookie hopefuls throughout training camp and the preseason. Each week, players will experience drills, meetings and fun, while struggling to prove they have what it takes to make the team and make their mark in the NFL.
“We are excited that the premier company in sports filmmaking history, NFL FILMS, and HBO Sports have chosen the Miami Dolphins to appear on their award-winning series Hard Knocks,” said Joe Philbin, head coach of the Miami Dolphins. “We are looking forward to connecting with our many fans across the country as the program chronicles our 2012 training camp. The series will highlight the outstanding men who comprise our team and represent our organization admirably, both on and off the field, as they compete for a coveted position on our roster.
“The Miami Dolphins have long been synonymous with success on the filed as evidenced by our five Super Bowl appearances and the only perfect season in NFL history,” added Philbin. “That heritage serves as a constant reminder to our players and staff of the great legacy that has been left for us to uphold. Our team embraces that rich past and looks confidently to the future as we begin this journey back to the top of the NFL.
“All the decisions that have been made this off-season have had one guiding principle — will it help our players and organization reach its full potential? This one is no different. We are convinced that our affiliation with NFL FILMS and HBO will allow football fans everywhere an opportunity to comprehend the significant sacrifices and demands that our players endure each day along their journey in training camp as a Miami Dolphin. We eagerly await the opening of training camp on July 26 and the 2012 NFL regular season that lies ahead of us.”
A 24-person NFL Films crew will live at the Dolphins’ training camp in South Florida, shooting more than 1,000 hours of video over the course of the series. Camera and sound crews will be given unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, dormitories and practice fields.
This summer’s edition of Hard Knocks marks the first time the series will premiere on Tuesday nights in prime time; previously the series debuted on Wednesdays.
HARD KNOCKS launched with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, followed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002. The series resumed in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning a Sports Emmy®. In 2008, the series returned to the Dallas Cowboys, receiving a second Sports Emmy® for production excellence. In 2009 HARD KNOCKS spotlighted the Cincinnati Bengals franchise and the show captured two more Sports Emmy® Awards for “Outstanding Edited Series/Anthology” and “Outstanding post-produced Sound/Audio.” The most recent season of HARD KNOCKS in 2010 featured the New York Jets and the series captured three Sports Emmys®, including the trophy for “Outstanding Edited Series/Anthology.”
Rolling Stone noted that Hard Knocks is, “A smash hit series” while Time Magazine called the program, “riveting.”
The New York Post wrote, “Hard Knocks is a hell of a show and it becomes must-see TV for football fans.”
Sports Illustrated.com said Hard Knocks is the “most entertaining reality show on TV.”
The New York Times concluded, “It is a rare glimpse into the psyche of a team,” while The Wall St. Journal notes the show is “captivating television.”
That’s it
May
21
Preview of HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, Episode 182 — Lolo Jones
On Tuesday, HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel will air a feature on Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones and her attempts to get back to the Games. You may remember in the 2008 Communist China Olympics that Jones was leading the women’s 100 meter hurdles and was the heavy favorite to win the gold medal when she hit the next to last hurdle, then fell to the track and lost the race. Now, she’s attempting to get back to the Olympics for her shot at redemption.
Mary Carillo interviewed Lolo and we have some clips from the show that will air on Tuesday. And the subject matter is rather fascinating.
First, Jones talks about how she got the name “Lolo”.
Here, Lolo tells Mary what it takes to train to get to the Olympics.
And in this clip, Lolo explains to Mary why she decided to remain a virgin until she marries.
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel airs Tuesday night at 10 ET/PT on HBO with various replays throughout the next three weeks.
May
21
HBO’s Real Sports Returns May 22
The Emmy Award-winning monthly HBO Sports newsmagazine Real Sports returns Tuesday with three new stories and an update.
Among the stories you’ll see will be a look at why Korean golfers thrive on the LPGA Tour, a profile of Olympics hurdler Lolo Jones, another profile on the nephew of legendary boxer Micky Ward and the update will be on a New York City fireman who was a top-notch accident, but after an accident and losing his leg became a top-notch athlete again.
We have the preview of this month’s program from HBO Sports. Check it out.
LOOKS AT SOUTH KOREAN DOMINANCE ON THE LPGA TOUR;
GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH US OLYMPIAN LOLO JONES;
TELLS THE INSPIRING STORY OF RAY GREENHALGE, MICKY WARD’S NEPHEW;
AND RECONNECTS WITH NEW YORK CITY FIREMAN MATT LONG WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS MAY 22, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBONow in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 182nd edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, MAY 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: May 22 (5:00 a.m.), 25 (1:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), 27 (8:00 a.m.), 29 (8:30 a.m., 6:00 p.m.) and 31 (4:00 p.m., 3:45 a.m.), and June 2 (9:30 a.m.) and 6 (11:00 a.m., 12:25 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: May 24 (7:00 p.m.), 26 (1:40 p.m.), 28 (10:00 p.m.) and 30 (10:00 a.m., 11:00 p.m.), and June 3 (11:30 a.m.), 7 (7:00 p.m., 1:45 a.m.) and 11 (3:30 p.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: May 28-June 18
Segments include:
*Seoul Sisters. Home to 50 million people, tiny, mountainous South Korea has little room for golf courses, but no other country in the world has more women in the upper ranks of pro female golfers. An astounding 145 of the top 500 female golfers in the world are from South Korea, including four of the top ten, while the nation is responsible for 17 of the top 50 LPGA earners in 2012 to date, the most of any country. The path to success on the links can begin early, with some young South Korean women – on the advice of their parents – sacrificing traditional schooling to dedicate more than 40 hours a week to their craft. REAL SPORTS host Bryant Gumbel travels to South Korea to find out how a country roughly the size of Indiana and making up less than one percent of the world’s population has come to dominate a sport.
Producer: Nick Dolin.
*Lolo Jones. Entering the Women’s 100M Hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Lori “Lolo” Jones was the favorite to capture gold, but she tripped while attempting to clear the penultimate hurdle, finishing seventh. While this stumble was a huge blow to her career, it was also just another adversity to overcome. Jones’ difficult childhood included stretches of homelessness, thanks to a father who was in and out of prison and a mother who struggled financially. But she went on to win three NCAA titles, earn 11 All-American honors at LSU and capture gold medals at the World Indoor Championship. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Mary Carillo sits down with the 29-year-old to talk about then and now, as she prepares for what could be her last shot at Olympic gold.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
*Ray Greenhalge. When Ray Greenhalge was born seven weeks prematurely, doctors said he would never walk or talk as a result of the debilitating muscle disorder cerebral palsy, as well as severe fluid on the brain. Now, 26 years later, he’s probably more talkative and physically active than most his age – an age many feared he wouldn’t reach. The nephew and godson of retired boxer Micky Ward, best known for his historic trilogy of fights with Arturo Gatti in 2002 and 2003, Greenhalge has a unique passion for boxing, which gives him a sense of direction. He also proves to be every bit as tough as his uncle, with whom he spars ten rounds every Saturday, as well as engaging in two- to three-hour daily gym workouts. REAL SPORTS correspondent Bernard Goldberg travels to Massachusetts to hear Greenhalge’s inspirational story.
Producer: Michael Tolajian.
*Matt Long. On a frigid 2005 winter morning in midtown Manhattan during a transit strike, New York City fireman, marathoner and Ironman triathlete Matt Long was riding his bike to work when a private bus made an illegal turn and literally ran him over. Given a one-percent chance of survival, he spent five months in the hospital and underwent 40 surgeries to repair his crushed right leg and impaled organs. The 46-year-old credits his great physical condition for being able to stave off infection and survive the ordeal. The 9/11 veteran persevered and trained passionately for two years to become a top-notch athlete again. In 2008, Long completed the New York City marathon in just over seven hours, and eight months later completed an Ironman Competition within the 17-hour time limit.
Since the original story aired in 2009, Long has gotten married and expects to become a father in June. He was also involved in another car accident, this time during a charity bike ride in Florida, but escaped with just a broken wrist. While the injury derailed his quest to qualify for this summer’s London Paralympics, REAL SPORTS correspondent Mary Carillo learns that Long is doing better than ever.
Producers: Jake Rosenwasser, Lisa Bennett.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 15 times and has received 23 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. In January, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the August 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. Last month, the show received the Emmy® in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism for Bernard Goldberg’s 2011 report on the college bowl games money trail.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That’s all from here.
May
02
Making Time For The Wednesday Linkage
I haven’t been able to links for a couple of days. I have a few leftover stuff since Monday, but nothing totally clogging up my browser, but I do want to give you a full set of stories today.
I’ve done my best to summarize the whole bizarre Sarah Phillips/ESPN.com/Scamming people story and that’s over here. If there any updates today, I’ll try to bring them to you, but it appears that there’s a new development every hour or so.
Let’s try to get what I have to you now.
Tom Weir of USA Today also looks into the Sarah Phillips saga.
Mike McCarthy of USA Today says Tiger Woods is being criticized for doing an end run around the news media and answering questions from fans via social media.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deistch critiques ESPN’s and NFL Network’s coverage of the NFL Draft.
Kurt Soller of Esquire catches up with TNT’s Craig Sager and discusses his loud wardrobe.
Multichannel News reports on ESPN’s ratings for its first weekday English Premier League game.
Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life notes the NFL Draft was the second most watched in history.
Former ESPN’er Dana Jacobsen has started her own blog and says she’ll keep us up to date on where she lands next.
Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that HBO has renewed 24/7 for another NHL season and will get more input from the league’s media arm.
Greg talks with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about the league’s Stanley Cup Playoff ratings and other matters.
Jeff John Roberts at paidContent wonders if Bleacher Report can make its writers into viable media stars.
ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Review Project looks at one man who oversees the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s interviewing technique.
Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report warns how not to use Twitter like the Chicago Sun-Times’ columnist Joe Cowley.
Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that Harris Corp. which done a lot in developing broadcast equipment and had a hand in sports will now get out of the business.
Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the audio of Gus Johnson calling MLS action over the weekend. That’s right, MLS.
John Koblin at Deadspin says pariah Sarah Phillips and her partner-in-crime, Nilesh Prasad have been career scammers.
Deadspin’s Erik Malinowski has a parody Tweeter breaking character and giving his side of the story in the Sarah Phillips saga.
To Ben Koo of Awful Announcing who notes that the Tuesday late night edition of SportsCenter ended in silence.
Erin Gloria Ryan at Jezebel says the Crossing Broad blog posted an upskirt pic that was shown on TV and the site’s editor doesn’t get why the uproar.
Neil Best of Newsday talks with New York Knicks TV voice and ESPN NBA play caller Mike Breen.
Congrats to Neil as he celebrates 5 years of his WatchDog blog. Neil and I share a milestone today.
Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that MLB Network will air seven Minor League Baseball games this season.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says CBS has made one announcement for its SEC football schedule for the fall.
Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com talks with Gus Johnson about him calling soccer games.
Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog is amused at boring and extremely verbose ESPN.com columnist Gregg Easterbrook’s fears about DC NFL Team QB Robert Grifffin III’s play in the rain. I used to love Easterbrook’s TMQ columns, but they now grate on me. Can’t read them anymore.
Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald has some South Florida sports radio moves.
Jerry Garcia at the San Antonio Express-News goes over the Sports Emmy winners.
Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says the Thunder continue to set local ratings records.
Mel says TNT’s Charles Barkley is squarely in the Thunder’s camp.
Robert Feder at Time Out Chicago says the Chicago Sun-Times have put sexist columnist Joe Cowley on what’s called “Final Notice.”
Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch did not like how one female TV host kept hitting on St. Louis Cardinals World Series hero David Freese during a morning show segment.
Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune has TNT’s Kenny “The Jet” Smith discussing the Utah Jazz’s future.
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail isn’t too thrilled about having the Maple Leafs on the next season of HBO’s 24/7.
Sports Media Watch says the Manchester Derby scored for ESPN on Monday.
Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says CNBC is doing well with the NHL Stanley Cup Conference Semifinals.
Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth has a look at the sports radio scene across the country.
Normally I don’t link to Bleacher Report slideshows and it’s one of the things I’ve disliked about the site for a long time, but I will link to the 20 Hottest Redheads slideshow only for the fact that they used a pic that I posted of Jen Royle from last year’s Five Women Who Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote post. Actually that pic came from Jen herself so they should really credit her and not me.
And that’s going to do it.
May
01
HBO Sports Wins Three Sports Emmy Awards
Another Sports Emmy Award press release for you. This one comes from HBO Sports which was honored for its innovative 24/7 series, one for boxing, the other for the NHL. And HBO also received one of the more prestigious awards, Outstanding Sports Journalism for its feature “The College Bowl Game Money Trail” which was aired on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel last year.
Here is HBO Sports’ press release for you.
HBO collected three Sports Emmys Awards.
The wins marked the 15th time that Real Sports has been honored with the award for “Outstanding Sports Journalism” and the two trophies for the “24/7” franchise brings to 16 the number of Sports Emmys won by the series since its inception in 2007. “24/7” is the most honored sports series on television during that span.
OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM –
- REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL – The College Bowl Game Money Trail (Bernard Goldberg)
OUTSTANDING EDITING –
- 24/7 PACQUIAO/MARQUEZ
THE DICK SCHAAP WRITING AWARD
- 24/7 FLYERS/RANGERS: ROAD TO THE NHL WINTER CLASSIC
We’re done. Two more Sports Emmy press releases and we’re finished in the category.
May
01
Winners of the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards
Throughout the day, I will be posting various press releases from the networks touting their Sports Emmy Awards. Last night, I posted the winners as they were handed out. Now, we have the official press release from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences which holds the annual ceremonies.
These include the names who were involved in each category. Congratulations to all of the winners this year.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE 33rd ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS
Jack Whitaker Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
New York, NY – April 30, 2012 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) announced the winners of the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy® Awards at a special ceremony tonight at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Winners in 33 categories including Outstanding Live Sports Special, Live Series, Sports Documentary, Studio Show, Promotional Announcements, Play-by-Play Personality and Studio Analyst were honored.
The awards were presented by a distinguished group of sports figures and television personalities including Cris Collinsworth (sports analyst for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football”); Harold Reynolds (MLB Network studio analyst); Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter, NBC’s “Sunday Night Football”); Al Leiter (studio analyst, MLB Network); Mike Mayock (game analyst, NFL Network); Melissa Stark (reporter, NFL Network); Shaquille O’Neal (studio analyst, “Inside the NBA on TNT”); Joe Buck (sportscaster, FOX Sports); Curt Menefee (sportscaster and host, “FOX NFL Sunday”); Tracy Wolfson (sportscaster, CBS Sports); Gary Danielson (commentator, CBS Sports); Mary Carillo (correspondent, HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel”); Sage Steele (anchor, ESPN’s “SportsCenter”); Bob Papa (HBO Sports Broadcaster); Ernie Johnson (host of “Inside the NBA on TNT”); Chris McKendry (co-anchor, ESPN’s “SportsCenter”); and Steve Levy (journalist, ESPN’s “SportsCenter”).
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Jack Whitaker, sports commentator and essayist, by Jim Nantz, play-by-play announcer of “The NFL on CBS,” NCAA college basketball and golf on CBS.
“We are honored to be presenting Jack Whitaker with our Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Malachy Wienges, Chairman, NATAS. “I had the pleasure of working with Jack for eighteen years at CBS, and Jack is a sports icon and a class act.”
In addition, NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell was honored with the Chairman’s Award representing the networks and their patriotic coverage of the historic 10 year anniversary of September 11th last year.
The Sports Emmy® Award recipients were chosen by a Blue Ribbon Panel of industry peers. The awards recognize outstanding achievement by individuals and programs broadcast throughout the 2011 calendar year.
A detailed listing of all awards is below as compiled by the independent accountancy firm of Lutz and Carr, LLP. A list of winners for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards is also available on the National Television Academy’s website at www.emmyonline.tv.
Awards by Network Group
NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, nbcsports.com) 9
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D, espn.com) 6
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com, truTV) 5
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED) 5
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) 4
HBO Sports 3
MLB Network 3
NFL Network 2
PGA.com 1
Nominations by Network
NBC 8
FOX 4
TNT 4
ESPN 3
HBO Sports 3
MLB NETWORK 3
SHOWTIME 3
ESPN2 2
NFL NETWORK 2
CBSSPORTS.COM 1
ESPN 3D 1
NBA TV 1
PGA.COM 1
SPEED 1
VERSUS 1
And the list of award winners are after the jump.
Apr
30
2012 Sports Emmy Awards Live Blog
The Sports Emmy Awards are being handed out in New York tonight. Through various sources at the event, I’ll be able to update this post as awards are being doled to the various winners. And no, I’m not there, but I can provide the winners as soon as they become available.
For the full list of nominees, go here.
OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW — WEEKLY
Inside The NBA — TNT
OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT SOUND
MLB on Fox — Fox
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
America’s Cup Highlight Show — Versus
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
Sunday Night Football — NBC
OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE
(tie)
“Together”-E:60 — ESPN
“Time Out of Mind”-Outside The Lines — ESPN
OUTSTANDING EDITING
24/7 Pacquaio/Marquez — HBO
OUTSTANDING PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT — EPISODIC
(tie)
2011 Stanley Cup Final — NBC
A Game of Honor — Showtime
OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — SPORTS REPORTER
Michele Tafoya — NBC
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sport Science — ESPN
OUTSTANDING SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
A Game of Honor — Showtime
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO
MLB Tonight — MLB Network
OUTSTANDING PLAYOFF COVERAGE
NFL Wild Card Saturday — NBC
OUSTANDING CAMERA WORK
2011 Ironman Triathlon — NBC
OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL
Joplin: City of Hope — ESPN2
OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION DIRECTION/LYRICS
Men of Mettle-Ed Sabol’s Last Football Movie — NFL Network/NFL Films
OUTSTANDING SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT — INSTITUTIONAL
NBA on TNT: Shaq Get Ready — TNT
OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — STUDIO HOST
Bob Costas — NBC/MLB Network (of course)
OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE
PGA Championship LIVE on PGA.com — PGA.com
OUTSTANDING OPEN/TEASE
NBA on TNT: Live Forever — TNT
OUTSTANDING POST PRODUCED AUDIO/SOUND
Sound FX: All Access — NFL Network
OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — SPORT EVENT ANALYST
Cris Collinsworth — NBC
THE DICK SCHAAP WRITING AWARD
24/7 Flyers/Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic — HBO
OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — STUDIO ANALYST
Charles Barkley — TNT
OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING
A Game of Honor — Showtime
OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SERIES/ANTHOLOGY
The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants — Showtime/MLB Productions
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR SPORTS
Jack Whitaker — CBS/ABC Sports
OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW — DAILY
MLB Tonight — MLB Network
OUTSTANDING LONG FEATURE
Outside The Lines: The Man in the Red Bandana — ESPN
OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE
(tie)
MLB on Fox — Fox
Winter X Games 15 — ESPN 3D
OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SERIES
Sunday Night Football — NBC
OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: The College Bowl Game Money Trail — HBO
OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND
Inside The Headsets — Speed
OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL
The World Series — Fox
OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — PLAY-BY-PLAY
Joe Buck — Fox
That concludes the Awards for tonight.
Apr
30
TNT To Air All Four Parts of HBO’s 24/7 Mayweather/Cotto
Starting Tuesday, TNT will air all four parts of HBO’s boxing series, “24/7 Mayweather/Cotto” on consecutive nights. Recently, HBO has been using Time Warner corporate partner CNN to re-air the 24/7 series. Now it will use another Time Warner sister cable channel, TNT.
This will lead right into the HBO Pay Per View fight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Miguel Cotto on Saturday, May 5.
The first installment of 24/7 Mayweather/Cotto airs Tuesday immediately following Inside the NBA and will do so on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The final episode airs Friday night at 11:45 ET/PT.
We have the details from TNT on the airing of 24/7 Mayweather/Cotto.
TNT Set to Broadcast HBO® Reality Series 24/7 Mayweather/Cotto
Four-Part Series Replays Over Four Consecutive Nights on TNT, beginning May 1HBO’s Emmy-Award®-winning reality series ‘24/7’ is coming to TNT, which will air replays of the all-new four-part series 24/7 MAYWEATHER/COTTO on four consecutive nights, beginning Tuesday, May 1.
In the lead-up to the blockbuster HBO Pay-Per-View® telecast on May 5 in Las Vegas when Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto battle for Cotto’s world super welterweight title, TNT will replay a different episode of 24/7 MAYWEATHER/COTTO from Tuesday, May 1, through Friday, May 4. Episodes one through three are set to air immediately following the post-game edition of the Emmy Award®-winning studio program INSIDE THE NBA, which wraps up the evening’s NBA Playoff action.
24/7 MAYWEATHER/COTTO is the all-access, behind-the-scenes pass that allows viewers to step into the lives of the fighters before they step into the ring. Mayweather lives and trains in Las Vegas, while Puerto Rico’s Cotto is training in Orlando.
35-year-old Floyd Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs) is a celebrated superstar making his sixth appearance on the 24/7 series. Cotto, 31, (37-2, 30 KOs) has reinvigorated his career by capturing the super welterweight title and successfully defending it twice in 2011. This is Cotto’s third appearance on 24/7.
Episode one of 24/7 will air on TNT on Tuesday, May 1, immediately after INSIDE THE NBA. Episodes two and three will air on subsequent nights on TNT following INSIDE THE NBA. The finale of 24/7 will air on TNT Friday, May 4, at 11:45 p.m. (ET/PT) less than 24 hours before the mega-fight in Las Vegas.
In the past four years, HBO’s 24/7 franchise has earned 14 Sports Emmys® for production excellence. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, the fast-moving, documentary-style production focuses on the training, commitment and sacrifices that prizefighters make in order to realize their dreams. The turnaround time is among the quickest in television as the series follows the fighters and their teams, both at camp and at home, while excitement and anxiety builds for the big fight.
That is all.
Apr
17
HBO’s Real Sports Returns Tonight
The Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine, Real Sports returns to HBO tonight with three new stories and an update. As always, the show is extremely compelling and one of the best bastions of sports journalism today.
In tonight’s edition, we get a profile of Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, another on Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and a look into big-mountain back country skiing.
The update is on former race car driver Alex Zanardi who lost both of his legs in a horrific accident, but didn’t allow that to define him. Bryant Gumbel goes back to talk with Zanardi who is now training for the Paralympics in London.
All fascinating stuff. Here’s the press release from HBO Sports.
PROFILES TAMPA BAY RAYS MANAGER JOE MADDON;
VISITS LAKERS FORWARD PAU GASOL;
EXPLORES THE DEATH-DEFYING WORLD OF BACKCOUNTRY SKIING; AND RECONNECTS WITH FORMER RACE CAR DRIVER ALEX ZANARDI WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS APRIL 17, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBONow in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 181st edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, APRIL 17 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: April 17 (2:10 a.m.), 20 (1:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), 22 (9:45 a.m.), 26 (5:00 p.m., 12:30 a.m.), 28 (11:00 a.m.) and 30 (9:30 a.m., 6:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 18 (9:30 p.m., 4:15 a.m.), 24 (10:55 a.m., midnight) and 27 (8:00 a.m.), and May 1 (7:00 p.m., 2:30 a.m.), 4 (7:55 a.m., 3:30 p.m.), 6 (noon) and 12 (9:00 a.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: April 23-May 14
Segments include:
*Joe Maddon. Since they went to the World Series in 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays have been a constant force in the playoff race, despite having one of the league’s lowest payrolls and competing in the American League East against the powerhouse Yankees and Red Sox. Much of the credit should go to Rays skipper Joe Maddon, who has led the team to three playoff appearance in six years, in the process capturing two A.L. Manager of the Year Awards. REAL SPORTS correspondent Armen Keteyian talks to the charismatic 58-year-old, who recently received a three-year contract extension, as he prepares once again to battle for a post-season berth.
Producer: Joe Perskie.*Pau Gasol. Seven-foot Spaniard Pau Gasol is arguably the most athletic big man in the NBA today. After setting nearly every franchise record during seven seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, he was traded to the storied the Los Angeles Lakers, where he teamed with superstar Kobe Bryant to win back-to-back NBA championships. Entering the shortened 2012 NBA season, Gasol was the subject of constant trade rumors, but with the trade deadline behind him, the four-time all-star can now focus on playing deep into June. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel sits down with the 31-year-old Gasol to discuss being a Laker and the pressure that comes with the Hollywood spotlight.
Producer: Maggie Burbank.*Backcountry. Skiers who conquer a slope routinely seek out a taller, faster and more challenging mountain. But some raise the stakes by taking on unchartered terrain in big-mountain backcountry skiing, where unforeseen cliff drops, unexpected turns and avalanches are among the risks. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Jon Frankel meets three backcountry enthusiasts who have risked life and limb skiing fresh-powder slopes, and asks why they find death-defying activity so enticing.
Producer: Tim Walker.*Alex Zanardi. In 2001, Italian race car driver Alex Zanardi was involved in a horrifying crash at a CART race in Germany that instantly severed both legs. Although it appeared the two-time CART champion’s driving career was finished, he embarked on a remarkable comeback, taking an active role in designing prosthetics that allowed him to resume such everyday activities as walking, swimming and driving. Eventually, he raced again, driving a specially equipped race car that allowed him to shift and accelerate with his hands. More recently, the 45-year-old has turned to handbiking, a form of Paralympic cycling. REAL SPORTS reconnects with Zanardi as he trains for this summer’s London Paralympics in the hills of Tuscany. Host Bryant Gumbel reports.
Producers: Jake Rosenwasser, Ezra Edelman.REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 14 times and has received 22 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. On Jan. 19, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. On March 20, the program received four Sports Emmy® Award nominations for the 2011 programming season, including two in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism. The winners will be announced April 30.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That is all.
Mar
22
Some Long Overdue Linkage
Due to crazy personal schedules on Tuesday and Wednesday, I wasn’t able to update the site as much as I would like. I apologize to you as I’ve been trying to keep you apprised of the latest sports media news. A few housekeeping notes, first I did some Sports Media Thoughts earlier this morning and you read them here.
Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing was kind to ask me on his podcast and we recorded it on Wednesday while I was on the road so the phone quality isn’t great (damn you, AT&T 3G). You can listen to what Matt and I discussed at the Awful Announcing site.
And lastly, Keith Thibault and I recorded our latest Sports Media Weekly podcast this week and our guest is Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette and the subject is college hockey coverage.
Now to our links.
Michael Smith & John Ourand from Sports Business Journal look at the possibility of ESPN and Fox Sports teaming up once again, this time to control the media rights to the Big 12 Conference. The two companies combined for the Pac-12 last year in an attempt to keep NBC Sports out of college sports and it appears the two are back at work again on the Big 12 rights.
Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim makes a very good point on the perceived conflict of interests of ESPN’s tennis announcers and the players to which they’re connected, case in point, Mary Jo Fernandez seen sitting with Roger Federer’s wife during the BNP Paribas Open last week on ABC.
Andrew McCalvy at MLB.com writes that Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Fame voice Bob Uecker will be honored with a statue outside Miller Park. Congrats to Uke on a well deserved honor. We all remember his character, Harry Doyle from the “Major League” movies and his great quote, “Juuuuust a bit outside.” Classic.
Interesting study from the Media Behavior Institute which shows a great majority still watch the NCAA Tournament on TV, but online numbers comprise a large chunk.
Ben Grossman at Broadcasting & Cable reports that Major League Baseball is looking at placing postseason games on MLB Network to boost its subscriber numbers.
Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that MLB Network will produce a pregame show for Fox Saturday Baseball.
Tom Comi of Channel Guide Magazine would like a halt to the Tim Tebow media circus.
Mike Miller at NBC’s College Basketball Talk notes that the NCAA Tournament ratings on CBS/Turner are just about even with last year.
Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Mike Tirico losing it during last night’s Lakers-Mavericks game.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Wheaties may be dying a very slow and painful death.
Ronnie Ramos in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says coaches and players are learning the proper use of Twitter.
Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy notes that Rogers Sportsnet picked up on a popular internet meme and used it in an on-screen graphic.
To Fishbowl NY where Jerry Barmash talks with Kenny Albert.
Newsday’s Neil Best writes that NBC Sports Network set a ratings record for hockey in NYC.
Neil notes that ESPN has a new head man-in-charge.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that CBS/Turner will bring in two coaches as guest analysts for the NCAA Tournament.
Pete says ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew will be busy in the first week of the MLB season.
Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Lehigh left an impression on CBS during the NCAA Tournament.
Matt Brooks of the Washington Post’s Early Lead has your viewing guide for tonight’s Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has links to some of the best columns from the late Furman Bisher.
Some of Bisher’s friends pay tribute to the man.
The AJC has a gallery of pictures showing Bisher throughout his career.
Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman looks at HBO Real Sports’ update on the 2001 plane crash that hit the Oklahoma State basketball program extremely hard.
Mel says local viewers chose Fox Sports Oklahoma over ESPN for two Oklahoma City Thunder games last week.
David Jablonski of the Dayton (OH) Daily News says a local man leads the millions of entries in ESPN’s Bracketology contest.
John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer is not a fan of NCAA Tournament scheduling.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the radio analyst for Bucks games has been off the air since last month.
Bob says former Brewers voice Matt Vasgersian will host the MLB Network-produced MLB on Fox pregame show.
Tom Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times remembers pioneering sportswriter Lacy J. Banks who died Wednesday.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has video of Bob Costas pontificating on the Saints suspensions.
The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin writes about the media fighting over staged NHL fights.
The Toronto Sports Media blog explores the local newspapers imploring the Maple Leafs to apologize to their fans for missing the playoffs.
Sports Media Watching notes that ratings on NBA TV are up.
Media Rantz says ESPN got fooled by a fake Adam Schefter Twitter account during Tim Tebow coverage last night.
We have a picture of that fake Adam Schefter tweet. “Adarn Schefter”?
Ben Koo of Awful Announcing explores the Gus Johnson departure from CBS and how it may leave him without his signature event for a long time to come.
The Convoluted Mind of a Single Man site looks at the innovations John Madden brought to NFL broadcasting.
Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth says league-owned networks are making big strides in production and programming.
And that will finish our links for today.
Mar
20
MLB Productions Receives Five Sports Emmy Nominations; MLB Media Gets 15 Overall
MLB Productions had a busy year producing a reality series for Showtime and a documentary for HBO. Thanks to these efforts, the company received a record five Sports Emmy Award nominations. Combined with the nods for MLB Network, MLB Advanced Media and MLB.com, MLB entities received a total of 15 Sports Emmy Award nominations. That’s quite impressive.
Here is the press release from MLB Productions and Major League Baseball.
MLB PRODUCTIONS EARNS ALL-TIME BEST FIVE SPORTS EMMY NOMINATIONS FOR WORK ON “THE FRANCHISE” AND “DEREK JETER 3K”
MLB Media Entities Earn Combined 15 Nominations
Major League Baseball Productions collected an all-time high of five nominations for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards, including nominations for its critically acclaimed work on The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants on Showtime and DerekJeter3K on HBO. The Franchise earned three nominations, including Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology, while DerekJeter3K was nominated for Outstanding Edited Sports Special.
Overall, Major League Baseball media entities (MLB Productions, MLB Network and MLB Advanced Media) earned a combined 15 nominations, which were announced earlier today by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
MLB Network earned eight nominations, including two for MLB Tonight, the 2011 winner for the Outstanding Studio Show. MLB Tonight is once again nominated in the category along with a nomination for Outstanding Technical Team Studio. Bob Costas, a 22-time Sports Emmy Award winner, earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality-Studio Host for his work on both MLB Network and NBC. In addition, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds each earned a Sports Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst, and Jim Kaat also received a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Event Analyst.
MLB.com At Bat 11, the mobile phone and tablet application developed by MLB Advanced Media, again earned a nomination in one of the two categories representing digital media, Outstanding New Approaches to Sports Event Coverage. Since its 2008 debut, MLB.com At Bat has been the top grossing sports application and one of only two iOS apps inducted into the Halls of Fame for iPhone, iPad and Macworld.
In addition, MLB Productions, MLB Network and MLBAM were collectively nominated for the prestigious George Wensel Technical Achievement Award for The DIAMOND Platform, a media management tool. DIAMOND is utilized daily to research and produce broadcast quality programming for both MLB Network and MLB Productions, and to archive, search and retrieve video content for use by Major League Baseball. The Baseball Archives, managed by the DIAMOND Platform, contains over 300,000 hours of content, which is easily retrievable within minutes from the data tape robotic library.
Below is a complete list of Major League Baseball’s Sports Emmy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Edited Sports Special – Derek Jeter 3K (MLB Productions/HBO)
Outstanding Edited Sports Series /Anthology – The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants (MLB Productions/Showtime)
Outstanding Music Composition/ Direction / Lyrics – The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants (MLB Productions/Showtime)
Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound – The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants (MLB Productions/Showtime)
Outstanding Studio Show – Daily: MLB Tonight (MLB Network)
Outstanding Technical Team Studio: MLB Tonight (MLB Network)
Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Host: Bob Costas (MLB Network/NBC)
Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Event Analyst: Jim Kaat (MLB Network)
Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst: Al Leiter (MLB Network)
Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst: Harold Reynolds (MLB Network)
Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement – Institutional: All in One Place (MLB Network)
Outstanding New Approaches Sports Event Coverage – MLB Advanced Media
The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award: The DIAMOND Platform (MLB Productions/MLB Network/MLB.com)
And that will conclude the Sports Emmy Award posts. Coming later will be some sports media thoughts.
Mar
20
33rd Annual Sports Emmy Nominations Announced
We have the nominations, all 170 in 33 different categories, for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards. They just came out today. There are some surprises like massive hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire nominated in the Sports Reporter category and for some really strange reason, Skippy Bayless of ESPN2′s First Take was nominated for Best Studio Analyst. What analysis does he do besides yelling and having massive manlove for Tim Tebow?
There are some of the usual suspects are nominated, Bob Costas for Best Studio Host, Al Michaels in Play-by-Play, Cris Collinsworth for both Studio and Game Analyst.
Some of the nominations I agree with include Mike Mayock for Best Game Analyst, College GameDay and Football Night in America as Best Studio Shows and all of the movies in the Sports Documentary category. Sports documentaries were strong this year and I have trouble picking one although Catching Hell, the ESPN Films effort on Steve Bartman and the Chicago Cubs might be the weakest of the bunch, but the doc was still very good.
Ok, get ready to scroll, the entire list is below. We do need a page break so the list of nominees will after the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences press releases.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE NOMINEES FOR THE 33RD ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS
Winners to be Honored During the April 30th Ceremony At Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jack Whitaker to Receive Lifetime Achievement AwardNew York, NY – March 20, 2012 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.
More than 170 nominees were announced in 33 categories including outstanding live sports special, live series, sports documentary, studio show, promotional announcements, play-by-play personality and studio analyst. The Awards will be given out at the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center located in the Time Warner Center on April 30th, 2012 in New York City.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports will go to the Sports Commentator and Essayist, Jack Whitaker.
“This is an outstanding year for the sports community and for The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,” said Malachy Wienges, Chairman, NATAS. “The entries received in this year’s Sports Emmys resulted in a record 175 nominees, illustrating the quality of these entries. We are also honoring Jack Whitaker with our Lifetime Achievement Award. I had the pleasure of working with Jack for eighteen years at CBS, and Jack is a sports icon and a class act.”
In addition to Jack Whitaker, many of the today’s leading sports broadcasters, personalities and television professionals will be in attendance as presenters at the event.
The networks of ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D & espn.com) lead the nomination totals with 55, the NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel & nbcsports.com) garnered 32, CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) entries received 26 nominations, while Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com & truTV) have 22.
A complete list of all nominees is attached below.
33rd Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network Group
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D, espn.com) – 55
NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, nbcsports.com) – 32
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) – 26
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com, truTV) – 22
HBO Sports – 19
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED) – 16
NFL Network – 12
MLB Network – 8
DIRECTV – 2
MLB Advanced Media (MLB.com, MLBAM) – 2
NFL.com – 2
NCAA.com – 1
PGA.com – 133rd Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network
ESPN – 36
NBC – 22
HBO Sports – 19
CBS – 15
FOX – 15
TNT – 15
ESPN2 – 14
NFL NETWORK – 12
SHOWTIME – 10
MLB NETWORK – 8
VERSUS – 7
TBS – 3
ABC – 2
DIRECTV – 2
ESPN 3D – 2
GOLF CHANNEL – 2
NBA TV – 2
NFL.COM – 2
CBSSPORTS.COM – 1
ESPN.COM – 1
MLB.COM – 1
MLBAM – 1
NBA.COM – 1
NBCSPORTS.COM – 1
NCAA.COM – 1
PGA.COM – 1
SPEED – 1
truTV – 1BREAKDOWN OF MULTIPLE PROGRAM/SERIES NOMINATIONS
Program/Nominations/Network
24/7: 8 - HBO
E: 60: 7 – ESPN2
A Game of Honor: 5 – Showtime/CBSSports.com
MLB on FOX: 5 – FOX
NASCAR on FOX: 5 – FOX
NBA on TNT: 4 – TNT
NBC Sunday Night Football: 4 – NBC
FIFA Women’s World Cup: 3 – ESPN/ESPN2
Outside the Lines: 3 – ESPN
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: 3 – HBO
SportsCenter: 3 – ESPN
The Army/Navy Game: 3 – CBS
The Franchise: 3 – Showtime
Winter X Games 15: 3 – ESPN/ESPN3D
2011 Open Championship: 2 – ESPN
2011 Stanley Cup Final: 2 – NBC/Versus
ESPN Monday Night Football: 2 – ESPN
Football Night in America: 2 – NBC
Grand Slam Tennis on ESPN: 2 – ESPN2
Inside the NBA on TNT: 2 – TNT
Joplin: City of Hope: 2 – ESPN2
McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice: 2 – HBO
MLB Tonight: 2 – MLB Network
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: 2 – CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV
NFL Films Presents: 2 – NFL Network
NFL GameDay Morning: 2 – NFL Network
NFL on FOX: 2 – FOX
Sports Science: 2 – ESPN/ESPN.com
Sunday NFL Countdown: 2 – ESPN
Unguarded: 2 – ESPN
And after the page break, all of the nominees for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards which will be handed out April 30 in New York City.
Mar
20
On Tonight’s Real Sports on HBO
Tonight on the Emmy Award-winning Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, there will be three new stories and an update. The main story will be a profile on New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The other new stories include a look at the Flying Wallendas who are still going strong despite numerous deaths and an inspirational story on a pitcher who finally made his Major League debut at the age of 28.
The updated story is on two Oklahoma State tragedies ten years apart and how they could have been prevented.
We have the preview from the HBO press release which is posted below. Check it out.
Now in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 180th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, MARCH 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: March 20 (2:30 a.m.), 24 (10:30 a.m. ET, 11:30 a.m. PT, 2:15 a.m. PT), 27 (5:15 p.m., 12:10 a.m.) and 29 (12:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m.), and April 1 (9:00 a.m.) and 4 (10:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: March 22 (6:00 p.m.) and 26 (8:30 a.m.), and April 3 (10:00 a.m., 9:00 p.m.), 7 (11:45 a.m.), 9 (2:00 p.m., midnight), 12 (7:00 p.m.) and 15 (3:30 p.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: March 26-April 16
Segments include:
*King Henrik. The New York Rangers are currently battling for the best record in the National Hockey League, led by All-Star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The 30-year-old Swede leads the league in shutouts and has already topped 30 wins this season, becoming the first NHL goalie to exceed that total in each of his first seven seasons. But there is more than meets the eye with Lundqvist. He frequently appears on “best dressed” lists, plays guitar in a band that also includes tennis legend John McEnroe and participates in a variety of philanthropic efforts in the New York City area. REAL SPORTS host Bryant Gumbel sits down with the charismatic goalie, who captured gold with the Swedish national team at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, as he tries to lead the New York Rangers to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1994.
Producer: Lisa Bennett.
*The Flying Wallendas. While there are many famous families in the circus business, probably none are more notable than the Flying Wallendas. Since the early 1900s, this large extended family has been well-known for performing high-wire acts without a safety net, resulting in numerous deaths and debilitating injuries over the course of seven generations. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, REAL SPORTS correspondent Frank Deford sits down with members of the Wallenda family to find out what drives them to risk their lives and what keeps the family tradition going strong.
Producer: Tim Walker.
*Wonder Arm. While only eight to ten percent of Minor League Baseball players ultimately make a Major League roster, Steve Delabar, currently in camp with the Seattle Mariners in Arizona, defied the odds after a lengthy stint as a career minor leaguer. For six seasons, the six-foot, five-inch right-handed relief pitcher never went beyond Single-A advanced ball. Then, after suffering a seemingly career-ending elbow injury in 2009, Delabar left the game and headed back to the classroom to work as a substitute teacher and finish his undergraduate degree. But his passion for the game never left him, and after participating in the Velocity Program, designed by former Major League pitcher Tom House, he began throwing harder than ever before. In 2011, Delabar signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners, and by September had achieved his dream of playing in the Major Leagues. REAL SPORTS correspondent Mary Carillo sits down with the 28-year-old to hear his inspiring story.
Producer: Nick Dolin.
*Oklahoma State Tragedies. In Jan. 2001, the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team and staff boarded two small jets and a turbo-prop plane that were to take them home following a loss to Colorado. But over Colorado, the turbo-prop plummeted 23,000 feet, crashing into a field and killing all on board, including two players, six staff members and both pilots. Ten years later, in Nov. 2011, tragedy struck Oklahoma State again when women’s basketball head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna, along with an 82-year-old pilot and his wife, were killed when their single-engine plane crashed during an Arkansas recruiting trip. REAL SPORTS’ Armen Keteyian returns to the Oklahoma State campus to see how the community is moving on from the latest tragedy and pose the same question he asked in his investigation of the first crash ten years ago: Could this disaster have been prevented?
Producers: Jake Rosenwasser, Zehra Mamdani and Brian Hyland.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 14 times and has received 22 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. On Jan. 19, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That is all.
Feb
21
Bryant Gumbel’s Closing Comment on Real Sports Focuses on Jeremy Lin
We have the transcript from tonight’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO. As expected, Bryant speaks about the New York Knicks’ Jeremy Lin, but he also thinks the coverage is more of a media creation and come Spring Training, no one will care about him. Agree?
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL
EPISODE #179
AIRS TONIGHT (2/21) @ 10:00 PM ET/PT
“Finally tonight, I’m hoping you didn’t think we’d make it through the whole program this evening without mentioning Jeremy Lin. If so, I’m sorry to disappoint you, because like everyone else we’ve been enthralled by Lin’s meteoric rise and unforeseen efforts. His is the kind of story everyone can cheer.
But now that he’s met the challenges posed by such powerhouses as the Lakers and the Mavericks, I’m curious to see how Lin fares against the Yankees. That’s right, the Yankees. See amid the Jeremy Lin hoopla, it’s been easy to overlook the fact that Spring Training got underway this past weekend, as pitchers and catchers reported for duty, and here in New York over the next few weeks, that is going to pose a new and very different kind of challenge to the Lin Mystique.
As Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban suggested last week, Lin is getting a ton of attention not just because his is a great story, but also because he plays in the media capital of the world, and in this capital, Lin has had the town to himself since his run began. Which is why it’s going to be interesting to see if his exploits continue to be headlined after New Yorkers start hearing news about Joba Chamberlain’s surgically repaired right arm, A-Rod’s troubled knees and Derek Jeter’s battle with age.
Baseball may be ho-hum in some places, but this is still very much a pinstriped city. Yes, fans here love an underdog and a winner, but history suggests that nothing in sports surpasses Manhattan’s obsession with the Yankees. The Knicks, thanks to Lin, are the hot team. The New York Rangers are among the Stanley Cup favorites and the New York Giants just won the Super Bowl. But make no mistake, the Yankees are the big bully here in Manhattan and opening day is just six weeks away. The way Lin has captured the headlines; it may yet be a fair fight.”
That will do it.
Feb
17
HBO’s Real Sports Returns February 21
HBO’s Emmy Award-winning sports magazine, Real Sports, returns Tuesday with three new stories. It includes an investigation into the tragic plane crash that took the lives of everyone on board from Lokomotiv, one of the best teams in Russia’s KHL.
Real Sports also profiles a professional BASE jumper. And the rounds out its new features with a story on the man on whom the character Jerry McGuire is based, former super agent Leigh Steinberg.
The program premieres this Tuesday night at 10 ET/PT.
We have the full press release from HBO below.
Now in its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 179th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, FEB. 21 (10:00 p.m. ET/PT & 9:00 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO.
HBO On Demand availability: Feb. 27-March 19
Segments include:
*Russian Plane Crash. On Sept. 7, 2011, Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, one of Russia’s premier hockey teams, boarded a Soviet-era Yak-42 jet at a Yaroslavl airport to travel to a game in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. A few moments after lift-off, the chartered aircraft crashed about 500 yards from the runway, instantly killing 43 of the 45 passengers, including several NHL veterans. The model of the aircraft carrying the team had a long history of problems, while the airline currently has one of the worst air safety records in the world. However, Russian air safety officials confirmed that the crash was caused by basic human error during takeoff. REAL SPORTS correspondent Bernard Goldberg travels to Yaroslavl to delve further into what happened that tragic September afternoon.
Producer: Joe Perskie.*Jeb Corliss. The top competitor in an activity fraught with danger, 35-year-old Jeb Corliss is a professional BASE jumper, skydiver and wingsuiter. At age 18, he found comfort in what most would deem uncomfortable – jumping out of airplanes – and has since jumped off some of the world’s highest structures, including Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Seattle’s Space Needle and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 2006, he was arrested for attempting to BASE jump from New York’s Empire State Building. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel goes behind the scenes with Corliss as he attempts a jump in Cape Town, South Africa and captures his nearly fatal crash on film.
Producer: Tim Walker.*Leigh Steinberg. Once the most powerful sports agent in the world, Leigh Steinberg built an empire by making NFL players and himself extremely wealthy. The 62-year-old lawyer was the agent for a host of stars, including Troy Aikman, Steve Young and Drew Bledsoe, and even branched out into boxing, representing Oscar de la Hoya and Lennox Lewis. Now Steinberg is living with a roommate in an apartment in Southern California, fighting an addiction that he says cost him everything. REAL SPORTS correspondent Armen Keteyian presents a no-holds-barred look at the former NFL super agent and his fall from glory.
Producer: Chapman Downes.REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 14 times and has received 22 Sports Emmy® Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. On Jan. 19, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for its series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
That’s going to do it.
Feb
03
HBO’s World Championship Boxing Returns Saturday
After taking January off, HBO’s World Championship Boxing returns with two title fights on Saturday. And Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. will be fighting.
Luckily, Larry Merchant is back to commentate and he’ll join Jim Lampley and Emmanuel Steward at the Alamodome in San Antonio. We have the particulars below.
HBO Sports’ flagship boxing series returns with an action-packed card headlined by two of the sport’s fastest-rising stars when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR. VS. MARCO ANTONIO RUBIO AND NONITO DONAIRE VS. WILFREDO VAZQUEZ JR. is seen live SATURDAY, FEB. 4 at 10:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (PT) from the Alamodome in San Antonio, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 5 (8:30 a.m.) and 6 (12:25 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 5 (3:30 p.m.) and 7 (12:40 a.m.)
After standout matches on HBO in 2011, Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nonito Donaire of the Philippines begin 2012 against formidable opponents at a venue known for bringing out the best in fighters.
The 12-round, 160-pound main event features Chavez Jr. (44-0-1, 31 KOs) defending his hard-earned middleweight title against an experienced challenger in fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio (53-5-1, 46 KOs). Only 25, Chavez Jr. will have his work cut out for him in battling a prizefighter with 59 pro bouts under his belt.
The co-feature is an intriguing 12-round junior featherweight title fight pitting fan favorite Nonito Donaire (27-1, 18 KOs) against the formidable Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (21-1-1, 18 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Budding superstar Donaire, now residing in San Leandro, Cal., scored one of 2011’s most memorable victories when he knocked out Fernando Montiel last February. Now, the engaging 29-year-old, who last lost a pro fight in 2001, moves up in weight to the 122-pound division in hopes of adding a new title belt to his collection. Vazquez Jr., who hails from a boxing family, has other plans.
The night of boxing programming kicks off at 9:45 p.m. ET/6:45 PT when an all-new edition of “2 Days: Portrait of a Fighter” debuts. The Feb. 4 installment of this revealing and intimate look at a 48-hour span in the life of a boxer in the lead-up to one of his fights will focus on lightweight Brandon Rios of Oxnard, CA. The feature is approximately 15 minutes.
Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.
All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.
The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jon Crystal; director, Marc Payton.
®WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.
More stuff is on the way.
Feb
01
Your February 1st Links
It seems like last week we rang in the New Year. Now, we’re one month into 2012. Didn’t take long.
Let’s do some linkage.
Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, we learn that NBC has quite a bit in store for its six hour Super Bowl pregame show.
Also in USA Today, Michael Coppinger finds that new HBO Sports President Ken Hershman plans on cleaning up the network’s shaky boxing reputation.
And Reid Cherner at USA Today has a preview of the upcoming season of “Eastbound & Down” featuring Kenny Powers. I’ll admit, I don’t get the chi of “Eastbound & Down” and find it unwatchable, but the show has its fans.
John Ourand at Sports Business Daily says the NFL is issuing a tablet-only commemorative Super Bowl appl
At Bleacher Report, Dan Levy tells us that NFL Network’s Deion Sanders came out the winner at yesterday’s Super Bowl Media Day.
At Deadspin, Barry Petchesky has video of reporters leering at Televisa Deportes reporter Marisol Gonzalez during Media Day.
Barry also has a series of photos taken by perverts reporters as original Mexican bombshell Inês Sainz was traversing her way through Media Day.
The Olympic newsletter Around the Rings notes that the International Olympic Committee is in no hurry to negotiate a Canadian TV rights deal after the lone bid failed to come up to its standards.
Around the Rings also notes that broadcasters for the 2014 Winter Games including NBC are gathering in Sochi to discuss plans for that Olympiad.
To All Things D where Liz Gannes has new ESPN President John Skipper saying he wants people to see his content, just not for free.
And All Things D has the video highlights of Skipper’s comments.
Lisa Richwine of Reuters notes that Skipper is bullish on ESPN 3D. Oh great.
Lucas Shaw at The Wrap says John Skipper and ESPN are in love with Silicon Valley.
David Griner of Adweek has the Volkwagen Super Bowl ad that has been hyped for a couple of weeks. I like the teaser with the dogs barking better.
Katy Bachman at Adweek says the FCC is seeking public comment on the NFL’s antiquated TV blackout rules.
Best Buy won’t be using rock stars, but tech stars in its Super Bowl ad. Last year, Best Buy used Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber in a very lame ad.
Natalie Zmuda of Advertising Age says Pepsi will emphasize music in its Super Bowl ads.
Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine previews tonight’s “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials” special on CBS.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell wishes advertisers wouldn’t release their Super Bowl spots before they air in the Big Game.
Kristi Dosh of ESPN.com says Super Bowl advertising has gone beyond just buying time during the game.
Alex Sherman and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg Businessweek write that NBC is using the Super Bowl to heavily promote “Smash” in what it hopes will save its primetime lineup.
The NBC’s Sunday Night Football Facebook page has a gallery of photos from yesterday’s media event in Indianapolis.
The Nielsen Wire blog looks at whether the New England Patriots or the New York Giants do better than the other in social media.
To SportsGrid and Tom Lorenzo who has video of TSN’s Ray Ferraro throwing out an “F” bomb not once, but twice during a broadcast last night.
Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that ESPN was technically prepared to air the Australian Open epic men’s final.
James Careless of TV Technology looks at NBC’s online streaming of the Super Bowl.
Steve Donohue of Fierce Cable says Time Warner Cable seems to be doing just fine without MSG Network.
Lou Modestino of the Quincy (MA) Patriot-Ledger says Fox Sports was mostly responsible for moving the Daytona 500 forward one week.
Bill Pennington in the New York Times looks at fans getting to attend Super Bowl Media Day for the first time.
Richard Sandomir of the Times says a new media company wants to become the ESPN for kids. Already, the NFL, several sports stars and NBC Sports Network have signed up to partner with the company.
Good story by Jim Yardley of the Times Magazine exploring how some American NBA players are faring in Communist China and how the NBA made a huge miscalculation in trying to launch a league there.
Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that Time Warner Cable will extend its free Sports Pass option to residential customers affected by the company’s dispute with MSG Network.
Pete says NFL Network will air the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcement for the Class of 2012 on Saturday.
Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News writes that a local TV reporter is back at work after being on suspension for prematurely tweeting that Joe Paterno had died.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with CBS Sports Network’s Tom Lemming about National Signing Day.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes a ratings record for the Oklahoma City Thunder on Fox Sports Oklahoma.
Matthew Tully of the Indianapolis Star says foreign journalists covering the Super Bowl are enjoying Indy as the host city.
The Star has a roundup of what journos are saying about Indianapolis.
Bob Kravitz of the Star filed a diary with his observations of Super Bowl Media Day.
Anthony Schoette of the Indianapolis Business Journal writes that the Super Bowl has helped to focus a spotlight on IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which has been hosting media events this week.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers will be a guest analyst on NBC’s Super Bowl XLVI pregame.
Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business looks at Super Bowl Week in Indianapolis and wonders “what if” had the Bears built a domed facility.
Steve Eighinger of the Quincy (IL) Herald Whig is thankful for ESPN as it helped him to endure the Great Midwest Blizzard of 2011.
Roman Augustoviz of the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that CBS Sports Network has signed a TV deal with the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference known in local circles as “The National.”
Eli Segall of the San Jose Business Journal says the Sharks are scoring big for Comcast SportsNet California.
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the man who broke the Sidney Crosby neck injury story stands by his scoop.
Sports Media Watch says the NFL Pro Bowl’s ratings were down from last year, but still outpace the other All-Star games.
SMW has some various ratings news and notes.
Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth says last week was pretty slow for any kind of sports news.
Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing notes that Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News crime writer Sarah Ganim has been given much deserved Pulitzer Prize consideration for her reporting on the Penn State story.
Barry Janoff at The Big Lead writes that Mean Joe Greene is redoing his iconic Coke Super Bowl ad from the 1970′s for Proctor & Gamble.
And we have more links that I ever thought I would find today. That’s good for you.
Feb
01
Some Mid-Week Sports Media Thoughts
Time to do some original content here. The thoughts come to you in bullet form as always.
- As the Super Bowl fast approaches, we hear from those who know more than your humble blogger that Sunday’s Big Game could set a viewing record. Super Bowl XLV on Fox between Green Bay and Pittsburgh set the standard with an average of 111 million viewers. I do expect we’ll see an average of 115 million for Pats-Giants with a total viewership reaching 170 million. I’ll also predict a rating of 47.5 with a 70 share. Based on last year’s numbers, my prediction would be on track. Patriots owner Robert Kraft feels Super Bowl XLVI will be the most watched program of all-time and I agree with him.
- I wish ESPN would cover every event like it does tennis. The announcing from Chris Fowler, Cliff Drysdale, Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, Chris Evert, Mary Jo Fernandez, Pam Shriver, Brad Gilbert to host Chris McKendry was stellar throughout the Australian Open. I have not been enamored with Fowler’s play-by-play in the past, but I thought he was very good especially in calling the men’s semifinals of Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray and extremely good for the epic Rafa-Djoker final.The men’s final had so many ups and downs and so many shifts of momentum. Fowler and McEnroe were on top of potential shifts and correctly first guessed many points. ESPN2 was on top of the play on Sunday And Tennis Channel was very good as well. It’s too bad that neither ESPN2 or Tennis Channel could pick up John McEnroe for the Aussie Open. He will be on the French Open for Tennis Channel and NBC.
However, ESPN2′s efforts appear not to be rewarded as the ratings were off from last year. I’ll have more on that later today.
- And one more item from the weekend, I thought the HBO/NFL Films documentary on Joe Namath was fantastic. As with past HBO efforts, it did not sugarcoat Namath’s life and career. It delved into his partying lifestyle during his heyday with the New York Jets in the 1960′s during the height of the Sexual Revolution. In addition, it did not whitewash his alcoholism nor his most infamous moment in 2003 when he was drunk during a live interview with Suzy Kolber on ESPN. The film made great lengths to show that while Namath loved the bright lights of Broadway, he still had his home of Beaver Falls, PA deep in his soul. From the rarely seen footage of his high school days, to his college career at Alabama and through to the AFL and NFL, “Namath” captured the essence of the man. Another solid documentary from HBO, definitely Emmy Award-worthy.
- Just 19 days until pitchers and catchers report. Can’t wait.
That does it for now. This should be another busy day for sports media.
And one quick self-serving note. This week’s edition of the Sports Media Podcast will have a record amount of guests. I’m not going jinx it by pre-promoting them, but suffice to say if everything holds true, you will love the Super Bowl edition of the podcast.
I’ll be back later in the day.
Jan
28
HBO Airs “Namath” Documentary on Saturday
The first great sports documentary of 2012 will air Saturday night on HBO. The 90 minute film was co-produced by HBO Sports and NFL and gives us a look at Joe Namath’s life and career starting in high school in Beaver Falls, PA, to college in Alabama, then to the New York Jets of the old American Football League, and finally to retirement. It doesn’t sugarcoat Namath’s demons, but it also shows that while Namath loved the big lights of New York, the small town of Beaver Falls, PA never left him.
There are appearances by his brothers, sister, daughter, friends, former teammates, and even Suzy Kolber and if you’ve followed sports over the last ten years, you’ll know why she’s in the documentary.
It’s well done and I give the documentary an A.
Here’s the HBO press release and a video preview.
The Emmy®-winning combination of HBO Sports and NFL Films explores the fascinating life and career of one of pro football’s biggest stars when NAMATH, a documentary on New York Jets icon Joe Namath, debuts SATURDAY, JAN. 28 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: Jan 28 (1:00 a.m.) and 31 (noon, midnight), and Feb. 3 (5:30 p.m.), 5 (11:15 a.m.), 7 (noon, 3:30 a.m.), 9 (8:00 p.m., 1:30 a.m.), 11 (3:00 p.m.), 15 (11:30 a.m., 5:45 p.m.) and 17 (7:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Jan. 30 (4:30 p.m., 12:50 a.m.) and Feb. 6 (6:30 p.m., 4:30 a.m.), 18 (7:45 a.m.), 21 (12:25 p.m., 8:00 p.m.), 26 (8:30 a.m.) and 29 (midnight)
HBO On Demand availability: Jan. 30-Feb. 28
Born in Beaver Falls, Pa. in 1943, Namath was raised in western Pennsylvania and was a stellar high school athlete in basketball, baseball and football. He accepted a football scholarship to the University of Alabama and played quarterback for the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. Namath led the Crimson Tide to the top of the national polls in 1964 and his stock as a pro football prospect soared.
With entertainment mogul Sonny Werblin at the helm of ownership of the New York Jets, Namath elected to sign with the upstart American Football League for a then-staggering $427,000, and by game five of his first season had become the Jets’ starting quarterback. He was subsequently named AFL Rookie of the Year, and was one of the first sports celebrity superstars, captivating both the entertainment press and fans with his movie-star looks and bigger-than-life “Broadway Joe” personality.
In a moment that would alter the NFL landscape, Namath led the underdog New York Jets to a world championship title in Super Bowl III versus the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. His “guarantee” of a Jets upset brought him legendary status.
While his MVP performance in Super Bowl III was the high point, Namath fashioned a high-flying all-star career during his 13 years in pro football, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Now 68, Namath remains engaged in the game with which he has had a lifelong love affair. He provides radio commentary, is connected to new media initiatives through Facebook and Twitter (@realjoenamath), and hosts his own website destination (broadwayjoe.tv).
Interviews for the documentary include: family members Frank Namath, Rita Sims and Jessica Namath; family friends Linwood Alford, Wibby Glover, Al Hassan, Jimmy Walsh and Tad Dowd; former New York Jets teammates Matt Snell, John Schmitt, Don Maynard, Richard Castor, Emerson Boozer and John Riggins; former Jets assistant coach Ken Meyer; former Alabama teammate Gaylon McCollough; former Alabama assistant coach Howard Schnellenberger; former Baltimore Colts head coach Don Shula; former NFL players Mike Curtis, Ben Davidson and Fred Dryer; sports journalists Sal Marchiano, Suzy Kolber, Dave Anderson and Rick Telander; producers Larry Spangler and Roger Smith; attorney Mike Bite; and actress Ann-Margret.
HBO Sports and NFL Films have a long history of acclaimed football productions, including the 2010 documentary “Lombardi,” which earned rave reviews and received the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Documentary.
The executive producers of NAMATH are Rick Bernstein for HBO Sports and Steve Sabol for NFL Films; produced by Joe Lavine for HBO Sports and Keith Cossrow for NFL Films; Liev Schreiber narrates; music composed by Dave Robidoux of NFL Films; writer, Ouisie Shapiro; senior coordinating producers for NFL FILMS, Pat Kelleher and Ross Ketover; executive producer for Namanco Productions Inc, James Walsh.
Highlights of NAMATH:
Former Alabama teammate Gaylon McCollough: “He had good command of the Alabama offense. He was shifty, he was all over the field and he almost left you standing in your boots when you were trying to tackle him. He had tremendous speed and quickness and agility. He was like trying to tackle the wind. He could stop on a dime and throw a jump pass 40 or 50 yards. It was different from what our opponents had seen in the past.”
Gaylon McCollough: “One of the tragedies in American sports is that most people never had the chance to see a healthy Joe Namath play, to see how good he really was. If you had ever seen him at his best, you’d never forget it.”
Former New York Jets offensive coach Ken Meyer: “[He’s] the only quarterback I’ve ever been around that you didn’t have to look to see when the ball was released…You could hear the ‘whoosh’ when the ball left his hand. And that is not kidding!”
Sports journalist Rick Telander: “There had not been anybody like Joe Namath, not in sports. Long hair, sideburns…a Fu Manchu. Suddenly it’s like, ‘We got some kind of revolutionary here.’ No, you got a guy who’s growing a Fu Manchu ‘cause the chicks dig it.”
New York sportscaster Sal Marchiano: “So here was this rascal – not a maverick – a rascal who wore white shoes, wore his hair long, and he went his own way. He was Mick Jagger in a football uniform. He wasn’t Pat Boone. And that’s what America wanted.”
Former Colts head coach Don Shula on Namath delivering in Super Bowl III: “You gotta give credit where credit is due, and Namath, he made the predictions, then he made ‘em come true.”
Former NFL player Fred Dryer: “That guy was very important to the game of football as a cultural icon, and how he brought professional football into the television era and with it a whole degree of excitement…The likes of him will never ever, ever pass this way again.”
Joe Namath: “Something’s been guiding me around throughout my life. I keep saying, ‘I’m just a lucky guy.’ ”
Here’s the video preview of the documentary.
That’s it.
Jan
27
Doing Some Friday Megalinks
With a rainy day in Southern New England, it’s time to provide you with some media links. Lots of them on a Friday.
You can check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for the sports and entertainment programming suggestions.
Now to the links.
National
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with NBC’s Al Michaels about calling his 8th Super Bowl and 2nd for NBC.
Mike Ozanian from Forbes says NFL TV rightsholders will be able to reap financial benefits while non-rightsholders end up holding the bag.
Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com says you can follow along the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter results in real time thanks to a new Facebook app.
Michael O’Connell from the Hollywood Reporter has a sneak peek at some of the Super Bowls ads.
Kelly McBride of the ESPN Poynter Review Project looks at why ESPN made so much of Tim Tebow.
Alex Klein at Romanesko looks into why the Yale Daily News sat on a story for several months and how it took the New York Times to report on former quarterback Patrick Witt’s alleged sexual assault on campus. You may remember that Witt was a candidate to become a Rhodes Scholar but then skipped his interview. Now we know why.
Todd Spangler at Multichannel News says ESPN will let viewers see additional highlights and material from the Winter X Games via the Shazam mobile app.
Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that NBC Sports Network goes into the NHL All-Star Weekend with increased ratings for the games.
Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily also has a story on the increased NHL ratings for NBC Sports Network.
Gabriel Beltrone from Adweek says Coke will have a Super Bowl microsite where its famous polar bears will react to the game and ads in real time.
David Gianatasio of Adweek writes one local Super Bowl spot will urge you to pee during its commercial.
E.J. Schultz at Advertising Age has Anheuser-Busch’s Super Bowl plans.
Matt Hardigree at Jalopnik says he’s solved the mystery behind the advertiser behind the Ferris Bueller-themed Super Bowl spot.
Adam Jacobi, the college football writer at CBSSports.com, who put the link to Onward State’s erroneous tweet about Joe Paterno’s death last Saturday has been fired. Jacobi says he understands the decision and has apologized to the Paterno family for his mistake.
Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says NBC will take a lighter approach for Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
Harry A. Jessell at TV NewsCheck notes that while the national TV ratings for the NFL are good, go inside the local numbers and they’re even better.
ESPN PR man Bill Hofheimer gives you an inside look at the network’s Super Bowl studios in Indianapolis.
Sports Media Watch says college basketball ratings are up on both ESPN and ESPN2.
SMW has some news and notes on some various people in the sports media.
Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing goes into some of the on-screen typos on TV this week.
Jeff Pearlman gets vindication from Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.
Steven Crist from the Daily Racing Form feels returning the Breeders Cup to NBC can only help horse racing.
All Access says a Hartford, CT FM station has flipped to all-sports.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says NESN has selected the replacement for Heidi Watney on its Red Sox broadcasts.
Chad says of all of the local TV outlets, Comcast SportsNet New England will have the largest contingent covering the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
Johnny Diaz from the Globe says Boston DirecTV subscribers will see the Super Bowl after all.
Bill Doyle from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with NBC’s Rodney Harrison about Super Bowl XLII and how some present New England Patriots still remaining from the game want revenge.
Stuart Elliot at the New York Times says some Super Bowl advertisers are returning buyers.
Richard Sandomir of the Times has Joe Namath’s reaction to the HBO/NFL Films documentary on his career that premieres tomorrow.
Richard adds that Namath is right now estranged from his former team, the New York Jets.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says the Namath documentary for the most part is good.
Justin Terranova of the Post speaks with NBC NHL charlatan Pierre McGuire.
Mike Silva at Sports Media Watchdog wonders why Kim Jones left YES.
Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says a local sports talk show will broadcast live from the Super Bowl next week.
Pete talks with the host of that talk show who also wears other hats in the Albany market.
Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NYC residents will be able to hear the local and national radio calls of the Super Bowl next Sunday.
The Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News notes the firing of a CBSSports.com writer for falsely reporting Joe Paterno’s death.
DCRTV’s Dave Hughes at Press Row has media notes from the Baltimore-DC area.
South
The Tallahassee (FL) Democrat writes that a local sports talk show host who left his former station this week will be back on the air at another station later this year.
Billy Cox of the Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune says ESPN’s Dick Vitale will be the subject of a profile produced by ….. ESPN!
Josh Bowe of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Fox Sports Southwest will stream Lone Star Conference football games and a highlight show over the internet.
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with a retiring local sports anchor who looks back at the 2011 Texans rather fondly.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reviews the HBO/NFL Films documentary on Joe Namath.
Mel says ESPNU will be all over National Signing Day.
Midwest
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with former Bengal Artrell Hawkins who is now co-hosting Fox Sports Radio’s national morning show.
Jeff Moss of the Detroit Sports Rag looks into the new program director and on-air host of a local sports radio station.
Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Wisconsin sports teams did well in the national TV ratings last year.
Dan McGrath of the Chicago News Cooperative notes the 20 year anniversary of sports talk radio in the Windy City.
Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says new Minnesota Twins radio voice Cory Provus has big shoes to fill.
Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Bob Costas about returning to host his familiar town hall format next week.
West
Thomas Harding of MLB.com says Root Sports Rocky Mountain’s Alana Rizzo is leaving the network’s Colorado Rockies broadcast team and heading for MLB Network.
John Maffei at the North County Times says HBO’s documentary on Joe Namath is on par with previous efforts.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star also reviews the documentary.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Kings radio analyst Daryl Evans and also lists his best/worst LA broadcast analysts.
Tom has more on Evans in his blog.
Canada
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says it’s time to play the NHL All-Star Game outdoors.
And that will do it.
Jan
24
Real Sports’ New Season Premieres Tonight
The first new edition of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel premieres tonight on HBO. The critically acclaimed sports newsmagazine will have three new stories and an update from 2009. As usual, Real Sports has a very interesting lineup and we have it for you below.
EXAMINES THE USE OF TORADOL IN THE NFL; PROFILES BASKETBALL’S VAN GUNDY BROTHERS; VISITS A REMARKABLE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM THAT NEVER PUNTS; AND RECONNECTS WITH SUPER BOWL NO-SHOW BARRET ROBBINS WHEN THE EMMY®-WINNING SHOW RETURNS JAN. 24, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBOEntering its 18th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 178th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, JAN. 24 (10:00 p.m. ET/PT & 9:00 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO.
HBO On Demand availability: Jan. 30-Feb. 20
Segments include:
*Toradol in the NFL. Real Sports investigative team looks at the largely unknown practice of NFL players being administered the controversial pain drug Toradol. For years, NFL players in every locker room across the league have lined up to get a shot of Toradol before kickoff because it is the most effective remedy to mask pain throughout the entire body unlike local numbing agents such as Novocaine. Toradol is not a narcotic, is perfectly legal and provided by team doctors. Also, it is not physically addictive and does not affect your mental state, but the long-term effects are something that have recently become a hot topic of debate. When abused, Toradol has shown to cause permanent damage to internal organs, including stomach bleeding, liver disease and kidney failure. REAL SPORTS correspondent Andrea Kremer speaks with current and former players, doctors and the NFL about the issue of the use of Toradol.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
*Brothers. Over the last 15 years, the Van Gundy brothers, Stan and Jeff, have made quite a name for themselves in the NBA. Having found limited success as players, they followed their father, who coached college basketball teams, into the family business of patrolling the sidelines. Stan, 52, is currently head coach of the Orlando Magic and previously served as head coach of the Miami Heat. Jeff, who turned 50 on Jan. 19, led the New York Knicks and then the Houston Rockets for years before becoming one of the game’s top broadcasters. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Bernie Goldberg sits down with the brothers to discuss their remarkable ascent to the top of the game.
Producer: Lisa Bennett.
*Between the Numbers. Kevin Kelley, head football coach at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark., uses his own research to back up the mantra that his team should never punt, should always kick onside kicks after a score and should never return punts. If this sounds too unorthodox to be effective, Kelley’s theories have resulted in a 104-19 record since he became head coach at the high school, and statisticians have supported his theory on the relative value of punting. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel visits the 42-year-old Kelley in Little Rock as his team prepares to seek its third state title under his leadership.
Producer: Nick Dolin.
*Barret Robbins. On Jan. 26, 2003, one of the strangest Super Bowl controversies ever unfolded when Barret Robbins, Pro Bowl center for the Oakland Raiders, went AWOL, leaving no trace of his whereabouts two days before the biggest game of his career. For the Raiders, Robbins’ disappearance was a major distraction, but for Robbins, the episode was the beginning of a dark and tragic story that would include a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, substance abuse, numerous stints in rehab and multiple run-ins with the law. In 2009, six years after the Raiders lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII, the Houston native sat down with HBO’s Andrea Kremer to reflect on his troubles. Now, Kremer leads REAL SPORTS cameras into the Florida State Prison where the 38-year-old former NFL star has been incarcerated on drug charges after another encounter with the law.
Producers: Zehra Mamdani, Chapman Downes.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 14 times and has received a total of 22 Sports Emmy Awards. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. On Jan. 19, Real Sports will receive its second duPont Award when Columbia University recognizes the show for its series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Kirby Bradley is senior producer.
The new season of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel premieres at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. That is it for this post.
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