Time for another sports media post. All done in bullet form. Check it out
- The big sports media story on Friday was Bill Simmons whining on Twitter that a joke that he made about Dwayne Wade for a segment on SportsCenter got cut. He then tweeted that being in the studio for the NBA over the last eight months was frustrating.
I hate to break it to Simmons, but things get cut for TV all of the time. And to top it off, his joke about Wade taking a trip to Germany probably wasn’t funny to begin with. After Simmons’ late night complaints about his joke not making the cut, I heard from one of his former editors who said this was par for the course for Captain Blowhard, that he was a diva and couldn’t take anything being cut from his columns.
There’s no doubt that Captain Blowhard does good work and has written some very good columns in the past. However, to whine over a lame joke and feel that he doesn’t deserve to have his work cut or edited displays a misdirected entitlement. When I worked in radio and TV, my work got edited. Sometimes my reports went too long or they needed to be reworded. There were instances when I fought for my work, but in most cases, I understood why they had to be edited. It appears Simmons feels he’s so funny and perfect, that his work should never be touched. And even if his complaints were justified, complaining about your bosses on Twitter can rub people the wrong way.
Look, Simmons is successful and he’s respected. But no one is untouchable and to whine over a pithy little joke can cause bosses to tire of his diva fits very quickly.
- NBC’s Mike Emrick continues to prove that he’s one of the best play-by-play announcers in any sport. His critics will complain about his yelling, but in my opinion, Doc is a wordsmith and he calls a great game. His enthusiasm during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final from the first puck drop throughout the triple overtime game never waned. And he hit the right crescendo when Chicago scored the winning goal last Wednesday and again when Boston’s Daniel Paille netted the game-winner during Saturday’s extra session.
Now if NBC could do something about all-around charlatan Pierre McGuire, its broadcast would be perfect.
- HBO/NFL Films has finally found a
victimsubject for this season’s Hard Knocks. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed earlier reports that the Cincinnati Bengsls will be the focus of the NFL’s initial reality TV series.I wrote about the upcoming edition of Hard Knocks at Awful Announcing.
That will close the sports media thoughts for now.
