Category: TV

ESPN President John Skipper Resigns Citing Substance Addiction Issues

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ESPN – John Skipper resigned as president of ESPN and co-chairman of the Disney Media Networks on Monday. George Bodenheimer, ESPN’s president from 1998 to 2011 and its executive chairman until May 2014, will take over as the acting chairman of the company for the next 90 days to help Disney chairman and chief executive officer Bob Iger find Skipper’s replacement. “Today I have resigned from my duties as President of ESPN,” Skipper said in a statement. “I have had a wonderful career at the Walt Disney Company and am grateful for the many opportunities and friendships. I owe a debt to many, but most profoundly Michael Lynton, George Bodenheimer and Bob Iger. “I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction. I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem.

So John Skipper, the president of ESPN, resigned from his lofty position yesterday citing substance addiction issues. The guy with one of the most powerful positions in all of sports and media stepped down after literally signing a contract extension through 2021 last month. That is not normal.  I don’t mean to break out the jump to conclusions mat..

..but this all just seems to be coming at an odd time. More and more sexual abuse and harassment allegations continue to pile in every day and now we’re starting to see the movement entering the world of sports. Christ, theres an 800 page book I read about all the wild shit that went on at ESPN over the years.

Just this week we heard that Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was coming under fire for allegations of workplace misconduct against him, then the NFL took over the investigation, then the creepy details came out, and now he’s selling the team. That shit happened QUICK.

Think about that for a second. This is the NFL; the definition of the old boys club. There’s no young tech billionaire owner in the NFL like the NBA has in Mark Cuban. Its all old, rich, white guys who probably think they’re beyond reproach. Welp, its 2017 boys and its become real apparent, real quick to a lot of entitled rich guys like Richardson that ain’t the case anymore. Now we have P. Diddy coming out saying he wants to buy the Panthers.

This NEEDS to happen. Besides the fact that I could just post Chappelle’s Show clips of Making the Band all day, he would bring some much needed diversity into the club that is NFL owners. Diddy would bring a new voice as both a black man and a much younger perspective on everything from the racial issues of the league to the promotion of the product.

Back to Skipper though, it seems like this guy has been underwater for some time. That scathing Boston Globe piece came out last week slamming the Worldwide Leader for its workplace environment that was toxic to many women. Buccigross was the main fall guy in that piece as he was outed for sending overly flirty text messages and unsolicited shirt pics. Not on the level of some shit we’ve heard from Weinstein, but obviously wicked inappropriate. I don’t understand what these guys don’t get. When I’m at work I pretend everything I say and do will be recorded and used against me in the future. So just don’t try and fuck all your coworkers or be a weirdo in the office and you’ll be good. We’ve all got skeletons in our closet, but keep that shit in the closet at home.

We all of course remember the short lived Barstool Sports show with the Pardon My Take guys PFT and Big Cat that lasted all of one episode before ESPN cancelled it.

ESPN was taking heat from Sam Ponder and other female employees about the network associating with Barstool, which they were pissed about. What I don’t get is, you know what Barstool is about, you know what their audience is, you know there may be controversy, but you green light the show anyways. Then you pull the plug after one episode and some blowback from disgruntled parties? Either stick with your decision and give the show a chance to make it through some growing pains or just don’t do it at all. If Skipper and ESPN were so concerned with the negative reaction AND they were knowingly embroiled in behind the scenes legal battles with former employees regarding sexual harassment, then why not kick the can down the road and try the show later on? Its just poor management.

Hopefully Skipper gets whatever help he needs for his substance issue, but with the timeline of everything and more allegations making their way into the sports world I would not be surprised if we start hearing some less than flattering details leaking out sooner than later.

Internet Commenters Are My Favorite Thing in the World

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There is nothing better in this world than internet commenters and every once in a while one truly makes me laugh out loud. First enjoy this awesomely 90’s video featuring the former Red Ranger, Jason, setting a dance stage on fire.

Enter the comment section. This guy breaks down the Red Ranger vs Green Ranger leadership power struggle like its a goddamn term paper.

Bravo. Never change internet, never change.

Greg Olsen to Broadcast Week 11 Game for FOX

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At first glance, the Vikings look like giant whiners here. Don’t want an injured Panther broadcasting your game? Deal with it. What is he going to see in person that millions of other people at home won’t see on television? You’re acting like George Costanza with his ATM code.

Taking a moment to think about it, though, I’m with the Vikings on this one. They might be a little paranoid, but this is not an unreasonable request. And even if Greg Olsen won’t see anything that the people at home won’t see, it’s still a bad look for the league. If the NFL were half as concerned with the integrity of the game as they claim they are, they would step in and quash this.

Can you imagine the outcry if an injured Patriots player were scheduled to broadcast the Dolphins game this week? Adam Gase would have Hard Rock Stadium swept for bugs. The Patriots would get crushed on ESPN for once again going outside of what is acceptable and decent to gain even a slight edge over an opponent. Draft picks would be seized, congressional probes would be launched.

Of course, Bill Belichick would never allow an injured player to broadcast another NFL game. I bet the Vikings get more intel out of Olsen rambling on the air for three hours than he gets out of them seeing them from the broadcast booth.

UCLA Basketball Players Heading Home From China

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Reuters – Three UCLA basketball players detained in China on suspicion of shoplifting were headed back to the United States on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had sought the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping in the case…

“What they did was unfortunate,” Trump told reporters earlier in Manila. He said the trio, who have been held since last week, could have faced long prison sentences, and described Xi’s response as “terrific.”

The Donald is on the board! The effort to repeal and replace Obamacare fizzled out earlier this year. North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear weapons program. The Robert Mueller investigation is on-going. Tax reform will be an uphill battle. It’s been a tough first year in office for Donald Trump, but LiAngelo Ball is coming home!

UCLA hosts Central Arkansas Wednesday night. It will be interesting to see if Ball and teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill face any further discipline when they arrive home. UCLA head coach Steve Alford took a brave stand and benched them for the Georgia Tech game in Shanghai. As opposed to breaking them out of the hotel they were confined to and further pissing off the Chinese government.

As we said last week, this shoplifting incident had all the makings of an international incident. Thankfully LaVar Ball was right. It wasn’t “that big a deal.” Though it did make its way into discussions between the President of the United States and the President of the People’s Republic of China. I guess more serious discussions on human rights, currency manipulation and unbalanced trade relations will have to wait until next time.

It figures that Trump’s first win as president will prominently play into a reality television show plot line. I don’t know if LaVar Ball meant for the family’s China trip to go down this way, but he’s now got a hell of an act to top for season three of Ball in the Family.

 

Thursday Night Football To Go All-Madden Next Week

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NFL.com – Thursday Night Football will have a video-game feel in Week 11.

NBC announced it plans to utilize its dual SkyCam for the primary viewing of the Tennessee Titans versus Pittsburgh Steelers matchup on Nov. 16…

NBC utilized the SkyCam during a Week 7 tilt between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, when a heavy fog rolled into Foxboro, obscuring the normal camera angle. The viewing experience drew rave reviews, leading to NBC tinkering with its normal broadcast approach…

By pivoting to the SkyCam, NBC hopes to attract younger viewers who grew up playing “Madden” video games, which employs a view from behind the quarterback.

The fans have spoken and the NFL has listened. Next week’s Thursday Night Football game will be presented as a real-life video game. The NFL can be criticized for many things but you gotta give them credit for their willingness to mix things up, even in the middle of the season.

Thursday Night Football is the perfect game to go full SkyCam on. No one looks forward to watching Thursday night games, even when it features two first-place teams. More often then not the games suck and/or someone gets hurt. Going to SkyCam allows the NFL to change the subject on Thursday Night Football for at least a week and to rebrand it to better appeal to “millennials.” Even if it’s a gimmick, there’s no downside to letting this experiment play out for at least one full game. Hopefully they remember to switch camera angles on interceptions and turnovers this time.

It’s just another way real football has become more like video game football. Who says you can’t throw the ball 50 times a game, onside kick to start the second half of the Super Bowl, kill the clock by running parallel to the goal line on a touchdown reception, or go for it on 4th and 2 at your own 28?

The only thing that would make next week’s experiment even better is if Condescending Cris busts Mike Tomlin’s balls every time he goes for 2 or goes for it on 4th down and doesn’t get it. Hands down the most aggravating part of every Madden loss.

Mike Felger Is Not A Great Eulogist

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So how about Felger yesterday? He basically turned into Chazz Reinhold from Wedding Crashers for 12 minutes while talking about Roy Halladay.

Felger almost sounded like Michael in the Godfather talking about Captain McCluskey, “a crooked cop who got mixed  up in the rackets and got what was coming to him.”

I’m not always on the same page as the Deadspin editorial board – I don’t think Colin Kaepernick is the answer for the Dolphins, Colts, Packers or Texans – but I absolutely agree that this cringeworthy Felger rant is reprehensible. When I heard it on the Felger and Mazz podcast last night, I was shocked that the Sports Hub hadn’t taken it down. It was so bad, I was shocked he was allowed to finish the show. The rant came right after 3 o’clock. How do you stick around for another two and a half hours after that? He even went on tv after the radio show and no mention was made of this incident.

It’s hard to imagine a major-market radio host apparently taking pleasure from the tragic death of an athlete because he thinks he saw it coming. That’s a bush league take I’d expect to hear from some AM host in Binghamton. I don’t know if he should lose his job over it, but I don’t think a long weekend could hurt him. Make a half-assed ifpology, root for the greatest Patriots-Broncos game of all time on Sunday night, and take some advice from another Will Ferrell character.

Locked Up Abroad – UCLA Basketball Edition

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ESPN – Three UCLA men’s basketball players — including LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball — were released on bail early Wednesday morning in Hangzhou, China, after being arrested for allegedly shoplifting Tuesday afternoon, a source told ESPN.

The three players, a group that also includes freshmen Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, were questioned about allegedly stealing sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store next to the team’s hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins had been staying before leaving for Shanghai on Wednesday…

Ball, Riley and Hill were taken to the police station in Hangzhou, where they were kept for a number of hours. UCLA representatives, including coach Steve Alford, were at the police station along with the players.

Ball, Riley and Hill were released around 4 a.m. Wednesday and were staying at a luxury hotel in Hangzhou along with a UCLA representative, according to a source. They are being required by Hangzhou police to remain at the hotel until the legal process is over, the source said.

How is this story not front page news? No mention of this story on the New York Times homepage or even the Los Angeles Times homepage, and just a small link on the ESPN homepage. Three American college basketball players were locked up overnight in China. One of the players that was locked up is a member of the Ball family, the Kardashians of basketball. And oh yeah, the President of the United States just happens to be in China at the same time. This has all the makings of international incident.

It will be a while before all the details about what happened in the Louis Vuitton store come out but it’s unlikely that this case will play out like Jameis Winston crab leg incident. It was widely reported yesterday that the three players could face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. A plea bargain including community service is probably not on the table.

Here’s what the U.S. Department of State website has to say about the Chinese legal system:

The Chinese legal system can be opaque and the interpretation and enforcement of local laws arbitrary. The judiciary does not enjoy independence from political influence. U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China should be aware of varying levels of scrutiny to which you will be subject from Chinese local law enforcement and state security.

While China might not be North Korea, it’s not Canada either. Was this not fully explained to the players before they got on the plane? They’re out of jail for the time being but even if they are not charged or convicted they might not get out of China for a while. Season 2 of Ball in the Family could be set in China.

On a side note, hopefully the NCAA will be forced to answer why they thought it was a good idea for a college basketball game to be played in China in the first place. Not every school should have to schedule games like the Ivy League, which only schedules conference match ups for Fridays and Saturdays, but it would be nice if they at least didn’t openly mock the “student-athlete” system. A week-long trip to another continent in the middle of the semester can’t be great for a student-athlete’s studies. Especially if they get locked up by a communist government.

 

 

If Salt Bae Can Make It Into a Ciroc Commercial Then Theres Hope for Us All

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I feel like the internet drove right past this the other night and I need to make sure it gets the proper attention. The meme of the year, Salt Bae himself, was in a goddamn Ciroc commercial that aired during the Celtics Cavs game the other night. Ya know, the Turkish chef who became pseudo-famous for how he sprinkled salt on his goddamn meat? Yea that guy was living it up next to P. Diddy and all the other beautiful celebrities in a banging vodka commercial.

So if you’re stuck in a cube job like me, let this be a lesson to you. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do. If Salt Bae can bootstrap himself from a no name chef to kicking it with P. Diddy then theres hope for us all.

Richard Deitsch Ranks the Top 25 PxP Broadcasters: The 300s Reacts

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Sports Illustrated – We live in a great era for play-by-play voices. The list of quality game-callers is deep and sports broadcasting has become far more inclusive than ever as evidenced by women (Tiffany Greene, Beth Mowins, Kate Scott, etc…) regularly getting play-by-play assignments that have traditionally been the domain of men only.

Given the quality of talent among play-by-play voices, I thought it would be a fun parlor game to list the 25 best working play-by-play broadcasters in the business. This list is entirely subjective. It is entirely based on my likes when it comes to professionalism, preparation and quality of broadcast. I expect to be told on social media that the list sucks.

While Deitsch admits that his list is subjective and that he expects to get pushback on social media, he won’t get much pushback from me. His list is more than fair and includes a wide range of broadcasters from a wide range of sports. Still, I’ll add my two cents.

23. Phil Liggett, NBC Sports

The soundtrack for the Tour de France in the United States…

22. Mary Carillo, The Tennis Channel and NBC Sports

A play-by-play caller who is unafraid to deliver truths while calling a match…

A cycling announcer and a tennis announcer right out of the gate had me concerned about the direction of this list. Where’s the Boston Marathon announcer going to be ranked?

18. Sean McDonough, ESPN

McDonough continues to be criminally underrated. While he currently handles Monday Night Football and college basketball broadcast duties for the worldwide leader, he was also a terrific college football and Major League Baseball broadcaster. Arguably the best Boston play-by-play announcer of all time.

17. Brad Nessler, CBS

Love listening to Brad Nessler. I feel like my dad watching an Oilers/Bengals game in 1990.

14. Chris Fowler, ESPN

The best tennis match caller working today. There are better on college football but he’s improved each year at that gig, too.

I’ll give Deitsch credit, he is showing more respect to non-Big 4 sports than I would on my list. But I still miss listening to Brent Musburger on big-time college football games. Fowler is ranked too high for my tastes.

13. Gus Johnson, Fox Sports

Would probably be higher on this list if he stilled called NCAA Tournament games. It’s a shame we don’t get to hear him on CBS (or TBS) in March any more.

10. Joe Buck, Fox Sports

Perennially underrated as a baseball voice and he’s self-deprecating on the mic, which is welcome.

I agree with this statement 100%. Not the best in the business, but not deserving of much of the criticism he receives.

9. Kevin Harlan, CBS, Turner Sports, and Westwood One

I respect a broadcaster who will do play-by-play of a drunk fan on the field during the fourth quarter of a lousy Monday night game.

4. Ian Eagle, CBS Sports, Westwood One, Tennis Channel, YES Network

The highest ranked Sunday afternoon NFL broadcaster on the list and I don’t disagree. Though his partner, Dan Fouts, might need to be the next analyst to get pushed out the door when Peyton Manning decides to get back in the game.

2. Al Michaels, NBC Sports

Still the gold standard for the NFL—and still going strong at age 72. He’ll call his 10th Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2018.

From the Olympics to the World Series to the Super Bowl and everything in between, Michaels is perhaps the best of all time.

1. Mike Emrick, NBC Sports

I did not expect to see a hockey broadcaster at the top of this list but it is well deserved for the Doc. No other sport and broadcaster go together better than Emrick and hockey. Hell, Emrick does minor league and college games when the NHL goes into lockouts. That’s dedication. I can’t imagine Mike Tirico announcing a Northeastern basketball game the next time the NBA has a lockout.

What are your thoughts? Tweet at us @The300sBoston

 

RIP John Dunsworth aka Mr. Lahey from Trailer Park Boys

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TMZ -“Trailer Park Boys” actor John F. Dunsworth — who played Jim Lahey on the show — has died. Dunsworth’s daughter told a Canadian outlet her father died after a brief and unexpected illness. John was a part of the show’s original cast, and played a former cop-turned-security supervisor at Sunnyvale Trailer Park.
He broke into show biz as a casting director in the late ’80s before making it big on the Canadian comedy. “Trailer Park Boys” has been on air for 11 seasons.
Dunsworth was 71.

If you’re anything like me, and if you read this blog even semi-regularly, then you’re likely a fan of the Canadian TV show turned Netflix staple, Trailer Park Boys. Stumbled onto this show my senior year of college and never looked back. An absurd show that has no business being as funny as it is for as long as it has. Granted I didn’t find it on Netflix until like 2010, its been on TV since 2001! Julian, Ricky, Bubbles, Randy, J-Rock; all great characters, but they pale in comparison to the always hilarious (and loaded) Jim Lahey. The alcoholic Sunnyvale trailer park supervisor was one of the funniest characters on TV that I still quote on the regular. May shithawks lead you in, Mr. Lahey. RIP.