Bleacher Report - Articles by Eye on Sports Media

Caddie Confidential: Sometimes Caddies Do Give A Shart

Eye on Sports Media — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:31:00 -0400

I was caddying for Mark Rhode at the Greater Milwaukee Open back in the early 1980's, and we had a very, very early tee time. The "luxury" hotel that I was staying in for about $18 a night did not have an alarm clock. I had no car and no ride to the golf course in the morning. But I had to show up to keep my job.

So after I left a local watering hole after last call, I walked and hitchhiked my way to the golf course and for there about 3:00 AM. I found a golf cart, and went to sleep. I was awakened by the sound of the mowers and the smell of the morning dew. I was on time for our pre-round practice session.

It was definitely not the best sleeping accommodations, but it ranked right up there with the YMCA in White Plains for the Westchester Classic, the $5 a night (Canadian) dorm room at Sheridan Nurses College for the Canadian Open, and Bruce Edward's (Tom Watsons long-time caddie) van in a hotel parking lot. At least I never slept in a bunker at the golf course.

Such was the life of an aspiring, wet behind the ears caddie on the PGA Tour back before the creation of the all-exempt tour, Tiger Woods, and the huge purses we see on the tour today. Nowadays a caddie can earn a pretty nice living on the tour. The only problem is that it is much harder for caddies to get a long-time bag to work. As long-time caddie Butchie Vail told me at the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic last spring, it is really brutal out there.

My experiences were limited to three summers in college because I decided trying to make money as a caddie was a heck of a lot more fun than working as a dishwasher in a local hotel restaurant (that job lasted three days). During those summers, I met some of the most unforgettable characters I have ever known, and had the time of my life. I told myself that I should right a book about it someday. Of course I didn't.

But Greg "Piddler" Martin, longtime caddy of veteran tour player Dan Forsman, has taken the plunge. Caddie Confidential: Inside Stories from the Caddies of the PGA Tour (Triumph Books, 171 pages, ISBN-10: 160078190X, ISBN-13: 978-1600781902, April 10, 2009), released this past spring, is a collection of stories and anecdotes from a number of long-time tour caddies. For me, it was a very interesting read because I know many of the caddies offering stories for the book, or referred to in the book. Because I caddied alongside and against some of them, I am a perfect audience for the book.

People like me will know immediately who Woody Blackburn and David Thore are, and this gives context to the stories about them. But for today's mainstream golf fans, the book may be a disappointment. Despite the title and cover picture, you may not get the stories you want to read. For the stories that are told, there is no real point of reference for the reader. A whole chapter talks about caddie's nicknames. However, there are no photos of the caddies, so a golf fan could not distinguish them from any other caddie if they are at a tournament.

You are not going to read about how and why Mike "Fluff" Cowan got fired by Tiger Woods. You are not going to come across any really juicy tidbits about the big players (or even the not so big players) or the marquee caddies like Steve Williams. You are not going to get information on how much they get paid today.

The reason is simple: fear. Throughout the book, caddies talk about getting fired, how many times caddies get fired, and some of the silly reasons for getting fired. There is no way they can be as candid as people would want and still hope to get and keep a bag on today's tour. The money is too good to pass up. That is their very simple reality.

If you want to read stories from what many would call a bygone era of golf, i.e. before the PGA Tour created the all-exempt tour and the purses grew to obscene levels, when players actually had to grind out a living, then the book provides some, but limited, insight into the men (mostly men anyway) and the experiences they have lived.

There is one story in the book that, at least for this reader, is pee your pants funny. Without going into detail, it is about a caddie that really gave a shart (and then some) to make sure he was to work on time.

While the book hints at potential "greatness" for the casual golf reader, it falls short by not telling the full story (or as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story").

For example, there is a story of a Tour player (one who I have always liked and is a fan favorite) who's wife sent a letter out complaining that Tour caddies were making too much money. What the reader does not know is that this player's first wife was often his caddy in an effort to save money.

Another story tells about some caddies who perform valet services such as dropping off and picking up laundry for their player. It does not go on to tell of one particular player who not only requires that his caddy do those tasks, but to also cook his meals, clean the dishes, and so forth (caddies are much more forthcoming in casual conversations in the parking lot than they might be on the record).

Still another story tells of a caddie nick-named "Last Call" because he never failed to miss last call in a bar. It is hinted that he got this name as a caddie, when the reality is different. He earned that moniker as a player, and that behavior might be one of the reasons he never really made it as a player.

Even though as a whole I enjoyed the book, I am often drawn to little details and errors that others might not notice or even care about.

For example, long-time legendary CBS Sports Associate Director Chuck Will is referred to as "Chuck Wills" in a couple of places. It is not clear if this was intentional as a direct quote or just missed in the editing process.

In the chapter on caddie nicknames, there is a reference to Jeff "Squeaky" Medlin, saying he "HAS (emphasis added) a really high-pitched voice." The only problem here is syntax, as Squeaky died in 1997 of leukemia. If it is not Medlin he is referring to, then a distinction should be made.

Should you read this book? If you keep your expectations low and don't let the tile seduce you, it is a good but not great read. It worked for me because if my ties to many of the players mentioned (and I once caddied for Mark Calcavecchia, who wrote one of the the forewords to the book). But this may not work for everybody.

There are better books out there for those who want deeper stories and insights. For me, the gold standard has always been Michael Bamberger's The Green Road Home. There is also the recently published Kaddy Korner - Life and Times on the PGA Tour , self-published by Mark Huber. It is this latter book that you really learn why Lynn Strickler is called the "Growler", an attitude that had not changed when I ran into him at a Tampa restaurant in 1999, 16 years after I left the greatest job someone could have.

For the record, I have been fired as a caddie. The only time it happened with the word "fired" (as opposed to not being on the same bag in consecutive weeks without explanation) was when Curt Byrum of The Golf Channel fired me before our practice round at the Quad Cities Open in Moline, Illinois. We had made the cut in Milwaukee the week before. Call it karma or fate, I picked up a Gary Trivisonno's bag for the Monday qualifier, we qualified for the tournament, and made the cut. Curt did not make the cut.

I Feel So Used and Manipulated by Erin Andrews

Eye on Sports Media — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:30:00 -0400

I feel used and manipulated. I feel like someone who took the bait and stood up and defended a person whose privacy was defiled. I criticized sites such as Deadspin for objectifying and sexualizing a female public figure, and contributing to an environment which led to problems.

Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon for the poor, helpless Erin Andrews who was suffering because of the illegally taken and posted videos from her hotel room. But I was not the only one. I wonder if they feel the same as I do right now?

Why am I waxing ruefully over my criticisms of the person who posted the video, and the web sites that took great glee and web hits over the years by posting provocative pictures of Andrews and others?

Because Erin Andrews has blown it. She has thrown out any credibility as the "victim" of sexual personification and obsession. She has lost credibility in my eyes. But will she lose it in the eyes of others?

No, I am not saying she was not wronged. She clearly was, and hopefully the person who posted the video(s) is found and prosecuted.

However, if Andrews really felt wronged, she should never have allowed GQ to go forward with this month's sexually provocative photo and video shoot that she WILLINGLY participated. Yes the shoot occurred last April. The contracts were signed before then, and once the pictures/video was in the can, she had no control over when GQ would publish them.

Then why should she have agreed to do the shoot at all? Is it because using sexuality might help boost a career (and this applies to anyone who appears to be doing so)?

But just read this quote from the GQ article:

“I’ve always looked out for my career first."

She sure does and is. It is just appears hypocritical on its face.

Ma, and just maybe, ESPN should consider how much more egregious this appears than anything someone might say on Facebook or Twitter, and modify that policy accordingly.

And no, I will not link to the GQ article, photos, or video. I will not be an enabler.

I...I...I just feel so violated.

Thanks to Ed Berliner of Stone Cold Sports for posting information about this GQ piece on Facebook.

Will Rick Pitino Be Excommunicated?

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:05:00 -0400

One of the saddest stories in this sordid Rick Pitino affair is that he said he paid for Karen Sypher to have an abortion.

Under the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, that is one of the 9 grounds for excommunication from the Church:

1. Heresy
2. Violating the species - i.e. taking the consecrated host off for black magic rituals or trampling on it or doing other wrong things with it.
3. Using force against the body of the Pontiff
4. Giving absolution to a person who is a partner in violation of the 6th commandment except in time of death.
5. Pretending to be a priest (i.e. saying mass hearing confessions etc)
6. Consecrating someone a bishop who isn't a priest.
7. Breaking the seal of confession
8. Being an interpreter and breaking the seal of confession
9. Procuring an abortion

The city of Louisville grew up around the Cathedral of the Assumption. Given how high profile this case has become, will Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (pictured right) have any choice but to excommunicate Pitino if the allegation is true?

While abortion is legal in the United States, the Catholic Church has no grey area on this topic. There may have been many members of the Catholic Church who have had abortions but kept it quiet. This story is far from quiet.

The Archbishop cannot take a neutral stance if the allegation is true. In this century, the Church excommunicated the mother of a nine-year old Brazilian rape victim, for obtaining an abortion for her daughter, as well as the doctors performing the abortion (source: Wikipedia). Is there any way they can be silent in the Pitino case?

It is a perfect storm that would give the Church to take a hugely visible stand and make an example of Pitino to show President Obama, the Congress, and the American people that its position on abortion is more than words.

Pitino is a coach, a human being with faults as we all do, who is not being slapped by the University of Louisville administration. At least not yet. At least not publicly.

But what will the Church do?

Update: August 14, 2009

According to the Canon Law site In the Light of the Law, Pitino may not face excommunication because a five year statute of limitations has run out, and a Canonical investigation cannot be started:

We may be spared having to think through the 20-plus ways of dodging excommunication latae sententiae (automatic)—which institute, as I have said before, is disappearing from canon law and should be dropped entirely—nor need we discuss the admittedly fewer loopholes available to defendants in excommunication ferendae sententiae (formal) cases for the simple reason that the canonical statute of limitations has already run: the abortion canon,c. 1398, has a five-year "prescription" period per 1983 CIC 1362, meaning that a canonical investigation cannot be opened now regarding an abortion that all sides agree occurred on August 29, 2003.

Southeastern Conference Steps On It With Media Policy Dictum

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:45:00 -0400

Risk is everywhere. The key to dealing with risk is doing the best you can to assess the risk, and decide how best to deal with it.

With the release of their recent draft of a new media credentialing and ticket-holder policy, not only does it appear that the Southeastern Conference (SEC) misread the risk, but the conference set themselves up as an example of the perfect example of how not to develop and implement a policy.

As a result, the SEC is in scramble mode, trying to react to the fierce and justified criticism over what was contained in the draft policy.

The intent of the new policy is clear. The SEC has taken a lot of money from CBS Sports, ESPN, and XOS to launch what could be the dominant pseudo-network for media content in college athletics.

Eye on Sports Media conducted an e-mail interview with Charles Bloom, SEC Associate Commissioner for Media Relations. What follows is the text of that interview, followed by a discussion of what seemed to be missing in the initial answers.

Readers need to note that Mr. Bloom is the messenger in this policy debacle, and has been heads down in a fire drill to revise the policy before the start of the football season in a few weeks.

There were also follow up questions sent yesterday that Mr. Bloom that he said were "tough follow-ups" and he will talk more with us about them after the policy is completed. These will also be discussed later in this piece.

Eye on Sports Media (EOSM): Was the driver of this new policy because of the new agreement with XO, or because of the agreement with ESPN and or CBS, or all three? What internal and external parties/stakeholders were involved in the development of the draft policy?

Charles Bloom (CB): The intent of the policy is to protect the conference and its institutions for on-line video content. There are implications for the policy with our agreements with XOS as well as our television arrangements.

EOSM: My read of the policy is that credentialed media will be able to blog and twitter from the event sites, but they just cannot do a live play-by-play, or give stats/scores as they are happening. Is this a correct interpretation?

CB: That would be correct. In fact, we have had that policy in effect for several years now.

EOSM: There seems to be a lot of angst over the section that says:

Each Bearer must be and hereby represents that he or she is (i) acting on a specific assignment for an accredited media agency, and (ii) is the agency's full-time salaried employee who has a legitimate working function in connection with the Event attended.

On one hand, I totally understand the need to keep people who are taking up seats just to be there out of the box so working media get the spots they need. I also understand that schools and the SEC cannot physically accommodate every Tom Dick and Harry out there.

But I totally agree with the critics who say the "full-time salaried employee" is just way to restrictive. For example, the publisher of totaluga.com is self-employed, but he is not technically employed or salaried. The same would go for others who write freelance pieces for AOL, ESPN, etc.

You also have the situation where newspapers are eliminating full-time positions and going more and more with stringers. For example, the Athens Banner-Herald hired two stringers to report from the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic last year. No full-time staff was on-site.

And then you have people who write for sites such as NewsVine, NowPublic, AOL Fanhouse, and Bleacher Report. In fact, Bleacher Report has the deal with CBSSports.com to embed über-short form correspondents with each NFL Team (see Washington Redskins Fan Getting Paid to Cover His Love ).

I have run into this situation myself. I have been credentialed by the Anaheim Ducks, the Nationwide Tour, UGA, and just last week the Washington Redskins. The Redskins understood why I requested the credential, and went out of their way to help me with the resulting series of articles I am publishing (see Talking New Media at the Washington Redskins Training Camp ).

Yet, the Washington Nationals balked at a request I made because I wanted to do a story on the Nationals ballpark and the economic impact it was having on that traditionally run down but now exploding part of Washington, D.C. The reaction when I told media "colleagues" from ESPN and local DC outlets about the rejection was a universal "Are you kidding me? They should be willing to pay you to come and give them print!". One person also told me that when he walked into the press box just before the game started, he saw a ghost town.

I picked up one of LSU' s basketball media guides from last year and they had a pretty strict policy for "Website Credential Qualifications". I think they key is in the first numbered item that says the online site

"Must be a legal corporate entity which has been in business at least one calendar year and has provided coverage of LSU for at least one year."

I think the "Corporate entity" is too narrowly defined because it leaves out S Corps, LLC/LLPs. Partnerships, etc which are all legally recognized business forms. But the policy also says exceptions could be made by the SID.

So the question is, given that this is a draft document, is the SEC looking to better define the terms "accredited media agency" and "agency's full-time salaried employee?" How will this apply to student newspapers and student-run television stations? How will this apply to independent start up media such as my site, which turns 2 in November? How much flexibility will local SID's having in applying the definition locally?

CB: The section of the policy as it relates to full-time, salaried employees is one that will likely get cut. As you can imagine, we are also dealing with student media as well and that would not go over very well with journalism professors on our campuses.

EOSM: TV Stations are up in arms on the video use policy. How will they be able to use video from a previous game (either in the current season or before) for special packages on upcoming games, or stories about a particular player? How will newspapers be able to use photographs? For example, I will take pictures and use them for stories as the season unfolds.

CB: That is an issue that is still being discussed. There are different aspects to the different mediums involved.

EOSM: The ticket-holder section also has people rolling their eyes. Will it even be possible for the SEC and member schools to ban people from bringing cameras and cell-phones into the stadium, or to enforce this policy? What is the purpose behind this policy? Is it to prevent people from selling pictures they took commercially? Does the SEC, the member schools, and your media partners see a risk allowing people to do what they have done for years, and as technology evolves putting their personal photos on Facebook, MySpace, FlickR, etc?

CB: I do not envision a ban on cellphones and cameras. That has not come up in our discussions.

EOSM: The text for the back of tickets and/or credentials say that the bearer/holder is subject, by reference, to the full rules and regulations as posted on the SEC web site. I looked for them and could not find them. What will the SEC do to make this information more readily available for ticketed fans? How does the SEC see this as enforceable for fans buying tickets on the fly the day of a game?

CB: We will definitely have to work hard in informing fans and media about the new policies. It is definitely a work in progress process and we don't expect that everyone will be up to speed by the first game.

The answers provided in the first round were a good start but many were unanswered for the time being. However,the unanswered questions are the key to this discussion in terms of effective risk management and policy development/implementation.

Effective policy development requires true risk assessment. The elements of risk, and the definition, is shown in this slide our parent company, The Cayuga Group, LLC, uses in our seminar presentations on risk assessment, risk mitigation, and policy development:

If you look at those terms and the formula, it is not clear that these were assessed. Well, except for the Asset Value. It appears that it is all about the value of the packages that the SEC sold last year. The appearance is that the SEC is taking an approach of "damn the reality of the world, we are going to lock every down as tight as a ship, despite the collateral damage."

The key word is appearance, because none of us really know what is happening behind those closed doors. But we do know one thing: The SEC is taking a huge hit on "goodwill." For the non-Accountants out there, "goodwill" is an intangible asset, i.e. we know it adds a lot to an organizations value, we just cannot exactly quantify it. Goodwill arises from an organization's brand value and reputation.

Right now, the reputation of the SEC is being beat up pretty badly by both the media and their fan base, as well as reportedly by SEC member institution Sports Information Directors who are reportedly saying they were totally blindsided by the new policy and that they were not involved in its development.

So with all that said, here are the follow-up questions sent to the SEC via Charles Bloom. These questions deal with issues on how the policy was developed, and what the policy says vs. what the SEC thinks it says:

As it is being reported that school SIDs felt blindsided by this, what what internal and external stakeholders outside the immediate office of the Commissioner were involved in the development of the draft? Was a risk assessment conducted?

How much flexibility will local SID's having in interpreting/applying the definition locally?

The policy for ticket holders states "No bearer may produce or disseminate produce...any information about the event...including but mot limited to...picture, video,... (see page 4 of the draft policy). On its face, it bans the use of Cameras, even those contained in Cellphone, and effectively bans cell phone based postings to Facebook, Twitpic, Twitter, etc.. This is where I see the most incongruity in the policy. How could this section, on its face, be enforced without banning cellphones and cameras? And if it is not enforced, how could any other section of the policy be enforced?

We will post about our follow-up discussions with the SEC as they happen.

And thank you to Mr. Bloom for taking the time to discuss these issues, as they are very important in the Web 2.0/New Media World.

Talking New Media at the Washington Redskins Training Camp

Eye on Sports Media — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:51:00 -0400

Ashburn, VA (Aug 5, 2009)—I had not been to the Washington Redskins training facility (Redskins Park) in over 15 years. In fact I have never had the time to visit any team's training camp. But know that ever since I moved to Washington, D.C., in 1987, I have been a huge Redskins fan. Even moving south to Athens, Georgia in 1994 could not change that.

Being back in the D.C. area this week for a wedding opened up the chance to visit Redskins Park this morning. During my four-hour visit, I got to talk to a number of people, both inside and outside of the Redskins organization. The subject? Reaching out to the fans with both traditional and new media.

Over the next four to seven days, I will be posting articles based on interviews with seven people with differing perspectives on how they work with and use various forms of new and traditional media to reach fans.

Special thanks to Mike Pehanich, Assistant Director of Communications for the Washington Redskins for all he did to make this happen, and to make it a success.

Here is the story lineup, in no particular order.

The Tweeter

Washington Redskins Wide Receiver Trent Shelton uses Twitter. He does not tweet his every move. Instead he trys to tweet inspirational messages. Trent talked to us about finding the right balance for using Twitter and other social networking, too.

The Dream Job

This last spring, there was a contest run by Bleacher Report and CBSSports.com. The prize for 32 lucky people? The chance to work as embedded reporters for a specific team, going as far as the team does in the playoffs. Ed Sheahin, a photographer by day, talks to us about how this "opportunity of a lifetime" came his way via Facebook.

From City Parks to Redskins Park

Working as a journalist covering city hall and police blotters, Gary Fitzgerald took a job with Snyder Communications as a writer/editor. In 2003, he made the jump to managing Redskins.com for Dan Snyder. Gary talks to us about this and the "wow" moment when he really felt like a member of the Redskins team.

The Professional Blogger

Who says that bloggers cannot get along with mainstream media? In fact, Matt Terl was able to jump on a blog post written by a mainstream media blogger and get the job as blogger for Redskins.com. He tells us how this all happened.

The Blogging Tight End

Not every athlete has a blog. But Washington Redskins Tight End Chris Cooley does. We talk with his brother about how it came to be, and how they once got in trouble with the Redskins over a video they posted.

"Extreme" vs. Mainstream

In his day job, Brian Murphy is a photographer for the United States Army, working out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. But he is also a passionate Redskins fan that writes for ExtremeSkins.com. He talks with us about how doing a story on one player's National Guard service opened up his opportunity to cover the Redskins.

ESPN's New Social Media Policy: Will Employees Understand?

Eye on Sports Media — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:34:00 -0400

ESPN has finally done what most organizations should be doing: they have issued a social media policy. Thanks to Ken Fang over at Fang's Bites, the policy is now out in the world.

For the most part, it is fairly straightforward. And as an information technology governance professional, I am probably taking a very different view of the policy then most of the on-line scribes and bloggers out there.

Some parts of the policy, such as the ban on "personal websites and blogs that contain sports content" may seem draconian on its face.

But the policy serves a purpose.

It establishes a baseline for all personnel who fall under the policy, and provides some level of legal protection for ESPN (and by extension Disney) if they have to terminate someone for something they posted on an external web site or social networking site. Without a policy, they would likely lose in an unlawful termination lawsuit.

A few years ago, I was a member of the editorial advisory board for Corporate Compliance Solutions Advisor magazine. In an article for the publication entitled "Managing the Business Risk of Blogs," I wrote:

What about employees who write about their work on their own time, but the readers of their content know full well who the employer is? In the case of Microsoft, there are posted positions for "evangelists" who are required to blog about their work. They have pretty much free reign in what they are writing. Most "corporate" bloggers are very careful about what they write and when they write it, in order to avoid running afoul of corporate policies. However, it's difficult for many of their readers to distinguish between the individual private blogger and his or her corporate identity...

...Where does the identity of a person end and the identity of the corporation begin? What significant risks are posed in this scenario? What if an employee really does release confidential information or trade secrets? As an employer, you have to be careful in developing policies to cover this. It's clear that you can't stop employees from using social software on their own time, but you do have the right and obligation to your shareholders to make clear what they can and can't write about from the workplace.

Source: Managing the Business Risk of Blogs, by Christopher Byrne and Richard Schwartz. Corporate Compliance Solutions Advisor Magazine, June 2005

It is a tough balancing act to work through. But I can guarantee you (well as far as what I have been able to confirm to date), ESPN is ahead of the other networks when it comes to putting a policy in place.

I had a discussion about this with a media relations executive at one network regarding what one of the on-air talent was posting on Facebook. My bottom line with that network is that they needed to develop a policy and conduct awareness/education sessions with the their employees. Otherwise the policy would fall flat on its face when implemented.

This is where ESPN has dropped the ball in this process. And as a result, ESPN and the policy will be ridiculed and mocked over the next several days/weeks.

Finally, before getting to the actual policy document, there is a certain irony here.

IBM, which has a much stodgier history and reputation than ESPN, has a much more lenient blogging policy. And what company is now a major sponsor on ESPN?—IBM of course.

Here is the policy as posted over on Fang's Bites:

ESPN’S ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING

ESPN regards social networks such as message boards, conversation pages and other forms of social networking such as Facebook and Twitter as important new forms of content. As such, we expect to hold all talent who participate in social networking to the same standards we hold for interaction with our audiences across TV, radio and our digital platforms. This applies to all ESPN Talent, anchors, play by play, hosts, analysts, commentators, reporters and writers who participate in any form of personal social networking that contain sports related content.

ESPN Digital Media is currently building and testing modules designed to publish Twitter and Facebook entries simultaneously on ESPN.com, SportsCenter.com, Page 2, ESPN Profile pages and other similar pages across our web site and mobile platforms. The plan is to fully deploy these modules this fall.

Specific Guidelines

Personal websites and blogs that contain sports content are not permitted

Prior to engaging in any form of social networking dealing with sports, you must receive permission from the supervisor as appointed by your department head

ESPN.COM may choose to post sports related social media content

If ESPN.com opts not to post sports related social media content created by ESPN talent, you are not permitted to report, speculate, discuss or give any opinions on sports related topics or personalities on your personal platforms

The first and only priority is to serve ESPN sanctioned efforts, including sports news, information and content

Assume at all times you are representing ESPN

If you wouldn’t say it on the air or write it in your column, don’t tweet it

Exercise discretion, thoughtfulness and respect for your colleagues, business associates and our fans

Avoid discussing internal policies or detailing how a story or feature was reported, written, edited or produced and discussing stories or features in progress, those that haven't been posted or produced, interviews you've conducted, or any future coverage plans.

Steer clear of engaging in dialogue that defends your work against those who challenge it and do not engage in media criticism or disparage colleagues or competitors

Be mindful that all posted content is subject to review in accordance with ESPN's employee policies and editorial guidelines

Confidential or proprietary company information or similar information of third parties who have shared such information with ESPN, should not be shared

Any violation of these guidelines could result in a range of consequences, including but not limited to suspension or dismissal.

Posted August 4, 2009

PGA Tour Veteran Ken Green Injured, Brother and Girlfriend Killed

Eye on Sports Media — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:45:00 -0400

In truly sad news, veteran PGA Tour Player Ken Green was injured, and his brother/caddie and girlfriend killed in an RV accident.

From AOL fanhouse:

JACKSON, Miss. (June 9)—Pro golfer Ken Green's brother and girlfriend were killed in a a recreational vehicle accident in which Green also was hurt.

Green was driving on Interstate 20 near Hickory, Miss., on Monday when the right front tire of his RV blew out. Green was unable to control the vehicle and ran off the road and down an embankment before hitting a large oak tree.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Jon Kalahar said Tuesday that passengers William Y. Green, of Indiantown, Fla., and Jean Marie Hodgin, of Greensboro, N.C., were killed in the wreck. William Green is Ken Green's brother and caddie. Hodgin was the golfer's girlfriend.

Kalahar said Ken Green was not wearing his seat belt. He was flown to University Medical Center in Jackson for treatment with unspecified injuries, and was listed in good condition Tuesday.

I knew Ken when he first came out on the PGA Tour in 1980, and he was an interesting personality to say the least. This really is sad news and I really hope he is able to bounce back, although I am sure it will be difficult.

An Odd Marriage Between IBM and Colin Cowherd?

Eye on Sports Media — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 19:01:00 -0400

When I heard it, I almost drove off the road in incredulous laughter. I was listening to the Colin Cowherd show last week. Someone else was filling in for him, and I forget who it was. If Cowherd had been on the air, I might have had a heart attack when I heard it. It was IBM being announced as the sponsor of some tool to let users send in information and comments to the show.

Colin Cowherd has been an outspoken critic of blogs, bloggers, and social software/networking tools. He has lightened up some since "the incident," when he called on his listeners to deluge "The Big Lead" with traffic and bring the site crashing down. That does not change the fact that it was a denial of service attackand was just baaaad form.

IBM, on the other hand, is a leading proponent of social networking and social software tools for the corporate enterprise, as well as for small and medium businesses. IBM encourages their employees to blog. They include a blogging template with their Lotus Collaboration Software. They sell services and software to help organizations deal with security issues such as denial of service attacks.

For most readers, this may sound a little geeky. But my Business Controls Caddy blog/site is powered by IBM Lotus Notes and Domino Collaboration Software. So are the basketball and football television broadcast schedules you will find here. So are many media sites for professional and amateur sports organizations.

So yes, I almost bust a gut laughing at the irony of the sponsorship. It is almost like an arranged marriage where the parties do not know anything about each other and are joined in wedded bliss.

I hope I get some more comical moments out of ESPN. It makes long drives fun.

Tony La Russa Lawsuit is Why All People Need a Twitter Account

Eye on Sports Media — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:53:00 -0400

Brand Management. Does this only apply to companies like Coke and IBM only? No, the reality it that it applies to all of us, especially in an online world becoming more and more obsessed with social media and social networking sites.

The bottom line for people, whether they are a high profile celebrity/athlete/politician or just another ordinary Joe like you and me is simple. If you and members of your family have not created your own accounts on MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter, then you are risking your personal brand.

St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa's recent lawsuit against Twitter is a visible example of why. As MLB.com tells it:

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa filed suit against the social networking internet site Twitter.com last month, claiming that a page on the site that falsely used his name caused him to suffer "significant emotional distress [and] damage to reputation," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.

La Russa is suing for trademark infringement, trademark dilution and misappropriation of name and likeness.

Because someone impersonated him, and he is not alone by any means, his brand has been tainted. Whether it really has caused him significant emotional distress may be up for debate. You would think that his team's tight race with Milwaukee would be doing that.

But his reputation has been damaged, because people will believe what they want to believe absent any evidence to the contrary. Because La Russa did not have his own real Twitter account, he could not counter the fake one.

But is it the fault of Twitter? I would say no, because they may be protected under the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Media Communications Act, which makes it difficult to holds service providers liable for individual actions.

But let's leave these questions for the courts to decide.

Short of legal action, there is something very simple people can do to protect themselves that is a lot easier and cheaper: Sign up for accounts with the major social networking sites and keep your documentation. You never have to use them. It is just insurance to protect your brand.

Heck, ESPN's Michael Wilbon hates blogs. But he does have a Facebook account.

Just remember the old adage: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Are you listening, athletes, agents, and others?

ESPN Graced With AWRT Awards in New York This Week

Eye on Sports Media — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:39:00 -0400

There is no doubt about it when people say that women, despite having some very visible on-air and executive roles, are traditionally under-represented and unrecognized in television sports. One organization that works to change this is the Association of Women in Radio and Television (AWRT), through the programming created for women, by women, or about women.

This week the AWRT held their annual Gracie Awards in New York City, and ESPN was recognized for two of their features from E:60 and Outside the Lines. The Gracie Award is given to organizations and individuals who strive to encourage the realistic and faceted portrayal of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs.

Lisa Salters' (pictured left) E:60 feature on Alba Colon received the Gracie for Best Feature - Soft News Program. Colon, a native of Puerto Rico, is considered one of the most powerful women in NASCAR. The highest-ranked female engineer in the sport as General Motors' program manager, Colon has won five consecutive Manufacturers' Championships and is a driving force behind some of NASCAR's biggest names: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. She has fought her way to climb the ranks of this male-dominated sport.

Salters, through an ESPN spokesperson, said that "Alba Colon's story is such an inspiration because she has become so successful in a man's world and has continued to do so, quietly and with unparalleled dominance."

She added that "it was humbling to be in a room like that filled with so much talent - so to be recognized by those women is such an honor."

The other recognition received by ESPN was for a feature on Outside the Lines, "Mighty Macs," honored as Best Sports Program. Long before schools like Tennessee and Connecticut began dominating women's college basketball, the tiny Immaculata College dominated women's college basketball.

The Mighty Macs: The 1972 Immaculata College Basketball team won
the first of three consecutive national championships in the sport,
and the first three contested. Photograph courtesy of ESPN.

The feature reviewed the 1972-74 "Mighty Macs," who won the first three national championships in women's basketball history. Immaculata was an improbable champion, an all-girls Catholic school with an enrollment of just 400 students. But led by 23-year-old coach Cathy Rush, at a time when women were fighting for equal rights, they came to represent female empowerment -- on a basketball court in front of bucket-beating nuns. (Editor's Note: Not just any nuns, but the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the same order that educated me and my daughters in elementary school.)

Graced with Honors: ESPN's Hannah Storm, pictured right, presented the
2009 AWRT Gracie Award for Best Feature - Soft News Program to
Lisa Salters (left) for her E:60 feature on Alba Colon. Also pictured
is Julie Carruthers, Executive Producer for ABC's All My Children,
who also received her award from Storm.

Times have changed. Immaculata us now a university. Title IX has helped opened the doors for girls to have new doors in sports open to them at a young age. ESPN's Pam Ward has taken on the role of play-by-play in the male dominated sport of college football.

You can see examples of this at other networks as well. Over at CBS Sports, women fill key roles. Director Suzanne Smith calls shots on NFL game broadcasts. Senior Vice-President of Communications LeslieAnne Wade runs the public relations operation, and a young woman by the name of Lisa Kyle is the production manager for the CBS Sports College Football "A" crew.

Photographs by Larry Busacca/Wireimage, provided courtesy of ESPN.

Related Link(s)

Association of Women in Radio and Television (AWRT)
The Gracie Awards

Fox Sports Demotes Lead NFL Director, Splits Legendary Team

Eye on Sports Media — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:35:00 -0400

As reported here last week, there is some upheaval going on on the production side of the NFL on Fox. Now it is time for some more, but not all, details (as they are not yet available).

David Hill, Fox Sports Chair and Executive Producer, has demoted lead NFL director Artie Kempner. Even more stunning for me is that Hill has also split the legendary producer/director team of Bob Stenner and Sandy Grossman. who have worked together at Fox and CBS Sports for more than four decades.

First, let's look at the Kempner demotion. Artie has been the lead director for Fox NFL games since 2003. According to sources who asked to remain anonymous, there has been a rift or some level of tension between Artie and Hill. What straw broke the camel's back is not clear, but the message cannot be clearer.

Artie, who is also the NASCAR director for Fox, has been removed from the "A" team and relegated to the "C" game. For the first half of the season, he will work with producer Fran Morrison. After the Major League Baseball season ends, Pete Macheska will take over the producer responsibilities for that broadcast crew. One source said this looked to be a move down the ladder for Macheska as well.

Rich Russo will move into the "A" team director's chair, working alongside producer Richie Zyontz. These left a hole with producer Michael Burks team. And this is where my jaw dropped while parsing the information I was gathering.

Hill has split the legendary and long-time team of Bob Stenner and Sandy Grossman. Stenner came to work at CBS in 1959, working in the mailroom. Grossman joined CBS in 1963 as an usher on a game/quiz show. Eventually they moved into sports. They became production partners working with Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier and produced their first Super Bowl (Super Bowl V) in 1971.

For 21 years, they worked with Summerall and John Madden, both at CBS and Fox. In 2002, they produced their last Super Bowl. The next year, Madden moved on to ABC and Monday Night Football. That same year, Stenner and Grossman were taken off of the A team.

This split has many people scratching their heads, as this is supposed to be Grossman's last year according to one source.

While Grossman has been teamed with Burks, Stenner is moving to a different crew, taking along analyst Brian Billick with him. Brian Baldinger is gone, recently signing a deal to work a Sunday radio package with Compass Media.

For the technical crews, this means a lot of movement, and unfortunately a lot of lost jobs. According to one source, Stenner's new director chose to replace some of Stenner's crew. Because Mike Burk's crew had been together a long time, and had originally been with Grossman, a lot of people were looking for new jobs.

This proved to be difficult as Hill ordered cost-cutting moves. Each crew was told that they had to eliminate one technical position. The production teams had to choose to eliminate a camera man or a sub mixer or a tape operator. One source said he heard that the A and B team lost three or more technical positions each. This has yet to be confirmed.

All of this ties into what one source said Hill, who returned to Fox Sports in 2007, sees as necessary to shake things up because he "wasn't happy with all of the coverage, whatever that means."

The official Fox announcement of all the changes for both production and talent is not expected until after the MLB All-Star game in July.

A Fox Spokesperson declined to provide any official comment on these changes.

Should the DUI Arrest of a Local Sports Media Personality Be Reported?

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:02:00 -0400

I have been struggling with writing this post for over a week now. The struggle was not with finding the words to write. The struggle was whether or not the subject should be written about.

It is only after exchanging emails with a sports editor and talking to other people that I have decided to go forth with it. It is not about attacking the person or a question of my like or dislike for a person.

It is about the fact that other people, especially a young man from Athens Academy outside of Athens, GA, look up to this person as a role model.

And role models do not drive drunk, putting their lives and the lives of others at risk.

Jeff Dantzler (pictured left) has been a fixture of University of Georgia athletics coverage for many, many years. The native of Statesboro, GA originally arrived in Athens to play tennis for legendary college tennis coach Dan Magill.

After graduation, he worked in the sports information department, and then moved on to radio and television work. He is known as the voice of the Lady Bulldogs basketball team, and as an analyst for Georgia Men's Basketball radio coverage.

But the Bulldog Nation has seen or heard very little of Dantzler since his DUI arrest last week. He has not been on the air at 960 the Ref for his afternoon radio show. His last blog post for Bulldawg Illustrated was on May 5, 2009.

Except for a single blog posting by freelance journalist/photographer Dan Matthews of Oconee County, you would never have heard of the arrest. It was never reported in the local media or in the Atlanta media. Some people have told me that they suspected it was a "cover-up by Vince Dooley and the boys."

Life is not so simple as that. It was not a "Dooley and the boys" cover-up. It was an editorial decision by the Athens Banner-Herald.

According to one source inside the newspaper, it was not considered newsworthy, and it would was felt that it would provide celebrity for someone considered to be a celebrity in his own mind. It was also debated, according to this source, if it made sense to report an arrest of somebody most people would not recognize.

Acing the Interview: Jeff Dantzler (on right) and Chris Brame (center)
interview PGA Tour Pro Brendon Todd after his first round ace
at the Nationwide Tour's 2009 Athens Regional Foundation Classic
Photograph Copyright 2009 by Eye on Sports Media/
The Cayuga Group, LLC . All Rights Reserved.

If this had been Dantzler's first brush with the law, or his first controversy, there might be some merit to that argument. But it was not, as the red flags are all over the booking report for the Sheriff's office. The charges included:

Driving while under the influence.
Driving on a learner's permit.
Driving a vehicle with an expired registration

It is clear from these charges that it is not his first DUI arrest, and that he had at least one prior DUI conviction. That can be considered nothing less than reckless behavior.

In 2003, he was suspended (some say fired) for asking, on the air, three UGA coeds what color underwear they were wearing. When legendary radio play-by-play man Larry Munson was looking to leave his on-air responsibilities, it is widely known that Dantzler was lobbying for the job. This rubbed more than a few people the wrong way.

So did the Athens Banner-Herald make the right decision in not reporting this story?

I say no, because they have missed the bigger picture. Dantzler is a very visible member of the UGA athletic community. Athens is a college sports town, and many, many people know who Dantzler is.

By not reporting this, they missed an important opportunity to make a statement of how stupid and selfish it is for someone to be driving drunk. They missed an opportunity to show why people should be careful in deciding who they consider to be a role model.

And it also shows a little bit of media hypocrisy. The media is always more than willing to write sensational news when an athlete or other celebrity is arrested for DUI or some other transgression. They are also all over any news of steroid use by athletes. So what if alcohol abuse and drunk driving is more destructive than steroid use?

A Sticky Situation

When asked this morning about Dantlzer's status at 960 the Ref, station program director David Johnston said "I cannot say anything about it." That was not unexpected.

Of course, the station is in a tough position on this because of all of the remote broadcasts Dantzler and partner Chris Brame have done from local watering holes, pubs, etc, all the time pushing the drink promotions available at those sites. Now that they are owned by Cox Radio, who knows what is going on behind the scenes.

The Cox Radio Code of Conduct does not address situations such as these.

Every Saturday at UGA home football games, Dantzler works as the PA announcer in the press box. A year or two ago Dantzler appeared in the press box, and from his behavior seemed to be a little buzzed. I thought "no way" and just wrote it off to him probably playing golf that morning in the hot sun. But now I am left to wonder.

I am also left a little concerned for a young man from Athens Academy. This young man, who aspires to be an on-air sports media talent just like his icon and, by all appearances, mentor, sits beside him each and every home game. Do these aspirations include behaviors that are reckless and self-destructive?

Don't get me wrong. We all have made mistakes in errors or judgement in the past. I am certainly guilty of that. But I would like to think that others and myself would learn from our mistakes and grow. From all appearances, Danztler has not.

So while the local media is silent on this matter, I cannot be and I want Jeff to read this for what it is: an encouragement to get his act together.

Dantzler is an extremely talented man with a great potential. I watched in awe as he easily segued into a spontaneous, knowledgeable on air interview with Bobby Clampett at the 2009 Athens Regional Foundation Classic.

His ability to switch gears to know his interviewee and the deep background for the interview without having to do research is something that cannot be learned. It is an innate skill.

But he keeps shooting himself in the foot. According to one source, who asked to remain anonymous, his friends have tried and tried to get him to clean up his act and cut back on the drinking. It has not worked.

Because of this and his other problems, there is at least one sports media talent agent, according to this source, who will not touch him with a ten foot pole. That is called career limiting.

Until he addresses his challenges and admits them, his career may indeed be over. And that would be a shame.

Related Link(s)

Cox Radio Code of Conduct (PDF File)

Dan Matthews Blog Posting About the Arrest

Breaking: Disney/ABC Deal with Hulu Excludes ESPN Content

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:16:00 -0400

Less than an hour ago, it was announced that Disney-owned ABC has entered into a deal with Hulu to provide programming content. However, Eye on Sports Media has confirmed with an ESPN spokesperson that this deal does not include any ESPN owned and generated content.

What does this mean for sports fans? The immediate thing that comes to mind is that unlike Fox Sports, which has made the BCS Bowl games available on Hulu after the games are over, ESPN will not be doing this.

So strike another blow against the average sports fan as ESPN gobbles up properties in the continued "cablization of television sports properties"

Related Link(s)

The Cablization of Television Sports Properties - Part I
The Cablization of Television Sports Properties - Part II

ESPN.com Unicorn Easter Egg Exposes Flaws in ESPN Business Process Management

Eye on Sports Media — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:34:00 -0400

by Christopher Byrne, CISA, IBM CAAD, IBM CASA, IBM CASP

The Internet world certainly had a good laugh yesterday at the expense of ESPN. An application/web developer inserted an Easter egg into the ESPN web site back before April Fool's Day that exploded on the Internet when written about on the Kotaku blog yesterday afternoon.

"The Loveliest of All Was the Unicorn": ESPN management was not likely
to be singing "The Unicorn Song" when an internal developer
inserted some Easter egg code into the ESPN web site a few weeks ago.

While funny on its face, the episode exposes a flaw in the information technology governance which puts Disney, ESPN's parent company company at potential risk of non-compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as PCI security standards for credit card transactions associated with ESPN Insider subscriptions.

How does this put ESPN and Disney at risk?

Let's start with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This hastily crafted legislation requires more control around business processes that have a material impact or could have a material impact on the corporate financial statements.

Obviously, there is not a lot on the ESPN web sites that could have a material impact on Disney's financials. But the problem lies in Section 404 of the legislation, which states

Section 404
Management Assessment Of Internal Controls

(a) RULES REQUIRED- The Commission shall prescribe rules requiring each annual report required by section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) to contain an internal control report, which shall--

(1) state the responsibility of management for establishing and maintaining an adequate internal control structure (emphasis added) and procedures for financial reporting; and

(2) contain an assessment, as of the end of the most recent fiscal year of the issuer, of the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures of the issuer for financial reporting.

(b) INTERNAL CONTROL EVALUATION AND REPORTING- With respect to the internal control assessment required by subsection (a), each registered public accounting firm that prepares or issues the audit report for the issuer shall attest to, and report on, the assessment made by the management of the issuer. An attestation made under this subsection shall be made in accordance with standards for attestation engagements issued or adopted by the Board. Any such attestation shall not be the subject of a separate engagement.

The key section is 404(a)(1) concerning the establishment and maintenance "of an adequate internal control structure," This is where information technology auditors have been having a field day, especially when it comes to general IT controls. And while many smaller organizations could kind of push this under the rug, the visibility of ESPN makes it difficult to ignore.

The general IT controls applicable here address segregation of duties, and the hard and fast rule for large IT organizations that developers never have access to production code or production systems. This is so malicious code cannot be inserted into the system.

It is also a control put in place to ensure that unauthorized personnel do not have access tom information such as credit card information and other personally identifiable private information that can be misused, stolen, or otherwise compromised.

So while this prank was fairly innocuous, it exposed at least the appearance that ESPN does not have a strong IT governance structure in place, and that their processes and procedures need to be revisited, reviewed, and adjusted.

And let's not think ESPN is alone with these problems. I have spoken to another major sports body about security holes in their public facing systems more than once in the past few years. Yet, they have done nothing to close them.

ESPN should not follow that organization's example. ESPN should take as an opportunity to sit back and do a control self-assessment, identify weaknesses, and make their processes stronger. It may take time and resources up front, but is nothing compared to the damage that can be done if something more serious happened with or on their information systems.

If The Big Lead takes the time to quote someone as saying:

"I do love nerd humor and obscure video game references. At the same time you cant be pulling sh** like this in production, there’s a time and a place and espn’s home page isn’t it.”

and Deadspin is all over the story, you really know it is not a problem you can easily blow off.

You can read more about information technology governance on our sister site, The Business Controls Caddy.

You can also read the blog of Keith Lam, the ESPN employee who was charged with removing the offending code from their systems.

About The Author

Christopher Byrne is the managing editor of Eye on Sports Media and The Business Controls Caddy, and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). He works with large and small organizations to examine their business and information technology process controls to identify weakness and implement cost-effective controls to enable business get a stronger return on their technology investments. He has written numerous articles for business and technology trade magazines, been a member of the editorial advisory board of Corporate Compliance Solutions Advisor Magazine, and speaks about information technology process controls at conferences in the United States and abroad. He can be reached via e-mail at cbyrne at thecayugagroup.com (replace the " at " with "@").

UNLV Radio and Television Announcer Glen Gondrezick Dead at 53

Eye on Sports Media — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:53:00 -0400

From Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner for Media Relations Charles Bloom (via Facebook) comes news that former UNLV men's basketball star, NBA player, and long-time UNLV radio and television announcer Glen "Gondo" Gondrezick has died at the age of 53.

Here is the press release issued by the UNLV Running' Rebels sports information department.

Referred to fondly in the sports world simply as "Gondo," former UNLV men's basketball star, NBA player and longtime radio and TV announcer Glen Gondrezick will be remembered first and foremost as a true Runnin' Rebel.

Gondrezick died Monday in Henderson at the age of 53. He had undergone a heart transplant on Sept. 20, 2008.

The graduate of Boulder (Colo.) High School was one of Jerry Tarkanian's first recruits at UNLV and lettered from 1973-74 through the 1976-77 season. Gondrezick went on to finish as the 16th-leading scorer in UNLV basketball history with 1,311 points and played a major role in the Runnin' Rebels advancing to their first NCAA Final Four in 1977.

"From being a great player for some great teams to spending almost two decades announcing Runnin' Rebel basketball, Gondo was an institution here at UNLV," Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick said. "He will be sorely missed by everyone who has worked with him as well as all of the fans who have followed his career and listened to the games. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."

Gondrezick's determination and hustle made him an instant fan favorite, and his style of play almost always resulted in scrambles on the floor and collisions in the scorer's table while chasing down loose balls. His jersey number 25 was retired in a halftime ceremony at the Runnin' Rebels game against UCLA at the Thomas & Mack Center on Dec. 27, 1997.

"He was as competitive and as tough a player that I have ever coached," said Tarkanian. "He was one of the most loyal people I have known, and that is one attribute I always use when talking about him. He is one of my all-time favorite people. I loved the guy."

Gondrezick averaged 11.4 points per game during his four seasons in Las Vegas. He also is ninth (831) on the Runnin' Rebel career rebounds list. A 1977 honorable mention All-American and 1987 inductee into the Rebel Athletics Hall of Fame, he was a second round NBA draft pick and spent six seasons in the pro league - two (1977-79) with the New York Knicks and four (1979-83) with the Denver Nuggets. He averaged 5.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game over his career.

His best season in the NBA was 1981-82 when he averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 80 games with the Nuggets.

Following his NBA career, Gondrezick played two years in Europe (1983-85), which culminated with a European championship and being named MVP. Gondrezick would later return to UNLV, spending the past 17 seasons as a radio and television analyst for his alma mater.

"Gondo is special to the Rebel family," UNLV head coach Lon Kruger said. "He was an outstanding player and maintained his passion and love for the Rebels throughout his NBA playing career and then with his broadcasting of Rebel games. He will truly be missed by everyone."

Gondrezick is survived by his three children: daughter Britt, and two sons, Kelan and Travis.

Services are pending.

Related Link(s)

Glen Gondrezick: It's All About Heart (National Basketball Retired Players Association)
For first time, his heart is in question (Las Vegas Sun)

The 30th Annual Sports Emmy Award Winners

Eye on Sports Media — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:08:00 -0400

As expected, NBC Sports dominated the 30th Annual Sports Emmy awards with their coverage of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics NBC took home five Emmy's, HBO took eight, and CBS Sports received 5.

But there were a couple of pleasant surprises as FSN's Sports Science took home two Emmy's.

Here are the winners from the 30th Annual Sports Emmy Awards given out on April 27, 2009.
for a more detailed list that includes full production credits, Ken Fang has this over at Fang's Bites.

Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL

108th U.S. Open Championship
NBC

NASCAR on FOX: Daytona 500 FOX

Super Bowl XLII FOX

The Championships, Wimbledon (Gentlemen's Final) NBC

X Games 14 ESPN

Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SERIES

ESPN College Football ABC

ESPN Monday Night Football ESPN

NASCAR (TNT Summer Series) TNT

NASCAR on FOX FOX

NBC Sunday Night Football NBC

Outstanding LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND

2008 Bassmaster Classic ESPN2 / Career Sports Entertainment

2008 Tour de France CBS

2008 World Series of Poker: Final Table ESPN

Games of the XXIX Olympiad NBC

Inside the PGA Tour (The Deutsche Bank Championship) Golf Channel / PGA Tour Productions

Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL

2008 Beijing Paralympics NBC

Calzaghe-Jones 24 / 7 HBO

The 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship NBC / Ironman Productions

The Greatest Game Ever Played ESPN

Varsity Rivals CBS / Intersport / NFL Films

Outstanding SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Big Ten Short Stories (Friends of Jaclyn Special Edition) Big Ten Network

Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football HBO

Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed HBO

Jose Canseco: Last Shot A&E / The Trifecta Production Company

The Streak ESPN2

Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES / Anthology

America's Game: The Missing Rings NFL Network / NFL Films

Baseball's Golden Age FSN

De La Hoya / Pacquiao 24 / 7 HBO

HBO Boxing: Countdown Shows HBO

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel HBO

Road to Redemption ESPN / NBA Entertainment

Sport Science FSN

Outstanding STUDIO SHOW - WEEKLY

College Gameday (Football) ESPN

Football Night in America NBC

FOX NFL Sunday FOX

Inside the NFL CBS / Showtime / NFL Films

Monday Night Countdown ESPN

Sunday NFL Countdown ESPN

Outstanding STUDIO SHOW - DAILY

Baseball Tonight ESPN

Inside the NBA - Playoffs TNT

MLB Postseason Studio TBS

Outside the Lines First Report ESPN

Pardon the Interruption ESPN

Outstanding SPORTS JOURNALISM

E: 60 (Gymnastics Abuse) ESPN

Outside the Lines (Concerns in Happy Valley) ESPN

Outside the Lines (O.J. Mayo's Inner Circle) ESPN

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (Horse Slaughter: Running For Their Lives) HBO

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (NFL Stadium Drinking) HBO

Outstanding SHORT FEATURE

2008 NCAA Basketball on CBS (Jason Ray Feature) CBS

E: 60 (The Power of One - Adam Bender) ESPN

Outside the Lines (John Challis) ESPN

Outside the Lines (Roller Derby Revival) ESPN

Outside the Lines (Touching Them All) ESPN

Outstanding LONG FEATURE

2008 NCAA Basketball on CBS - Final Four (Zambia's Hope Feature) CBS

Outside the Lines (Kick for Nick) ESPN

Outside the Lines (Louis Mulkey) ESPN

Outside the Lines (Richard Jensen) ESPN

Outstanding OPEN / TEASE

Indianapolis 500 (ESPN NASCAR) ABC

Games of the XXIX Olympiad: The Clock of Their Lives NBC

Chris Rock All-Star Tease (NBA All-Star Game) TNT

Super Bowl XLII - Perfection (NFL on FOX: Super Bowl XLII) FOX

Baltimore Ravens at Dallas Cowboys (Saturday Night Football) NFL Network

Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE

Games of the XXIX Olympiad: Beyond the Broadcast NBCOlympics.com / NBC Sports

NASCAR.com RaceBuddy NASCAR.com / Turner Sports

NBA League Pass Broadband NBA.com / Turner Sports

NBA.com - TNT OverTime 2008 All-Star Saturday NBA.com / Turner Sports

NFL Sunday Ticket Experience DIRECTV

NFL.com LIVE: Thursday and Saturday Night Football NFL.com / NFL Network

Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING

Amazing Sports Stories FSN

Ring Life HBO.com

Sport Science FSN

YouTube Baby ESPN.com

Outstanding NEW APPROACHES - SPORTS PROGRAMMING - SHORT FORMAT

Anatomy of a Play NFL.com / NFL Network / NFL Films

Back on Topps BackOnTopps.com / The Tornante Company / El Chopper Quatro

Mayne Street ESPN.com

NFL Ultimate Audio on NFL.com NFL.com / NFL Network / NFL Films

No Love Lost ESPN.com

Outside the Ropes PGATOUR.com / PGA Tour Productions

Outstanding Sports Personality - STUDIO HOST

Bob Costas NBC / HBO

Bryant Gumbel HBO

Chris Berman ESPN

Ernie Johnson TNT / TBS

James Brown CBS / Showtime

Outstanding Sports Personality - PLAY-BY-PLAY

Al Michaels NBC

Dan Hicks NBC

Jim Nantz CBS

Joe Buck FOX

Mike Emrick NBC

Outstanding Sports Personality - STUDIO ANALYST

Cris Collinsworth NBC / Showtime / CBS / HBO

John Kruk ESPN

Steve Mariucci NFL Network

Terry Bradshaw FOX

Tom Jackson ESPN

Outstanding Sports Personality - SPORTS EVENT ANALYST

Cris Collinsworth NFL Network / NBC

Doug Collins TNT

John Madden NBC

Johnny Miller NBC

Ron Jaworski ESPN

Tim McCarver FOX

Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE

2008 Winter X Games ESPN / ABC

ESPN Monday Night Football ESPN

ESPN NASCAR ABC / ESPN / ESPN2

Games of the XXIX Olympiad NBC

NASCAR on FOX FOX

Red Bull Air Race World Series FSN

Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO

ESPN NASCAR ABC / ESPN / ESPN2

Games of the XXIX Olympiad NBC

MLB Postseason TBS

Sport Science FSN

Sunday NFL Countdown ESPN

Outstanding CAMERA WORK

2008 Masters (Open) ESPN

2008 NCAA Basketball on CBS - Final Four (Zambia's Hope) CBS

Amazing Sports Stories FSN / Red Line Films

Calzaghe-Jones 24 / 7 HBO

Games of the XXIX Olympiad: The Clock of Their Lives NBC

Quest for the Cup VOOM / NASCAR Media Group

Outstanding EDITING

Amazing Sports Stories (Joe Jennette: The Fighter Who Refused to Quit) FSN / Red Line Films

Calzaghe-Jones 24 / 7 HBO

Games of the XXIX Olympiad: Olympic Profiles NBC

Games of the XXIX Olympiad: Remember the Titans NBC

NBA on TNT TNT

The Championships, Wimbledon ESPN

The Dick Schaap WRITING AWARD

Baseball's Golden Age FSN / Black Canyon Productions

British Open TNT

De La Hoya / Pacquiao 24 / 7 HBO

FOX NFL Sunday (Super Bowl XLII - Perfection) FOX

NBA on TNT TNT

NFL Films Presents: Lost in Confetti NFL Network / NFL Films

Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION / DIRECTION / LYRICS

2008 Masters (Open) ESPN

E: 60 (Homeless Hoops) ESPN

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball - Final Game at Yankee Stadium (Opening Tease) ESPN

Games of the XXIX Olympiad: The Clock of Their Lives NBC

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys HBO / NFL Films

NFL on CBS (AFC Championship Game Tease) CBS

Outstanding Live Event AUDIO / SOUND

ESPN NASCAR ABC / ESPN / ESPN2

Games of the XXIX Olympiad NBC

MLB on FOX FOX

NASCAR on FOX FOX

NFL on FOX FOX

Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO / SOUND

Calzaghe-Jones 24 / 7 HBO

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys HBO / NFL Films

MLB '08: An Epic Season (Wireless)
ESPN / MLB Productions

Road to the Super Bowl
FOX / NFL Films

Outstanding GRAPHIC DESIGN

E: 60 (2008 Season) ESPN

Games of the XXIX Olympiad NBC

MLB on FOX FOX

NBA on ABC (2008 NBA Finals) ABC / ESPN

Sport Science FSN

Super Bowl XLII / FOX NFL Sunday
FOX

Outstanding PRODUCTION DESIGN / ART DIRECTION

Amazing Sports Stories FSN / Red Line Films

2008 World Figure Skating Championships ABC / ESPN

NFL on CBS (AFC Championship Game Tease) CBS

Sport Science FSN

The Secret Game ESPN Classic / Red Line Films

The George Wensel TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

ESPN Axis ESPN / ESPN2 / ESPNews

ESPN NASCAR ABC / ESPN2

Games of the XXIX Olympiad (NBC's Three Screens Olympics (Beijing & at Home) NBC

Virtual Playbook / Augmented Reality ESPN

Outstanding SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT- INSTITUTIONAL

2008 Fantasy Football (Blues) NFL Network / Restless Films

ESPN Monday Night Football - Is it Monday Yet? (Alarm Clocks, Customers, Cubicles) ESPN / MJZ

MLB ALL Star Game 2008 (Raftors) FOX / Buf / FOX Sports Design

NBA on TNT Playoffs ( Terrence Howard Tease) TNT

This is SportsCenter (More Hips, Conditioning Coach, Explosive Speed) ESPN / Hungry Man

Outstanding SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT - EPISODIC

2008 NFL Training Camp (In Rhythm) NFL Network / NFL.com / NFL Network

2009 Winter Classic NBC

ESPN Monday Night Football - Is it Monday Yet? (Alarm Clocks, Customers, Cubicles) ESPN / MJZ

NASCAR on FOX 2008 (Engine City) FOX / Buf

NBC Sunday Night Football - Kick-off Weekend ( Manning Brothers) NB

A Tragic Weekend in Athens, Georgia Steals Part of Community's Soul

Eye on Sports Media — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:37:00 -0400

This should have been a weekend of celebration here in Athens, Georgia.

The University of Georgia should have been celebrating the selection of former football players Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno in the first round of the NFL draft.

The city of Athens should have been celebrating the 30th Annual Twilight Criterium, a bicycle race unlike any other in the country.

Instead, we are mourning the loss of three people who contributed more to the community than any athlete has contributed, or will contribute, to the vibrant and cultural life of our small city.

In a spike of anger that may never be totally understood, University of Georgia Marketing Professor George Zinkhan shot and killed his wife and two others before disappearing. In performing this selfish act he not only destroyed the life of his two young children, he has stolen the lives of three people who should not be forgotten.

Marie Bruce, Ben Teague, and Tom Tanner gave more to our community than can ever be repaid. They never sought the spotlight or to gain financially doing what they loved to do: community theater.

I met Ben when performing in Camelot back in the 1990s, and have met Marie in passing. I did not know Tom. But Athens is a small, tight-knit community in many ways, and many of my friends and colleagues were very close to these people.

So not only do I mourn the loss of these three souls, I mourn the deep loss that my friends and colleagues are dealing with at the present time.

That is much more important than who got selected in what round and by what team.

A Matt Stafford Photo Gallery: Is He Worth $70 Million and Ready for the NFL?

Eye on Sports Media — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:18:00 -0400

I said this when I first saw the news that UGA quarterback Matt Stafford declared for the NFL draft, and I will say it again now: I do not think he is ready for the NFL, and I do not think he will be the savior of the Detroit Lions.

I hope I am wrong, but only time will tell. After all, who do I think I am? Mel Kiper Jr.?

Of course, with a contract worth up to $70 million in his pocket, I do not think it really matters, does it?

Here are some pictures I took of Stafford over the past couple of years.

Intern May Lose Baby in Sports Museum Bankruptcy

Eye on Sports Media — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:20:00 -0400

Marissa Friday is a lifelong New York Yankee fan. One of her dreams is to work for the Yankees one day. She thought an unpaid internship with the Sports Museum of America in lower Manhattan would help build her resume. Little did she know that she might lose her baby in the process.

A Loyal Yankee Fan: Marissa Friday riding the
4 train to the new Yankee Stadium
Photograph Courtesy of Marissa Friday

The museum opened on May 7, 2008 with great fanfare in the New York sports community. But it did not do a good job marketing itself and opening its doors in a flashy way. In fact, unless you knew exactly where it was, you might only find it by accident.

Still Number One? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
received an honorary jersey at the May 2008 opening of the
Sports Museum of America opening of the Sports Museum of America.

"I found out about the internship from my MIS professor at Montclair State University," said Friday in an email interview. "His sister worked at the museum and told us they were looking for interns. I thought it would be a great opportunity because I was graduating and had no internships. My dream is to work for the New York Yankees so I thought it being a sports museum that it would look good on my resume when applying for the Yankees."

The museum depended a great deal on the loans of artifacts from athletes and other museums, including the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

"Pretty much all I did while working there was catalog the items that were in the museum, "said Friday. "I opened the boxes of the artifacts when they arrived I took pictures and wrote down if there were any damages to the items. That way when they were returned if there was damage it could be proved it wasn't the museums fault. I then took all that information and put it into an spreadsheet. As the museum was being put together I also helped to put the proper signs on each display case since I was very familiar with the artifacts."

And here is where Friday's baby comes into the picture. One of her most prized possessions is a Beanie Baby (example pictured left) given out as a promotion the day of David Wells' perfect game against the Minnesota Twins on May 17, 1998. She loaned this to the museum to use in a display.

"I actually didn't even want to loan my Beanie Baby at first because it is really special to me," said Friday. "But the lady at the sport museum that I directly worked with convinced me to loan it because she really wanted it in the museum. So I gave in. There was a loan agreement that I had to fill out. It was supposed to be a 2 year loan."

But along the way something went wrong, and the museum closed on February 20, 2009. Friday had no idea that this would happen, and what has transpired since then is something has left her sad and disappointed.

"I found out about the bankruptcy first from my dad because he found something on the internet about it," said Friday. "So when I found out I tried to e-mail somebody at the museum but the e-mail addresses I had no longer worked."

"About a week or 2 after the bankruptcy I was contacted via e-mail from someone from the museum. He told me the person that had my Beanie Baby and gave me her e-mail address. This person was the lady who I worked directly with. However, when I e-mailed her she told me that she did not have my Beanie Baby and that all of the artifacts were in storage and could not be touched until a trustee was appointed."

One would hope that a simple loaned artifact like this could be returned in tact. But no bankruptcy case is simple.

"As of this week I had received an e-mail from the founder of the museum telling me what had happened that I had to pay in order to get my Beanie Baby back," said Friday.

Pay to get a loaned item back? Yes, that is the case as CNBC's Darren Rovell reported on his site yesterday:

"The Bankruptcy Trustee firm has filed a motion with the bankruptcy court contending that:
(1) Lenders of all artifacts will have to file an application for the return of their items and pay a processing fee, in addition to shipping costs, in order to have their artifacts returned to them – otherwise the artifact may be sold at auction. The processing fees would be assessed as follows:

· $250.00 for one piece

· $500.00 for two pieces

· $750.00 for three to five pieces

· $1,500.00 for five to twenty pieces;

· $2,500.00 for more than twenty pieces, plus $750.00 for every ten pieces in excess of twenty pieces

(2) Lenders of artifacts may not be able to recover their artifacts at all (and the artifacts may be sold at auction) if the trustee rejects the application. This raises the concern that if you have lost your loan documents, or if the agreements to lend artifacts to the Museum were handled by email or orally (and not by written loan agreement), the trustees would use that as a basis to “reject” a claim and sell all of your items.

So to get back her treasured Beanie Baby, which has a estimated street value of $10-20 according to KeyManCollectibles (via eBay), Friday will have to pay $250, provided she still has the loan agreement.

What adds to the absurdity is that Philip Schwalb, the founder of the Museum cannot afford the cost of litigation.

"He [Schwalb] did mention that was going to be a lawsuit and I could be a part of it by contributing some of the money to the lawyers because he was only able to give $2,500," added Friday. "So I gave $50. The trial is suppose to take place April 29th. So hopefully something good will come out it."

Some very good people like Friday acted in good faith and trust. Now they are being asked to go through more pain to get their belongings back.

Sure, Friday could by a replacement on e-Bay. But that would be a cheap substitute for the memories that go with the baby she got at Yankee Stadium on the day of the perfect game.

Related Link(s)

Next Time You Donate To A Museum... (Darren Rovell)
Philip Schwalb profile on Wikipedia

ESPN Sports Information Database Site Goes Live

Eye on Sports Media — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:34:00 -0400

ESPN is expanding further and further into the territories of other companies with the launch of ESPNDB, which went live today. The question is whether it will encroach on other existing companies like STATS and Elias Sports Bureau. If they are driven out of business, will ESPN control the sports statistics and information available to other networks?

Here is what the site description says:

ESPNDB will be your definitive source for sports and sports-related information. We are building a product that combines the far-reaching resources of ESPN with the unique output of our industry-best Stats and Information Group to give you an immersive experience that no other site can provide. In months ahead, we’ll also employ some great new technologies to harness the collective knowledge of the world’s sports fans.

We begin by giving you a ton of information about the NFL Draft -- about 500 pages’ worth! As we evolve, we will be adding many more cool features, so continue to check back with us.

In the meantime, we want your thoughts on what we've done so far, because our ultimate goal is to serve you. So, please be sure to leave us your feedback.

Our next package will be delivered around the NBA Finals. Until then, enjoy the NFL Draft offering!

What is next?

Once again, thanks to Chris Pika of WNST Radio's Blog & Tackle for the tip.

Related Link(s)

ESPNDB NFL Draft Offering
Elias Sports Bureau
STATS

Fox Sports to Shuffle NFL Production Teams Next Fall?

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:37:00 -0400

Chris Pika, who writes the "Blog and Tackle" blog for WNST Radio in Baltimore, dropped me a line about 6 weeks or so back about Fox Sports possibly doing a major reshuffling of their talent and production teams for the 2009-2010 season.

The rumor arose from this short piece by Mike Florio on Pro Football Today:

We’re hearing that FOX is engaged in a relatively significant shuffling of its pro football television production, with changes coming among the ranks of play-by-play announcers, analysts, and producers.

Apparently, the moves arise more from a desire to shake things up than from considerations of the economy.

A Fox spokesman declined to comment today when asked by Eye on Sports Media, saying only that "Pairings are usually announced in the summer."

If the rumors are true, it will be very interesting to see what the teams look like come Fall.

Related Link(s)

Changes Coming at Fox (Pro Football Today)
Chris Pika's "Blog and Tackle"

New York Yankees Forget They Need Television Cameras

Eye on Sports Media — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:43:00 -0400

This has got to be one of the more bizarre stories in broadcast television history. Of course it has to involve the New York Yankees, their new stadium with a reported 1,000 obstructed view seats, and an overzealous security guard.

Apparently the guard did not like the location of the camera, which had been approved by the Yankees. So she ordered the cameraman to move his camera immediately, during the live broadcast of the game. When he would not comply, she sat right in front of the camera to block it from being used.

According to individual who posted the video, anyone who was listening to the director and producer on the PL (headset) would have had their "ears melted off."

As this happened during the seventh inning, it gives new meaning to the seventh inning stretch.

If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can see this video on my profile. It was originally posted on YouTube but removed by the poster at the request of the YES Network.

The cameraman in question was working for COMCAST Bay Area, who produce the Oakland A's television broadcasts.

Whit Watson Joins in on Fox Sports Mandated Twittering Tonight

Eye on Sports Media — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:02:00 -0400

An edict has come down from Fox Sports Network to all of their regional networks: Thou shalt participate in social media and social networking with tools such as Facebook and Twitter.

Of course they do not tell the regional networks what to Tweet about or how to go about it. They are still in the "crawl before we walk phase" of social media integration. FSN Florida/Sun Sports On-Air Talent Whit Watson will be the pioneer for that regional network tonight during the NBA playoff game between the Magic and the Sixers, using the SunSportsFOXFL twitter feed.

What's Up Whit You?: Whit Watson of Fox Sports Florida/
Sun Sports, , will be tweeting live at Game Two of the NBA Playoffs
between the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Photograph courtesy of Whit Watson and his Blackberry.

Social networking and social media is nothing new to Watson. "Years ago I used to write a monthly column for sunshinenetwork.com," said Watson in a phone interview today. "When I came back down here in 2005, they asked me if I wanted to do a blog. Since I love to write, I jumped on it."

One of two sideline reporters for tonight's game, Watson was asked to try this by Amy Pempel, the media relations director for FSN Florida/Sun Sports. "All of our talent will be participating as we grow the use of these tools," said Pempel. "With Whit working this game and the way he has embraced social networking, it was perfect to have him be the first to do it for us.

Pempel and the media relations staff of the other Fox regional networks are aware that they have to be careful how they use these tools. "We don't want to be tweeting what is coming up later on on the network," said Pempel. "They can get that from our web site. We want to offer information and insights that are different and enlightening for the fans."

So how will Watson juggle his on-air responsibilities as he takes this first crack at Twittering for the network? "I will set up my laptop in a corner and do it there," said Watson. "I don't want to have to battle with my Blackberry."

Watson will have another challenge. He is very verbose in his blog postings. So how will he be able to keep his thoughts limited to 140 characters?

"It will be a challenge," he said with a chuckle. "But it will be fun and interesting to see how it plays out."

When he first posted about this on his Facebook page this morning, I replied with a comment that perhaps they should be doing a live blog instead to get more fan interactivity (so he can play social media catchup with fellow Cornell alum Neil Best).

"I agree with the comment you posted on my status this morning, " Watson said. "But they have decided to do this first, and hopefully it will grow and expand as we learn how to use these tools best."

To help fans understand what is going on, FSN North posted this video on YouTube explaining what they are doing and how they are going to do it. This includes posting their notes from daily production meetings:

It should be interesting to see how the Fox regional networks develop and mature in the way they use these tools. Perhaps the will get the recognition the Masters tweets got in Sports Business Journal this week.

Related Link(s)

Whit Watson's Blog
SunSportsFOXFL twitter feed
Sun Sports / FSN Florida Facebook Page
FSN North Facebook Page
FSN North's YouTube Page

Spelling Not Just a Problem for DC Schools

Eye on Sports Media — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:11:00 -0400

Washington D.C. schools are a mess and people have been trying desperately to improve them over the years. Even the public school supporting the Obama family passed them up in favor of a private school.

But apparently the problem goes beyond the schools, to the interior of the Washington Nationals ballpark. A ballpark that is, ironically, located near one of the traditionally poorer sections of the Nation's capital.

The company that supplies their jerseys decided the team did not know how to spell their own name, and rechristened them the "Natinals."

Courtesy D.C. Sports Blog

It is possible that in some bizarre way this made sense to whoever added the team name to the jerseys, since they are called the "Nats" for short, and not the "Nashes."

If that is the case, imagine what might have happened if they did not know how to spell "Nats.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sports Reassignments Defy Common Sense

Eye on Sports Media — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:59:00 -0400

There was never any doubt that big changes were afoot at the Atlanta-Journal Constitution when they offered buyouts to members of the sports department. A bunch of big names at the AJC did take them, including columnist Terence Moore and Atlanta Thrashers beat writer Mike Knobler.

Knobler will be heading to law school in the fall, so this buyout works for him. Ronnie Ramos, who had previously been reorganized out of the sports department, is leaving the AJC to become managing director of new media strategies and content development for the NCAA (is their some irony here or what?).

But more shocking are the moves that editor Julia Wallace is making with those who did not accept the buyouts. The best way to describe it is "let's make life so miserable for everyone who refused the buyout that they will want to quit."

The best example of this is what they have done to former columnist Tim Tucker and University of Georgia beat writer Chip Towers.

The University of Georgia is located in Athens, Georgia. During peak traffic times, it can take anything from 2-3 hours to get from downtown Atlanta to Athens. Tim Tucker lives and works from Atlanta.

Chip Towers lives and works from Bogart, GA, which is just outside of Athens. He has been covering the Georgia beat for 12 years or so (I forget exactly when he left the Athens Banner-Herald to head to the AJC).

In Chippier Times: Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution
Sports Department gives an enthusiastic press-box thumbs up
before the Oklahoma State - University of Georgia football
game in September 2007.
Photograph Copyright 2007-2009 byEye on Sports Media/
The Cayuga Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

So what does Ms. Wallace do? Among other head scratching reassignments, she moves Tim Tucker to the UGA beat and moves Chip to "General Assignment Online."

This means if a big story breaks in Atlanta, Towers will have to haul arse down to Atlanta to cover it even though Tim Tucker lives and works there. And when news breaks out at the University of Georgia Athletic Association (which happens a lot), Tucker will have at haul arse over to Athens to cover that.

This, of course, is in addition to having to drive both ways to cover Georgia football and basketball games, even though Chip is "write" here.

So here is a short thought for Ms. Wallace:

Where is the common sense in these moves? Of course, all of the factors that fed into this decisions are not public. But on their face, they border on stupidity at best. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has become a joke of a newspaper in the 15 years I have lived in Georgia, and the only saving grace for the newspaper is the sports section.

Morale at the AJC, and other newspapers, is at an all-time low. Why make assignment decisions to make it even worse. Tim and Chip are excellent writers who know their stuff and know their audience. With all of the commotion down on Marietta street, why through even more discontinuity and confusion into the mix?

If the underlying desire is to make your writers so miserable that they quit, why not just cut through the charade (or perhaps crap would be a better word here), and issue their termination notices now? Or is the management of the AJC too spineless to do the right thing?

If you agree, why not email Ms. Wallace at jdwallace@ajc.com and let her know what you think?

Here are the people who accepted the buyouts at the AJC, as reported in Creative Loafing. If online is the future of journalism, a few of the buyouts definitely raise some eyebrows:

Rich Addicks – photographer
Nancy Albritton – city editor
Jim Auchmutey – news feature reporter
Kevin Austin – ajc.com editor
Moni Basu – news feature reporter
Wendell Brock – theater critic
Tasgola Bruner – online producer
Celine Bufkin – photo editor
Mary Civille
Brenda Coglianese
Larry Conley – DeKalb bureau chief
Holly Crenshaw – obit writer
Michael Dabrowa – graphics
David Deckert – archives manager
Lea Donosky – strategic manager, ajc.com
Kevin Duffy – business reporter
Gerdeen Dyer - copy editor
Joe Earle – editor
Sandy Eckstein – feature writer
Ginny Everett – director of news research
Louis Favorite – photographer
Ron Feinberg – Sunday features editor
Vivian Flagg
Cathy Fox – visual art critic
Clark Freeman – copy editor
Phil Gast – news manager, ajc.com
Steve Harvey – digital ajc.com
Robin Henry – managing editor, ajc.com
John Hollis – Southside reporter
Joey Ivansco – photographer
Drew Jubera – features reporter
Phil Kloer – features reporter
Mike Knobler – Thrashers reporter
Montse Knowlton – feature writer
Pat Koester
Connie Lawson – circulation librarian
George Leite
Donna Lewis – news reporter
Rachel Lister – copy editor
Derrick Mahone – news reporter
Andy Miller – healthcare reporter
Terence Moore – sports columnist
Sonia Murray – hip-hop reporter
Doug Nurse – North Fulton reporter
Thomas Oliver – business columnist
Evelyn Ortega – features design desk manager
Michael Pearson – Gwinnett business reporter
Kay Powell – Cobb communities reporter
John Reiter – calendar editor
Susan Reu
Frank Rizzo – comics editor
Holly Roseberry – ajc.com editor
Pierre Ruhe – arts critic
Jennifer Ryan – news researcher
Chip Saye – sports writer
Paul Shea – metro news manager, ajc.com
Stacy Shelton – environmental reporter
David Simpson – DeKalb reporter
Ben Smith – news reporter
Jim Smith
Kim Smith – photographer
Lewis Sturm – systems editor
Ron Taylor – Channel Manager, AccessAtlanta
Jerome Thompson – graphics reporter
David Tulis – photo manager, ajc.com
Chuck Turlington – editor, Gwinnett
Melissa Turner – senior editor, Sunday
Steve Valk – Sunday metro editor
Omar Vega – art director
Reagan Walker – Sunday editor
Harold Weaver – producer, ajc.com
Gayle White – higher education reporter
Janine Williams
Schauna Wright – blog coordinator

Posted on April 20, 2009

Bobby Clampett has a Future as a Psychic

Eye on Sports Media — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:18:00 -0400

Bobby Clampett (-8), playing in only his second tournament this year, shot four under par, good enough for a 68, today to finish tied for 13th at the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic.

For a player who has never been to Athens or Jennings Mill Country Club in Bogart, that is a finish that he did not even expect.

Do I Like This Lie?: Bobby Clampett and his caddy look at his lie
as he missed the green right on his 18th Hole of the second round.
Clampett got it up and down to finish one under for the day.
Photograph Copyright 2009 by Eye on Sports Media/
The Cayuga Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

But something else happened Friday afternoon, as "Eye on Sports Media" grabbed Clampett to join radio station 960 the Ref for an interview during their live broadcast from the tournament.

During the interview, hosts Jeff Dantzler and Chris Brame asked Clampett what he thought the winning score be come Sunday. Without hesitation, Clampett said 14 under would be the winning number. Both Danztler and Brame thought he was way too conservative given what the leaderboard showed that afternoon.

But Clampett held his ground given the playing conditions of the course and the strength of the field.

Well Patrick Sheehan has just birdied the 18th hole to force a playoff with Michael Sim.

And the winning score? Fourteen under, just as Clampett predicted.

There is a reason Bobby Clampett is an outstanding analyst on CBS Sports golf team. If he ever leaves the booth, he can always set up shop as a golf psychic!

Brendon Todd Beats Million to One Odds with Two Aces In Nationwide Tour Event

Eye on Sports Media — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:37:45 -0400

PGA Tour Player Brendon Todd never had a hole-in-one in competitive competition until Thursday. In the first round, he aced the par three 17th hole at the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic and was understandably very happy.

He was even happier today when he returned to the same hole and aced it again.

As far as anyone can recollect, this has never happened on the PGA or Nationwide Tours during full competition. Luckily, University of Georgia student Mark Edmonston was on the hole taping for the the University-owned WNEG-TV.

Here is the video, and you can say you saw it here first before it makes the nightly highlight shows.

B/R Exclusive: Bobby Clampett Working on Unfinished Business

Eye on Sports Media — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:10:07 -0400

Athens, Ga.—Bobby Clampett is a driven man. This has not changed much since he came on to the PGA Tour. He has toned down his early career antics, like teeing off in the 1979 U.S. Open on his knees. But he still has a big personality and he has not lost any of his ambition, still harboring an inner fire to complete some unfinished business.

I caught up with Bobby this past Tuesday at the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic, and sat down with him to talk about golf, television, and what he is doing these days.

Eye on Sports Media (EOSM): First things first, Bobby. Why are you here in Athens for this tournament?

Bobby Clampett (BC): I want to play golf whenever I can so I can see if my game is up for the task of the Champions Tour [in 2010] and if I am ready to play that tour.

EOSM: Then let's get the 10,000-pound gorilla question out of the way. Were you dropped from CBS Sports' Masters coverage because of what some perceived as the ethnic slur you made on the air last year?

BC: Absolutely not. Last year I did Amen Corner Live by myself for all four days, and this year there was an opportunity to do The Masters in Depth broadcast on DirecTV. Being it was my show to work with, I got to do a lot of different things that I could not do in a straight announce position.

EOSM: So there was no rebuke for what was said?

BC: Not at all. It was an honest mistake I made. I referred to the player as a Chinaman, much as I would refer to an Englishman or an Irishman. I was covering Amen Corner Live for 27 hours by myself, and I said something that sounded natural to me and I did not put any thought into the notion that it could be offensive.

When I was told that people were offended, I apologized immediately.

EOSM: But why are you here in Athens this week and not covering the Heritage for CBS Sports?

BC: Actually I was supposed to be with CBS and Bill Macatee covering the Ginn Tribute on the LPGA Tour this week. But as you may know, Ginn withdrew all of their golf tournament sponsorships. So the tournament was canceled. That is why I had the opening this week.

EOSM: So the relationship with CBS is good?

BC: Absolutely. My contract is up with them after this year, so I do not know what their plans are down the road. Hopefully it will continue.

EOSM: How will you juggle that with the Champions Tour?

BC: CBS actually likes it when their talent play on the tours as well.

EOSM: How did you come to be with CBS?

BC: Back in 1991, I was covering the PGA Championship for TNT, and [then CBS Sports golf producer] Frank Chirikinian hired me on the spot. He liked me and liked what I was doing with Turner.

EOSM: So you survived Frank's tough love?

BC: I would not be where I am today if it were not for Frank. If I ever went to him after a show and asked him to sit down to critique what I was doing on the air, he always made the time. He would not hold back on what was good and what was bad. This only helped me.

Frank had this rough and gruff exterior, but inside we was the type of caring leader people want to work with and for.

EOSM: A servant leader?

BC: No, a leader who deeply cares about his people, whether they be the on-air talent or the technicians behind the scenes. He genuinely cared about them, and you can see that in the fierce loyalty they had for him, and still have today.

EOSM: How is Lance Barrow's approach different from Frank's? Given that he "grew up" so to speak, under Frank's tutelage?

BC: Lance is different in style and approach from Frank. It would be unfair to say he models everything he does as "Frank's way." But it is clear that many of Frank's lessons still resonate in the way he produces the shows.

EOSM: What else are you working on these days?

BC: I am really excited about this project I am working on with CyberVision. It is a project that takes my book, The Impact Zone, and applies their technology to my lessons.

EOSM: What is that?

BC: Too many golf professionals around the country are focusing on a player's swing and doing it all wrong. They are ruining the swings because they don't understand the impact zone. With CyberVision, we can show teaching pros and players things that a regular video [at 30 to 60 frames a second] cannot. It is really cool and I am excited about it.

EOSM: Speaking of technology, do you think the introduction of more and more technology into golf broadcasts is good or bad?

BC: Oh it is great without a doubt. We can show viewers things that were not possible before. Tools like Shot Tracker are phenomenal.

EOSM: Looking back on the almost 30 years since you came on to the PGA Tour, did you imagine you would be where you are now?

BC: No I did not. I still have a lot of unfinished business.

EOSM: You just got into town and need to get ready for the week, so I appreciate your time to sit down with me.

BC: Not a problem at all.

Note: This was originally published on "Eye on Sports Media."

The 2009 Athens Regional Foundation Classic: Three Way Tie

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:47:36 -0400

Athens, GA (Apr 16, 2009)—Playing a course waterlogged from rains earlier this week, players on the Nationwide Tour teed it up at the 2009 Athens Regional Foundation Classic this morning.

Taking advantage of being allowed to lift, clean, and place their balls for today's round, Rich Barcelo, Patrick Sheehan, and Kevin Kisner each shot a six under par 66 on the 7,004 yard Jennings Mill Country Club course, designed by Bob Cupp.

The highlight of the day for local fans was when former University of Georgia golfer Brendon Todd took his seven iron and hit a hole in one on the 164 yard par three 17th hole. This got him to five under before bogeying the 18th hole.

Other notable former PGA Tour players in the field include Len Mattiace (-2), Bobby Clampett (E), Andrew Magee (+2), and Jim Gallagher, Jr. (+2).

There are 69 players at par or better. The field will be cut to the low 60 players and ties after the conclusion of tomorrow's second round.

You Never Know Who You Will See At a Golf Tournament

Eye on Sports Media — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:23:59 -0400

Athens, GA (Apr 15, 2009) - The past few days at the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic have in some small ways been a trip down memory lane for this former part-time PGA Tour Caddy.

On Monday, I was talking to a caddy in the Jennings Mill Country Club parking lot. He said that he was waiting for a caddy friend of his to arrive, a caddy by the name of Andy Davidson. I did a double take as I knew Andy going back to 1982, when he first came out on the PGA Tour as a caddy.

Still Looping: Andy Davidson has been caddying on the
PGA Tour and the Champions Tour since 1982.

When Andy arrived, I went to greet him and asked him why in the world he was in Athens.

"I am working for Andrew Magee," he answered, "He gives me the bag every year at Bay Hill, so I come here to do this for him."

Later that day in the media room, reporters covering the tournament for the Athens Banner-Herald were looking for the caddy who worked for the tournament winners in 2007 and 2008. I asked them the name of the caddy they were looking for, and they said his name was Butch Vail (pictured left).

Butchie? Butchie won here the past two years? Again, another longtime caddy friend from the PGA Tour was not only here in Athens this week, but he had won the tournament the past two years.

I caught up to Butch in the cart barn during yesterday's rainstorm and got to catch up with him. As is typical with him, he was very non-chalant and self-deprecating about the two victories.

"I was just lucky, that's all," said the Massachsetts born caddy. "It really is not that big a deal."

To him, it may not have been a big deal, but the local newspaper did want him for a story, as he got each of those two bags in the parking lot the Monday of tournament week. This year, he had a bag before he got here, and is glad he does.

"It's really tough out here," Butch said. "The money on this tour is not that good, and look around. There are a lot of regular caddies from the PGA Tour who are not working [The Heritage] this week because their guys are not in the tournament. The competition is fierce."

After this conversation, I did not think it was likely that I would run into anyone else I knew from days so long ago.

That is until I was finishing up my interview with Bobby Clampett in the clubhouse restaurant. As we were getting up to leave, a gentleman approached Clampett, extended his hand, and said "Hey Bobby, Mike Peck (pictured right)."

My head spun around. Here was a former PGA Tour player who played on the tour from 1980 to 1985. If you ever wanted to talk to a player about the struggles of laying week to week in the days of Monday qualifying, Peck would be your guy. And if you ever want to talk to a player who was nice to everybody he met, Peck would be that guy, too. In fact, he gave me his car for a couple of weeks back in the 1980s to drive from the Greater Hartford Open to my hometown and the B.C. Open.

I caught up to Mike on the putting green later that afternoon to catch up and talk about what he is doing now.

"I am the director of U.S. Tour relations for Callaway Golf," he told me. He has been doing this type of work since he left playing on the tour in the mid-1980s.

"I'm not playing anymore, this is what I am doing full time," he continued. "And I love what I do."

We talked a little bit more about his work, and about a player we were both friendly with back in his playing days. We then said our goodbyes, as he was heading out of town today.

It has been said that the professional golf tours are like one big extended family/carnival, travelling week to week, and year to year. It is not until you run into people you know 25-plus years later that it really hits home.

Photographs Copyright 2009 by Eye on Sports Media/The Cayuga Group, LLC. All Rights reserved.

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