MLB Network drops ball not having Bob Costas work the World Series live
TMC
Bob Raissman
Saturday, November 7th 2009, 8:10 PM
Tuesday night on MLB Network, Bob Costas will interview commissioner
Bud Selig who, when it comes to MLBN, is Rapping Roberto's boss.
For reasons known only to someone who deals in the occult, a glimpse
of this upcoming meeting of the minds flashed before our eyes early on
the morning of Nov. 5, hours after the Yankees captured their 27th
World Series title.
Costas: Commissioner, we have a lot of ground to cover. Not only are
you caretaker of the game, you are a baseball historian as well. Can
you tell me whose record for RBI in a World Series game Hideki Matsui
tied the other night in Game 6?"
Seligula: "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Please, don't play me for a fool.
Who's writing your material these days, Don Fehr? I know where you're
going with this. Listen, I'm paying you plenty of money - around $5
million per or something like that - to work for our network. Why
weren't you working live during the Series?"
Seligula should direct the same question to the suits he hired to run
MLBN.
You probably already know about MLBN anchor Matt Vasgersian and his
"Bobby Thomson" gaffe after Game 6. It was chronicled here. Other
shortcomings in MLBN's postseason coverage were also highlighted.
Much of this jive never would have gone down if Costas was on the
scene anchoring. He does, after all, have a little experience hosting
big events on television. If this is a contractual thing, and Costas
has a clause in his MLBN contract prohibiting him from working live
during the postseason, well, whoever agreed to signoff on that is a
moron.
It would be like Mariano Rivera telling the Yankees he doesn't want to
close anymore and the organization accepting his demand.
If this is not a contractual thing then Costas should've been working
for MLBN - live - during its World Series pre and postgame shows. Nah,
Costas doesn't think the assignment is beneath him, does he? The guys
MLBN uses are, for the most part, fine. Working live ain't easy.
Still, compared to Costas, they are all ham-and-eggers.
When you have A-Rod available to play third, you don't sit him in
favor of Jerry Hairston Jr., right?
Featuring Costas as MLBN's primary anchor during the World Series
would have bruised some egos. Tough. That's just business. Leaving
Costas on the bench made no sense.
Unless you believe Bobby Thomson actually did hold the record for most
RBI in a World Series game.
Striking out on Series pregame
Next year, there are only two ways for Fox to go with its postseason
pregame show: Either make it better or dump it.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2009/11/07/2009-11-07_mlb_network_drops_ball.html?page=1
Compared to the Foxies' NFL pregame show, their baseball effort is
strictly public access cable TV. Part of the cast (Chris Rose, Erik
Karros and Mark Grace) was only concerned with being comedians. And
when the guy who was supposed to be funny - Ozzie Guillen - tried
making a serious point, Rose tried turning him into a clown.
Where was Jeanne Zelasko when we needed her?
Simms back in Swamp
Phil Simms will be at Giants Stadium today working Chargers-Giants
with Jim Nantz. It will be the second consecutive week Simms has
called a game in the Meadowlands (Dolphins-Jets last Sunday) but the
first Giants game he's worked in five years.
The last time Simms scoped out Big Blue in Jersey was Dec. 18, 2004
when the Steelers beat the Giants 33-30.
Simms' heart isn't beating harder when he watches the Giants. Compared
to other players turned broadcasters, Simms cut the cord to his former
team early. Working a Giants game is no big deal.
This time around, there may be a trace of emotion. This will be the
last time Simms sees his old team play in a building where he made his
bones. The experience may also make up for Simms missing (he appeared
in a video) the Giants honoring players from the 1980s during the Oct.
25 Sunday nighter with Arizona.
Now it seems like a longshot, but Simms might get another crack at
working a Giants tilt this season. It wouldn't in Giants Stadium,
though. Simms and Nantz are scheduled to call the Super Bowl.
Fox fumbles Favre
Fox was all about Brett (Favre) last Sunday. From Terry Bradshaw's
much anticipated interview (it did not live up to advance billing) to
the Foxies promising their Favre Cam would keep viewers glued to the
QB thought his return to Lambeau.
The glued-to-Brett strategy worked until the end of Vikings-Packers.
Then, the Foxies welshed on their promise to the designated slobs
hanging on Favre's every move.
The game had ended. An elated Favre was making his way off the field
after the Vikes victory. Favre was meeting and greeting his former
Packer mates. This could get emotional. Something worth seeing.
Then ... bang. Fox split the scene to head for the last 47 seconds of
Carolina-Arizona with the Cardinals up by two TDs.
Brilliant.
Love a parade
Local stations - TV and radio - covered the Yankees parade. Not once
did any of the mouths, genuflecting to everything pinstriped, specify
who paid for it. ... Did the Foxies invite Yankees' Emperor Bloomberg
on the Yankees victory stage after Game 6 as payback for all the dough
he spent advertising on Ch. 5? Or is the Emperor, often seen at Citi
Field, just another phoney frontrunner? ... And how come Rudy Giuliani
gets to ride a float in the Yankees parade? Ooops, forgot he's in
between gigs and employed as official Yankees mascot. ... Does
Giuliani actually pay for those seats adjacent to the Yankees dugout?
Or is this the Yankees' way of saying "thanks" for all the times
Giuliani, on orders from George Steinbrenner, dumped on the South
Bronx while shilling for a new Yankee Stadium? ... Are Ma and Pa
Pinstripe being cut in for a full World Series share? ... Friday
morning, someone called the Daily News Sports Dept. and said: "Hurry,
turn on NY1, they're showing a 'Beavis and Butthead' reunion." Clicked
on NY1 only to see John Sterling and Michael Kay MC-eeing Yankees'
City Hall ceremony. Cold.