This could have been Billy Crystal’s big moment. A way to make a name for himself. Something to do when the Oscars decided it didn’t need a host.
Forget Paris? Forget Billy. He’s done.
His one-game-only appearance with Ralph Lawler on a Clippers-Lakers telecast had its “Analyze This” moments. We wanted more from the ultimate Clipper fan. Even a little Mr. Saturday Night.
It wasn’t enough of the Snoop Dogg quality work (see: Kings-Penguins, Jan. 13, Staples Center) we are now used to seeing in this burgeoning field of celebrity fill ins.

Whether it’s the “Third Chair” on Lakers radio games or the “Hockey Night in L.A.” appearances that the Kings have arranged for their Saturday night home games, you can’t fault the local teams for tapping into the Hollywood/celebrity talent pool to see how to liven up a broadcast. If used properly.
Want to liven up a Dodgers radio broadcast? Have Rick Monday slide over and let Larry King do a few innings with his pal Charley Steiner.
Oh, wait. That would kill the whole thing. Never mind.
Otherwise, former athletes with some TV savoriness have became more the desired norm. It’s a position that has more and more become a dominant chair to where the well-trained play-by-play man must yield to the opinions of his partner.
Consider these:

JIM FOX/Kings TV
During a nine-season run as a Kings right winger covering the entire decade of the ‘80s, Fox remains in the franchise Top 10 of all-time points scored, goals created, even-strength goals and shooting percentage. Look it up.
It’s a reminder, especially for younger viewers, about how much experience comes behind everything he says on a Kings broadcast now, what has it been now, 30 seasons?
One astute fan’s perspective: “I’ve enjoyed Jim a lot more the last couple of years since teaming up with Faust. I think now that Jim is out of Bob Millers shadow he is showing a lot more knowledge. It forced him to get out of his comfort zone a bit he had with Bob. I also love the enthusiasm he brings throughout the game. He sounds like a kid watching which makes it more entertaining for the viewer. I’ve also really appreciated his honest assessment of the teams poor play this year. Not afraid to sugar coat the teams shortcomings.”
Lately, Fox’s interactive social media participation with fans just adds to his effectiveness. Some day, we expect he’ll have enough of the travel and want to focus on his wine business with his wife, Susie.
It may be a crushing blow to Kings’ followers. Enjoy the fruits of his work while it’s still ripe for enjoyment.

Continue reading “The best and worst of L.A. sports media 2019: Game analysts who become the focal point” →

In one of the last times we were able to flip on NBCSN and catch the “Dan Patrick Show” simulcast this week before the thing disappeared into the AT&T/Turner universe, the host opened the show with a bit that went:
“I always wanted to do an honest broadcast (of a live sporting event). Just so you say what you really think when you do a game.
“ ‘This guy is overpaid and we can’t get out from underneath his contract …’
“ ‘This soft-tossing lefty gives up home runs like I take breaths.’
“The honest announcer. I always wanted to do that.”
Honestly, that could work in L.A. That once-upon-a-time occurrence was expected with broadcasts like Vin Scully, Chick Hearn or Tom Kelly.
Who might do it today?
How about …

BRIAN SIEMAN/Clippers radio
There’s nothing wrong with the Clippers logically giving him the TV chair once Ralph Lawler’s 40 year runs ends this summer. We’re on the same page as Clippers fans sites. But there is a selfish wish that Sieman would remain the one-man show on radio, a medium that gives him a unique platform to provide listeners with not just the game description, but become his own colorman, self-deprecating but full of inner-banter that no one else could pull off. Would this work on TV? Why not, but his play-by-play work on radio is so sharp and colorful, the visual medium wouldn’t allow that. It’s why Vin Scully’s natural draw to move to the TV side was prefect for those programming the event, but it was a net-minus to the consumers.

Continue reading “The best and worst of L.A. sports media 2019: Play by play guys don’t play mind games” →

The objective here is to single out all the hosts/reporters/talent who work on the local cable sports channels involved in presenting information about the L.A.-based teams.
This can get tricky.
We catch ourselves now wondering about what the motives are any more for journalistic integrity, if such a term is still used as such shops. It should be. It’s not so evident any longer.
In a piece we did last May under the headline “How a Dodges high-five raises objectivity concerns,” the blowback from readers seemed to be: One can react to a situation as a person as long as you’re not cheering in the press box. On the other hand, this shows little objectivity, which is what the “reporter” in question seems to think she has the players’ respect.
More on that conundrum later.
We continue to value professionalism to the craft, the ability to process information in a pre- and post-game studio setting and keeping it transparent.
With that preamble rambling, we feel comfortable with this:

PATRICK O’NEAL/ Angels and Kings TV
It is kind of a hoot to dive into his IMDb.com bio – Samuel Eldridge Patrick Ryan O’Neal IV is how it’s listed, but Patrick says it’s not anything close to the truth — and see how far he took a shot at pursuing an acting career, following the lead of his father, mother and famous half-sister. (See: “Die Hard 2,” 1990, Cpl. Telford). One of his latest, as “family dad” on the 2007 “Wild Hogs,” actually came while he was well into his sports broadcasting swim. A profile we once did on him explained how his passion for sports came from his dad, Ryan, a one-time Golden Gloves boxer. “We’d watch thousands of games together. There was never any bedtime. Stay up and watch the Kings, Lakers, whatever was on. Our bond was always sports. Without that, there’s no way I’m able to do this.” Said Ryan: “He’s iron. You never see his nerves. He’s never caught short. He looks like he’s been doing this all his life. I’m very impressed, really. It’s just easy for him. He sure makes it look easy.” It’s easy for us to keep him in this elevated spot as well, where Sports Emmys that come as a residue of his work at Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket are just fine instead of Oscars.

Continue reading “The best and worst of L.A. sports media 2019: TV studio hosts/reporters with the objective of … objectivity?” →

There’s a quote from Homer that often rattles around in our head.
‘Twas Homer Simpson, not the more famous poet, who famously once remarked: “Hmmmmm. TV. The beautiful distraction from the certainty of death.”
The death of local TV sports news has been called for a few years now, since the ESPN “SportsCenter” took over the immediacy of highlights, and the time on the 11 o’clock report has been trimmed up to a tidy two minutes. If that.
It must still be relevant to someone, somewhere, at some point. Like those who still work there.
It’s OK if you haven’t seen it done in a while. We confess as much.
Maybe it was after that time we saw on a local sportscast where the anchor was getting excited about his three-minute piece on cupstacking.
The golden age may have gone, but there remains some holdovers, some who have bigger plans, others who can’t believe they’re still cashing checks.
Here’s what we have, and then we scoot on to other urgent matters:

CURT SANDOVAL/KABC Channel 7
If one still takes any of this seriously, realizing there is still some juice left in this medium, Sandoval is the one who reached out beyond that of a weekend anchor and thrives on going out in the field to do stories that matter. There is always something of depth and quality, going back to when he first came to the station in 1999 and has a couple of local Emmys to show for it, as well as a wife, Jeanne Zelasko, who makes them the power sports couple of L.A. Sandoval continues to raise awareness and funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation by doing long-distance running/ironman competitions. We can only offer him a cup of water and a pat on the back for continued successes.

Continue reading “The best and worst of L.A. sports media 2019: TV anchor/reporters still take it in the shorts” →

Is this mike on? Is the audience listening?
Check, check …
A brief history lesson about the L.A. sports-talk radio medium for those who may wonder what predated podcasting: Sports yammering shows existed here more than 40 years ago.
When radio was a bigger deal and a more prevalent place to be heard.
What if we told you Keith Jackson was the sports director of KABC/790, before he became a big deal with ABC Sports, and had his own show? He hired Bill Russell, the just-retired Boston Celtics center, to have his own show — not just about sports, but social issues, features.
Dang.
Sports was part of the entire talk spectrum. Ed “Superfan” Bieler was another novelty that was supposed to shake things up in the early ’70s.
Skip ahead. We could document the many more hit-and-miss attempts that came and went over the last decades. The wave of Joe McDonnell, Fred Wallin. Bud Tucker and Bud Furillo. Steve Edwards brought game.
So no surprise the first 24/7 attempt didn’t arrive until the mid-1990s — Gene Autry became convinced he could take his Angels flagship station of KMPC-AM (710) and lasso the momentum that WFAN started in New York. There was already a SoCal competitor in “The Mighty 690” blasting up from a San Diego studio and a Tijuana antenna.
Lessons were learned over the short course of the KMPC impatient test run.
Just a couple years ago, four all-sports formats existed here at the same time.
It is with some sadness that we still don’t know where to plant a tombstone for KFWB’s conversion of all-news to “The Beast.”
Rest in Peace, you filthy Beast (2014-2016).
Nationally syndicated shows have their place on the L.A. sports radio dashboard. But mixed in with some LeBatard, Rome and The DP Show, we need a live and local presence, to filter national stories for local angles, and prop up local stories with more historical (and logical) contest.
Yelling and screaming for attention here has never quite worked. We tune out those of things. We need intelligent, entertaining and often creative approaches. We need diversity to reflect the region. We need the medium to stay relevant at a time when it could easily evaporate.
Who still does it best? Who needs a lot of work? Who can get by without ever taking phone calls, unless they can turn that into some impromptu comedic fodder?
We hear it this way:

PETROS PAPADAKIS/KLAC-AM (570)
On or off the air, in a bar at UnHappy Hour or outside in the parking lot after closing time, on the field or in the press box booth, there’s few more well-rounded, salt-of-the-earth conversationalists, with or without a sports-talk affiliation, who have an athletic perspective, real-life experience and even top-notch relationship advice. His own father, John, refers to him simply as a “force of nature.” Naturally, it’s not limited to sports with the former USC tailback/Fox Sports game analyst/former host of “Pros vs. Joes.” If at times he comes off as too loud and pushing back on something, ride it out.
Our friend David Davis once penned a bio on him that ran in L.A. Magazine entitled “The Loud Mouth.” In a good way. We did a piece on him in ’06, when he was at another station in another version of himself, again the headline: “Loud And proud.” Just follow the passion wave.
“I know people say I’m too loud, or exuberant, out of control, too much style over substance – that’s OK.,” he said. “But to me, the style is the substance. There are too many people who can tell you who won or lost a game. I’m far too passionate to let it end there. If I’m excited about something, I scream. I mean, when you’ve got a bad lisp like mine, it’s just easier to yell when I work myself into a frenzy. I get like a rat with his piece of cheese.”
Also, if he has the time to sit down and talk about real things in his life, as he did with us once, on video, appreciate the experience.
Now, someone hand him the ball and get out of the way. Continue reading “The best and worst of L.A. sports media 2019: Sports talk hosts need originality, creativity and staying power” →