It's been a rather eventful last couple of days in the Middle East, and our brother in law, Mitch, about to start his fifth month serving his latest tour with the Marines, says he will "lose no sleep over" the execution of Sadam Hussein. You do what you gotta to do focus on your job, and count the days until you get to some home, which won't be until the spring.

Sports continues to be a nice distraction for Mitch, although the digression of his Indianapolis Colts isn't much for him to cheer about lately. He emails on the final day of the year -- Iraq is 10 hours ahead of us here on the West Coast -- so his New Year's Eve party has probably already started.

How is all on this last day of the year?
Sorry my picks took so long but I have been a bit busy. For the college games, it will be USC over Michigan in a tight Rose Bowl, and for the national title, Florida over Ohio State, which will start to show in the 2nd half. No pro picks -- too many teams that have locked up spots will bench players. I finished 3rd in the fantasy league here. It's a little strange. I should have been first, but that is a conversation for another day.
For the Lakers, a triple overtime loss against the Bobcats? Come on. Odom, get well soon and I mean soon. Kobe and the boys need you. I must say they have done pretty well, but Radman has to stay consistent. This hot-cold stuff is OK for Morrison not for Rad. How about Bynum looking real good and Kwame too. We will see. I think next year it is ours, when we use Grant's 15 mil to get Garnett.
Well take care. It is cold here; it's been in the teens ... burr. Here is a new picture of a sunrise over Iraq. The birds are everywhere, huge ravens, I will start a new class tomorrow, so I will send more photos. Have a great
new year. -- Mitch

Mitch's previous emails:
Dec. 1
Oct. 12
Sept. 19
Sept. 11
Sept. 9

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Warner set out to make a simple movie about NASCAR driver Wendell Scott. By the time Warner was finished, the filmmaker had spent $3 million of his own money to create a four-part DVD documentary that traces NASCAR from its early days of racing all the way through the 1960s.
Warner knew “The Golden Era of NASCAR� was a film he could be proud of. Narrated by his father, Virginia Sen. John W. Warner, the film is truly a labor of love.
But when he received a thank you letter from a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan who used the film to fill his idle time, Warner realized just how special it was.
Now he’s donating 10,000 copies of the set — which retails for $79.95 — to Operation Gratitude. The nonprofit will include the DVD in holiday packages it sends to deployed U.S. troops.
“Documentaries by nature are very passion driven, and to get the whole story on film is a very powerful thing,� Warner said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. “And then I got this letter from the brother of a friend of mine who really enjoyed the story, and it really touches you to know that something you have done can bring joy to other people.�
Warner enlisted help for his donation from his stepmother, Elizabeth Taylor, who penned a letter that will be included with the DVD sets. She also included one handwritten letter to commemorate the 200,000th care package that Operation Gratitude will mail out.
“Millions of people around the world are remembering you each day in their prayers. I want you to know that I am one of them,� Taylor wrote in the three paragraph letter. “Please believe that as you travel through harm’s way, you are valiant, loved and respected. I wish you safety in the days ahead and a warm reunion with those you love.�Getting Taylor to contribute to the gift “only took a phone call,� Warner said, as the actress was pleased to help.
“This was something that is important to me, especially since the films touch on all the World War II veterans
who helped create NASCAR,� Warner said. “This is just one way that a civilian like myself can give back.�

Read on ....

A Virginia native, Warner was introduced to NASCAR when his father stumped for votes at stock car races with Taylor, his second wife.
The racing interested Warner, who launched a career of modest success racing sports cars. But when he retired four years ago, he needed a new project and turned his attention to telling the story of Scott, the first black driver to win a NASCAR race.
“There was no book written on him — there still isn’t — which is very unusual for a man who is the Jackie Robinson of racing,� Warner said. “So I called up his daughter and we talked for hours and it really became a passion of mine to tell his story.�
But in researching Scott, Warner uncovered story upon story of other NASCAR pioneers. He interviewed more than 50 old-timers and their families, and interspersed it throughout the film with Sen. Warner’s narration, which is done in a perfect Southern drawl.
Warner didn’t make “Golden Era� to get rich, and with a willingness to give copies of the set to any serviceman who asks, his profits are continually shrinking. But that won’t shy him away from another project — he’d like to focus on NASCAR through the 1970s next — and it won’t spoil the joy “Golden Era� brought him.
“The one thing that was amazing is that Southern people by nature like to tell tall tales, and a lot of them are what had gotten me interested in the project,� Warner said. “And they all turned out to be true. That was the amazing
thing — every one of them was true. I was just astounded."

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer

We’ve all experienced this during the coming attractions: Hollywood puts forth a dramatic, inspiring pitch for an upcoming production — and everybody laughs.
That’s happened with the trailer for “Rocky Balboa,� the sixth installment in the franchise after a 16-year absence (and opens Wednesday). And the film has been battered with derision and peppered with punch lines even before it hits theaters.
That hasn’t blindsided the film’s 60-year-old star.
“I understand, I do. I totally get it. They’re going to have that polarization,� Sylvester Stallone told The Associated Press when asked about audience reactions. “My hope is that people that have screened it have enjoyed it and say, ‘You know what? It’s not as bad as you think.’�
Stallone’s comeback bid is part of a larger trend of aging stars revisiting dormant franchises. Sharon Stone, 48, earlier this year again crossed her legs for “Basic Instinct 2,� 14 years after the original. Harrison Ford, 64, wants to make another “Indiana Jones� (which last was in theaters in 1989) and more than a decade later, Bruce Willis, 51, thinks he can “Die Hard� again.
Back in 1983, Sean Connery had moderate success returning to 007 in “Never Say Never Again,� an encore to his James Bond run which had ended in 1971 with “Diamonds Are Forever.�
But Stallone — who’s also hoping to revive “Rambo� — is playing a role particularly revealing of the aging process.

Read more on the aging fighter and his movie history ...

Even in 1990’s much-disliked “Rocky V,� the fighter was presented as over-the-hill.
It is, though, a story often replayed in the boxing ring; George Foreman’s multitude of comeback attempts extended even until 2004 (when Foreman was 55), but that attempt didn’t make it past training.
In “Rocky Balboa� (which carefully avoids the roman numeral “VI� since marketing research suggests moviegoers prefer original titles for sequels) Rocky comes out of retirement after a televised virtual simulation shows he could beat the current champ, Mason “The Line� Dixon (Antonio Tarver).
“It sounds like something somebody said as a joke at a pitch meeting and people wrote it down,� said Mark Lisanti, editor of the L.A. gossip blog Defamer.com. The site has repeatedly poked fun at the new “Rocky� film — as have a number of late night talk show hosts and comedians.
“It’s hard for it not to look desperate,� Lisanti added.
Stallone, who also wrote and directed the film, has repeatedly said he wanted to make “Rocky Balboa� to erase the
bad taste left by the dark “Rocky V� and conclude the franchise on his terms.
Stallone’s comeback clearly mirrors the underdog story of an aged Rocky.
“There are a lot examples of life imitating art and vice versa in this project,� said Perry Stahman, president of domestic theatrical marking for MGM. “The one thing we didn’t want to do was we didn’t want to run away from it. He brought that to the movie. He’s very aware of what people are saying and thinking.�
“Now more than ever, this is truly an underdog story,� Stahman added.
Any cynical response to the prospect of Rocky’s return to the ring has been combated with a robust marketing campaign by MGM, which is trying to regain its distribution and marketing footing after being acquired by Sony last year.
The trailer for “Rocky Balboa� addresses some of the movie’s real-life circumstances.
“People are going to think you’re going crazy,� Rocky’s son (Milo Ventimiglia) says.
“What’s crazy about standing toe and toe and saying, ‘I am’?� replies Rocky.

Posted by MGM on YouTube, the trailer has been viewed by more than 1.7 million people and received a rating of four stars out of five. Such a reaction hints at high anticipation for “Rocky Balboa� — even if a good helping of the comments posted on the Web site demean it. (“Rocky Balboa’s next opponent ... erectile dysfunction and memory loss.�)
MGM also has aggressively marketed the film through sports outlets like ESPN and Web sites such as eBay. But has the studio
convinced people that the new “Rocky� isn’t laughable?
David Poland, who runs the movie industry blog MovieCityNews.com, doesn’t expect it to reach $30 million on the
opening weekend.
But a box-office take even approaching that figure would probably please MGM (since the movie’s budget has been estimated at just $25 million).
“I think between what will be not very good reviews, a skeptical crowd with a lot of movies they can go see in December, teenagers who have no idea what Rocky is — it’s going to be very hard to get this one rolling with any kind of velocity,� Poland said.
Releasing “Rocky Balboa� amidst the Oscar-bait season could seem like a punch-drunk decision. But Stahman believes the PG-rated film makes for good holiday viewing, and imagines fathers will take their sons to see it.
The original reaped three Academy Awards including best picture — beating an elite group of nominees that included “All the President’s Men,� “Network� and “Taxi Driver.�
This time around, modest box-office success just might be all the moral victory that the iconic pugilist from Philly needs.
After all, Rocky has always been more about perseverance — going the distance — than fame or fortune.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a surprise: The NFL Network has rejected two proposals from Time Warner Cable that would have allowed New York-area viewers to watch Rutgers and Kansas State in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28.
The NFL Network, which is supposed to be NFL-centric, bought the rights to that college bowl game, as well as the Dec. 29 Insight Bowl between Minnesota and Texas Tech, and continues to hold them hostage.
Neither Time Warner Cable nor Cablevision have agreements to carry the network full-time, meaning many Rutgers fans wouldn’t be able to watch the matchup at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off their best Big East season, and there is great local interest in the game. But not big enough, apparently, to make them available to fans of the two schools who don't have access to the channel -- nor ever thought they would need to in order to watch their team play.
NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky said the network was offering a free preview to New York-area subscribers “to appease the New York residents who don’t have a choice.� But there were no plans to include Kansas in that offer.
Friday, Kansas made it clear there’s interest in the game there, too.
Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts said he had urged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to make the Wildcats’ bowl game available to Kansas viewers.
“Every Kansan should be able to cheer on their team, be it the Wildcats, the Jayhawks or the Shockers,� Roberts said in a news release. “This issue is symptomatic of a long-running dispute between the NFL Network and certain cable providers.�
Tuesday, Goodell told the AP the network would offer a free week to Time Warner Cable and Cablevision from Dec. 24 to 30, which would include the Texas and Insight bowls.
Time Warner Cable, a unit of the media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., responded with two proposals — carrying just the Rutgers game on its basic tier, which would include all New York area customers, or carrying the network for the full week on a digital tier, a premium service used by about 75 percent of area customers.
But Steve Bornstein, the head of the NFL Network, told Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt in a letter Thursday that neither proposal would satisfy the network’s goals of making the Rutgers game available to local fans at no additional cost while also exposing customers to other NFL-related programming.
Bornstein’s letter, which Time Warner Cable provided to the Associated Press, left open the possibility of further talks. A Time Warner Cable spokesman said Friday that the two sides still are talking, and the company is “still
hopeful of finding a way to get the Rutgers game to our customers.�
Another version of this mess is in Saturday's New York Times.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With his beach volleyball career winding down, Karch Kiraly is looking forward to the next step in his career by opening the Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy.
The academy, which is sanctioned by USA Volleyball, will start with two one-week sessions for high school girls next summer, one in Anaheim and the other at a site east of the Mississippi River to be determined.
Kiraly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist out of UCLA said he hopes to eventually expand his academy and offer sessions for boys, and for longer-term than just one week.
�This is something that I and others have been batting around for the better part of 10 years,� Kiraly said this week at the NCAA women’s volleyball championship in Omaha, Neb. �It started looking like my career might be winding down, and I kept playing and playing and playing. I’ve been looking to do something unique and very special.�
Kiraly, 46, said he had knee trouble on the AVP Tour last year, and decided that he’ll make this his last season, although he won’t compete in every event. He has also been doing TV work for NBC on its beach volleyball telecasts the last few seasons.
“As I make this transition, this year is a year where I’ll have more time than in last 20 or so to get to spend with some of these activities,� he said. �It’s yet another reason why the academy will work for 2007.�
Kiraly, who won gold medals with the U.S. indoor volleyball team at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, and the gold
medal with Kent Steffes in the inaugural beach volleyball tournament at the 1996
Atlanta Games before winning a record 148 tournaments in beach volleyball.
His coaching staff will include Olympic medalists Eric Sato, Steve Timmons, Troy Tanner, Mike Dodd and Kim Oden, and former Olympians Liz Masakayan and Angela Rock.
-- Associated Press

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By RACHEL CARTER
The (Raleigh) News & Observer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The women’s basketball team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill might have to cut Scott Maynor.
Maynor, a 5-11 junior, was dripping with sweat Wednesday afternoon after practicing two hours against Ivory Latta (pictured) and the powerful Tar Heels. He may be a good reason why they've jumped out to a 10-0 start and are outscoring opponents by an average of 44.6 points per game.
Fact is, many women’s collegiate teams, especially in basketball, bring in male students for practice. Coaches think practicing against men -- usually taller, faster and stronger -- helps their teams.
But the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics thinks this violates the intent of Title IX, the 1972 federal legislation requiring equality in education.
Earlier this month, the committee released a recommendation that the NCAA ban male practice players in all women’s sports.
“It’s taking away opportunities from female student-athletes,��? said Patrick Nero, commissioner of the America East Conference and a committee member. “How are they to get better if they’re sitting in practice?
"It’s one thing to not be playing in a game because they haven’t reached that level yet, but for them to sit through an entire practice while men run up and down with their teammates? We just think it’s really against the spirit of
Title IX."
NCAA committees, conferences and schools will make proposals on the subject during the next year. At the earliest, a vote could come in January 2008.
Erlana Larkins (pictured), a junior forward and one of the stars on UNC’s women’s basketball team, said: "I don’t see us getting any better with girls practicing against us and practicing against our teammates."
Duke basketball coach Gail Goestenkors wonders where she could find a woman to compete against 6-foot-7 Alison Bales in practice.
Men provide talented practice fodder. At Duke, freshman Mike Zhadkevich didn’t make the men’s team, so he joined the women as a practice player. Like all student-athletes, he and the other men must qualify under NCAA regulations.
Many male students -- such as Duke sophomore Mike Cools, from Marquette, Mich. -- do it for the competition. But part of their responsibility is to learn opposing teams’ offenses and defenses. They also have to accept losing to women -- although they don’t always.
The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has been considering the issue for more than two years and
discovered the practice had spread from women’s basketball -- where it has been common for years -- to such sports as soccer, volleyball and softball.
"If we do this, yes, it may make us better," said Nero, the America East commissioner. "It may make an athlete better, it may make a team better; but is it good for the game and is it good for the spirit of sport?"
University of Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale argues that male practice players help the sport. Coale’s third-ranked Sooners feature 6-4 Courtney Paris (pictured), one of the nation’s best players.
The men practice against Paris and then tell friends, who want to see her play. Students’ attendance has exploded, Coale said, in part because of the men.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 6:18 PM | Permalink

Frank Caliendo, dressed up as "Late Show" sidekick Paul Shaffer as he talks to segment producer Bill Richards, slides in and out of character so quickly and fluidly, even he can't keep track of it sometimes, causing him to pause and say, "Wait, what was I saying?" The surreal moments are when he's in Shaffer mode, but then morphs into an immitation of President George Bush, as he did Thursday afternoon while he watched him work for a few hours in Century City taping this Sunday's segment for Fox's NFL pregame show.
Spinning off on the topic of how much longer the impressionable impressionist/comedian would like to continue this Fox gig -- he's done it four years, the same number as Jimmy Kimmel did before him -- Caliendo sat in the makeup chair getting into his Letterman character and went more indepth about on how he manages to pull this two-minute spot off week after week, mostly after flying in from his home in Phoenix to the Century City studios to get it done.

In addition to the story in today's Daily News, which also has a great slideshow of pictures showing him getting in and out of makeup, he gave us this Q-and-A exchange:

Q: How are you able to sustain your energy and creativity all this time?
A: At the beginning of the season, I have no idea how it's going to work out. This year, we knew we'd do James Brown at the beginning (he'd left the show and went to CBS), but we know how many characters we can generally do and make them fit.

Q: Take us through a typical work week.
A: After watching the games Sunday, we get together with Bill Richards (the segment producer) on the phone and start talking things out. By Monday, we decide what the character will be and the gist of the sketch. Between Bill and Jeff Cesario and my friend, Scott Long, we'll get the jokes down and punch them up. Then we have to make sure they're approved (by the Fox bosses) and we see what we can or can't sneak in. They trust us. Some things do get cut out. After all, we are a Sunday morning show. We've never been dirty, but there've been times we've come up with jokes that aren't even worth trying to get in. We then shoot either Wednesday or Thursday.

Q: How would you rate your performance this year?
A: Honestly, we've been very consistent, especially compared to the first three years. Rarely is anything been bad. We've had a couple of segments not have the payoff. If a show goes great, I think it gives us confidence the next week to take some chances. And they seem to be working. The toughest part about this season, with the show mostly on the road, is trying to make the impressions make sense and seem more organic.
Bill was once a sports producer who loved comedy, but now I think of him as a comedy guy who knows a lot about sports. Sports TV is about fast cuts, emotions, music, sound bites. But comedy has to build, there are moments of stopping and thinking. It's almost like filmmaking. It takes awhile to get it there, and I think as our group has done, we've gotten there. It seems stupid, but it takes awhile to find the characters. We have to please the audience, the executives here and the four guys on the set. If they don't like it, why do it? It's really their show, not mine. And no matter how many times Bradshaw it's "not funny, not funny," he'll say off camera, "That was funny, Frank." And I'll say, "Why didn't you say that on the air?" And he'll say, "Because Howie finally explained it to me."

Q: We've heard John Madden isn't all that crazy about your immitation of him, but he's never approached you about it. What about Jim Rome?
A: First, any time I've done someone, it's because I'm a fan. Back when I was doing MadTV, there'd be this attitude that, 'Let's take 'em down.' I'm not trying to bring anyone down. I'm all about recreating the mannerisms, the menutia. Even when I'm on stage, half of the jokes are just sailing through voices. I'm not afraid to call myself on that for what the gimmick is.
Rome created a whole new way of doing sports radio and I can't look past that. When I was doing shows on the college circuit, I'd listen to him all the time. There's something about doing him that's just fun to push his radio character. ... Incredible ... Great job by me ... Phen-om-inal ... That's not a rip, it's the character he's created. He doesn't get enough credit for being as funny as he is on the radio. I don't believe what I just said.... He references himself, that it's a joke and that people don't always get it.

More Q-and-A, read on:

On the set, Caliendo goes into Letterman mode, doing the Top 10 Signs You Know Nothing About the NFL. He's done little with makeup: Just some hair touchup, glasses and a gaptooth insert. The camera will later squeeze the shot to make the 5-foot-6 Caliendo appear to be close to the 6-foot-3 Letterman. Caliendo goes through three or four takes, mostly sticking to script but occasionally letting himself blend into the character and see what comes out. At one point, Caliendo stops and pauses as he tries to massage a joke comparing Britney Spears' clothing and the Indianapolis Colts' defensive coverage and finally says, "Let me see if something happens" as he reads the list again. He generates more original material -- some funnier than the original script -- and has the producer, cameraman and stage hands busting up. It's up to the editors to see what sticks.

Q: We've also read the one impression you'd like to eventually do on Fox is Chris Berman. How close are you to that, or does Scott Ackerson (the show's producer, who used to work at ESPN with Berman) discourage it?
A: I haven't got it down yet. It sounds too much like Pacino. Really, we haven't come up with a framework yet.
(Ackerson later said Caliendo could do Berman "in a heartbeat, but my guess Boomer wouldn't enjoy it as much as everyone else at ESPN would.")
The guy I wish I could really do is Bill Walton (then launching into a Walton diatribe). Joe Buck, I really haven't been able to hone in on. He's just an outdoor voice to me, very much into presentation. He's not as big of a freak as the others on that group. I think the Scientologists are right. Aliens did once come here and populate this place. How else can you explain Bradshaw, Howie and Jimmy Johnson. Just look at that crew.

Q: What other projects are you working on that might lead to you wanting to focus on them more than this show?
A: The Fox Sports Net thing is about different fans at different stadiums. The TBS pilot had a meeting last week. That's more of a sketch comedy show like I did for MadTV except I'll pick the characters and things to do. MadTV was very hard. It was not a lot of fun at the end. Some people still say they lilked it better than "Saturday Night Live," but when I ask them what do they like, they mention some of the actors who haven't been on the show in six years. They must be watching reruns on Comedy Central. My theory is that the best comedy on TV these days is the one-hour drama. There's so many funny lines that they're getting into "House" or "Grey's Anatomy," stuff I could never get away with as straight comedy.

Q: What will determine how long you keep doing this for Fox?
A: At the beginning of the season, it's daunting but by the end, we're having fun. If I had my own way of doing it from here, I might do just five-to-10 episodes, and have more really good ones. I haven't been able to watch an NFL game the last four years without thinking of work. I still watch as many games as I can at home. Since I'm in Arizona where they don't sell out, I only get two games a Sunday. I don't have the NFL Network. I don't even have DirecTV Sunday Ticket. I'm not sure if I should admit that.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

The week by week highlights of Caliendo season on Fox's NFL pregame show, and how he did with his picks:
Week 1: As James Brown; went 1-3 with his picks.
Week 2: As Andy Rooney, went 3-1 with his picks. His tagline: "Let's throw it back to three guys who don't even equal one Buck."
Week 3: As Jay Leno; went 3-1 with his picks. Best line: "NBC has changed the name of its pregame show to '3-and-a-half men."
Week 4: As John Madden, in the Maddencruiser, talking about the Curse of the Madden Video; went 2-2 with his picks. Best line: "I miss the Fox pregame show. Have you seen NBC's show? The desk looks so big. Or is it just the host is so small? I like Fox. The desk is small but the egos are big."
Week 5: As David Letterman and Paul Shaffer; went 3-1 with his picks. A Top 10 list of the differences between Rocky Balboa and Howie Long. No. 5: Joe Buck is a fan of Rocky. Long ends up calling Caliendo "a little furball ... a funny little man sitting in L.A."
Week 6: As Jack Nicholson, as the show moves back to L.A. "We missed you in LA," says Nicholson. "Like we missed rolling blackouts." ... "I hear Terry and Howie are calling a game for the BCS. A game in the booth? You can't handle the booth. Who writes this crap?" Went 2-2 with his picks.
Week 7: As Jim Rome. Best line: "Mel Gibson and spinach have had better years than the Raiders." Went 1-3 with his picks.
Week 8: As George Bush, doing a comedy club monologue. Best line: "The way Sean Payton is rebuilding New Orleans, I should have made him the head of FEMA." Went 2-2 with his picks. Said Long afterward: "That's as funny as he's been in a long time."
Week 9: As Al Pacino, in a spinoff of the commercial where the actor speaks for the customer. Went 1-3 with his picks. Said Johnson afterward: "I think he mailed it in."
Week 10: A look back at all the skits done about Terry Bradshaw. Buck refers to the fact Bradshaw has had "an ongoing feud with a sweaty, well-fed comedian." Went 3-1 with his picks.
Week 11: As Dr. Phil taking care of babies with bad behavior. Went 3-1 with his picks, including calling the Cowboys' win over the previously unbeaten Colts.
Week 12: As Madden, on Thanksgiving, making the turducken into a tortilla. Best line: "Tonight there's a game on the NFL Network. If you thought tryptophan made you sleepy, try four quarters of Bryant Gumbel." Went 2-0 with his picks.
Week 12 (continued on Sunday): As Jay Leno. Best line: "I hear Terry and Howie are in the booth calling the Sugar Bowl. Hey, Kev, I think the BCS stands for 'Both Could Suck.'" Went 2-2 on his picks.
Week 13: As Robert DeNiro in a New York taxi cab. Best line: "(Bradshaw) is like the Empire State building: Tall, stiff with a shiny top." Other best line: "Hey driver, stop by 30 Rock and pick up Costas ... you have a car seat, right?" Went 2-2 with his picks.
Week 14: A look back at the best of Howie Long (including impressions of James Lipton, Madden and Rooney). Went 2-2 with his picks.

For more on what's going on in Caliendo's career, check out his website: www.frankcaliendo.com. The site also has links to every segment he has done so far this season for Fox, and his appearance earlier this year on Letterman while doing Madden.
And here's a link to Caliendo's very first segment for the Fox pregame show in 2002, which includes his impression of William Schattner, which Ackerson says is his favorite but hasn't been able to work into a show yet.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 7:28 AM | Permalink

Postmarked and giftwrapped in time to add to the weekly sports media column, as we head into two weeks of vacation hibernation:

-- The temptation may be too great to fork over $6.99 for the January issue of Playboy with Pamela Anderson on the cover, so don’t do it just because your eye catches the tease that reads “Keith Olbermann … Dan Patrick … Chris Berman … An Oral History of SportsCenter.� Writer Kevin Cook calls the ESPN highlight staple “the Greatest Show in Sports,� devoting five pages to it – then there’s the Anderson spread, a peek at Miss January, the 2006 Year in Sex review and one last photo of all Playmates of the Month from a year ago – and five-plus pages to it on the jump end with quotes spliced together from all the usual suspects. Nothing really new gleaned from stuff we’ve already read before in books at the ESPN empire. There is Olbermann admitting that “on my first ‘SportsCenter’ (in April, ’92), I did the same ratio of jokes to minutes as I’d done on L.A. newscasts (at KTLA Channel 5 and KCBS Channel 2), on which the sports segment was much shorter. By the end, I’d done something like 90 jokes. Dan (Patrick) sat there quivering. He said, ‘I’m gonna need some time to adjust.’� John Walsh, the ESPN exec in charge of “SportsCenter,� then adds: “Really talented anchors always overdo it at first. It takes about six months before they find their rhythm.� Unfortunately, the magazine also encourages readers to vote online for their favorite “SportsCenter� catchphrase. Of the eight choices, I think we’ll go with Olbermann’s “Live from ESPN headquarters, It’s the big show.� Pretty catchy, eh? It may even pass Stuart Scott’s “Boo-yah!�

-- Even though the Target World Challenge is part of what the golf establishment calls the "Silly Season," ABC isn't giving it second-class treatment as it does its last tournament before the new PGA Tour TV deal takes affect -- without them. Says Brant Packer, the producer of this weekend's telecast who has covered the last two Target events at Sherwood as well as a Shark Shootout in years past: "The PGA people might not want to admit it, but once the British Open ends (in July), there's only three or four events that really have a great field, and this is one of them. Any time Tiger Woods is on the course, it's an event, especially in this quality of a field. If you went to Tommy Roy at NBC or Lance Barrow at CBS in the beginning of the year and said, 'Here's a list of the 16 people you'd have in your final eight pairings for the last round,' they be in. Our job is to not screw it up." Rain could cause havoc with things this weekend, but Packer said Wednesday he wasn't thinking that far ahead. "We'll cross the bridge later," he said. "We have no gameplan yet. Our job the first day is just to make sure everything works technically with the USA Network coverage and to start the storylines. After Thursday, we'll set things up for the weekend." Packer, the 32-year-old son of CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer, says his dream job one day is to produce a telecast of the Masters and do a game that his dad is calling. "So far, I'm 0-for-2," said the younger Packer, knowing he'd probably have to go back to CBS sooner than later to get those two things done. Packer will head over to The Golf Channel to produce the Champions Tour events starting next season, which he has some added interest: His father in law is Allen Doyle, a two-time Champions Tour winner. Brant's first love is golf; with the help of his father's broadcast partner, Jim Nantz, Brant got a golf scholarship to the University of Houston before he transfered to the University of Tennessee. Upon graduation, he got a job at CBS doing graphics for his dad's telecasts and has been in the business 11 years.

-- Syndicated columnist Norman Chad admitted on Colin Cowherd’s ESPN Radio show this week that Bryant Gumbel responded to a column Chad wrote last week tearing apart his performance as an NFL Network game play-by-play man so far this season. Wrote Chad: “When Bryant Gumbel made critical comments about the NFL before this season, outgoing NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue suggested that Gumbel might be relieved of his new duties as play-by-play broadcaster for NFL Network games. As it turns out, the NFL shouldn't have fired Gumbel for his remarks, it should've dumped him because his play-by-play work, well, stinks. … He makes Homer Simpson sound like Al Michaels. … Gumbel is unspectacular and uninspired -- his play-by-play voice flat, his play-by-play sensibilities pedestrian. He is wordy and windy, seemingly without emotion or care. It's like listening to an insurance underwriter giving last rites to the family gerbil.� Chad said Gumbel’s email was generally a grin-and-bear-it reaction, agreeing that it's an evolving process and he expects to shake off the rust. From our end of the couch, Chad was 100 percent correct in his assessment of Gumbel, especially from his start on the Thanksgiving night game. Gumbel does Saturday’s Dallas-Atlanta game with first-time network analyst Dick Vermeil, since Cris Collinsworth, Gumbel’s usual Thursday night partner, is tied up with NBC’s Sunday night studio show.

We got more ...

-- Read between the lines in stories that ran this week in both USA Today and the New York Times about how ESPN aspiring sideline reporter Jim Gray didn't think he did anything wrong in going on the air last Friday to report on how Allen Iverson told him he wanted to remain with the Philadelphia 76ers, but wouldn't mind a trade to Minnesota. As it turned out, Gray, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was duped and had to retract his story later in ESPN's NBA telecast. Seems that, according to Iverson's agent, that wasn't Iverson who Gray phoned and talked to. The Philadelphia Inquirer tried to follow up on the story, but Gray wouldn't talk anymore. His only on-the-record comment to the Inquirer was: “This thing has run its course and was a very unique instance. At this time it’s on to the next game and the next story.� Gray left Mark Mandel, a spokesman for ESPN, to lie and say that "ESPN is in total support of Jim’s work here and everything else he has done ... We like Jim and think this story is over with.� You wonder how it doesn't happen more often, except the weird thing is that it was Gray who called "Iverson," not the other way around. Still, it couldn't happen to a more gullible, least-credible psuedo-reporter than our boy Jimmy.

-- FSN Prime Ticket has struck a deal with the L.A. Sports Council to televise the group’s second annual “Greatest Moments in Sports� local awards show that airs Jan. 21 (8 p.m.) from the Beverly Hilton. Bill Macdonald and Petros Papadakis will be the master of ceremonies. Winners in 18 categories are determined by online voting at lasports.org plus a sportsman, sportswoman, sports executive and overall greatest moment award (decided by the LA Sports Awards media panel) are announced. Online voting starts Monday and run until Jan. 8.

-- We give due credit to the "Roggin and Simers Squared" morning radio show on 570-AM for being the first media outlet to inform everyone that Oscar de la Hoya's next fight on May 5 against Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be not at Staples Center, but at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. De la Hoya made the announcement himself on the show Thursday morning.

-- Does this really mean anything? CBS Sports sent out another release to proclaim that its NFL pre-game show, "The NFL Today," ourated Fox's pre-game show last Sunday with a 3.1 rating and 18 share (4.56 million viewers), which was 7 percent better than Fox's 2.9/8 (4.13 million viewers) during Week 14. It's the fourth time this year CBS has had better numbers than Fox in 2006 (also in week 4, 9 and 11). Before this season, CBS only beat Fox one time since 1998.

--Does this mean anything, too? ESPN reports in its Sunday NFL pregame show that it'll have a piece by Kenny Mayne on how "the red-hot Arizona Cardinals have won two in a row, largely a credit to their resident team pranksters, Matt Leinart and Adrian Wilson ...when it comes to practical joking, these two Cardinals just don't know when to quit."

-- Howard Cole, the editor of BaseballSavvy.com, has put up for auction a one-of-a-kind oil-on-canvas painting by L.A.-based artist Stanley Silver of former Dodgers catcher Paul LoDuca up on eBay.com (Item No. 150071229467), with 15 percent of the proceeds going to the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Opening bid is $8,500. Auction ends Dec. 23.

-- One of the cool community service projects FSN West and Prime Ticket has developed is refurbishing local basketall courts in conjunction with holding youth basketball clinkcs. In partnership with the Lakers Youth Foundation, FSN will revisit some of the eight courts they helped spruce up for the clinics. The first is Monday at 4 p.m. at the Branford Rec Center in Arleta. Future clinics include the Chatsworth Rec Center (22360 Devonshire Street) on Jan. 13 and the David M. Gonzalez Rec Center in Pacoima (10943 Herrick Ave.) on Jan. 27.

-- Keith Jackson returns to the air for something called the "Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year" show (most of the country aires it Saturday at 3 p.m., but KABC Channel 7 has it pigeoned into Sunday morning at 1:45 a.m.), co-hosted by Kirk Herbstreit. From a roup of 10 finalists, the college coach of the year will be named, one that, according to this criteria, "best exemplifies responsibility and excellence on and off the field of play." Fans were asked to help pick the 10 finalists during online voting at www.coachoftheyear.com, where profiles of each are still posted.

-- Tom Hammond, who NBC had pretty much tabbed as its NFL play-by-play man before Al Michaels reversed his field and agreed to take over the Sunday night package, will be paired up with Cris Collinsworth for the first game (1:30 p.m.) of the network's wild-card NFL doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 6. The two last did a game together at the 1995 Orange Bowl, when Nebraska beat Miami for the national championship. They also did the NFL and Notre Dame football games together from '92-'94. Michaels and John Madden will call the second game that day (at 5 p.m.).

-- Takkle, Inc., an online social network site for high school sports, has alligned with Sports Illustrated for its nationwide launch. The site tries to hook up high-school athletes in 20 sports (including cheerleading) from all parts of the country to share their interests with videos, photos and team profiles. Sports Illustrated, which this week produced a magazine devoted to the history of its "Faces In the Crowd" feature, will have fans on takkle.com nominate athletes for its "FITC" segment. Takkle also has an alliance with the Santa Monica-based Wasserman Media Group, owned by Casey Wasserman, who runs the Arena Football League's L.A. Avengers and manages the careers of many high-profile athletes such as Tracy McGrady, Nomar Garciaparra and Freddie Adu.

-- Versus has locked up a deal to televise the first T-Mobile Invitational high school basketball tournament, set for Dec. 27-28 at the University of Washington in Seattle. The eight-team boys and girls tourney includes many in USA Today's Top 25, including L.A.'s Fairfax boys squad.

-- ESPN2 has Saturday's NCAA women's volleyball championship match (6 p.m.) between Nebraska and Stanford from Omaha, Neb., with Beth Mowins and Heather Cox on the call.

-- Airing head-to-head with ABC's coverage of the final round of the Target World Championship from Sherwood Country Club, NBC has a special airing Sunday at noon called "PGA TOUR 2006…Get Ready!" which reviews the past season and previews the new FedExCup.

-- Next Bob Miller signing of "Bob Miller's Tales from the Los Angeles Kings": Sunday, 5 p.m., Team LA store at Universal City Walk.

--And this note from David Halberstam, the executive VP and GM of Westwood One Sports, about something that happened last Thursday to Dick Enberg, who was covering an NFL game in Pittsburgh for the syndicated radio network with Sam Wyche as his analyst: "When Enberg arrived at Heinz Field and settled in the network radio booth, he realized that he left his glasses behind in his hotel room. The producer, engineer and everyone in view offered Dick theirs, but none was very helpful. So a runner fought his way downtown against the flow of on-coming game traffic. Meanwhile, the game began and Dick did what he had to do. He squinted, used the monitor and focused on the field through the lenses of binoculars. You would never know about the hardship he was battling because he was silky smooth. Afraid of botching his call, Enberg told me that it reminded him of his days doing Angels radio. Gene Autry would tell him, “Dick, it’s like two games, the one I watch on television and the one I listen to you do on the radio.� (While Dick spun it as self-deprecating humor, I guess Autry was really complimenting him for the enthusiasm he generated on radio as contrasted with the soporific on TV). The runner finally made it back to the stadium ten minutes or so into the game. The glasses were frosty after being exposed to temperatures in the teens but I’ll bet they never felt so good to Dick."

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Highlights from Thursday's action at the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters event at the Banzai Pipeline at Sunset Beach in Haleiwa, Hawaii:
(All photos by Lucy Pemoni of the Associated Press)

Andy Irons completes a 360-degree turn ...

Irons sheds some more waves ...

Kelly Slater, eight time world champion of surfing, shows his form during one of his runs ...

But in the end, Irons holds up his first-place trophy as third-place Cory Lopez helps him out with his crown. Slater, who was second, and Rob Machado, who was fourth, join him on the podium.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By NANCY ARMOUR
Associated Press

The San Francisco Giants were in the thick of the pennant race in August 2002. And Blake Krikorian and his brother, Jason, were stuck at their office with no way to watch.
The afternoon game was being shown on a local TV station, but their office didn’t have a TV feed. They signed up for an Internet service that showed games live — only to discover local teams were blacked out.
“We thought, ‘There’s got to be a way we can watch and control our living room television,’� Blake Krikorian said. “Whether I’m in my backyard on my laptop, or sitting in an office on my desktop, or traveling in Shanghai with my mobile phone, it shouldn’t really matter. All I want is my familiar, living room TV programming.�
Thus, Slingbox was born.
The product, which lets people watch their home TV anywhere, anytime using an Internet-connected computer or
handheld device, is one of the many ways the view of games we love are changing.
No matter how many channels on a cable system or state-of-the-art satellite dish, there isn’t enough room for everything. The networks have little choice but to stick with the programming they know sells — baseball, the NFL, NASCAR, NCAA basketball and football, plus the golf and tennis majors. Viewers have turned elsewhere for what
they want and are using the latest in technology to get it on their terms.
“Television is still king of the hill,� said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating, which launched IceNetwork.com this fall. “(But the Web) brings out great opportunities for further exposure, for marketing opportunities. ... There are no time or space limits. It’s wide open. It’s endless. It’s as much as you want to put in there.
“And it’s 24-7.�

Read on for more about where sports viewers are headed these days ...

Teams and leagues are scrambling to adapt, turning the Web into an interactive playground to capitalize on that all-important “fan experience.� Or better yet, the athletes’ experience. NASCAR, for example, will take DirecTV customers behind the wheel next year, showing races from a driver’s
vantage point.
Sports that have been largely shut out of the mainstream media are using Webcasts to stake out their spot. The NHL even is putting full-length games on delay on Google Video in hopes of attracting new fans or luring back those turned off by the season-long lockout. It also has highlight packages on YouTube.
Not home to see the Super Bowl? Get it live on a mobile phone. Didn’t get enough of this year’s Michigan-Ohio State matchup? Download it to a video iPod. Want to see if Daisuke Matsuzaka is really worth all those millions the Red Sox are shelling out? A couple clicks of the mouse gets his career stats and clips of him pitching. A hardcore badminton fan? Pay a subscription fee and watch matches on the Internet.
“This is all about more and more choices,� said Eddy Cue, vice president of Apple’s iTunes. “Watching a game live on a 50-inch plasma TV is a tough thing to beat. But when you’re not in that position, having other choices is going to be something that people want.�
For fans, there’s nothing better than seeing their favorite sport, team or athlete up close and in person. The next-best thing is watching the game from the comfort of their living room, preferably on a really big TV.
That’s not always possible. As advances in technology have made everything more portable and more user-friendly, fans are expecting the same thing from their sports. The further technology goes, the more fans want.
Indeed, it’s that combination of Web and wireless technology that’s been such a boon for fans.
Even in its infancy, the Web gave sports an immediacy previously limited to ballparks and arenas. Instead of waiting for the next day’s paper or even the next sportscast, fans got up-to-the-minute scores and could see how their favorite players were doing.
Fans’ reach was expanded, too. Now, they easily tracked teams and athletes that would be mere blurbs in local newspapers.
As wireless technology improved, the Web went portable. Those same scores once found on office computers now were accessible on mobile phones. It wasn’t long before fans were looking for ways to bring the games
with them.
TiVo has come up with TiVoToGo, which can transfer recorded shows to PCs, iPods and some handheld devices, including mobile phones. iTunes offers highlight packages for the NFL, NBA, NASCAR and golf, as well as college football and basketball. The downloads include clips showing the progression of the game or race, as well as interviews with athletes and coaches.
To take advantage of the hype surrounding this year’s Michigan-Ohio State game, iTunes put together a collector’s
edition type of package. For $5.99, customers got the full-length 1973, 1997 and 2002 games, as well as commercials touting the rivalry. After Ohio State beat Michigan, they got this year’s matchup.
NASCAR’s Internet “TrackPass� allows subscribers to customize video highlights and eavesdrop on in-race conversations between drivers and their crews.
“There’s more and more opportunities in the future, giving people access to the game,� Cue said. “The other piece is also access to new things, whether it’s the press conference or the interview.
“You need to offer more as customers want more.�
For some sports, the Web has become the only way to offer anything.
Before cable, networks occasionally would show lesser-known or fringe sports. ABC’s “Wide World of Sports� gave viewers regular doses of sports such as cliff diving and ski jumping. That’s simply not possible anymore, said Rick Gentile, a former senior vice president of CBS Sports who is now a professor at Seton
Hall.
“The networks have to pay such exorbitant rights fees for the staples, their sales forces have to charge advertisers big dollars to support those. And they really don’t have the appetite to sell the little sports,� Gentile said.
“Alpine skiing, you never see alpine skiing on television anymore.�
Actually, you do. Just not that often.
You can, though, get your fill on the Web.
The World Championship Sports Network has acquired rights from 35 Olympic sports federations, allowing it to stream coverage of world championships and other major events on its
WCSN.com Web site, co-founder Claude Ruibal said. For $4.95 a month or $49.95 a year,
subscribers can watch everything from the Asian Games to the world gymnastics championships to table tennis’ World Cup events. And, of course, skiing.
Other content on the site — news, features, athlete blogs — is free.
“(Getting attention) is a really big challenge,� said Teodor Gheorghe, the executive director of USA Table Tennis, which has only 8,500 members even though nearly every American who’s been to a family reunion has played the game.
“People don’t have a clue what the sport means if they can’t see it. If we can get this out, we will get more fans, more support.�
Or capitalize on interest generated at a big event.
Ruibal said he was captivated during the Turin Olympics by the story of Lindsey Jacobellis, the American who hot-dogged her way out of a gold medal in snowboardcross. He wanted to see how she’d do in her first post-Olympics race — but it wasn’t going to be on TV.
“There wasn’t a place to see that,� said Ruibal, WCSN’s chairman and CEO. “There is now.
“We really are trying to build more of a community online,� he added. “You need to somehow be able to touch better those people who have a core passion for sport and grow from there. You need to somehow have the excitement the content gives you, the excitement that interacting with these athletes through photographs and blogs gives you.�
Even glamour sports like figure skating are relying on the Web.
Figure skating is one of the few sports with a TV presence outside the Olympics, but ratings are nowhere near what they were in the aftermath of the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding debacle. It doesn’t help that Michelle Kwan, the sport’s biggest star for the last decade, has traded her skates
for school books.
With the launch this fall of its Ice Network, U.S. Figure
Skating is hoping to target die-hard loyalists and casual fans alike with sneak previews of who might be the next big thing. There will be Webcasts from lower-level competitions, as well as editorial content to showcase lesser-known skaters.
That a Web site like this could pique the curiosity of tomorrow’s consumers isn’t lost on Raith.
“For the younger demographic, the Web is much more relevant than watching a network at a specific time,� Raith said.
Consumers of all ages are demanding information at their fingertips today. They want to replay whatever they’ve just seen and skip through the boring parts. They want to watch it at 11 a.m. or 11 p.m., in the living room or while riding the bus. They want information — lots of it. And they’re talking about all of it on IM or with text messages.
Leagues, athletes and teams had better adapt, or they risk becoming as obsolete as that old Betamax.
“We have to increase fan interest in the game however we can,� said Keith Ritter, president of NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprises. “What we need to do is take advantage of places where fans and potential fans are spending their time. Obviously, they’re spending their time on YouTube, Google Video, AOL. They’re not necessarily looking for hockey, but they’re looking for interesting video.
“It’s the old joke about chicken soup,� Ritter added. “Is this the thing that’s the cure? No, but it couldn’t hurt.�

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 6:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
After Len Dawson made his debut as a host of HBO’s “Inside the NFL� in 1978, he couldn’t critique his own work because his home city was not yet hooked up for cable TV.
“I live in Kansas City, Mo., and back then I never saw the finished product unless I called up friends in Kansas City, Kan., which did have HBO, and told them I was coming over to watch,� Dawson recalled this week before taping the 30th anniversary show of what has become a television staple for football fans. “It’s certainly changed.�
All of pro football has changed in those three decades, of course. But the easygoing style and a willingness to broach controversial subjects have remained constants on the program. Through cast changes and competition from all brands of media, the camaraderie of the hosts, the humorous banter and pointed analysis have made “Inside the NFL� appointment viewing not only for fans, but for players throughout the league.
“This show was so original when it began — no one was doing anything close to what this show was — and it still has the best of all worlds. Not only do we have previews of upcoming games, but all of this incredible footage from NFL Films,� said Cris Collinsworth, who now hosts the weekly program, along with Dan Marino, Cris Carterand Bob Costas.
“It’s even more of an inside look at the NFL because of how it goes behind the scenes. It’s like being in the locker room.�
That was the show’s mission when it debuted out of a studio in Philadelphia in 1977, with local announcer Al Meltzer and former Eagle Chuck Bednarik as hosts. The next year, HBO replaced them with Jets play-by-play man Merle Harmon and Dawson, who led the Chiefs to the 1970 Super Bowl title and was a sports commentator for a Kansas City television station.
A year later, Nick Buoniconti came aboard. He and Dawson clicked immediately and became an institution on the show, lasting through the 2002 season.

Read more on the HBO show that rolls into year No. 30 ....

Before partnering in front of the cameras, Dawson and Buoniconti were quite familiar with each other on the field.
“Nick and I started in the AFL in 1962 and I kept saying to him I was the reason he became a starter in New England,� said Dawson, pictured. “I had a heck of a game up in Boston and Nick wasn’t the starter. The coach then said he needed a better middle linebacker and Nick got the job.�
Buoniconti got to repay Dawson on the set in 1987 when he informed the former star quarterback he’d been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For years, well before ESPN began flooding its networks with clips, the HBO show was the primary outlet for game highlights. But those highlights didn’t always arrive as expected at the studios in New York.
“Len and Nick would do their segment and then we’d roll NFL films, and we’d go to air just like that,� said Dave Harmon, vice president of sports production for HBO. “But they would bring up the films by car and what if the car got caught in traffic? From Philly to New York, you know that happens all the time.
“Sometimes, we were still shooting the second half of the show while the first half was on the air. It happened
about three times that way. That’s pressure.�
Before Dawson and Buoniconti left the program after the ‘02 season, they had many on-location shows. Buoniconti, pictured during his Hall of Fame presentation, recalled falling down while ice skating in Central Park “and just about getting a concussion.� He also remembered riding an elephant at the San Diego Zoo.
Things are a bit tamer now, with Costas, Collinsworth, Marino and Carter — helped by contributor Peter King — generally sticking to the Manhattan studios. But when they do go out to conduct interviews, fireworks can fly.
Carter recently spoke with Chiefs running back Larry Johnson. Part of the conversation focused on how black players can relate much better to black head coaches, particularly in the case of Johnson and Herm Edwards.
After the piece aired, the four hosts discussed it passionately, with Costas in particular upset that Johnson and other blacks might respond better to a coach because of his color. Carter provided a comprehensive explanation centered on the significance of coming from similar backgrounds, and Collinsworth mentioned that many black players have echoed Johnson’s thoughts to him.
It was riveting television and the kind of analysis the carriers of NFL games rarely get into.
“There are many issues we want to discuss and do discuss like that,� Carter said. “It’s part of what makes this show go.�
Just as often, the three former players and Costas kid each other or poke holes in the football establishment, an approach Dawson and Buoniconti established in the 1970s.
It’s that atmosphere that drew Marino to the show. Often reticent with reporters as a player even though he had his own TV program with the Dolphins, Marino, who also does CBS' Sunday pregame show, never holds back on the HBO show.
“You’ve got to be honest and that’s the most important thing in this job,� he said. “Sometimes players divulge too much. I’d always answer football questions when I played, but I wouldn’t get involved in the outside stuff.
You have to be somewhat protective of the sanctity of the locker room and sanctity of the team.�
And, now, it seems that anything goes, which is how HBO wants it.
“It’s what differentiates us,� said executive producer Ross Greenburg. “The viewers know when something is fake.�

-- "Inside the NFL" airs original shows starting Wednesday night at 10 p.m., with relays Thursday at 8 p.m., Fridays at noon and 7 p.m., Saturday morning at 1:10 a.m. and 11 a.m. and Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

-- For a look at Elliott Kalb's last 16 years as the show's importer of information, and the stories he has working with Dawson and Buoniconti, go to this link.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three days since the Heisman Trophy final balloting was revealed, and there's still no confirmation as to who gave USC receiver Dwayne Jarrett his lone first-place vote.
That's kinda fishy.
There are 923 official voters. Of them, 870 are from the media.
Of the 880 first-place votes cast in the 2006 campaign that were revealed by the Associated Press in their final Top 10 voting, Ohio State's Troy Smith took 801 of them.
Arkansas' Darren McFadden had 45, the second highest.
Notre Dame's Brady Quinn had 13. West Virginia's Steve Slaton and Hawaii's Colt Brennan had six each. Five went to Michigan's Mike Hart.
And then there was, for no other reason than to make some sort of lame statement, one first-place vote was given to Rutgers' Ray Rice, Boise State's Ian Johnson, Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson.
And Jarrett.
Who may have only been the second-best receiver on his team.
But that's beside the point.
Why any concern over who thought it would be cute/cool/honorable to give Jarrett his lone vote of confidence when there was absolutely no way he was going to, or deserved to, win? Because anyone who did give that vote to Jarrett, who ended up finishing ninth overall with 47 total points -- or about 2,500 behind the winner Smith -- should have to admit to it.
Unfortunately, Heisman voters -- at least those who haven't won a Heisman and get an automatic vote -- can live in some anominity. None of them ever has to let the general public know how they selected, as we brought up recently in a blog posting about who really gets a Heisman vote versus who really deserves to have one.

For argument's sake, let's look at the potential list of suspects:

1) The former USC Heisman winners.
There are seven of them. Any one of them could have decided to "stay in the Trojan family" and voted for one of their own. Initial speculation on WeAreSC.com is that Charles White may have been the one to do it. Kari Chisholm, who runs the website StiffArmTrophy.com that predicts each year who'll win the Heisman based on asking current voters, said in an email that he did not know who voted Jarrett first, "but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Matt Leinart, White or Mike Garrett."
We would be.

2) What about others with some sort of ties to USC.
Chisholm has a list of who she has been able to confirm as current Heisman voters. From her list, we'll extract these USC-ties names:
Artie Gigantino, Fox Sports Net, former USC assistant coach; Lynn Swann, formerly of ABC Sports, former USC receiver; Pat Haden, NBC Sports, former USC quarterback;.
Doubt it, doubt it and doubt it.

3) Can we cast a cloud over the sports writers or broadcasters from L.A. who cover, or have covered, USC?
Daily News staff writer Scott Wolf and columnist Steve Dilbeck; retired Orange County Register columnist Steve Bisheff, the Long Beach Press Telegram's Bob Keisser and Doug Kirkorian, former ABC broadcaster Keith Jackson, sports-talk show host at 570-AM Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton, a former USC play-by-play man; and Daily Breeze columnist Mike Waldner.
They all have too much integrity to pull a stunt like that.
Wolf's ballot, by the way, was Brennan, Smith and McFadden.

4) Anyone else we forgot? Let's look at that list on StiffArmTrophy again ...
Oh, right.
Pete Arbogast, current (for the time being) USC play-by-play football broadcaster, and recent winner of the "Homer Call of the Week" on the Dan Patrick ESPN Radio show.
The same Arbogast who, in 2002, admitted that he cast his second-place vote for Arizona State defensive end Lee Suggs because he knew that would help USC quarterback Carson Palmer, the eventual winner.
Can't deny, there's heavy speculation that the lone Jarrett vote came from here. We can't verify, so we don't want to implicate him. So far, he hasn't admitted it to anyone. At least none that have passed it on.

Until then, we'lll patiently sit back and wait to see who finally comes clean.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The editors of Maxium magazine certainly have a good track record for knowing a good thing when they see it.
But now they're the arbitors of what's become an eyesore as well.
The Maxium.com website has come up with their ranking of the 10 sports buildings in America that need more than a face lift and implants. They need to be condemned.
Your Los Angeles Coliseum isn't spared from the list, despite its traditional value. Maxium doesn't go much in depth about why they'd do it, only that no one seems to like it. Not necessarily true, but if you really want a list of what could be fixed up, start with the fact only one elevator goes up to the three levels of the press box. At least the upgraded Rose Bowl has three (maybe four?) elevators.
At least there are some drawings out there of what an upgraded Coliseum would look like, with luxury boxes, etc., to appease an NFL franchise. But so far, it's far from getting off the ground. So we just have these pictures to look at and dream about.
We can't say we disagree too much with their list, or including the home of the USC Trojans and occasional international soccer game. It would be a shame, though, to just nuke it -- and then leave the nearby Sports Arena standing.
Somehow, Pauley Pavilion escaped the wrecking ball.
Here's the Maxium list:

10. Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: Even before Katrina, the place came across as drab and soulless as a long-abandoned warehouse. Great symbol of New Orleans' resilience, lousy place to see a game.

9. Madison Square Garden, New York: Oh, the arena itself ain't half bad, especially if you like $8.75 Miller Genuine Drafts and $16 "personal pizzas."

8. Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh: If folks from Pittsburgh, ­among the hardiest fans in sports, are saying, "Dude, this place could use, like, a fresh coat of paint," you know it's about one windy December afternoon away from implosion. One of North America's five most prominent candidates for a massive, raging electrical fire.

7. US Cellular Field, Chicago: "The Cell" is the most recently constructed of the cookie-cutter, rounder-than-Aykroyd ballparks that plagued baseball from the early 1970s until the Y2K construction wave. Do stadiums have feelings? If so, this one boasts lower self-esteem than several generations of Hilton women.

6. Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham: Those Duke kids­they're craaaay-zeee. They create their own refugee camp outside rickety Cameron and, whether through Jedi mind-trickery or massive ingestion of hallucinogens, proceed to pretend that their hardwood heroes ply their craft in something other than a barn.

5. L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles: Hello? Anybody here? Remind me again: Why is the NFL so darn eager to place a pro football team that nobody wants in a stadium that nobody likes?

4. Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minnesota: Never mind that it's named after a Vice President memorable for being so utterly, remarkably unmemorable. The stadium boasts precisely two noteworthy features: fences baggier than Snoop's trousers and a pale ceiling that makes locating simple pop flies an arduous task.

3. Shea Stadium, New York: Don't get us wrong, the neighboring auto-body shops lend a certain je ne sais quoi to the fan experience, as do the gently wafting scents of rot and tire fires. The bigger problem is inside the cavernous park, where even the box seats are way recessed from the field. Spatially, it's the baseball equivalent of a de-elasticized waistband.

2. Fenway Park, Boston: Sure, they've gussied up the joint in recent years: seats on the Green Monster, elimination of the trough urinals, etc. Still, you can slap as much rouge on an old, decrepit prostitute as you'd like; She still remains, at her core, an old, decrepit prostitute…in this instance, one with ghastly sightlines and seats designed to accommodate the 5'4", 125-pound hominid of the 1820s.

1. Joe Louis Arena, Detroit: We're on board with anything named after the great Joe Louis­Joe Louis Pancake Batter, Eau de Joe cologne, anything. But his name/legacy, as well as the Red Wings, deserve better than a crumbling facility in a scary (and not in a Regis-without-makeup way) neighborhood. It's sportsdom's only arena where the presence of teeth and veritable rivers of sputum in the concourses doesn't prompt any reaction vaguely resembling surprise.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was at the Coliseum 25 years ago when the Rolling Stones capped an all-day concert that included George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the J. Geils Band and, as the opener who came on at about noon, something called Prince.
I believe he sang about three songs. The third song was called "Jack U Off," from his "Controversy" album. Surely, it was an album back then. Did we even have CDs?
So the song goes:
"If U're looking for somewhere to go
Thought I'd take u to a movie show
Sittin' in the back and I'll ..."
Right after the next line, or two, I went along with the crowd, took my shoes off, and threw them at him on the stage. He thankfully ran away.
We weren't sure who he was before this, and we didn't care afterward. Prince was canned.
(The next 24 years are a bit hazy ...)
Flash forward to Feb. 2007.
The Artist Currently Known Again as Prince, as was reported a half a year ago by SportsByBrooks.com, was officially announced today as the halftime show for Super Bowl XLI.
It will be televised by CBS, which had the fun of trying to apologize for a Janet Jackson flailing boob the last time they covered (or uncovered) a Super Bowl.
According to the press release emailed out today by the NFL and its broadcast partners, which is good info since we haven't really kept up the career of this little fellow:

"Prince is more than just one of the world’s most popular and influential musicians – he is an international icon. One of the greatest living performers of our time, he has sold nearly 100 million albums and is a member of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He has won six Grammy Awards (he’s one of the leading nominees this year with 5 Grammy nominations) and five American Music Awards. He has one of the most recognizable and successful bodies of work of any musician, consisting of 20 Top 10 hits which include “Purple Rain,� “Little Red Corvette,� “1999,� “Kiss,� “When Doves Cry,� “Cream,� “Diamonds and Pearls� and countless others. There is no question that when it comes to his achievements, Prince has made an indelible mark on rock ‘n roll history."

This is what it sounds like when viewers flip to another channel ...

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Given, I did watch some, but not all, of Sunday night's Saints-Cowboys game on NBC. Up until the Saints charged ahead 21-7.
Then, I fell asleep on the couch. Sitting up. Snoring loudly.
My wife can attest to it.
When I staggered back into the real world, Fred Roggin was already well into the weekly "Challenge" on Channel 4. I awoke to see him talking to USC basketball coach Tim Floyd, and wondering how I'd managed to miss yet another episode -- that's three weeks in a row.
It's just not on the radar anymore. Why?
Are we just inspired to lose this weekly game of trivial pursuit? Are we just demoralized by being so far down in the standings? Have we decided not to rally for a comeback in the final weeks, to at least save some face while others around us continue to cheat, lie and steal their way to the top?
We have no proof of the later. Only theories.
We TiVo'd it, ran it back, answered a few right, got a couple wrong, and, when all tallied, figured we'd have amassed about 235 points. Which woulda got me tied for 12th, but well behind the week's leader, Barry Lightner and Mike Rafferty, both of whom had 300.
Even farther behind the season leader, Sonia (Don't Call me Steve) DeSaegher (3,165 points). I'm stuck in a tie for 188th place overall, stuck on 1,425 points. Oh well.
That's life. And as Christmas nears, the time demands are greater.
We do what we can. And we sometimes fail.
At least we can provide the day's questions and answers:

Question 1: From 1964 to 1973, the UCLA Bruins won the national title (in basketball) every year except for 1966. Who won it that year?
a) Kentucky
b) North Carolina
c) Cincinnati
d) Texas Western

Question 2: Craig Conroy has twice been a finalist for the award given to the NHL's best defensive forward. What's the name of that award?
a) Selke Trophy
b) Norris Trophy
c) Hart Trophy
d) Calder Trophy

Question 3: How many officials are there on the field during an NFL game?
a) 6
b) 8
c) 7
d) 9

Question 4: Which Hall of Fame quarterback is singing this song ("Until You")?
a) Bart Starr
b) Bob Griese
c) Joe Namath
d) Terry Bradshaw

Question 5: Who is the only heavyweight champion never to lose a professional fight?
a) Muhammad Ali
b) Rocky Marciano
c) Jack Johnson
d) Gene Tunney

Question 6: What is the LPGA's version of the Ryder Cup called?
a) The Fed Cup
b) The Davis Cup
c) The President's Cup
d) The Soldheim Cup

Question 7: Gold medal winning figure skater Scott Hamilton was the U.S. flag bearer at which Winter Olympics?
a) 1980
b) 1984
c) 1988
d) 1992

Question 8: Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush was a high school teammate of which NFL quarterback?
a) Ben Roethlisberger
b) Charlie Frye
c) Alex Smith
d) Tony Romo

Question 9: Which of these players was not a No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft?
a) Joe Smith
b) Benoit Benjamin
c) Danny Manning
d) Pervis Ellison

Answers:
1. d) Texas Western, now known as UTEP. Watch the movie "Glory Road," OK? I had it. Woulda got 35 points.
2. a) Selke Trophy. I guessed wrong. Misread the question. 0 points.
3. c) 7. A referee, umpire, head linesman, line judge, side judge, field judge and back judge. Woulda got 30 points.
4. d) Bradshaw. Only knew it by process of elimination. Bradshaw did 4 albums, 2 best-selling gospel records. I'd have had 30 points.
5. b) Marciano. Went 49-0. Would had 35 points there.
6. d) Soldheim. Woulda got 35 points.
7. a) 1980. Guessed wrong. 0 points.
8. c) Smith. Wioulda got 35 points.
9. b) Benjamin. Woulda got 35 points.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(AP photo by Lucy Pemoni)

By TARA GODVIN
Associated Press
WAIMEA BAY, Hawaii — As much of the country battens down for an icy winter, Hawaiians await their annual siege of monster waves on the islands’ northern shores and hope for a chance to witness one of surfing’s greatest big wave contests.

Founded in 1985, the contest evokes all that is awe inspiring about the sport of surfing. But it only has been held seven times in 21 years, and it depends entirely on the waves off Oahu’s North Shore.

The contest, which brings together the world’s elite of big wave surfing, only runs when open ocean swells are at least 20 feet — meaning the face of the waves that roar toward shore soar to more than 30 feet.

Though wave heights were only 4-6 feet as of Wednesday, and 8-12 feet on Friday, the holding period for the competition runs through the end of February. And some forecasters predict the warm-water El Nino trend in the Pacific this year improves the odds for big enough swells.

“You never really notice how tall it is. And if you do notice how tall it is and how far up, and you’re going ‘Oh, oh, I’m not going to make this one,’ that’s when it’s too late,� said Peter Mel, a California surfer known for being among the first in the 1990s to surf the notoriously dangerous big wave break south of San Francisco called Mavericks.
Mel is one of 24 invited big wave surfers this year on a list that includes 2002 winner and eight-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater (pictured), and 2004 winner and three-time world champion Andy Irons.

Once organizers decide conditions are right for the contest, invitees get 24 hours to get to Hawaii. The official span of time during which the contest can be held runs from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28 at Waimea Bay.

The competition officially is called The Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau , a former surfer and lifeguard and a crew member of the voyaging canoe Hokulea when it capsized in a 1978 storm shortly after leaving Honolulu for Tahiti. Aikau volunteered to paddle for help and was never seen again. The contest, informally known as “the Eddie,� kicked off Nov. 30 with an opening ceremony that featured an intimate benefit concert by Pearl Jam, with only 250 allowed to attend on the North Shore.

Read on for more about "The Eddie" ...

(AP Photo by Lucy Pemoni)

As participants in "The Eddie" line up their surfboards to pray during the opening ceremonies Thursday in Waimea Bay, this is only partly a competition. It also provides a rare opportunity for the world’s big wave surfers to gather, share waves and practice an extreme sport few people experience.

Mel said a surfer is free of any distinct thoughts as he plunges down the face of a massive wave atop a surf board, his body and mind focusing on the ride. But that quickly changes if he wipes out and is sent “over the falls� — when the wave sucks him up and spits the surfer out at its top.

“It takes about probably 2 seconds maybe or 3 seconds where you’re just completely weightless. It’s completely quiet and then it’s just car wreck! Plah! Train wreck! ... And you feel like your body is just going to be ripped limb from limb. And you’ve got to just consciously tell yourself to relax, it’s all going to end soon and you can come up,� Mel said with a laugh.

Waimea Bay was brought to the world’s attention in the late 1950s when a group of young surfers were caught on film gliding down a 20-foot swell. Aikau was the bay’s first lifeguard, watching over it during the 1960s and 1970s and evoking awe as he took on the bay’s towering waves.

Aikau saved hundreds of lives but often let other lifeguards take the credit, said 76-year-old George Downing, who surfed with Aikau and founded the contest to fulfill a request by Aikau’s parents.

“He had no ego problem. He wasn’t looking for notoriety,� Downing said.

(AP photo by Lucy Pemoni)
Participants in the Big Wave Invitational walk out of the ocean at sunset after the opening ceremonies (above).

Since the first Eddie was held, much has changed in surfing. During the past decade, surfers have begun setting off into bigger and bigger waves using watercraft such as jet skis to propel them into waves the size of six-story buildings and higher. In this contest, though, surfers use nothing more than the power of their own two arms to reach the waves.

The experience is radically different. As a paddle-in surfer comes over the top of a forming wave, Downing said, he momentarily goes airborne before he hits the face with his surfboard instead of being dropped off at that spot by a machine.

Downing is the final arbiter on whether the contest will happen. He bases his decisions on everything from government forecasts to observations about the flowering of local mango trees.

Big surf likely will hit between mid-December and mid-January. Each swell needs to be evaluated, based on the wind and other conditions. Even with El Nino conditions, it is impossible to predict what will happen.

“The only thing now is to wait for the bay to call the day,� Downing said.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By BILL PENNINGTON
New York Times

The winner of the 72nd Heisman Memorial Trophy will be announced tonight, and although the choice is unlikely to be controversial, like so many things in college football this season, it is the voting process that could bring scrutiny.

Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith is expected to be a runaway winner, but if his margin of victory is the largest ever, it could foster a debate over the merits of that distinction. Like many elections, the focus then turns on the electors. In the case of the Heisman, who gets to vote for the award and why is a perennial topic of discussion — as well as a matter of some secrecy.

There are 923 Heisman voters— 870 members of the news media and the 53 living Heisman Trophy winners. Fans can vote for the winner online, with the result counting as one additional vote. The Heisman Trophy Trust, the caretaker of the award, does not release the names of the news media voters.

For decades, people have grumbled about the makeup of the Heisman voting pool with insinuations that many news media voters are unqualified, apathetic or disconnected with college football because they stopped reporting on the sport years ago.

Dave Rahme, who covers Syracuse football for The Post-Standard in Syracuse, has been asking for a Heisman vote for several years. He has not been granted one, he said, even though a recently retired columnist at his newspaper retains his vote and another colleague kept his for years after transferring out of the sports department.

“I’d love to know how often this happens all around the country,� said Rahme, who