Dan Patrick's Outtakes
Dan Patrick wasn't afraid to tell Will Ferrell that he thought a better ending to his latest movie, "Stranger Than Fiction," would have been for Ferrell's character to die.
"I said, 'Don't take it the wrong way,' but I just wasn't all that thrilled with the ending,'" Patrick made it known to Ferrell during their interview on Tuesday's edition of Patrick's ESPN Radio show, which eminated from the Los Angeles studios of KSPN-AM (710) this week.
"Will just said, 'Thanks, but I only value the opinions of those I really care about.'"
Patrick had a chance to mug for the cameras with Ferrell (above) after their show, and then went into character for a Q-and-A with us during our visit to the KSPN-AM (710) studios where we caught up with him before he went on for his regular 10 a.m.-to-1 p.m. shift -- a portion of which made it into print with today's Daily News media column:
Q: Why are you wearing a Texas Longhorns hat in those shots with Ferrell? Is it to rub it in that they won the national championship game last January instead of Ferrell's Trojans?
A: Someone just gave me that hat. I guess I had predicted a Texas victory in the Rose Bowl, someone gave it to me, and I just put it on Tuesday.
Q: Are you now officially out of the ESPN "SportsCenter" rotation and committed fulltime to radio?
A: I don't even remember the last "SportsCenter" that I did. Maybe in the summer? I've done enough of it; time to let someone else go for it. I've been attached to it for so many years, but I can't do it anymore if I'm just taking it for granted. I thought I was going through the motions for too long, so let someone else do it. I've got the NBA pregame show now. And with the radio show, it's got my name attached. I remind Keith Olbermann of that every day.
Q: What about this role you're playing in the new Adam Sandler movie, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"? Since it's about a couple of Brooklyn firefighters (Sandler and Kevin James) who pretend to be gay lovers to get insurance benefits, do you have to play it straight or kind of gay it up yourself?
A: Nope, just a police officer. Again. In the first Sandler movie I did, "The Longest Yard," I played a cop with a now famous porn mustache. I named him Sgt. Jack Pugh, after my dad. This time, I haven't come up with a name in the credits for the character yet. I may call him Officer Bill O'Reilly, just to tweek Olbermann.
Q: What kind of relationship have you developed with Sandler that allows you all these free passes into his films?
A: I just saw him at a Knicks game one time, and he said, "Danny Patrick, I'm going to get you a part in my next movie." I was going to be in "Little Nicky," so I'm thankful he didn't make good on that one. Then I saw him again, and he said, "You're going to be in 'The Longest Yard' as a cop who arrests me." I had played myself in "The Waterboy," and I really am tired of playing that role (he also did himself in the ill-fated "BASEketball"). In "Benchwarmers," he wrote me in as a card player. So this time, it's back to a cop who arrives on the scene of someone stuck in an air vent at a store. Sandler encourages me to ad lib, so I could get as much screen time as I did last time.
Q: So are you already in line for another Sandler movie down the road?
A: This is just a three-picture deal. Then we'll see what happens. I'm sure next will be Speilberg at the Ivy ... not at the same table. I really can't tell you my next project. It's in development. Isn't that what you say when you're out of work? I think that's what Craig Kilborn (above) is doing now, something in development. He says he knows the Wilson brothers (Luke and Owen) and Vince Vaughn, so maybe he's waiting for something with them.
Q: You've really got this L.A. name-dropping thing down, haven't you?
A: It's part of being here. You act phoney and drop names.
Q: What's your ultimate movie role, if you could choose something that goes longer than a minute?
A: Something that shows my emotional range. Something tragic. Maybe a "Raging Bull" kind of thing, where I have to morph into the character and sustain it. I'd like to do the remake of "The Legend of Ron Burgendy" and play a cable TV guy against Will Ferrell's news team.
Q: Did you ask Ferrell for a role in his next movie?
A: Begged more like. He's working on a movie about the old ABA -- that's why he's growing his hair out into a fro. He asked if I could commit to three months of shooting. I said I'd quit ESPN and make the $680 a week scale just to get in it. You know, I do have a Screen Actors Guild card. Had to get it about 10 years ago. I do like to flash it around. I'll pull it out with my credit card by "accident" when I'm buying something. I do that here, and it's no big deal. Back in Bristol, they see it and think SAG has something to do with a Weight Watchers program that I'm on.
Q: Would you consider taking acting lessons if you continue doing more movies?
A: I'm more a method actor, improvosation. I feel the scene. Like Brando, Bobby DiNero ... Rob Schneider... all the great ones. Schneider actually asked me to be in his last "Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo" movie but it would have taken six weeks in Amsterdam. I would never have come back. I think that was another good career decision.
Q: While you're in L.A., why don't you get an appearance on Jay Leno, since you've been on Letterman a couple of times? Maybe even Jimmy Kimmel?
A: I could call Kimmel and let him know I'm in town, but that's not my style.
Q: At least you're known around town now, right?
A: I think I noticed that finally (back before the January national championship football game at the Rose Bowl) when I was trying to get into Teddy, the bar at the Roosevelt Hotel which no one can get into. I was there with Jack Giarraputo, Sandler's production partner, and we were waiting at the door and I noticed that across the street (on Hollywood Blvd.) there was a big billboard for my radio show. I told the lady at the door, "That's me, up there." And she said, "Oh, it is you," so we walked right in. We see Owen Wilson right away and he says, "How'd you get in here?"
As far as what's happening in the rest of the media world:
-- CBS' Jim Nantz and Billy Packer call the UCLA-Texas A&M contest as part of the John Wooden Classic Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Chris Roberts calls that game for the UCLA flagship station of 570-AM, as well as the following USC-George Washington game for the station, which will also be on the Trojans' flagship station (710-AM) with Rory Markas and Jim Hefner. KCAL-Channel 9 carries the USC game at 2 p.m. with Joel Meyers, James Worthy and John Ireland. Loyal Daily News reader Adrian also points out that HD-Net, the Mark Cuban-runhigh-def cable channel, also has the USC contest (DirecTV Channel 79 and Dish Network Channel 9421). UCLA-Texas A&M is preceeded on Channel 2 by Indiana-Kentucky at 9 a.m. Nantz leaves Anaheim after the game and will head to San Diego to cover the Broncos-Chargers NFL game for CBS on Sunday.
-- Kings play-by-play man Bob Miller has another book signing for “Bob Miller’s Tales from the Los Angeles Kings� set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Borders on Ventura Blvd., in Sherman Oaks.
--With no TV coverage of Saturday's Canyon-Moorpark title game, KHTS-AM (1220) has it on radio with Dave Caldwell and Tony Moskal starting at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Oaks Christian-Oak Park contest for the Northwest Division title is on KDOC Channel 56 tonight (midnight) and on Vootage.com starting Saturday.
-- The NFL's ability to negotiate exclusive sports packages is under fire from the outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the Associated Press reports. Spector said he would introduce legislation in the next session aimed at eliminating the league’s freedom from antitrust laws. Specter said the NFL should not use the exemption to negotiate exclusive programming packages such as DirectTV's “Sunday Ticket,� which allows viewers to watch teams outside their regional market. “As I look at what the NFL is doing today with the NFL channel with the DirectTV ... a lot of people, including myself, would like to be able to have that ticket,� Specter said. But the 1961 law that gives the NFL this freedom should not apply to DirectTV because it is not “sponsored programming,� said Stephen Ross, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University and chair of the school’s sports law institute. He said the Pennsylvania senator could be using the threat of legislation to pressure the NFL to make changes voluntarily.
--It's one thing for the NFL Network to cherry pick a few games from its own league schedule to show on a Thursday night, games that otherwise wouldn't be televised nationally, and then make viewers of cable TV systems that don't have their channel grumble but accept the reality of the power play. But it's another when the network that has been stockpiling college football bowl games are shutting fans of watching their schools play because of a bad contract. A report in the New York Post says U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is lobbying for the December 28 Texas Bowl featuring Rutgers and Kansas State to be shown in New Jersey, where NFL Network does not currently appear on cable due to its carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. Lautenberg, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees cable and broadcast television, wrote in a letter to NFL Network that read in part: “The fans should not be used as a bargaining chip in the dispute between the NFL Network and cable companies. ... Because a majority of New Jerseyans, even most who pay for cable service, cannot watch the NFL Network, I urge you to permit this game to be shown on local broadcast television in New Jersey.� To air the game on a local broadcast network, which is what the NFL Network does to the two local teams involved in one of its NFL games, it would require changing the league's broadcast agreement with the Texas Bowl, and NFL Network spokesman Seth Palansky told the Associated Press it has "no plans to alter that agreement."
-- Versus signed a deal to carry a daily show for the 2007 Amgen Tour of California cycling race set for Feb. 18-25, and includes a stop in Santa Clarita. The cable channel, which was known as OLN and has covered the Tour de France in critically acclaimed fashion live since 2001, plans for nightly recaps at 8 p.m. with live coverage on the weekends. “It’s a great television event because, in addition to showcasing intense competition between some of the best cyclists in the world, California provides a beautiful backdrop for all of the action,� said Marc Fein, the senior VP of programming for Versus.
--Versus also has the first natinally-televised matchup between Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin when the Penguins face the Capitals on their network Monday at 4 p.m.
-- Tom Boman, former executive producer of the Dodgers’ radio network on KFWB-AM (980) from 2003-06, landed a new job with Missouri-based Learfield Sports as a broadcast manager. Learfield manages the multimedia rights to nearly 30 colleges.
-- ESPN.com will make available for the first time an online package of bowl games through its GamePlan pay-per-view service. The ESPN GamePlan Bowl Season package takes up to 23 games, including all televised on ESPN and ESPN2, and has them available for $34.95, with individual games available for $14.95. Because of TV contracts, The Rose Bowl and the Capitol One Bowl are available only to those outside of the United States. For more information: www.espn.com/gameplan.
-- Even the most avid Muhammad Ali fan would be trying to figure out what this ESPN presentation is set for Saturday in its post-Heisman hour-long announcement (5 p.m.) programming. Something called "ALI RAP," followed by "Ali's Dozen" airs on ESPN from 6-to-8 p.m., with rapper Chuck D. hosting both. "ALI RAP" takes Ali footage along with top celebrities, activists and athletes reciting Ali’s famed quotes, raps and poems. Chuck D. also came up with an original sing, "ALI RAP (Get Used to Me)" for it. The second show is a highlights of 12 fights during Ali's career.
-- NBC will add former NHL great Brett Hull as a studio analyst on its coverage of the league starting in January. Hull joins Bill Clement and Ray Ferraro on the studio set. NBC's first regular-season game will be Jan. 13 (a Saturday), then move to Sundays for nine other regular-season dates.
-- The Anaheim Ducks, who've been on FSN since their inception 13 years ago, signed a contract extension with Prime Ticket through the 2013-14 season. In 1998, the team and the network signed a 10-year deal to televise a minimum of 40 games a season. This new deal supersedes the last two years of that contract and guarantees a minimum of 50 games a season on cable effective immediately.
--The NFL Network, which is picking up more and more college football programming, will carry Saturday's College Football Hall of Fame ceremony (3 p.m.), marking the first time it has been shown on TV. The dinner and awards presentation took place on Tuesday in New York.
-- For its NASCAR coverage that begins in 2007, ABC and ESPN have added Brad Daugherty to its broadcast team. The name sound familiar? He’s the former NBA player out of North Carolina who says he wore No. 43 in honor of Richard Petty during his pro career. A longtime NASCAR fan and former co-team owner for Busch and Craftsman Truck series racers, Daugherty will appear on the “NASCAR Countdown� and “NASCAR Now� shows that air on the networks.
-- The NFL announced this week that the Dec. 17 Kansas City-San Diego game will be moved to that night, with a 5:15 p.m. kickoff, so NBC will cover it as part of its flex schedule.
Comments
Great slam of Arbo today Tom. In the end, he will have no one but himself to blame when he is working as a greater at Wal-Mart.
Posted by: USC_89 | December 8, 2006 10:53 AM