IT ‘S one of those TV-constant questions:Why is it that the people who should be the first to know seem to be the last to know?
This Pat O ‘Brien scandal,for example.He ‘s suspended from “The Insider ” for lewd behavior,, enrolled in the Betty Ford for substance abuse.And then,all of a sudden,out comes a lot of other ugly stuff about the guy.
While some – ostensible insiders,if you will – have expressed shock,others wonder why it took so long before he took such a colossal fall.O ‘Brien had for years been out of control. And among the least surprised to know of his troubles are those who worked with him,near him and covered him throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s,during his time
as a studio anchor for CBS Sports.
When O ‘Brien left for “Entertainment Tonight,” there were some relieved folks,relieved that he wouldn ‘t be CBS Sports ‘ headache on the day of his inevitable crash and burn.O ‘Brien became a character who played Pat O ‘Brien, handsome dog,and that character was in constant professional and personal peril.
On the air,for CBS Sports,he was a style-only artist.And those guys can ‘t hide forever.Once,during the World Series,he told a national audience that a player had “scored a home run.” Ugh.
Off the air,he was equally transparent.He desperately wanted good ink and he was pathetically relentless in fishing for it. And off the air in public,he preened.He always seemed to be on the make,the prowl,eager to exploit his celebrity,eager to confuse himself as one part rock star, the other part sex symbol.He ‘d abandon people in mid-sentence to move toward the bigger name or hottest thing who had just entered the room.”He ‘s always looking
over your shoulder,” applied to O ‘Brien.
He would do anything for maximum attention,for example,always making himself available to the “Imus in the Morning Show,” on which he ‘d badly miscast himself in the role of hip,urbane leading man when it was abundantly apparent
that he was just a name-dropping self-promoter. He was that incongruous blend of insecurity and megalomania.He
needed constant stroking while pretending that he didn ‘t.He always -always – left us shaking our heads in sad wonder.
On a one-to-one level,I tried to liked O ‘Brien.But he wouldn ‘t allow it,not for long.He was Howard Cosellian in that he tried to big-time you,even though he had called you,even though he had come over to your table. And you ‘d feel bad for him because it seemed clear that he didn ‘t stop to think that you knew,that a lot of people knew.
He didn ‘t seem to know how transparent he was nor that he was in fast-lane,late-night trouble.There were several times when his off-the-air public behavior was so indiscreet that you wanted to slap him,to tell him to wake up,to get real.
Hopefully,he ‘s working on that now.Regardless,many who worked with or near Pat O ‘Brien long ago knew him as someone at great personal and professional risk.Frankly,they were always somewhat stunned that he kept landing such good gigs.It ‘s a crazy business.
Another TV sports guy turned TV magazine show host,Tim Green ,of Fox ‘s reprised “A Current Affair,” also makes us wonder about who knows what and when. As a Fox NFL analyst,Green was stiff,given to long,dull speeches after every play.He became background music,elevator music,a drone.And yet, here he is,chosen to anchor the return of “A Current Affair,” a role in which his in-studio readings seem as stiff and drone-like as his NFL analysis. There was a reason why in ten years he never rose above Fox ‘s fourth or fifth-string NFL team,no?
