FROM Burt Reynolds to Kirk Reynolds, ESPN can’t get out of its own way. Not that it minds; not that it cares.
ESPN was all over that story last week about how the 49ers’ public-relations boss, Kirk Reynolds, was fired after an in-house, how-to-deal-with-the-media tape that he produced was leaked to the press.
Reynolds got the sack because the video contained profane dialogue, partial nudity, vulgar sexual remarks and a scene that mocked gays. With a shame-on-you tone, “SportsCenter” teased the story several times before reporting it.
ESPN’s Chris Berman, Michael Irvin, Dan Patrick, Jim Rome and Sean Salisbury are now appearing in the re-make of “The Longest Yard,” co-starring Burt Reynolds. Unlike the 49ers’ movie, this one was designed to be seen by almost everyone.
It contains profane dialogue, partial nudity, vulgar sexual remarks and a scene that mocks gays.
Meanwhile, there was a time when a network would preclude its talent from appearing in such a movie. Now, especially given what ESPN is selling, it’s the perfect fit. The NFL declined the producers’ request that it be involved.
Mike Francesa knew all along who Deep Throat was. But you know how it is; he had to swear to Woodward and Bernstein that he’d never tell.
Ever notice that Francesa is perfect on the predictions we never hear him make, the ones he claims on the air to have made off the air? Thursday, after the Yanks dropped their first two games in KC, he said on the air that he had told Chris Russo, off the air, that he knew the Yanks, after a Sunday loss to the Red Sox, were headed for a fall against the lowly Royals.
For crying out loud, he spends 20 or more hours a week on the air with Russo. So why does he only share with us his wrong calls.
That Old College Try: Fierce determination has finally pushed the Lou-Holtz-over-to-Steve-Spurrier University of South Carolina football program ahead of the University of Tennessee’s football program. With three months left, South Carolina now leads, 12-11, in offseason arrests.
The schools play each other Oct. 29. Guaranteed, the TV play-by-play man will give it the obligatory, cover-myself, quick kick, something like, “Their offseason problems have been well-documented.”
Attention: Don’t give any strokes to Ch. 2 sportscaster Chris Wragge. He plays to scratch, a zero handicap … Lookalikes: Submitted by Mike Portnoy of Plainview, N.Y. – Mets TV man Ted Robinson and a young, beardless Abe Lincoln.
We don’t want to get on Alex Rodriguez for his recent case of the bobbles, but in a box score last week, he got credit for a hold … The Nets’ radio team of Chris Carrino and Tim Capstraw has been retained for next season. It will be their fourth season together.
Rye Golf Club hosts a fundraiser outing on June 20 for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association and SKIP (Sick Kids Need Involved People). For details, contact Steve Abraham, (914) 907-9935 … Two ex-Mets are reasons why Bobby Valentine’s Chiba Lotte Marines 40-16 and in first place in Japan’s Pacific League. Matt Franco is hitting .321 with 10 HRs; Benny Agbayani is .303, nine HRs.
Pete Williams, co-author with Mike Veeck of the new book, “Fun Is Good” – the Veeck Family’s baseball business philosophy – bumped into a good one:
Bill Veeck, Mike’s inventive dad and the legendary character who owned the Indians, White Sox and St. Louis Browns, was the grandson of Lee De Forest, a prolific turn-of-the-last-century inventor whom more than a few historians regard as “The Father of Radio.” In 1920, De Forest operated what may have been the first radio station, 6XC, in California.
We spoke on Friday with a friend who lives in South Florida. He said that Dolphins fans down there mostly seem excited about the possible return of Ricky Williams. Yep, Williams’ agent and the team are negotiating. It’s all over the newspapers and sports talk shows. People are pumped.
Then again, for a modern sports fan to maintain an advantage on the rest of the pack, it helps to be among the biggest idiots in the pack.
Consider that last July, one week before the start of training camp, Williams undermined the Dolphins’ season and devalued season tickets by retiring, in some part due to his spiritual dependency on marijuana.
No matter. The Dolphins are willing to take him back. And, it seems, most Dolphins fans are pleased and hopeful.
Naturally, many of these same fans – and fans everywhere – are often driven to wonder why pro athletes have a bloated sense of entitlement, how the rules that govern their world are so different, so screwy.
