The corporation-corrupted condition of TV news becomes particularly nauseating every two years, come the Olympics.
Last week, while ABC’s “Good Morning America” reported that Russia’s Sochi Olympics are doomed to fail in every conceivable way, NBC’s “Today Show” presented an endless string of reports portraying these Olympics as guaranteed to be grand and glorious, “must-see NBC TV!”
That’s why, we were reminded, NBC News lead anchor Brian Williams would be reporting from Sochi that night — and every Olympic night! Hey, hey, hey!
Now which network, would you guess, has Olympic rights and which doesn’t?
Naturally, ABC News treated the “Olympic movement” far differently when it owned Olympic rights. And if NBC were to lose Olympic rights, NBC News suddenly would discover and report thumbs-down news about the Olympics that it either never before knew, or at least never before reported.
These same “journalists” and their obedient, corporate-frightened bosses — heel-clickers — who make national shame-shame at every double-dealing big shot they’re inclined to discredit, see and report the news far differently if its in their network’s best financial interests. You want to keep your credibility or your job?
From 1980-2001, the International Olympic Committee was led by Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch, an unrepentant World War II Fascist Party operative and, as IOC dictator, responsible for the corruption — payola, dubious contract awards, trading Olympic honors for payments from murderous dictators — that pervaded his Olympics.
Any journalist who bothered to take a look knew this. And Samaranch’s career ways and means began to be widely reported by those inclined to report it, free to report it.
Yet, in the case of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” it didn’t get around to revealing Samaranch as a bad guy — a very bad guy — until CBS lost Olympic rights. What a coincidence.
Having studied the “Olympic Movement” under American IOC president Avery Brundage, who was thought to be a Nazi sympathizer and would be a proven Adolf Hitler-appeaser (see: 1936 Berlin Olympics), Samaranch was recommended by Brundage for IOC advancement.
Funny thing, though: While CBS’ benign position on Samaranch made such an abrupt downward turn, the next Olympics rights-holder, NBC, portrayed Samaranch as genuine nobleman. Heck, in a chat with NBC’s Dick Enberg, Samaranch was addressed as “Your Excellency.” Seriously.
Such Olympic cliff-diving and selective, follow-the-money TV target-shooting have been going on for over 25 years. And it’s as transparent as it is sickening.
More late NFL starts, another blow to ticket-holders
So with the new CBS/NFL Network 16-game Thursday night package now in place, the NFL leaps closer to being a prime-time, anything-for-TV-money enterprise. Monday night football begat Sunday night football, which begat eight Thursday night games, which begat 13, now to 16 Thursday night games — with some Saturday night games thrown in.
And though this ceaseless money-grab may be good for those who don’t get out much, buyers of expensive ticket subscriptions and big-price-tag PSL owners — and don’t forget those forced to buy preseason games — are now shoved deeper into the “Disregard” file.
Consider that this coming season, even more than in the recent past, the most logical, patron-friendly time to start NFL games — Sundays, 1 p.m. — will even further become the time designated for the NFL’s worst teams.
That slap continues, only now in double-time: The better the anticipated game, the later it will begin for TV, thus the less valuable the ticket and the harder it is to dump.
And with even mediocre Giants and Jets teams an attraction because they represent TV’s largest market, more of their games will be played long after sundown or long into the night — the most inconvenient, illogical times for ticket-holders. Yep, start the games when the weather’s the coldest, arrive home on a school/work night at 1 a.m.
Now, throw in the fact that the overwhelming majority of these Giants and Jets ticket-holders were forced to buy PSL’s — “a good investment,” claimed commissioner Roger Goodell — and those PSLs, up to $20,000 per seat in addition to sky’s-the-limit ticket purchases — will suffer further diminished value.
And don’t forget the Sunday night, later-season schedule “flex” for NBC’s money! The Jets and Giants will be prime-time meat.
Only when the Giants or Jets stink or are expected to stink — or are finally out of a playoff hunt that now lasts deeper into seasons — will their duped ticket-holders be “gifted” a 1 p.m. start, either from the start of the season or during it.
And that underscores another Goodell claim: “It’s all about the fans.” Yup, if not for the fans, who else would there be to bait and switch?
Mayock talks way out of gig
As for Mike Mayock, who lost his Thursday night gig to Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, well, if he only had taken some good advice — and if only his NFLN bosses insisted he take it — he likely wouldn’t have non-stop crazy-talked himself out of a good gig.
That he substituted “jumped” with “went vertical” or “high-pointed the ball,” that an open receiver is “an athlete in space,” and that simple “out” patterns were declared “back-shoulder passes,” well, he wore most of us down, then out. He figured we tuned in to hear him.
As for competent play-by-player Brad Nessler, he deserved better. But so did Bob Papa, who the NFLN dumped for Nessler.
The book on Yeshiva coach
Johnny Halpert, beloved Yeshiva University basketball coach — but only for the last 41 years — has written his memoirs, “Are You Still Coaching?” (jonathanhalpert.com). It’s wonderful, starting with the dedication, to his wife: “To Aviva — 5 children, 19 grandchildren, 938 games, 3,360 practices, 1 million phone calls.”
Aside from being the longest one-school college coach in NYC history, Halpert holds a record that never will be surpassed: His Yeshiva teams never have lost a Friday night or Saturday afternoon game.
Halpert credits that to his mentor — so many local college and high school basketball coaches’ favorite teacher — the late Red Sarachek. “Red taught me that if you don’t play, you can’t lose.”
Impossibly, Halpert, 70, recently was told his contract won’t be renewed. “Soon,” he said, “the answer to the book’s title will be, ‘No.’ ”
Nothing could be Kiner
So many Ralph Kiner stories, this one from N.Y. sport broadcasting historian David Halberstam:
He once caught himself, mid-sentence, calling the San Francisco Giants the New York Giants. So he improvised: “After five innings, it’s the New York Giants — who moved to San Francisco — 2, and the Mets 1.”