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To: TNT.
From: The Assignment Desk.
Re: PGA Championship telecasts.
This week’s PGA Championship, a major, will be shared between CBS and TNT. Tiger Woods is expected to play. Charles Barkley, Woods’ former Nike-bonded play-date pal, is TNT’s No. 1 attraction, promoted, celebrated and always available for his bold candor.
So isn’t this week the perfect time to discuss on TNT in some detail why Woods, after his colossal plunge from grace, was no longer allowed to play — especially at night in Las Vegas — with Barkley?
Why, the moment all that scandal hit the fan, did Woods’ reps make it clear that among the first things that Woods would do to try to refurbish his image was delete Barkley and Michael Jordan from his buddy list? Even Barkley admits that Woods no longer returns his calls.
So what happened? Why did Woods pull the phone plug on Barkley?
Woods and Barkley are very big names, even beyond sports, thus their break is a big story, no? And TNT will have access to Woods over the next few days, and it presumably has access to Barkley any time it wants.
So why not get to the bottom — or even the middle — of this, or at least try? Perhaps Barkley was a very bad influence on Woods — hard to imagine, I know — or did it work the other way?
But for all the focus TNT bestows on Barkley and all the attention it will devote to Woods this week, TNT won’t touch this one, will it?
ND receiver latest to ‘issue’ a sorry statement
AH, ANOTHER one of those issued statements, this one from Notre Dame ostensibly quoting reinstated wide receiver Michael Floyd, suspended in March after a DUI:
“The last four months of my life have been the most humbling stretch of time in my life. I embarrassed myself, my family, the university, my football team and many more people.
“I know it will take time to earn the trust and confidence from everyone I let down last spring, but I am prepared to do so and will strive to become not just a leader on the team again, but one also in the community. . .” And so on and so forth.
Kinda makes you wonder whether the transgressors actually get to read what they ostensibly say in such statements or, like the rest of us, they have to wait until their statements are issued.
* Ten years ago, MSG/Cablevision presented “Running Down a Dream,” a grabber of a documentary, produced by Leandra Reilly, about Nicole Kaczmarski, a fabulous high school basketball player who was so overwhelmed by her father and college recruiters that she was swallowed, whole, by the scene and the system.
Kaczmarski attended UCLA, left after her sophomore year, then enrolled at Georgia, from which she left having never played a game. She eventually graduated Stony Brook as a non-athlete. After a brief career in the WNBA, she’s now an analyst for MSG Varsity, which mostly televises high school sports.
MSG Varsity, seen exclusively on Cablevision systems, tonight at 7:30 revisits both the documentary and
Kaczmarski, who recently was interviewed after watching the original production for the first time.
* When TV pays attention — when TV’s allowed to pay attention — everyone wins. Thursday on YES, Chicago’s Juan Pierre stuck out his bat and blooped a bunt over the head of third baseman Eric Chavez, who was in, anticipating a standard bunt. Extraordinary!
No one in the Yankees booth had seen such a “bunt” before, thus it was left to consider whether Pierre actually tried to do what he had just done.
Several YES tapes followed. Two showed Pierre shooting glances toward third, one before he stepped in, the other after. Darn, if YES’ tapes didn’t make it appear that Pierre tried to do exactly what he did.
But what would have happened had this been the third inning when YES devotes its attention to Kim Jones, speaking potpourri, from the stands?
Jeter 3K drawing yawns
ESPN 1050’s Dave Rothenberg got it right, Thursday evening, when he said that HBO’s “Derek Jeter 3K” special has been, well, a good try, but boring. But given how guarded Jeter is, what else could it have been?
Speaking of Jeter, reader David Greenfield asks, “What the heck is Michael Kay saying when he calls a Jeter hit, ‘Jeterian’? I know we had Ruthian shots, but I never heard of a Mantleonian, DiMaggionian or even Balbonian shots. Jeterian is plain idiotic, or would Kayotic be more appropriate?”
* Non-Lookalikes: Remember how the size of Barry Bonds’ head became an issue, how it looked so much bigger at 38 than early in his career? While growing jowly isn’t unusual, compare the size of Yankees pitcher Bartolo Colon’s head when he was with Cleveland, 12 years ago, to now, at 38. Just sayin’.
* Question of the Week: In last Sunday’s YES postgame, Kim Jones told Brett Gardner that the Yankees went “7-3 on this important 10-game homestand,” Then asked, “Are you pleased?” Gardner said, “Yes.”
* John Sterling’s best moments come when he reminds listeners that “You never know in baseball,” followed by his firm assertion that the runner on second “will score on a hit,” followed by his explanation as to why the runner didn’t score on a hit, followed by his “You never know in baseball” speech.
From reader Mark Morley: “If only Francisco Rodriguez pitched for the Yankees, Sterling could holler, “An F-bomb! From F-Rod!”
* Despite SNY’s deal with the Jets, is there no one on any of its studio shows who finds it distressing that the team now annually pursues players disposed to criminal conduct? Is there no one on SNY’s on-air staff even a little bothered — as opposed to psyched — by this?