COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY (X-RATED) - MIKE IN DA

COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!

Written by: Mike in DA
Date posted: 3/27/2011

ANOTHER WILD CRAIG SAGER TIE!

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Since I'm a locally renowned baseball statistical guru, I am available to come to your fantasy baseball draft as your assistant at a cost of $100 per hour.

People will be terrified of you, as you make your selections. In addition, we will talk trash, as an integral part of the draft-day strategy, but we won’t criticize every pick, as it will be too easy for other managers to just ignore us. Instead, we will praise most picks by saying things like “Wow, Shin Soo Choo was a great value there!” before breaking out a psyche-destroying line like, “Josh Beckett? No shit? No wonder your  mother left your father.”

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JIMMER FREDETTE FEELING PRESSURE TO BE WHITE SUPERSTAR OF THE NBA D-LEAGUE!

March 27 (SR) - With his college career at an end and the NBA Draft around the corner, BYU legend, Jimmer Fredette, admits he is feeling the pressure to become the first white, American basketball superstar since Larry Bird.


“We live in a little bit of a bubble in Provo, but we’re not completely separated from the rest of the world,” said Fredette. “I hear the talk. I know that, right or wrong, some people are really pulling for me because of the color of my skin. But there are good players in the NBA D-League. I don’t know if I can go in there and just dominate.”

Fredette says he knows he will be drafted and fully intends to try to forge a career in the regular NBA, but believes his best shot to be a game-changer is in the D-League.

“All the hopes and expectations placed on me does not change the fact that I am a 6-foot-2 shooting guard who is a gunner and can’t play defense at all. I mean, even a little bit,” said Fredette. “At the absolute max of my potential I could maybe be like J.J. Redick in the NBA. That’s far short of the hopes people have for me. But have me playing teams like the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the Erie Bayhawks every night? That’s pretty much the same quality as the Mountain West Conference. I might be able to tear it up.”


NBA D-League executives say they already have seen a spike in ticket sales in anticipation of Fredette’s eventual arrival after being demoted from an NBA roster after training camp.

“We sold nine tickets yesterday alone,” said Chip Riley, general manager of the Dakota Wizards.


“Usually we barely sell that many in a month. But Jimmer is D-League marketing gold. He’s like the Beatles, if the Beatles played basketball and weren’t quite as quick.”


But before a D-League career, there is the NBA Draft. Many believe Fredette will be selected by the Utah Jazz.


“We are definitely interested in Jimmer,” said Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. “Our D-League team, the Utah Blast, is fourth in their division. They could really use some added scoring punch.”

ON THE MENU: SUPA FLY HO WITH CHEESE; SLOPPY HO BRISKET; AND TINY HO MEALS FOR KIDS!

NCAA COVERAGE ON THE TUBE

Maybe Billy Packer was right about having NBA studio analysts working the NCAA Tournament.

What's that line about a broken clock and the correct time? Asides from predicting Arizona would come from behind after halftime to beat Duke on Thursday night (3/24), Charles Barkley has been terrible as an NCAA studio analyst.


If you’ve been watching him, Charles has shown a lack of knowledge about the college game and inability to speak intelligently about players, coaches, and conferences. Barkley has already revealed enough to show the powers that be that they won’t be bringing him back for the 2012 NCAA post-season.


Studio analysts Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith, and Charles thrown into the studio mix are too many people trying to get too much in. That goes for the pre-, post- and halftime shows. All they've done is further expose Barkley, who sometimes looks asleep as he gazes into his desk monitor, and not put him in any sort of situation to do what he does best - ramble on and on (aka “bullshitting”) about nothing in particular.


For example, at halftime of the UCLA-Michigan State game on CBS, after a highlight reel of the buzzer-beaters from earlier in the day, Greg Anthony said something about all the parity in the college game. Smith added something about how teams need to guard the ball on last-second shots. Barkley's contribution was: "One thing you notice today; there's a lot of good basketball players everywhere." Gumbel's reply was, "Wow, what a sage you are. That's pretty good."

Through the Sweet 16, the CBS-TNT-TBS-truTV team has produced ratings 15 percent higher from last year's CBS solo effort. And in a current USA Today online poll asking readers to identify their "favorite studio analyst" during the tournament, Barkley's 38 percent beat out runner-ups Seth Davis (17 percent) and Anthony (15 percent) combined.

As previously mentioned here, one good thing about the NCAA Tournament is the power of choice to flip to whichever game that interests us. But better yet, what if there was another channel, which was dedicated for those who didn't want to jump around the dial, delivering all the cut-ins of the best games at the best time - like what DirecTV has with the NFL's "Red Zone" channel.


If Fox has taught any competitor anything by bringing in retired NFL referee expert, Mike Pereira, it's that viewers now demand to have things explained by someone in authority when the officiating goes screwy, so NCAA officiating coordinator, John Adams, was brought into the Atlanta studio, so that he could be put on the spot  about the finishes in the Butler-Pitt, Washington-North Carolina, and several other games.


What could possibly have convinced the NCAA that a CBS-Turner combo was more beneficial than the ESPN/ABC family of networks when it would lead to easier viewer navigation and better information from on-air talent that has been doing this stuff from the beginning of the season?


ESPN was very aggressive in its bid for the tournament TV rights, and they have a powerful brand, and devote their entire networks to sports. The fact of the matter is that the NCAA realized that ESPN will continue to devote all of March to college basketball, but with CBS and Turner, the NCAA has two other successful media companies also promoting college basketball all year long. That might make more sense, as this was probably the best combination of media companies to showcase it. But at least ESPN would have known better not to bring in a verbose windbag NBA analyst like Barkley.

And if you were watching and paying close attention on Friday night, there were multiple occasions  when Charles was seen reaching under the desk, grabbing a drink, and sipping it. Was it an alcoholic drink? It was impossible to tell, but with Sir Charles, it could have been. He sure did sound like he had a few drinks that night.



But you’d be doing the same thing in his position. He's sitting back, watching the games, and having a fuckin' good time. It's not like we take most of what he says seriously anyway. He's there for entertainment purposes. We just want him to (1) say something outrageous or (2) speak the truth, two things that alcohol will only help with.

“SCREAMING” GUS JOHNSON

Many sports talkers and fans love Gus Johnson as an announcer, but the PG is sick and tired of his screaming, such as in the audio in yesterday’s PG (3/26), which has been mentioned here numerous times before.


Sure the dude knows how to scream, but sometimes he has no clue as to what the heck he’s screaming about, as he did Thursday night (3/24) with Florida and BYU tied and about 15 seconds left in regulation time. He asked his announcing partners, Len Elmore and Reggie Miller, if they would foul if they were BYU.


WTF! Len and Reggie probably couldn’t believe their ears, as Len asked why would anyone foul in a tie game. Even my 12-year old said she wouldn’t foul on purpose at that stage of the game.


Later on, during the Butler-Wisconsin game, a Butler player was called for a blocking foul. Wiscy's Mike Bruesewitz, bigger and heavier than the Butler kid, banged him in the chest, knocking him on his ass. Somehow, Johnson saw the Butler player’s involuntary landing as an acting job and equated it to flops that Reggie did during his career. Johnson badly misinterpreted the situation as a “flop” and thought he was being funny, as Reggie at first had no idea what Gus was talking about.

LFL: "WE GOT NEXT!"

MTV2, a channel I didn’t know even existed until I started watching the LFL (“Lingereie Football League” for the acronym-challenged) game highlights on Friday nights, has announced it has committed to covering live, "full-length games" for the upcoming LFL season starting August 26. Although there's a possibility that pro football may be sidelined this season due to the lockout, it’s nice to know that the LFL on MTV2 will continue to bring football fans the action and intense game play they crave. That’s good strategy by MTV2, to lock in the LFL before the NFL Network buys the rights.

TWO THINGS TO CHECK OUT ON TV THIS WEEK!

The major-league bucks annually generated by college programs - particularly, the 14-year, $10.8 billion deal that CBS and Turner started this year to air the men's basketball tournament is the focus of two different examinations next week.


A new episode of "Frontline" (airing on PBS, Channel 8 here in Houston) at 9 p.m. CT Tuesday called "Money and March Madness" follows the efforts of former shoe peddler Sonny Vaccaro trying to generate a class-action lawsuit to get athletes paid.


The next night, a special edition of HBO's "Real Sports" (9 p.m. CT Wednesday) will have host Bryant Gumbel hosting a roundtable discussion that includes former CBS college basketball analyst, Billy Packer, and FoxSports.com columnist, Jason Whitlock, to chat about such things as the pros and cons of paying players. Lots of talk about an ongoing thorn in the NCAA's side, but until something changes, it's just more TV fodder. It’s probably a rehash of what you’ve read here in a previous PG on the topic.

FROM THE HMW MAILBAG!

JO left a comment on the 3/26 post, "COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY (X-RATED) - MIKE ..." (http://sheltonmedia.blogspot.com/2011/03/comments-from-peanut-gallery-x-rated_26.html), regarding the decline of NASCAR at both the box office and on TV:

"As a big-time NASCAR fan I can tell you that one of the things that has lead to the decline in the ratings, and attendance was the death of Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. I know for for me personally that the day he was taken from this world was like a kick in the teeth. I still to this day have a hard time dealing with the fact that the baddest man to ever get behind the wheel is gone. I used to attend both races at Texas Motor Speedway every year, but it just didn't seem the same after "The Intimidator" was no longer in that black #3, kickin' ass and taking names later. If you talk to NASCAR fans there is a large majority of the them that will say the same thing about why the sport has lost its luster.


You're right about the current economic situation, and the price of gas. My family and I used to gas the RV up and take off on the Tuesday before the race, and stay until the Tuesday after the race. Now, it is almost double the price to make that trip than what it used to be.


The changing of the networks has also played a big role in the TV ratings. I for one, can’t stand the coverage on ESPN and TNT. They try to do too much, and just make a damn mess out of it. The FOX broadcast is where it's at its best. Switching to the cable networks has really hurt the sports TV ratings, because in some places folks just don't have the money to afford cable or satellite to watch the races. I still watch all the races, hell, I even watch practice...(we talking about practice!)" END.

I received an e-mail from Crier follower, Ed W., who currently lives in Calgary, Canada: “Being Canadian, I once again am rooting for Yukon to go all the way.”

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CRIER’S CORNER



BASKETBALL ACTION


Yesterday’s Record ATS: 5-1
W - CHARLOTTE* (+4) over NEW YORK
W - DALLAS (-5.5) over UTAH*
L - LA CLIPPERS* (-11.5) over TORONTO


COLLEGE HOOPS


Superdome – New Orleans, LA
W - BUTLER (+4) over FLORIDA


Honda Center - Anaheim, CA
W - ARIZONA (+2.5) over CONNECTICUT


CIT
W - IONA (-2.5) over EAST TENNESSEE STATE*


Cumulative Season Record ATS (excludes “pushes”): 572-346


Today’s Action (for reading purposes only):

NBA



MIAMI* (-8.5) over HOUSTON
The Rockets best player, Luis Scola, has been in action for about two straight full years considering international play, and it is starting to show. He has had problems with a sore left knee and the entire dynamic of Houston changes without his energy. Goran Dragic had a great playoff season last year, but he can’t push Kyle Lowry away as the starting Houston point. MIAMI, 116-94


COLLEGE HOOPS


NCAA


EAST REGIONAL at Newark, NJ (Prudential Center)


KENTUCKY (-1) over NORTH CAROLINA
This is a clash of roundball royalty, but one in which one side “features” a pressure point which can be readily exploited by a side with Calipari’s overflowing talent levels. Can’t wait until Roy gets a load of the calls to his radio show, after this one. KENTUCKY, 79-71


SOUTHWEST REGION at San Antonio, TX (Alamodome)

VCU vs. KANSAS (TOTAL UNDER 146.5)
The original game forecast is eight points less than the Total for the game, and after watching VCU's kids rain way too many three-pointers, more power to 'em if they can continue getting as many open looks, or making as many contested shots. The feeling that they can disrupt Kansas' offensive flow still holds. Their game vs. Purdue sailed way over, but that was because VCU got a lead on a woefully unprepared and soft team that had to revert to chase mode. VCU by double-digits in the first half vs. Kansas is highly unlikely. KANSAS, 71-61





MIKE IN DA

HMW