SPIT SHOW AHEAD!
How will players react if caught breaking virus rules?
Attention all MLB players: Spit at your own risk. COVID-CAM is watching. On Monday night, as the Yankees warmed up prior to their intrasquad game at the Stadium, Yankee Entertainment & Sports Network’s robotic camera focused on Gary Sanchez. The Bombers catcher reached into his back pocket, grabbed what looked like a wad of chewing tobacco and tucked it inside his mouth.
A few minutes later, YES’ cam had a shot of Sanchez spitting in the dugout. And during other YES “Yankees Summer Camp” broadcasts (while not riveting but certainly welcome sights and sounds for hardcore Bombers fans) we saw other camera shots of some players not wearing masks, or not socially distancing around the batting cage. YES showed one base running drill where the players were also not six-feet apart.
There were other pictures revealing Yankee players not following the most basic of coronavirus protocols, some that the general public has been asked to follow. The difference between us and them is players will play (if they do play this 60-game season) with TV cameras chronicling their every move. We don’t walk the streets constantly watched by an eye in the sky.
YES has now provided evidence its cameras will tell this most unusual story of what will be a bizarre season. Viewers will be able to see for themselves who is breaking the protocols. What about YES voices?
If they see something (like one player hugging another) will they say something?
On Thursday night’s telecast, YES’ crew got into a general discussion about habits that will be hard for players to break. Habits like spitting, including spitting sunflower seeds. But how direct or critical will a YES voice be if a camera catches a player violating a rule?
Industry sources said YES will follow its normal procedures for handling sensitive or controversial topics. The broadcasters can say what they want but can’t dwell on it throughout the rest of the game.
They also can’t make their soliloquies political.
There is another issue tied to this. How much of the animosity between management and the players, because of the recent contentious “negotiations,” will spill over into the season if players realize they are being singled out on YES, or any other baseball TV outlet, for violating coronavirus rules? Already, players have refused to wear microphones during games.
And last Saturday, after Masahiro Tanaka was drilled in the head by a Giancarlo Stanton line drive, during a workout carried live on YES, Judge went on Twitter to complain about those “continuing to film and zoom in on someone hurt and down in the stadium doesn’t sit well with me!”
No matter who Judge was directing his tweet at, he was scolding people who were just doing their jobs. So, how is he going to feel if YES shows him, or a teammate, licking his fingers, or spitting, or picking his nose. Will Yankee players take to Twitter to complain about that?
Or will they deny YES, or any other TV outlet, the already limited access they grant during Pandemic Baseball?
MECCA MANIA
James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan just can’t help himself.
In the middle of a pandemic, with millions of people out of work (many in the metropolitan area) and all of us facing uncertain futures, he has the Knicks out there, through radio advertisements, pushing tickets for the 2020-21 season.
What exactly are the Knicks selling? Leon Rose? World Wide Wes?
No, as usual, they are selling the Garden. The ad is tagged: “There’s no place else like the Mecca.” There’s some truth to that. For “there is no place else like the Mecca” where you can see Charles Oakley dragged out of the building by security.
And “there is no place else like the Mecca” where Spike Lee is denied access to an elevator then decides to leave the arena.
Of course, when it comes to losing, “there is no place like the Mecca.”
ESPN RADIO REBOOT
The posse of new mouths (MeShawn Johnson, Jay Williams, Zubin Mehenti) moving into ESPN Radio’s morning slot in August can look forward to digging out of the hefty ratings hole left by their predecessors, Mike Golic and Trey Wingo.
Examining the ratings history of the “Golic & Wingo” morning-drive Jalopy shows there were no significant trips into positive territory.
Which leaves us to ask the Bristol Clown Community College Faculty: What took you so long?
Golic/Wingo, born after Mike Greenberg bailed on his “pal” Golic three years ago, were down between 30-40% in the ratings (men 25-54 demo) compared to the numbers recorded by “Mike & Mike.” With a double-digit rating drop, we have to believe plenty of ESPN Radio affiliates jumped ship too. Not good.
MeShawn & Company need to turn the Titanic, er, Good Ship Lollipop around quickly.
THE REAL TIGER
All the big-name production might HBO Sports is putting into its two-part Tiger Woods documentary, “Tiger,” should not overshadow the most important aspect of the piece — it’s unauthorized.
Unlike ESPN’s Michael Jordan doc, “The Last Dance,” Woods will have no say in the content, no editorial control. Considering the amount of controversy Woods has lived through, having him map out how the bizarre times are presented would lead to a onesided presentation of controversial moments in his career.
That’s what happened in the Jordan-controlled ESPN documentary.
Controversy was fluffed over.
Going the unauthorized route leaves the possibility of new information coming out. The HBO hype machine promises “never-before-seen footage” and “revealing interviews.” And at least we also know Woods will have to watch it like the rest of us — when it debuts in December.