DAVID BARRON
Baylor basketball scandal film is worth watching.
If you can, put present events on hold Friday night and watch “Disgraced,” Austin filmmaker Pat Kondelis’ documentary on Showtime about the 2003 Baylor basketball scandal in which Bears player Patrick Dennehy was killed by teammate Carlton Dotson and coach Dave Bliss launched a cover-up in an effort to hide NCAA rules violations.
And then, if you dare, take a moment to wonder whether it will take 13 years before we get an equally nuanced look at the current Title IX scandal at Baylor that brought down football coach Art Briles and university president Ken Starr.
Kondelis doesn’t know the answer to that question, and neither do I. But if you care about the soul of America’s largest Baptist university, carve out a couple of hours Friday night to watch “Disgraced.” You’ll learn some things about Baylor’s past and, perhaps, some hints about where it’s going unless things change.
“I know very little about the (current) rape scandal,” Kondelis said this week. “And I don’t know what, if anything changes. I do think that our film will enlighten the audience that there is a history at Baylor of not addressing things in an appropriate fashion.
“I also think it reflects Waco in general in that it didn’t seem that anybody had an interest in justice or truth (in the Dennehy case). It was more ‘how do we prevent harm from coming to Baylor?’ I do hope that will change.”
It’s been awhile since 2003, so a refresher is in order on the story told in “Disgraced.” Dennehy was shot to death in June 2003 in a field outside Waco by Dotson, his teammate. As police launched an investigation into Dennehy’s death, Bliss — who was paying for Dennehy’s tuition and expenses in violation of NCAA rules — encouraged his players to tell police that Dennehy was paying his school expenses by dealing drugs.
Baylor assistant coach Abar Rouse, ordered by Bliss to participate in the cover-up, taped Bliss’ instructions and turned over the tapes to police and NCAA investigators. Bliss subsequently resigned, and Baylor was placed on NCAA probation.
Dotson, meanwhile, changed his plea to guilty after his defense at-
The film “Disgraced” provides a refresher on the 2003 murder of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy and the ensuing cover-up. Showtime
torney told prosecutors that they wanted to spare Baylor the bad publicity of a murder trial. He was sentenced to 35 years and waived his right to appeal.
“Disgraced” includes a number of revelations, including details of Dotson’s guilty plea, a series of threats by another Baylor player against Dennehy and Dotson that could have prompted the killing and Bliss’ assertion — with statements by Waco police to the contrary — that Dennehy really was dealing drugs on Baylor’s campus.
Bliss said earlier this month he was “disappointed” that Kondelis used his comments about Dennehy in the film. Kondelis, in turn, replied this week, “I was disappointed by a lot of things that Dave did.
“I don’t understand where he’s coming from, saying things (about Dennehy) without providing an ounce of evidence,” Kondelis said. “Abar Rouse said it best. We caught Dave being Dave. But there are other major things in the film. Dave Bliss saying offensive things is nothing new.”
Among those whose actions are called into question by the film is Abel Reyna, who as Dotson’s defense attorney set up his guilty plea and told prosecutors he was trying to protect Baylor’s reputation.
Reyna is now McLennan County’s district attorney whose rape conviction of former Baylor football player Sam Ukwauchu was overturned this week by a state appeals court and who is prosecuting the controversial Twin Peaks shootout cases in Waco.
The film aired twice in Austin during the South by Southwest film festival, but Friday’s 8 p.m. showing will be the first time it can be seen by the public.
“I hope that people will walk away with a greater understanding of what happened (in 2003),” Kondelis said. “I also hope they will see how quickly that things can go terribly wrong and then magically disappear from view.
“Thirteen years have gone by, and a lot of people have forgotten about this case.”
NCAA audience up
CBS Sports and Turner Sports officials are understandably bullish on this year’s NCAA Tournament that concludes with the Final Four this weekend in suburban Phoenix. Games are averaging 9.8 million viewers, up 10 percent from 8.9 million year ago with a 6.0 Nielsen rating, up from 5.5 in 2016.
Turner Sports president David Levy cited a larger number of closer games this year and a lack of upsets, which kept marquee brand programs alive longer than in recent years. The best example was North Carolina Kentucky, which drew 15.5 million viewers Sunday as the third mostwatched regional final since 2005.
The March Madness Live video service has generated 88 million live streams, up 31 percent from last year.
With only Baylor making it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, Texas market ratings on CBS and Turner continued to slump: 5.2 in Austin (43rd among 56 markets), 4.2 in Houston (52nd), 3.9 in Dallas-Fort Worth (53rd) and 3.2 in 2018 Final Four host city San Antonio (55th). Saturday’s Final Four games are both bicoastal — South Carolina-Gonzaga and North Carolina-Oregon — which CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said could help ratings. By the way, with the Final Four back on CBS this year, there will be no individual teamcasts on alternate channels as was the case last year. Teamcasts will return next year when the Final Four is back on TBS.
Radio audience shifting from sports
As we discussed briefly last week, these are not happy days ratings-wise for sports talk radio in Houston.
So where is the sports audience going these days, you ask? According to Nielsen Audio, it’s migrated to newstalk on KTRK (740 AM) and KUHF (88.7 FM) and to CBS Radio’s new adult hits format on KKHH (95.7 FM).
Those three stations last year totaled 8.3 percent of the audience between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays. Last month, they accounted for 14.8 percent. Interesting, no?
KILT’s (610 AM) Sean Pendergast/ Rich Lord/Ted Johnson show in afternoon drive was the top-ranked sports show in February among men 25-54, but KILT’s other shows were elbowed aside by the Sean Salisbury/ John Granato and Fred Faour/A.J. Hoffman shows on KFNC (97.5 FM) for second.
And, albeit by a tenth of a share point, Josh Innes’ afternoon show is now the second-highest ranked show on KBME (790 AM).
Four DVRs, no waiting
After getting hit by a stray ball prior to an early-round NCAA Tournament game, Verne Lundquist made a nice catch on an errant pass during the South Carolina-Florida regional final. As to what happens in the Final Four if a ball bounces toward Grant Hill and Bill Raftery, Raftery said Monday, “Grant has lost a step. It probably will have to be me.” … Former Chronicle reporter Evan Drellich, most recently of the Boston Herald, has joined Comcast Sports Net New England as its Red Sox reporter. He also will appear on a new nightly show called “Boston Sports Tonight” to be co-hosted by Kayce Smith, a Texas A&M graduate from Arlington who formerly reported on the Aggies for ESPN’s SEC Network. … The Justice Department has settled its lawsuit with AT&T over alleged collusion over the Dodgers’ Sports Net LA regional sports network and will not require AT&T’s Direc TV to carry the service. That’s a win for DirecT V and a blow for the Dodgers. … The Nielsen Company says a faulty signal encoder prevented it from registering accurate ratings this season for Spurs games on Fox Sports Southwest. Audiences were down about 40 percent, but since the glitch was uncovered, average ratings in San Antonio have climbed from 5.2 to expected levels in the 7-plus range, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. … As with Caesar’s Gaul, Chris Berman’s NFL responsibilities have been divided into three parts. Suzy Kolber will host “Monday Night Countdown,” Samantha Ponder will host “Sunday NFL Countdown” and Trey Wingo will host the NFL draft and will take over “NFL Primetime.” … The Astros homered twice last Sunday against the Nationals, so Todd Kalas twice got to say “That ball’s in Astro orbit,” his late father’s Houston-era home run call. Last Sunday would have been Harry Kalas’ 81st birthday. … Jose Canseco has signed on as a studio analyst for A’s games on NBC Sports California. … A.J. Pierzynski is the latest former MLB player to sign on with Fox Sports for the 2017 season, joining Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, Pete Rose and Frank Thomas.