CLYDE’S GRAY AREA
Would Frazier be in hot water at MSG if he made Melo comment during season?
What’s next for Walt (Clyde) Frazier?
The living legend dipped himself deep inside the Gulag cauldron when he told ESPNNY.com Knicks beat man Ian (Iron Head) Begley: “I’m sure Melo wasn’t happy (with the Kristaps Porzingis pick). His future is now. You know, he’s not getting younger. ... Will he ask out ... if he sees this is not happening? Because right now the Knicks, (it’s) going to be tough to make the playoffs. They are a few years away and Melo knows that his days are numbered, so stay tuned.”
In a few seconds, Frazier reversed the spin MSG operatives already put out through Carmelo Anthony after post-draft reports surfaced that Melo was not happy with Phil Jackson picking Zingy. Following those reports, Melo said on social media that the pick was a “steal.” He also revealed his transmission of greetings and salutations to Porzingis via a text message.
Would anyone be surprised if James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan wondered why Frazier’s muzzle, aka Mike Breen, wasn’t by Clyde’s side to clarify his comment? On this occasion Frazier’s chaperone was Keith Hernandez, another lose cannon. The two were promoting their “No Play for Mr. Gray” hair-coloring shtick.
And speaking of Mr. Gray, wonder how Jackson reacted to his former teammates’s soliloquy? Et tu, Brute? Oy vey? Or maybe Jax was actually applauding. If you buy the notion that Jackson wanted Anthony to get out while the getting was good during his free agent tour, then the Knicks prez might have gladly swallowed Clyde’s double dose of reality.
There will be no repercussions for Frazier. He won’t be behind a mike for a few months. And by the time he mouths his next rhyme, his Melo commentary will be forgotten. If it should be resurrected, Frazier will walk it back under the guidance of MSG’s secret police, er, PR staff.
Besides, through all the Knicks’ turmoil and mismanagement, Frazier is the one constant, a symbol of the glory days, which, according to his most recent comments, won’t be returning anytime soon.
OUT PATTERN
Brandon Marshall will not have the “huevos” to hold Geno Smith, or any of his Jets teammates, accountable when he appears on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” this season.
His recent comments, during an ESPN “First Take” interview, about being the only one in the Bears organization with the scallions to hold Jay Cutler accountable proved Marshall withheld some of his best material during his Showtime appearances last season.
And he did so under heavy crossexamination from Norman Julius Esiason and Phil Simms (when he actually showed up in studio). Marshall was able to effectively stick and move when it came to giving non-answers to questions that hit to close to home. The suits who hired him don’t care. They are thrilled having an active player on the roster.
So if history serves as precedent (we hope it doesn’t), Marshall won’t be dishing anything of substance on the Jets until he is out the green door.
AIRING METS
Think anyone at CBS Radio, which owns WFAN, is wondering if they dumped the Mets a year too soon? After all, CBS paid significantly less for Mets broadcast rights than they currently pay for Yankees radio rights (about $10 million per in a 10-year deal) and it won’t be easy covering that nut.
On the flip side, iHeartMedia, which owns WORAM, the Mets’ radio home, is paying between $6 million and $8 million for Mets radio rights and will likely be able to break even next season. Or do significantly better with an intensified sales effort. Radio sources said WOR’s night listenership is up (one source said from 90,000 to 350,000) significantly since the end of July when the offense picked up.
And we wonder what the suits at ESPN Radio are thinking.
They were heavily in the mix when the Mets’ radio contract was up for grabs but didn’t go deep enough into the wallet to seal the deal. With ESPN’s ability to promote, 98.7’s night listenership would have been huge compared to what it is now if it had landed the Mets deal.
FINAL BELL?
Considering all the chicanery that’s taken place throughout the history of boxing, proving consumer fraud is next to impossible, although 30 consumer lawsuits are pending against Manny Pacquiao for not revealing a shoulder injury prior to his fight with Floyd Mayweather.
That brings us to Mayweather’s bout with Andre Berto, scheduled for Sept. 12 on Showtime PPV ($64.95 standard, $74.95 HD). It’s the last in Mayweather’s six-fight deal with Showtime worth about $300 million.
Mayweather has said he will retire after a mismatch that would raise his record to 49-0. In its press releases announcing the fight, Showtime carefully hedged on whether it will be Mayweather’s swan song, saying: “In what is expected to be the final fight of his illustrious 19-year career ...”
However, Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, is definitive, saying Mayweather will retire after fighting Berto. “That’s a fact. This is Floyd’s last fight,” Ellerbe told Mlive.com. “I’m not trying to sell it that way. This is going to be his last fight.”
Not trying to sell it that way? It’s the ONLY way to sell a fight boss boxing scribes have already labeled a stinker. If Ellerbe is adamant that this is the last chance to see Money Mayweather perform, then back it up with a money-back guarantee: If Floyd comes back in the next 18 months, PPV viewers of Mayweather-Berto get a refund. If the fight is promoted as Mayweather’s last, some fans will buy the hype and would have no recourse, except a money-back guarantee, if Mayweather fights again next year.
And if that happens, Ellerbe can recycle the old Bob Arum line: “Yesterday I was lying, today I’m telling the truth.”
TO HARV & TO HOLD
When it comes to ESPN, Matt Harvey is very accommodating.
He posed nude for ESPN The Magazine and last Sunday he provided the network with an in-game interview from the dugout during Nats-Mets on “Sunday Night Baseball.” Watching this, we wondered why Harvey doesn’t make many similar appearances during SNY Mets telecasts.
Maybe it’s a branding thing.