Conference 7.286::sports_91

    >The Nordic MrT type of guy plays too dumb...
    
    HEY, WATCH IT.
    
    MrT

    What was the worst Super Bowl commercial?  I thought it was the Go-Go's
    for Bugle Boy Jeans...

    	The worst commercial was the one with George Bush and his mother
    that they showed at halftime...

    yeah, the Go-Go's were pretty bad. It makes me wonder when they made a
    "comeback" tour (most of us hadn't noticed that they were gone).
    
    What about the best one?  I thought the one where Ray Charles says
    "Everyone thinks they can sing this song better than me" and various
    people try, but fail miserably.....

    How about the Coke commercial where they basically said, "Gee, we HAD a
    really cool blow-yer-socks-off commercial that we *were gonna* put on
    the air, but, uh, y'see...."  I guess it had something making light of
    the military or espionage (Crack the code)
    
    Tom 

    	The best commercial was the one where Elvis drinks a glass of
    Pepsi, then starts singing "Can't Touch This".

    I got a kick out of Al Michaels having to say, along with all the other
    slogans like 'This Bud's for you,':
    
    	"You got the right one, baby, uh huh."
    
    And he delivered it with such soul too. 
    
    	--dan'l

    I missed the Pepsi one, I was busy finding a thermometer to put in
    my mouth to find out a had a fever and not just a bad hangover...
    
    Al had a lot of soul in him didn't he?
    
    The Go-Go's reunion tour swung through the Orpheum in mid-November
    I think.  Don't think it was a sellout...
    
    I liked Keith Jackson in the Bud Bowl, but the ads are getting old.
    
    -Walt

    Al's a self-important stiff.  In fack, Dierdorf is the only one of
    the three with any value.  I found the announcing on the game to've
    been awful.  Here it is a 2 minute drive for It All, finally, and
    these guys are chit-chatting away in the same voice tones and volumes
    as in the first quarter.  Then, it comes down to a kick, and these
    guys are talking in a matter-of-fack  off-hand manner as if it were
    just another play.  No screaming, no awe-inspired sense of excitement,
    no nothing.  Just 3 guys trying to sound credible.  That's announcing
    getting in the way, IMNSHO.  Pat Summerall couldn't have been more
    boring.  Too bad they didn't have Hank Stram in the booth, he woulda
    been bouncing off the walls.  I was kicking myself for not having 
    listened to the radio, that woulda done it.  These guys are so intent
    on sounding cool that it was as if they were in a different stadium
    from the bonkers crowd.  Awful.   
    
    MrT

    re: .-1
    
    Mebe they should start lettin' Dick Vitale do football.  After all,
    he's part of the resources of ABC.  (Thanks to their unfortunate
    purchase of ESPN.  :^( )
    
    
    - ACC Chris

	The one thing that got me was the picture of the Giants praying
again.  The first time against the 49ers I had the feeling that it was
genuine feeling and emotion that brought the players together.  In the
Super Bowl game it seemed more staged than genuine.  Then the next day I 
saw a picture of Giants' fans at LT's mugging for a picture in the National 
with their hands clasped and thought PHONY.  Don't be surprised if you 
start seeing the "prayer circle at the end of a close game" being exploited 
to its max at other sporting events.

				/Don

                       
  > Al's a self-important stiff.
    
    I especially enjoyed seeing Michaels on ESPN that morning telling the
    viewers that it shouldn't take a war to put things in perspective and
    that if you're too into the game of football maybe you should get a
    life (all this editorializing on the network that gives us round-the-
    clock sports and Chris Berman Bud Bowl updates to boot, no less).
    Yeah, right Al, guess it's time for you to get a real job, then.
    
    I think since the World Series earthquake Michaels considers himself to
    be a real hard-news reporter...
    
    glenn
    

The calls from the Super Bowl that appeared on HBO's Inside the NFL
proved that there were better calls from other places.....

My feeling on the Giants on their knees, hands clasped is this:

	The week before it worked in San Fran.  Because it
	worked in San Fran, do it again.

If we win, and I'm wearing a particular pair of socks, I'll wear the
same pair of socks until we lose.  Lots of sports superstitions are like
that....

'Saw

I thought the "prayer circle" was blather.

My wife and I both had the same idea at the same time. You pray to have a 
friend recover from an illness, You pray that noone gets hurt in the Middle
East....If they were indeed praying that Norwood would miss the field goal...

I just can't colaborate the significance of it in relation to the really
important things in life.


if they were joining hands in a circle as a good luck ritual or to smell each
others manly odors or to join their collective unconsciousness to push the 
ball to the right.... :-)  I got no problems with that....


Metz

At the risk of bringing up rugby again, I don't think they're necessarily
praying.

You practice all week, work with these guys, feel the positive vibes.
Every rugby team, or football team, that I've ever seen, gets together
before they start to play, and grabs hands and get psyched.

What the Giants were doing during the FG attempts is sort of the same
thing:  reaffirmation of TEAM, positive vibes sort of thing.

On the playing field, no matter what I've ever been involved with,
soccer, baseball/softball, rugby, I've never felt the need to invoke
Divine intervention.  I've always felt it was up to me/team or not....

'Saw

    	'Saw, both Anderson and Parcells made references to God being
    on the field and helping them win.  The only question I have is
    that if this is true how come the Almighty wasn't the guy saying
    "I'm going to Disneyland!"?
    
    				/Don

Didn't see it, but I'd bet it was Bill Patrick.

Bill used to be a sportscaster on WFSB-TV3.  Their sportscasters have
always tended to have a comic side to them.

It's weird how many former Channel 3 guys I've seen around.  Bill O'Reilly,
host of Inside Edition comes from there too.

Has anyone ever come across a Sportscaster named Ted Leitner?  He used to 
be at TV3 years ago.  I called him the first Modern era sportscaster they
had, because he was the first one under 70 that I remember on that
station 8^)  If you know of him, let me know where he's at....

'Saw

    David Ropeik (Ropiek?) is another one.  I remember him being on Channel
    3 in Hartford while I was in school before moving up here to work for
    Channel 5.
    
    Of course, this is all probably junk noting anyway.
    
    John

    Pam Cross used to be at Channel 3, but she has moved up to Channel 5 in
    Boston

re: commercials

I like the Ray Charles commercial where he has the three chicks with
him, dressed in black. And the chick on the right is really good
looking, and she jumps out of the tv and starts chasing me around the
room, and I fall over the coffee table, and she jumps on top of me, and
I start barking like a dog and shoving popcorn down her blouse, and my
wife wakes me up and says I thought you wanted to WATCH this game.

That's a great commercial.

Mike JN

    Re: The Ray Charles Commercial
    
    The best part of that ad was listening to Al Micheals saying "you've
    got the right stuff, baby, uh huh" during the Super Bowl. He sounded
    properly foolish, as anyone would. It was great.
    
    Dennis
    

Yeah, again, if any of you know the whereabouts of Ted Leitner, or
a guy named Khambrel Marshall, please let me know.

Leitner I thought went to the Philly area....

thanks,
'Saw

    Not sure how long the commercials been out, but theres a new ray
    charles pepsi commercial where other actors are trying out singing
    you got the right one baby uh-huh,,,,,and who know singing pepsi
    commercials (now) you guessed it, Bo knows how to make the $$$$$
    								MaB

    I really like that one - now for the trivia quiz:
    
    How many of the folks (besides Bo) can you identify?
    
    A&W

    Tiny Tim was one.....

    Jerry Lewis was one of them as well, Ill have to pay close attention
    next time and see who else is there.
    								MaB

How `bout the Super Dave commercials.... where the Black dude is showing
his shoes and then how great he can jump and stuff the ball. And the
White dude is always trying these different inventions to get him up in
the air and show up the Black dude. His inventions always end up
throwing him through a brick wall, or out a window, or through the
roof.... the latest one smashes him right through the backboard. I crack
up every time (Inspector Clouseau is my hero).

	`I think I hurt my spleen'.

Mike JN

>	`I think I hurt my spleen'.
    
    Or, "I think I broke my face" :-)
    
>up every time (Inspector Clouseau is my hero).
    
    "They called me the pavlaver of parallels....   Aaaaaaaaaaa... (falls
                                                              down stairs)
    
    "Your nose is melting...  Kill him"
    
    The Pink Panther Strikes Again is one of the all-time classic comedies
    - right up there with Airplane and Arthur :-)
    
    ML

My favorite (from Sellars..aka Clouseau)


"That was a priceless Steinway !"


"not any moorrrrreeee"



Metz

That is truly my favorite.
The first time I saw it I actually thought I was going to hurt myself I
was laughing so hard, eyes watering, legs crossed and clamped tightly so
I didn't soil my linen.
From the time he vaults over the railing and rolls down the stairs,
proceeds to `interview' the servants, until he blows the English
Inspector's butt full of buckshot.... it must be about ten to fifteen
minutes of the funniest stuff that has ever hit the silver screen.
I've seen it more than a dozen times now.
What was really neat was the first time I rented it to show to my son
(who, up to that point had thought Peewees' big Adventure was actually
comedy).
He went totally non-linear!
We were both laughing and snorting and rewinding stuff so we could watch
different scenes again. My wife, who is certain we're both twisted,
would wander by occasionally and shake her head sadly.

Mike `Out weeth ze bad air... In weeth ze guuuuuud' JN

    I want to party with you, Mike JN.  Any fan of Cleuseau is a friend of
    mine.  
    
    	--dan'l

    My favorite line of the Inspector is "I'd like to use the phune".
    
    I remember reading an article about Sellers, and the actress who was in
    this scene said that he often did ad-libs while the camera was running.
    This was one of them, and, if you look closely, you can see her
    laughing over it.  It was kept in the picture.
    
    lEe

 Sellers had an amazing ability to use the oldest moth-eaten jokes around
 and have you wetting your pants over them.
 
 I forget which Pink Panther movie it was but right after he asked the
 hotel desk clerk if he has a "ruuuum", he leaned over and said ... 
 
 	"Dozz yer doggie a_bite ???"
 
 The hotel clerk said "No", Clouseau reached down and the little furball
 snarled and chewed him up good.
 
 Clouseau, shocked, looked up and said ...
 
 	"I thought you zaid yer dog dozz not bite!!!"
 
 And, of course, the clerk says ...
 
 	"Zat iss not mah dog."
 
 It was a riot.   The whole movie was.
 
 Bob Hunt

    Or how about the scene where he was trying to get into the castle. 
    Way too funny.

    
    I always liked the way Kay-toh would be waiting to ambush the inspector 
    to test his guard..  Wasn't he hidding in the fridge in one scene, and 
    then they ended up trashing the entire apartment duking in out.  
    
    I'm here to fix your fuuuune is a classic too?  The actress keeps
    repeating "fuune?"  Yes your fuunne  .. there is something wrong with 
    your fuuune!!   
    
    

    Ever see Being There?  Another funny flick...
    
    -Walt

Did any of you see "Good Sports" last night with Jim Brown lasted night ?


This show could be a primer for the weekly LA law Addicts. 

Jeff

    HAs anyone seenthe new Nike commercial with Spike Lee finding
    Alladdin's lamp,and the genie (played by Little Richard) gives him one
    wish ?
    
    stooooopid ! :-)

 No way, Doc.   Spike's new commercial is *GREAT* !!!
 
 So what do I wish for ... ya know, ya know, ya know.
 
 	A million dollars ???
 
 Nah, tax problems.
 
 I liked it.
 
 Bob Hunt

    I liked this commercial as well, think about it a MIllion dollars is
    just a million dollars, being Michael Jordan gives you unlimited
    earning potential......on a scale of 1-10 its around a 6....maybe
    a 7
    								MaB

    re .42
    
    Bob "Stooopid" is slang for "GREAT" ..... or "Had me roolwaard !"
    
    hence the smiley .....

    Sorry, Doc, I missed that one.  To me, stupid is stupid.  Mea culpa.
    
    I got the right "hip" word for it ... it was "proper".
    
    Bob Hunt

    Stop  ! ....
    
    
    Ketchup Time !!!!
    
    hohoho  ...hohoho .. can't touch it ....

    Oh, I'm rolllllllllling, Doc.
    
    The visual of Bob Hunt doing the Hammer Time thing in baggy pants just
    kills me.
    
    D.J. Dandy Dan'l and M.C. Hunt, featuring A.C.Chris on triangle.
    
    Oh, we could go on...and I'm sure we will...
    
    	--dan'l
    

    Feelings, nothing more than feelings, trying to forget my ... feelings
    of luvvvvvvvv ...
    
    {Sip, gurgle, gurgle}  Ahhhhhhhhh !!!!
    
    Proper!!!
    
    Bob Hunt

    Anyone see 'Seinfeld' last night?  He was having trouble deciding if he
    wanted to date this girl who admitted to liking the Dockers commercial.
    He really ranked on the commercial while he was at it.
    
    	--dan'l

Speaking of Dockers...

I was watching the Super Bowl and on comes this commercial with these
wicked cool old car (I *like* old cars).  These guys are talking about
them, and I'm saying to myself "Gee, I hope this is a Miller commercial,
they have good commercials"

Nexted thing I know I see these |CENSORED|s wearing Dockers, and I 
was like major league bummed.  

I had to go have a shot of whisky to calm down....

bummer.

'Saw

    I'm surprised noone has brought up the new Adidas commercials.

    Frank's mention of the "Regular Guys Strip Bar" over in the Pirates
    note reminded me of a Keystone Beer commercial I saw this weekend.  It
    was a hilarious 30 seconds of the "Regular Guys Country Club."  Some of
    the highlights were monster tired golf carts and lawn chairs, palm
    trees, and bikini bimbos in the sand traps.
    
    Too funny.
    
    	--dan'l

    Now that Dan'l mentioned it, just what or who are the "Swedish Bikini
    Team" in these Keystone beer commercials.
    
    Saw a few different commercials for Keystone and all of them featured
    the "Swedish Bikini Team", and they are the stuff dreams are made of.
    Boy, to get into a tag team match with those Babes!!!!Heavenly!!
    
    JaKe
    

    You guys have to be kidding me....those Keystone commercials featuring
    the "Swedish Bikini Team" are terrible.  They're stupid and they assume
    that you don't have a brain in your head, which for some of you is
    correct :-), but I frankly find them insulting and not worth my time. 
    The other one I hate is the hugh Miller can being pulled by a tugboat.
    Somehow, to me, it makes the assumption that if you drink beer, you're
    automatically a bonehead, incapable of reasonable conversation and in
    general an ass.
    
    Has the era of the insightful sport commercials gone?  Bring back the
    Mean Joe Green Coke commercial.  It was good and done with taste.
    
    Live from Charger Central.......Glenn

    I just re read my previous reply and it does sound like I say the
    commercial is great, that is not the truth.  It's the Swedish Bikini
    Team that is great.  The commercials, other than the T&A suck.
    
    JaKe
    

    I'm with 'ya Jake.  
    
    Live from Charger Central.......Glenn

Aw, you guys are way to serious!

I mean, how many times have you said "Wouldn't it be great if...."


I agree on the new Genuine Draft Lite commercials.  I don't like those.


The WORST commercials on now have to be the "Go out to eat, use your
American Express Card" spots on the radio, with the waiters and waitresses
that sound like they came of Thirty Something.....Stupid.

    1. The "Wouldn't it be great if..." commercials are for Keystone.
    
    
    
    2. The Swedish Bikini Team is for Old Mil.  For close to a decade now,
    Old Mil has been doing those commercials that show that male bonding
    rough stuff that "doesn't get any better than this."  Suddenly, you get
    the same set up and they say "It doesn't get any better than
    this...well, not unless..."  And then one guy strikes gold, and the
    Swedish Bikini Team comes down stream, and 6-packs of Old Mil come
    parachutin' in.  It's a hilarious take off on their own commercials!!!
    
    
    
    3. Lighten up, Glenn.   Life's too short.
    
    
    
    	--dan'l

    
    >  3. Lighten up, Glenn.   Life's too short.
    
    
    Well dan'l, I see no smiley faces or anything else, so I assume you
    mean this stupid comment.  I find the mentioned commercials shallow and
    insensitive.  You like them.  That may be more of a reflection of you
    than merely a commercial.
    
    Live from Charger Central.......Glenn

>    >  3. Lighten up, Glenn.   Life's too short.
>    
>    Well dan'l, I see no smiley faces or anything else, so I assume you
>    mean this stupid comment.  I find the mentioned commercials shallow and
>    insensitive.  You like them.  That may be more of a reflection of you
>    than merely a commercial.
    
    Yes, Glenn, I meant that comment.  I see nothing stupid about about it
    and certainly not deserving of your insulting reply.  You have a nice
    day too.
    
    	--dan'l

    --dan'l
    
    Fortunately, my replies are not dependant upon whether you 
    think they're deserving or not.
    
    Live from Charger Central.......Glenn

Boys, Boys!


Stop your bickering right now, or I'll make you sit in a room with
Mr Dahmer for a while...  And he likes to do the Pee Wee Thang......



;^)

    Regarding my few last replies aimed at --dan'l.  
    
    I'm WAY out of line on those replies.  I shouldn't have dropped them so
    hard.  My quipness (TM) is at a 10 today, still revving from some messy
    business I had to take care of last night.  My apologies to --dan'l and
    my apologies to the rest of you.  Nothing personal dan'l, I was just on
    edge.
    
    Live from Charger Central.......Glenn

    Swedish Bikini Beach Team - Fabulous babes, or an indictment of
    society?  Next on Gerardo, I mean Geraldo...

    Alright Walt!!  Actually, I do have a pretty decent poster of the
    Charger Cheerleaders, but they're not in bikinis (sigh).
    
    Live from Charger Central.......Glenn

    	Glen. I'm proud to be a bonehaid.  I wear it on my sleeve as
    a sort of honor badge.  Matter of fact, Midnight and I are thinking
    of starting a "Bonehaid Jihad", right Doc?
    
    				/Don

    RE Keystone and the mini-bickering.
    
    I also find those commercials stupid - but Keystone is marketed to
    appeal to the low-end of beer drinkers (I got this from an advertising
    mag I read on my last business flight.)  Coors is marketing the segment
    of beer drinkers that drink what are called 'low-end' brews:  Old
    Milwaukee, etc...
    
    I really liked the Stroh's commercials of a few year's ago...
    
    JD

    When it comes to drinking a beer, I drink the low-end, the high-end,
    and every drop in between.
    
    After you drink IronCity, you can drink anything.
    
    	--dan'l (a.k.a. IC Light)

    Anyone remember the "Bruce" Piscapo commercialwhere h acted like Bruce
    Lee, at the end where he spins the pizza and karate chops the slices I
    was roolliinnnggg!
    
    

 Nope no one remembers that one Jesse, must be a figment of your imagination
 just like beating the Misfits in FFL is...

 I don't know how many of you have seen the new/old NIke commercial
 with MArs and Michael where they do the gig about Michael winning the
 championship because of DA SHOES...

 I had a trainwreck at the end of it last night when they show Dyan Cannon
 all alone in the Forum with her Lakers pennant saying "It had to be DA
 Shoes"....

 hahahaa

 only way it could have been better would have been to have Jack behind
 her chuckin a moon...

Jack chuckin' a moon.... Got me rollward there Zambo....


Speakin' of sports, does anyone remember the old Boys Clubs commercials
where they had the kid doing pushups.  The annoucer dude would be sayin'
"A pushup is a little thing, but little things add up to big things".

Meantime, their showing this kid doing pushups.  I mean, if they'd have had
to do a few takes this kid would've been puking......

    Hawk, at least they got close enough to get their lumps.
    
    Celtics couldn't get past the fodder.
    
    Mark.

    Hmm, sounds like they got more "Excellent" losses, Markie.
    
    lEe

    Re Saw and the Boys Club commercial
    
    PeeWee found out that some small things eventually get big!!  (8^0*
    
    JaKe
    

    Anyone see "Coach" lasted night?  Probably the funniest episode since
    Luther got his dog.
    
    	--dan'l

       Okay Chap, so what was the topic? It's too late to back out now!
                                       Denny

    re last
    
    I can only imagine the carryin' ons we'd get here with that topic. Over
    in the Bruins notesfile someone suggested that Cam Neeley is in fact a
    "Trouser Pilot" and a "Pickle Sniffer" among others. It got pretty
    heated over there, but was still very amusing. As one noter said about
    Cam, "I don't care if he gets his kicks from farm animals as long as he
    scores goals for the B's."
    
    Tom  

    For the record, last night's "Coach" dealt quite well with the subject
    of having a homosexual on a football team.  
    
    On one hand you had Dauber who said it didn't bother him when he played
    so why should it bother him now.  On the other you had Hayden and
    Luther who, being from an older generation, just couldn't quite come to
    grips of having a homosexual on the team and also finding out there
    have been several in the past they didn't know about.
    
    Funniest line of the night was Luther stumbling over his words after
    finding out: "But in football?  Football's for men and stuff.  You
    can't have them...those...um...er...guys out there with the
    regularsexuals."
    
    And a great ending that didn't try to shove any "politically correct"
    viewpoint down the audience's throat.  Just one that showed Hayden
    making an attempt to understand...mixed in with some side-splitting
    dialogue.
    
    	--dan'l

    For those who didnt see it,  the ending was hilarious.  The coach
    goes to a bar to ask the Homosexual Player (I cant remember his
    name) To come back on the team.  Coach does not realize its a gay
    bar and on the way out 2 guys dancing notice the coach (Ex players
    who played for coach).  They both ask coach what are you doing here
    and he replies TAKING HIM HOME (It was past curfew) but it was
    funny...........

	Luther is right up there with Coach (form cheers) as one of TV's 
funniest dimwits.

mc

    So as not to clutter Mac's note over in the Olympics topic, I'll place
    this tidbit in here.  The Olympics are offering (for a price) the
    opportunity to choose from one of three broadcasts, depending on which
    sport interests you the most.  Not a bad idea.
    
    This is the first of an offering we'll be hearing about in the very
    near future.  It is already available in some areas of Canada.  What
    you do is subscribe to a game and you get this package where you use a
    remote control to watch various camara angles (i.e. no depending on
    what the director wants to show you).
    
    The segment I saw on the news recently had this father and son watching
    some Canadian football game and they were flicking back and forth
    through a series of feeds.  They chose what replays to watch.  They
    chose to concentrate on a certain player.  They chose an endzone view. 
    Etcetera.  
    
    Looked pretty cool, though I don't know I'd ever pay bucks for a luxury
    I can do without...but there are people like Hal in this world who
    would want the Bernie's Butt view on for the entire game. 8-)
    
    	--dan'l

About the ONLY thing I'd like to see in SPORTS broadcasting, is the 
ability to hit a button on your remote, and have the score, time remaining
or inning, and a situational blurb pop up on the bottom of the screen.

So often I join a game in progress and have to wait, wait, wait for the
announcers to stop having woodies hearing themselves talk about 
second effort, underrated players, the turf etc etc and give some
simple, useful information like a score....


'Saw

Worst thing is when you're out shopping and you just want to stop in the local
appliance store and check out the score before your wife drags you away to go
look at more wallpaper for the nursery or cute cribs or other essentials of 
life and it takes the guys 10 minutes to finally show the stupid score and
your wife is pestering you to get onto the next store and the smell of fresh
baked chocolate chip cookies is wafting in your face from down the mall.....

I hate it when that happens...

Metz

    Worst thing about Sports and TV for me is Frank, Al, and Dan !
    
    I mute The Fat Bastards and listen to the Radio
    
    Big Game Hunta

    Hey little lame
    
    Younz got something against fat people??????
    
    JaKe
    

    
     No,
    
     Thats a Line from my buddy Dice Clay...  
    
    
    It goes like this;
    
     Hey, JaKe...  Drop A few Pounds Ya Fat B_____D
    
    Big Game Hunta

    Had to Have 100 While I was at it !!
    
    
    Big Game Hunta

    This is weird, there are two different .101's!!
    
    Hey little lame, what was that about getting .100???????
    
    JaKe
    

I figured this was as good a place as any.


On Saturday, while searching for a parking space somewhat near the new
barber shop I was going to try out, I ended up parking in front of 
a video store.  There was a prominent sign in the window:

		Conversions:  Foreign to US, US to Foreign.


I don't know if this is a common service, but if any of you are stuck
ever, and need to have a conversion done, let me know....


'Saw

    
    Surprised this didn't get a mention in here last week, but I think it
    got hidden in all the Superbowl hype.  Last week NBC announced that
    they are getting out of the Sports programming business.  They said the
    costs are too high for the returns they are getting.  It wasn't clear
    whether they were getting 100% out (i.e. no NFL) but it was clear that
    they will no longer go after the big Olympics, baseball, etc.
    contracts.  
    
    I do not think this bodes well for most sports fans.  It will surely
    reduce the competition, and the pressure on the other networks to
    produce competent shows.  I think it may pave the way for cable (and
    ultimately PPV) to pick up some of the slack.  As much as we bitch
    about commercials on out shows, this could be worse.
    
    Brews  

    Bruce -
    
    I'm not surprised.  If you look at what NBC has paid for OLympics, you
    can see why.  The quadrupled the fee that ABC had paid in past
    Olympics.  They got burnt, and burnt bad wht the 80 Olympics were
    boycotted.  They had wrested away the rights to the Summer Games from
    ABC by offering the Soviets tons of money and technology transfer. 
    They had a huge loss - even with whatever insurance they had.  
    
    Then, they really paid through the nose for the coming Winter Olympics. 
    ANd that's a joke.  The Winter Olympics don't get the viewing numbers
    that the SUmmer games get - yet NBC paid summer-like fees for it.
    
    I thought I saw a graphic that ABC paid 88 million for the rights to
    the 88 winter games (maybe it was the 84 games, but I thinkg it was
    88) and NBC paid about 300 mil for the 92 winter games...
    
    JD

    JD,
    
    CBS has the Winter Olympics, NBC has the Summer Olympics in 1992.
    
    The Crazy Met
    

    Oops.
    
    Then maybe the figures were for the Summer games.  I do know that the
    costs have skyrocketed.  And CBS paid way too much for the winter
    games.  Of course, US companies get taken for a ride by the Olympics,
    paying huge amounts for less coverage then other countries do.
    
    Then again, countries likee Canada, for example, don't waste viewing
    time with a zillion 'human interest' stories intermingled wiht a few
    minutes of sports.
    
    JD

Then there is the pay per view thing they are doing with these Olympics.  I 
haven't paid much attention to it so I don't know exactly how it is working, 
but I do know that it is happening.

Scott

    Pay per view will be available for some of the SUmmer Olympics. Winter
    Olympics is all on CBS.
    
    The Crazy Met
    

     Once again the american consumer bends over and takes it like
    the boys from "Men on Film" (FOX: In Living Color).  This shit
    has got to stop soon.  I hope they pass the laws on regulating 
    cable again.  Ted Turner and the like will have us ::SPORTS fans by the
    B*lls if not !!
    
    BG

On the other hand, it could be the best thing that ever happened....


Sports goes totally Pay-Per-View.  Some folks watch, maybe a lot of folks
watch.

But some of us don't.  Some of us find that the hours not watching sports
are better spent, perhaps enlightening ourselves with great literature,
or getting outdoors more into the fresh air and natural beauty of the land.

Slowly, a segment of society weens itself from the Glass Teat.  

Over time, those more enlightened, more informed people begin to get
more involved in the quality of life here in the US.  People run for
Congress, who never conceived of the notion before.  Common sense becomes
a trademark, as people get used to thinking for themselves, and not
thinking what the airwaves tell them to think....

Soon, life is turning around here in the US....



I dunno, just a thought.


'Saw

    	Get real 'Saw.  The Red Sox will win the World Series, the Whalers
    will win the Stanley Cup and Wilt Chamberlain will be proclaimed
    the greatest winner in sports before any of that happens.
    
    
    				/Don

       If you're really interested in this, write to your congresscritter
    soon, they're starting to consider the reregulation bill now.
       I have mixed feelings. If we do get PPV I think it'll mean I cain
    turn on my TV and decide I wanna watch 9ers-Skins on some Sunday
    instead of Browns-Bengals that the network decided I wanted to see.
    I guess it depends on what they decide to charge. I'd like to pick what
    game I get to watch, and this is the only way it'll happen.
                                        Denny

    'Saw a side of you we've never seen before.
    
    The Crazy Met
    

       PPV would be a lot like rugby!
                                   Denny

>       PPV would be a lot like rugby!
>                                   Denny


Yeah.  It would.  I just haven't figured out how yet....8^)

       Well, you said PPV would get you outta the house and away from the
    TeeVee.
                                  Denny

>       Well, you said PPV would get you outta the house and away from the
>    TeeVee.

Yeah, but so does sex with farm animals...


And in case anyone is wondering, YES, I say things like that at business
meetings...even in front of guys wearing suits...


Gotta get me a tie like Denny's though...that's too cool...


'Saw

>Gotta get me a tie like Denny's though...that's too cool...
       Don Nelson has always been my fashion consultant.
                                         Denny 8^)

    
     Has anyone else been watching the series "More Than Just A Game" on
    A&E this week ?

     I can tell by the overwhelming response to .122 that virtually everyone 
    has been watching "More Than Just A Game". For the unenlightened few
    who of you that haven't, it's a series on corruption in sports at all 
    levels - the infuence of money, the demise of amateurism, the pervasiveness
    of performance enhancing drugs, etc. So far the highlighs have been Arnold
    Schwarzenegger dancing around the question of whether or not he was the 
    proper person to be head of the President's Council On Fitness seeing as 
    how he used steroids to get where he is today and the unrealistic expect-
    ations of young kids especially young inner-city black kids of becoming
    pro athletes. Given the dirth of quality programming on tv this is one
    show that's worth you time.
  
    

Tommy, I didn't realize that this was a series, but I did catch a portion of it
during my after bartending wind-down period (12-30am-2am) a couple of nights
ago.  It was focused mostly on the steroid issue, and interestingly, it was
answering the question I axed (which was answered) in here about why kids
would do steroids for other than performance enhanced in sports.  They showed
this kid who got busted for being a go-between, as well as a user himself, for
the supplier and customers, primarily in the gym.  I also caught a little
about the Arnold controversy, and if I remember correctly, Arnold did admit
to using steroids years ago.  I kind of agree that he isn't the right person
to be the head of the President's Physical Fitness Council since kids might
get the wrong impression about steroid (ab)use, seeing how big and famous and
rich it has made him.  On the other hand, who better to talk about it than a
person who has abused them.  Most people who speak out against drugs have
experienced them.  Same with HIV awareness with Magic Johnson....

Anyway, I echo Tommy's recommendation on catching this series, from the little
I've seen of it anyway.  Very interesting stuff, especially if you're as
uninformed and unaware of steroid abuse as I am....

Hawk

    July 13, the Discovery Channel is going to air a program on the last
    old ballyards.  Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Tiger Stadium will be
    featured, as well as a farewell to Comiskey Park.

    ny mention of Yankee Stadium or is that considered not "homey" enough
    because of its many facelifts?
    
    MikeL
    

    Yankee Stadium is basically a new park where an old one used to be. The
    field is nowhere near the drastic dimensions it used to have, and
    almost everything is new. They did keep those arches that used to go
    around the roof, but now they are in the outfield. I think they also 
    raised or lowered the field by something like 25 feet, did other 
    alterations that affect the sun and how it used to affect the OF, etc.  
    
    As much as I dislike the Yankees, I have to say it really isn't a bad
    stadium,and they did a nice job in renovating it. All the seats seem to 
    have a pretty decent view, which wasn't the case with the old YS. No 
    poles or overhanging decks either.
    
    Tom

    I have never been to Yankee Stadium but from listening to Joe Morgan on
    ESPN Sunday night alot of changes did take place in the mid 70's when
    it was renovated.  They mentioned the removal of the obstructed view
    seats and the field and something that I found strange was that there
    was not a fence around Monument Park where all the Yankee legends
    memorials are and that it was in the field of play.
    
    Jerry

    	I read where the Yankees are thinking of leaving the Stadium
    because they believe its location is causing low attendance.
    
    				/Don

    Where would they go? Tampa? Hmmm, Isn't there some crook who used to
    build ships for a living who has an office there?
    
    Inquiring minds and all that

       The Yanks will be over in the Swamplainds with their cousins before
    the end a the century!
                                      Denny

       Actually, there's already talk of a baseball park over there in the
    complex.
                                          Denny

               
    > I read where the Yankees are thinking of leaving the Stadium
    > because they believe its location is causing low attendance.
    
    No doubt it hurts, but unfortunately I think that the neighborhood
    situation around Yankee Stadium is getting a bad rap, which when
    repeated by those around the ballclub becomes a self-fulfilling 
    prophecy used to justify abandoning another perfectly good ballpark 
    (in Yankee Stadium's case, a perfectly *great* ballpark-- the place 
    still looks brand-spanking new even though the renovations took
    place over 15 years ago).
    
    The couple of times I've been to Yankee Stadium I've been left with the
    impression that I wouldn't want to leave the park and wander all over
    the surrounding neighborhoods, but that if I stuck to the streets between
    the stadium and the fenced-in parking lots there shouldn't be a problem.
    That's not to say there never has been but I just think the risk has
    been exaggerated.  Granted, with the Stadium being located on the city
    streets there's some access problems that cause a little inconvenience, 
    but this fear of venturing into the city to see a ball game as opposed 
    to having it served up to you in an antiseptic environment out in the 
    burbs just seems a little irrational...
    
    glenn
    

    I know those parks you mentioned were the oldest, but I thought
    Yankee Stadium was built in 1920 or so. Wasn't Fenway built in 1912?
    I would think the Yankee Stadium would qualify as "old" Could be
    wrong. I dunno, even tho I hate the Yankees, I got goosebumps when
    I entered that hallowed ground. On second thought, maybe it was because
    someone had just lifted my wallet.
    
    MikeL
    

Mac -

Yankee Stadium is pretty old.  How many parks are older than it right now (still
in use)  Fenway and Tiger?  Wirgley?  Cleveland?

Glenn -

I don't think the bad neighborhood line is a bum rap.  Sure, you may not
think its too bad - but from what I know of you, your not from the greater
NY Metro area, and not from NYC.   Many of the folks who left NYC in the 
60's won't go into the city for anything.  They'll go to Shea, because it's 
more or less thought of as 'on the Island', and that's about it.  Many folks
even opt to use Newark Airport instead of going into NYC.  

Part of the aura of going to a baseball game is the anticipation of getting
to the park.  With a large percentage of the fan base in the surburbs - a 
trip to the Bronx isn't exactly thigh-shuddering.  

I"ve always liked Yankee Stadium, even if I didn't like the Yankees.   There
was something magical about it.   The old stadium, before renovation, had
the mystique - "House that Ruth Built", the monuments in center field, etc...
Really left this youth awe-struck (especially getting to watch Mickey Mantle!)

JD   

    The new Yankee Stadium is NOT that old - opened in 1976. You can't
    compare it to Cleveland (1932) Wrigley (1914) Tiger or Fenway (both
    1912) or even the OLD Yankee Stadium (1923). Yankee Stadium today looks
    like Riverfront Stadium with grass and an asymetrical field. It even has 
    esacalators, wide aisles, no poles, no ovehanging decks. etc. It is a new 
    stadium, built on the same site as an old one.  
    
    I guess what bothers me the most about this "Yankeee Stadium is no good
    anymore -- build me a new $250 million stadium at taxpayer expense"
    talk is that once agian, a reasonably new, perfectly functional stadium 
    is/could be discarded in favor of a new park, when the old one isn't
    even paid or yet. St Louis wants a dome for a new football team,
    Washington wants a new stadium for the Redskins, the Baltimore park
    wasn't exactly falling apart... Is this a trend?
    
    Yankee Stadium was biult in 1923. At the end of the 1973 season, a
    massive renovation took place. Oh yeah, a few years before that, the
    Yanks sold it to the City for $1, but the city would be responsible for
    all the repairs, upkeep, etc. The city naturally paid for all the
    renovations, (cost something like $150M) which basically meant tearing 
    down almost the whole park and rebuilding it. The whole process took over 
    2 years, and the Yankees played at Shea, the Giants in the Yale Bowl, Shea,
    and finally in the brand new Giants Stadium in NJ. Yankee Stadium was
    ready for the 1976 season. The deal also included that the Yankees got
    all the revenue from parking and concessions, while paying the city $1
    a year in rent. Meanwhile, the City also sunk some renovation $$$$ into 
    Shea, since the Mets said you cain't just do this for the Yankees and 
    not us....           
    
    Coincidentally or not, the mid 1970s were one of the bleakest times
    financailly for the City of New York. There was an emergency bailout
    bill to keep the city afloat, and Gerald Ford basically told the city
    to "Drop Dead," according to the back page of the NY Post.
                                                                     
    So now, 15 years later, the jewel of a ballpark is no longer good
    enough to keep the Yankees because of the neighborhood. Isn't it ironic
    that with all the money the city spent (and the money the teams have
    made) over those years to benefit the teams, they didn't have money to
    do things that may have kept that "Bad Neighborhood" from getting so
    bad. It's an old story of the team owners holding the cities hostage,
    with the cities being too skeert to not come up with the sweetheart
    deal. 
    
    Tom                              

    re .134
    
    I've been in worse neighboorhoods than that part of the Bronx. Fact is,
    the Yankees will get better attendance when they start winning more.
    
    It's that simple ...

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+TM                                                   ----------- 
|d|i|g|i|t|a|l|                     U.S. News                         LIVE WIRE
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                                     ----------- 

         Digital T.V. ads to air on ESPN during Anheuser-Busch Classic 

  A series of Digital television ads will be shown during the Anheuser-Busch 
  Classic, a PGA golf tournament broadcast on ESPN (cable).  The 30-second 
  ads will reinforce the Open Advantage message.

  On Friday, July 10, the "Staff Meeting" ad will be broadcast between 
  3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (EST).

  On Saturday, the "Promotion" and "Sauna" ads will be broadcast in the late 
  afternoon, between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (EST).

  On Sunday, the "Staff Meeting" and "New Guy" ads will also be broadcast in 
  the late afternoon. 

    Parade in October!
    
    Mark.

Geez, the guys in the gym will be laughing at our stupid ads again....


Why couldn't we be main stream and use the Swedish Bikini Team like
everyone else???????


;^)

    
>>Why couldn't we be main stream and use the Swedish Bikini Team like
>>everyone else???????
    
    Why not be slightly different and use the "Polish Babushka Squad"?
    
    (8^)*
    
    JaKe
    

    Hey, get me on the Olympic Hoops team, and I'll give ya some DEC ads...

    Naw, get the Barbi twins to pose for one of our ads...
    I can see it now...
    
    4 different systems and the Barbi twins leaning over them saying..
    
    "Look at these 4 babies.. Don't you wish you could have these
    four talk to each other?" 
    
    "Now you can power these up under one cluster!"
    
    "Digital has it now, don't you wish you could?"
    
    REK

    Boston's own Sean McDonough will be part of the broadcast team for CBS
    in tonight's All Star Game.

I'm bummed. CBC doesn't have the canadian rights to the summer
olympics this year. CTV has them and our cable co doesn't carry 
CTV. Looks like I'll have to settle for american free tv coverage.

Oh, well...I don't much care for the summer games anyway


Metz 

>Damn cable companies have you by the cojones...
>
>'Saw
    
    Now that Ma Bell is not longer a monopoly, they should let phone
    companies into the cable business.
    
    That take care of the cable regulator business real quick.  And I think
    that access to sporting event would skyrocket.
    
    Scott

>    Now that Ma Bell is not longer a monopoly, they should let phone
>    companies into the cable business.
>    
>    That take care of the cable regulator business real quick.  And I think
>    that access to sporting event would skyrocket.
    

I don't know, I can't figure it all out....


All of a sudden, for $9.95 my cable company is offering "cable radio",
some fairly good size number of channels offering all kinds of music.

I mean, what's next?


I see a lot of problems with cable.  For example, for the same fee
my cable company offers me 44 regular channels.  I buy 2 premiums.

My folks, 7 miles away (and a different MANDATED) company, have 
MAYBE 25 regular channels, and buy no premiums.   They pay THE SAME FEE.


Now, I could see if their cable company doesn't have as much money
so they can't buy as many channels, but then they shouldn't charge
as much.

Or else my folks should have the option of choosing MY cable company.


The whole thing is unfair....


'Saw

>    MTV and VH1 will be coming in in stereo.


We've been able to get special equipment for that for a while.

I didn't know that it was part of cable radio.....


8^)

    
    Monopolies ensure shitty service and increasing rates. Has any cable
    company picked up the SCI-Fi channel yet? Have any of them dumped those
    insipid Home Shopping Networks or religion channels?
    
    Let the phone company or anybody else carry cable tv. Let the cable
    guys do somethng constructive with the cable network like let you hook
    up your computer to it and use it as a national ethernet. Let
    franchises compete for customers like they do on every other business. 
    
    I'm sure the cable people have recouped their initial cable laying
    investment 10 fold by now.
    
    Metz
    

    Saw I'm assuming the folks still live in Glastonbury so what do you
    expect out of Glastonbury!!!! 8*)  High brow town, high brow rates!
    
    Jimbo

>                   -< Did you get your Hebron Harvest fix? >-

Nope, didn't make it thised year 8^(

>    Saw I'm assuming the folks still live in Glastonbury so what do you
>    expect out of Glastonbury!!!! 8*)  High brow town, high brow rates!
    
Yeah.  It's just that it's Cox Cable.  They offer like NOTHING.

I live 7 miles away and get United (well, I think it's TCI now)
and I get lots o' stuff....


'Saw

    	RE: Home Shopping Channels
    
    	Metz, cable companies get a percentage of the gross sales that
    a particular shopping channel makes in their territory, so if anything
    you'll see more shopping channels and not less because not only does
    it cost nothing, the company makes money from them.  Don't know
    if the cable companies have the same deal with the preachers who
    hawk money on the religion channels though.  8^)
    
    				/Don

      Now that we have re-regulation anything might happen! Hopefully we'll
    see some competition. Hey /Don, we've only got 4 Shopping channels
    so far!
                                   Denny

       A treat is in store for real Boston sports fans on Ch4's Sports
    Final on Sunday night from 11:35-12:35. Bob Lobel is going to have Ted
    Williams, Bobby Orr and Larry Bird on live! Orr and Williams know each
    other, but Larry has never met either of the other 2.
                                 Denny

Orr and Bird have met. In fact I have pictures to prove it....

 ;^)

       Sounds like false advertising by Lobel. What a shock!
                                     Denny

    Be sure and provide us a review.

    Would be a bigger deal if it were Bill Russell instead...
    

    It's also gonna be replayed next Sat.
    
    Lee

I can't believe they didn't include Doug Flutie

~!~

JD

 Bob Ryan loves Doug Flutie!!!

    it will be replayed Saturday at 5:00.
    
    ...and don't despair, Doug will be co-announcing the BC bowl game for
    channel 4!
    
    -jb