Watchdog

Cornell defeated Dartmouth, 75-59, this Friday night to improve to 11-0 in the Ivy League and clinch a tie for the league title.

Saturday night will be one of the biggest in recent Cornell sports history, as the basketball team routs Harvard to clinch the outright title and its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1988, while next door the hockey team pummels Harvard - its most bitter rival - as well.

(I'm not clear on why Cornell's season sweep of second-place Brown in hoops hasn't already clinched the title, but no matter. It's better this way.)

Congratulations, Big Red, and thank you for making me look good.

Click below to read the guarantee I posted five weeks and nine victories ago:

Continue reading "Cornell basketball returns to its rightful place: first" »

Here is a Q&A from my fellow "WatchDog" in Orlando with ESPN's own Erin Andrews, the single most popular human in the sports media blogosphere.

Normally, this post would be accompanied by a picture of Ms. Andrews, of course, but I don't have the time or patience to figure out our new policy on posting pictures off the Web, so . . . no Erin.

T-Rock sent this cool link.

It seems this is an extremely good time to buy a Vilma Jets jersey.

No word on the latest sale price for Johnny (Lam) Jones unis.

I read the memo again about properly crediting photos lifted from the Web and found it to be incomprehensible.

It appears the era of amusing and relevant WatchDog photos is over.

According to the Sports Business Daily, an article on the Steinbrenner family that is to appear in this weekend's New York Times "Play" magazine will include the following quote from reigning SportsWatch New York Sports Media Person of the Year Hank Steinbrenner:

"'Red Sox Nation?' What a bunch of ---- that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country."

Yikes! (Actually, there are quite a few Red Sox fans at the campus in Bristol.)

UPDATE: Here's a statement from ESPN: "Fans of all teams work at ESPN - Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, Dodgers, etc. Our ratings have consistently shown that both the Yankees and Red Sox enjoy national followings."

Jon Bon Jovi is a close friend of Bill Belichick and a lifelong fan of the Giants, whose first two Super Bowl victories he witnessed in person.

He was unable to attend SBXLII.

So . . . where did he watch, and which team did he root for?

"I was sitting on my couch in New York City with my New York Giants jersey on," he said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't be at this game, but loudly and proudly, I wore my Giants jersey."

What about Belichick?

"Head coaches come and go," he said, "but the Giants will always be."

OK, I've got Will Ferrell out of my system now. Thanks for your patience.

I just talked to Jon Bon Jovi.

Uh, oh. Check back Sunday.

(But I can't post his picture. Sorry)

Here is a good read on the topic of ESPN hiring Bob Knight from SI's Richard Deitsch.

We just got a new directive about proper procedures for crediting photos lifted from the Web, but it's way too complicated for me to figure out today.

So my original intention of breaking Glauber's day-old record of 32 posts is hereby suspended.

I have a Sunday newspaper column to write anyway.

Enjoy the record, Bob. See you in March.

This is what I found most interesting about my Tuesday visit with Will Ferrell:

During the news conference I attended with about 25 other reporters, he was cracking deadpan jokes left and right, as you would expect from him.

But once he was off stage and talking one-on-one, he was able to turn off his performance switch and become a regular person.

Example:

Ferrell recently received the James Joyce Award in Dublin. Here is what he told an Irish reporter about his familiarity with Joyce:

"I've always been a fan of his films, 'Titanic,' 'The Terminator' and all those. They’re always too long, though. They just took a wild stab to see if I would even respond and it turned out I was going to be over there anyway so I said, 'Sure, I’ll come over.' They were thrilled regardless of the fact there was no reason I should receive that award."

Click below for more wisecracks.

Continue reading "Will Ferrell is a big fan of James Joyce, and Isaac Hayes" »

I included in my Friday newspaper column about Will Ferrell a brief version of his story about the day he had the revelation that he was more suited to comedy than journalism.

Click below for the complete account from our conversation Tuesday afternoon.

Continue reading "Will Ferrell didn't care about interviewing John Robinson" »

One reason sports movies are a difficult sell for studios is the perception that women will not go to see them in large numbers.

Here is what Will Ferrell, who has starred in four sports comedies in the past four years, including "Semi-Pro," which came out today, had to say about that:

"The people I hear talk about it, there’s comments like, well, it’s sports, will we get the women in to see the movie? This that and the other. But I never think about that stuff. If it seems funny and interesting, aside from the fact I’ve done all these sports movies, I kind of just go forward and hope that it will stand on its own two feet in terms of just being considered a funny movie. I think we calibrated the movie enough to wear it’s not so basketball heavy that if you don’t know anything about basketball or hate basketball you won’t be turned off by the movie."

The middle-aged actors involved in the making of the movie "Semi-Pro" said they suffered no significant injuries during the filming.

Said Will Ferrell: "We had a two-week training camp and I was playing a little before that. I was in fairly decent running shape prior to that. So I was OK, I was all right, I was never too winded or anything like that."

I asked him about being widely filmed and photographed in tight-fitting, old-style basketball duds.

"That’s how form fitting that equipment was," he said. "It wasn’t a goal to look svelte. In photos that I looked at from that era, while the guys had athletic bodies they weren’t the bodies of today, where they were ripped. A lot of guys in the general casting for all the teams, if you were too muscular they didn’t cast you, because it was a different type of body then."

Will Ferrell's new movie, "Semi-Pro," is rated R, which it earned the old-fashioned way - with naughty words and a naughty, simulated s-e-x scene.

Doesn't that limit the potential audience, though?

I asked director Kent Alterman about that the other day, and he joked, "We went for an NC-17 rating, but didn't get it. We fell short."

But seriously, folks, he said the reason for not going for a PG-13 rating was to remain true to the era and the ABA culture.

"How can you have a movie about pro basketball players and not have cursing?" he said.

I asked Ferrell about this as well. Here is what he said:

"I was ecstatic to do an R-rated movie again. The last one I’d done was 'Old School,' and the next one I have is R-rated, too, 'Step Brothers.' PG-13 is kind of fun because you have to live within those confines, but some projects are just R-rated, and this was R-rated. I think there has been kind of a new infusion of R-rated comedies that have done well enough so studios aren’t as nervous about doing them."

Bobby Murcer was scheduled to work spring training games for YES March 5, 7 and 8, but that schedule is on hold as Murcer prepares for a brain biopsy Monday.

Doctors grew concerned about a potential new tumor after a recent MRI, the Daily News first reported Thursday, and Murcer's wife, Kay, alerted family and friends in an e-mail.

YES executives have said throughout the offseason they will remain flexible regarding Murcer's work schedule as he continues treatment for the brain cancer that was diagnosed late in 2006.

If Monday's test comes up negative, Murcer could report to Tampa by the end of next week.

Barry from Salt Lake City, a supporter of WatchDog and Cornell hoops, asked me to find the identity of the lone AP pollster who has been voting for the Big Red in recent weeks.

Using my vast network of spies, I have come up with an answer: John Feinstein!

The fact that he is a Dukie, as is Mrs. WatchDog, makes it even better. I guess he was impressed with how the Big Red hung tough at Cameron earlier this season.

We want a rematch in the NCAA Tournament.

Loyal WatchDog reader Kenny Albert, presumably inspired by Anthony Rieber's piece on Feb. 29 birthdays, sent along this link to a Canadian Press story about Henri Richard, who celebrates his 18th birthday today.

Albert also sent a reminder that Brian Leetch's first game as a Ranger was 20 years ago today, Feb. 29, 1988.

(Why do we have to add an extra day to the dreariest month of the year? Why not May?)

Here is a story in USA Today in which AFL commish David Baker openly pines for Our Dragons to become a major factor on the field.

Baker, a great guy and the largest human I know on a first-name basis, said similar things to me on the phone Thursday.

I will write about that in the Sunday newspaper. He also had a lot to say about the other guy in this picture. More about that Sunday, too.

Will Ferrell's latest sports spoof, "Semi-Pro," which opened today, includes many obvious echoes of the classic hockey flick "Slap Shot," from the wild brawling to the doomed, low-rent franchise to the romantic subplot.

That's not an accident.

Ferrell said he watched "Slap Shot" before doing the film, and director Kent Alterman said, "'Slap Shot' was a great reference for us tonally. It was inspiring to us."

Speaking of "Slap Shot," on SportsCenter Sunday night ESPN will profile Christian Hanson, a junior center at Notre Dame, and his father, Dave, one of the infamous "Hanson Brothers."

Click below for another free programming ad for ESPN, as I lazily reprint a news release verbatim.

Continue reading "'Slap Shot' helped set tone for 'Semi-Pro'" »

This week's award goes to frequent commenter and fellow former Alaskan "Islander505" for his reponse to this sentence in Sean Salisbury's exit statement from ESPN:

"I have created a brand and it’s time to expand into other opportunities in TV, radio, Internet, publishing, movies and public speaking, among others."

Click below for Islander505's comment, which references one of the most fondly remembered (and truly gross, now that we look back on it) dinner treats of the baby boomer era.

Continue reading "Friday comment contest winner" »

ESPN deserves props for being all over the ongoing steroid saga - to the extent fans care anymore.

Among other things, it has been buying up some of the top steroid experts in print journalism, including T.J. Quinn.

Sunday Quinn will head a report on "Outside the Lines" focusing on the "enablers" of the steroid era, which, of course, means pretty much all of us, including ESPN.

Click below for the entire news release on this show.

(I know, I know. We should just make them pay for an ad or something, but I offer this stuff as a service to you, the reader.)

Continue reading "ESPN to examine steroid 'enablers' in MLB" »

After showing the on-ice ceremony before the Isles' "Core of the Four" celebration Sunday, FSNY will add a roundtable discussion hosted by Jiggs McDonald and featuring Clark Gillies, Bobby Bourne and Butch Goring.

Word is Goring has been stockpiling some of his best stuff for the discussion, so it's probably worth a listen/watch for Isles fans before the game itself.

Our friends at The Big Lead dissed the New York sports media Thursday in an item about the Kansas City Star's recent success in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.

Yo, we were Honorable Mention for both the best daily and Sunday section categories.

Plus, those guys and gals in Kansas City don't have to deal with traffic on the LIE and Jim Dolan and the stress of high housing prices and taxes and the controversy over our boss selling naming rights to Wrigley Field.

Oh, never mind.

(Did I mention the president of the APSE is sports editor of the Kansas City Star?)

Unlike many of my fellow cranky old sportswriters, I have nothing against mixed martial arts.

It's no more barbaric than boxing, really, plus my boss likes it.

Also, it is full of interesting young men with diverse interests and approaches to sports achievement.

Some even drink urine. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

My story Sunday on the history of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" caused such a nationwide outpouring of interest that the publisher of the upcoming book on the subject has moved the publication date from June 10 to April 2.

Or maybe it was just to get it closer to Opening Day.

Either way, look for "Baseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in your local bookstore soon.

I'll read and review it before then.

A rare Happy Birthday to Amityville's own John Niland and other sports stars celebrating their big days this Feb. 29. Anthony Rieber honors them in this article.

Niland used to deliver Newsday, by the way, the latest in a long, growing line of luminaries with that great achievement on their resumes.

I just got back from a rare visit to the office, during which I got a less-old laptop to replace my antique model, learned that while I was away Glauber had blind-sided me by breaking my single-day posting record and commiserated with colleagues about some difficult developments in Newsday Land.

Tune back later this morning for leftover material from Will Ferrell that didn't make my Friday column on him, plus other assorted stuff.

(Dear Sunday editor: I'll write a column for you, too, if I get around to it.)

I don't pretend to be a mixed martial arts expert, but I do try to stay on the cutting edge, and my boss likes the sport, so . . . for my final post of the day:

There was big news in the MMA world this Thursday with the news that CBS and ProElite had signed a deal to bring the sport to prime time, national, broadcast TV for the first time.

CBS will broadcast four live events a year, probably on Saturday nights, from ProElite's EliteXC fight division.

EliteXC has been seen on Showtime previously and will continue to be.

ProElite CEO Douglas DeLuca called it "a pivotal moment for the sport of mixed martial arts."

Well, this didn't take long.

ESPN announced today that Bob Knight will be joining it as a studio analyst during conference tournament season and the NCAA Tournament itself.

Knight has had close ties to various ESPN people for years, including the very supportive Dick Vitale. He also was the centerpiece of a reality show that appeared on the network.

Click below for the entire ESPN news release.

Continue reading "Bob Knight joins ESPN for March Madness" »

If I had been writing a review of "Semi-Pro" for Friday's newspaper, rather than a feature/column on Will Ferrell, I would have given it two stars.

Big fans of Ferrell likely will enjoy it to a point, but it does not exactly break any new ground, nor is it as cleverly written or sharply observed as "Talladega Nights."

Turns out Newsday's own Gene Seymour had basically the same impression I did, and he's a movie reviewing professional!

Here is his review for Friday's paper.

By the way, WatchDog Nation, I have a 28,000 page views lead on Glauber for February, but just in case he rallies late I want to make one thing clear:

If he passes me on Feb. 29 thanks to NFL free agency stuff, it does not count, as my contract clearly states "28 days hath February."

Guess which Giant appeared on "Fox and Friends" this morning?

(Update: OK, here's a hint: That's a ball stuck to the cameraman's hard hat.)

No offense whatsoever to Will Ferrell, who was kind enough to talk to me for 20 minutes the other day, but for a guy my age, the Ferrell sitdown was a distant second for the week on the list of coolest interview subjects.

The winner: Buzz Aldrin chatting with Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason on WFAN.

They talked to Buzz about colonizing Mars, punching out conspiracy theorists and other important subjects. I will link to the audio once it's posted on the station's Web site. (UPDATE: Here it is.)

(Come to think of it, Carton/Boomer talked to Valerie Bertinelli Wednesday. That might beat Buzz Aldrin AND Will Ferrell for a guy my age.)

It's Thursday, so I gotta write a column now. But I will leave you with this, a serious contender for Friday's "Strange but true" entry in the newspaper:

At Friday night's Harvard-Columbia game and Saturday night's Quinnipiac-Wagner game, fans entering the arenas will be given a free box of TicTacs.

Said fans then will be invited to be videotaped while shaking said containers, with a chance to be entered into a nationwide TicTac-shaking contest called "Remake the Shake," for which the winner will receive $10,000.

Or something like that. I will look into this further.

Enjoy "American Powerboat Racing" on FSNY at 3:30 p.m.

As everyone knows, the IFL season kicks off (um, literally) Friday night in Vegas, live on HDNet. (The card also will be seen on tape next week on FSN.)

I don't know about you, but I will be rooting for reigning middleweight champ Matt Horwich, whose plan is to get married the day after he competes.

Here is an interview with Matt on that and other subjects.

(The IFL has an event scheduled for the Izod Center in Jersey April 4, by the way.)

Here is a random bit of trivia that combines two frequent WatchDog topics, the Mets/SNY and a certain college in upstate NY:

Keith Hernandez' wife, Kai, went to Cornell, and when he doesn't have the time or inclination to schlep back out to Sag Harbor after a game, he sometimes stays at the Cornell Club in Manhattan.

I had a couple of drinks there once.

Here is a strong piece from SI's Grant Wahl about college basketball fans crossing the line from clever and annoying to vulgar and dangerous.

Players and their families do not deserve this kind of abuse, period.

(Except opposing players at Lynah Rink in Ithaca. Kidding, kidding. Sort of.)

On the day I got my first membership solicitation from AARP (see below) my pal Kate Mara celebrated her 25th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Kate. (And thanks to reader Rich for the tip.)

Other Feb. 27 birthdays: Elizabeth Taylor (1932), Raymond Berry (1933), Ralph Nader (1934), Tony Gonzalez (1976) and Chelsea Clinton (1980).

Good night.

W.C. Heinz, who died Wednesday at age 93, had one of the most remarkable journalism careers - and lives - of anyone who ever has walked the Earth.

Just another lazy, late February evening of TV sports:

ESPN: Kansas at Iowa State

SNY: UNC-Wilmington at VCU

YES: Texas Tech at Texas A&M

FSNY: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh

Uncle!

Save us, Johan.

AARP sent me a membership card today.

Seriously.

This on the 43rd anniversary of my first clear memory - Uncle Al's wedding. I was too young even to sit at the children's table.

Sigh.

Here's my boss, Sam Zell, with one of his typically shy, non-responsive interviews, this time on CNBC.

He discusses his plans for unloading the Cubs.

He does not discuss any plans to unload me . . . so far.

(Mr. Zell, or Sam, as he prefers, also discusses the news media business.)

Check out this Eli Manning interview on WFAN from Tuesday.

(Eli is an ESPN 1050 guy during the season, but he was among several Giants to appear on WFAN over the past two days plugging the new Giants DVD from NFL Films.)

It tells you all you need to know about how the world has turned upside down over the past two months.

The formerly reserved youngest Manning son is so energetic, excited and chatty the station's usually aggressive afternoon hosts barely can get a word in edgewise at times.

RIP, Myron Cope. (He invented the Terrible Towel and is a Pittsburgh sportscasting icon.)

(UPDATE: Here's an obit written by the Post-Gazette's Gene Collier.)

Charles Barkley has re-signed with TNT as a studio analyst.

I'm too lazy to write a story about it myself.

Click below for TNT's entire news release.

Continue reading "Sir Charles re-ups with TNT" »

My debut appearance on Ch. 4's "Press Box" Sunday finished with an 0.7 rating - a measure of the percentage of households in the New York market that tuned in.

Not bad.

That's better than the average this season for Islanders and Devils games - combined.

The show drew an estimated 65,000 viewers overall.

Thanks, New York. This will help as I try to negotiate a raise to pay to fix the 1997 Camry that was towed to a local repair shop this morning due to a dysfunctional lock cylinder.

Thursday I will be handing in my vintage laptop, which dates back to two Giants Super Bowls ago, for a less-old version.

But I now have to spend a few hours deleting as much stuff as I can from the old hard drive to ease the transition.

You're on your own for the rest of the morning, at least.

Enjoy "NFL Live" on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. My Cablevision schedule guide claims Sean Salisbury will be on. I don't think so.

Turner has announced the first eight games on its new Sunday MLB slate, and sure enough, our local heroes are heavily featured.

The first eight weeks include three Yankees games and one Mets game. But those games will be blacked out in the local market, where the games will be seen on their customary local outlets.

Click below for TBS' full schedule for the first two months.

Continue reading "Turner announces early season Sunday slate" »

The venerable Larry Stewart at our fellow Tribune paper in L.A. has a little more to the story of Sean Salisbury's departure from ESPN.

Salisbury sounds a tad miffed about being treated less well financially than other members of the ESPN crew whom he believes work less hard than him but were better players than him.

He did not name names. Thus I have no idea exactly which former jocks turned analysts he is talking about.

Turns out Will Ferrell (see below) is not the only USC alum in the news today.

Hours after announcing Cris Carter would join its team of NFL analysts, ESPN announced that Sean Salisbury no longer is an ESPN football analyst.

Salisbury had an amazingly long 12-year run. The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis reported his contract was up and ESPN chose not to renew. (UPDATE: I have independently confirmed the Star-Tribune's report this evening.)

I can't find major fault with that. Salisbury came off a tad scary and agitated after the Super Bowl, frankly.

Here is Salisbury's statement: "I want to thank ESPN for 12 great years of talking football on TV and the radio. I have grown as much as I can at ESPN and decided to expand my horizons. I have created a brand and it’s time to expand into other opportunities in TV, radio, Internet, publishing, movies and public speaking, among others. My resume speaks for itself as a football analyst, and I believe I can talk all sports with the best of them.”

Here is ESPN's statement: "Sean Salisbury has made many contributions to our efforts for the past 12 years. We thank him and wish him all the best."

And finally, in closing today (I hope) . . .

During a news conference this afternoon before my exclusive sitdown with Will Ferrell (see post a few items below), the actor was asked what he would do about the 2007-08 Knicks.

Here was his response:

"My advice to the Knicks would be, let's just save money and stop the season right now. Just take the rest of the year off. Maybe do some journaling. Put your feet up."

(Speaking of Ferrell and the Knicks, check out Anthony Rieber's story about Nate Robinson's encounter with the big guy a few hours before mine.)