On the first of his two appearances on WFAN last week, Bart Scott said he had trouble getting into the building. He told the security guard he worked on CBS’ “The NFL Today” last year.
“The guard said: ‘Didn’t they fire you?'” Scott said on the air.
For the record: CBS Sports did not renew Scott’s contract after it (a three-year deal) expired following last season. For the record: It was a good thing the security guard let Scott into the radio compound.
Over the two days he appeared on FAN (filling in for N.J. Esiason and Craig Carton) with Marc Malusis, a solid, hard-yakking Mouth, Scott surpassed any expectations we had for him working in a “traditional” sports talk format.
We previously reported ESPN Radio is interested in Scott’s services. Hopping on FAN for two days either means Scott was needed as a summer replacement. Or someone in the organization thinks he has the chops to land a full-time gig at the station, maybe as a member of a two-person team to replace Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa, should he actually retire from FAN in December.
Why Scott was in the studio on Monday and Tuesday will eventually be determined. What Scott did while he was there is as clear as a glass of straight vodka. Scott, with Malusis challenging him — even at times goading him — was magnificent. He down-shifted into a rarely heard stream of consciousness style, moving from the personal (the government subsidized cheese he ate while growing up in Detroit) to the professional (how he programmed himself to be an animal on the field to survive in the NFL). This was compelling radio and came naturally to Scott.
Scott neither bloviated nor screamed. The information he offered on the NFL, NBA and boxing was solid, most of it original. Everything wasn’t rosy. If Scott wants to branch out he needs to find a way to get into baseball, a staple of summer talk in the Valley of the Stupid. His knowledge of the game is on the thin side. And that’s being kind.
Yet the thing Scott really has going for him is elusive to most. And that is personality. It can’t be taught. Scott has it, big-time. He combines sincerity and soul. It all comes with an edge. He’s a storyteller too. The long-form world of talk radio, as opposed to the sound-bite style of NFL pregame shows, is well suited for him.
Will Bart Scott find a seat in the United Nation of Gasbags?
Stay tuned.
CRYING BLAME
Paul Dottino, The Big Blue Tower of Babble, torched the media covering the Giants for the way it reported the ankle injury to Sterling Shepard.
Dottino, MSG’s Giants’ snoop, said reports stating the receiver was “crying” as he was carted off the field were not true. He claimed they “were embellished for click-bait” purposes. Dottino told FAN’s Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts the media, assembled at Wednesday’s practice, was so far away from Shepard “you would need X-Ray vision” to see the expression on his face.
Dottino did not reveal where he was standing, which led him to emphatically report Shepard was not crying. And when Roberts asked him to specify “who (first) reported” Shepard was crying, Dottino declined.
Which leads us to believe Dottino subscribes to that old theory: When in doubt, blame everybody.
DIE TRYING
Did Jets rookie Jamal Adams really say: “Literally, if I had a place to die, I would die on the field.”
Well, according to some Gasbags and other commentators, including Stephen A. Smith, Adams did not mean to say what he said. Confused? We’re not. As a master of double talk, we can tell you Adams meant exactly what he said.
And why the Jets made him apologize for saying it is beyond comprehension. Does Gang Green’s propaganda arm really believe anyone is buying the apology? Maybe they think (they probably do) we, and that includes their fan base, are morons.
Face it, all of us are going to die (duh). And if we choose, we have a right to express exactly where we want to check out.
Any ideas?
MARKETING SCHMARKETING
The idea of the Jets treating their fans like morons brings us to the team’s “Boarding Pass” ticket sales plan.
This is a unique concept. You purchase the plan knowing the team is probably going to lose the game, but you don’t find out the location of your seat until about two hours before kickoff.
The hook to the commercials should be: “With the Boarding Pass you can see the Jets lose from a different vantage point every Sunday.”
If the Jets really want to get creative they should expand the concept. Not only will you not know where you’re sitting until game day, the Jets won’t release the name of their starting quarterback until a few hours before the game.
At least that would give fans something to look forward to.
PAULIE MALIGNED
Thanks to Showtime boxing analyst Paulie Malignaggi, the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather exhibition matchup now has a juicy TV hook.
Malignaggi’s first mistake was agreeing to become one of McGregor’s sparring partners. This was a conflict of interest for a mouth paid to objectively analyze the fight. Then, Paulie went into McGregor’s camp in Las Vegas with his eyes wide shut.
Team McGregor’s plan was to make Malignaggi look bad by showing McGregor could hold his own with the retired two-time world champion. They did so by leaking photos from the sparring session that made the UFC star look good. One showed Malignaggi falling backward on the canvas with McGregor standing over him.
Now, Malignaggi, who bolted McGregor’s camp, is angry. So how is he going to objectively analyze the fight on August 26? Showtime Sports boss Stephen Espinoza should consider pulling Malignaggi from the PPV telecast. He should consider it, but he won’t.
Not when the situation only enhances the train wreck Showtime, owned by CBS, is selling.
MORE OF KURT
Kurt Warner, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Sunday, can also look forward to working some national TV games near the end of the NFL season.
Industry sources say Warner will join NBC’s Mike Tirico for a few December telecasts exclusive to NFL Network.
Warner will also be one of the voices of Westwood One’s “Monday Night Football” radio package splitting the analyst duties with N.J. Esiason, who is entering his 18th season as lead analyst on the radio version of “MNF.”
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: CURTIS GRANDERSON
For celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Grand Kids Foundation. The event will be held this Monday at the public library on 42nd Street. Over 10 years, GKF has delivered three million meals to kids across the country. Granderson also contributed $5 million to help build The Curtis Granderson Stadium at the University of Illinois (Chicago), his alma mater. GKF has always put education first, making the library an appropriate location for the event. And whether he was playing for the Mets or Yankees, Granderson always made giving back a priority, setting an example for the children he hopes to inspire.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
The suits need to upgrade their weather forecasting department. Yankees fans sat through a one-hour and 26-minute “rain” delay Wednesday afternoon. Problem was it wasn’t raining. The Tigers-Bombers game resumed but the skies eventually opened leading to a three-hour and 11 minute delay. The tilt wound up taking seven-and-a-half hours to play. So much for speeding up the game. And just think of all the hardships those in attendance went through. When she returned to the air, Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman said they stopped serving coffee in the press room. Oh my goodness gracious.
What Joe Girardi said: “(Aaron Judge) is struggling and we felt maybe giving him a day off maybe it helps him.”
What Joe Girardi meant to say: “I have no idea why he’s struggling, but he better get it going or we’re (expletive deleted).”
