HBO's documentary The UCLA Dynasty (debuting tonight at 10, with numerous replays) is so full of wonderful images that it's hard to pick just one, but this might be my favorite: Former players recall how coach John Wooden's attention to detail went all the way down to instructing them the correct way to put on their socks and tie and their sneakers. Then several of the interviewees -- in their 50s, 60s -- take off their dress shoes and demonstrate how they haven't forgotten the exact manner in which Wooden wanted then to carefully unroll the sock over the foot so as to avoid creases and thus possibly produce blisters. Henry Bibby, Jamal Wilkes, Lucius Allen, older, beefier as they may be, haven't lost even the smallest of lessons from the Wizard of Westwood.

The program attempts to put UCLA's incredible run of success in the context of the turbulent times, where the chaos of the 1960s and early '70s rocked the campus outside the order that prevailed in Pauley Pavilion. The atmosphere is best evoked for the protesting days of Bill Walton and Co., less so for the burgeoning Black Power movement earlier. This likely is more a function of having extensive interview time with Walton and none with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor).

We get a few unexpected voices -- former UCLA students in Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and filmmaker Penelope Spheeris -- and hear from actor Beau Bridges, who managed to have a brief Bruins basketball career as a walk-on to the freshman team.

The old basketball footage is marvelous to see again, to be reminded of the grace of UCLA's fast breaks, the intensity of its zone press, the shortness of its basketball shorts.

Wooden still has a twinkle in his eye recalling his past teams and players. And when he speaks of the audacious Sidney Wicks, you get the sense of a father still shaking his head over a son who couldn't help but try his patience but who, in the end, turned out just fine.

Listening to his players speak about Wooden provided quite the contrast to the recent Costas Now on HBO, which featured a one-on-one session with Bob Costas and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski. Remembering his days playing under Bob Knight at West Point, Krzyzewski recounted how Knight would unload on him with words that included being called a "dumb Polack." Meanwhile, former UCLA players remember being able to tell Wooden was really angry when he'd say, "Goodness gracious, sakes alive." 

Posted by Ray Frager at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

During Friday's Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, Patrick and Keith Olbermann were discussing the role of the analyst during college basketball telecasts. I didn't hear the interview, but CBS' Billy Packer apparently told Patrick he compares his role to that of an umpire -- the more unnoticed he is, the better. Maybe Patrick was misstating Packer's position, because viewers certainly should be aware of what an analyst is saying. Perhaps Packer really was referring more to not taking over and dominating the telecast Vitalean-style.

Olbermann offered that Packer's less-obtrusive manner actually may be more fitting in a Final Four setting, where the games aren't competing with the other college basketball all over the channel grid. During the regular season, the Dick Vitale approach can make a telecast stand out.

I would argue the opposite -- the bigger games mean the announcing crew should dial it up to 11. That's not to say I necessarily want Vitale doing the Final Four, but Packer's professorial intonations, however informative they may be, don't match the emotion inherent in the occasion. Here's a nomination for Dan Bonner, a terrific analyst who combines informative with emotive.

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On ESPN Radio 1300 today, I heard Phil Wood discussing some of the quotes in Roch Kubatko's Orioles story on Jamie Walker, in which the reliever sounds less than grammatical. (A sample: Speaking of the toy grenade in his locker, Walker said, "It don't represent nothing.") Wood, who writes for local publications, said he would clean up grammar before quoting athletes in print.

This certainly is not an uncommon practice, but is it the reporter's job to save an athlete from his own bad grammar? After all, who among us speaks perfect English all the time? So, if it isn't confusing to the reader, why fix it? And won't readers start to wonder why an athlete speaks so much differently in the newspaper from how he sounds when interviewed on TV and radio?

Posted by Ray Frager at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
                    

As part of the NFL Films series on Super Bowl champion teams, the NFL Network airs a profile of the 2000 Ravens Thursday at 8 p.m. My viewing of a preview DVD made me think this: Sure, the NFL can seem to get away with things image-wise that other leagues don't, but here is an example how the NFL so often does things right.

You might think that an arm of the league -- which NFL Films is -- would have to soft-peddle or even ignore the Ray Lewis/Atlanta murders angle of the Ravens' Super Bowl season. However, this program not only devotes an entire segment to the story, but it also comes back to the issue with footage from Brian Billick's opening salvo to Super Bowl reporters and Lewis' testy response on media day in Tampa.

The show's three interviewees are Billick, Lewis and quarterback Trent Dilfer. Of course, the production is immaculate, even if the rush of strings to turn up the emotion gets heavy-handed at times. Ravens fans surely remember all of the story lines, but that shouldn't decrease their enjoyment. And NFL Films does manage to break one story -- at least, Dilfer says he'd never talked about it before.

Dilfer talks about how his playbook disappeared after the regular-season game in Tennessee and how he was certain it was stolen. When the Ravens returned to face the Titans in the playoffs, Dilfer said, their defense was unusually well-prepared for what the Ravens were doing on offense -- as if somebody from the Titans had gotten hold of the Baltimore playbook. Dilfer didn't specifically accuse anybody, but he was just sayin'.

Posted by Ray Frager at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Orioles have confirmed what essentially was clear with MASN's announcer announcements -- Jim Hunter won't be calling any games on the radio. Joe Angel and Fred Manfra will be handling the play-by-play duties on flagship WHFS (105.7 FM) and the Orioles network. That's not to say we won't ever hear Hunter on radio or never see Angel and Manfra on TV. Though they won't have regular crossover assignments, the club said, Hunter will be heard doing taped interviews or offering commentary on radio, and Angel and Manfra will pop up on the pre- and post-game MASN studio shows. 

Posted by Ray Frager at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Maryland's first-round game against Davidson will be called by Kevin Harlan and Bob Wenzel. Sure, we would have preferred James Brown and Len Elmore.

Posted by Ray Frager at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

For those of you unfortunate enough to have seen my thankfully brief, awkward and totally uncompelling appearance last night on CN8's Out of Bounds, I apologize. (How bad was it? Today, Comcast wants to come to my home and rip out my cable.)

However, I did want to amplify my position on sports blogs. I likely left the impression that I don't find them useful and worthwhile reading. That isn't the case at all. The best ones are as informative and entertaining as anything you'll find elsewhere in the sports media. Though many skirt the boundaries -- or go completely across -- of good taste or wholeheartedly engage in what can be politely termed objectifying women, the savvy Web consumer shouldn't be shocked. And rumors and gossip may get floated in a manner some find irresponsible, but that same savvy consumer can figure out for himself how many grains of salt to take with each tidbit. The thing is, those same rumors can just as often have originated in some form of the "old media."

As one of the better-spoken voices on the show (a description that, with me on, wasn't difficult to earn) said, the bad blogs will go away and the good ones will survive. It could take a while, but a blogger's lazy thinking, sloppy writing and/or shoddy research eventually will catch up with him in the marketplace.

Overall, the rule of thumb in sports media -- as in any media -- should be the more voices out there, the better. Except for mine on TV.

Posted by Ray Frager at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

What do new Orioles announcer Gary Thorne and owner Peter Angelos have in common? Training as lawyers. According to his bio at the MASN Web site, Thorne was an assistant district attorney before moving into sportscasting. He even has a doctorate in law from Georgetown. So think of his final comments each game as a closing argument.

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For this New Wave fan, at least a couple of commercial breaks during various sports telecasts are made more bearable by the surprising -- to me, at least -- use of music from the Violent Femmes'  "Blister in the Sun" and Falco's (or After the Fire's) "Der Kommissar." Remember, don't turn around.

Posted by Ray Frager at 6:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)