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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Raissman: ESPN analyst Steve Phillips faces bleak job prospects

Take me to your supreme talent! (or at least to the OC Modeling page)

Hiring a married man caught with his pants down - twice (in 1998, Phillips took a forced leave of absence from the Mets after being charged with sexual harassment and admitting to a series of affairs) - is riskier than taking a chance on someone coming back from substance abuse.

“This is tough. You have to consider all the women working at the network. Someone with Steve’s issues could be putting the company at risk. Now you’re talking about potential lawsuits and potentially millions of dollars on the line,” the exec said. “Considering what Steve is coming back from, not only would you be putting your company at risk, you would be putting your own job at risk.”

..."If you’re dealing with a supreme talent you take the risk,” the network exec said. “If it’s just an average talent, and you can get the same quality act from someone else you feel secure about, it’s a no-brainer - you don’t take the risk.”

Are Phillips’ broadcast skill-sets at such a level he’s worth taking a chance on? “My initial thought would be no,” one broadcast agent said. “I don’t view Phillips as that type of guy. He’s not transcendent in that respect.”

Lefkowitz, naturally, disagrees.

“If Steve was not such a high-quality talent, I would suggest there could be a problem, but that’s not the case,” Lefkowitz said. “And if someone has the insight and gumption necessary to hire Steve they won’t be disappointed.”

Repoz Posted: November 14, 2009 at 02:53 PM | 27 comment(s)
  Related News: GeneralBusinessMediaAnnouncersTelevision

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   1. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:15 PM (#3387759)
Hardee's is totally not hiring.
   2. robinred  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:18 PM (#3387763)
..."If you’re dealing with a supreme talent you take the risk


I never thought of Marv Albert as a "supreme talent" but I guess a lot of people do. Also, IIRC Marv was messing around with hookers, not co-workers.
   3. Tripon  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:19 PM (#3387764)
Steve Phillips can't get a job as a male stripper?
   4. Halofan  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:19 PM (#3387765)
If he is pulling espressos at Starbucks I get out of line and go to Peet's...
   5. robinred  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:21 PM (#3387766)
Phillips can't get a job as a male stripper?


Well, if he stripped for women 50 and up, and put some make-up on his birthmarks, maybe.
   6. Tripon  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:51 PM (#3387781)
Marv Albert is probably a 'supreme talent'. I'd certainly like him to take over for Joe Buck for the baseball broadcasts.
   7. BarrettsHiddenBall  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:53 PM (#3387783)
Is there any difference between Hardee's and Carls Jr.?
   8. JoeHova  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:55 PM (#3387787)
Whatever someone's opinion of Albert as a broadcaster is, I have to believe that it would be conceded that he is far better than Phillips.
   9. Tripon  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:55 PM (#3387788)
No. They're owned by the same corporation, and they do the same promotions with the same food.
   10. Eugene Freedman  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 03:56 PM (#3387790)
"If you’re dealing with a supreme talent you take the risk,” the network exec said. “If it’s just an average talent, and you can get the same quality act from someone else you feel secure about, it’s a no-brainer - you don’t take the risk.”


We can add the Sabermetric tag to this thread if someone drafts up the formula that establishes Phillips as replacement level.
   11. Petunia: Pursuing a Prurient Pastime, All the Time  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 04:46 PM (#3387823)
Is there any difference between Hardee's and Carls Jr.?

Yeah, and how do Primates feel about the Olive Garden?
   12. TVerik and his cavalcade of whimsy  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 05:03 PM (#3387841)
How about the job prospects for the PA he was diddling? I suspect that Philips has decent savings and possible investments. PAs make under $30,000 a year, and she's on record as being completely insane. I hope that things are good between her and her parents; she'll most likely end up under their roof for the appreciable future.
   13. Poster Nutbag  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 05:06 PM (#3387847)
Is there any difference between Hardee's and Carls Jr.?

Yeah, and how do Primates feel about the Olive Garden?


Carls Jr is on the West Coast?

Don't ask about the OG, I worked there for 8 long years and, although I have no animosity towards the place itself, the food is downright awful. I watched it go from somewhat-homemade-type food to completely freezer-to-microwave type cooking. You might as well save the money and go fast food or Denny's. The authenticity would be similar.
   14. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 05:07 PM (#3387848)
Yeah, and how do Primates feel about the Olive Garden?

Only if she's open-minded.
   15. Jonk  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 05:50 PM (#3387862)
The Mets could use him.
   16. heyyoo  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 05:58 PM (#3387865)
He'll be reunited with Harold Reynolds in no time.
   17. Srul Itza  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 07:46 PM (#3387891)
Marv Albert is probably a 'supreme talent'.


You should have heard him in the 60's, when he was doing play by play of basketball and hockey on the radio in NYC. The man had skillz.
   18. Zuvella!  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 08:26 PM (#3387901)
I can't tell if people are joking about Albert's talent level, but he's one of the best NBA announcers ever.
   19. HOPE: Madison Obamagarner (Flynn)  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 08:36 PM (#3387903)
I never thought of Marv Albert as a "supreme talent" but I guess a lot of people do.

Not to pile on here, but Marv is one of the two or three best basketball broadcasters ever. Even then he's not working at the level he was at before bitegate.
   20. the Tuque of Flatbush  Posted: November 14, 2009 at 08:53 PM (#3387905)
The Mets oughta fire Minaya, maybe they could go for a total management revamp and start off a new era with Phillips as GM and Bobby Valentine as manager.
   21. Bhaakon  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 04:36 AM (#3388022)
Speaking of basketball, I bet the Knicks would hire Phillips.
   22. KJOK  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 09:07 PM (#3388317)
Phillips will probably eventually get hired as some type of 'scouting advisor' for some team, most likely by one of his old friends or someone he helped get in the business.
   23. ?Donde esta Dagoberto Campaneris?  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 09:13 PM (#3388319)
I bet the Knicks would hire Phillips.

They could start him at power forward. He's not afraid to mix it up with someone who is a lot wider than he is.
   24. frannyzoo  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 09:44 PM (#3388332)
Steve Phillips is the Olive Garden of general managers/announcers/humans. Now I just need to put the joke lines in and I can call it a day.

P.S.: The whole "it's okay to (insert term here) the help if they are good-looking, but if they are not it's disgusting" meme is disgusting to me. How about we as a group attend one of those sexual harassment/sensitivity trainings? You know, the ones that have worked so well with Mr. Phillips?
   25. snapper  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 10:08 PM (#3388343)
P.S.: The whole "it's okay to (insert term here) the help if they are good-looking, but if they are not it's disgusting" meme is disgusting to me. How about we as a group attend one of those sexual harassment/sensitivity trainings? You know, the ones that have worked so well with Mr. Phillips?

Has any one said it was OK? I think it's just you could understand (though I certainly would not condone it) how a man can screw up his career and marriage over a really beautiful, charming woman. It is wrong, and a mistake, but it's comprehensible. When it's over somebody that seems to have absolutely nothing going on, and is apparently nutso to boot, it just boggles the sane mind.
   26. akrasian  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 10:23 PM (#3388351)
When it's over somebody that seems to have absolutely nothing going on, and is apparently nutso to boot, it just boggles the sane mind.

Of course, we have no idea how she comes across in person. She could be very charming - and photos can be deceiving. In person she could come across as cute, at least initially. And I somehow doubt she comes across as nutso normally. Given how short the relationship was, I think it likely she was dumped as soon as the first nutso sign came across.

Naturally, we don't know what Phillips was telling her either to get her on her knees. It could be that Phillips is the nutso, and she was just inexperienced and manipulated, and reacted poorly to being lied to.
   27. snapper  Posted: November 15, 2009 at 10:28 PM (#3388353)
Of course, we have no idea how she comes across in person. She could be very charming - and photos can be deceiving. In person she could come across as cute, at least initially. And I somehow doubt she comes across as nutso normally. Given how short the relationship was, I think it likely she was dumped as soon as the first nutso sign came across.

Naturally, we don't know what Phillips was telling her either to get her on her knees. It could be that Phillips is the nutso, and she was just inexperienced and manipulated, and reacted poorly to being lied to.


Totally possible. I was just saying why people react to the looks of the "other woman".
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