Well, Michael Kay did have Kevin Costner on CenterStage back in 2009…along with The Nederbeat-offs (noted Wally Tax cover band). I believe.
According to an MLB source Ripken’s PR man John Maroon e-mailed media outlets in Baltimore and New York informing them Ripken would be available during the game. WCBS-AM, the Yankees’ radio flagship, requested an interview.
“For whatever reason,” the source said. “YES had no interest in talking to Cal.”
The “reason” really doesn’t matter. Any would only be a lame excuse. Like a dog swallowed YES’ extra mike and it didn’t have one for Ripken. Or maybe on a night where the Yankees were battling the O’s for first place in the AL East, YES honchos didn’t want the ultimate symbol of Orioles baseball in their broadcast booth.
Or maybe someone at YES was worried Ripken’s presence in the booth would have offended the sensibilities of some suit in the Yankees front office.
Or maybe YES didn’t want to tick off the ghost of Lou Gehrig.
It wasn’t like YES was hiding Ripken’s presence. It showed him inside the ballpark, it showed the statue, and even had a shot of Gary Thorne interviewing Ripken on MASN. And if Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling had no problem chatting with Ripken you know Cal couldn’t contaminate the Yankee brand.
On a night of history, YES, the network owned by a team cloaked in it, ignored the man who made it. And that stinks. Unless the feeling is since Gehrig held the record Ripken broke the new mark doesn’t really exist.
Only on YES.
Repoz
Posted: September 10, 2012 at 06:13 AM |
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1. Craig Calcaterra Posted: September 10, 2012 at 08:18 AM (#4231406)That was my first reaction. I don't think Oriole fans would have wanted to hear an interview with Bernie Williams in the middle of a very important pennant race* game.
* - Are we still going with "pennant race" as the term here? I love the sound of it but "playoff race" is a much better description.
I'm sticking with "pennant race", due to flow.
Also, no disrespect to Bernie Williams, but he was no Cal Ripken.
Really? I'm pretty sure every every Cardinal series has one if possible(oftentimes it's the broadcaster from the other team) I find it hard to believe that it's rare for someone from the other team not to be in at some point to be the norm. At least on the radio, TV is a little different as usually they have some dumb ass charity type of person in the booth for most of the innings.
He'd probably be a more interesting guy to talk to though.
If I had to guess I would guess that the issue was a timing issue.
Has Bernie's mother ever been kidnapped and forced to take the robber to ATMs?
I don't think so.....
Actaully, they should have made Vi Ripken available to the Yes network.
Now that could have been an inightful interview.
Also, is it just the perspective of the shot, or is the glove on that statue of Cal disproportionately enormous?
During the game? That surprises me. The Red Sox have people in the booth all the time and I don't remember an opposing team figure ever being the guy.
Yeah but he was the best recent comp I could come up with. Substitute Jeter and I think the same holds true.
FYP
I met Cal once, at a sports-related business event and.... pleasant enough, I guess, but not exactly scintillating.
But his brother, Billy? He's downright hilarious. Totally a guy you'd like to have a beer (or 10) with. Maybe YES should have asked Cal for Billy's number...
But his brother, Billy? He's downright hilarious. Totally a guy you'd like to have a beer (or 10) with. Maybe YES should have asked Cal for Billy's number...
I don't think Billy's allowed on camera anymore.
The 17th Anniversary of breaking the record streak? The unveiling of yet another ball park statue?
I'm not seeing the momentous historic occasion here.
I'm always surprised how many sportswriters seem to hate the people they write about. If everytime I opened my mouth, someone tried to turn it into controversy in order to sell papers/blog hits/whatever, I think I would be uninteresting too.
No, but he took batting advice from Goerge Costanza.
Oh, Calvin Edwin Ripken Junior!
They may believe that they are better than the people that they cover - and as frustrated athletes they are jealous of the adulation and money these successful and undereducated athletes receive. They can openly show this animus as the mouth-breathing sports fan loves to hear it and read it.
It's a not so subtle class based bias....at least I hope that it stops at class...
Not really. Say, I wonder if Williams plays the guitar.
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