Tasker and Bentley Go Soft on Bills Opening Disaster

Some random thoughts while watching the Buffalo Bills not even reach low expectations in a 42-17 preseason loss to the Washington Redskins Friday night:

* Ex Bills Steve Tasker and Ray Bentley assuredly were a lot softer on the Bills during Channel 7’s telecast than the team’s fans undoubtedly were in their living rooms and area bars.

At game’s end, Bentley noted that there were some “bright spots” for the Bills. He added that 16 injured players on the roster were unavailable and noted the game “was probably not a true test of what the Buffalo Bills will be this season.”

It was hard to immediately see Bentley's “bright spots.” The early field goal drive?

Earlier Tasker noted that the Bills “didn’t stop playing.” So I suppose that could be a “bright spot.”

Hey, they were auditioning for full-time jobs. So why would they stop playing?

Referring to Bills Coach Chan Gailey, Tasker also said “No question this night did not turn out the way he wanted.”

You think?

Tasker and Bentley seemed more like apologists during the game than announcers.

Nobody expects announcers picked by the team to be assassins but a little more honesty would be preferable to their soft criticism. The lead of the game story today in the Buffalo News story written by Allen Wilson was “Ugh” and called Coach Chan Gailey’s debut “a colossal flop.”

Now that's an honest assessment. Just once you wish Tasker or Bentley had stated the obvious, especially when the Bills were down 35-3: The Bills are playing worst than expected and the quarterbacks still don’t have a chance to find any open receivers with backup linemen protecting.

* Some of the graphics during the game made one feel like he was taking an eye test. Last season’s statistics were in such small type that you’d need better than 20-20 eyesight to read them.

* Just got my first text from my older son, who was at the game. By the way, the game wasn’t played in the nation’s capital as you may have read. The Skins now play in Landover, Md., not D.C. Anyway, it is safe to say my son was a little more critical in his text than Tasker and Bentley were during the game.

* Don’t you hate it when announcers immediately side with the officials even when replays make some calls look questionable. Tasker quickly called a Skins reception near the goal line a touchdown before a commercial. After the commercial, Bentley noted the receiver may have been juggling the ball before he crossed the goal line. During the season, it would have been worth a challenge.

* Hey, some actual criticism. Tasker noted that Bills rookie back C.J. Spiller was put in the no-win situation of pass blocking a defensive end and that receiver Lee Evans should have tried harder to break up a pass that was intercepted. Still, it was hard to see what Evans could have done to prevent the interception. Bentley called out rookie linebacker Arthur Moats, who hustles but may have been beaten defensively on a few plays. I say “may” because Tasker wasn’t sure who was supposed to cover a wide open receiver.

* Since the goal of the game is to find players, it would have been nice to hear Tasker or Bentley tell viewers if anyone was playing well for the Bills.

* Here is what I believe to be an announcing first in a preseason game. Tasker talked about Bills fans having “angst” because of the way the team is playing and they are only down 14-3. Never heard "angst" used before in a game. Imagine how much angst there was when the game was 35-3.

* Tasker and Bentley agreed that Gailey kept quarterback Trent Edwards in longer than expected to make him feel more positive rather than sit him after an interception. Bad idea. Things only got worse for Edwards as the game went on.

* Comic relief: With the Bills having a fourth down and about a yard to go, Tasker suggested they go for it with 32 seconds left in the half. Then Bentley pointed out there were several minutes left in the half and Tasker was looking at the play clock. Who could blame Tasker for wanting to make this game end quickly? It would have been a good idea to call it a half then anyway.

* Tasker and Bentley both applauded Gailey’s decision to go for a first down deep in the Bills territory. Neither veteran announcer thought the obvious: The Bills were just trying to draw the Skins offside. It didn’t work.

* Turning philosophical with Bills down 21-3, Tasker said “you think the sky is falling. You forgot there are five more months of football. You’re going to play a lot better than this, you’re going to play a lot different.”

Right after those optimistic words had gotten out of Tasker’s mouth, the Redskins ran back a punt for a touchdown and a 28-3 lead.

A little humor was called for. I could almost hear Bills Nation collectively saying “the sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

“This is not the start (the Bills) had hoped for,” assessed Bentley.

You think?

* It’s the fourth quarter and I suspect I did what many Bills fans did. I put the volume on mute and phoned a Buffalo native who lives out of town and whose first question was: “Why are the Bills so lousy?”

Clearly, the “angst” is spreading out of town.

pergament@msn.com

ESPN Keeps Suspense Going in LeBron Call

Some thoughts a day or so after LBJ supposedly made his big decision:

* What did they know and when did they know it?

That’s my question to ESPN reporters and analysts after LeBron James announced he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.

I was playing a tennis league match Thursday night when LBJ told the world on ESPN that he was joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to become a member of the Miami Heat. So I recorded “The Decision” for later viewing.

I didn’t feel like I would be missing anything live because all afternoon long ESPN’s Chris Broussard had speculated that James was joining the Heat unless he changed his mind at the last minute.

Of course, I laughed on Tuesday when first word of LBJ’s 9 p.m. Thursday press conference leaked. The idea that the media would get 48 hours to learn “The Decision” and it wouldn’t leak before then was pretty funny in this Twitter and Facebook world.

The announcement that there would be announcement was an invitation or even an inducement to discover the truth.

It was inevitable by the time ESPN's show began Thursday that the world would know where James was headed before he confirmed he was joining the Heat in an interview with reporter Jim Gray.

I just wonder when Broussard and everybody else at ESPN speculating that he was going to Miami really knew and just tried to keep the suspense going.

Perhaps because much of the suspense had been eliminated before LeBron confirmed what he was going to do, local ratings on ESPN weren’t as high as one might have expected.

The hour started with a 5.0 rating here and peaked at 6.4 at 9:15 p.m. when LeBron gave his decision. At that point, ESPN’s ratings were higher than anything that aired locally on a network affiliate. However, the rating slipped to a 4.5 at 9:30 p.m. and a 3.4 at 9:45 p.m. to average about a 5 rating for the hour. That was lower than a “CSI” (6.0) repeat on Channel 4 and a new episode of the Canadian series “Rookie Blue” (5.8) on Channel 7.

The Buffalo rating wasn't close to the national rating, but that's not a surprise. The national number was inflated by the big numbers in the big markets -- New York (No.1) Chicago (No.3) Miami (17) and Cleveland (18) -- that had teams that were in the LeBron sweepstakes.

* Was it just me or did LeBron sort of blame his mother for helping him decide to leave his hometown team? LeBron said his mom advised him to do what made him happy, which made it easier to join the Heat. He should have kept his mom out of it.

It would be hard for some players to still be happy with the knowledge that they would immediately become villains in their hometown. In the short run, James is defining happiness with the opportunity to win titles. In the long run, happiness might have been defined as choosing loyalty over a better opportunity to win titles. We’ll see.

However, the ugly statement that Cleveland Owner Dan Gilbert made about LeBron’s departure almost immediately made the star a sympathetic character in some quarters. No one deserved that kind of talk.

* LeBron noted that that he could have made more money by staying in Cleveland. But let’s be honest. The money he makes playing the game is a bonus added to the millions more that he makes from endorsements.

On the other hand, the decision to leave Cleveland could actually cost him endorsement money if he remains a villain for awhile or if D-Wade becomes a bigger Madison Advertising commodity.

I’m not an accountant. But since there is no state income tax in Florida, I suspect that LeBron actually could make as much money after taxes playing in Miami next year if he becomes a Florida resident as he could have if he stayed in Cleveland.

* NBA Commissioner David Stern is always mindful of the importance of public relations.

That makes one wonder why he didn’t exert his influence with one of the league’s TV partners, ESPN, and tell them to just say no to the one-hour special.

And he might have tried to convince LeBron it was a bad idea.

He certainly should have tried to stop Gilbert from making his statement.

Who knows? Maybe he did try to do all three things.

One thing is clear: The hype-fest tarnished the image of one of the league’s biggest stars, one of its TV partners and one of its owners.

* Now on to the World Cup, which ends Sunday when Netherlands and Spain play for the title on ABC affiliate Channel 7 at 1:30 p.m.

I’ve watched enough soccer over the last few weeks to realize that instant replay might not be the total answer to all the lousy officiating calls. I can’t count the number of times that the game announcers have complained that a bad call was made, only to hear intermission and post-game analysts look at the same footage and defend the call. Clearly, instant replay could slow down the game at an alarming pace.

pergament@msn.com

Sports on the Air: Newberg Scores with Kane Story

Cheers to Channel 4 reporter Rich Newberg for his story Thursday about South Buffalo hero Patrick Kane.

Newberg did something in the news story about the Stanley Cup hero that many sports reporters seemed to want to avoid: Address Kane’s problem last August with a cabbie over a fare that made national headlines.

The cab incident damaged Kane’s image before the season locally and nationally to the point that some people may have even been rooting against him as his Chicago Black Hawks sought the Stanley Cup.

Then Kane scored the winning goal in the Hawks’ sixth-game Cup clincher over the Philadelphia, gave some shout outs to his hometown on NBC and CBC and almost all seemed forgiven.

But certainly not forgotten.

Newberg’s balanced piece celebrated Kane’s heroics but also noted “there was that bump in the road” – the cabbie problem with his cousin.

Journalistically, it was the right way to go. Kane even addressed his August problem in an image-repairing, post-championship interview Wednesday without directly explaining it.

It was an important part of the story about a gifted 21-year-old athlete who may have matured and certainly was able to overcome making a foolish young mistake.

I say "may have" matured because by Friday Kane seemed to think the cab ride and another image-damaging incident in which he was caught with his shirt off in a limo ride with three fully-clothed women -- are a big joke now.

Apparently, he wasn't kidding when he told NBC's Pierre McGuire there was "not a chance, not a chance," that he would be on his best behavior at the Chicago parade celebrating the Hawks' first Cup win in 49 years.

“I’ll try to keep my shirt on all summer,” Kane told the crowd at the Chicago celebratory parade Friday. “For all you cab drivers, I love you.”

The light parade comments were a bad public relations move for a player who seemed to realize only two nights before the importance of rebuilding his image.

If there was a flaw in Newberg’s piece, it also was an attempt at humor at the end. The head of the cab company offered Kane a free cab ride anywhere he wants to go when he brings back the Stanley Cup to his hometown for a day.

“I promise you, I won’t lock him inside,” added the cab company owner.

Apparently everyone is a comedian now. But the summer incident in which Kane eventually plead guilty to disorderly conduct really shouldn’t have been a joking matter for anyone.

Besides, I think Kane can afford to give the Cup a limo ride now and can pass up the free cab ride offer.

Of course, some sports reporters and talk show hosts did mention Kane’s August cab adventure after the Cup-clinching goal. Notably, WGR radio’s Mike Schopp addressed it fairly in putting Kane’s year in perspective. Schopp said he celebrated Kane’s and Buffalo’s success and hoped the incident had helped the hockey star mature. It was a good take by the sports host.

With Kane and former Buffalo Sabre Brian Campbell winning the Cup with the Hawks and former Sabre Danny Briere having a terrific series for the Flyers, you might have thought that local ratings for the six-game series would have been through the roof on Channel 2.

However, the six-game series only rated about 10 percent higher here than last year’s Stanley Cup final series won by the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Detroit Red Wings. The six games this year averaged an 8.0 rating on the local NBC affiliate, while last year’s seven-game series averaged a 7.2.

Of course, the Pens game 7 win had the highest rating – a 14.0 – and brought up last year’s average. The Hawks’ Cup-clinching win in game six had a 13.5 rating in Buffalo after you take out the pre-game and post-game shows.

Buffalo was the third-rated market for the finals, behind only Chicago and Philadelphia. Buffalo is one of the rare markets in the country that gets higher ratings for the NHL finals than the NBA finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ win in game 3 of their series with the Boston Celtics Tuesday had a 6.2 rating on Channel 7. The Celts’ win in game 4 Thursday night had a 6.4 rating.

* I’ve always been a fan of ABC and ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy on NBA games. But during the finals, analyst Mark Jackson also has been impressive with his ability to make a viewer laugh. During one game, he noted a player had a “Beyonce” move because “he went to the left, to the left” like the lyrics to her popular dance song.

In Thursday’s game, Jackson praised the play of Glen “Big Baby Davis” of the Celtics, noting that he did something babies do after he scored a big basket. Drool. Sure enough, ABC showed a replay of Davis with drool running down the side of his mouth after the basket.

* A shout out to Channel 2 reporter-anchor Ben Hayes, who did a fine job last weekend on the anchor desk. Hayes has a good voice and a good feel for sports and has great potential as a sports anchor at the one station in town with a deep sports bench. If Channel 4 is seriously looking for a third on-air person in sports, it could look no farther than to Hayes if he is available.

pergament@msn.com