EAVESDROPPING ON BONDS PAINFUL.Byline: TOM HOFFARTH MEDIA Barry Bonds' painful pursuit of the No. 2 spot on baseball's all-time home run list seems to have spawned not one, but two reality shows. The ESPN-endorsed ``Bonds On Bonds'' weekly documentary series, which started before Opening Day, has already reached the seven-episode mark, and producer Mike Tollin says they'll stick with it at least until Bonds passes Babe Ruth and reaches 715, then perhaps take a hiatus and rejoin it later in the season. Far more of a grind to watch, however, are ESPN's daily, haphazard live cut-ins each time the San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California that currently play in the National League West Division. New York Giants history Early days and the John McGraw era slugger drags himself to the plate for another popout. Now, it's Fox's turn. The network's regular-season game of the week starts with four regional interleague telecasts Saturday -- one of them, the Giants vs. Oakland, goes head-to-head with the Angels-Dodgers at 1 p.m. No matter how many Fox folks spin the dread of having to watch another Bonds moment, the network will be giving him the same spotlight treatment, with planned interruptions of your regularly scheduled programming so you can see what's all abuzz in the Bay Area. ``It almost seems the press has been recycling stories (on Bonds) for the last month and a half,'' said Ed Goren, Fox Sports' president and executive producer. ``We're not going wall to wall (with coverage Saturday), but since we do have the Giants in our window with the Dodgers and Angels game, we will do cut-ins. That's reasonable.'' Joe Buck For the fictional character, see . Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is a American sportscaster, and the son of the late Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Buck. He has won numerous Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play work with Fox Sports television. , who's on play-by-play with Tim McCarver He began his playing career after being signed by the St. on the Mets-Yankees regional telecast Saturday, seemed to be more troubled by what appears to be the blueprint for The Bonds Channel. ``It'soversaturation to a point wherehe doesn't come off as a kind of guy you'd want to cuddle up next to,'' said Buck. ``It kind of works against him. ``The `Bonds on Bonds' show, from his perspective, was a good idea if he came off right, but I don't think it puts him in very good light. It's kind of sad. Seeing a guy who should have the world by the tail go through this emotional roller coaster week after week and how miserable he is, I think it works against him. ``And every time you turn on a TV or read a newspaper story on him, you wonder how much the public is really interested in him outside of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . He's one home run away from tying Babe Ruth, two from passing him and within shouting distance shout·ing distance n. A short distance: lived within shouting distance of each other. of the all-time record, and I don't feel there's a gigantic buzz around the country, `Give me more Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24 1964 in Riverside, California) is a left fielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds, the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie .' It's too much and at this point, it's counterproductive from Bonds' perspective.'' Tollin's response to Buck: ``I don't agree. I appreciate what he's saying, but that's been the prevailing media sentiment. The goal is to gain some perspective, some depth, some insight, and at least (Buck) is passively acknowledging that. But I think there's a huge disconnect here between the media and actual viewership. ``I've received a number of calls and e-mails saying, `We had no idea what he's been going through ... I never knew he was that kind of person.' From the media, there's a tremendous disposition to hate, criticize or ridicule the show before anyone saw the first frame. People who tune in are fascinated by the guy. We still feel good about the work we've done and overcome some huge obstacles to be fair and objective. ``The die was cast as this being puff or propaganda, and now they're calling it an infomercial. We did an extensive interview with (former commissioner) Fay Vincent Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr. (born May 29, 1938 in Waterbury, Connecticut) is a former entertainment lawyer and sports executive who served as the 8th commissioner of Major League Baseball from September 13, 1989 to September 7, 1992. (a friend of George Mitchell, who current commissioner Bud Selig put in charge of a steroid investigation). If this was a Barry infomercial, would Fay Vincent be in it?'' How lame can this get for Fox? Fox starts its 11th season doing Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. in a somewhat sticky situation, having gone this far without renewing its contract for 2007 and beyond. Fox Sports president and executive producer Ed Goren admits he thought a deal would have been hammered out by now, since the exclusive negotiation period ended. ``I don't think we'll go into this as a lame duck An elected official, who is to be followed by another, during the period of time between the election and the date that the successor will fill the post. The term lame duck generally describes one who holds power when that power is certain to end in the near future. ,'' he said. ``I can't stay it strong enough: We love the product as a network.'' The new splash for Fox this year was hiring former big-league manager and player Lou Pinella as a regular-season analyst after he did a nice job during the Angels-White Sox ALCS ALCS American League Championship Series (baseball) ALCS Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (UK) ALCS Airborne Launch Control System last fall. Pinella, however, won't be doing the WhiteSox-Cubs regional game as planned. An eye infection revealed Thursday already puts him on the DL. Regular FSN (Full-Service Network) A communications network that provides shopping, movies on demand and access to databases and a variety of interactive services. Dodgers analyst Steve Lyons is paired with Kenny Albert on the Dodgers-Angels telecast for Channel 11 Saturday, going to 13 percent of the country. Josh Lewin is on the call in San Francisco in case there's history made. Jeanne Zelasko, Kevin Kennedy and writer Ken Rosenthal will handle the pregame. After the game, Fox will carry the women's final of the AVP AVP arginine vasopressin. beach volleyball event from Santa Barbara at 4:30p.m. TAKE TWO NBC's coverage of the 131st Preakness (Saturday, 2 p.m.) is another awkward situation for thoroughbred racing. After having televised a memorable Kentucky Derby just two weeks ago, the network has this second leg of the Triple Crown, but it won't be around for the June 10 Belmont Stakes because the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Racing Association allowed ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. to step in and claim it. ``Now it's like the Double Crown for us,'' NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. director David Michaels said recently. So if run-away Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro (pictured) is victorious again Saturday, the pay-off race falls into the laps of the rival network, which of course includes excess coverage by corporate brother ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network . ABC has paid $20 million to do the Belmont through 2010. FANTASY FOOTBALL Mauricio Pedroza, a 23-year-old law student from Mexico City, won Wednesday's ESPN Deportes ``Dream Job: El Reportero'' contest to become a reporter at next month's World Cup in Germany for the Spanish-language channel. Reseda's Diego Santiago, a business administration student at Pierce College, was one of the six finalists. ``This whole experience has been absolutely amazing,'' Pedroza said. --Tom Hoffarth CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 3 boxes Photo: (1) Adam Kennedy Photo courtesy of FSN Prime Ticket (2) - Barry Bonds joking (we think) with reporters Thursday as the slugger prepares for the Giants' weekend interleague series against Oakland. (3) Barbaro Box: (1) WHAT SMOKES (2) WHAT CHOKES (3) How lame can this get for Fox? (see text) |
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