Watchdog

Look, I'm as sick of Spygate as anyone, but HBO has some very interesting stuff from Matt Walsh in an interview with Andrea Kremer that will run on "Real Sports" Friday night.

I wish I could post the entire transcript, but HBO says that is not allowed. (I'm sure someone will do it Thursday somewhere on the Internet, but not me. I am well behaved.)

Anyway, Matt makes it bluntly clear the Patriots were well aware what they were doing was naughty, that they took elaborate steps to mask what they were doing and that it helped them on the field almost immediately.

Also, he is not amused with how he has been portrayed and treated.

Click below for as many highlights as I feel comfortable sharing at this time.

Let's put it this way: The segment on this week's "Real Sports" on the fates of thoroughbreds who no longer can get it done on the track is far more graphic than anything NBC chose not to show of Eight Belles' injury at the Kentucky Derby.

Yikes. It reruns at 8 p.m. Friday on HBO, as well as on various other HBO channels at various other times.

Time to become a vegetarian.

I've only bet on two major horse races: Alydar to win the 1978 Belmont and Funny Cide to win the 2003 Kentucky Derby.

Wagered $10 on both occasions. Came out ahead overall.

After this link to Deitsch's latest power ratings, which is very heavy on last week's "Costas Now" show, and this link to The Big Lead's interview with Buzz Bissinger (one of several the Buzzman has done in the past week for damage control, and which, by the way, parents, contains a number of naughty words), I am officially done with this subject.

The huge winner was HBO, which exists more to generate buzz (and thus subscribers) than for ratings.

On the other hand . . . Does anyone outside the Sports Media Navel Gazing Society care about this stuff?

When Deitsch asked HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg after the show whom he envisioned as the audience for it, he cracked that it probably was mostly members of the media.

Yes, it's true, I wrung part of my Friday newspaper column out of Tuesday night's instantly infamous "Costas Now" show on HBO. Who wouldn't?

But before bothering with reading that, check out this take on the night from one of the panelists, Jason Whitlock.

I certainly don't agree with everything in this column, but as usual Whitlock has done as good a job as anyone of bluntly laying out the issues and offering pointed opinions. He is among my handful of favorite newspaper/Internet columnists.

Whitlock and I talked Wednesday about how the show went. I told him I found it interesting and worthwhile, despite the distraction caused by Buzz Bissinger's manic outburst.

In retrospect, the green room before the show was a hothouse incubating the fireworks to come. I had pleasant chats with Michael Strahan and Chris Russo, but not at the same time.

I talked to Whitlock and Will Leitch. They also were cheerful.

Bissinger was a few feet away, looking intense.

Tuesday night's generational media dustup between Buzz Bissinger and Will Leitch on HBO continues to echo through cyberspace, if people still actually use that term.

Here is a take from Newsday's own Adam Abramson, who is younger than the baseball cap I currently am wearing, in which he gives Glauber and I props for not being cranky old guys, unlike, well, Buzz.

Look, people, I'm stuck in the middle on this one, given my age and background. Tuesday's discussion would have been more productive had Bissinger stayed out of it and let Costas ask the pointed questions of Leitch.

I thought Costas was most effective when he pointed out that because of their access, the likes of Woodward/Bernstein, Ernie Pyle and Jim Nantz were able to offer insights into Watergate, World War II and The Masters that those without access could not have.

But of course Leitch is not advocating the abolishment of reporting itself.

So it's all quite complicated.

Click below for a transcript of my conversation with Costas after the show Tuesday night, in which he discusses the show itself and also a recent controversy over some blogger comments he made, which is recounted by Leitch himself here.

(That "Friday Night Lights" actress on the right whose name I do not know was another person I declined an invitation to interview so I could get Ray Mancini last Friday. Alice Braga was the first.)

I'm back from the Big City again. This time I was hanging out with various trade publication reporters and MLB Advanced Media types learning about MLB.tv and trying to figure out what everyone was talking about.

Naturally, there is much more about Tuesday night's "Costas Now" all over the blogosphere than when I left. The YouTube video can be found on various blogs on the blog roll to the left.

By not linking to it directly, I can have plausible deniability for the naughty words. Plus, I avoid violating any copyright laws, I guess.

Here is a rant on Newsday's own Final Score blog about Bob Costas. Please click on it so the FS boys can reach their April page views goal and leave me alone.

Baumbach wonders in the post why anyone would want to interview Costas. Actually, I did after the show last night.

I'll post the transcript Thursday, among many, many other things.

The big national story to come out of Bob Costas' sports media town meeting on HBO Tuesday was the cross-generational holy war pitting Buzz Bissinger and (to a lesser extent) Costas against Will Leitch, representing the blogosphere.

The most interesting New York-oriented development, though, was Michael Strahan talking to Chris Russo for the first time in nearly nine years.

Strahan has been incensed with Russo and partner Mike Francesa on a regular basis, starting with his controversial comments in 1999 while Jim Fassel was out of town for his mother's funeral and continuing through the criticism of Strahan's record-breaking sack in the 2001 season and his 2007 holdout and subsequent selection as a team captain.

"All of a sudden, that's why the team is 0-2,'' Strahan said of the blame he felt he took for the team's slow start.

Strahan said that sitting next to Russo was the closest he ever has been to the WFAN host, and it was clear from his tone he was tempted to reach over and slap him.

Strahan referred to Russo and by extension many other sports talk hosts when he said, "The last time you had a uniform on was when your mom took you trick or treating."

When Russo pointed out radio hosts often do say positive things about athletes and don't get credit for doing so, for example after Strahan helped the Giants win the Super Bowl, Strahan shot back, "You had no choice."

When it was over the two shook hands on stage. Unlike Bissinger and Leitch.

I have other stuff to do now. Go back to discussing Imus and Carton if you want.

Here are some remarks from Buzz Bissinger (see post below) aimed at Will Leitch that I jotted down longhand last night:

"I really think you're full of ----."

"It really ---- the ---- out of me."

"It's a complete dumbing down of our society."

"This guy, whether we like it or not, is the future."

"The quality of writing in blogs generally is despicable."

Honestly, I don't know where to begin in dissecting the events of Tuesday in Big Town, where I should have been most interested in the Michael Strahan/Chris Russo showdown on "Costas Now" but instead got sucked in by the multi-car pileup in which Buzz Bissinger rear-ended Will Leitch, with Bob Costas tossing gasoline and matches into the wreck.

As a middle-aged, mainstream media blogger, I understandably felt like a rubbernecker with sympathy for both sides but morbid fascination with the spectacle.

I can't even link to the video when (if) it turns up on YouTube, what with the naughty language and all. (From Buzz, not Will.)

My favorite line (and Will's) was curse-free. Bissinger called Leitch "Jimmy Olsen on Percocet." I'm not sure what that means, but it was hilarious.

Adding to the strangeness, all this happened hours after I sat down to chat with the elegant Vin Scully, who never has cursed out a fellow media member on national television, as far as I know.

Here is Leitch's take on it, well written as usual. I was one of the people he referenced who came up to him afterward to assess the possible psychological damage.

Bissinger and (more so) Costas made some good points, to be sure, even as things got a tad intense. That's what made it all so compelling.

(The show reruns at 6:30 Wednesday, by the way.)

I have one more day of old-school, mainstream media reporting that will limit my blogging, but I will make up for it in the coming days. Trust me.

The most disturbing news on Deadspin this morning had nothing to do with Buzz or Bob or Stray or Mad Dog.

It's that Jan Brady turned 50 yesterday.

Profound apologies for the lack of blogging Tuesday. I just got back from another long, winding day of journalism-related activities in the big city.

I was fortunate enough to see three more ESPN/Tribeca Sports Film Festival entries, grateful to talk to Vin Scully before he was honored by Fordham and WFUV, then highly amused to witness Michael Strahan and Chris Russo spar on "Costas Now" on HBO.

One topic from Tuesday, though, is sure to dominate the sports blogosphere Wednesday.

Two words: Buzz Bissinger.

More later. Much more.

I hate to put something on top of all the spirited Carton bashing going on in the post below, but I had a short break and thought I'd share with you the 2008 Sports Emmy Award winners from Monday night.

In three years on the beat, I have yet to attend the gala event. Maybe next year. Or as soon as ESPN covers the Newsday Publisher's Award dinner in January.

Click below for the winners and the chart of awards by channel/network.

Here is an interview with Commack's own Bob Costas by a guy in Orlando called the "Weekend WatchDog."

Nice of him to take care of things for me when I'm off.

The interview is timed for the live "Costas Now" episode Tuesday night in which some of the biggest names in the sports media biz will serve on discussion panels in Midtown.

Not including me.

Former NFL Network play-by-play man Bryant Gumbel sits down on HBO's "Real Sports" tonight with really bad bowler Barack Obama to discuss the Illinois Democrat's favorite sport: basketball.

The segment, taped last month, features what is touted as the first TV footage of Obama playing in a pickup game, against some younger soldiers.

WatchDog is politically neutral, but you have to give him his props. For a middle-aged guy, he seems to have good skills and speed.

If he becomes President, he will be the best basketball player in the history of the White House.

Although William Howard Taft no doubt was a formidable presence in the low post before the three-second lane was instituted.

ESPN's "E:60" also is back tonight in case you are interested in a sports journalism double feature.

There's no Devils-Rangers, so go for it.

Should you be in the city today and in the mood for a warmup for tonight's heavyweight title tilt . . .

There will be a public event to unveil a new Everlast Shop from 1-3 p.m. at 864 Broadway, near East 18th Street.

Buddy McGirt will be on hand to offer training tips and someone named Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi is supposed to be signing autographs. There also will be gift bags! And a chance to win tickets to the bout at the Garden tonight.

While talking to NFL Films president Steve Sabol about the Giants DVD for my Friday newspaper column today, I asked him what he thought about HBO's recent decision to stop carrying "Inside the NFL."

"We were surprised,'' he said. "That was a 31-year relationship . . . Hopefully we’ll find another home for it. It's a great tradition. I remember when we met with Mike Fuchs, Austin Furst and Marty Glickman and sat on orange crates and talked about this idea of doing highlights.

"We feel it’ll come back in some form or another. It was a terrific relationship. We had a long run, goal line to goal line. And we like to think we scored."

One of the stars of the Joe Louis documentary about which I wrote in today's newspaper column is Joe Louis Barrow Jr., the son of the late heavyweight champ.

I met Barrow at an HBO screening earlier this month. Unlike his father, who in the documentary is stilted and uncomfortable on camera, his son is a polished speaker with an academic bent.

Interestingly, he works for the World Golf Foundation in Jacksonville; his father helped integrate the sport at the pro level in 1952.

Barrow participated in a panel discussion after the screening and said that at his father's funeral in 1981, Muhammad Ali pulled him aside and said, "You know, your father was the greatest, truly the greatest."

Ali is seen in the documentary calling Louis an Uncle Tom.

My profound apologies for blowing off nearly seven hours of prime blogging time to attend a screening of HBO's new Joe Louis documentary, debuting Feb. 23.

It's good. I will write more about it in the newspaper next week.

And I will catch up on blogging Wednesday.

(Please skip next two paragraphs if you can't take any more of my obsessive name-dropping.)

In attendance at the screening were Joe Louis Barrow Jr., Joe's son, as well as John Starks, Regis Philbin and assorted luminaries from the worlds of boxing and boxing journalism.

Joe's son is an executive at the World Golf Foundation these days. (His father played an important role in the integration of pro golf that is addressed in the show.) I walked into the snow with Joe Jr. after the screening. He said he was on his way back home to Jacksonville, and seemed happy about that.

I was going to do a post making fun of radio ads that appear after the fact, but then I forgot whether the ad I heard on WFAN at 1 p.m. was for the Pro Bowl or the Grammys or some other event yesterday, so . . . never mind.

Instead click below for Bryant Gumbel's closing commentary that will appear on HBO's "Real Sports" tonight.

Here is a story about the final episode of "Inside the NFL" on HBO for which there was not room in the Friday newspaper:

HBO’s “Inside the NFL’’ went the way of many cultural institutions: It was comforting to know it was there, like an old sweater in the back of the closet, but it became too easy to overlook.

Like many sports fans, I often forgot to watch, because by Wednesday, what’s the point? But the series finale – it reruns five times beginning Thursday night – was a reminder of what kept the show alive for 31 seasons.

The NFL Films recap of the Super Bowl is a treat for avid fans, with highlights such as Michael Strahan exhorting the offense by (correctly) anticipating the final score and this pre-game exchange between Tom Coughlin and referee Mike Carey:

Carey: “How was the frostbite [in Green Bay]? That was pretty cold, wasn’t it?’’

Coughlin: “At least they’re talking about my face this year; last year, it was my ass.’’

I am working on a story for the newspaper about HBO's surprise announcement that tonight would be its final installment of "Inside the NFL'' after 31 seasons, but I wanted to tell you now in case you want to watch.

Amani Toomer will be on.

More Thursday.

(UPDATE: Dawson and Buoniconti will be on tonight, too!)

(ANOTHER UPDATE: I just spoke to Buoniconti. He said he thanks Toomer on tonight's show both for Sunday's victory over the Pats and the 1998 win over the 13-0 Broncos in which Toomer scored the winning TD pass. "I owe him a couple of glasses of champagne, not just one,." he said.)

HBO went to all the trouble and expense of overnighting me a DVD of this week's episode of "Real Sports," which debuts Tuesday night.

Normally, I'd watch it and tell you whether it's any good. But the Giants are in the Super Bowl. So, sorry.

It's a football-themed show, naturally. One segment is about alcohol overconsumption at NFL games.

Who knew? Next thing you know these people will start verbally abusing women at Giants Stadium gates or something.

This is quite a quote from Joe Gibbs, who sat down with Bob Costas on HBO's "Inside the NFL" this week.

It's Gibbs talking about his double-timeout snafu against the Bills that preceded the Redskins' regular-season-ending winning streak.

"I felt all of the emotions that anybody would feel. You spend your whole life and you are wanting to make good decisions, lead the team and do things. And that really is a crushing point in my life, professionally. I would have said at that point, honestly, I doubt there will ever be a positive thing said about me again in coaching. That was where I kind of was and how I felt and to see what God did over the next five weeks was amazing."

The show replays at 8 p.m. Thursday night.

Evidently, boxing isn't quite dead yet.

HBO announced that the Dec. 8 Mayweather-Hatton bout generated 850,000 pay-per-view buys and $47 million in pay-per-view revenue.

That gave HBO PPV its biggest year ever, with 4.8 million buys and more than $255 million in revenue over eight events.That beat the four million buys and $200 million in revenue in 1999.

A few more big bouts on non-PPV would be nice for the fans and the sport, though, fellas.

Yogi Berra is scheduled to appear on Tuesday night's "Costas Now" year-in-review episode on HBO.

He will be there to recall his old pal Phil Rizzuto, who died recently.

Costas' panel discussion will feature John McEnroe and Charles Barkley, who might want to start thinking about whether he is getting a tad overexposed. Even Frank Caliendo is starting to do more Barkley than Madden.

Costas also has a sitdown with Tony Dungy in which Dungy talks about Bill Belichick and Spy Gate.

Costas: “When this year’s New England game ended, there was a brief handshake between you and Bill Belichick. Most people viewed it as frosty. How did you view it?”

Dungy: “Well, it probably was. But that's Bill. Bill has always been that way with me.”

One day after revealing an upcoming biopic of Joe Namath, Variety has a story today about an HBO Films project on a more contemporary figure: Barry Bonds.

Both films are in limbo until the writers strike is settled.

I never did see Barry Bonds play for the Alaska Goldpanners when I worked in Anchorage in 1983 and '84. And the days of Tom Seaver and Dave Winfield were way before my time covering the Alaska League.

During my time in Alaska I did cover Randy Johnson, Dennis Cook (who I saw throw a no-hitter), Jeff Brantley, Mike Macfarlane, Joe Magrane, Chris (Tony's brother) Gwynn and many other guys whose names I now forget.

Sigh.

Sorry so few posts today. I attended a screening in the big city of HBO's latest documentary, on the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. Plus, it's Halloween.

I will review the HBO show closer to the Nov. 13 debut, but here is a sneak preview, exclusively for WatchDog readers: I thought it was good.

Have a nice night. Enjoy David Wright's appearance with Jon Stewart on the "Daily Show.'' It consistently is the second funniest show on television, after "Curb Your Enthusiam.''

For months there have been reports of promising negotiations between the mixed martial arts powerhouse UFC and HBO Sports, known mostly for boxing. But the marraige is not to be for now.

Said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg in a statement:

"After lots of discussion it became apparent that the business model doesn’t make sense for either one of us. So, we agreed to go our separate ways. You never know what the future holds. We have enormous respect and admiration for the executives we dealt with at the UFC. We wish them well.''