Glenn
01-22-2007, 09:44 AM
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/bill_livingston/index.ssf?/base/sports/116928613572900.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
McLeod calls it like Cavs want it
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers owner, didn't start the trend to poppycock in televised sports, he just accelerated it when he hired Fred McLeod, the biggest "homer" since the steroid era in baseball.
Gilbert's operation at The Q is built on bombarding fans with so many sources of stimulation that they won't think for themselves and notice the boys are mailing it in on a given night.
So a guy like McLeod is exactly what Gilbert wants - a cheerleader, a man who claims most of the calls go against the Cavs, who vilifies the opposition, who panders to a very low order of viewer perception.
See, it's not the Cavs' fault if the refs blow it or the other team is allowed to rabbit punch and hit below the belt.
It's understandable that broadcasters want the team they cover to do well. Michael Reghi, the deposed play-by-play man whom Gilbert is paying not to talk this season, put the Cavs in a good light if he could. But he criticized when they were sloppy or were taking the night off.
So does Austin Carr, who clearly wants the Cavs to win as much as anyone. Carr gets "peeved," as Charles Barkley might say, and calls them out for poor efforts.
The other TV analyst, Scott Williams, is the best the Cavs have had since former owner Gordon Gund acquiesced in sacking the insightful Matt Guokas, a former NBA head coach.
Early in the season, after a resounding LeBron James dunk, Williams made a reference to "Flight 23," which, when "cleared for landing!" was Reghi's signature call for a made-for-"SportsCenter" James dunk. Reghi's play-by-play was muscular and energetic. McLeod makes a James game sound almost boring, except for the baloney.
In Seattle this week, McLeod wanted a flagrant foul on the Sonics when James hit the deck on the way to the rim.
"That's just a hard foul. That happens in basketball," Williams said.
As James, who did not act aggrieved about the call, was shooting his free throws, McLeod said, "And LeBron knows that."
So did everyone who wasn't watching the game through a Beaujolais-and-gold lens.
Viewers knew what was coming from the start. When Atlanta's Tyronn Lue celebrated his game-tying basket at the buzzer in a November game the Cavs lost in overtime, McLeod cried, "And Lue talks trash!" --LOL--G
He would never say that about the Cavs, although Damon Jones has a whole repertoire of "How grand am I?" gestures, such as "turning on the faucet" after each 3-pointer he sinks.
When Williams termed "silly" Sasha Pavlovic's foul of a Seattle player shooting a twisting, fadeaway jumper, McLeod said, "He's only 23." Williams, who probably heard Dean Smith say: "Don't foul a jump shooter" at freshman orientation at North Carolina, said, "He's got to know better."
The one comment taken here as being creative was when McLeod called a James slam a "Fathead dunk." I liked it because "Fathead" posters are bigger than life. They also are a Gilbert enterprise. The broadcaster had hit a grand slam in shilling.
There is no one else like McLeod in Cleveland play-by-play. The message is: Don't go by what you see. Go by what the Cavs tell you. It's an insult.
McLeod calls it like Cavs want it
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers owner, didn't start the trend to poppycock in televised sports, he just accelerated it when he hired Fred McLeod, the biggest "homer" since the steroid era in baseball.
Gilbert's operation at The Q is built on bombarding fans with so many sources of stimulation that they won't think for themselves and notice the boys are mailing it in on a given night.
So a guy like McLeod is exactly what Gilbert wants - a cheerleader, a man who claims most of the calls go against the Cavs, who vilifies the opposition, who panders to a very low order of viewer perception.
See, it's not the Cavs' fault if the refs blow it or the other team is allowed to rabbit punch and hit below the belt.
It's understandable that broadcasters want the team they cover to do well. Michael Reghi, the deposed play-by-play man whom Gilbert is paying not to talk this season, put the Cavs in a good light if he could. But he criticized when they were sloppy or were taking the night off.
So does Austin Carr, who clearly wants the Cavs to win as much as anyone. Carr gets "peeved," as Charles Barkley might say, and calls them out for poor efforts.
The other TV analyst, Scott Williams, is the best the Cavs have had since former owner Gordon Gund acquiesced in sacking the insightful Matt Guokas, a former NBA head coach.
Early in the season, after a resounding LeBron James dunk, Williams made a reference to "Flight 23," which, when "cleared for landing!" was Reghi's signature call for a made-for-"SportsCenter" James dunk. Reghi's play-by-play was muscular and energetic. McLeod makes a James game sound almost boring, except for the baloney.
In Seattle this week, McLeod wanted a flagrant foul on the Sonics when James hit the deck on the way to the rim.
"That's just a hard foul. That happens in basketball," Williams said.
As James, who did not act aggrieved about the call, was shooting his free throws, McLeod said, "And LeBron knows that."
So did everyone who wasn't watching the game through a Beaujolais-and-gold lens.
Viewers knew what was coming from the start. When Atlanta's Tyronn Lue celebrated his game-tying basket at the buzzer in a November game the Cavs lost in overtime, McLeod cried, "And Lue talks trash!" --LOL--G
He would never say that about the Cavs, although Damon Jones has a whole repertoire of "How grand am I?" gestures, such as "turning on the faucet" after each 3-pointer he sinks.
When Williams termed "silly" Sasha Pavlovic's foul of a Seattle player shooting a twisting, fadeaway jumper, McLeod said, "He's only 23." Williams, who probably heard Dean Smith say: "Don't foul a jump shooter" at freshman orientation at North Carolina, said, "He's got to know better."
The one comment taken here as being creative was when McLeod called a James slam a "Fathead dunk." I liked it because "Fathead" posters are bigger than life. They also are a Gilbert enterprise. The broadcaster had hit a grand slam in shilling.
There is no one else like McLeod in Cleveland play-by-play. The message is: Don't go by what you see. Go by what the Cavs tell you. It's an insult.