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Scanning the sports world

Submitted by SHNS on Wed, 10/08/2008 - 19:46

Scanning the sports world and shooting from the lip.BAD IDEA OF THE DAYSo the word out there is actor Kevin Costner has met with movie writer-director Ron Shelton about making a sequel to the 1988 classic "Bull Durham.'' In addition, the New York Post is reporting that actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon would be interested in reprising their roles.Can I just go on record right now and say this is a bad idea? Sports sequels do not work. Think about it."Slap Shot'' is my pick for the greatest sports movie ever made, but "Slap Shot 2'' might have been the worst movie ever made. Well, actually "Caddyshack II'' might be the worst movie ever made -- more evidence that sports sequels are a bad idea. "Major League'' was good, but "Major League II" and "Major League: Back to the Minors" were awful. The first "Bad News Bears" was great, but both sequels were a mistake."The Mighty Ducks" was kind of cute, but the sequels were kind of annoying. Same with "Karate Kid." The only sports sequels that worked were a couple of the "Rocky'' sequels. But as my colleague, Times Outdoors Editor Terry Tomalin astutely points out, "Rocky" is more like a superhero and superhero sequels ("Batman,'' "Spider-Man," etc.) usually do work."Bull Durham" ranks No. 2 on my all-time sports movies. I don't know why, but I'm almost positive Bull Durham 2 will not be in my top 50. Don't do it!RATINGS WOESTBS was averaging about 4.3 million viewers for the 13 playoffs games it has shown. That is a big drop from the 5.4 million average viewers TBS garnered for the same time period in 2007.A few reasons for that. One, there were no New York teams in the postseason for the first time in 13 years. The other was the network took a big hit when one of its glamour games -- the Cubs vs. the Dodgers -- was aired at the same time as the vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, which drew about 70 million viewers and was one of the most-watched debates in political history.The final thought is none of the first-round series was really that competitive. All four started with a team taking a 2-0 lead and none went the full five games.Elsewhere, TBS has also announced its announcing team for the Red Sox-Rays American League Championship Series, which starts Friday at the Tropicana Field.Chip Carey will handle the play-by-play with Ron Darling and Buck Martinez as analysts. Craig Sager, he of the funky sports jackets, will be the on-field reporter.Harold Reynolds, who worked as an analyst on the Rays-White Sox series, will go into the studio to join Inside MLB host Ernie Johnson and analysts Cal Ripken and Dennis Eckersley.It would've been nice if Reynolds, who was excellent in the first round, could've stayed in the booth for the next series. That also would've allowed Tigers centerfielder Curtis Granderson to stay with the studio team for the ALCS. Granderson was the strongest of the studio analysts.INCONSISTENCYMLB TBS's pre- and post-game show, "Inside MLB,'' has been consistently inconsistent. It has gotten better as the playoffs have gone on, but it's still filled with too many awkward and unsteady moments.Ernie Johnson does a solid job as host, just as he does as host on TNT's "Inside the NBA.'' The problem is when he looks down the desk on the baseball show, the highly entertaining Charles Barkley isn't sitting there. With all due respect to Cal Ripken and Dennis Eckersley, neither brings the energy or humor that Barkley does. To be fair, if Barkley were to leave the basketball show, there probably wouldn't be anyone to replace him there either.Without someone like Barkley, Johnson, it seems, is having a difficult time pitching ideas and topics for Ripken and Eckersley to run with because neither seems willing to run. Perhaps in the ALCS, Harold Reynolds will bring a little more life to a show that needs a lot more life to be entertaining.All in the all, Inside MLB delivers all the information and insight, but in a way it's still a little too boring.THING THAT POPPED INTO MY HEAD-- 1. Doesn't it seem like all the baseball playoff teams are going a little too crazy with the champagne and all after winning their first-round playoff series?-- 2. He might not be the NFL's best running back, but the Saints' Reggie Bush in the most exciting. When you see him take the field, it's like seeing Barry Bonds or Reggie Jackson come to bat. You have to watch just to see what he might do.-- 3. Don't you just get the sick feeling that Jason Bay, who was the subject of trade rumors to Tampa Bay but ended up in Boston, is going to do something to hurt the Rays in the ALCS? (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com)