Bilas goes along for the ride
Few sports viewers appreciate the talent of the broadcasters who add descriptions and commentary to the pictures that come across their television screens every day.
Sure, some are blowhards who love to hear themselves speak. But those who are good at their jobs often turn in great performances day after day. The only times they are noticed is when things go wrong.
Such was the case in one of the most awkward 10 seconds of television that might be seen anywhere this college basketball season.
Sean McDonough was on the play-by-play of the Notre Dame-Pittsbugh Big East tussle on Monday night when color commentators Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery were talking about why the Fighting Irish needed to keep the ball in the hands of Jerian Grant, who was coming off a few excellent games and was having a strong second half against the Panthers.
Raftery was insistent that you have to “ride the hot player.”
With no sense of the double meaning to what he was about to say, he posed a question to Bilas, a former Duke forward: “Have you ever been ridden?”
It could have died there, but Bilas, who has gained acclaim as one of the more active and entertaining broadcasters on Twitter, couldn’t let it go.
“Never as a hot player,” he said.
Brilliant.
The response sent McDonough into scramble mode as he tried to change the subject as quickly as possible after a prolonged silence.
Thank goodness Katherine Webb and Brent Musburger were nowhere near the game.
■ SACRE BLEU — The CFL’s Montreal Alouettes announced Dan Hawkins as the team’s 20th head coach on Tuesday.
Hawkins replaces Marc Trestman, who left the Alouettes to take over as head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Montreal owner Bob Wetenhall was effusive in his praise for Hawkins.
“I am delighted to welcome Dan Hawkins to the Alouettes family as our new head coach,” Wetenhall said. “Dan comes to us with a distinguished coaching career in major U.S. college football.”
Apparently he stopped following Hawkins’ career when he left Boise State.
Hawkins’ Colorado teams had a difficult enough time picking up first downs on three tries. How will his Alouettes do with only two?
■ HUH? — All you ever need to know about the flawed nature of professional tennis’ rankings system is that the retired Andy Roddick moved up two spots this week.
It’s a convoluted mess that a Deadspin post briefly explains, but there is no reason to care.
Another oddity in this week’s ATP rankings? Four Southeastern Conference teams are in the top seven.
■ HE’S STILL GOT IT — Royce Feour is a legendary journalist in the boxing community, and although he walked off into the sunset several years ago as far as his career is concerned, he still follows the sports world as closely as anyone.
The quick-witted Feour always could be counted on for a snappy comment in the newsroom or the media room after a boxing event. His forum mostly has moved to social media, and that’s where this comment was discovered:
“I read a tweet that said the NBA All-Star Game pregame show was so long that Michael Jordan feels like he is 51. Now, that’s a good line. But who would even watch the pregame show to know that?”
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
