There is certainly nothing new about us getting on our Media Circus soapbox to rant about Sportscenter’s use of the “Budweiser Hot Seat”.  What used to be an interesting chat with athletes (and that’s a generous description) has now become an avenue for promotional purposes seemingly available to anyone with something to promote.

Last week, they partnered up with The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to provide us with an insightful Q&A with a star of the upcoming movie, because nothing screams sports news like characters from Marvel Comics.  

As part of the promotion, Jessica Alba was brought in to trivialize Sportscenter even further by pretending to be interested in what’s going on in the sports world, teasing before the commercial break that she’d be talking about Eva Longoria.  Note to ESPN, we fans take our sports serious!  I mean, which would we rather have – a John Clayton update on the Giants or a five minute joke of a segment featuring her...

But the next time you pull a stunt like that again – making us sports nuts watch a really hot chick talk about other hot chicks, when we’re hoping for a segment from this guy, just know we’re breaking out the hatchet.

Crap that actually came from somebody’s mouth
“And, in one of the enduring mysteries of TV sports, one can't guess why ESPN keeps using Chris Berman on its NBC-produced early-round Open coverage.” – Michael Hiestand, USA Today

Allow us to throw out a theory on this.  We tend to think that someone at ESPN by the name of Chris Berman, is adamant that Chris Berman is involved in the coverage.
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“A lot of people are criticizing Sosa in the same way they criticized McGwire. That is clearly guilt by association, as he's never flunked a drug test and has never been rumored to take steroids.  The other thing to consider is this: Why would a player who is on steroids cork his bat?  Players who use steroids believe the drugs give them an advantafe (sic) and they're somewhat invincible. Players on steroids do not cork their bats in my opinion.” – Steve Phillips, ESPN

There you go, MLBers.  If you want to avoid being accused of using steroids, just cork your bat.  If you do that, we can pretty much rule you out that you’d be willing to take steroids.  After all, it’s not like you’ve established that you’re willing to cheat or anything.
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“In order to separate themselves from the rest of the NL West, (San Diego) will have to add a power bat. I'm not big on Adam Dunn being the kind of difference maker the Padres need. Ideally, they would be better served with somebody who makes more consistent contact, drives in runs, but with productive outs and helps rallies continue. Adam Dunn can take a walk and hit a home run, but the rest of his at-bats bring the game to a stop.” – Steve Phillips

We can just imagine Pads GM Kevin Towers on the phone with Cincinnati GM Wayne Krivsky..at least how it goes in Phillips’ head:

Towers – “We need a power bat, do you have anything available?”
Krivsky – “I got Dunn, he’ll hit you a bunch of homeruns and he walks a lot.”
Towers – “Homeruns and walks?  I said I wanted power, not someone who brings the game to a stop. No wonder you guys are in last, you think this game is won by people getting on base and hitting homeruns. Idiot.”
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"The U.S. will never have dealt with an athlete who has had this kind of international impact.  Tiger Woods has that international appeal but, with due respect to Woods and Michael Jordan, David Beckham is at an entirely different level.'' – Alexi Lalas

He’s right you know.  [sarcasm] Sure we’ve had Tiger and Michael Jordan and even Muhammad Ali, but American sports, especially soccer, has never ever brought an international superstar player into the league at the tail end of their career that is known throughout the world in hopes that said player will help revive the league.  Never happened. [sarcasm/]

Siragusa Lured Us into his Man Cave
Earlier this summer, we documented Mark Schlereth’s budding role as Guiding Light guest star, Detective Roc Hoover.  As it turns out, Schlereth isn’t the only former NFL lineman making a foray into the land of Hollywood. 

On the defensive side of the ball, former Colts and Ravens tackle and current FOX sideline “reporter” Tony Siragusa is co-hosting the brand new “Man Caves” show on the Do It Yourself Network (DIY).  After watching two commercials for the program, Media Circus staffers were a bit freaked out by the concept of Tony Siragusa hanging out in a cave, but it turns out that, well, we’ll just let you read the TV Guide description:

Tony joins the team on DIY's Man Caves to deliver a roomful of high-energy enthusiasm and know-how with host Jason Cameron… Every guy needs a space to call his own… a sanctuary where boys can be boys, where life essentials include a wet bar, a poker table and a place to watch the game with the fellas. And maybe even an indoor putting green! DIY Network’s Jason Cameron is joined by football great Tony “The Goose” Siragusa to offer ideas and do-it-yourself instruction to turn a basic basement into the ultimate guys’ hangout.

We aren’t too privy to the idea of watching a show telling us how to create the “ultimate hangout room” simply because owning a couch usually does the trick for us.  We’ll also admit to being freaked out by the concept of creating “the media cave” as described on the DIY site, because use of the words “media” and “cave” conjures up images of being trapped in a dark place with Chris Berman.

Brett Hull Gone from NBC?
Two weeks ago, we commended NBC for allowing Brett Hull and Don Cherry the freedom to be themselves during the Game 3 telecast of the Stanley Cup Finals:

Do they put on a show?  Sure they do, but unlike others in the business (we’re staring at you Skip Bayless) we don’t get the feeling that it’s all according to a script written up by the producers.  While it took its lumps from Cherry, the NHL may have stumbled onto a desperately needed bright spot.  Let’s see if they’re smart enough to keep it together.

According to the Vancouver Sun, the NHL and NBC aren’t smart enough to keep it together (shocking).  The newspaper dropped a quick bit via a local radio station: “Ray Ferraro, who should know, tells Team 1040 that Brett Hull's short-lived career as a hockey analyst with NBC is over.”

Assuming this news true and Hull didn’t opt out to pursue other interests, we’re really at a loss to describe the stupidity of NBC and the NHL.  Why keep around a good thing – or at the very least, something that got people talking about the NHL again… something the playoffs couldn’t do on their own.

Greatest Cliché on Turf Coverage
Sticking with this edition's “follow-up” theme, another week has passed and another unoriginal sportswriter has come up with the wildly creative idea that the 2007 Rams might represent the rebirth of the 6-year-dead Greatest Show on Turf. 

Via the AP, we learn that: Although the offense is showing signs of revival, St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger cautions against witnessing a return to the Greatest Show on Turf, "That's all talk right now."…  The Rams are far removed from their glory years, with only one winning season in the last five, although the offense appears to be improved… It's too early to draw any comparisons.

We’re picturing a mass of mainstream media members sitting around a big screen TV on Sundays waiting for the first 30-point Rams game.  As soon they do, the alarm will go off and these buffoons will boldly proclaim that the “Greatest Show on Turf is back”.  It’ll be like a New Year’s celebration, with lots of drinking and pot/pan banging. 

The following week, following a 2 or 3 turnover day and a 20-17 loss to the Seahawks, we’ll hear "This isn’t the greatest show anymore.”  It's like clockwork (whatever that phrase means). 

Oh, and before we forget, last week’s note on the STL Post-Dispatch Greatest Show column being the “earliest” ever recorded was in fact, inaccurate.  It turns out, a blog written by Joshua Boraz on TSN’s web site now holds that distinction, after a piece published this past April 25th announced that the Greatest Show had returned (coinciding with the acquisitions of Dante Hall and earlier deals with Randy McMichael and Drew Bennett).

At this point, we’re going to keep a Greatest Show Tracker at the bottom of this column every week.  We’re pretty sure we’ll never run dry on material.

Schaap Inserted as defensive replacement for Pedro Gomez
For 3 years, Pedro Gomez has lurked in the shadow of Barry Bonds.  Every move Bonds made, Pedro reported it.  So, needless to say, it was a bit disheartening to watch a Jeremy Schaap report on Bonds' 748th home run this past weekend in Gomez’s spot.

Just as Bonds gets closer to the all time home run record, ESPN has decided they want their all-star reporter to cover the story. 

We can't confirm this, but we're assuming Pedro is currently on suicide watch in his tree-house located in Barry Bonds’ front yard.

The Media Circus is written by Josh Bacott and Pat Imig.  They swear this stuff is real.  Email them at info@joesportsfan.com