Joe Buck needs to drop his woe-is-me attitude and relax
Joe Buck doesn’t like hiding things. He accepts that his life, as he puts it, is an “open book.”
Unfortunately, when a voice of Buck’s talent and stature hangs his laundry out on the line for all to see, the winds of uncontrollable reactions are going to blow through his world. It’s those reactions Buck finds hard to accept — or ignore.
He should either start ignoring. Or immediately start accepting.
The Free World got another Woe-Is-Me-Joe moment after Buck went on a recent Colin Cowherd podcast and nonchalantly dropped a couple of lines about his casual drinking in Fox’s NFL and MLB booths. In the baseball booth, with John Smoltz, Buck would have a large beer at the ready, mostly to “remind myself to relax and have fun.” In the football booth, with Troy Aikman, Buck stepped up in class. The libation of choice was tequila, a splash of Grand Marnier and grapefruit juice.
Interesting tidbit. Yet not exactly a self-inflicted wound by Buck.
On Twitter, Buck said the booze was mainly used as a “visual reminder” that the world would not end if he made a mistake. Yes, doesn’t everybody pour a drink for the express purpose of staring at it?
Seriously though, his command performances provide ample evidence Buck and his ‘mates never got sloshed on the air. They got nowhere close to the hardcore stuff. Like, ABC’s bombastic Howard Cosell going on the air toasted during a 1970 “Monday Night Football” game in Philly. He threw up on analyst (Dandy) Don Meredith’s cowboy boots. See, there was a time where booze in the booth was by no means an unusual thing.
CBS’ freewheeling NFL broadcast team — Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier — were known for their booth-partying antics, and others who worked in friendly environments would knock back, as Buck puts it, a few of those “visual reminder(s)” before or during a game. Some voices even relied on other stuff to loosen up. One winter Sunday, we were tagging along with a network voice who was calling a Jets game at Shea Stadium. We were in the press room and he swallowed a couple of pills with a glass of water. I asked him if he wasn’t feeling well. He just smiled, then laughed.
“Feeling fine,” he said. “They (the pills) help me reee-laax!”
No big deal. Just like the “revelations” Buck enlightened Cowherd with were no biggies either. In the aftermath of these stories about his pseudo “boozing,” it was Buck who stoked the fire by going on Twitter Wednesday evening and whining; characterizing the drinking stories born of Cowherd podcast soundbites (ironically spread by the podcast’s PR operative) as complete “clickbait.”
He admitted that providing “clickbait” with even more attention: “Is moronic on my part, but so what.” So what? Apparently, Buck can’t help himself, for reasons known only to him, he continued tweeting about the Foxies being cool with what he said. After all, they had not spoken with him about it. Buck even patted himself on the back.
“They know how dedicated I/we are, and how hard we work and how much we care about EVERY WORD that comes out of our mouths,” Buck tweeted.
“Most of all they trust us.”
But can Joe Buck, the “open book,” trust himself?
BASEBALL TALK
Baseball broadcasting will not return to normal when the pandemic ends.
“Hopefully they (outlets airing baseball) will find a middle ground,” an MLB TV source said.
For now, regional networks like SNY (Mets) and YES (Yankees) must abide by MLB’s COVID-19 protocols. That means, like last season, broadcasters will not travel with the teams. YES voices will work from the Yankee Stadium booth while the Mets crew will again work from Citi Field when the teams are on the road.
When normalcy returns what exactly does “middle ground” mean? It’s a euphemism for cut backs. In terms of finances, outlets have been crushed. The suits have to come up with ways to begin recouping losses. That will mean — among other things — less, or more selective, travel, and also looking for ways to produce games for a lot less money.
STAR SPIN
Adam Silver used ESPN, appearing in an interview with Rachel Nichols, to attach more spin to why the NBA is driven to hold its All-Star game on March 7 in Atlanta.
The commissioner, calling the game strictly a “made for television event,” said it’s being held in Atlanta “because that’s where Turner Sports is located.” Incredible revelation by the commish. Something tells us that Turner suits won’t be predicting huge ratings (unless they include the China numbers) for an exhibition game that should not be played, especially if the league is really concerned with player safety.
No matter the spin, or the money raised for local organizations, it just doesn’t make sense for the NBA to shove an All-Star Game, and a few of its bell and whistle events, into Atlanta just to allow sponsor activation.
Oh, well, it seems everyone has a side hustle. Even during a pandemic.
TROPHY TALK
Two unlikely WFAN adversaries, Marc Malusis and Chris McMonigle, produced a heated and highly entertaining Monday debate.
They were arguing over an earth-shaking subject: Two pieces of metal.
On the air with his partner Maggie Gray, Malusis cavalierly dropped dime on Lorraine Grohs, daughter of the silversmith who created the Lombardi Trophy. She was upset over Tom Brady tossing the trophy overboard during the Bucs celebratory boat parade.
McMonigle, who anchors his own Saturday soiree on the station (he is also the associate producer of “The Carton & Roberts Show”), came on the midday show and pointed out how Malusis previously ripped Rob Manfred for referring to the World Series trophy as a hunk of metal.
McMonigle put Malusis on the griddle.
McMonigle wanted to know why Malusis wigged at Manfred for ostensibly calling the WS Trophy a piece of garbage but cut Brady major slack for treating the Lombardi Trophy like a piece of crap? Excellent question/point. Nonetheless, Malusis skillfully extricated himself from the situation by reminding McMonigle that even the legendary Stanley Cup has been the recipient of bizarre treatment, including someone “pooping” in it.
Even for us, that was too much information.
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: MATTHEW STAFFORD
For caring. The quarterback left Detroit without winning a playoff game, but the $1 million donation to SAY Detroit from him and his wife Kelly, will fund an education center. The charitable endeavor says a lot about their character.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: URBAN MEYER
For trying to hire former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle to the same position with the Jaguars. Doyle had been dismissed from Iowa amidst allegations of mistreatment by former players. Doyle resigned the day after his Jacksonville hiring was made public. ESPN college football Gasbag Paul Finebaum, a veteran Meyer critic, said: “He (Meyer) doesn’t care what you think, or I think. He doesn’t care about common sense or decency. He only cares about what he thinks.” Ouch!
DOUBLE TALK
What Aaron Boone said: “Ultimately, I think one of the great things about our sport is it rewards the team that can survive a long season and the 162-game schedule.”
What Aaron Boone meant to say: “We better go deeper than 162, like all the way to the World Series. Anything less could mean I will be returning to the broadcast booth in 2022.”
