Commentary by John Mehno
PITTSBURGH-The week started with a dropped towel on Monday Night Football and ended with a European soccer riot at an NBA game in Detroit. The headlines were so big that people now barely remember Pitt quarterback Tyler F. Palko’s unfortunate interview slip.
The steamy skit that opened Monday’s Philadelphia-Dallas game offended Steelers owner Dan Rooney so much that he wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times. His anger was justified but misdirected. Rooney and the other traditionalists were betrayed by the supposedly media-savvy NFL. How did the skit, designed to promote a prime-time ABC soap opera, get on the air?
After what happened with Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl, isn’t the NFL demanding approval right on anything done in the name of “entertainment” within a football telecast? This wasn’t a regional game; it was the NFL’s weekly showcase.
ABC didn’t have to run the idea (or the finished video) past anyone from the NFL before it got on the air? Bad system. ABC wants to get ratings and promote its other series. It doesn’t care about the NFL’s image. That’s for the NFL to protect.
Instead of apologizing after the fact, take pre-emptive measures to insure no apology is necessary. The skit may have been tacky and it was certainly out of place but it wasn’t obscene.
Now if Eagles head coach Andy Reid had been the one losing a towel…that would have been obscene.
Nice job by Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh with a couple of high school specials.
One focused on the recruiting of Gateway star Justin King, who chose Penn State last week.
The better show was the behind-the-scenes look at the Thomas Jefferson team as it prepared for the WPIAL playoffs. Coach Bill Cherpak offered full access and the show made the most of the opportunity.
Pittsburgh’s checkered history with pro basketball had been a comedy of errors until Friday night. It took a tragic turn when Pennsylvania Pit Bulls coach Tom Washington died after he had collapsed during the McKeesport-based franchise’s inaugural game in the American Basketball Association.
Washington, 60, was a starter on the Connie Hawkins-led Pittsburgh Pipers team that won the original ABA’s first title in 1967-68.
The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped outfielder J.J. Davis from the 40-man roster.
The day Davis was drafted in the first round in 1997; then-scouting director Leland Maddox compared him to Dave Winfield.
Davis, 26, has played in 53 major league games with 80 at bats, a .163 average, one home run, seven RBIs and two stolen bases. When Winfield was 26, he had played in 638 games with 2,255 at bats, a .273 average, 76 home runs, 324 RBIs and 74 stolen bases.
Beware – new Steelers fight songs are escaping from basements and garages throughout the region.
Sports correspondent John Mehno can be reached online at begin johnmehno@lycos.com johnmehno@lycos.com end
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