26 August 2023
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network has been blessed.
Since YES launched in 2002, the Bombers have only missed the playoffs four times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016). That statistic does not yet include what has become The Fiasco of 2023. The after-shock of this miserable Yankees season will be felt well into winter.
Every business under the organization’s umbrella will have to deal with the fallout and ramifications of a season recently described by general manager Brian Cashman as “a disaster.”
Including YES.
If the rest of this season continues at disastrous levels, what exactly does YES have to sell going into 2024? Considering Hal Steinbrenner has decided to pop the pinstriped hood and look under it before making any moves, YES (and the Yankees for that matter) cannot even sell “hope.”
Unless, of course, YES wants to go with a slogan like: “Watch Yankees’ baseball, only on YES. It can’t be any worse than last season. Can it?”
With “hope” not a viable selling point, YES could always rely on the Bombers familiar “tradition” spiel. Yet, if the Yankees should finish below 500 this season, the old 27 World titles and 40 AL Pennants pitch is going to ring hollow. Some of the fans must be tired of living in the past.
After this season, the glory days hook will seem mighty rusty. That somber, classical music backing the historical recitation of the 27 titles will sound more funereal than Pomp-and-Circumstance.
The only reality-based theme YES has left to hype Yankees baseball leading up the 2024 season is UNCERTAINTY. When you reach this desperate point, you’re in Oakland A’s territory. For YES, unless the creative types are daring to think far outside the box, the “uncertainty” play is not a viable option. Yet it would make for some provocative advertising.
Like: “Yankees baseball, see if Cashman finally got it right — only on YES.”
“Yankees baseball, can Aaron Judge stay healthy an entire season? Watch him try. Or watch him standing in the dugout, chewing gum — only on YES.”
There are other drawbacks if “uncertainty” is the Yankees major selling point. If the Bombers are going to continue playing mediocre-to- bad baseball, their status as a primetime attraction next season for MLB’s national TV partners will be diminished.
When there are questions about the team generating “Yankee-like ratings,” how can baseball’s TV partners (ESPN, TBS, Fox, Peacock, Amazon) automatically pencil them in for games against “rivals” like Boston, Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers?
A sneak preview may have come last Sunday. It was no surprise Red Sox-Yankees wasn’t on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” The network aired the Phillies-Nationals MLB Little League Classic. Still, it served notice that Boston-New York is now not a guaranteed primetime attraction.
Or worth betting on. Gambling?
Even off a wretched season, that’s something YES will definitely have to sell. If anybody is still watching.
ANOTHER TIKI FUMBLE
Tiki Barber admitted his comments, made on WFAN, about Robert Saleh “missing” a recent Jets practice were “reckless.”
Let’s go down to zero here. Cut to the chase. Barber reported pure speculation as if it was fact. Barber said he “ascertained” his info on the Jets coach from a “second hand party.” Barber’s report was wrong and irresponsible.
Yet Barber apologizing to Saleh, admitting he was “reckless” in his reporting, was unusual for a voice who works for management that traditionally has not held its talkies accountable for presenting false reports, treating callers like garbage, or engaging in sexist and misogynistic commentary.
While issuing his mea culpa, the former Giants running back, didn’t try to make any excuse for a story that did not have an ounce of substance.
Thankfully, Barber didn’t take a page from the playbook of FAN alumnus Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa, who would have stubbornly stuck to his report. Even it was wrong.
DEBATE: IRVIN FOR SHARPE
For the sake of this exercise, dismiss the on or off microphone situations that resulted in Michael Irvin going from “First Take” to “The Undisputed” and Shannon Sharpe going from the FS1 Gabfest to the ESPN debate product.
Look at it as a trade. Who got the best of the deal?
That would be FS1 and the “Undisputed.” In Irvin not only do they (i.e., Skip Bayless) have a fearless football mind, but a guy who projects major likeability when he’s on camera. Also, Irvin is a Gasbag who is regularly self-deprecating.
In landing Irvin, FS1 also removed Stephen A. Smith’s most engaging debate adversary. SAS and Irvin knew how get under each other’s skin. Their chemistry was intergalactic. They regularly blended passion and comedy.
Sharpe comes off as no-nonsense and rigid. He does have his entertaining moments. Maybe SAS can get more out of Sharpe than a bloviating Bayless could. Or maybe Sharpe will just be more comfortable working with SAS and Molly Qerim.
MEET THE PRESS
Anyone else hoping that Leon Rose was paying attention to beleaguered Brian Cashman’s Wednesday press conference?
With the Yankees in the toilet, and the GM under fire, Cashman walked straight into the heat, and handled all questions the best he could. This was no surprise. Cashman, through (mostly) good times and bad, has been consistent when it comes to making himself available for these media sessions.
Maybe this comes as a surprise to Rose, the Knicks prez, who still refuses to face the media music. Rose prefers to stay in the shadows and deny access. Or “allow” an MSG employee, like Mike Breen, to “interview” him.
In the final analysis, Rose’s penchant for ducking the media won’t earn him the benefit of the doubt if the Knicks don’t live up to rising expectations.
AROUND THE DIAL
Latest episode of HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” was made special by Sean Patrick Small’s portrayal of Larry Bird. There are flashbacks to Bird’s younger days (after he dropped out of Indiana) in his hometown of French Lick and his relationship with his father. Small’s scene at the end of the episode will bring you to tears. … It had to be a coincidence, right? Almost immediately after SXM’s Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo went on a classic Tuesday rant about the technology he doesn’t want to deal with in order to access the new YouTube NFL Sunday Ticket package, a commercial aired about the $6 billion lawsuit accusing DirecTV (the former rights holder of the Sunday Ticket package) and the NFL of conspiring to restrict availability of televised games. As far as Doggie is concerned, all he wants to do is sit on his couch, push a button on his remote, and watch a football game. … With two weeks left in Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff, the show lands in Citi Field for Angels-Mets. SNY’s Todd Zeile will work with Mark Gubicza and play-by-play yakker Brendan Burke. Throughout the series, voices from participating team booths have joined Peacock’s streaming coverage. It’s quite a list which includes, Barry Larkin, Orel Hershiser, Albert Pujols, Bob Walk, Kirk Gibson, Luis Gonzalez, Jim Palmer, Joe Girardi, Ben McDonald, Hunter Pence, Steve Stone, Kevin Youkilis, and Andruw Jones. So, there.
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: PETE CARROLL
When a 71-year-old dude can create a sports video that goes viral, then it’s time for a standing ovation. Carroll’s “quarterback play” was more entertaining than virtually all preseason games.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: STEPHEN A. SMITH
For saying he “wants to be wrong” about the Dallas Cowboys. “I need to dial it back,” SAS said on ESPN’s “First Take.” This is just a tease. Not only is mocking Dallas fans part of SAS’ DNA, it’s good for the show. Yet, Smith claims: “I don’t want to see misfortune…I’m not lying.”
DOUBLE TALK
What Brian Cashman said: “I certainly didn’t [think we would be this bad]. At the same time, s—t happens and a lot of it happened. It’s on our hands.”
What Brian Cashman meant to say: “I’m the one who made this mess. And I’m the one who will fix it.”
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