By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

By the time the Patriots and Vikings kickoff tonight on ESPN (and ABC5), we will have had two full days for the local – and national – media folk to have provided perspective on dearly departed, Celtics patriarch, Red Auerbach.

At times, it brought out the best in Boston sports media coverage – witness Monday versions of Gerry Callahan at the Boston Herald and Basketball Bob Ryan at the Globe – and at other moments, as you’d also expect, the very worst.

For an example of the latter we need only go to NBC7’s “Sports Xtra” with Joe Amorosino where the tremendous sit-down with John Havlicek by JoeAm was offset by the absolutely awful (and slightly hornery) Dave Cowens via phone. (Click that Amo link above to see the Cowens connection, which didn’t payoff at all for JoeAm.) (Dan Shaughnessy was in-studio and replayed his “My dad smoked cigars” angle, which actually worked nicely.) [For Shots, by the way, it was my Zaydie, who I don’t believe actually smoked in front of me, but he hung out with a lot of dudes that did.]

Amorosino needs to learn that QUALITY of guest ALWAYS wins out over QUANTITY. More Hondo and less of the Big Red Headed center (not Danny Boy, in this case) would have made more sense. Cowens was a good name, but anyone who has spoken to the guy for any length of time, knows he’s not TV-friendly (never mind via the phone, against a backdrop of audio garbage from the T-Station background noise that mars each and every Xtra.)

. . . Shaughnessy was strong with his written words on Sunday (kudos to Jackie Mack as well), and in the two extended TV sit-downs we caught him in (with mis-cast Hazel Mae handling Dan for NESN’s Sports Desk).

His teammate at the Globe, Ryan, was Boston’s most high-profile “national voice” on Red, beginning with his Sunday morning ESPN time. As good as that was for instant perspective – on top of the Sunday papers’ extensive coverage – it actually hurt Ryan a bit for Monday’s tribute. His kicker with the Rob Ades anecdote, had already been used on ESPN for the national audience. We just always like to think (naively, I suppose) that Bob is saving for US his very best and most original stuff). But the rules from Red’s book which Ryan incorporated into his column MORE THAN MADE UP for the Red repeats of the day.

. . . Shots hates to say it, but I mean it with the highest of praise: What Would Will Have Written?. . . We also wouldn’t mind hearing from Leigh Montville or Charlie Pierce, and for the first time in a looooooooong time, we were glad to read old softy, Joe Fitzgerald.

. . . Babbling Bob Lobel was no where to be found (live) on Sunday night, but he did turn up on the CBS4 website with a voice-over for an extensive video package. Dan Roche handled Sports Final duties with Ryan and Cedric Maxwell in-studio and then a re-run of a past Bill Russell, Lobel, Ryan sitdown.

. . . NECN’s Mike Giardi dredged up Jan Volk for his Sports Latenight Sunday Red programming. Not exactly Must-see TV. The interspersed comments from Larry Bird (via the “bird” or satellite feed) were used nicely, but couldn’t fully make up for vapid Volk.

. . . By far, the best, most surprising and maybe the most heartfelt comments came from deep-throated Celtics assistant Clifford Ray, who steadily-soaring Laura Behnke included in her well-done NECN package. Said Ray: “He kept the game simple. He hardly ever used a clipboard. He didn’t overkill it and he did it the way it was supposed to have been done – traditional basketball.”

Traditional basketball, indeed.

. . .Shots caught a good portion of FSNNE’s “Legend of Red” special airing during the 10 o’clock hour on Sunday night and we’re happy to report that the network is offering it up again tonight as an excellent alternative to the incessant Pats’ previewing. A 7:30 p.m. airing of the “commercial-free special on Red Auerbach, including. . .30-minute Mike Gorman interview with Red Auerbach and (a) tour of Red’s home in Washington, D.C.” is on-tap.

Gorman – the most underrated, enduring TV talent in the region – is fantastic in getting Red to ramble on. And Gorman’s special walk through Red’s $4 knick-knacks from overseas is priceless.

Gorman filmed the sit-down in the Summer of 2005 and it looks like Celtics PR maven, camera-comfortable, Jeff Twiss, was present as well (seen in a few background shots at Red’s place). It is augmented by Gary Tanguay interviews from current Celtics personnel, which was taped on Sunday at the practice facility.

The Celtics broadcast partner, FSNNE, will be all Red tonight, in fact, beginning at 6:30 p.m. with a “Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight Red Auerbach” special which will include a panel discussion with Tommy Heinsohn and Bob Cousy. That half-hour show will be replayed at 7:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

The ad-spot absent (nice touch, FSNNE) will also replay at 10:30 p.m. and then again on Halloween night, Tuesday, at 7:30 p.m.

. . .FSNNE also announced that its special Heinsohn Tribute, “Tommy, Forever Green” special which was to debut this week, has now been re-scheduled for first-airing on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Trust Shots, when we say this is DVR material – especially the Gorman stuff.

. . .Nice work over here at the Celtics Blog by Jeff Clark.

. . . We’ll give the edge to Sunday’s Red Coverage in the Globe, but the Herald’s but Monday, 14-page-deep offering was nothing short of Hank Herald’s team’s best work in recent memory.

Callahan hit it out of the park (showing he is still the city’s best fastball pitcher when he wants to be) and Steve Bulpett, Rich Thompson, Mark Murphy and old friend/familiar by-line, Mark Cofman, teamed up on a wonderful compilation.

. . . Nationally, Shots’ own Boston Sports Guy, Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! Sports got some front page time with this solid offering. And the Boston Sports Guy nailed it with a nice ode as well.

. . . The Celtics website got on board with some Red “programming” – after a slow start when the news broke on Saturday (See Shots Saturday night posting, below.)

. . . Good move by the Celts to delay the dance team’s debut until Friday night, instead of the originally planned unveiling of the lovelies on Wednesday night.

. . . We’re still having trouble believing that a “viewing” is taking place in DC tonight, as we’ve heard reported at various outlets. The Jewish religion (which Auerbach followed) doesn’t often have “viewings,” in the traditional open-casket sense of the term. More likely, it’s visitation, or calling hours as some other outlets have gone with. No mention of Shiva hours have been made, either, meaning the family will probably keep those times more private.

. . . Somehow, (in addition to better ratings for places like FSNNE) there’s even a marketing upside to all this: Both Urban Outfitters and Victoria’s Secret have been benefiting from their proximity to the Faneuil Hall statue of Red, with inclusions in virtually every TV and print shot from the makeshift vigil spot on the bench.

. . .From tasteful tributes, we lower the bar a bit to the news of Bill Belichick’s son’s bust, as reported by Stacey Hart of the MetroWest Daily News. (Picture below from the AP before Super Bowl XXXIX.)

Any bets on who will be the one to ask the question in the post-game? Felger, anyone? Maybe Tomase? If Stacey James is on top of things, and has enough say-so, he’ll put out a one line statement with a “quote” from Belichick.

Let’s also see if the ESPN crew addresses the matter at all. And yes, it IS newsworthy. Belichick has frequently brought his son into the public eye. Is it fair? Probably not. But it is fair game. As shown by nfl.com’s posting of the story.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. And can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmedDOTcom