By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Admirable – yet futile – work during the Sox nightcap on Thursday by NESN’s Jerry Remy in asking MLB commissioner Bud Selig about his plans surrounding the potential Barry Bonds record-breaker. Unfortunately, partner Don Orsillo backed off that line of questioning after a weak follow-up to Remy’s Bonds query, instead preferring to beat the inter-league topic into the ground.

While Remy’s question had to be asked and Selig’s party line was to be expected, it would have been a golden opportunity for Orsillo to follow with something to the effect of “Commissioner, by not having plans you seem to be suggesting there is something improper about the entire pursuit.” Instead, Orsillo asked if there was a chance Selig would not be there when Bonds broke the record. “It’s a decision we’ve yet to make,” said Selig in a murmur.

Selig would have dodged just about any follow up, but at least with a different tact, Orsillo might have prompted some emotion from Buddy Can’t Hack It. The following inning, in the bottom of the fifth, Remy did divulge the Commish apologized for his vagueness.

“He said to us off camera, I wish I could be more direct, but I can’t,” said Remy.

Or won’t.

. . . Selig also was shown in the WRKO booth, as he made the rounds during his Fenway visit. And yes, we know that NESN is mostly a house organ, but that should not preclude Orsillo from asking some probing or uncomfortable questions regarding the most pressing issue facing Selig and MLB as a whole. Inter-league baseball pales in comparison to the Bonds matter and Orsillo should have recognized that fact.

. . . Speaking of Entercom’s ‘RKO, Shots has been told that it’s no coincidence that Dave O’Brien is being used in conjunction with Joe Castiglione on the in-game Giant Glass radio spot (and alone for O’Brien’s deck builder spot) instead of those advertisers choosing Castig’s other part-time partner, Glenn Geffner.

It appears the buyers weren’t comfortable with the understated Geffner and felt much better with the booming voice of O’Brien. The thinking also lends some support to the notion that Geffner is a one-and-done Sox broadcaster, who is being given the chance to get some audition reels together and will be encouraged (if not helped) to seek a gig in a smaller market, where he can further polish his skills. (Geffner is certainly a capable booth man, but, as we’ve opined before, he pales in comparison to the ultra-talented Obie, who is beginning to develop a nice rapport with ‘Stig. Geff would be well-served with a three to five year stint in a smaller market, followed by a possible return to Fenway if his guy, Larry Lucchino is still around by then. For Geff, there’s no shame in being less noteworthy than Obie – the guy’s a major national commodity.)

• NESN has begun teasing the “Globe 10.0” PTI knock-off show with Basketball Bob Ryan (and now with Verizon as a presenting sponsor), but there is still no firm launch date beyond the month of June. Ryan has evidently filmed some expression shots that are being run in conjunction with the tease during Sox games.

We sure do hope NESN can figure out a way to make the show sing a little. Anybody still have Neumie’s number?

• Ever the trendsetters and technology users, the Kraft multimedia people are at it again. A soft launch of http://www.patriots.com/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=VideoNewsdetail&pid=25573&pcid=111> “Patriots Today” has already been going on and you can be sure the Red Sox are closely watching how the web presence translates into revenue streams. (Although with NESN’s penetration, the need for such an in-season, daily presence for the Sox is greatly reduced.)

The Herald story mentions “a yet-to-be-hired broadcast partner” who will team with passable Brian Lowe. Nobody asked us, but here’s the top 3 choices Shots would make for that position:

1. Former NECN full-timer, Laura Behnke

2. Providence standout Shawna Hassett

3. “Totally’s” Kerry Connolly

You clearly need a woman in the spot and for a variety of reasons and any of the three names above will fill the bill. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to retain a resident wise-ass for the in-house Kenny Mayne-type role. Too often when the teams produce their own shows they neglect the “fun” element that the networks usually thrive on. It’s infotainment, folks. Have soem kicks and giggles with it, and utilize the ACCESS you have.

• Teflon Jason strikes again for the Entercommoners. The ultimate in a ratings grab – nab the guy who got canned along with Imus and throw him into the Boston market that hates outsiders.

Wolfe is once again showing he will do anything and everything for the next “good book” for any of his stations. His bravado may be the very thing that forces “Dennis and Callahan” to ultimately abandon ship.

• Yeah, that’s My Boss Bruce trading paint and dropping quotes with NYT-types.

I fear the site has now Jumped the Shark. Although that could have occurred long ago and I wouldn’t even know it.

• Someone please get the YouTube cooking of The Remdawg’s pre-game air guitar fall that is running at the tail end of NESN’s “SportsDesk” today (Friday). The actual event was actually blogged by this astute “Staven” fella, Ian. But the video is what makes the whole thing complete – and remember, this is a guy who plays banged up almost every day to begin with.

• A bit of caution to a couple of the old-timers on the Boston Globe staff who consistently are using “last night” in nightly blog posts from Sox games. Old habits die hard for the ink-stained wretches/pseudo-bloggers who are used to writing for a hard copy that won’t be read until morning time.

• Some over-the-top NBA Draft Lottery coverage will commence this week, highlighted by the Celtics’ local TV partner (Fox Sports New England) and the League’s most important partner (ESPN) going Lottery Loco on Tuesday night. ESPN’s live coverage starts at “8:30 p.m. ET from NBA TV studios in Secaucus, N.J. (where) Fred Hickman will host with analysts Greg Anthony and Jay Bilas and reporter Mark Jones.”

FSN’s coverage will begin during the 6:30 “Sports Tonight” show and include a wrap during the 10 p.m. edition (with Human Good Luck Charm, Tommy Heinsohn, providing reports from Secaucus).

The Celts’ network will also be hosting a viewing party at a Boston bar on Tuesday night, complete with an attempt to “Wake up the ghost of Red Auerbach” through the use of Hoyo de Monterrey Rothchild Cigars (Red’s favorite brand) and a Mohegan Sun weekend giveaway.

The cigar thing is a nice touch and will also almost certainly lure Shots into the soiree.

• This is sickening. Especially for a team that might need five Roger Clemens to even stay within striking distance of the “Sox, 9.5”:

ESPN will offer multi-platform coverage of Roger Clemens making his season debut Friday night with Class A Tampa against Fort Myers. From 7 - 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 will feature each of Clemens’ half-innings on the mound. Host Steve Berthiaume and analysts Steve Phillips, Tim Kurkjian and Orestes Destrade will provide analysis of Clemens’ performance, along with discussion of other Major League Baseball storylines.

• Papi make Shots hungry.

• We’ve been meaning to mention this and wish Kim Baxter all the best. It was brought to our attention again with the good news of Mike Hopkins being named Prince of The Dome.

• How did we miss this? Especially since we were in the house for the selection of the team.


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

You can listen to Scott every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 a.m. as he co-hosts the Boston Sports Review Show on 890 AM ESPN Radio Boston with Mike Salk and Dangerous Drew Brooks behind the glass.