Tuesday belongs to the NBA at the conference table and on the television screen.
Nearly every knowledgeable print and broadcast sports observer believes the result of the meeting between owners and players could determine the future of the locked-out NBA season, which will have a dramatic impact on television and radio.
Fans looking for a different NBA story should tune in to HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” (8 p.m. Tuesday) for an intense, emotional interview with Jerry West, regarded — rightfully — as one of the most influential players in the history of the game.
The 73-year-old West, talking with Gumbel from his West Virginia home, reveals painful details of his lifelong battle with depression — the result of childhood traumas of an abusive father that left him feeling “tormented and worthless” and which regularly impacted his play on the court and in NBA front offices.
The result: West, throughout his life, has been obsessed with perfection.
“Fear of failure drove me,” West tells Gumbel.
Such tragic back stories are commonplace in today’s competitive sports media world. And it should be noted the interview comes as West’s autobiography, “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life,” goes on sale Wednesday.
Still, Gumbel’s interview hits with sledgehammer force.
In his book, West says he finally drew a line with his father.
“I screwed up my courage and told him that he’d better never lay another hand on me, and I reminded him that I had a shotgun under my bed and would damn well use it if I had to.”
Bryant says, “You wouldn’t really have used it.”
West replies: “Oh, yes I would have. There was nowhere for me to go, and I would have killed him. I don’t think there was any question that I would have. I was so afraid — I just didn’t want to be hit any more.”
His father then stopped the assaults, according to West, who adds that his wife and four children were against his decision to write the book.
Footnote: West’s mark on the NBA can literally been seen everywhere since his silhouette serves as the league’s official logo.
Tebow time.
Even though the Broncos didn’t play Sunday, the three major NFL pregame shows weighed in with observations about Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s future.
The most interesting comments came from Howie Long on “Fox NFL Sunday,” who claimed that if Tebow is a successful NFL quarterback, it won’t happen in Denver.
“Tebow trying to fit into a conventional offense is a square peg into a round hole . . . Can you imagine John Elway wanting to run a spread offense? That’s not the quarterback he envisions moving forward with this franchise.”
Jimmy Johnson added: “He (Tebow) will not be successful as long as the Broncos force him into a dropback pro-style offense. The only way he’s going to be successful is to put him in shotgun.”
Bill Parcells on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” took a cautious approach.
After praising Tebow’s athletic ability and competitive attitude, Parcells said he was not sold on his passing ability in a league dominated by the forward pass.
Broncos Ring of Fame linebacker Tom Jackson, “Let’s give it a chance.”
Shannon Sharpe and his CBS “NFL Today” cohorts basically took “let’s wait and see” attitudes, while agreeing Tebow’s insertion into the lineup will not mean an automatic turnaround season for the Broncos.
Baseball notes.
OK, you’ve heard my commentary before. TBS’s main trio of baseball announcers (Bruce Anderson, Ron Darling and John Smoltz) have broadcasting talent. But three remains a crowd in a baseball booth. . . . Overall audience ratings in the playoffs are down mainly because three big-market teams (New York, Boston and Philadelphia) are not competing. . . . That sonic boom heard across the nation Saturday night was caused by baseball fans turning off their sets or switching channels after the Rangers scored nine runs against the Tigers in the third inning.
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Reach him at tvtime@comcast.net.
Awful college performance in spotlight
The final weekend college football score: Opponents 204 points, major Colorado teams 91.
Those figures should dominate radio sports-talk chatter today since the Broncos and Tebow weren’t on Sunday TV screens.
Colorado, Colorado State, Air Force Academy and Northern Colorado (not on television) had disastrous games, particularly when attempting to play defense.
And don’t look for callers and hosts to be in optimistic moods regarding Saturday. CU plays Oregon at home while Air Force travels to Boise State, which humiliated CSU in Fort Collins.
