Last Tuesday (Feb. 12, 2008), I was watching ESPN College Basketball. Forgot the teams. During halftime, they had a segment with Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, and Stacey Dales. In the highlights of the featured and non, they all made comments except Digger here refused to talk during highlights of women's games. Rece and Stacey were trying to get Digger to say something but he widn't. When they are in the studio, he refuses to acknowledge her. He will kind of turn in a angle on a three shot for a solo shot. But, you can tell the director wants him to engage with Stacey about a particular game, player, or a team because he hasn't changed the shot until the camera reluctantly zooms in to Digger's caricature, up close. Digger holds his ground and turns away from her and gets away with it. He has not had a legitimate conversation with Stacey since they have been working (Stacy tries to whore up to him during men's highlights). While with Rece and other guys, he engages either in a brief or long dialogue and then goes solo to his monologue. I have seen him work this pattern for the 20 or more years at ESPN and CBS. Digger, I don't want to hear that crap about the director slipped and the cue was for you to go solo because for the year and a half with Stacy, you have always turned to side (making it look incidental) when Stacy tries to speak to you.
Now for Digger's side, Stacey is mature for her age but she has no perspective for history concerning coaching, player's styles, and rules for her women's basketball much less for men's basketball. Heck, she was born the year after Digger's Irish went to the Final Four. She is Canadian and grew up playing a sport that nobody really care or is passionate about. She had to love it on her own. Rece and Digger know about coach Iba, Clair Bee, and others. Rece doesn't always know the history but he has the passion to suck it up (My only question is: where is John McClendon in this? Did you know that John Wooden could go to the rack?). The real problem is that Stacey is too young to build a resume for basketball history. Unlike jobs at the workforce, in basketball, it has to be more than 15 years. She only has 7 years out of college.
When it comes to women's players and even men at times (why do women analyst have to do both and men analysts don't) Stacey is a lot like Jerry West. She looks for new players and perspective who are going to make their teams better and why and how they can be pros. Likewise, she does a great job of analyzing high school players coming to college. Digger and Rece do not possess this trait because they get caught up with the prejudices and myths of the past concerning players now and even in the past. Old-timers like a John Issacs or George Yardley get turned off by these folks because they act like, they own their past and have a snob attitude about it because Digger loves the coaches and the accomplishment of the players but not what these old-timer players can bring to the table concerning their experiences to the new players. Even with the lack of history, Stacey is preferred by these old-timers because she is willing to learn and listen without the assumption and trophy attitude.
Rece Davis is a professional and that is his main priority. Yet, he bonds more with Digger. Due to their preparation habits and importance of tradition in sports. With Stacey, he absolutely respects her abilities and work ethic but it doesn't mesh with his journalistic and conversational talents. Likewise, she is not able to mesh with his fan perspective of the sport. Many times, she is thinking one way and he the other. The main problem is that Digger is the leader of the show and he doesn't step up to bridge the gap. Rece isn't the type of person or is any position to tell a legend like Digger, to fuck himself when he is out of line. Not even Jim Thacker did that to Billy Packer.
Very few star players who become analysts have reflective qualites except for Bill Russell and Rick Barry. Both ended up being coaches but weren't good reporters because they either got caught with themselves or analyze too much. Stacy works very hard but Stacey is a reporter not a reflector. She needs the action. She has the mentality of a player, "forget the previous play, good or bad" and move to next play and let the coach worry." This causes her to lose her timing and rhythm with the Rece and Digger who are obsessed with reinactments. With Digger, he is a natural and he honed his speaking skills at his coach's show in Notre Dame but he can't report a lick. With Rece, he is trained to be both a reporter and host.
Digger makes his living of the mantra of three years: 1974 (I beat Sam Gilbert's team), 1978 (screwed me in St. Louis), and 1981 (Nobody on Ainge!!!). On good basketball days, it is 1974; bad days, its 1978; and good or bad coaching decisions its 1981. My only question to you is on the Tennessee vs. Rutgers in Knoxville where Rutgers lost to a clock operator, you should have been on 1978 mode to give perspective and maybe an example like 1986 NCAA Tourney game, Kansas vs. Michigan State where the clock operator messed up. But, you just sat there and let Rece and Stacy talk, waiting for you to step in while getting into your mantra of "I don't do women." Your silence said a thousand words!
I blame ESPN for this bullshit. ESPN should have put somebody like Jody Conradt, Mickey DeMoss, or Carol Ross because those three have history because they were pioneers for women's basketball. Being coaches, they would kept Digger in line as well as the ESPN network. They don't care about being fired; they want things done right and they ain't afraid to cuss out the boss when need to. They would have gotten Digger's and Rece's respect because of their great knowledge and depth about coaching, players, and rules from women's basketball as well as men's.
My biggest wrath is with other ESPN and ABC employees, announcers who do other sports or the same sport, and media, local and national. You know that Stacey is being harrassed, yet you aren't doing a damn thing about it and hope it will go away. What the hell is this, easier to tell on outlaws than your in-laws, isn't it? Where is Real Sports? Why aren't newspapers, reporting this.
Digger, call a T.O. and get your head straight, you are an embarassment to everyone! You better get going or you will be dropped just like the players you dropped who weren't willing to participate as a team. That is my rant!
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