Note: I didn't know exactly where to put this so I figured General sports would do since Davidson touches on several different topics.--VF21
http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/31332.html
Media insider: Tune in, fans, and get real with Doug, Jackie Christie
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, September 29, 2006
Coming soon to a set near you: Doug and Jackie Christie at every angle. Might be a good time to secure HD for the 12-foot flat screen.
"The Christies: Committed" is a reality TV show that debuts Thursday on the BETJ network. It's an unusual look into an NBA player's life, and there will be viewers.
Come on. Admit it. If you're a fan of the player, his grit and hustle and class, you watch. If you love to lambaste the former Kings guard and his wife for their loyalty to each other, to mimic and mock, then you really watch.
Of course, it'll help if Christie lands a new NBA deal. He's a free agent trying to secure a contract. Still, the reality show has some strong material, from his emotional departure as a King two seasons ago, to his brief Dallas tenure last season when injuries forced him out, to his recovery, to his time with his wife and family.
BETJ has run promos that pull no punches. There's a photo of Jackie holding a leash around her husband's neck, a credit to the main characters for not taking all of this so seriously. One promo reads that the show is about the athlete and "his controlling wife. ..." Another reads that this is an inside look at a "romantic train wreck."
Why do it? Do the Christies really want the world to see what sort of laundry detergent they use, or what they read to their kids that night, or how Jackie sticks to Doug like Velcro? Is it for the money? To set the record straight? A bit of both.
"The media writes what they want anyway, and some fans think different things," Jackie said this week. "Now people can get a sneak peek about what we're really about. We're excited. We think it'll be fun."
Doug, as fierce a player as the Kings have employed, has never shied from the image that he's "whupped." As he said once before to this reporter, "Every guy should be this whupped and be this happy."
Overexposure
ESPN tripped over itself in leading the charge in the Terrell Owens media frenzy. Shortly after the network had volumes of material on air and online -- including a headline suggesting Owens attempted suicide leading a story in which the wide receiver denied it -- the network did an about-face.
Radio stations that carried the Owens news conference live -- including the national feed for KNBR 1050 -- made for excellent news sourcing. All along, fantasy football fanatics who live by their www.ESPN.com feeds and had a certain T.O. on their rosters agonized at the prospect of losing an impact player. And when they learned of his suicide attempt denial, they wondered in chorus, "Can he start Sunday?"
More overexposure
ESPN also blundered in a rush to judgment when it announced that Matt Leinart would start in place of the struggling Kurt Warner. The Arizona Cardinals insisted all along Warner was their man. ESPN ran a scroll that set the record straight but conveniently excluded the fact that it erred in the first place.
Around the dials
Ron Artest is scheduled to be an in-studio guest today at 9:15 p.m. on the "Carmichael Dave Show" on KHTK 1140. They'll talk hoops and music, and it's a perfect chance for CD to thoroughly probe the man on who he is and what he's about. Artest is the most intriguing and mysterious player the Kings have had in Sacramento.
• Excellent human-interest profile by KOVR 13's Keith Norton on Kings strength and conditioning coach Daniel Shapiro, who is battling throat cancer yet soldiers on.
• Bryan May had a long, informative interview with Kings coach Eric Musselman this week that can be viewed on the News10(KXTV) Web site.
• NBA TV will carry eight games from NBA Europe Live, the league's most ambitious international move. It starts with a doubleheader Thursday when the Philadelphia 76ers play FC Barcelona in Spain, followed by the San Antonio Spurs taking on Adecco ASVEL Lyon in France.
• Shaquille O'Neal to Stephen A. Smith on his ESPN talk show about Rick Barry's offer to perfect the underhanded free throw: "Rick Barry's résumé is not good enough to even come into my office to be qualified for a job. I will shoot negative-30 percent before I shoot underhand." Maybe so, but Barry's résumé has Hall of Fame credentials, Shaq.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/31332.html
Media insider: Tune in, fans, and get real with Doug, Jackie Christie
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, September 29, 2006
Coming soon to a set near you: Doug and Jackie Christie at every angle. Might be a good time to secure HD for the 12-foot flat screen.
"The Christies: Committed" is a reality TV show that debuts Thursday on the BETJ network. It's an unusual look into an NBA player's life, and there will be viewers.
Come on. Admit it. If you're a fan of the player, his grit and hustle and class, you watch. If you love to lambaste the former Kings guard and his wife for their loyalty to each other, to mimic and mock, then you really watch.
Of course, it'll help if Christie lands a new NBA deal. He's a free agent trying to secure a contract. Still, the reality show has some strong material, from his emotional departure as a King two seasons ago, to his brief Dallas tenure last season when injuries forced him out, to his recovery, to his time with his wife and family.
BETJ has run promos that pull no punches. There's a photo of Jackie holding a leash around her husband's neck, a credit to the main characters for not taking all of this so seriously. One promo reads that the show is about the athlete and "his controlling wife. ..." Another reads that this is an inside look at a "romantic train wreck."
Why do it? Do the Christies really want the world to see what sort of laundry detergent they use, or what they read to their kids that night, or how Jackie sticks to Doug like Velcro? Is it for the money? To set the record straight? A bit of both.
"The media writes what they want anyway, and some fans think different things," Jackie said this week. "Now people can get a sneak peek about what we're really about. We're excited. We think it'll be fun."
Doug, as fierce a player as the Kings have employed, has never shied from the image that he's "whupped." As he said once before to this reporter, "Every guy should be this whupped and be this happy."
Overexposure
ESPN tripped over itself in leading the charge in the Terrell Owens media frenzy. Shortly after the network had volumes of material on air and online -- including a headline suggesting Owens attempted suicide leading a story in which the wide receiver denied it -- the network did an about-face.
Radio stations that carried the Owens news conference live -- including the national feed for KNBR 1050 -- made for excellent news sourcing. All along, fantasy football fanatics who live by their www.ESPN.com feeds and had a certain T.O. on their rosters agonized at the prospect of losing an impact player. And when they learned of his suicide attempt denial, they wondered in chorus, "Can he start Sunday?"
More overexposure
ESPN also blundered in a rush to judgment when it announced that Matt Leinart would start in place of the struggling Kurt Warner. The Arizona Cardinals insisted all along Warner was their man. ESPN ran a scroll that set the record straight but conveniently excluded the fact that it erred in the first place.
Around the dials
Ron Artest is scheduled to be an in-studio guest today at 9:15 p.m. on the "Carmichael Dave Show" on KHTK 1140. They'll talk hoops and music, and it's a perfect chance for CD to thoroughly probe the man on who he is and what he's about. Artest is the most intriguing and mysterious player the Kings have had in Sacramento.
• Excellent human-interest profile by KOVR 13's Keith Norton on Kings strength and conditioning coach Daniel Shapiro, who is battling throat cancer yet soldiers on.
• Bryan May had a long, informative interview with Kings coach Eric Musselman this week that can be viewed on the News10(KXTV) Web site.
• NBA TV will carry eight games from NBA Europe Live, the league's most ambitious international move. It starts with a doubleheader Thursday when the Philadelphia 76ers play FC Barcelona in Spain, followed by the San Antonio Spurs taking on Adecco ASVEL Lyon in France.
• Shaquille O'Neal to Stephen A. Smith on his ESPN talk show about Rick Barry's offer to perfect the underhanded free throw: "Rick Barry's résumé is not good enough to even come into my office to be qualified for a job. I will shoot negative-30 percent before I shoot underhand." Maybe so, but Barry's résumé has Hall of Fame credentials, Shaq.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
