Thursday's 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter ... WTF?

I hate to sound like a fan of the Local Nine giving a guy shit b/c he's making more money than anyone else, but...if you're getting that much $$$ to be a multi-media giant, you better not suck on TV.

As a friend of mine noted: Reilly's words just don't translate to live TV. And as indicated by his brutally awkward HR Derby performance, he's the type of guy who needs the backspace button. Which is fine. But just because someone's a good columnist or feature writer doesn't mean he's going to produce the same stuff live without a net. Maybe someone should have pondered that before offering Reilly mad money.

 

If that doesn't inspire people to get a library card, nothing will.

 

There just seems to be something about sports that kills off any attempts to join it with comedy, and the list of victims is long: Jay Mohr, Dennis Miller, Tony Kornheiser, and now Reilly.

I get more laughs from SportsJournalists.com. We're ready for our close-up!

 

Re: Reilly's standup routine from England

"What the FUCK was that?" [danyelle sargent]

 

Agreed. Being funny in print and being funny on TV are two different skills. Dave Barry is another example of a guy whose humor doesn't come across as well on television as it does on the page. I imagine Reilly will get better as he figures out what works and what doesn't, but he'll never stand out the way he did as a columnist. At SI he was the class clown while at ESPN, he's in a class full of clowns, many of whom are more skilled at being funny on the air.

 

Guys, that was atrocious, even for ESPN standards. It's not going to get better. This is a guy who uses Yugo jokes - so he's unfunny, he's dated, and he's old. Usually ESPN hires someone who is young and shitty, but they can pass it off as "edgy" to meet their demographics. Reilly is old and shitty. A killer combo for a place like ESPN.

 

Reilly's, what, 50? Or thereabouts? I'm going to assume that poindexter plans to drop dead before he gets that old or at least has made a fortune in this media game so he's not subjecting others to his work when he is that old. It's so much better to watch someone who is young and unfunny.

George Carlin managed to be old and funny, and even mixed in the sports stuff (baseball vs. football bit). I'd rather watch Carlin now, posthumously, than Reilly on TV. But it has little to do with how old he is. Of course, what do I know, since I'm old like Reilly.

 

I think most of us are used to hearing funny stuff in relation to sports, but usually they are ad-libs, not scripted bits. Usually, Reilly's stuff comes off as something somebody else has already thought of and made more effortless.
I'm glad he cashed in, but it's like the Yankees buying Tartabull or Giambi or the Mets buying Bonilla. ESPN paid top dollar just past the peak.
And frankly, my least favorite part of The Sports Reporters is when they read their "final thoughts", or when a broadcaster does an "essay" summing up a US Open or Olympics tossing out $10 words or phrases by the bucketful. When you have pictures, you don't need that many words.
It would be better if they just had Reilly riff back and forth with the anchors instead of taping his bits.

 

I've always defended Reilly, but you guys are right.

I've cringed after nearly everything I've seen. It's pretty painful to watch.

And did anyone catch his comments at the HR Derby? Something about it having too many white guys? I stopped what I was doing and tried to figure out what he was trying to say, but I think he was just trying to be funny. Even the announcers didn't know. Reilly sent it back to them, and they kind of said something about Howard not participating because he wasnt an All-Star and left it alone. Smart move.

I'll give Reilly a few more weeks to settle down. But it's clear right now that he is trying way too hard. Besides, I thought Kenny Mayne filled that role for them?

 

Joe, George Carlin from his grave is funnier than Reilly from The Open. His Borscht Belt schtick sucks, and, considering ESPN's target demographic, Reilly is OLD. And his material even widens the age gap.

 

All I'm saying, poindexter, is that if Reilly were 20 years younger and saying the same stuff in the same way, he still would suck. That he's 20 years older than that doesn't make it worse. In some ways, it might be better -- at least we're not wringing our hands over how this is the hopeless future of sports media/reporting. Reilly represents the present and the past. (I have little hope for the future, but that's not his fault.)

I don't think I've found anything funny on ESPN since Patrick and Olbermann were co-anchoring SportsCenter. None of them could leave well enough alone, though.

 

Reilly was never funny. The other guys at least have had their moments.