If you are a sports blog reader then I'm sure you've seen the many videos of Chris Berman that have been floating around on sites like With Leather, Bar Stool Sports, Deadspin, and Busted Coverage. You may have also read the few small interviews with Ampex2000, the YouTube poster who has been putting a lot of these videos up. The lesson to learn here, children, is: Don't fuck with the little people. I love the line "Don't fuck with people who handle your food" from the movie Waiting, but this is a bit more important in my mind.
You don't have to be a broadcaster (for whom recording equipment is a part of the job, and thus you kind of forget it's there) to leave people daggers that you can be stabbed with. Berman acted like an ass, pissed people off and someone put these videos up to let everyone see what he is like when the tally light isn't on. But, for the rest of us it could be an email, a rumor, a passing remark or the truth about a situation you would rather no one else know. If you are a cock to people, like Berman has been shown to be, then they will find an opportune time to spring their trap on you and at best you'll lose face, at worst you'll be fucked. So treat everyone you work with well, and you should be OK.
As a side note, I worked in TV for long enough to know that there are about a million hours of video just like the ones featuring Berman. Every camera guy has a real of tape featuring women going down on guys in the stands, when they think they can't be seen. (I always wonder if they've ever seen the shots these camera's sometimes get of the moon, and if so, why they think the last row at the vet is a safe place to blow their guy.) Likewise, they all have blooper tapes and clips of "the talent" acting like asses. Some of them will cover for an anchor or reporter if they like them, but they still keep the video because, well, because that shit is funny.
If you haven't seen the Swami videos, check them out at YouTube:
1 comment:
It's amazing that anyone would be naive enough to believe that a guy like Berman is a "nice guy". Having also worked in TV I've never met an anchor, weatherman, or beat reporter that wasn't a giant douche.
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