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 MICHAEL BARKANN ...appears on HBO telecast |
TV's Michael Barkann:
A Tennis Court Toomler
of TheColumnists.com
The essence of Michael Barkann, the longtime, ubiquitous all-about-the-courts interview man at the United States Tennis Open, was a comment he made during a conversation about the gimmicky women’s tennis promotion that will be shown live on HBO, Monday, March 2.
Barkann said, “You don’t think they’ll have the Williams sisters play the first match, do you?”
The one-night tennis extravaganza at Madison Square Garden is being called the “BNP Paribas (that’s the name of a European bank) Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup.” Four women, Serena and Venus Williams and the Serbs, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, will compete. The promoters will kick themselves if the draw doesn’t produce a final that everyone would expect to see-Serena vs. Venus.
More abut the devilishly clever draw later.
Barkann will be working the event in his usual role as sideline color man, interviewer and toomler. That’s the assignment he has had at the U.S. Open since 1971 on the USA Network. (He probably loses that gig now because ESPN takes over US Open weekday telecasts this year.)
Barkann is delighted to be working for HBO with announcers Mary Carillo, John McEnroe and Billie Jean King--and in the Garden. Just as he’s been straight all the years on USA Network, he doesn’t flim flam the artificial nature of this women’s event.
I long have admired him because of his work at the US Open. It is not easy to do live post-match interviews in an arena when you have thousands of fans looking over your shoulder. He is working a high-wire act, trying to ask pertinent questions while being engaging, but not being disrespectful or stupid.
He has good moments and some bad ones. People still remember fondly his in-the-stands interview with Barbra Streisand in 1972 when she called Andre Agassi a “zen man.” Another time he got roasted by some critics because he seemed to be intrusive with a stand-offish Jerry Seinfeld, who seemed to want to watch the match rather than talk with him.
He is invariably on top of things. So he knew about Novak Djokovic’s flair for imitating other players, and prodded him to do some of his imitations. Djokovic imitated the motions of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal among others--and the crowd and millions of TV viewers loved it.
Barkann is in the tradition of Bud Collins, the No. 1 guru of tennis commentary and color. He is knowledgeable and loosey-goosey with the athletes. He respects them but is not awed by them. They seem to respect him.
Yet my friend, Ann Basch, a serious tennis player, “hates” Barkann. She says he asks “goofy” questions and “talks about personal things” with the players.
“That’s all right,” Barkann answers. “It goes with the territory. I ask personal questions because tennis players are international figures, like rock stars, and people want to know about such things with them. There are other questions that are newsworthy and I have to be firm, but the crowd doesn’t like it because they love their tennis heroes. But I appreciate that tennis fans are knowledgeable and have a great sense of humor.”
He said, “You have to be on your toes. There was one time when Serena came on the court wearing huge earrings. When she told me how much they cost, I said, ‘That’s probably more than your opponent made all last year.’ The moment I said that I knew I shouldn’t. And the crowd booed. All I can say with a smile is ‘Michael says, ‘Lighten up.’ ”
Barkann, 48,, a Philadelphian, is another one of the legions of sportscasters Syracuse’s broadcasting school has inflicted upon the populace (along with Bob Costas, Marv Albert, Dick Stockton and a few dozen more). He started as a desk assistant, wrote weather reports and, among his stops in different cities, once got the call to be the weatherman after distinguishing himself as a sub doing a snowstorm.
Barkann now bestrides the Philadelphia TV sports scene as the major domo on Comcast cable. He does post-game shows on many of the Flyers and 76ers games. He hosts the Eagles pre and post-game shows where he is almost as irreverent with Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, a regular on the show, as he is with athletes and the other panelists. He does specials and has gotten the call from networks for Olympic and NCAA championship events.
He rides herd on newspapermen and athletes as host of the Philadelphia News sports show for an hour-and-a-half every day. Recently, when ridiculing a questionable comment by Alex Rodriguez at his recent press conference, he said, “Come on, don’t spit on me and say it is raining.”
Barkann’s long, honorable work ought to earn him, if nothing else, a place on the Tennis Channel’s coverage of this year’s US Open that will supplement ESPN’s weekday coverage.
And, oh yes, the draw for Monday night’s extravaganza: by “using the 2008 year-end rankings and having the highest ranked player take on the lowest ranked player,” they came up with Venus playing Jankovic, and Serena playing Ivanovic in the first round. They will play one set with no ads, the winners advancing to a regular best-of- three-sets final. That should produce the all-Williams final they want.
Barkann will be spotting celebrities in the stands and doing post-match interviews in his fashion. It’s all just fun and games.
©2009 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. This column first posted Feb. 23, 2009.
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