Sneak a peek

Actually, I lied in my previous blog post. I did manage to watch some late afternoon tv yesterday while Maria took Desmond to her parents. There was a scathing article in Slate about newspaper columnists spreading themselves too thin by doing shows like Around The Horn and I, Max. I won't get into the irony of a columnist for an online magazine criticizing newspaper guys for diversifing their resumes, but as a semi-regular viewer of Around the Horn I was amazed that I, Max was called a "stupider version" of ATH (although the criticism was not so subtley directed at Fox). I had to watch I, Max to see if this was true or more liberal media bias (my not so subtle criticism of Slate). I'll give you some background. I just had to watch Around the Horn when it debuted after Peter King wrote in an online column that he didn't know who Max Kellerman was but if he thought people in LA knew more about sports than people in NYC then he didn't need to watch his show (the promos were designed to promote a show that had a regional bias but representives from all regions would be there to promote their bias). I knew Max Kellerman as the only guy considered a boxing expert who was under the age of 500. I became a semi-regular viewer and couldn't figure out why they let Max go and replaced him w/ Tony "statboy" Reali (although I did like it when they gave the long haired guy from Dreamjob a shot at hosting too bad he ended up hosting Extreme Dodgeball). It didn't take too long to find out that Fox had lured MK away and his new show, "I, Max", would be available weeknights at 10 on your Fox Regional Sports network. I watched the show once. It wasn't that great. Max brought Michael Holley, author of Patriot Reigns (Go Eagles!), and the man formerly known as the disembodied voice w/ him. It was like ATH but w/ just Max and Michael Holley. I watched it again yesterday for only the second time. It was a hell of a lot better. In fact, it was a good combination of ATH and PTI. Kellerman and Holley started by arguing a few topics. Then they brought in another guy who argued w/ Holley while Max officiated ATH style. An actual sports figure was the guest in a 5 good minutes style segment. And it ended w/ the disembodied voice (I'll always call him that even though he was there in the flesh) reading viewer email criticisms to Max. It was certainly better than Around the Horn where 4 guys often make the same points (or sometimes the 2 opposing points) over and over. The chat w/ the guest is a good touch. And even though Michael Holley cut his dreadlocks, he's still good w/ the give and take w/ the host. I'd watch it again.