‘SportsCenter’ host Steve Levy gives an apology, not opinion, on coach’s comment | Buckler’s Airtime

Post-game press conferences no longer have limited attendance, they have world-wide audiences.

Almost everything that is said by a public figure is captured on video and that video is usually available all over the country. All you need is a cell phone and you can look in on press conferences that only reporters were privy to in the past.

The benefits of that video availability is that viewers can make their own conclusions over what was said. We don’t need TV hosts to tell us what we’ve already heard.

ESPN’s “SportsCenter” host Steve Levy, however, felt the need to soften the blow from post-game quotes by Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey following Monday’s UConn-Baylor battle in the NCAA tournament.

Mulkey said the NCAA should drop COVID-19 testing for both the women’s and men’s Final Four. She felt it wouldn’t be fair for an athlete to miss the opportunity of playing in the Final Four if someone tested positive for COVID. This was an unprovoked statement. No one at the press conference asked her about testing — she just fired off her opinion.

Levy went on the defensive for Mulkey, saying he gave her “the benefit of the doubt.”

He said she still might have been upset over the loss to UConn and that she may take back her statement.

It’s not Levy’s job, however, to apologize for a coach, one who has been involved in thousands of post-game press conferences.

Levy is entitled to give an opinion on what Mulkey said. But Levy’s quote wasn’t an opinion, it was an apology. It’s a no-brainer that if an athlete has COVID, isn’t tested, and is allowed to play, two entire teams could be infected with the disease. How could you give her the benefit of the doubt?

Mulkey should be responsible for her post-game quotes. And it’s not up to Levy to say otherwise.

Sharon Osbourne no longer has a job after leaving her job as co-host of “The Talk” last week.

She isn’t leaving empty-handed, however. According to the New York Post, she is walking way with a settlement worth $5 million to $10 million.

That’s a very lucrative parting gift.

Osbourne landed into controversy when she defended British — and former CNN — talk show host Piers Morgan, who criticized some of Meghan Markle’s statements she made during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Morgan, however, remains an ally of Osbourne and is sticking up for her and against CBS.

He called CBS “the Cowardly Broadcasting System.”

If he was that clever when he hosted “Piers Morgan Tonight” on CNN, perhaps his show wouldn’t have been a failure.

Laughter in the lanes

During its heyday in the ’60s and ’70s on ABC, the Pro Bowlers Tour consisted of 90 minutes of class every week.

In front of the cameras, it looked like being a professional bowler was a great occupation.

Pro bowling looked a lot more glamorous on TV than it was in real life.

The money wasn’t overflowing like it was in golf and tennis — it was tough to make a living. You really had to be successful to survive on the tour.

Most bowlers lived on a diet of bowling center hot dogs and pizza and the divorce rate was high.

The life of a bowler, however, might not be the most lucrative life in the world, but it can make for great sitcom material.

CBS is about to find out.

It has hired comic actor Pete Holmes to play the lead of a new sitcom based around the life of pro bowler Tom Smallwood.

Holmes will play an assembly line worker at a GM factor who gets laid off, and decides to provide for his family by becoming a pro bowler.

There should be plenty of comedy surrounding the life of a bowler — in this case, the gutter humor isn’t going to be R-rated.

Lucifer’s return

“Lucifer” is a show that refuses to die. That might be because its lead character refuses to die.

While the Lord of Hell may live forever, TV series do not. “Lucifer,” which was on Fox for three seasons before moving to Netflix for Season 4, is planning its exit strategy.

The second half of the fifth season will begin May 28, followed by the sixth and final season.

It was a good run — 93 episodes over six seasons on two networks. And when it looked like the show was headed to the graveyard when Fox canceled it after three seasons, the show moved to Netflix and found a second life. With Tom Ellis in the starring role, the series showed a lot of resilency.

You have to give the devil his due.

Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI’s Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.