HBO SPORTS & WHY IT WENT DOWNHILL
San Francisco, CA– First off, I love people of all colors, creeds, and religions. That being said, I drew some heat from some that are offensive to criticism of anybody or anything Jewish. I’m not going to get into historic themes or religious hype, as I’ve slammed Catholics, Muslims, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, what I’m trying to say is that no group be it by ethnicity or religion, nobody is immune to me hurling heat in their direction.
Ross Greenburg
MANY HAVE BEEN SLIGHTED DUE TO FAVORITISM
Having had foreknowledge that HBO Sports CEO Ross Greenburg was about to get canned, this person put me in a position I’ve been in many times in my 40 years of writing for others to read; knowing something big, and at the same time being sworn to secrecy, something I would never violate unless it involved the assassination of President John Kennedy. That being said, I will take this subject in another direction, that might even make the most sensitive Jewish folks understand where I’m coming from.
HARVARD GRAD LOU DI BELLA VS. “GUY IN THE TRUCK”
Although people can easily relate to the likable personality that is Lou Di Bella, don’t overlook the fact that the current boxing promoter and owner of a Triple AAA baseball team is a Harvard Law School Graduate. One thing you can credit Di Bella with is the original concept under which HBO’s Boxing After Dark series was put together. it was Lou’s mindset that said if you match equally talented and hungry fighters against one another, which started with the Marco Antonio Barrera-Kennedy McKinney fight in 1996, or five years before he was pushed out the door at HBO, that the result would be good, if not great fights.
Kerry Davis
AFTER DARK SERIES LOST CONCEPT
When Di Bella reluctantly left HBO in 2000, the Boxing After Dark series changed direction. Instead of matching starving guys, the dates started going to promoters who were “showcasing” their fighters in much easier fights that the original concept. This happened when Ross Greenburg became HBO Sports CEo and Kerry Davis took over for Di Bella as HBO Sports Vice President. In recent years, the relationship between Davis, an African-American and manager Al Hayman, also an African-American has become in my mind, incestuous.
HAYMAN’S GUYS GET THE DATES, THE MONEY, THE DECISIONS
To show you how this relationship has helped punch holes in the hull of the HBO Boxing ship, look back at the Andre Berto situation. Although talented, anybody who saw him fight, especially against Luis Collazo where in the minds of many he was clearly beaten in a WBC welterweight (147 lb) title fight and got the decision. Berto, handled by Hayman, would enjoy a number of $1,000,000 paydays which were not representative of his talent and skill level. Andre even had the ability to pull out of a fight he may have lost to Shane Mosley, this when the Miami, FL resident claimed the “earthquake in Haiti,” of which he is a native, was traumatic enough to hinder his training.
WILLIAMS GOT “HBO LOVE” WHILE MARTINEZ WAS SPAT UPON
If you recall, Hayman’s guy Paul Williams won an extremely controversial decision over current middleweight (160) champ Sergio Martinez. The then middleweight king Kelly Pavlik, having both intestinal shortcomings and a drinking problem, pulled out of three fights with Williams, and instead fought Martinez who beat on him like a jockey riding a horse. When Martinez and Williams fought again late last year, Paul got a bigger purse than Martinez, again the defending champion. At the time, I bellowed what kind of s**t is this? In one of the most telling (and frightening) one-punch knockouts in boxing history, Martinez put Paul into such a deep state of sleep that he couldn’t have beaten the referee’s count if it were 500 and not 10.
BUTTON PUSHER VS. HARVARD GRAD & BOXING GENIUS
Seth Abraham
At his peak before being anointed HBO Sports CEO after Seth Abraham went off to head Madison Square Garden, Ross Greenburg was the Executive Producer of HBO Boxing. And while the title might sound sensational, the truth is that Ross worked in the truck during HBO Boxing broadcasts, directing the broadcast as to what camera would go live and when. Di Bella was an Italian-American lad with the Harvard background and a boxing acumen that Greenburg could have never attained had he lived two lifetimes.
SPORTS CEO SETH ABRAHAM TOLD LOU HE WASN’T GOING ANYWHERE!
The only position above Di Bella, then the sports Vice President at HBO, was that of Sports CEO, a title that had belonged to Seth Abraham for many, many years. When Lou asked about the possibility of “upward mobility,” he was told by Abraham that the Sports CEO slot wasn’t going to be available, not anytime soon anyway. Looking at the cards he was dealt, Di Bella realized that with Seth staying, all he had was a pair of deuces. That being said, Di Bella worked out a deal with HBO and resigned.
SPECULATE, BUT IT’S CLEAR TO THE NOT VISUALLY IMPAIRED
So here is where the anti-Semite charges were slung my way, I felt, as did a number of other people, that Uncle Seth was not forthright with Di Bella as he announced he was leaving for Madison Square Garden and button-pusher Ross Greenburg was being given the Sports CEO slot, this when the ink wasn’t even yet dry on Di Bella’s letter of resignation. The gist of what I am saying and what others were thinking is that Abraham screwed over Italian-American Di Bella in order to hand the CEO torch to Greenburg. With both men being of the Jewish faith, and Di Bella being far more qualified for the position than Ross, after you’ve read all of this, is that such a stretch to say there was favoritism involved?
IF YOU STILL THINK I’M ANTI-SEMITE YOU’RE LOONY!
HBO Boxing, under Kerry Davis’ rule at Vice President, as it was he who really ran the boxing department at HBO, and with Greenburg as CEO has failed miserably in the past decade. The network’s boxing rating have dropped dramatically, and in turn with “set-ups” instead of real fights, HBO and boxing in general lost viewers who walked away from contact sports all together, while others gravitated towards MMA and the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
MY CLOSING COMMENT SMACKS IF REALISM, NOTHING ELSE!
If this were the wine business and not television, what really happened under Ross Greenburg’s leadership role at HBO was that he and underling Kerry Davis, the pair turned a fine Cabernet into lemonade!
Pedro Fernandez