Just A Stupid Nbc Trick

Oops.

That’s the reaction from the top NBC Sports executive to negative comments made by Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC’s West Coast division, about the World Series. The series happens to be televised by NBC.

Ohlmeyer said Friday he hoped the World Series would be over in four straight games so NBC’s powerhouse Thursday night lineup featuring “Seinfeld” and “E.R.” wouldn’t be preempted.

He undoubtedly wasn’t doing cartwheels after Cleveland defeated host Florida on Sunday night, 6-1, evening the series at 1-1 and guaranteeing there will be a Game 5 Thursday.

What made people pay more attention to Ohlmeyer’s comments is that he is not an entertainment-division suit with no background in what sports can do to energize a network. Ohlmeyer is a former executive producer for NBC Sports.

Speaking prior to Sunday night’s Game 2 of the Florida-Cleveland series, NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol didn’t sound angry with Ohlmeyer.

“About a half hour after he said it, he immediately regretted it,” Ebersol said. “I said to him that every major NBC executive is bound to say something stupid about baseball every two years. This was his turn to be stupid like it was mine two years ago, when I said there won’t be any baseball on NBC again the rest of this century as long as I’m in charge.”