No, not those Dodgers
“Extreme Dodgeball,” a new game show on GSN, formerly called the Game Show Network, made its debut Tuesday night. The cast includes comedian Bil Dwyer as the play-by-play announcer and ESPN “Dream Job” finalist Zach Selwyn as the commentator.
Teams are made up of people from the same walk of life. For example, one team consists of jockeys, and another team consists of accountants.
Says Selwyn, “It’s a game of mobility and agility, but most of all strategy. I think the GPAs had the strategizing down best. They probably printed it out on spreadsheets before each match.”
The TV show is not to be confused with the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. Stiller, a recent guest on Bob Costas’ HBO show, was asked about the political correctness of dodgeball and about criticism by some sports organizations of dodgeball’s being played in schools.
“It’s a sport of violence, humiliation and degradation,” Stiller said.
“Which is great comedy.”
Team effort
The RBI organization – RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Innercities – held its annual awards dinner Monday night at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.
Among the honorees were Adrian Beltre, Rod Dedeaux and Chicago White Sox executive Dennis Gilbert.
Gilbert was given the Chet Brewer Award, named after the late Negro Leagues pitcher. Larry King, the emcee, introduced Milton Bradley, who in turn introduced Frank McCourt, who in turn introduced Gilbert.
“This is the first time I’ve ever introduced somebody to introduce somebody to introduce somebody,” King said.
Triple-crown talent
More on the dinner: You’ve heard about baseball players who “have all the tools.” Gilbert, who played in the minor leagues in the late 1960s and early ‘70s in such places as Visalia, Calif., and Waterloo, Iowa, told the audience at Monday’s dinner that he was “a three-tools player.”
“I could hit, run and talk,” the former baseball agent said.
The real Father Time
Volleyball’s Karch Kiraly seems to be defying time. At 43, he is the oldest and winningest player, on the beach or indoors, with three Olympic gold medals and two recent titles on the AVP Tour.
Maybe that’s why Swatch, the official timekeeper of the Olympics, invited him to the Swatch store in Hollywood for an autograph session as the Olympic torch relay passed by on Wednesday.
Nice view, no pets allowed
From ABC’s Tom Tolbert, regarding Shaquille O’Neal’s size 22 shoes: “In L.A., you can rent them out for $1,500 a month.”
And no ‘W’ either
A reader, Jim Greene, wrote the Los Angeles Times: “I’ve always known there is no I in team. However, until just this week it never dawned on me that there is no D in Lakers.”