CBS Sports' US Open Sore

A Tabloid Baby contributor weighs in on last night in televised sports:

I'm watching the late-night US Open Tennis Roundup. The respectable Patrick McEnroe (Davis Cup captain and brother of John, who was once married to Tatum O'Neal and confessed to coke and miscreant behavior before becoming the darling of tennis media commentators) is host.

Now forget Andre Agassi's amazing tennis and history and the brilliance of Roger Federer, the greatest tennis player who ever lived...

Forget all that, because in the midst of all this, Patrick McEnroe's co-host of CBS's late-night roundup, is...

Pat O'Brien!!! (See Pat O'Brien links.)

When are they gonna start drug testing the sports guys who keep insisting on drug testing??? Tennis is a pure and beautiful sport and TV nets that cover it should have to do a urine test to prove that they don’t have any Pat O'Brien in their system.

Thanks, Tabloid Baby contributor. A tip of the Tabloid Baby hat to you.

But the question remains. How did Pat O’Brien make it back to CBS Sports, after flushing away his credibility with years of shilling as host of infotainment shows like Access Hollywood and The Insider and then weathering a humiliating phone sex, swinging, booze and drug scandal, rehab and a prime time (CBS!) spanking by Dr. Phil?

O’Brien tells the Boston Globe it was Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports-- and, as of last October, president of CBS News:

"When I left (CBS Sports in the 1990s) , Sean McManus, who was just taking over as head of CBS Sports, said, `We're both young men, we'll work together again,' and sure enough, here we are."

McManus, now president of CBS News and Sports, said it made sense to have O'Brien host the late-night show that features entertainment as much as it does tennis; the Gin Blossoms performed the other night.

"We try to make it fun, and thought Pat's had a pretty high profile in sports and thought we might add some different flavor, and so far it's worked out really well," McManus said.

O'Brien, 58, said he has no problem going from entertainment to sports ``because there's no line anymore between the two. Sports stars are entertainers, and entertainers want to be in sports."

On the news side, of course, McManus’ latest hire is Katie Couric.

Starting to see the connections? Infotainment? CBS Sports? CBS News? The Insider? The CBS Evening News? The Gin Blossoms? Phone sex? Pat O’Brien? Katie Couric?

(A final note: As Pat’s high times get even higher, we’re sad to see that his galpal Betsy no longer has a travelogue blog…)


The Katie Couric Countdown:
Three fingers to liftoff!