This Is Positively a Great Career Move for Him

They had this guy who calls himself, “Kevin Malone,” auditioning on KSPN radio Wednesday to become a regular sports talk show host, and along with veteran broadcaster Dave Stone, the two opened by suggesting there’s too much negativism in the local media. If I disagreed with that, of course, I’d be proving their point.

And besides, I’ve read the Long Beach Press Telegram and the Orange County Register, so I know exactly what they were talking about.

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NOW TO be positive here, I must say I was impressed when I tuned in and heard Malone’s voice on the radio.

I can’t imagine the people who run sports talk radio allowing just any bum off the street to sit behind a microphone. I’m sure they’re very selective. I’d have to think there’s a lot of training involved, and rigorous testing to demonstrate you know what you’re talking about. That leaves me to wonder who took the test for KXTA’s Tomm Looney and Dave Smith, but I’m sure our very own media watchdog, Larry Stewart, is right on top of that.

It also probably goes without saying, you better have a sparkling personality and a keen sense of humor like XTRA’s Lee Hamilton, or you’re going to be just another pretty face doing radio.

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RIGHT AWAY Stone made it clear his new broadcasting partner does not have a vendetta against the media, so discussing the negativism in the media was not going to be a problem for Malone. In fact, Malone seemed real at ease talking about his intense dislike for the media.

Stone also identified Malone as the Dodgers’ former general manager, which made the selection of the show’s first topic about negativity in the media an odd one, considering the insight he could have brought to baseball’s great races. I guess he just fell back on what he knows best. If you’re auditioning, of course, you want to make a big splash for the radio bosses, so Malone came to the table with some breaking news. Now forgive me, writing, driving and repeatedly saying, “Amen, brother,” every time he said something, made it very difficult for me to quote him precisely.

But in a blockbuster revelation, he told his audience, “I know for a fact [the media] created a lot of the controversy between Kobe and Shaq.” I knew it--just knew it--those darn reporters.

He also revealed the media has purposely gone after UCLA basketball Coach Steve Lavin and it’s totally unfair. As a former Bruin recruiter, he would know, which makes me really wonder how these media people get their jobs. He said the media did it to USC football too, which means if it weren’t for those nattering nabobs of negativity who work for newspapers, the Trojans would still be under Paul Hackett’s direction.

When it came time to rely on his baseball insight, he said attendance is down at Dodger Stadium this year, “even though the team is doing better than last year,” because of the media. I was surprised to hear the media isn’t buying as many tickets as last year because I’ve never known the media to pay for anything if they can get it free, and then I did some further checking. I thought about calling in, “It’s T.J. from Placentia,” or maybe “Jim Esterbrooks from San Diego” and telling him what a fine job he was doing, but I was afraid he might take it the wrong way, maybe even get mad at me, blurt out something really stupid, and then there goes the audition.

So instead I turned to Rome.

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COLLEGE PREDICTIONS: I have already picked UCLA to win the Pac-10, so why shouldn’t it also be in the running for a Jan. 3 visit to the Rose Bowl for the national championship game with Texas? No one is taking the Bruins seriously because of their defensive woes in the past. But the defense played well in the first three games last year before losing Kenyon Coleman, and now he’s back.

A healthy DeShaun Foster running the ball is the only way the Bruins win the Pac-10 and compete for national attention, and victories over Alabama and Ohio State would probably catapult Foster into serious Heisman Trophy consideration. With 23 seniors on its side, why not consider UCLA one of the top two teams in the country?

I know I have this thing about always looking at the glass as being half full, but that’s just me.

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WHAT SHOULD the Dodgers fear the most down the stretch?

Vin Scully announcing: “There’s activity in the Dodger bullpen.”

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SEATTLE OUTFIELDER Al Martin is now saying he and Bronx pitcher Danny Almonte were defensive backs together at USC in 1986.

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SPARK COACH Michael Cooper, speaking the other day about his team’s playoff plans, said, “As Pat Riley used to say, ‘Seize the moment.”’

I guess Riley has the trademark on that as well as “three-peat.”

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Some wives might think Dennis Rodman was acting in their best interests when he turned a fire extinguisher on restaurant patrons--that restaurant being Hooters.

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I THOUGHT it was a good sign before Wednesday night’s game with Colorado, that Dodger Marquis Grissom was able to play “pepper” without striking out.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in an e-mail from Larry:

“I don’t want to e-mail simmers. I want the address of Bob Oates, someone who knows what he is doing. Can you get it for me?”

Don’t know how.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com