HOT CORNER
A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.
What: “A Tradition Restored.”
Where: Fox Sports Net, tonight, 7; Fox Sports Net 2, 10:30.
This one-hour special on the rebirth of USC football takes a look at the Trojans’ season and their bid for their first national championship since 1978. It’s an ambitious project for a regional sports cable network.
In addition to highlights from the Trojans’ 12 games, the show includes interviews with Coach Pete Carroll and key members of the team. There also are historical pieces on previous USC championships, features on quarterback Matt Leinart and receiver Mike Williams, and “Extreme Chalk Talks” with offensive line coach Tim Davis and defensive line coach Ed Orgeron.
But don’t expect a “Beyond the Glory”-quality documentary. This is a low-budget, touch-the-surface local production that doesn’t go much beyond the playing field.
For example, the feature on Williams deals only with his statistics and athletic accomplishments. There is no mention of Williams’ troubled childhood or the Florida couple who took him in as a 16-year-old.
What Fox Sports Net offers on Williams is mostly an abundance of superlatives.
Of Williams, Leinart says: “He’s phenomenal. He’s probably the best receiver in the country.... He’s just intimidating. Defenses, whether they admit it or not, are intimidated by his presence.”
And Carroll says: “He’s an incredible football player. He’s an incredible athlete. He’s a big-time kid who really wants to make a statement about how far he can take his game, and he keeps his team in line. He’s still a kid learning how to deal with all of this. It’s a great story.”
It is a great story -- if it were told with more depth.
The host of the show is Petros Papadakis, the colorful former USC running back. For this assignment, he bleeds a little too much cardinal and gold.
Papadakis, neatly dressed and sporting a new haircut, does a nice job. And the show, produced by Emmy Award-winning Mark Walton, should appeal to USC fans. It will also be televised on Fox Sports Net Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Thursday at 1 p.m.
-- Larry Stewart