This clip of outtakes from Red Sox photo day has been seen pretty much everywhere. As a matter of fact, I believe redsox.com had it beamed directly into the brains of every sentient being within a 40 mile radius of Fenway Park. But I re-post it here because I believe it further underscores a point I’ve been making for years: NESN has a friggin’ untapped goldmine on its hands with these Sox players.
Just watch this clip and tell me that Terry Francona and The Elf couldn’t be paired up in some Shit My Dad Says-type sitcom. And I don’t know about you, but every time I see Kevin Youkilis’s mug, all I can think about is an updated version of D’ffrent Strokes, in which Youkbacca becomes the surrogate dad to a couple inner city youths. And I see no reason why J.D. Drew couldn’t pull a respectable guest stint on How I Met Your Mother as Mumbles, one of Robin’s sardonic ex-beaus.
How much more of this footage exists? Are there hours of such goodness that we might never see? If so, NESN Programmers, why not buy up that shit and run it during sweeps week… instead of the hundred or more hours you’ve got tied up each week in infomercials. And while you’re at it, perhaps you can find time to wedge more Red Sox-themed original programming in there. If we can’t have Tom Caron After Dark, then just give Pedroia a Flip cam and let the good times roll.
Ignore this advice at your own peril. If you do, you’ve got no business complaining when audiences shut off their TVs and head online or to the casinos or to Luis Aponte’s garden shed.
