Okay, now this makes soooo much more sense. The Danyelle Sargent interview, in which she asked Mike Singletary about a phone call to his deceased mentor Bill Walsh, was never supposed to see the light of day. It was actually a taped piece (which explains her pause after the mistake), and was taken from something called an "open feed" that is used by various news organizations. Via the SJ Mercury News....

Fox producers were understandably mortified and didn't air that portion of the interview. (Interestingly, the "pregame" interview aired after the opening kickoff Sunday, and although it was taped, it could have left viewers with the impression that Singletary was talking to a reporter instead of coaching.)

But the clip was part of the "open feed" that live telecasts use and that news organizations can access for clips and highlights. Mike Francesa, host of New York station WNBC's "Mike'd Up," showed the gaffe late Sunday night.

Dan Bell, Fox's vice president of communications, apologized for the error but said it should have been left on the cutting-room floor.

So here's what happened. Francesa actually used an unauthorized clip from a taped segment and completely made it look like something that went down live. I still think someone working in Football should know if Bill Walsh is alive, but if it was a fixable mistake (which it obviously was), Sargent shouldn't have been embarassed on National Television like that. Bell also issued the following statement that I think sums everything up perfectly....

"We've filed a complaint with the league of them using this. It's unauthorized footage. It's footage that was recorded but that never made our air. If we saw that on a CBS game, we're not going to take that and have one of our stations run with it."

That's a pretty slimeball move by Francesa and WNBC now that the truth is out there, and as I should have mentioned yesterday, there's no one with more dumbass comments and mistakes than Francesa himself.

My apologies to Ms. Sargent for raking her over the coals yesterday, and thanks to JS for sending along the whole story.

Update: Mike Francesa was finally reached for comments and he replied that he was, "unaware it had not been broadcast by Fox. Obviously a mistake was made. If we'd known that, we wouldn't have used it"

Fox reporter's Bill Walsh gaffe wasn't supposed to make the air (SJ Mercury News)
Wait, So It's Wrong To Ask A Guy About A Phone Call He Had With His Dead Mentor? (Awful Announcing)

I don't know how you could hate someone who gave us one of the most memorable calls in Baseball history, but apparently Jeff Kent's ire knows no bounds. In an interview with LA Times' TJ Simers, Kent decided to rail on Vin Scully and the rest of Sports Media. Via SbB....

"Vin Scully talks too much," Kent said.

Now that's funny, the guy who normally doesn't say much, this time saying way too much.

"You can't say that," I told Kent, and he said he had just spoken to 200 women (at a Dodgers function) "and I told them the same thing, and they laughed.

"We all love you, Vin," Kent added with a mischievous grin, "but you still talk too much."

Ran that by Scully. He had nothing to say. NEXT WEEK, I presume, Kent will go after the Pope. Now how would Kent know what Scully is saying? If he's playing second base, the consummate pro that he is, why is he listening to the TV or radio? How do we know he doesn't have Scully and Charley Steiner mixed up?

Then who has the problem?

"Scully is making the same point everyone else is making," I said. "He says the stats indicate you are having success hitting behind Ramirez -- tell me that isn't the case."

"See my answer to the first question," said Kent, and sometimes you wonder if he sleeps with his bed against a wall forcing him to always wake up on the wrong side. "Listen, I'm so tired of talking about this stuff. It diminishes my whole career and all the hard work. I take it as an insult. I'm 40. You don't get better when you are 40."

Kent's batting average has increased by more than 20 points in the past 10 days since hitting third. Manny being Manny has rejuvenated Kent. It's so much fun telling him that.

"It's so pathetic," he said. "You guys write about things happening in a week's time. That's why we don't like you. Baseball is a six-month game. What did I hit last year? Without Manny? How do you explain that? What's my career average? What will I be hitting at the end of this season? Everyone says I'm hitting now because some guy says so on TV?" he says, and first time someone has ever called Scully "some guy."

Oh well, time to push all his buttons, Kent ranked No. 47 on the all-time RBI list only because they walked Barry Bonds ahead of him so often.

"You write too much," cracked Kent, who can be both funny and deadly serious in the same sentence.

I'd have to guess here, but egging on Jeff Kent like that must be fun, but it also has to be pretty dangerous. The guy probably has a gun rack in the back of that truck of his and he has been known to fly of the handle at times. But seriously, calling Vin Scully is sacrilege, especially doing so while you're playing in LA.

This is one fight Jeff Kent isn't going to win (LA Times)
Jeff Kent Would Like Vin Scully To Shut His Mouth (Sports by Brooks)