Wells talks a good game

David Wells will mark the 11th anniversary of the perfect game he pitched for the New York Yankees against the Minnesota Twins in the most unusual place:

In the press box, behind a microphone, providing analysis for TBS’ coverage of another Yankees-Twins game.

Behind enemy lines, in other words.

“I was never really fond of the media throughout my career, because of the way I saw certain things written, certain things that were said, and how a lot of the reporters kind of stereotype us,� Wells said. “I always fought with those guys.�

Despite his on-and-off feuds with members of the media, Wells was considered a good quote during his playing career, a well of colorful observation TBS is trying to tap.

Wells made his TBS debut on May 3, a Boston-Tampa Bay game.

“A great experience,� he said. “I think it was the first time I ever sat and watched a nine-inning game without getting up and going into the clubhouse and watching golf, like a lot of guys do.�

Asked if he encountered any surprises in his first game as a broadcaster, Wells said, “Yeah. Suit and tie.�

On preparing for a telecast: “I’m not the type of guy who’s going to watch a lot of baseball. I’d rather be out in the woods hunting. In fact, I just got back from Alaska. I was up there for three weeks, off and on, hunting my bears.

“It went great. I finally got them, a brown and a black. It’s a pretty incredible place, Alaska. It’s not for pansies, I can tell you that. It’s a man’s world up there. When you’re in that bear’s element, now you’re on their level. You’ve got a gun, they’ve got a lot of teeth and claws, and if they get you, you’re done.�

On Charles Barkley saying he was happy the network hired Wells because now it had someone “fatter� than him: “He must have meant ‘phat.’ I’d love to get on a scale and we could just prove it once and for all. But I want to whup his . . . in a footrace. Because he got beat by an 80-year old man, see if he could get beat by somebody his own age.�

Actually, referee Dick Bavetta is in his late 60s and Barkley won the race, at the 2007 NBA All-Star game, but you get the point.

TBS hired Wells in hope that he might become a baseball version of Barkley, someone who speaks his mind and shoots from the hip.

“I hate to read,� Wells said. “I’m not a big reader, especially reading off a teleprompter. I just rather ad-lib, go out and say what’s on my mind. I have been doing it for years and, I guess, why stop now? But I guess it’s going to have to change a little bit. I’m going to have to grow up some time.�

Bettman gets defensive

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman continues to defend his league’s decision to cast its broadcasting future with Versus, despite the network’s limited availability.

“There tends to be some criticism of them, probably initiated by some of their competitors,� Bettman said Wednesday on CSN Chicago’s “Monsters in the Morning� show. “We felt coming out of the work stoppage and the year off, doing the traditional mode, going back to ESPN, where they have everything, wasn’t going to help us bring the game back as strong.

“We felt we needed to be in a place where the network would grow with us, they’d make us their most important priority, and give us special treatment. And Versus has done that.�

Try selling that to Ducks fans shut out of crucial playoff games because Versus wasn’t part of their cable package.

Cameras behind bars?

HBO Sports has announced another round of “Hard Knocks� inside-training-camp coverage beginning Aug. 12. The team HBO will chronicle this year is the Cincinnati Bengals, which ought to be enough for the network to change its title to “Hard Time.�

Good today

The Angels open a three-game series at first-place Texas on FS West at 5 p.m. The Dodgers begin a three-game set at Florida on Channel 9 at 4 p.m.

Good on Saturday

Recommended viewing for all fans of the Lakers, basketball and fly-on-the-wall filmmaking: Spike Lee’s “Kobe Doin’ Work,� his multiple-camera, multiple-microphone game-in-the-life of Kobe Bryant, which airs on ESPN at 5 p.m.

Recommended viewing for fans of the underdog, the dark horse, or anybody wondering if Mine That Bird was a one-race wonder, the Preakness airs on Channel 4 at 1:30 p.m.

Good on Sunday

Kobe doin’ a lot more work in the Western Conference semifinals than anyone outside of Houston ever could have figured. A series that has lasted at least two games longer than it should have wraps up, one way or another, on Channel 7, beginning at 12:30 p.m. And at 5 p.m. on TNT, the Boston Celtics try to clinch a Game 7 of their own against the Orlando Magic.

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