When push comes to shove, FSN Wisconsin falters

Tempers flared and frustration boiled over during the Brewers' 6-3 loss to the last-place Reds Monday night in Cincinnati.

But, that's enough about my living room ... Let's talk about what happened between Prince Fielder and Manny Parra in the visitor's dugout.

If you watched the game, you may have seen a frustrated Fielder shove Parra twice -- hard -- on the Brewers bench after the sixth inning.

But, you had to look quickly.

The broadcast crew from FSN Wisconsin seemed to do everything in its power to downplay the incident, which vaulted an otherwise humdrum loss into the opening montage of ESPN's "SportsCenter."

In fact, "SportsCenter" paid more attention to the event than the local crew did, which is a glaring indictment of the way in which it was handled.

Before we proceed, two important disclaimers are in order:

Disclaimer No. 1: I happen to know, like and respect many of the members of the FSN Wisconsin team that I've met over the years; the directors, producers and announcers who travel with the team and especially the camera guys and technicians I regularly chat with in the media dining room before home games at Miller Park.

It's impossible not to like Brian Anderson, Bill Schroeder, Trenni Kusnierek, Craig Coshun, Davey Nelson and the rest of their gang. They are fine people. They work hard. They do a very good job making the games entertaining night in and night out.

However, they completely dropped the ball on this one. And, they weren't alone in that regard, which brings us to...

Disclaimer No. 2: Part of the frustration I experienced Monday night was my own damn fault. Because I host a sports talk radio show and write about many topics here at OnMilwaukee.com, I felt a certain sense of duty to watch what I thought was going to be an important Packers press conference at 8:15 p.m.

Though my TV has a both a DVR and a picture-in-picture feature, I opted to leave the Brewers-Reds game and surf around the various channels to see when Packers coach Mike McCarthy would announce his intentions with a certain quarterback who has been in the news lately.

I flipped from Channel 12 to ESPN News to Fox 6 to Channel 4 and then back to ESPN News and didn't see anything from Green Bay.

In the midst of this, my cell phone rang. It was my friend, Craig, and he had a simple question.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said. "McCarthy hasn't come out yet."

"No," he said. "What happened in the Brewers game? Prince Fielder just went after Manny Parra in the dugout. I thought you'd know what happened."

Stunned by the news, I immediately flipped back to FSN Wisconsin and waited for a replay of the incident.

I waited ... and waited ... and waited ... and waited ...

You get the idea.

Although Anderson and Schroeder referred to the incident in passing throughout the final two innings, there was no replay. "Well," I thought, "They'll show it the next Prince comes to the plate..."

Wrong again.

Coming out of a commercial, the FSN crew tossed to Coshun and Jeff Cirillo, the hosts of the pre- and post-game shows, for a "Game Recap."

Surely, I thought, I'll see the video now. And maybe Cirillo will talk about how emotions get the better of players in trying times.

Again, the incident was ignored. Coshun and Cirillo talked about Bronson Arroyo instead.

As the final outs played out, I watched in amazement as the story of the night, the one I was certain was going to be the No. 1 topic among Brewers fans at water coolers (and on certain radio shows), was ignored.

It was journalistic malpractice, unfolding before my eyes. I got the feeling that FSN Wisconsin was trying to protect the Brewers' image by downplaying the dugout drama. A decade ago, that approach would have been understandable, but still not excusable. In this era of DVRs, YouTube and instant message board talkbacks, the idea that ignoring an unflattering event can somehow diminish its impact is sheer folly.

What happened on the broadcast Monday night was as bad, though directly the opposite, of a TV crew ignoring an unfolding no-hitter for fear of "jinxing" the local team's pitcher.

At one point, Anderson made reference to the incident last season -- almost a year ago to the day, in fact -- when Brewers manager Ned Yost and Johnny Estrada got into a dugout dustup in front of the TV cameras.

"Well, it would be nice to see a highlight of that incident," I thought.

Then I remembered THAT I HADN'T SEEN THE FIELDER-PARRA REPLAY YET!"

The delay was unthinkable. The frustration only mounted.

I couldn't help imagining that if an incident like this unfolded in the Yankees or Red Sox dugout, the local broadcast would be all over the story. They'd run it coming out of every break and say "In case you're just joining us...." They would show countless shots of the principals in the dugout.

(Side note: One of my major beefs with FSN Wisconsin's game presentation is the fixation with Yost reaction -- or non-reaction -- dugout shots. On a night that called for them, we didn't get enough).

In another market or on a national broadcast, the constant replays of the dustup would get to the point where a reasonable viewer might say "Enough already! This is overkill." Think back to that Yankees-Red Sox playoff game a few years back. How many times did you see Pedro Martinez flip Don Zimmer to the ground?

I know I've complained about replay saturation when watching televised sports. As it turns out, the frustration from seeing a highlight run repeatedly pales in comparison to not seeing a highlight at all.

When the post-game show began, Kusnierek interviewed Brewers third base coach Dale Sveum. Due to a technical glitch, the interview was joined in progress and the first question -- presumably about the dugout incident -- was not included.

That added to the frustration. In a later segment, the entire interview was replayed -- again without the video.

By this time, I was on a mission. I kept watching the post-game show and Coshun and Cirillo kept mentioning the incident in passing, without a highlight. At this point, I actually yelled at the TV: "These guys should go back to the Wisconsin Dells if they're going to ignore the biggest story of the night."

Eventually, the guys on the field showed tape of Yost addressing it in his post-game meeting with reporters. (Not surprisingly, Yost offered little insight about the incident or any possible repercussions or ramifications).

Then, finally, I got to see the highlight that caused all the fuss.

Fielder and Parra were walking down the dugout, Parra swept his glove and jacket up off the bench and Fielder shoved the left-hander down to the bench, hard, and proceeded to shove him again, this time with his hands in Parra's face.

Several players quickly interceded, including Ray Durham, Dave Bush and Ryan Braun as well as pitching coach Mike Maddux. While those men restrained Fielder, shortstop J.J. Hardy screamed at the first baseman.

The video was quick. It was compelling. And, it definitely was worth replaying more than once during the broadcast and post-game show.

In the grand scheme of the season, Fielder vs. Parra will end up being a minor footnote.

I've spent enough time around dugouts and clubhouses over the last 15 years to know that tempers flare a lot. I've seen mild-mannered guys nearly come to blows over a card game or playful teasing that goes too far.

I'll be you a Honus Wagner card that Brewers players will forget about the Parra-Fielder incident quickly, if they haven't done so already, but fans and media will overanalyze, over-scrutinize and over-hype the event until all meaning and perspective are gone.

That's what fans and media do. If the Brewers win on Tuesday night, many fans will think that Fielder's shove sparked something. If they lose, the dustup will be a sure sign of bigger problems.

The discussion over the next few days will be fascinating. FSN Wisconsin had a chance to lay the foundation for it on Monday night and booted it, big-time.