TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Colorful Language Now Clearer Than Ever

Tribune photo by CLIFF MCBRIDE

Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden offers his thoughts on a fumble last season in San Francisco.

ADVERTISEMENT

By CARTER GADDIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2008

TAMPA - When Bucs coach Jon Gruden or Lightning coach John Tortorella lets slip a few choice words during a passionate moment on the sideline or behind the bench, it's not as if they plan the profanity.

A dirty little secret in the closed culture of big-time, televised sports? Casual cursing by athletes and coaches in a locker room or on a field of play is as standard as tailgating and halftime lines at the restrooms.

Even proponents of "clean" TV know it's true.

"We understand that the nature of live sporting events is that profanities are uttered," said Tim Winter, president of the Los Angeles-based TV and entertainment watchdog group, Parents Television Council.

Sports broadcasters, with not-so-subtle prodding by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), traditionally have done all they can to avoid exposing viewers to unsavory acts and language.

But the proliferation of high-definition television (HD-TV) has made it easier than ever for viewers to see and hear every titillating detail.

"Screens are bigger, the pictures are clearer, you're going to see more things," said Ned Tate, executive producer of FSN Florida and Sun Sports. "And with the advent of better microphones you're going to hear more things. The technology keeps improving, and those kinds of things become more recognizable."

You don't have to be a certified lip-reader to interpret what's being said in the heat of the moment.

"HD-TV affords an opportunity for greater information, more insight, greater clarity," said Winter, a former executive with NBC and Metro Goldwyn Mayer. "But you don't always want to see what is there."

The people in charge are aware of that. Tate said that Fox's regional sports networks across the country follow the same policy.

"If we see someone say a profanity and you can read his lips but you can't hear it, chances are he's going to repeat it, so we instruct our directors to cut away as quickly as possible," said Tate, whose networks carry the Rays and Lightning locally. "For the audio, we have microphones all over the field. If we pick up a curse word or obscenity, our announcers are instructed to immediately apologize to our audience."

It's not a new issue. In Baltimore, a recently unearthed memo issued by Major League Baseball in 1898 decried the use of profanity by players within earshot of fans.

The memo, which sold at auction this month for $27,500 and includes explicit examples of "unfit" language, concludes: "Any indecent or obscene word, sentence or expression, unfit for print or the human ear ... is contemplated under the law and within its intent and meaning, and will be dealt with without fear or favor when the fact is established by the committee."

Neither is lip-reading of inappropriate language on the screen a 21st century phenomenon. In the silent movie era, savvy lip-readers occasionally picked up on the actors' dirty dialogue where the script didn't specify what to say.

Gruden and Tortorella, known for their fiery demeanors, both have been caught swearing on camera on several occasions.

"I regret it," Gruden told reporters in December, the day after Fox cameras caught him swearing during a third-quarter tirade directed at officials during a win against the Saints in New Orleans.

Tortorella also has expressed remorse after he has been shown onscreen using off-color language.

Yet, it's part of the culture. Gruden, Tortorella and the athletes they lead reflect that, now in larger-than-life HD.

"We're concerned because we pitch ourselves as something that's family-friendly," Lightning spokesman Bill Wickett said. "At the same time, we're dealing with big-time athletes and fiery coaches that are paid to win and they're going to show intensity. There's a balance."

Both coaches have publicly wondered why the camera is focused on them at such moments, anyway. But the answer to that is simple: because they are part of the show.

"We're never going to completely get rid of it, but we do the best we can to avoid it all costs," Tate said. "We don't go looking for it. It's just like anything in live sports. Sometimes it happens in front of a camera or a microphone."

Winter, of the Parents Television Council, advocates a five-second delay in order to allow broadcasters to prevent inappropriate behavior and language from being aired.

Howard Wasserman, a Florida International University law professor and first amendment expert, opposes such a delay.

"The five-second delay bothers me," Wasserman said, "because I think you lose out on a certain spontaneity."

Further complicating the matter for broadcasters is a case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in September, the FCC vs. Fox. It stemmed from the use of "fleeting expletives" by the singer Bono during the Golden Globe Awards and by Cher and Nicole Richie during a broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards in 2003.

With a recent increase of the maximum FCC fine to $325,000 per on-air incident, broadcasters eagerly await the Court's ruling on whether networks are liable for such "fleeting expletives" on their broadcasts.

Theoretically, it shouldn't affect sports broadcasts too much, if at all: Spokeswoman Janice Wise of the FCC's enforcement bureau said the FCC has never acted on a lip-reading complaint.

But people are watching.

"From our standpoint, we understand there is a difference between a scripted show and a live sporting event, but that doesn't absolve the broadcaster from responsibility," Winter said. "I think that certainly what you see our athletes doing can equally be as disturbing to parents as profanity in entertainment TV or movies, because so many kids look up to these athletes as role models.

"With this wonderful new HD-TV clarity, there comes the risk that there are more things you don't want to see."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT