Steve Bartman Hoax On "Sportscenter"
To see the video of this amazing prank call, link HERE!

"'Hello, ESPN? This Is, Um, Cubs Fan Steve Bartman'

Friday, October 17, 2003; Page D02

Steve Bartman, yesterday was the second day of the rest of your life.
And it just might be a lot more interesting than, oh, your first 26
years.

The self-proclaimed "broken-hearted Cubs fan" has misplayed a foul
ball in Tuesday night's NLCS Game 6 into at least five minutes of
fame.

Bartman, a Notre Dame grad living with his parents in suburban
Chicago, has already inspired plans for a movie and was at the center
of an instantly classic "SportsCenter" moment during yesterday's 6
p.m. show on ESPN.

As host Dan Patrick was conducting a phone interview with a subject he
believed was Bartman, the voice on the other end of the line asked
Patrick if he likes Howard Stern's posterior.

Patrick smiled, realized instantly his show had been duped by the
Shock Jock, and said coyly, "That wasn't Steve Bartman."

Gotta love live TV.

"We made a mistake," said Rob Tobias, ESPN's director of media
relations. "We have a process in place to prevent these type of
situations. In more than 24 years it hasn't happened on SportsCenter
before. In this instance we should have been more thorough. Once it
became clear, we communicated to viewers immediately that it wasn't a
real interview." "

*******

Man impersonating infamous Cubs fan gets onto ESPN
Associated Press

BRISTOL, Conn. - A man pretending to be Cubs fan Steve
Bartman tricked ESPN into putting him on the air for a live phone
interview Thursday.

The prank, on the 6 p.m. edition of "SportsCenter," was discovered
shortly into the interview when the man referred to radio shock
> jock Howard Stern. The interview was stopped, and anchor Dan
Patrick said, "We've been had. That was not Steve Bartman."

"We made a mistake," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "We
have a process in place to prevent these type of situations. In more
than 24 years it hasn't happened on 'SportsCenter' before. In this
instance we should have been more thorough. Once it became
clear, we communicated to viewers immediately that it wasn't a real
interview."

Bartman became part of the Cubs' long, sad history Tuesday night.

With the Cubs just five outs away from returning to the World
Series for the first time since 1945, he deflected a foul ball and
prevented left fielder Moises Alou from catching it. The Marlins
went on to rally for a victory and the next night advanced to the
World Series.

Later in "SportsCenter," there were several references to the prank.
When introducing a segment about the backlash against Bartman,
anchor Matt Winer said the fan was so infamous he has his own
impersonator.

During an on-camera interview with former major league manager
Jeff Torborg, Patrick asked, "Are you really Jeff Torborg?"

Later, when an interview with Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay
Mariotti was cut short by technical difficulties, Patrick said, "That
was Jay Mariotti."

"We've had better nights," fellow anchor Mike Greenberg replied.

********

Seattle Times
Friday, October 17, 2003, 12:01 A.M. Pacific

Playoffs notebook: Cubs fan's NLCS Game 6 foul play inspires movie
By Seattle Times new services

CHICAGO -- Boy, that was quick.

Steven Bartman has inspired a movie.

Trade publication Daily Variety reports that Revolution Studios has
accepted a pitch for a movie tentatively titled "Fan Interference."
The movie is expected to star TV sitcom star Kevin James of the CBS
show "King of Queens." Variety said it would tell the story of a
fan who screws up an easy out, and then has to deal with the
ramifications.

Bartman, reviled by many Cubs fans who felt his reaching for a foul
ball in Game 6 led to the Cubs' ultimate demise in the National
League Championship Series, had to be escorted out of his seat for his
own safety. Bartman apologized Wednesday, and yesterday the
Cubs released the following statement as an attempt to ease the
vitriol aimed at him:

"We would also like to remind everyone that games are decided by what
happens on the playing field -- not in the stands. It is
inaccurate and unfair to suggest that an individual fan is responsible
for the events that transpired in Game 6. He did what every fan who
comes to the ballpark tries to do -- catch a foul ball in the stands."

 

And if that bit of bizarreness isn't enough, ESPN apparently landed an
interview with Bartman and spoke with him by phone for the 3
p.m. "SportsCenter." Anchor Dan Patrick asked the questions and ESPN
put a still photo of Bartman on the screen.

At one point, Patrick asked Bartman if he was seriously going to have
to leave Chicago. The voice on the other end of the phone made
> a crude reference to Howard Stern. The call was disconnected and
an embarrassed Patrick paused and said to the audience, "We've
been had."

*******

TV/RADIO NOTEBOOK

NLCS, ALCS huge winners for Fox
By DAVID BARRON

EXCERPT:

Oops

-- ESPN fell victim Thursday afternoon to a hoax caller who
identified himself as Steve Bartman, the Cubs fan who apparently
interfered with Cubs outfielder Moises Alou's attempt to catch a foul
ball in Game 6 of the NLCS.

Dan Patrick interviewed the man briefly on the 5 p.m. SportsCenter.
As the interview concluded, the man mentioned the name of New York
shock jock Howard Stern. Patrick said, "We've been had," and the
network went to commercial.

"We made a mistake," the network said in a statement. "We have a
process in place to prevent these types of situations. In more than 24
years, it hasn't happened in SportsCenter before.

"In this instance, we should have been more thorough. Once it became
clear, we communicated to viewers immediately that it wasn't a real
interview."

*******

Cleveland Plain Dealer
10/17/03

Sports News

Today's Game Plan

An 'exclusive'

This is the danger of live TV, especially when eager to get a scoop.

Yesterday, ESPN's Dan Patrick thought he was doing a phone
interview with notorious Cubs fan Steve Bartman, the man who
deflected a ball away from Chicago outfielder Moises Alou during
the eighth inning of Game 6 of the NLCS.

Patrick was firing away when "Bartman" suddenly decided to make a
reference to his cheeks, and not the ones on his face. That's when
Patrick knew - "Bartman" was an imposter.

Patrick actually handled it well - "We've been had," he said.

ESPN shouldn't feel bad . . . phony phone calls have fooled the best
of them, including ABC's Peter Jennings. In 1994, Jennings thought
he was interviewing a witness to the O.J. Simpson slow-speed chase
when the man ended the call with, "And a Bababooey to you,"
making reference to the producer of Howard Stern's radio show.
The funny part is Jennings wouldn't have known it was a hoax if Al
Michaels hadn't told him.

The Start will be watching closely when "SportsCenter" airs tonight.
If the show claims to have an exclusive interview with longtime Red
Sox fan Seymour Butts, then we know ESPN hasn't learned its
lesson.

*******

Courier Herald (Dublin, GA)
10/17/03

Baseball has taken over The Desk
Will Heath

EXCERPT:

Both series went seven beautiful games. The Cubs and Red Sox both
appeared poised to go into the World Series; the Cubs had a 3-0 lead
in the eighth inning with the National League's best pitcher cruising.
>Poor, poor Steve Bartman. Not only does he have to endure Howard
>Stern's impersonation and taunts from idiotic radio show hosts like
>Mancow (people actually listen to this stuff?), he has to live with the
feeling - however unsubstantiated - that he cost his team the pennant.
He didn't, but people will blame him ... and, well, maybe he blames
himself.

*******

All Access
10/17/03

He said he was infamous CUBS fan/foul ball interferer STEVE BARTMAN,
but the caller put on the air by ESPN's "SPORTSCENTER" on THURSDAY
sounded a lot like HOWARD STERN fan/prank caller TOM "CAPTAIN
JANKS" CIPRIANO. After a few serious answers, BARTMAN/JANKS asked host
DAN PATRICK a question about STERN's posterior ("Do you like HOWARD
STERN's butt cheese?"), abruptly bringing the festivities to an end.
JANKS also called another news show on the STATEN ISLAND FERRY
disaster, informing the unsuspecting anchors that the accident was
caused by "a blast of wind from HOWARD STERN's ass."

*******

Lowell Sun (MA)
Article Last Updated: Friday, October 24, 2003 - 4:50:03 PM EST

Good prank calls are on the line
By AUSTIN O'CONNOR, Sun Staff

Things were going so well for ESPN anchor Dan Patrick during a recent
broadcast of SportsCenter.

On the phone was Steve Bartman, the poor Chicago Cubs fan who, while
sitting at the cusp of the left field wall at Wrigley Field during
Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, tried to catch a
foul ball and instead caught the ire of an entire frustrated,
boozed-up city.

Since tussling with Cubs outfielder Moises Alou for that famous foul
ball, Bartman had disappeared as quickly as the Cubs season. He didn't
go to work. He didn't go outside. He avoided all media inquiries, even
though he was suddenly, fleetingly, the most famous person in the
Windy City.

So having him call into ESPN late last week to talk turkey with
anchor Dan Patrick seemed like a big deal, and the sports network sure
treated it like one. Patrick excitedly announced that Bartman was on
the line, and his picture, the one taken on the night of the incident
showing him under his Cubs hat and with those ridiculously large
headphones covering his ears, was splashed across the screen as he
talked.

"On the phone:" the graphics under the photo read, "Steve Bartman,
Chicago Cubs fan."

Patrick asked all the right questions. What was going through
Bartman's mind when the ball was hit toward him? Did he know Alou had
a chance to catch it? How angry was the crowd? Was he frightened?

"Have you received death threats, Steve?" Patrick asked.

"Yes, I have received five death threats, I believe," he responded.
"I'm pretty much right now, you know, hiding out."

This all lasted a few minutes, and it was interesting, though it
seemed a bit odd that for a native Chicagoan, this Bartman character
had a pretty noticeable New York accent.

And then ...

"Can you stay (living) in the Chicago area?" Patrick queried.

"Um," Steve shot back, "do you like Howard Stern's butt?"

Silence.

Cut back to Patrick, looking grimly down at his anchor desk.

More silence.

"We've ... been had," the anchor gravely intoned, finally looking
into the camera. "That was not Steve Bartman."

People, I know it's stupid. I know it's infantile. I know it's
downright moronic.

I'm not sure I have ever laughed so hard in my life.

For journalistic integrity purposes, I should probably tell you that
the impostor Steve Bartman said another word after "butt," and that
it's pretty gross. Giving you the whole quote, though, would
definitely violate the whole family newspaper concept, but ...

Hold on just a minute.

I'm laughing again.

There. Whew.

Ah, the phony phone call. On the culture/comic scale, it's pretty
much the equivalent of Carrot Top. But prank calls are like Farrelly
Brothers movies: When they're not funny, they're painful, but when
they are, look out.

Be honest: Who among us hasn't pulled off a harmless prank call or
two in their day?

Who didn't, when you were young and stupid, dial a random phone
number and ask some unsuspecting person whether there was a John in
the house, then wonder where they went to the bathroom, then hang up
hurriedly and laugh with friends way too hard for way too long?

Alas, the advents of Star 69 and anonymous call-blocking, while
integral to frustrating burgeoning stalkers, have also foiled, and
nearly made extinct, the amateur prank caller.

And so it's left to highly untrained professionals, like the Jerky
Boys and the Crank Yankers comics and all sorts of jobless Howard
Stern fans with far too much time on their hands, to carry the mantle
of telephonic annoyance.

To be sure, Stern fans sometimes take the practice way too far,
having been known to call into news networks during coverage of true
tragedies, wriggle their way on the air by claiming to have
information, lull the talking head to sleep with seemingly harmless
babble, then suddenly spout praise for various parts of the shock
jock's anatomy.

Inappropriate as it might be, it's also instructive as to how
desperate most networks are to run with anything and everything
associated with exploitative news stories. They rush faulty informants
onto the air as they did when a Stern fan spoke to Peter Jennings
during the 1994 O.J. Simpson freeway chase and interspersed chants of
"Baba Booey!" (the nickname of Stern's producer) into his nuggets of
information as Jennings pressed on, unawares and they pay the price.
And sometimes, it's very funny.

When Steve Bartman called into ESPN, the show's producers must have
been excited. They thought they had a coup. They would be the first
ones to interview the Cursed Cubs Fan whose life had been ruined!

What fun! What news!

Soon enough, the image of Howard Stern's butt was funneled through
the phone line, into their headphones, and out to the world. Harsh
penalty, sure. But they got what they deserved.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to run. I just got a call that my
refrigerator is running, and I really should go catch it.

 

NEXT