This is my review of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel that originally aired on September 16, 2008. Tonight, there are three new stories. In addition, we have a new open and new set, plus for the first time, Real Sports is produced in HD. All of these are good additions, but one addition that should be corrected for next month is Bryant Gumbel’s beard. It’s not a good look. It’s actually very scary looking.
Let’s go over the show.
Segment #1 – Children of Industry
Reported by Real Sports bulldog Bernard Goldberg, this story focuses on a practice that was supposed to have been outlawed years ago, child labor. And in this Real Sports investigation, it has been found that young children have been used to stitch millions of soccer balls in India.
All over the world, children play soccer and kick soccer balls made by children in India. Kids as young as six are stitching the balls in the poorest slums of the country. And many get just pennies a day, while others get nothing. A children’s rights activist in India says these children don’t get the proper nutrition and don’t go to school as they have to work 10-15 hours a day. The activist says they have no childhood, no freedom, no human dignity. He’s been trying to break an ages-old tradition of using child labor.
He was shocked to hear that the dream of one child was to play with the same soccer ball that he had made. The problem is that the dream can never come true.
In Jalandhar, India, a town that has several soccer ball suppliers, Real Sports found that none of the companies show any children employed on paper. That is against the law and the world’s largest soccer ball companies have policies against using child labor. However, even with the law in place and policies that are well-stated and well-intended, children are hidden away from view, stitching soccer balls.
Real Sports found one girl, an orphan living with her grandparents and a full-time soccer ball stitcher. She’s only 12 years old. She says she has no choice but to work. She can’t go to school. She has to stitch soccer balls because her grandparents are old. Her wage? A nickel an hour. That’s 5 cents an hour. It takes her three hours to finish one ball so she’ll make 15 cents for a ball that might sell for $15 at your local Walmart.
And it’s for those rates why soccer ball makers in India like using child labor. The children’s rights activist (I apologize for not having the names, the HBO press release I have does not list them this month) says the children are not like adults. They can be manipulated, they don’t go on strike, they can’t form unions, they are too silent. Parents can’t do the work because they can’t find jobs.
Many children start working as soon as they can hold a needle and thread and many grow old before their time. Because the kids are hunched over, many have back problems and eye problems because they have to look at the balls all day. Plus because they use razors to cut the strings, many children have cuts and scratches on their fingers. If they make mistakes, their pay is deducted.
The orphan who is stitching in this story is making a ball for Mitre, the preferred brand of many professional soccer players. Mitre makes the official ball of the most prestigious professional soccer league, the English Premier League. It also provides balls for America’s Major League Soccer.
Mitre is an industry leader off the field as well. In the 1990’s, mitre called a summit of soccer ball providers when Pakistan’s soccer ball industry was called into question for using child labor. All companies including Mitre pledged not use child labor. All companies adopted a Code of Conduct. Mitre’s clearly states that child labor is not used by any of the suppliers that make Mitre balls.
The child activist says policies are one thing, but practice is another. Real Sports found two brothers, Deepu and Ahman, and a 10 year old girl and her friend who’s 7, all stitching Mitre-brand soccer balls. And in addition to Mitre, several well known soccer ball brands were being stitched by children. All of the balls have the disclaimer “CHILD LABOUR FREE PRODUCTION”. The activist finds the irony in that 6 or 7 year old kids are stitching the child labor disclaimer on the balls. He adds that it’s criminal.
The child activist went to Meerut, the second largest city in soccer ball production in India to rescue children. This town is even poorer than Jalandhar and these children are paid nothing. The activist doesn’t call this child labor, he labels it slavery. Germeet Kumar is 10 and he has hopes and dreams just like any child his age. But he talks in the past tense. He wanted to be educated and free. Instead, he’s stitching soccer balls and he feels he’ll never be free after his parents sold him for a loan of $100. It happened last spring when Germeet’s baby brother got sick and his family needed money for medicine. His mother says she’s devastated to see her son having to work from morning until evening. She says Germeet was a happy child, going to school and playing with the other kids. Now, he’s working, trying to pay off the loan to the soccer ball manufacturer, but the problem is, it will probably never happen.
Soccer ball makers give loans at exorbitant rates, so the villagers find that the interest practically doubles and leaving the children in the manufacturers’ grip. The activist says the kids’ childhood is essentially robbed away.
Bernie finds that when the kids become adults, their children continue making the balls and this continues for generations. This is called debt bondage and it’s as common as it’s illegal in Meerut.
One 12 year old girl has been in debt bondage since she was 8 and she cannot go to school or play. She knows at this point, she will not amount to much.
Germeet Kumar knows he won’t amount to much either. Before he was sold into debt bondage, he was a star student and showed Bernie what he remembered from his favorite subject, English.
The story then shows Germeet and other children taking their finished products to their masters in the morning, then leaving with the raw materials that have to be stitched for that day.
And when Real Sports went inside to confront the distributor, he told the program that what was recorded simply didn’t exist. And he said he didn’t use children to stitch soccer balls. He said children wouldn’t understand how to make the balls and he only used adults. When he was asked to go outside to see what Real Sports had seen, the owner said he had work to do.
Indian soccer ball makers don’t like talking about the problem and neither does the U.S. government. It’s supposed to keep child-made products out of the country.
Charlotte Ponticelli is the Deputy Undersecretary for the U.S. Dept. of Labor. She says the U.S. government does not want to be seen as aiding and abetting any country that uses child labor for any product. In charge of trying to prevent this problem, Ponticelli says the problem is that much of child labor is hidden and it’s hard to find.
But Bernie says Real Sports was able to find four children in Jalandhar working, stitching soccer balls for mere pennies a day. They were making Mitre balls bound for the United States. And Real Sports found those same soccer balls sitting in a Walmart with the same UPC code that was found in India. Just like Mitre, Walmart has a child labor policy banning all products made by children. But it’s not just Walmart. Several New York area sporting good stores had soccer balls that had been shpped from India.
Bernie showed Secretary Ponticelli the video that was shot in India and she was clearly moved by what she saw calling it heartbreaking. She says it reinforces her commitment to stop the import of these soccer balls. She correctly says it doesn’t have to happen.
Bernie says he tried to get on-camera interviews with Mitre and Walmart but they declined. Both companies told Bernie they regularly monitor their overseas suppliers to make sure child labor is not being used. Both promised they would investigate the situation as did the U.S. Dept. of Labor.
Bernie told Secretary Ponticelli that he didn’t understand that if India has a child labor policy, the soccer ball manufacturers have a child labor policy and the U.S. government has a policy against the import of child-made products, as well as the stores having a policy against selling them, and one thing they all have in common is that they didn’t know about this problem. She says everyone has a responsibility and when the problem comes to light, you do something about it.
The Indian child activist says those who benefit directly from child labor, the contractors and the companies have to be blamed first. And he wonders if Real Sports and he can find the problem, then why can’t the companies find out?
The activist was shown in Meerut trying to rescue two young children from their debt bondage. He was trying to get the I.D. paperwork the children were supposed to get at birth, but don’t and the kind of paperwork they need to go to school so they can be protected by the law. His team has done this for dozens of children before.
The activist says he sees his own children in the faces of those working. And he says he can’t sit still, he has to do something. When he visits the school in Meerut, he’s treated like a hero.
In a country that has plenty of jobs for educated adults, school is a way out of poverty. Some of the children in the school almost missed that chance, except for the activist’s efforts that got them placed there and out of debt bondage. One girl who he rescued now says she wants to be part of the police to help make things right.
And the two young children that were referenced three paragraphs ago finally got their paperwork and were sent to school. The activist says it’s like moving from darkness to light. But for every child who is rescued, there are other children who take their place.
For Germeet Kumar, he’s still in debt bondage. His baby brother died. He was allowed three hours off to attend his funeral, then was back at work, hand stitching soccer balls, his debt very much alive.
During the transition, Bernie was asked for a rough estimate of how many children are in debt bondage. He says the activists feel its about 10,000. Bryant asked why India? Why aren’t other countries involved? Bernie did mention that in Pakistan, child hand-stitched balls were a major problem and that’s why there was a summit back in the 1990’s. Bernie says while Mitre and other soccer ball distributors don’t want child labor to happen, they don’t know what’s happening thousands of miles away in India. However, Bernie points out that Real Sports was able to find the problem without resorting to violence or subpoena power.
And he says the manufacturers could end the problem by hiring the kids’ parents, but they won’t stand for 5 cents an hour and will try to organize.
A heartwrenching story especially when you see the children stitching the balls and cutting themselves. It’s a story that will most likely be revisited. Grade – A+.
Segment #2 – Mike’d Up
In a collaboration with Sports Illustrated and reported by Frank Deford, this story focuses on former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan who retired after helping his team win Super Bowl XLII over the Patriots. Strahan left football knowing that he had a job waiting for him at Fox.
After 15 years in the NFL, Michael Strahan is a rookie all over again. This time as a studio analyst on Fox NFL Sunday. While he has the least experience among his studio teammates, Curt Menafee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson, Strahan actually has had plenty of training. He always was good with a quote as player, never at a loss for words. And if there was anyone who was made for TV, it’s Strahan, even with his gap-toothed smile.
And now, he’s fighting for air time with Bradshaw, Long and Johnson who were together when the show began in 1994. Strahan knows if something goes wrong, it’s all on him. But he says facetiously he can blame it on them because they’re getting old.
Deford asked Terry, Howie and Jimmy about Strahan coming in and Bradshaw jokingly says, “We hope he fails.” Then Frank asks if any of them are worried that they’ll be replaced. And Bradshaw jokes that he’s sold all of his possesions just in case.
Howie says bringing someone in could upset the apple cart, but he notes that Strahan is spontaneous and should be able to add something to the show. But his new career was almost over before it started when Strahan considered coming back when former teammate Osi Umenyiora got hurt and was lost for the season. However, Strahan decided to remain retired.
Strahan says he could still play, but mentally, he could not. When asked when he started to check out mentally, Strahan says it was five years ago. It was then he began to make guest appearances on television, on FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show Period and on the NFL Network.
But as he remains close to his former teammates, can he actually be critical of them now? Strahan says he can. He was critical of his teammates in the locker room.
And about the pass in the Super Bowl from Eli Manning to David Tyree, Strahan was happy that Manning didn’t get sacked and Tyree who kept dropping passes in practice, actually made the play in that situation.
Strahan played youth football outside Houston, but at age 9, his father, an Army major moved the family to Germany and the absence of American sports hurt Michael. Strahan says he ate and he gained weight that his brothers called him “Bob” meaning “Booty on Back”. Strahan says the insults made him work out and he says without his brothers, he would not have been on Fox today. He admits working out to the Jane Fonda exercise tapes (I really don’t believe that, but if that’s what Strahan wants to say, then fine).
Strahan did not play high school football until his senior year when his father sent him back to the Houston area to live with his uncle, former NFL tackle Art Strahan, in hopes of securing him a college scholarship.
But after living abroad for most of his formidable years, Michael found the States to be a strange place. He says he felt more European than American and all he heard about the U.S. was the murder rate and crime on the news. When his uncle picked him up at the airport, they passed a drug store and Michael thought they were selling illegal drugs (again, I don’t believe this story).
After getting a scholarship from Texas Southern University, Michael learned about playing his position from reading college football magazines. He played well enough that the New York Football Giants drafted him in the second round. And he was still a wide eyed kid when he came to New York.
He lived in a hotel room in Times Square and did not leave only until the Giants came to pick him up. Strahan says he was afraid of getting mugged or beaten up (unbelievable, I know). But he overcame his fear of the big city.
Eventually, Strahan went to the Pro Bowl 7 times and finishing 5th all time in career sacks. He also set the single season record for sacks, 22.5 in 2001 when Brett Favre intentionally dove allowing Strahan to fall on top of him. Strahan says he has never asked if Favre dove and it pisses him off that people still ask him about it. And he says no one had even made it 20 in a long time and the attention
goes to the Favre sack.
And Strahan’s relationship with the media was rocky at best especially when he underwent an ugly divorce from his second wife. He said what was written was all lies, but he says after a month, he felt it was the best thing that could have happened. When asked to reiterate, Strahan says it taught him not to care about what anybody thought of him. He says he cannot change what someone thinks about him, it’s not worth the energy.
However, for someone who had at one time boycotted speaking to the media is now making a living on the other side. And before he had decided to join Fox, Strahan went on HBO’s Costas Now earlier this year criticizing the media including talk show host Chris Russo. Strahan says he now realizes that the shoe’s on the other foot.
But instead of depending on players talking to him, he has to depend on his four teammates at Fox to give him the ball to be a success.
In the transition, Bryant asked Frank what options did Strahan have at Fox and Frank replied that Michael pretty much was promised the job when he retired. Frank says Fox Sports President David Hill saw something in Strahan and wanted him from the outset. Frank adds Strahan has the potential to do other things for Fox outside of sports.
Not a bad story, but there are a few unbelievable anecdotes. Nothing really new from Strahan and I’ll give this segment a C+.
Segment #3 – A Racing Life
This story reported by Jon Frankel is about NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson who is going for his 3rd consecutive championship.
We begin in November 2007 and Johnson is racing in the Ford 400. He wins and takes his 2nd straight NASCAR championship. During his two years on top, Frankel says Johnson dominated unlike any other driver.
Johnson says it was like watching a movie, looking back at the 32 years it had gotten him to that point. Johnson says when he’s driving, he wants to kick his opponents’ butts.
In NASCAR’s regular season this year, Johnson finished with a flourish, winning in California and then Virginia. Now Johnson is attempting to do what no driver has done in 30 years. Win the championship 3 years in a row.
When asked if he’s so much better than the other drivers, Johnson says he’d like to think he’s that good. He adds he’s at the point where he’s pretty much in tune with his car. And he has to communicate what he feels in his car to his crew chief.
While drivers get the glory, it’s the crew chiefs who make sure everything runs right. Since Johnson joined NASCAR’s top racing division 7 years ago, Chad Knaus is the only crew chief he has ever had.
Johnson says in some ways, Knaus is like his second wife. For his part, Knaus is not sure he likes that description. He jokes that he won’t cuddle with Jimmie. When asked to break down the success of Johnson, Knaus is asked if it’s Johnson, the team or the car, he replies yes. Just yes. But in all seriousness, Knaus says it’s a combination of all three. Chad says Jimmie is probably the most imporatnt element, but not by much.
Johnson grew up outside San Diego and has been racing for as long as he can remember. He says he grew up at the racetrack instead of the baseball or football field. His family would go to dirt racetracks in California and Arizona, watching motorcycle races. Birthday presents would involve motorcycles or vehicles. Johnson says his best Christmas present was his first motorcycle at age 4. And he figured out how to ride before he could ride a bicycle without training wheels. Johnson says he knew what he wanted to do at an early age. The interesting thing is that Johnson’s dad has held onto that motorcycle and Jimmy’s brothers also learned how to ride on that motorcycle.
He never learned how to throw a baseball.
Going from dirt bikes as a kid to stadium trucks as a teen to off road trucks when he was 20, he didn’t get much fame in either classification. Johnson started racing stock cars about 10 years ago. He got his biggest break in 2001 when NASCAR’s biggest star, Jeff Gordon helped him to get a spot on his team.
Johnson says he was shocked that Gordon would even talk to him. Gordon was not the stereotypical Southern driver who grew up in stock cars and made it. Johnson says Gordon came up from the dirt and came from open wheel racing. And it gave Johnson the hope that he could also make it in NASCAR.
And Johnson can see the irony in the fact that he’s now beating Gordon. In fact last year, Gordon finished second to Johnson despite having one of his best years, but the disappointment was tempered in the fact the men are teammates.
Rick Hendrick owns the team. Hendrick Motorsports has won 7 of the last 13 NASCAR championships. And the team signed the sport’s biggest free agent, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt are in the top 10 of the points standings. Hendrick says keeping each man happy is a full time job. He says each men feels they can beat the other and Hendrick tells them privately that they’re right.
Hendrick does not allow any of his team members or their crew chiefs to harbor secrets from each other. In Hendrick Motorsports 600,000 square foot facility, Gordon’s cars sit next to Johnson’s cars. Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus has access to the same parts that Gordon’s team has and knows exactly what the other is doing.
Johnson took Frankel for a tour of his home track in Charlotte, driving in a Chevy Tahoe truck. He stopped at one particular part of the track, forgetting to put the car in park, forcing Frankel to do it for him. And at one turn, the track is at a 26 degree angle bank, not as steep as other tracks. Johnson notes that sometimes, cars can be three or four wide going at speeds at minimum 160 or 170 mph. Johnson says when he’s against the wall, he feels safer because he has less distance to hit it. If he’s at a forced angle from across the track, the heavier impact against the wall.
Frankel was then taken for a ride on the track in Johnson’s race car going at a speed of about 150 mph. When they finish the ride, Johnson is asked if there is such as thing as race rage and he replies yes. If a driver knocks him out of the way, he has to pay him back. Racing is pretty much all Johnson knows.
In his career, Johnson has won an estimated $60 million and millions more in endorsements. In 2004, suffice to say he married a hot chick, a model. Through it all, it’s easy to forget how dangerous NASCAR can be.
Then Frankel and Johnson watched this crash at Watkins Glen during a Busch series race in 2001.
Johnson says he lost his brakes going through the sand trap and he thought he was going to hit concrete. When he crashed, he noticed he was on fire. His neck muscles were stretched, so he had to lift his helmet up, looked around and noticed the fire. He got unclicked and heard the fans going crazy as he got out of the car so he raised his arms in victory. Johnson says that was tough to watch, but other accidents he’s been in look cool. Funny guy.
The Race for the Sprint Cup started last weekend in New Hampshire and according to Frankel, Johnson is racing at the best he has all season. He’ll spend the next two months trying to win his 3rd straight championship.
As the report was ending, Frankel asked if Johnson got car sick and he said yes. If someone else is driving, he gets motion sickness. He can’t ride in a taxi or limo. And he can’t ride in a roller coaster without getting sick.
In the transition, Bryant asked how much Johnson is resented by the Southerners. Frankel says fans pretty much know the sport is changing. But some fans don’t like him because he’s not Dale Earnhardt. However, they understand that drivers like Johnson and Jeff Gordon bring corporate dollars to NASCAR, money that is desperate needed because it’s expensive.
Bryant also notes NASCAR is not very green. Frankel says yes, consider how many miles are driven on the track, the gas the cars use, hauling equipment all over the country from racetrack to racetrack, it’s very expensive. And fans who follow the sport from race to race also are spending more money as well.
Bryant is a bit skeptical that NASCAR is a sport, but Frankel defends the drivers who have to be in top physical condition to drive a race car in hot conditions for four hours.
Not a bad story. I give it a B.
Final segment – Bryant’s commentary
Bryant’s commentary was about Yankee Stadium. It went as follows.
“Finally tonight, a few words about a ball park. In less than a week, they’ll close the doors at Yankee Stadium for the final time. And while legions of Yankee haters might be inclined to say ‘good riddance’, the site deserves its due as the greatest American outdoor arena of all time.
The fact the stadium’s hosted 37 World Series and four All Star Games is only part of its legend. It was big in football too. It was in 1958 the site of the championship game that put the NFL on the map. And it hosted many college games including matchups of Notre Dame and Army back when those programs actually had teams that mattered. It’s even where Knute Rockne delivered his ‘Win One for the Gipper’ speech.
The stadium was the scene of the first boxing match to ever be televised. Sugar Ray Robinson was among those that made history there as was Muhammed Ali. It was on Yankee Stadium’s infield that Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmelling in a fight that had meaning well beyond the ropes.
Three different popes chose the stadium to celebrate mass on American soil and it was the gathering place for historic events as disperate as the rally to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s freedom and the memorial service after 9/11.
Yes, LA’s Coliseum is bigger. Wrigley Field is more charming and Lord knows there are lots of places more fan friendly. But when Yankee Stadium closes up this coming Sunday, it’ll mark the end of an era, the likes of which we’ll never see again. It’ll be replaced next year by a new structure and some will call that progress. Forgive me if I beg to differ.”
I liked this commentary and I’ll give it an A minus.
Overall grade for this show – B+
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