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Tony Siragusa, TV critic.
The Fox analyst turned into one Friday night during a sideline interview with Cincinnati Bengal receivers and new best friends Terrell Owens (right) and Chad Ochocinco during the Bengals’ 22-9 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
At one point in the endlessly silly and entertaining interview, Siragusa appeared to turn to Ochocinco to praise his VH-1 reality series, “Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch.”
I’m not sure what was sillier – Siragusa praising the dating series or wasting so much time with the attention-needy players while the game was being decided.
Check that. It was a preseason game so ex Bill Owens and Ochocinco were differently the better entertainment choice.
Siragusa’s apparent praise of Ochocinco’s series had to sting Owens a little since his reality series, “The T.O. Show,” also runs on VH-1 and these guys are in competition for everything — catches, TV ratings, screen time, headlines and any attention.
But if T.O. was upset, it was never visible. He seemed on a mission to filibuster during the interview, hogging camera time and even putting in a pitch to do some toothpaste commercials while he flashed his beautiful white teeth.
In short, T.O. looked happier Friday night than he did all last season playing for the Bills without a decent line or quarterback.
Oh, by the way, T.O. caught three passes for 67 yards in the game, which would have been a good day’s haul for any Bills receiver last season.
* In another amusing note, a couple of local TV stations somehow felt the good news of the Bills’ surprising 34-21 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Thursday night was dampened Friday by news that second-year tight end Shawn Nelson was suspended for four regular season games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
A little perspective is badly needed. Nelson has great potential, a word that former Bill Fred Smerlas once said was a French word that meant he isn’t very good right now. (Actually, Freddy was much more colorful than that.)
In short, we’re not talking about Tony Gonzalez or Jeremy Shockey. Nelson caught 17 passes last year and wasn’t even starting in preseason.
* If you missed the Bills victory Thursday on Channel 7 and are one of the fortunate ones to get The NFL Network, be advised it will be replayed again at 4 p.m. today.
Alan Pergament was the television critic for The Buffalo News for 28 years. He currently is an adjunct professor at Buffalo State College and Medaille College, teaching courses in communications. He also writes a monthly column on the media for Buffalo Spree magazine.
