 "Photo: Coutesy of NASA World Wind Screenshot/Wikimedia Commons")
 "Photo: Courtesy of Gareth Owen/Wikimedia Commons")
Slated to begin in July, the Chicago White Sox’s front office circus of Ozzie Guillen, Ken Williams and Jerry Reinsdorf will be taking their “shot at love” public with The Club.
Similar to the HBO television series Hard Knocks, which has followed NFL teams such as the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals, the new MLB show will follow the South Siders from spring training in Arizona to the trade deadline.
Finally, someone has figured it out. Guillen sound bites: good. An entire Guillen and Co. show: better. Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and cushy inside?
I do.
Reality TV has been a large part of the American consciousness for the better part of 10 years.
For me, it was the Real World on MTV that first spurred my interest in this voyeuristic entertainment.
As the years have passed we have watched everything from races around the world to Joe Millionaire, a show in which a faux millionaire is seeking a wife, only he’s not really a millionaire but a construction worker … oh yes.
A program featuring athletes is not too far of a stretch from current reality; during the major league baseball season teams play 162 games.
Come playoff time, if one watches just half the games, they should have a deep understanding for the various pitching rotations, substitutions, player tendencies, reaction to pressure, athletic ability and a little bit of colored stories about each player courtesy of the commentators.
What more could an avid baseball fan learn from a camera crew that follows the team around?
I don’t know, but I’m really excited to find out.
I’m sure that the higher-ups in the White Sox clubhouse are thinking that they could benefit from some more advertising.
Allowing outsiders inside of the confines of the “Cell” could potentially alter the image of the Chicago White Sox from “the other baseball team in Chicago that’s not the Cubs” to the Sox (not the Red Sox).
Given the opportunity, I would put every team on blast with their own TV show to boot.
So much of a game’s outcome is determined by events and actions that take place behind closed doors.
Player attitudes and interactions within a clubhouse can often be critical to the actions that take place on the field.
No matter how pervasive the coverage may be, I don’t believe this type of exposure will impede a team’s popularity — unless of course they turn out to be a bunch of jerks, but doesn’t that make this type of show all the more necessary?
Fans of teams being featured should not shy away simply because they are on TV.
Hell, they are on TV more often than movie stars — 162 games a year plus countless appearances on local and national news broadcasts, press conferences and commercials.
It makes business sense for the White Sox, expanding brand recognition and potentially bringing more fans into the fold, and it makes sense for the network because hey, voyeur television is not only an unbelievably popular and unpopular medium but it is also the cheapest — cost … quality-wise.
I think that this is a big move for an organization that has the potential to be a heavy hitter come October with the addition of Jake Peavy.
The one-two combination of Mark Buerhle and Peavy will be one of the toughest pitching rotations in the American League this season.
Come Fourth of July, the debate will undoubtably begin as to whether or not this type of show has a place in society. Time will tell, but I know that I will be tuning in.
Will you?
Matt Wilhalme is a sports editor
mwilhalme@luc.edu
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