Home Run Derby

I’ve railed on the stone-faced and stone-voiced Joe Buck of Fox Sports a bunch of times in the past … for those of you new to HRD, here’s why I don’t like him.

• That Randy Moss thing
• He underannounced Scott Podsednik’s Home Run in the 2005 World Series
• He completely blew Conan O’Brien’s 2007 World Series “Jub-Jub” request … wasting it on Chris Myers
• He’s a smarmy douchebag

And now, let’s add being the direct beneficiary of misuse of Federal Government resources -more specifically the US Marshall Service (USMS) - to that list.

Wait, what? 

Okay, Buck’s not directly responsible for the misappropriation – that would be one Joseph Band, an attorney in the US Marshalls Office of General Counsel and a part-time statistician for the likes of the Washington Redskins, ESPN, CBS, and Fox Sports. 

But Band seems to have a soft spot for Joe Buck. 

According to a January 9, 2009 filing at the US Department of Justice …

“Deputy US Marshalls (DUSM) drove Fox Sports broadcasters Tim McCarver and Joe Buck in an official government vehicle (OGV) to two World Series games at Fenway Park in October 2007 …”

Mr. Band’s use of the Marshals as his personal limo service didn’t end there … and neither apparently, did Joe Buck’s benefit …

• He had US Deputy Marshals drive him to and from the 2007 NCAA national championship in Phoenix
• While working a January 2008 NFL playoff game in Tampa for Fox Sports, Band received transportation from a Deputy Marshal to and from the airport to the stadium.  On the return trip to the airport, Band’s vehicle “was the lead vehicle in a motorcade which incluuded the limosines of Fox broadcasters Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.” 
• For the February 2008 Super Bowl in Phoenix, Band had a Deputy Marshal drive him and broadcasters in a USMS vehicle “to and from the airport, hotels and football stadium”
• In July 2007, Band attempted to have Marshals provide transportation to and from the MLB All-Star Game in San Francisco where Band was working as a statistician.  In this case, he was denied.

All four of those events were broadcast by Fox Sports.  The last three were announced by Joe Buck.  So that’s four events (2007 World Series Games 1 & 2, Jan 2008 NFL Playoff Game, the 2008 Super Bowl, and almost the 2007 MLB ASG) in which Joe Buck benefitted from a Federal employee who was misusing his “public office for private gain.”

The US Marshals occasionally support VIP at events like these.  But I’m pretty sure the broadcasters don’t qualify.  Even if they know someone who works for the US Marshals in any capacity.

Take a taxi next time, Joe.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 11:21 pm and is filed under Announcers, Baseball Business, News, Sick and Wrong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.