Bad Left Hook

For those who may have missed it, here's the Showtime debut of retired veteran boxing judge Chuck Giampa, who has joined the team in something of a Harold Lederman role, offering his insights during the fights and then after, discussing the official scorecards from the ringside judges.

Chuck's night did not get off to a good start:

I'm not posting this to insult Chuck Giampa. I'm also not going to lie and say I didn't laugh. I laughed. I laughed real hard. It's funny.

But I also think it's worth noting that as the night progressed, Giampa got better. He's not a TV natural (to say the least) like Lederman, who is a gregarious guy and loves to talk. But that doesn't mean Giampa can't settle in to this role and in time, become a valued member of the team, as Lederman has been at HBO for decades.

Like I've said before, when I've criticized the style and approach of guys like Jim Lampley, Gus Johnson, or Larry Merchant, I understand one thing to be very true: TV is hard and I'm not saying any schlub off the street can do it. I certainly couldn't do it. It takes years of schooling, training, and failing to get it right and be as technically good at the job as a Lampley or Johnson.

So really, yes, I'll laugh at the Giampa debut, because it was horrible and it was funny. But I'm also rooting for Giampa to just get better as he goes along. It's not a huge deal, just a funny thing that happened, and the role that Showtime has brought him in to fill is a good one.

I'll also admit that I'm interested to see if Giampa generally favors the official calls, or generally favors judges, even when most would disagree. He truly could take us inside the mind of a judge -- which someone joked right after his first moments on screen, we unfortunately saw come to life.