When TV gets in the way. (Remote Control).(how sportscasters violated restrictions limiting access to players during game)(Brief Article)

As if we needed another homeland security concern. While viewers and telecasters enjoy the freedoms of all-access passes, these pose clear and present dangers. Now is the time to be on alert. Vigilant. Because TV can affect the outcome of games it shows.

It's one thing to be unwitting accomplices in sports-bending, specifically the leagues using network cameras for official instant replay. And when TV's onboard computers ignite Robby Gordon's Chevy when he's leading a race, it's probably accidental. But three December incidents constitute, well, vague threats to the integrity of our pastimes.

One week after NFL police indicted Fox's Pam Oliver for doing her job--reporting from the bench that the Bears' defensive players were cursing their offense--ESPN's Suzy Kolber interviewed Kordell Stewart, live, on the field, at half-time of a Steelers-Ravens game. And on Monday Night Football, Melissa Stark went similarly face-to-face with Marshall Faulk as the Rams and Saints headed to the locker room.

On Fox Sports Net's ACC Sunday Night Hoops, as Duke broke its huddle and took the court, sideline reporter Dwayne Ballen was at the free-throw line with Clemson's point guard, holding a loaded microphone. Holding the game hostage.

Players talking to reporters within the confines of a game? Tsk-tsk. Historically in such ...