Sportsmanship gone out the door

If you want to see how far standards of sportsmanship have fallen, screen “Chariots of Fire” before tuning into “Bragging Rights.” Pitting “two buddies with a grudge” in five mano-a-mano tests of paramilitary machismo -- Big Stick Combat, obstacle course, etc. -- the half-hour, 13-episode series combines the dubious format of “Battle of the Network Stars” with the worst of the GNC generation’s belligerent posturing.

Egged on by camo-clad host Jessica Holmes, the frat-style hotheads display their full range of testosterone by dishing such original Springer smack as “You’re goin’ down!” and “Talk is cheap, foooool!” Shot on location at Connecticut’s Club Getaway, the East Coast’s “premiere destination for adventure-seeking adults,” there’s nothing new here and less to like.

-- Chuck Thompson