The "docu-reality" show that makes its debut tonight on the Mojo network follows six Sidewinders during the 2006 season, which ended with trophy hoistings.

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Granted exclusive 24/7 access to Arizona's football program in 2001, ESPN's camera crew was so omnipresent that Wildcat coaches and players came to fear the show's release.

Across five months, ESPN captured the quirks, frailties and shortcomings inherent with any football team, especially one coached by the acerbic John Mackovic. As we have come to learn, the '01 Wildcats were stocked with bad actors, bad language and bad football.

Yet when the much-awaited program was broadcast, it turned out to be 89 minutes of stale and bromidic nothingness.

So when Al Roker Entertainment Inc., and Major League Baseball Productions were given permission to film what those groups term a "docu-reality'' series on the 2006 Tucson Sidewinders, local reaction was faint.

We did not expect Bull Durham II.

But although "The Show'' launches no enduring characters remotely close to Annie Savoy or Nuke LaLoosh, it is easily more insightful than Mackovic 2001.

At long last, "The Show'' makes its premiere tonight at 7 and 10 on the Mojo network (Comcast channel 226 and Cox channel 721). The six-week series, shown on Wednesday's in 30-minute segments, settles on six players: outfielders Chris Young and Carlos Quentin, infielder Brian Barden and pitchers Bill Murphy, Dustin Nippert and Casey Daigle.

As with most reality-type shows, the more you watch, the more you get hooked. The more you get to know about the amiable Barden, the more you want to see him playing third base for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Alas, one of the reasons the show will not get big ratings (besides being on the relatively new and remote Mojo network) is that we know how it ends.

Young and Quentin realize their dreams to get (and stay) in the big leagues. Barden and Nippert are teased by brief opportunities in The Show. Murphy and Daigle continue to struggle, joined today on the Sidewinders roster by Barden and Nippert.

"Am I going to waste part of my life chasing the dream?'' Murphy asks, rhetorically. "It's definitely scary.''

"The Show'' works best when it captures its six subjects interacting candidly with teammates, or by following them through day-to-day humdrum.

Isn't that what made "Bull Durham'' so entertaining?

Young, for example, a splendid athlete who has become the D-backs regular center fielder, awakens and drives to a southside Burger King.

"Give me two No. 1's," he orders in the drive-through speaker, and then says, "This is the basic minor-league breakfast."

In the first two episodes, Barden is the key figure. Diamondbacks executives label him a "tweener'' and refer to him as the dreaded "4A'' player, one who is locked between the PCL and the big leagues. Barden's path is blocked by (choose one) Stephen Drew, Chad Tracy, Orlando Hudson and, more recently, Class AA whiz Mark Reynolds.

"I have always been the best player on my team,'' Barden says with conviction. "I was the best player in high school and the best player at Oregon State, and I'm the best player here now.''

This is Barden's fourth season as a Sidewinder. He is 26. He opened the season with the D-backs but played in just eight games (hitting .083), and now is hitting .245 for the Sidewinders with no homers.

His career clock is ticking.

"I've always wondered how much time to give it,'' he said. "I've always said I'll go until I'm 30. I've got other things I want to do in life.''

The most compelling of the six ballplayers is Daigle. When he is on screen, the show works. The 6-foot-5-inch Louisianan with the bass-deep voice, married to former UA softball star Jennie Finch, comes off as a guy with a tough exterior who is, rather, someone struggling against the insecurities attendant to minor-league baseball.

Daigle spent part of the 2004 and 2006 seasons with the D-backs but in between was dispatched to Class AA and cannot seem to find a niche as a starter or a reliever. He is 26. He has an 8.61 ERA with the Sidewinders this season.

His tough-guy persona is challenged by his inability to return to the Diamondbacks.

"When I was in the big leagues, I was young and immature,'' he said. "My attention span isn't that long. When you get above Class A ball, you have the necessary talent. What makes the difference is the mental part of the game. That's where you can really get caught up.''

"The Show'' would work much better if it gave more time to the dreary travel schedule of a minor-leaguer, the half-empty stadiums, the by-play between 20-something teammates, and the financial stress involved.

A little irreverence would have gone a long way toward showing us who these mostly anonymous Sidewinders really are.

Nonetheless, if your cable system gets the Mojo network, you might enjoy giving the first few episodes a chance.