Category Archives: ESPN

The beat: McDonough needs brain procedure; Pac 12 on Fox; Awards for Schaap, ESPN

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Good to see Sean McDonough still will be able to work the U.S. and British Opens. Shows his priorities.

USA Today reports:

McDonough, 50, told USA TODAY Sports’ Michael Hiestand that he has been diagnosed with superior canal dehiscence syndrome and will have a procedure to correct a hole in the bone near his brain on Aug. 7. He wanted to wait until then so he could work this week’s Open and next month’s British Open, U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior British Open. Now, he’s putting up with some bizarre symptoms: “When I’m in a real quiet place, I can hear my eyeballs move.”

Prime-time Pac 12: Fox Sports revealed its opening prime-time games for the Pac 12.

All eyes will be on Los Angeles Saturday, Sept. 1 (7:30 PM ET) as FOX Sports kicks off 13 consecutive weeks of regular-season action, including 12 prime time games and seven doubleheaders.  Expected Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Barkley begins his quest to lead potential preseason #1 USC to a national title when the Trojans host Hawai’i in the Coliseum.  First-year head coach Jim Mora takes the field Saturday, Sept. 8 (7:30 PM ET) when his UCLA Bruins host top 25 contender Nebraska Cornhuskers from the storied Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.  Barkley & Co. are back on FOX Week 3 when the Trojans travel to Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 15 (7:30 PM ET) to take on the nationally-ranked Cardinal.

Awarded: Congratulations to Jeremy Schaap and ESPN. From ESPN:

ESPN has won two 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, honoring excellence in electronic journalism, it was announced this week by the Radio Television Digital News Association.

E:60 won the Outstanding Sports Reporting award in the Television Network category for “Angel in the Outfield”, the story of Christina-Taylor Green, a nine-year old Little League baseball player who was shot and killed in January, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, at the same event at which U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was seriously wounded.

ESPN Radio’s The Sporting Life with Jeremy Schaap won the Audio Sports Reporting award in the Radio Network/Syndication Service category for the E:60 feature “Hero”, the story of boxer Francisco “Paco” Rodriguez, who died in Philadelphia in 2009 from injuries suffered in the ring. The lives of four women from the Philadelphia area were prolonged by his family’s decision to donate his organs. The Edward R. Murrow Awards are often called the most prestigious in electronic journalism. The awards will be presented at the RTDNA Awards Dinner in New York on October 8.

NBA high: Dream Team still scores after 20 years. From NBA TV:

NBA TV’s critically-acclaimed premiere of The Dream Team presented by Right Guard averaged 847,000 total viewers to become the network’s most-viewed telecast of all-time.

No Mariotti: Deadspin A.J. Daulero has written a long piece imploring outlets not to hire Jay Mariotti. Didn’t know this was an issue. Mariotti hasn’t worked since his troubles in 2010.

Here’s the link.

 

Terrific Skip Bayless/First Take spoof of ESPN Jordan ad

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Give Skip Bayless credit for poking fun at himself.

He is subject of a new ESPN ad for First Take. It uses a variation of the terrific spot that ran in the spring, which focused on people’s disappointed reactions to meeting an unfortunate soul named Michael Jordan.

The First Take ad spoofs the intense polarizing response people have to Bayless. It includes cameos from Stephen A. Smith and ESPN’s Matthew Berry.

And here’s the original Jordan ad. Makes me laugh every time.

A surprise: Duval to work U.S. Open for ESPN

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I can safely say I never envisioned the often reticent David Duval wanting a career in television.

Apparently, that’s the case. The former No. 1 player in the world will be part of ESPN’s broadcast team for the U.S. Open.

From the release:

Duval, winner of 13 events and more than $18 million on the PGA TOUR, will be an analyst on feature group coverage that will air on ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen live sports network. The programming is available online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE.

“TV is definitely something that’s interesting and intrigues me,” said Duval. “I enjoy the game so much and I enjoy what’s going on in the game right now so much. The opportunity to do this presented itself and it worked out, so I thought this could be pretty fun.”

Duval had intended to play in the U.S. Open but did not qualify and indicated his work for ESPN should not be viewed as a signal he’s hanging up the clubs for good.

“I don’t want it to be seen as a transition because I don’t believe my playing career is over,” he said. “I know I’ve had a rough year but I’ve also been dealing with other small injuries that I haven’t talked about. But it (TV) is definitely something I’d like to do in the future.”

Who knew? He’s definitely a complex dude. I found him to be arguably the most intelligent golfer I’ve covered, capable of delivering deep, thoughtful answers. However, he also could be painfully terse in interviews. I thought he found the entire process extremely tedious. Nobody will ever accuse him of being a quote machine.

Exactly how Duval’s personality will translate to television remains to be seen. Clearly, though, it is worth a try of both fronts.

 

 

 

LeBron show generates highest cable rating ever for NBA

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Wasn’t that fun to see LeBron James throw it back in the face of all those ESPNers who buried him and the Miami Heat Tuesday? Count on the First Take’s Skip Bayless to be fairly insufferable if the Heat win Saturday. He was about the only person in Bristol who stuck with LeBron.

As expected, Game 6 broke ratings records. From ESPN:

Thursday night’s NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 6 on ESPN – the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics to even their series at 3-3 – generated an 8.2 overnight rating, the highest overnight for an NBA game ever on cable (records back to 2003), according to Nielsen. The 8.2 for Game 6 surpasses the previous record, a 7.9 for Game 4 of this series, as the best overnight ever.

The 8.2 overnight rating is up 49 percent compared to the most recent Game 6 on ESPN – Boston/Orlando in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals – which posted a 5.5.

In Miami, Game 6 delivered a 22.0 rating, the highest-rated NBA playoff game on ESPN in the market. In Boston, the game averaged a 20.5, the second highest-rated NBA game on ESPN in the market.

Besides the Celtics, the other big loser was the NHL Thursday. Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final also is slated for Saturday night.

 

Jay Pharoah does Stephen A in front of Stephen A on First Take

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If Jay Pharoah’s take on Stephen A. Smith doesn’t become a regular character on Saturday Night Live, I will be sorely disappointed.

Pharoah stopped by First Take Tuesday and it was like having two Stephen As on the set. He was PHEEEE-NAM-NELLLL again.

ESPN posted two clips. The first includes Pharoah as Eddie Murphy defending Stephen A.

And here’s a second clip of outtakes that include Skip Bayless challenging Pharoah to do an imitation of him.

Bayless might be last ESPN analyst sticking with Heat; Stephen A does great Jay Pharoah

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I can’t account for every ESPN analyst, but each talking head I’ve heard out of Bristol is burying the Miami Heat.

Jon Barry blew them up on NBA Countdown last night. While riding in my car, I just listened to Michael Wilbon destroy LeBron James and company on WMVP-AM 1000, the ESPN-owned station in Chicago.

Yet through the chorus of jeers, there’s one person sticking with the underachievers: Skip Bayless.

On First Take this morning, Skip proclaimed: “Miami was the heavy favorite to win it all and I’m not backing off.

Later, he said: “I’m not writing them off. I’m sticking with them in seven games, because they’re still the Miami Heat.”

I’m not even sure Pat Riley agrees with Bayless.

Skip obviously is hoping for the last laugh. If you’re soon-to-be-fired Heat coach Eric Spoelstra, you’re hoping Bayless is right and you’re using the avalanche of negative Heat comments to fire up your dead team.

Of course, you have to go to the 5:40 mark to hear Skip’s comments. The open is a classic rant against the Heat by Stephen A. Smith that goes on for nearly four minutes. I’m not sure I’ll be able to watch Stephen A again without going to Jay Pharoah’s take on him on Saturday Night Live.

Four minutes of my life gone again, but it was worth it.

ESPN’s OTL focuses on horrific side of horse racing; deaths mount at Aqueduct

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During this historic week for horse racing, there’s another vastly more important story that needs to be told.

Jeannine Edwards (pictured interviewing a former equine vet) will file a report on Outside the Lines (ESPN, Wednesday, 3 p.m. ET, replay Sunday at 9 a.m. ET) on 23 horses dying in an 18-week span at Aqueduct Racetrack, just 10 miles from where I’ll Have Another will be running Saturday at Belmont.

That’s an average of more than one horse per week dying during that span at Aqueduct. Horrifying.

Edwards, who attended her first race at the age of 12 at Belmont, loves the sport. Yet as her report shows, horse racing clearly has major problems that have dire consequences.

Here’s my Q/A with Edwards.

What will your story say?

It is going to say the sport has a problem. It has been working hard to correct these problems. In the last four years, many (organizations) have put forth new institutional safety reforms to make racing safer. Statistics, though, show things aren’t getting any better. Our piece asks, this is what happened; where does the buck stop? Who is looking out for the horses? It’s clear more needs to be done to find an answer.

What is happening at Aqueduct?

When there’s a cluster (of deaths), that’s an indication that something is wrong. We introduce the story with a couple who had a horse die at Aqueduct.

Clearly, there needs to be a better enforcement of the rules and better testing. We interview a veterinarian who feels like there is no enforcement, no surveillance of the horses (throughout the country)

Anytime, there’s money on the line, and your living relies on a horse winning a race, people are going to push the envelope. The horseman, though, need to be more ethical. The fingers are going to be pointed at the vets and the trainers.

Did you time the story to come out during Belmont when so much attention is on the sport?

No. Initially we were talking about doing it in the spring. Then when we heard (New York Governor Andrew Cuomo) had assembled a task force to investigate horse racing, we said, let’s wait until we see what the task force says. Now we hear the report won’t come out until late June, maybe July. We didn’t want our interviews to become dated. We felt if we want our story to have maximum relevance, it should air around the Belmont, considering the fact that horses are dying at a New York track.

Given the controversy around trainer Doug O’Neill, how do you feel about I’ll Have Another this week?

Personally, I like Doug. He’s a great guy. Yes, he is carrying these allegations. And they are haunting him. But he’s not the only one. Let’s not make him the poster child for this.

 

 

 

 

 

Lineup changes on SportsCenter: Crawford at noon; Buccigross moves to 11

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ESPN has announced the following lineup changes to SportsCenter. From the release:

ESPN2 First Take host Jay Crawford (debuts at noon ET) and John Buccigross (moves to 11 p.m.) will have new assignments in the anchor lineup of ESPN’s flagship news and information program SportsCenter effective Monday, July 9.

Crawford will co-host the 12-3 p.m. SportsCenter with Chris McKendry. He replaces Buccigross, who becomes part of the 11 p.m. rotation which includes Scott Van Pelt, Steve Levy, Stuart Scott, Linda Cohn and Robert Flores. Buccigross will also become the voice of ESPN’s NCAA Frozen Four coverage.

“We’re always looking to improve our shows in both content and delivery, and this is yet another example of SportsCenter’s constant evolution to accomplish those goals,” said Mark Gross, Senior Vice President & Executive Producer, Production. “John’s personality in describing highlights will add to our late-night depth, while Jay provides a familiar face in a new role for mid-day viewers of our networks.”

And your lineup effective July 9, for those keeping score at home:

  • 9 a.m.:            Kevin Neghandi & Hannah Storm
  • Noon:             Chris McKendry & Jay Crawford
  • 6 p.m.:            Jay Harris & John Anderson
  • 11 p.m.:          Scott Van Pelt, John Buccigross, Steve Levy, Stuart Scott, Linda Cohn, Robert Flores (two nightly)
  • 2 a.m.:            Neil Everett & Stan Verrett

Most viewed ESPN video on YouTube will surprise you

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ESPN posts thousands of videos each year on YouTube. Great plays, magical moments, monumental goofs, and other fun stuff.

So what rates No. 1? A ballboy catching a tennis ball.

According to ESPN PR guru Mike Soltys, the video below is ESPN’s most viewed on YouTube with 16.2 million views.

Why so many views? Probably because it was short and sweet at only 11 seconds, proving again that we’re a short-attention span kind of society.

And yes, it was a great catch.

 

Harrelson’s last rant? Selig, Reinsdorf tell him to tone it down

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Have we seen the last classic, over-the-top rant from White Sox announcer Ken Harrelson?

ESPNChicago’s Bruce Levine reports MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf had chats with Harrelson to discuss his reaction to umpire Mark Wegner during Wednesday’s Sox-Tampa Bay game.

Harrelson didn’t get into the details of the calls, other than they appeared to be one-sided. He said:

“I talked to Bud Selig yesterday,” Harrelson told ESPNChicago.com’s Bruce Levine on Friday morning. “We had a talk. Actually, Bud talked and I listened. If it was a prize fight, they would have stopped it in the first round.

“I also talked to Jerry, and I listened to him as well. That’s all I really have to say.”

Clearly, Harrelson has been told he has to temper his emotions. From ESPNChicago:

Senior vice president of sales and marketing Brooks Boyer said Harrelson will talk about the outburst on Friday’s broadcast.

“He’s ultimately going to address it the way he feels it be best addressed,” Boyer said Friday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “We’ve discussed it, and we’ll talk about it on the air and it will be gone as of tonight.”

Boyer said an outburst like that won’t happen again from Harrelson.

“I could certainly be wrong but I think this was a good way for him to understand the importance of what’s going on on the field,” Boyer said. “I think moving forward those type of bursts and snaps will be limited if not eliminated.”