David Feherty addressed his move to NBC in a teleconference. As usual he was all Feherty.

“I’m just happy to be here in your country,” the Irishman said when he was introduced.

Later, Feherty said, “I’m not even an expert at golf, I just play one on television, kind of like General Hospital and being a doctor.”

Feherty always downplays his golf career. But the reality is he won 10 tournaments worldwide and was a member of the 1991 European Ryder Cup team. So the guy could swing a club.

However, Feherty proved to be even better with a microphone. His move to NBC coincides with Johnny Miller and Roger Maltbie negotiating deals to work a reduced schedule. So that means Feherty will spend some time in the tower as opposed to walking the fairways.

“I’m 57, but I’m like a net 75 with way I’ve treated myself,” he said. “I had no idea I’d live this long or I would have looked after myself. My hands are arthritic and people don’t believe me when i say I can’t grip a club.

“(Walking the PGA Championship at CBS) at Whistling Straits, you’re at a 45 degree angle and you can’t get on the center of the fairway. But then, it’s golf, not football and nobody’s going to tackle me. I’m using my time now to get my body back into some sort of shape and get some fitness back, because if I was a horse they’d shoot me.”

The move to NBC means Feherty will get a chance to cover the Ryder Cup, British Open and the Olympics. He will continue to do his “Feherty” show for the Golf Channel, along with the possibility of other projects.

“When I got the gig at the Golf Channel with my show, it was a liberating experience, it really was,” Feherty said. “It was more of an intellectual challenge for me and something that I felt I could be good at, and to have this opportunity to be given this with the Olympics, with the Ryder Cup, and with just a different set of players, you know, I’m leaving behind a lot of great friends and some great relationships and some really good memories, I’m nervous about this, and I’m hoping that they don’t drug test announcers because I would fail on several counts with the psych meds that I have to take, especially at the Olympics. I think I’m probably doomed if they do that there.

“It’s a thrill, just the thought of it, and a new step in my career, and I can’t wait to get started.”

As expected, David Feherty has landed at NBC.

From NBC:

Noted commentator and Emmy-nominated host David Feherty has signed with NBC Sports Group in a deal that will bring his style and personality exclusively to the golf telecasts of NBC and Golf Channel.

In his new role, Feherty will be utilized as a walking and tower analyst on NBC and Golf Channel coverage of PGA Tour events, including the Florida Swing, The Players Championship and the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He will also be featured during 2016 coverage of theRyder Cup and the Olympics, as well as select PGA of America and European Tour events, and will call golf’s oldest championship when NBC Sports becomes the home of the Open Championship in 2017.

“I’m really looking forward to this next step in my career, but I’ll miss a lot of people who have had my back for nearly 20 years. And to be honest, I’m on the verge of soiling myself,” said Feherty, who worked for CBS Sports for nearly two decades. “However, I am looking forward to the new challenges and opportunities at NBC and Golf Channel. I haven’t yet heard the over-under on me getting fired, but hey, I beat the odds last time.”

In addition to his work on the grounds at tournaments, Feherty will continue to host his award-winning, self-titled talk show on Golf Channel, for which he earned a 2014 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Sports Host. Feherty will also be a regular guest on both “Morning Drive” and “Golf Central,” and Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal, has secured a first-look development deal with Feherty for potential entertainment projects.

“David is a true talent who connects with people from all walks of life because of his ability to transition from hilarious to heartfelt so smoothly,” said Golf Channel president Mike McCarley. “Now we will be able to showcase his unique voice across a wide array of NBCUniversal assets, including from the biggest stages in global sports and entertainment.”

The volume will be turned up for the Bucks this season. Gus Johnson will be in the house for 20 games.

From Richard Deitsch of SI.com:

Johnson said he has spent a lot of time in Wisconsin during his broadcasting career calling college football for Fox and the Big Ten Network, as well as stops in Milwaukee during his time as a Knicks radio and television announcer for MSG Networks from 1997 to 2010.

 “Milwaukee was always one of my favorite places to go when I traveled with the Knicks,” Johnson said. “They have a drink there that’s pretty good. It’s called beer.”

And this:

How did Johnson end up getting the Milwaukee assignment? Johnson said he was contacted by Mike McCarthy, the former CEO of the St. Louis Blues and a longtime executive for MSG Networks (where he and Johnson worked together). McCarthy asked Johnson if he was interested in returning to call NBA games. After Johnson told him he was, McCarthy said the Bucks could be interested as well, and the two sides eventually came to an agreement.

“I’m going to be myself and bring what I bring to the table,” Johnson said, “I’m calling the best basketball in the world and I’ll hopefully come up with a  new vision of the game because I have been away from it for so long. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be part of this organization, which is on the rise, and to be back in the National Basketball Association. I missed it.”

Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media:

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has his analysis of some curious editing at ESPN.com.

In (Mike) Reiss’s perfectly rational reaction piece, which was edited by the copy desk but was not eyeballed by a high-level editor before publishing, he cited seven items of interest. As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio put it with appropriate snark: “At some point, two of the seven takeaways were taken away.”

In other words, after Reiss’s completely innocuous post was published, someone at ESPN decided that it wasn’t quite innocuous enough. The first item removed was in reference to a segment in Van Natta and Wickersham’s story that noted that Patriots opponents have suspected that the team has an employee scour the visiting locker room at Gillette Stadium for revelatory information, such as a play sheet.

Wrote Reiss, who has covered the Patriots since 1997 (including a stint at the Globe): “Security’s extremely tight throughout Gillette Stadium. Don’t think too many people, if any, are casually walking into the visitors’ locker room. And let’s just say they are, who leaves play sheets around?”

The other part of Reiss’s story that was edited out was even more harmless. “When you’re at the top, everyone likes to bring you down,’’ wrote Reiss. “A longtime sportscaster with a deep history in Boston relayed this thought to me that resonated: ‘They used to say same the stuff [regarding gamesmanship] about Red Auerbach.’ ”

Why Reiss’s post was nitpicked while blatant months-old mistakes remain in other stories is a mystery — an ESPN spokesman told me, as one did Florio, that the piece was “given a tighter edit after the original posting” — but it certainly provides more curious evidence for the growing factions of conspiracy theorists in New England that ESPN, which pays the NFL an estimated $1.9 billion per year in television rights, is willingly, if selectively, doing the bidding of its broadcast partner.

Bryan Curtis of Grantland examines the coverage of Deflategate.

The TV fate of “Thursday Night Football” in 2016. John Ourand of Sports Business Daily.

Jeff Pearlman has a riveting Q/A with Sports Illustrated Michael Farber, “the Wayne Gretzky of hockey writers.”

College football executives are concerned about ESPN’s “inappropriate” gambling coverage. Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing.

Tim Tebow is returning to the SEC Network after being cut by the Eagles. Naturally.

The new media center at the U.S. Open Tennis Center is named after Bud Collins. Harvey Araton of the New York Times visits with the colorful legend.

Ross Greenburg doesn’t miss boxing, enjoys producing Notre Dame series for Showtime.

The Miami Herald is looking for a Heat beat writer.

Some interesting choices for the new 30 for 30s. Looking forward to seeing the film on Bill McCartney, a unique coach.

From ESPN:

********

Six years after the launch of 30 for 30, ESPN Films’ Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series will return in October with30 for 30 Volume III. The first five documentaries in the 30-film flight will premiere this fall, every Tuesday in prime time on ESPN, for five straight weeks beginning October 13.

Film topics include the rise and fall of USC football under head coach Pete Carroll, a city and its mayor fighting against the odds to keep the Kings in Sacramento, the ultimately tragic story of the turbulent relationship between Olympic wrestling stars Mark and Dave Schultz and multimillionaire John du Pont, an exploration of Bill McCartney and his controversial approach running the University of Colorado football program on the way to a national championship, and Evander Holyfield’s years of waiting to fight the famed Mike Tyson and make history. The 30 for 30 fall slate film trailer, released today, can be watched here: http://bit.ly/30for30Vol3.

“Through six years and two volumes, 30 for 30 has become a leading brand for storytelling,” says ESPN Films Vice President and Executive Producer John Dahl.  “And we’ve got more compelling stories that we’re lining up for Volume III. The run this fall includes four first-time directors for the series and films that will continue to capture the essence of what 30 for 30 is all about – transcending sports and engaging audiences everywhere.”

30 for 30 films will debut on ESPN as follows (all times ET):

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 9 p.m. – “Trojan War”

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 9 p.m. – “Down in the Valley”

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 9 p.m. – “The Prince of Pennsylvania”

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 9 p.m.  – “The Gospel According to Mac”

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 8 p.m. — “Chasing Tyson”

And, with the anniversary of 9/11 approaching, the next installment in ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Shorts series will look at President George W. Bush’s ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium to kick off Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, just seven weeks after the September 11 attacks. The 23-minute film, directed by two-time Academy Award-winner Angus Wall and executive produced by Jim Gray, relives that anxious October night and the days leading up to it with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews from President Bush, Derek Jeter, Condoleezza Rice, Joe Torre, Rudy Giuliani, Billy Crystal, George Tenet, Bush family members, Cabinet officers and Secret Service agents. “First Pitch” will premiere onFriday, Sept. 11, on SportsCenter immediately after the national moment of silence, as well as on Grantland.com andESPN.com. It will also air that evening at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Additional information including film clips and director statements and bios will be available on the 30 for 30 websiteespn.com/30for30; Follow 30 for 30 on Facebook (facebook.com/espn30for30) and Twitter (@30for30).

 30 for 30 Film Summaries:

“Trojan War,” directed by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas

When Pete Carroll took over the football program at USC after the 2000 season, the once-great Trojans were under siege.  But thanks to his football knowledge, upbeat personality and recruiting skills, Southern Cal was soon back atop the college football world as home attendance skyrocketed, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush won Heismans and the Trojans put together a 34-game winning streak.  As it would be later discovered, though, the program was committing sins that would result in lost scholarships, victories and one of those Heismans.  But those revelations didn’t come until after the national championship game in the 2006 Rose Bowl between USC and the University of Texas.  Featuring interviews with Carroll, Leinart and others inside the USC program at the time, “Trojan War” looks at Carroll’s nine-year USC reign through the prism of that game, considered one of the greatest in college football history.  It was also the beginning of the end.

 “Down in the Valley,” directed by Jason Hehir

What does a sports team mean to a community?  For the people of Sacramento, the answer is simple – everything.  For three decades, Sacramento has been the improbable home to one of the NBA’s most improbable franchises – the Kings.  Through the good, the bad, and the laughably ugly, Kings fans have stood by their team.  So when news broke in 2013 that the team was likely leaving for Seattle – the second time in two years that it appeared relocation was inevitable – it sent shock waves through the community.   All hope was seemingly lost until the city decided to fight back – again.  At the helm was the city’s mayor, Kevin Johnson, a Sacramento native and former NBA All-Star, who seemed uniquely positioned to play point guard for the comeback attempt.  “Down in the Valley” follows this historic saga from the locker room to the board room as a city and its favorite son fought to pull off perhaps the most unconventional upset in NBA history.

“The Prince of Pennsylvania,” directed by Jesse Vile

Back in the 1980s, the road to the Olympics was long and hard for an amateur wrestler.  But then along came John du Pont, an eccentric heir to the family fortune with a passion for wrestling.  His 800-acre Foxcatcher Farm outside Philadelphia became the hub of the sport, with state-of-the-art training facilities, free accommodations, generous stipends and the support of America’s best freestyle wrestlers, brothers Mark and Dave Schultz.  It all seemed too good to be true – and tragically it was, with a savage ending.  Featuring fresh testimonials and never-before-seen footage, “The Prince of Pennsylvania” is the story of a paradise lost to the madness of its creator, a man who had the means to buy anything except for the one thing he truly wanted.

“The Gospel According to Mac,” directed by Jim Podhoretz 

Football is a religion to many people.  But few know the depths of both faiths as well as Bill McCartney, the former head football coach of the University of Colorado and the founder of Promise Keepers, a Christian men’s ministry.  “The Gospel According to Mac” tells the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story of Coach Mac’s controversial national championship run – two seasons that followed multiple arrests and strife between his mostly African-American players and the Boulder police, continued with McCartney’s own daughter becoming pregnant by the team’s quarterback before seeing that same quarterback struck by cancer, and culminated in consecutive Orange Bowl match-ups against Notre Dame.  Bill McCartney’s passionate and often polarizing beliefs have made him many enemies and many admirers, but it’s difficult to deny that he embodies the essential issues facing football in America to this day.

“Chasing Tyson,” directed by Steven Cantor

With his outsized personality and ferocious punches, Mike Tyson cast a commanding shadow over boxing in the 1980s and ’90s.  Even when “Iron Mike” was in prison, the heavyweight division belonged to him.  Meanwhile, like Ahab patiently waiting to reel in his giant whale, Evander Holyfield endured years of delay for the opportunity to take down Tyson.  Though he captured the heavyweight title when he knocked out Buster Douglas, the prevailing view of the mild-mannered Holyfield was that he was a journeyman – the heavyweight champion, but never a truly great one. Though Holyfield dramatically lost and recaptured the heavyweight crown, and then lost it again, even he understood that his career would ultimately be defined by how he stood up to Tyson – if he ever got his chance.  By the time of their much-hyped and oft-delayed heavyweight title bout in November of 1996, Holyfield was 34 and considered past his prime.  Four years younger, Tyson was heavily favored to be standing over another meek and easily vanquished opponent at the end.  Instead, we got two of the sport’s most memorable fights – but for very different reasons.

Hard to remember a sports superstar whose persona has endured longer than Arnold Palmer.

Happy birthday, Arnie.

An excerpt from my latest Chicago Tribune column:

*******

There is a short list of NFL teams coming off a 5-11 season, sporting no superstars and low expectations that still are desired by the networks.

In fact, there might be only one team: the Bears.

Despite some dire forecasts, Fox’s and CBS’s No. 1 announcing crews will work two of Bears’ first three games: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be in the booth for the Packers-Bears game Sunday for Fox; and Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be on the call for the Bears’ trek to Seattle to face the Seahawks in Week 3, which will be the national doubleheader game for CBS.

However, the networks know viewers love the Bears’ heritage and the notion of old-school football, even if the reality is something different. So they will take their shots with early-season games when the Bears still have some hope. Also, the Bears-Packers rivalry always has national appeal regardless of the records. NBC, though, won’t be giving thanks if it gets a repeat of the Packers’ 55-14 drubbing of the Bears on Sunday night last year.

“When the Bears are good, this is a better league. No question,” Buck said. “Maybe this is the year, but there are a lot of questions.”

It is rare that two iconic figures achieve perfection on the same night. Yet on Sept. 9, 1965, Sandy Koufax and Vin Scully both had the signature moments on their great careers.

Koufax’s years of dominance were a blip compared to the ageless Scully. However, the memories of his brilliance on the mound will endure forever. Perhaps, it never got any better than on that night at Dodger Stadium when he pitched a 1-0 perfect game against a Cubs lineup that featured three future Hall of Famers: Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo.

Scully also was up to the task with his call of the final inning. It always is at the top of his highlight reel.

Note that Scully repeatedly mentioned the time for Koufax’s sake. From a GQ interview in 2011:

I came up with the idea—which is the worst idea in the whole world because it doesn’t mean anything in baseball—I started putting the time on the tape. Well, I put it on just for Sandy, figuring he’d be sitting there with his grandchildren and he’d hear the exact same time: ’Strike two and it’s 9:38.’ When the game was over, the biggest impact in the city was that they thought it was the most dramatic, theatrical calling of a game they’d ever heard because I’d put the time on it. And it was purely for him, not for anybody else! Because as we all know time doesn’t mean anything. In the old days sure, there were curfews and blue laws, but not anymore. That was just one of those nights, and I’ll be honest, it was pretty well done on my part, but I lucked out. It’s kinda like Sandy pitching a perfect game—everything has to happen and that particular night it was pretty good. It could’ve been another night where I was stepping on my tongue and all that stuff. I just always thought God helped me through that, and I’m glad for Sandy. That’s all.”

And here is the text of Scully’s call. Poetry in the baseball booth:

*******

Three times in his sensational career has Sandy Koufax walked out to the mound to pitch a fateful ninth where he turned in a no-hitter. But tonight, September the ninth, nineteen hundred and sixty-five, he made the toughest walk of his career, I’m sure, because through eight innings he has pitched a perfect game. He has struck out eleven, he has retired twenty-four consecutive batters, and the first man he will look at is catcher Chris Krug, big right-hand hitter, flied to second, grounded to short. Dick Tracewski is now at second base and Koufax ready and delivers: curveball for a strike.

“O” and one the count to Chris Krug. Out on deck to pinch-hit is one of the men we mentioned earlier as a possible, Joey Amalfitano. Here’s the strike one pitch to Krug: fastball, swung on and missed, strike two. And you can almost taste the pressure now. Koufax lifted his cap, ran his fingers through his black hair, then pulled the cap back down, fussing at the bill. Krug must feel it too as he backs out, heaves a sigh, took off his helmet, put it back on and steps back up to the plate. Tracewski is over to his right to fill up the middle, (John) Kennedy is deep to guard the line. The strike two pitch on the way: fastball, outside, ball one. Krug started to go after it and held up and Torborg held the ball high in the air trying to convince Vargo (the umpire) but Eddie said no sir. One and two the count to Chris Krug. It is 9:41 p.m. on September the ninth. The one-two pitch on the way: curveball, tapped foul off to the left of the plate.

The Dodgers defensively in this spine-tingling moment: Sandy Koufax and Jeff Torborg. The boys who will try and stop anything hit their way: Wes Parker, Dick Tracewski, Maury Wills and John Kennedy; the outfield of Lou Johnson, Willie Davis and Ron Fairly. And there’s twenty-nine thousand people in the ballpark and a million butterflies. Twenty nine thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine paid.

Koufax into his windup and the one-two pitch: fastball, fouled back out of play. In the Dodger dugout Al Ferrara gets up and walks down near the runway, and it begins to get tough to be a teammate and sit in the dugout and have to watch. Sandy back of the rubber, now toes it. All the boys in the bullpen straining to get a better look as they look through the wire fence in left field. One and two the count to Chris Krug. Koufax, feet together, now to his windup and the one-two pitch: fastball outside, ball two. (Crowd booing on the tape.)

A lot of people in the ballpark now are starting to see the pitches with their hearts. The pitch was outside, Torborg tried to pull it over the plate but Vargo, an experienced umpire, wouldn’t go for it. Two and two the count to Chris Krug. Sandy reading signs, into his windup, two-two pitch: fastball, got him swinging.

Sandy Koufax has struck out twelve. He is two outs away from a perfect game.

Here is Joe Amalfitano to pinch-hit for Don Kessinger. Amalfitano is from Southern California, from San Pedro. He was an original bonus boy with the Giants. Joey’s been around, and as we mentioned earlier, he has helped to beat the Dodgers twice, and on deck is Harvey Kuenn. Kennedy is tight to the bag at third, the fastball, a strike. “O” and one with one out in the ninth inning, one to nothing, Dodgers. Sandy reading, into his windup and the strike one pitch: curveball, tapped foul, “O” and two. And Amalfitano walks away and shakes himself a little bit, and swings the bat. And Koufax with a new ball, takes a hitch at his belt and walks behind the mound.

I would think that the mound at Dodger Stadium right now is the loneliest place in the world. Sandy fussing, looks in to get his sign, “O” and two to Amalfitano. The strike two pitch to Joe: fastball, swung on and missed, strike three. He is one out away from the promised land, and Harvey Kuenn is comin’ up.

So Harvey Kuenn is batting for Bob Hendley. The time on the scoreboard is 9:44. The date, September the ninth, nineteen-sixty-five, and Koufax working on veteran Harvey Kuenn. Sandy into his windup and the pitch, a fastball for a strike. He has struck out, by the way, five consecutive batters, and that’s gone unnoticed. Sandy ready and the strike one pitch: very high, and he lost his hat. He really forced that one. That’s only the second time tonight where I have had the feeling that Sandy threw instead of pitched, trying to get that little extra, and that time he tried so hard his hat fell off — he took an extremely long stride to the plate — and Torborg had to go up to get it.

One and one to Harvey Kuenn. Now he’s ready: fastball, high, ball two. You can’t blame a man for pushing just a little bit now. Sandy backs off, mops his forehead, runs his left index finger along his forehead, dries it off on his left pants leg. All the while Kuenn just waiting. Now Sandy looks in. Into his windup and the two-one pitch to Kuenn: swung on and missed, strike two. It is 9:46 p.m.

Two and two to Harvey Kuenn, one strike away. Sandy into his windup, here’s the pitch:

Swung on and missed, a perfect game.

(Thirty-eight seconds of cheering by the crowd.)

On the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the City of the Angels, Los Angeles, California. And a crowd of twenty-nine thousand one-hundred thirty nine just sitting in to see the only pitcher in baseball history to hurl four no-hit, no-run games. He has done it four straight years, and now he caps it: On his fourth no-hitter he made it a perfect game. And Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flurry. He struck out the last six consecutive batters. So when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record books, that “K” stands out even more than the O-U-F-A-X.

Not necessary, but a nice touch from Rickie Fowler Monday.

No, the Seattle Seahawks reporters shouldn’t expect the same gesture from Marshawn Lynch.