This is why ESPN loves teams that have a 23-game winning streak, and games that go down to the last minute.
Last night’s Miami-Boston game did a 3.1 rating on ESPN, the third-highest ever for a regular-season game on the network.
In case you missed it, here is LeBron James’ latest addition to his highlight reel. Said Hubie Brown: “That’s sending it down with some power.”
It’s the big finale for the big year for the Big Ten.
“This is our Super Bowl,” said Dave Revsine of the Big Ten tournament, which begins Thursday in Chicago.
It’s all been BIG, with a capital B-I-G for the the Big Ten Network. The network will televise two games Thursday afternoon and two more games Friday night.
It will be one last chance for Commissioner Jim Delany’s brainchild to haul in some more huge ratings. If anyone has cashed in on the conference’s big (there’s that word again) year in basketball, it is the BTN.
Ratings for games on the BTN from January through mid-March are up 27 percent; at .91 from .72 in the network’s top 8 metered markets, according network president Mark Silverman. Ratings for its signature show, The Journey, have increased 20 percent.
It all translates into the BTN having its best January and February ever.
Little wonderful why Silverman appears to be almost giddy. He notes in Detroit, there were nights where Michigan basketball on BTN did better ratings than the Redwings and Pistons.
“This is significant, huge,” Silverman said. “We have had 7 different teams in the top 15 at one point during the season. And the next level of games showed the depth of the conference. It’s not just Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.”
However, there’s little question the revival of the sleeping giant in Indiana and strong run by the Wolverines have helped fuel this surge.
“You’re only as good as you’re marquee teams,” Revsine said.
It drove viewers to the BTN, which is what it is all about.
“If you look at where we were six years ago (the BTN started in 2007) to where we are now, it’s hard to believe,” Silverman said. “People now know if it’s Wednesday night, we’re going to have a doubleheader. They know where to find the Sunday night shows. They’re coming to us.”
As for the future, the next challenge will be for Silverman to get the BTN into the local markets of the conference’s two new schools, Maryland and Rutgers. It will be a huge endeavor, especially in the New York/New Jersey area where Cablevision and Time Warner are known to play hardball. Time Warner waited until last year to add the NFL Network.
Silverman said he hopes to have “proactive talks” with representatives in those areas within the next 6 to 12 months. Translated, he should be wearing full armor to deal with cable companies who are getting increasingly reluctant to raise subscriber fees to add more sports programming.
Then again, Silverman has been through this exercise before. The BTN encountered considerable resistance when it launched, especially from Comcast. Yet it prevailed and now is in 50 million homes.
The idea, Silverman said, is to continue to grow the network. That’s one of the reasons why it goes by the short version of BTN instead of the Big Ten Network. It wants to be viewed as more than just a regional network of a mostly Midwest-based conference.
“I watch a lot of ESPNU and the other networks that cover college sports,” Silverman said. “Our goal is to be the best network for college sports, not just the best conference sports network.”
lt turns out that great shot of the Chicago Blackhawks was a regional cover for Sports Illustrated this week. It went out to 66 percent of the country.
The other cover was a vintage photo of Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, noting the end of the current version of the Big East in basketball.
It got me thinking: When was the last time Sports Illustrated had a coast-to-coast, national cover for hockey?
The answer: More than three years.
You have to go back to March 8, 2010 when Sports Illustrated featured Sidney Crosby and Canada winning the gold over the U.S. in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Since then, Sports Illustrated has run five regional hockey covers. Prior to this week’s issue, the previous one was last April, featuring New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lindqvist in a playoffs preview. I didn’t see that cover in Chicago. We received Bubba Watson winning the Masters.
Among the other regional covers were the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, and the Boston Bruins in 2011. Sorry, Los Angeles Kings, but you didn’t merit any cover treatment for capturing last year’s Cup.
When I asked about the cover situation, SI spokesman Scott Novak said, “Hockey is deeply woven in the DNA of Sports Illustrated.”
Indeed, hockey isn’t likely to get slighted with the new administration at Sports Illustrated. Paul Fitchenbaum, the head of SI’s entire sports group, served as the magazine’s hockey editor for many years. Chris Stone, the new managing editor, once wrote the Inside the NHL column.
That doesn’t guarantee that hockey will be featured on more covers. And it would be easy to knock SI for not featuring hockey more in its most prime position. Hockey was routinely on SI’s cover during the first 30 years of the magazine.
However, it’s a new era. At the end of the day, it also is incumbent on the NHL and hockey to produce stars and deliver stories worthy of SI cover treatment. The Blackhawks story clearly is a start in the right direction. Hopefully, there will be more.
Ray Lewis already is making the rounds today at ESPN. Expect to see quite a bit of him, as evidenced by Lewis hosting his own Jon Gruden-like specials.
ESPN didn’t sign Lewis to only play him in third-down situations. Don’t be surprised if he eventually becomes a regular on Sunday NFL Countdown.
From Bristol:
Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and 12-time Pro Bowler Ray Lewis, who ended his legendary NFL career by helping the Baltimore Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII last month, is joining ESPN as a NFL studio analyst. The two-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Famer will appear on Monday Night Countdown, Sunday Night Countdown and SportsCenter, while also contributing to ESPN’s annual Super Bowl coverage.
Lewis will travel to the site of each week’s Monday Night Football game where he will offer analysis alongside Stuart Scott, Hall of Famer Steve Young and his former Ravens teammate Trent Dilfer during the pre-game Countdown and post-game SportsCenter. Lewis will contribute to Sunday NFL Countdown throughout the season and make a weekly appearance on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning. The 17-year NFL veteran will also have the opportunity to host specials similar to Jon Gruden’s QB Camp series. He is expected to start on August 1.
“Ray is a tremendous addition to our NFL roster and he will have an immediate impact on our coverage,” said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, production. “One of the most accomplished players in NFL history, fans will be drawn to his knowledge, experience and, of course, the passion he always exudes for the game.”
Lewis added: “ESPN is such a big part of how fans watch and experience sports, especially the NFL, so I’m excited to join their team. I’m ready to bring the same level of passion to this next phase of my life as I brought to the field during my years as a player. I can’t wait to work with my new teammates, many of whom I’ve already known for years.”
Lewis played his entire 17-year career (1996-2012) with the Ravens and was part of both of the franchise’s Super Bowl titles – XXXV (named MVP) and XLVII. His 12 Pro Bowl selections are tied for the fifth-most in NFL history and most by a linebacker. He is also one of only six players to earn the AP Defensive Player of the Year Award multiple times (2000 and 2003). Named to the 2000s All-Decade Team, Lewis played in 228 games during his career, amassing 41.5 sacks and 31 interceptions. The second draft pick in Ravens history – the No. 26 pick overall in the 1996 NFL Draft – Lewis is the all-time franchise leader in many categories, including tackles (2,643), fumble recoveries (31), seasons (17), games played (228) and playoff games (11).
Lewis made a guest appearance on ESPN’s NFL Live last summer, and he had a similar role on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown at Super Bowl XLI in South Florida in 2007. He was the featured athlete on the cover of EA Sports’ Madden NFL 2005, and he was profiled in NFL Network’s documentary series A Football Life.
Lewis is involved in charitable activities, motivational speaking and mentoring. He started the Ray Lewis 52 Foundation, a non-profit corporation which provides personal and economic assistance to disadvantaged youth. In May 2010, a portion of Baltimore’s North Avenue was renamed “Ray Lewis Way” in honor of his charitable work; similar honors include a 2006 JB Award (named for CBS broadcaster James Brown) and an “Act of Kindness” Award for his community work.
The Miami New Times ultimately did the right thing, if not for some of the wrong reasons.
In a column written by Chuck Strouse, the paper said it wouldn’t hand over the evidence that could incriminate players like Alex Rodriguez.
He writes:
Sorry, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. We won’t hand over records that detail the inner workings of Biogenesis, the controversial Coral Gables anti-aging clinic that allegedly supplied prohibited drugs to six professional baseball players, including Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.
The reasons are manifold. History plays a role in our decision. So do journalistic ethics and the fact that we have already posted dozens of records on our website. Finally, there is a hitherto-unreported Florida Department of Health criminal probe into clinic director Anthony Bosch.
However, Strouse writes part of the reason for not delivering the requested information is that the paper doesn’t want to aid Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. He views MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and baseball are an extension of Loria.
One of our most significant motivations for denying baseball is right here in the tropics. His name is Jeffrey Loria, and he owns the Miami Marlins, who start regular-season play in just a few weeks. A March 1 story in the Atlantic called the pudgy art collector’s stewardship of our baseball team, which has twice won the World Series, “the biggest ongoing scam in professional sports.” The magazine’s article describes, as New Times has in the past, how Loria hornswoggled $515 million in public backing for the stadium and parking facilities, then delivered a losing season and sold off all his best players.
The magazine blamed Selig: “If Marlins fans want results, they should send a few representatives to Commissioner Bud Selig’s office in New York. There’s a clause in Selig’s contract mandating that he act in ‘the best interests of baseball.’ Right now that would mean stepping in to prevent owners like Loria from using a big-league team as a front for squeezing money from taxpayers.”
So this is the guy who wants our records?
That’s fine if you detest Loria. Who doesn’t in Miami? But this is a journalistic issue. As the paper points out, handing over the records would set a bad precedent.
Then there is the question of ethics. A month ago, I opposed both the newspaper’s lawyer and the article’s author, Tim Elfrink, and wanted to give the records to baseball. I hoped to see A-Roid and the others punished and believed walking the ethical line was the only way to make that action happen. But then I began pondering the precedents that would set. First, we would be handing over the product of our reporting to a for-profit group with a seamy past. What if baseball improperly used our work? What if it decided to punish some players and not others?
Second, we would be sending the wrong message to future anonymous sources who might want to give us records. Our source for this article fears for his safety. How could we subject him to greater risk by losing control of the information he had provided?
“Handing over the records makes you a tool of Major League Baseball,” comments Charles Davis, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. “And you are scaring people in the future who might be thinking of calling you.”
That should be the first and only reason why the Miami New Times doesn’t hand over the records.
Is even the hint of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated enough to launch the famed jinx? The streak ended Friday, and the Blackhawks have given up 12 goals in two straight losses.
Kidding aside, the Hawks definitely are deserving. Landing on the SI cover speaks about the impact the Hawks made during their run.
The cover also speaks to the aura SI still has in the market. The news was the talk of the town in Chicago Tuesday.
A survey said that newspapers remain the top source for sports news for men.
I suppose I should ask this question: Is this a survey from 1965?
Amid all the calamitous news about newspapers and anything associated with them comes a recent survey by M/A/R/C for the Newspaper National Network.
Erik Sass for the Media Daily News reports:
Among male sports fans ages 18-54, 76% cited the sports section of their local newspaper Web site as one of their “go-to” sources for sports news, while 69% cited the print edition.
That compares with 66% for ESPN.com, 46% for league sites, 45% for Yahoo Sports.com, and 45% for ESPN Sports Center. Further down the list, 33% said sports talk radio and 23% said Sports Illustrated or SI.com.
The finds are from a survey by M/A/R/C for the Newspaper National Network. The poll of 716 men ages 18-54, including in-depth interviews with 404, found that this key audience demo prefers both print and online newspapers to any other source for sports content.
I’d like to believe the survey’s findings are valid. I’m a newspaper guy. I want them to thrive.
However, what about declining circulation figures? What about the fact that I never see a young person reading a newspaper?
The survey says it polled men in the 18-54 category. What was the distribution: 3 percent from 18-35; 97 percent from 35-54?
More from the survey:
Even more striking, men ages 18-54 who didn’t classify themselves as regular newspaper readers still cited newspaper Web sites as their top source of sports news.
Overall, 75% of non-regular readers cited newspaper Web sites as a go-to source, compared to 71% for ESPN.com, 40% for Yahoo Sports.com, and 38% for ESPN Sports Center. Sports talk radio trailed at 27%, and Sports Illustrated and SI.com came in at 16% and 13% among non-regular readers.
Newspapers’ advantage was qualitative as well. Among regular readers, 72% said sports content from newspapers was superior to any other source, and 62% said they get news and analysis they can’t find anywhere else.
On one level, it makes sense. Under the everything is local category, the local paper still has the most reporting about the local teams. Yet there are plenty of new local sites that provide popular alternatives.
Here’s the headline from all of this: Sports fans still love newspapers, says newspaper association.
Make of it what you will. Let’s just say I am skeptical.
Cool concept. Looks like Robinson is trying to cling to side of cliff with a baseball twist. Is it supposed to mean that he is trying to hang on?
Lot of plugs for 2 Broke Girls.
Talk about good timing. Armen Keteyian was shooting an interview in the NFL’s control room when the Superdome lost power. It’s part of a behind-the-scenes story for 60 Minutes Sports that will air Wednesday on Showtime.
This is Keteyian’s report that aired today on CBS This Morning.