Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media…
Tim Tebow: Jason McIntyre of Big Lead says the quarterback is being pursued by the networks as an analyst for next year. That’s assuming he isn’t playing next year.
Tim Tebow, the telegenic former QB, will almost certainly be a college football TV analyst next year, either for ESPN’s SEC Network, CBS Sports, or Fox Sports, multiple sources tell The Big Lead.
College GameDay: Ty Duffy of Big Lead does a nice behind-the-scenes piece from last week’s Auburn-Alabama game.
6:15 AM…Samantha Ponder arrives quietly and ready for air. She does her own makeup. She’s wearing the jeans, motorcycle jacket, and scarf she will appear in on TV. She’s back on the show after an absence due to illness, just in time to be photographed for an August spread in Southern Living.
David Pollack, still with the restless energy of an athlete, is a work in progress. He’s soon shirtless in the middle of the conference room, struggling his way into a dress shirt. Ponder makes an inaudible comment to him. Pollack laughs about her saying the word “nipple.”
Pollack loops his belt over the visible cardboard tag on a brand new pair of pants. He forgot to pack his original pair, and intends to return this one after the show. Handlers help him knot his tie and fold his collar correctly. Finally, he’s ready to go on air.
Verne Lundquist: Neil Best of Newsday writes the veteran CBS announcer thought he had seen it all. Then came the finish of the Auburn-Alabama game.
“For 27 years, having experienced [Jack] Nicklaus winning at Augusta in ’86, I have been consistent and I’ve always said that that was the single greatest sporting event I’ve ever seen,” the CBS play-by-play man said yesterday, not quite 48 hours after conveying Auburn’s last-second upset of Alabama to a stunned nation.
“This one is right up there equal to it. And that takes into consideration a lot of different events that I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of. From start to finish, especially the finish, this was an extraordinary afternoon and evening.”
Auburn announcer: Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks to Rod Bramblett about the home-team radio call.
On Nov. 16, Auburn’s Ricardo Louis scored a deflected 73-yard touchdown pass against Georgia with 25 seconds left, and the Tigers hung on for the 43-38 win. Bramblett proclaimed it “a miracle at Jordan-Hare,” the stadium where Auburn plays. Then, last Saturday, in the Iron Bowl against Alabama, Chris Davis returned a missed field goal more than 100 yards to give the Tigers a 34-28 victory. Bramblett invoked the almighty’s name to describe a moment that, for its ramifications, was more meaningful than miracle.
“These are my top two calls,” Bramblett said Monday from Ames, Iowa, where he was to call an Auburn-Iowa State basketball game that night. “I’ve had some exciting ones and dramatic finishes, but nothing like the miracle of a couple of weeks ago and the unbelievable play the other night.”
Auburn-Alabama: Richard Deitsch of SI.com writes about how CBS covered the big play.
Silver said the first rule for all end-of-the-game situations is to let game director Steve Milton show the scene, which the director did with a series of quick cuts that documented the amazing images being played out around Jordan-Hare. Viewers saw CBS’s cameras travel from Auburn’s end zone celebration to a shot of Alabama coach Nick Saban walking toward midfield, to more Auburn players celebrating, to Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron hugging friends and family, to a shot from above the field, to Saban walking off the field, to shots of stunned Alabama fans.
“Steve did a phenomenal job and then it was how long do you go before you start with the replays,” Silver said. “My inclination was to let him keep going until it felt right. What I did consciously think about was not only did I want to show all the replay angles, but I wanted to try to show the best angles in the proper order.”
Media rising stars: Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing looks at up-and-coming media personalities in 2013. Among them was Pedro Martinez.
When Martinez was announced as a Postseason analyst for TBS, many people were horrified and expecting the worst. After the Postseason was over, that opinion had done a complete 180. Martinez proved himself to be honest, intelligent, and quite humorous as part of a shockingly good TBS Postseason studio show. Once Martinez’s shakiness in front of the cameras disappeared and he got comfortable, he was fantastic. If Martinez continues along in the broadcasting world, he could be a superstar.
Future of NFL on TV: Awful Announcing does a panel discussion of how we will view the game in 2030.
Have traditional networks been replaced by Google, Netflix, or other online/mobile platforms?
Deitsch: I don’t think traditional networks will be replaced, though I do believe that a non-tradtional platform such as Google, Netflix or some yet-to-be-named online/mobile platform will have a set of games. In 2030, ESPN will still have a contract. So will CBS and NBC and Fox.
Freeman: Google, Turner (homer alert) and the Facebook Channel. Tons of people will be watching regular season games on their phones but I still think the NFL will be mostly watched, even in 2030, on traditional television sets. Football is still a big party. People get together at homes and bars. It’s a social experience. That will still be the case. People get together, hang out, eat food, watch football on big screen TV.
Gagnon: Google, Yahoo! and other major online players air live NFL games. Networks are still involved, but they’re airing games online on their websites. Verizon or one of its competitors has full mobile rights to all games. You can watch any game from anywhere, any time, on any device. NBC has been ahead of the game here, and ESPN knows the score. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if FOX and/or CBS bowed out by this point. I expect some major joint agreements between networks, online juggernauts and mobile companies.
Koo: Google became an augmenting partner for the NFL in 2021 to help distribute games ala carte via the web and on television. After a full decade of Google Plus being relegated to Friendster status, acquiring one off NFL rights to out of market games utilizing the Google Plus platform was deemed a smart investment to keep the fledgling social network relevant.
Future of college football: Crystal Ball Run does a panel discussion on what the game will look like in 2030.
Does the NCAA still exist as it does now? How/when did it change? Is it regarded any better than it is now by the public?
Feldman: I think the NCAA will exist but it’ll be more controlling of non-revenue sports and smaller schools.
Nasrallah: We’ll still be cracking jokes about how inconsistent, inept and corrupt the NCAA is in 2030, and those jokes will still be funny, maddening and true.
Duffy: The NCAA still exists but with a much smaller mandate. The end of amateurism renders its enforcement arm redundant.
Fischer: It does in some form or fashion, especially at the lower levels. It changes structurally but not fundamentally and, once they outsource various functions like enforcement, they’ll be better received by the public.
DiNardo: It does still exist with the biggest change being the answer to number one. It changed the most in 2014 – 15. The public perception changed with a change in leadership that did the best job in the NCAA history of communicating. The narrative changed with the new leadership and it was a narrative that did a better job than in the past of explaining the issues.
Rick Allen: NASCAR.com reports that Allen will be NBC’s lead announcer for race coverage, beginning in 2015.
NBC Sports announced another key component to its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series coverage team Wednesday, signing longtime play-by-play man Rick Allen to a multiyear agreement as the lead announcer for its talent lineup in 2015.
The news was the latest in a series of moves announced in Las Vegas as part of Champion’s Week festivities. Tuesday, the network revealed that Sprint Cup veteran Jeff Burton would work as an analyst in the NBC Sports booth. NBC announced the first part of its team Monday, naming Jeff Behnke as the organization’s vice president of NASCAR production, overseeing day-to-day operations.
NHL book: Sports Book Review Center looks at a new book on the history of the NHL.
Here’s an interesting idea about writing a history book about professional hockey: Take out practically everything that happens on the ice.
That’s what D’Arcy Jenish essentially does with his book, “The NHL – A Centennial History.” Yes, he’s a little early, since we are about four years away from the actual 100th birthday party for the league.
But there’s no reason to complain. No matter when it comes out or when it is read, Jenish’s book is a valuable addition to the story of professional hockey in North America.
The author concentrates on the off-ice action here, and when reviewed in this context it’s easy to see that hockey has had a rough go of it at times over the years. Any business is going to have troubles at the start-up, but the NHL has faced all sorts of issues in nearly a century of duty. As the author says, the story is all about trying to survive and grow.