It’s been crazy at work dealing with clients and crazy architects. Now let me see if I can squeeze in some linkage for you.
We’re dealing with the aftermath of ESPN letting go its Sunday Night Baseball team of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. No matter what you think of Joe Morgan and most of the sentiments over ESPN not renewing his contract have been positive. I have not been a Morgan fan since he started on ESPN in 1990 and was wondering how he managed to stay with the network for so long. But that was taken care of last night. As far as Jon Miller is concerned, there are conflicting reports whether he wanted to stay or cut out Sunday Night Baseball after his contract was done. Jon is one of the best play-by-play men, but I felt he was held back by Morgan. Whether he remains at ESPN to call Sunday Night Baseball on radio or decides to call San Francisco Giants games only, Jon will be fine. He’s a Hall of Famer and deservedly so.
Let’s start with the links about Miller and Morgan and then the other sports media stories of the day.
Mike McCarthy of USA Today has a story regarding their departure.
Milton Kent of Fanhouse is not pleased over ESPN’s decision to let both Miller and Morgan go.
Glenn Davis at SportsGrid says the Joe Morgan Era at ESPN had to end sometime.
Craig Calcaterra at NBC’s Hardball Talk feels the negative reaction to Morgan’s analysis was overblown. Could not disagree more.
Newsday’s Neil Best writes about the Miller-Morgan Era coming to an end.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who broke the original story notes that ESPN decided to make a change after two decades.
Debbie Goffa of the Los Angeles Times wonders if ESPN multi-faceted voice Dan Shulman is next in line to replace Miller at the mic.
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Miller may have wanted to cut Sunday Night Baseball from his schedule after this season.
Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball warns all of us that we may not have seen the last of Joe Morgan. Don’t do this to us, Maury.
I have an article at Dan Levy’s Press Coverage regarding the departure of Morgan from ESPN.
Now to the other sports media stories of the day.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reviews ESPN’s 30 for 30 doc on former Oklahoma running back Marcus Dupree which airs tonight.
Back to USA Today’s Mike McCarthy, he looks at some of the TV ratings over the weekend.
R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says hip-hop artist Nelly will perform his new single during the HBO’s pay per view coverage of the Manny Pacquaio-Antonio Margarito fight this Saturday.
Sports Business Daily says Chevrolet emerged as the brand with the most exposure during Fox’s World Series coverage.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones can not only hurt his product on the field, he can also hurt its merchandising products off the field.
In Marie Claire, ESPN public relations guru Keri Potts tells her experience of escaping an attacker while vacationing in Italy, but eventually bringing him to justice.
Back to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who looks at Discover Card’s new deal with the NHL.
Richard also explores the Yankees trying to set a price on Derek Jeter’s legacy as he approaches the twilight of his career.
The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman is not a fan of CBS’ Steve Tasker.
Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the college football TV schedule for Week 11.
Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that John Wall’s Dougie Dance is making its way across the country.
Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes the good ratings for Sunday Night Football despite a 38 point blowout win by the Packers.
Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Miami Heat is offering a four ticket package deal through Facebook and Twitter.
Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune recaps Erin Andrews’ interview with a local TV station on her expanded role at ESPN and her effort to get tougher stalking laws on the books.
Rick Cleveland of the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger catches up with Marcus Dupree who’s the subjct of tonight’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary.
Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News writes the Cowboys set a local overnight ratings low.
Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News looks at what the national NFL analysts are saying about the Cowboys.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says this Saturday’s Bearcats football game will air on the local CBS affiliate’s digital subchannel.
John also has the behind-the-scenes from ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike appearance in the Queen City for Monday Night Football.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is amazed at the big ratings for Sunday Night Football featuring the Packers.
Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business has former Bears coach Mike Ditka calling NFL helmets a weapon.
Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald looks at the reasons why Texas would sign with ESPN to form its own sports television network.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News shares his thoughts on the NFL Network’s Top 100: NFL Greatest Players series.
Kevin McGran at the Toronto Star says the NHL is in a position to cash in from the US TV networks.
From the Thoroughbred Times, Frank Angst notes that ESPN received its highest ratings for the Breeders’ Cup since obtaining the rights from NBC.
Nikki Finke and Nellie Andreeva at Deadline has the new NBC/Comcast corporate structure that takes effect next week and it includes NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol.
Sports Media Watch says CBS received its highest overnight NFL ratings in three years on Sunday.
SMW notes that Fox received decent ratings for its NFL singleheader coverage.
SMW says interest in Zenyatta helped to steer ESPN to a big ratings jump for the Breeders’ Cup over last year.
And that will conclude the linkage for today.
