Well, I leave my office for several hours and then all hell breaks loose.
We start off with Awful Announcing which goes off on Fox Sports’ Joe Buck. Buck was on the Colin Cowherd show on ESPN Radio this morning and said he doesn’t watch sports during the week and no longer enjoys doing baseball games.
I’ve contended since last year that since Buck doesn’t want to do the entire baseball season, get someone else to be the main voice of baseball. Even last year, Buck in an interview with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times said he would rather spend time with his family than do sports. Interviews like these don’t help. Imagine Mike Breen being interviewed on Cowherd and saying he doesn’t like doing the NBA. How fast would commish David Stern seek the removal of Breen from ESPN/ABC? Bud Selig should be doing the same with Fox, demanding that Buck be removed from the network’s broadcasts.
Awful Announcing can’t believe it and neither can I, but Skip Bayless on ESPN2’s First Take was actually a Voice of Reason on this and even before I watched the video clip on the AA site, Bayless says the same thing as me in the last paragraph, that Bud Selig should demand Fox take Buck off the games.
Deadspin has its take on Buck’s comments.
The Sports Media Watch also feels that Fox should replace Buck if he doesn’t want to do the games.
Keith Thibault of the Sports Media Journal says Buck should take a little more interest in the sports he covers.
Newsday’s Neil Best agrees with many of Buck’s takes on the length of baseball games. That’s fine, but Buck would rather watch “The Bachelorette” than the Red Sox-Rays series? I don’t think Joe likes doing sports anymore.
Buck is taking a beating in the blogosphere and deservedly so. If you want to spend more time with your family than cover sports, then by all means, get out of the sports business and do what you want. Don’t complain that you’d rather be doing something else and that the sport that gave you your start no longer interests you. Get out and change your focus. It’s complaining like this that make people who love sports angry. The world has turned upside down. Skip Bayless is the Voice of Reason.
Ok, moving on to other subjects, Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes in his TV Barn blog that FSN’s Frank White does a great job on Royals broadcasts.
Dan Lamonthe of the Red Sox Monster blog has the video of Red Sox fans flipping the bird at Tropicana Field during Tuesday’s loss to the Rays.
LC over at the 38Cliches blog says Jon Rish is doing a very good job in the Red Sox radio booth as he subs for Dave O’Brien tonight.
Chris Pursell of TV Week writes in his Pressbox blog that Tuesday’s Red Sox-Rays game was the most watched show in the Tampa market.
Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that the Tampa Bay Rays are seeing higher TV ratings this season. Maury also has highlights of a TBS conference call involving Harold Reynolds, Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken, Jr., and Ernie Johnson, Jr.
Over to the Biz of Football blog, Maury has a story on XM Satellite Radio picking up all of the SEC’s football schedule this fall.
Alan Schmadtke of the Orlando Sentinel wonders now that the Big Ten Network and Notre Dame have their TV deals settled, will the SEC be next? Tim Stephens of the Sentinel looks at what could be next for the major BCS conferences as far as TV and the economy are concerned.
The Detroit News has the Big Ten Conference TV schedule for the first four weeks of the college football season.
Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News writes that the popular 33 year old “Michigan Replay” will not be on the air this fall.
The Des Moines Register reports that this year’s Iowa State-Iowa game will be on the Big Ten Network which is not available in most of the Hawkeye State.
But Jenni Glenn of the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette reports that Verizon Fios will pick up the Big Ten Network in the local area.
Here’s the Big Ten Network’s schedule for the first four weeks of the college football season.
Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says it’s amazing that the media is just figuring out that Communist China wants to control news during the Olympics.
John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says he would rather watch the real action of the U.S. Olympic Trials than the canned action on American Gladiators or WWE RAW.
Larry Barrett of Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes scored with its Euro 2008 games.
The Gaffer over at EPL Talk has some suggestions for Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta Sports and GolTV on how to attract viewers in the Premier League’s offseason.
Dave George of the Palm Beach Post writes that longtime local sportscaster Jim Gallagher has died of cancer.
Newsday’s Steven Marcus profiles Fox Sports’ Brian Baldinger who remembers his days at Nassau Community College.
And before I wrap things up, congratulations to Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch whose wife gave birth to a healthy 7 lb., 8 oz. baby boy on Monday. Best wishes, Bruce.
That’s going to do it for tonight.
