A few things for you tonight.
Sad news to report. Legendary Canadian announcer Don Chevrier who did work on ABC’s and NBC’s Olympics coverage as well as being the first Toronto Blue Jays TV announcer has passed away at the age of 69. William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail remembers his work. Peter James of the CanWest News Service also has a story on Chevrier’s passing. CBC Sports also remembers Chevrier. Alex J. Walling of TSN.ca has a nice column on Chevrier. I’m surprised there’s no mention of Chevrier on NBC Sports.com.
The Sports Media Watch quotes from a Sports Business Daily story which states that ratings for the NHL on Versus and various Regional Sports Networks are up as compared to last season.
From Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer, we find that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is denying a story from Fox Sports sideline reporter Pam Oliver that he felt his days with the Eagles are numbered. Pam stands by her story.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News blogs in Farther Off the Wall about Pete Rose’s appearance on Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller on Wednesday. And Hoffarth writes that KSPN host Steve Mason will do a live show Wednesday from a Veterans Affairs Hospital to bring some holiday cheer to vets who are being treated during the Christmas season.
Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says USA Network won the cable primetime ratings for last week riding WWE Raw over ESPN’s Monday Night Football and its matchup involving the lowly Atlanta Falcons.
Steve Kash of the Terre Haute (IN) Tribune Star says the Big Ten Network dispute has left many fans in the lurch.
The Portland (OR) Business Journal reports on FSN Northwest picking up 20 Portland Beavers minor league baseball games and five Portland Timbers soccer matches.
Phil Swann of TV Predictions.com reports that DirecTV will pick up Tennis Channel in HD when it launches on New Year’s Eve.
I don’t know if this will apply here, but with the Australian Open starting up next month, The Australian reports that the tournament will launch a broadband channel on its website. It would be nice since ESPN2 hardly covers the Open even though it owns the rights. It has outsourced some coverage to Tennis Channel.
And I know you’re starving for news about Philadelphia news anchor Alycia Lane. Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer who seems to be leading the reporting on Lane says she’s been taken off the air indefinitely following her weekend arrest and calling a police officer “a dyke”. Karen Heller of the Inquirer says while Lane is gorgeous, she doesn’t seem to have much common sense. Finally, Laura Nachman has the Alycia “Time-Lane”.
That will do it for tonight. See you tomorrow.
