It’s never fun to be back at work after a weekend off, but it also means that we get to review the sports weekend. I saw bits and pieces of the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on NBC plus some of the College World Series on ESPN2. In my last post on Sunday, I compared Jerry Trupiano and Glenn Geffner as both were broadcasting at the same time on Saturday. It was no contest.
In track & field, NBC had to deal with rain in Indianapolis, but it did not delay any races. Tom Hammond, Carol Lewis and Lewis Johnson have a very good chemistry. Dwight Stones on the field events like the high jump and the decathlon is steady. Bob Neumeier worked the sidelines and asked appropriate questions. The one shaky addition to the booth was Ato Bolton. He was used sparingly and understandably so. I give NBC a B for its production, B- for the booth.
For ESPN, the College World Series has been one of its signature events since its inception in 1979. For a short time, CBS muscled its way in to broadcast the championship game, but since the CWS finals became a best 2 out of 3, ESPN has had the exclusive rights. I like Mike Patrick doing baseball. He has a nice hometown style and I don’t understand why the Alleged Worldwide Leader doesn’t use him on MLB games. On analysis, Orel Hersheiser was on top of things. Of course, Erin Andrews on the sidelines is a welcome sight, especially when she wears summer tops. Game 1 was a very good production. However, the game got out of hand in the 7th inning when Oregon State rallied to put it out of reach. I’ll give ESPN an A- overall for its coverage.
Now let’s go to the links from the weekend and today.
Neil Best has the results from last week’s Newsday poll on favorite New York sportscasters. Needless to say, some of the results were skewed. On WFAN this morning, Mike & the Mad Dog discussed and pretty much dismissed the poll.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the war of words between the Big Ten Network and Comcast is heating up.
Bob Raissman in Sunday’s New York Daily News wonders if this marks the last year of Yankees games on over the air TV.
In today’s New York Post, Phil Mushnick goes after Mad Dog Chris Russo for defending Barry Bonds.
Michael Hiestand in USA Today writes that some salty language seeped into TNT’s coverage of the Save Mart 350 NASCAR race.
The Dallas News’ Barry Horn discusses ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla who has become an expert on international players for the network’s coverage of the NBA Draft this week.
Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on some upheaval on sports radio station, KFNS, in particular, the Morning Grind Show.
Michael Pointer in the Indianapolis Star has a story on the Big Ten Network/Comcast fight.
With Wimbledon starting today, it appears its two U.S. network partners, NBC and ESPN will renew their contracts to televise the tournament.
In his weekly Monday review of the sports weekend, Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times goes after Fox Sports’ Thom Brennaman for his work on the Yankees-Giants game on Saturday. I agree with him on this, but I wholeheartedly disagree on his comments on Max Kellerman who worked HBO’s World Championship Boxing telecast.
Alan Pergament in the Buffalo News has a news and notes column and his first note is on Brett Hull leaving NBC.
Jeff Elliot of the Florida Times-Union writes about Jacksonville University changing radio stations in the market.
David Barron in today’s Houston Chronicle says this upcoming season will be the last for Rockets broadcast team Jim Foley and Gene Petersen. They’ve worked together for over 30 years, something practically unheard of in the broadcast business.
That will be it for links for this morning. If anything breaks, you can be certain we’ll have it here.
