James Brown
Mar
21
CBS is Circling The Wagons Over Its 15 Sports Emmy Nods
CBS which includes CBS, CBS Sports Network and Showtime saw a total of 15 Sports Emmy nominations for 2012. Among the major nods include Jim Nantz for Play-by-Play, James Brown for Studio Host the NFL Today and Inside the NFL, Boomer Esiason in Studio Analyst, The Masters® Army-Navy for Live Sports Special, the NCAA Tournament in Outstanding Playoff Coverage and CBS Sports Network gets its first ever nomination.
Take a look at the CBS Sports press release.
JIM NANTZ, JAMES BROWN AND BOOMER ESIASON LEAD CBS’ 15 NOMINATIONS FOR 2012 SPORTS EMMY AWARDS
CBS Sports’ Coverage of NCAA Tournament with Turner; Masters® and Army-Navy Game Also Receive Nods to Highlight Network’s Other Nominations
CBS Sports Network Garners First Ever Sports Emmy NominationJim Nantz, James Brown and Boomer Esiason lead the list of CBS’s 15 nominations for the 2012 Sports Emmy Awards to be presented on May 7 in New York City. Nantz, who won the 2008 and 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality – PLAY-BY-PLAY, once again earned a nomination in that category. Brown’s nomination also is in the category in which he won in 2007, Outstanding Sports Personality – STUDIO HOST, for THE NFL TODAY and INSIDE THE NFL on Showtime, while Esiason earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality – STUDIO ANALYST.
Among the other nominations for CBS Sports include multiple nods with its partner Turner Sports for their joint coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship: Outstanding PLAYOFF COVERAGE, Outstanding OPEN/TEASE (Brackets Everywhere) and Outstanding SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT-INSTITUTIONAL (Brackets Everywhere).
CBS Sports’ coverage of the Masters® earned multiple nominations for Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL, Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE (CBS Sports/ESPN3D) and Outstanding SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT-INSTITUTIONAL (The Voice of Golf; Confessions, Navigation, Costumes).
In addition, the Network’s coverage of the Army-Navy football game received a nomination for Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL. And its coverage of Monster Energy Supercross earned a nod for Outstanding LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND.
CBS Sports Network earned its first ever Emmy nomination for Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL (One Heartbeat).
CBS Sports and Showtime’s produced INSIDE THE NFL earned nominations for Outstanding STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY; and Outstanding SHORT FEATURE (One Last Wish: The Danny Webber Story). Showtime also earned a nomination, along with MLB Productions, for its series The Franchise: A Season with the Miami Marlins for Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology.
One more Sports Emmy press release and we’re done.
Feb
04
Super Bowl XLVII Provides Bizarre Moments; CBS Tries to Step Up; Phil Simms Missing
On Sunday, the Super Bowl was played in New Orleans for the tenth time, tying with Miami as the most times a city has hosted the Big Game. And in a city that is known for voodoo and the macabre, the tenth time in the Crescent City turned out to the most bizarre of any Super Bowl. Having to deal with a 35 minute blackout that was caused by a power surge, CBS had to scramble to cover the incident without its main voices, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms as electricity to the broadcast booth was cut.
For a network that normally doesn’t utilize sideline reporters, CBS had to rely on Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots to carry the broadcast until the studio crew of James Brown, Bill Cowher, Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe was ready to fill. Up until the power outage, CBS was having a decent broadcast.
Replays were sharp. The production was going well. Jim Nantz was Jim Nantz, calling a good game. However, Phil Simms was missing and perhaps CBS needed to issue an Amber Alert for him as he did not have his best broadcast. Simms did not step up for a big game, a rarity for him. Normally in the upper echelon of NFL analysts, Simms had a pedestrian performance. Several times Nantz tried to set up him, but instead, we received silence from Simms. I’m not sure what was going on in the booth.
On a fake field goal attempt by the Baltimore Ravens, Simms did not give an opinion on whether the failure would hurt the team at the end of the game nor if he felt it was warranted.
Also, Simms did not offer an opinion on a controversial non-call whether a 4th and goal attempt by the San Francisco 49ers at the end of the game was a penalty until three or four replays were aired.
Normally, an analyst who is on top of trends and a very good first guesser, Simms was behind on plays and seemed to be aloof. I hope this is a one-time thing for Simms. I normally like him, but I was wondering what happened to him on Super Bowl XLVII.
Back to the power outage, CBS had to fill 35 minutes. Highlights were used a couple of times, however, viewers were subjected to Cowher, Marino and Sharpe talking over each other. Boomer Esiason, normally a part of the CBS studio crew, was on the Dial Global Radio broadcast and thus, was not part of this portion of the telecast. And during this segment, we got our one and only glimpse of Tracy Wolfson during the game as she reported on the power outage. Why wasn’t she utilized more?
In addition, a big fail to the NFL for not providing a spokesman to CBS to provide comments and updates as to when the game would resume. Producers in the truck fed information to James Brown and he informed viewers on the resumption of the Super Bowl.
When the game resumed, CBS’ production which was at a B minus grade continued at that level.
CBS set a standard for sports opens with a fantastic production utilizing past Super Bowl MVP’s such as Joe Namath and Lynn Swann, set to a remixed “We Will Rock You” and NFL on CBS theme.
For the Super Bowl Today pregame, CBS provided the usual client strokes to Ritz Crackers in a painful segment featuring butcher Rachel Ray and to Pizza Hut. The show did offer a frank discussion on concussions following a feature on player safety. Also Esiason offered strong opinions in the last 35 minutes of the four hour pregame on Ray Lewis doubting his denials in a 2000 double stabbing in Atlanta.
Its best features were on the Ravens’ OJ Brigance who has ALS and on 49ers’ tight end Vernon Davis. Another strong feature was on Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch pointed out that CBS did not rely on silly celebrity red carpet interviews that had plagued Fox’s and NBC’s pregames over the last two years. Let us hope that Fox won’t bring them back in 2014 when Super Bowl XLVIII is played in New Jersey.
Greg Gumbel was a welcome addition to the Super Bowl Today hosting one panel at CBS’ Super Bowl headquarters in New Orleans with James Brown at the Superdome. Guest analysts Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks all showed promise if they choose to go to television after their playing careers are over.
CBS receives a B minus for the pregame.
For the postgame, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh refused to an interview, the second consecutive game in which he refused to speak to the networks. The NFL’s TV partners pay a lot of money for access and I’m sure he’ll be “advised” by the league to do his part should he be in the same position next season. Shannon Sharpe who criticized Bill Belichick after the AFC Championship for not providing an interview to CBS, did not have time on the main network to do the same to Harbaugh and I’m not sure if he criticized him on the extended postgame on CBS Sports Network.
So it’s another NFL season in the books. We do know that NBC will cover the 2013 season opener in Baltimore in September. We’ll be ready to cover the TV networks then.
Mar
20
CBS Sports is Proud of Its 26 Sports Emmy Award Nominations
CBS Sports is that organization that just keeps chugging along. It was in a very bleak period from 1994-1998 when it lost the NFL, no NBA, was outbid for the NHL and seemed to heading in downward spiral. But since Sean McManus came on board as its President and now Chairman, the division not only re-obtained the NFL, became a player in college football, kept its PGA Tour commitments, kept the NCAA Tournament thanks to its partnership with Turner Sports, added Showtime Sports to its arsenal and now has CBS Sports Network.
For the 33rd Sports Emmy Awards, CBS and its affiliated networks, Showime and CBSSports.com have received 26 Sports Emmy Award nods, third among the sports network groups behind ESPN and the NBC Sports Group.
Some of CBS’ nominations include Live Sports Special (The Masters), Playoff Coverage (SEC Championship), Studio Host (James Brown), Play-by-Play (Jim Nantz and Marv Albert), Game Analyst (Gary Danielson), Sports Reporter (Tracy Wolfson), Weekly Studio Show (with Showtime for Inside the NFL) and Sports Documentary (again with Showtime for Game of Honor).
In addition, the Army-Navy game received multiple technical nominations.
Here’s the CBS Sports press release.
SHOWTIME/CBS Sports Garner Five Nominations for Epic Army-Navy Documentary A GAME OF HONOR”
CBS Sports’ Coverage of NCAA Tournament, Masters®, SEC Football and Army-Navy Game Also Receive Nods to Highlight Network’s Other NominationsJim Nantz, James Brown, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson lead the list of CBS’s 26 nominations for the 2011 Sports Emmy Awards to be presented on April 30 in New York City. Nantz, who won the 2008 and 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality -– PLAY-BY-PLAY, once again earned a nomination in that category. Brown’s nomination also is in the category in which he won in 2007, Outstanding Sports Personality -– STUDIO HOST, for THE NFL TODAY and INSIDE THE NFL on Showtime, while Danielson earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality -– SPORTS EVENT ANALYST and Wolfson gained a nod for Outstanding Sports Personality -– SPORTS REPORTER. In addition, Marv Albert (CBS/TBS/TNT) earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality – PLAY-BY-PLAY.
Among the other nominations for CBS Sports include multiple nods for its collaboration with Showtime on the epic Army-Navy documentary A GAME OF HONOR. The documentary garnered five nominations:
CBS Sports, teaming up with Turner Sports, also gained multiple nominations for its coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship for Outstanding SHORT FEATURE (Human Highlight Reel – Manny Ohonme: The Great Samaritan); Outstanding LONG FEATURE (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Amongst Friends: A Story of Loss and Healing); Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Road to the Final Four) and Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE (March Madness on Demand –- NCAA.com/CBS Sports/Turner Sports).
In addition, CBS Sports’ coverage of the Masters® earned multiple nominations for Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL and The George Wensel TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (The Masters 3D Coverage –- CBS Sports/ESPN3D). And the Network’s coverage of the Army-Navy football game received three nominations for Outstanding OPEN/TEASE; Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO/SOUND and Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS.
Rounding out CBS Sports’ nominations are Outstanding PLAYOFF COVERAGE – SEC Football Championship Game (Georgia vs. LSU); Outstanding STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY – INSIDE THE NFL (Showtime/CBS Sports); and OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND (Tour de France -– CBS Sports/Versus).
CBS’ Showtime, along with MLB Productions, earned three nominations for its series The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants for Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO/SOUND; Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS and Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology.
That’s it.
Mar
20
33rd Annual Sports Emmy Nominations Announced
We have the nominations, all 170 in 33 different categories, for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards. They just came out today. There are some surprises like massive hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire nominated in the Sports Reporter category and for some really strange reason, Skippy Bayless of ESPN2′s First Take was nominated for Best Studio Analyst. What analysis does he do besides yelling and having massive manlove for Tim Tebow?
There are some of the usual suspects are nominated, Bob Costas for Best Studio Host, Al Michaels in Play-by-Play, Cris Collinsworth for both Studio and Game Analyst.
Some of the nominations I agree with include Mike Mayock for Best Game Analyst, College GameDay and Football Night in America as Best Studio Shows and all of the movies in the Sports Documentary category. Sports documentaries were strong this year and I have trouble picking one although Catching Hell, the ESPN Films effort on Steve Bartman and the Chicago Cubs might be the weakest of the bunch, but the doc was still very good.
Ok, get ready to scroll, the entire list is below. We do need a page break so the list of nominees will after the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences press releases.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE NOMINEES FOR THE 33RD ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS
Winners to be Honored During the April 30th Ceremony At Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
Jack Whitaker to Receive Lifetime Achievement AwardNew York, NY – March 20, 2012 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.
More than 170 nominees were announced in 33 categories including outstanding live sports special, live series, sports documentary, studio show, promotional announcements, play-by-play personality and studio analyst. The Awards will be given out at the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center located in the Time Warner Center on April 30th, 2012 in New York City.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports will go to the Sports Commentator and Essayist, Jack Whitaker.
“This is an outstanding year for the sports community and for The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,” said Malachy Wienges, Chairman, NATAS. “The entries received in this year’s Sports Emmys resulted in a record 175 nominees, illustrating the quality of these entries. We are also honoring Jack Whitaker with our Lifetime Achievement Award. I had the pleasure of working with Jack for eighteen years at CBS, and Jack is a sports icon and a class act.”
In addition to Jack Whitaker, many of the today’s leading sports broadcasters, personalities and television professionals will be in attendance as presenters at the event.
The networks of ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D & espn.com) lead the nomination totals with 55, the NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel & nbcsports.com) garnered 32, CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) entries received 26 nominations, while Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com & truTV) have 22.
A complete list of all nominees is attached below.
33rd Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network Group
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, ESPN 3D, espn.com) – 55
NBC Sports Group (NBC, Versus, Golf Channel, nbcsports.com) – 32
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBSSports.com) – 26
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NBA.com, truTV) – 22
HBO Sports – 19
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED) – 16
NFL Network – 12
MLB Network – 8
DIRECTV – 2
MLB Advanced Media (MLB.com, MLBAM) – 2
NFL.com – 2
NCAA.com – 1
PGA.com – 133rd Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network
ESPN – 36
NBC – 22
HBO Sports – 19
CBS – 15
FOX – 15
TNT – 15
ESPN2 – 14
NFL NETWORK – 12
SHOWTIME – 10
MLB NETWORK – 8
VERSUS – 7
TBS – 3
ABC – 2
DIRECTV – 2
ESPN 3D – 2
GOLF CHANNEL – 2
NBA TV – 2
NFL.COM – 2
CBSSPORTS.COM – 1
ESPN.COM – 1
MLB.COM – 1
MLBAM – 1
NBA.COM – 1
NBCSPORTS.COM – 1
NCAA.COM – 1
PGA.COM – 1
SPEED – 1
truTV – 1BREAKDOWN OF MULTIPLE PROGRAM/SERIES NOMINATIONS
Program/Nominations/Network
24/7: 8 - HBO
E: 60: 7 – ESPN2
A Game of Honor: 5 – Showtime/CBSSports.com
MLB on FOX: 5 – FOX
NASCAR on FOX: 5 – FOX
NBA on TNT: 4 – TNT
NBC Sunday Night Football: 4 – NBC
FIFA Women’s World Cup: 3 – ESPN/ESPN2
Outside the Lines: 3 – ESPN
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: 3 – HBO
SportsCenter: 3 – ESPN
The Army/Navy Game: 3 – CBS
The Franchise: 3 – Showtime
Winter X Games 15: 3 – ESPN/ESPN3D
2011 Open Championship: 2 – ESPN
2011 Stanley Cup Final: 2 – NBC/Versus
ESPN Monday Night Football: 2 – ESPN
Football Night in America: 2 – NBC
Grand Slam Tennis on ESPN: 2 – ESPN2
Inside the NBA on TNT: 2 – TNT
Joplin: City of Hope: 2 – ESPN2
McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Ice: 2 – HBO
MLB Tonight: 2 – MLB Network
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: 2 – CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV
NFL Films Presents: 2 – NFL Network
NFL GameDay Morning: 2 – NFL Network
NFL on FOX: 2 – FOX
Sports Science: 2 – ESPN/ESPN.com
Sunday NFL Countdown: 2 – ESPN
Unguarded: 2 – ESPN
And after the page break, all of the nominees for the 33rd Annual Sports Emmy Awards which will be handed out April 30 in New York City.
Mar
02
Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks
Lots of things to get to today. Couldn’t do the links yesterday. Going to do a big megalink edition for you.
Let’s get cracking, but first, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks complete with a link to the busy College Basketball Viewing Picks which will be updated throughout the weekend.
National
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Oscar-winner and ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham.
Sports Illustrated issued a statement standing by its feature story this week by George Dohrmann on UCLA’s troubles.
Yesterday, Captain Blowhard, a.k.a Bill Simmons of Grantland interviewed President Obama for his podcast. I haven’t listened to it nor read the transcript as I don’t want to be bothered. Dan Levy of Bleacher Report did and had some problems with it.
Tony Manfred of the Business Insider’s Sports Page lists some writers who were most likely jealous over Simmons’ sitdown with the President.
Sports Business Daily says Captain Blowhard threw a hissy fit this week after Duke refused to issue a credential to one of Grantland’s writers for Saturday’s game against North Carolina.
Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable writes that NFL Today and Inside the NFL host James Brown will become a special correspondent for CBS News.
Gabriel Beltrone of Adweek writes that Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is pitching Sprint phones.
Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says thanks to Super Bowl XLVI, NBC won the February sweeps, marking the third straight year that sports has steered the month.
Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine writes that NBC Sports Network will be all over a French bicycle race this month.
Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says while we know MLB will announce expanded Wild Card Playoff games today, we don’t know which network will air them.
Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com writes that the competition among mainstream sports websites is very intense.
Pam Modarelli-Hegner at Sports TV Jobs writes about the types of personalities and egos journalists encounter when interviewing athletes.
Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder writes in Puck Drunk Love about ESPN’s failure to cover the NHL.
In his regular site, Matt says CNBC’s Darren Rovell assigned his baby daughter several social networking accounts on her first day on earth.
Brady Green at AA has video of the Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia’s very funny impression of ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian that aired on Baseball Tonight.
John Daly at the Daly Planet looks at Showtime’s Inside NASCAR program taking the spring and summer off after one episode this week.
Barry Petchesky over at Deadspin notes that ESPN came up with another potentially racist headline for an Asian-American athlete.
Rachel Margolis at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog talks with college basketball analyst Brooke Weisbrod who has a rather interesting day job that keeps her busy during the work week.
Joe Favorito says President Obama is courting sports fans through the Captain Blowhard podcast.
Steve Lepore at Puck The Media reviews the new hockey movie, “Goon.”
Sports Media Watch has some of the ratings from last week’s sports action.
SMW says Jeremy Lin is helping to move the ratings needle for ABC and TNT.
The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says a San Diego sports anchor’s criticism of Danica Patrick shows that sexism still exists in sports.
Also in the National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos laments how social media has watered down traditional sports journalism.
East and Mid-Atlantic
The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan talks with ESPN’s college basketball analyst Doris Burke. High praise and I agree. Doris is one of the best.
Chad Finn of the Globe says despite having his original role reduced, Dale Arnold is remaining at WEEI.
Chad has some advice for rookie ESPN MLB analyst Terry Francona.
Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen writing in SB Nation Boston says Bill Simmons has had a meteoric rise to stardom.
Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says it was the Worcester Sharks’ radio voice who came up with the idea to have popular New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski spike a puck before a game last month.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks back at the 50th anniversary of one of the major milestones in sports that barely was covered by the media at the time.
Newsday’s Neil Best says two ESPN’ers will speak at their high school alma mater next week.
Neil says the Nets are not drawing well on YES.
Neil notes that CBS Sports Network utilizes a husband & wife team for its college hockey games.
The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick mocks the bracketologists handicapping the NCAA Tournament field.
The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NHL on NBC voice Mike Emrick.
Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says MSG Network continues to score with Knicks games.
Jerry reports that former WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman is back on TV in NYC.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that NBC Sports Network will air the America’s Cup next year.
Pete says YES is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NBC Sports Network is adding NHL games to its schedule for the playoff drive.
Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that a local service provider has snagged the rights to an incoming minor league hockey team.
DCRTV’s Dave Hughes has the latest developments in Baltimore-Washington, DC sports media at Press Box.
South
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that a local sports anchor is recovering from a stroke he suffered last year.
David has a little more on the story in his blog.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with Fox Sports Oklahoma NBA studio analyst Stephen Howard.
Mel has more here with Stephen Howard.
Mel says NBA TV is marking the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game.
Midwest
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Kiesewetter says a movie script has been written about a deaf mute Reds player who changed the way umpires made calls.
Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders if another network will join Fox and TBS in airing the MLB Postseason this year.
Bob says ESPN still leads the way in cable subscriber fees, meaning how much cable and satellite providers are required to pay ESPN per subscriber.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.
Ed says a Big Ten Network profile of former Indiana University coach Bob Knight will mostly focus on his achievements and hardly touches on his tumultuous exit.
Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes NBA TV’s documentary on Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.
Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says not many Missourians will be able to see local teams in conference tournaments next week.
West
Dan Caesar of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that BYU is better off an a football independent rather than share money and TV time with other teams when it was part of the Mountain West.
John Maffei at the North County Times says local prep basketball games will be harder to find on local TV this weekend.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says who knew that product placement would be the big winner during Fox’s airing of the Daytona 500.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says CBS and MSG Network are considering buy the Dodgers in separate bids in order to get their TV rights.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at how the media covered (barely) Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game 50 years ago today.
Tom has some news and notes this week.
Canada
Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says CBC premieres part two of the movie on Don Cherry’s life this weekend.
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail can’t believe how well NHL Trade Deadline coverage does in the ratings.
Bruce says social media has changed sports reporting forever.
And that will do it. Enjoy your weekend.
Mar
01
NFL Today/Inside the NFL Host James Browns Joins CBS News
One of the best hosts on sports television, James Brown will join CBS News as a special correspondent. Brown who rejoined CBS Sports in 2006 after being the original host of Fox NFL Sunday, will begin his CBS News duties this Saturday on CBS This Morning. According to CBS News Chairman, Jeff Fager, J.B. will contribute to various CBS News programs with original reports.
He will continue as host of The NFL Today on CBS and Inside the NFL on Showtime.
We have the announcement from CBS News.
JAMES BROWN JOINS CBS NEWS AS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
James Brown has been named Special Correspondent for CBS News, it was announced today by CBS News Chairman and 60 MINUTES Executive Producer Jeff Fager and David Rhodes, President, CBS News. Brown will contribute original reported pieces and will appear on various CBS News broadcasts.
Brown begins his assignment this Saturday, March 3, on CBS THIS MORNING: SATURDAY. Brown continues in his current role as host of THE NFL TODAY, CBS Sports’ NFL pre-game studio show.
“James Brown is among the very best in our business,” said Fager. “He is a fixture at CBS Sports and will be a great addition to CBS News because of his abilities, and because he also happens to be a great human being.”
“Audiences know JB as the face of THE NFL TODAY and other sports broadcasts — what they may not know is his curiosity about the news,” said Rhodes. “His wide-ranging interests from sports to faith to community service will be great assets to CBS News and to our viewers.”
Since February 2006, James Brown has served as host for the CBS Television Network’s NFL pre-game show, THE NFL TODAY, and had served as play-by-play announcer for the Network’s coverage of college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament. He has also hosted the Network’s Super Bowl pre-game show for its coverage of Super Bowl XLIV (2010) and for Super Bowl XLI (2007) in Miami.
In addition, Brown hosts INSIDE THE NFL alongside analysts Phil Simms, Cris Collinsworth and Warren Sapp. INSIDE THE NFL debuted in 2008 on SHOWTIME. In its first year on SHOWTIME, INSIDE THE NFL won the Sports Emmy® Award for Outstanding Studio Show-Weekly. Brown also hosted the Pacquiao/Mosley fight for SHOWTIME Pay-per-view.
Brown’s first book, Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family and Significant Living, hit bookstores across the country in September 2009. In his memoir, Brown relayed how he found the role he was meant to play, highlighting both the good and bad decisions he made along the way, teaching readers how to discover life’s purpose for themselves.
Brown served as host of FOX NFL SUNDAY for 12 years prior to returning to CBS Sports. He joined FOX Sports in June 1994 after a decade with CBS Sports. Brown hosted a two-hour radio show called “Hang Time with James Brown,” and also wrote daily commentaries for Sporting News Radio. He also served as a reporter/correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” and, for 12 years, hosted Championship Boxing matches for HBO.
Brown first joined CBS Sports in 1984, where he was part of the network’s broadcast team for its NFL coverage and college basketball coverage as well as a reporter for the NBA Finals. He also was host of an afternoon show, the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. While at CBS he was also co-host of “CBS Sports Saturday/Sunday,” a weekend anthology series.
His sportscasting career began in Washington, D.C. as play-by-play announcer for the NBA Washington Bullets (now known as the Wizards) for Home Team Sports and served as an analyst for black college basketball on BET. Early in his career, he hosted a mid-day program on WTEM, an all-sports radio station, co-hosted two weekly Washington-area sports programs, was sports anchor for WUSA-TV for six years, and hosted “James Brown’s Pro Football Preview” for SportsFan Radio.
Throughout his career he has earned numerous awards, including three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Host for THE NFL TODAY (2007) and “FOX NFL Sunday” (1998, 1999).” Brown was honored with the 2009 Dick Schaap Memorial Award for Media Excellence. He received the 2007 Maxwell Football Club’s Excellence in Broadcasting Award and the Dallas All Sports Association Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism, and was the first recipient of the annual Pat Summerall Award in 2006, at Super Bowl XL in Detroit. In 2005, he was honored with the Director’s Award for Broadcasting from The 100 Black Men of America and the Greater Washington Urban League’s Sam Lacy Award 2005. Brown was a 2010 honoree as one of the “Faces of Black History” celebrating black media legends who have impacted the black community through their achievements and positive examples, which have included Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks to the present-day heroes. He was the 2002 recipient of the International Black Broadcasters Association’s Broadcasting Excellence Award and was chosen as 1999 Sportscaster of the Year (Studio Host) by the American Sportscaster Association. Brown was also awarded the Golden Mike Award (1998) by the Black Broadcasters Alliance, two NATAS Emmys (D.C. chapter) including the Glenn Brenner Award for excellence in sportscasting (1998), and the Quarterback Club of Washington’s Sportscaster of the Year Award (1996). In 2010, he was named “Best Studio Host of the Decade” by Sports Illustrated.
Brown graduated from Harvard with a degree in American Government. A standout on the basketball court, he received All-Ivy League honors in his last three seasons at Harvard University and captained the team in his senior year. He was selected as a fourth-round draft pick by the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and a seventh-round pick by the Denver Nuggets. In 1996, Brown was inducted into the Harvard Hall of Fame.
He is a co-founder and principal of the Brown Technology Group, a certified minority-owned and operated information technology company, and is a founding partner of the Washington Nationals. Brown serves as AARP’s Community Ambassador. He also is executive producer of the documentary “For Aaron,” from JTwoFilms, which won “Best Documentary” at the Puerto Rico International Film Festival and the Indie Gathering Film Festival.
No stranger to charitable efforts, Brown hosts the P.U.L.S.E. Awards, featuring “The JB Awards,” where NFL players are honored for their outstanding community service. He also teamed with the Verizon Foundation to launch a national campaign to end domestic violence against women and men. Additionally, Brown has worked on behalf of Darrell Green’s Youth Life Foundation, the Neimann Pick Disease Foundation and the Marrow Foundation, The HollyRod Foundation, Special Olympics D.C., among numerous other charities and foundations.
He resides with his wife Dorothy in Maryland. Brown’s daughter Katrina and her husband John have three daughters, Kaela, Jordyn and Aniya.
That will do it.
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