Lisa Guerrero
Apr
11
List of Monday Night Football Commentators
This was compiled by the fine people at ESPN. Here’s the list of Monday Night Football announcing teams dating back to when the series began on ABC in 1970. Since ESPN took over production in 1998, there has been a lot of upheaval in the announcing teams and you’ll notice this especially since the series moved to ESPN in 2006.
Monday Night Football Commentators All-Time (1970-present)
Year Commentators 1970 Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1971 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1972 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1973 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1974 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fred Williamson 1975 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Alex Karras 1976 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Alex Karras 1977 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1978 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1979 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1980 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1981 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1982 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1983 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson 1984 Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson 1985 Frank Gifford, O.J. Simpson, Joe Namath 1986 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford 1987 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1988 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1989 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1990 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1991 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1992 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1993 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1994 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lynn Swann 1995 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lynn Swann 1996 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lynn Swann 1997 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lesley Visser 1998 Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser 1999 Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser 2000 Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson 2001 Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson 2002 Al Michaels, John Madden, Melissa Stark 2003 Al Michaels, John Madden, Lisa Guerrero 2004 Al Michaels, John Madden, Michele Tafoya 2005 Al Michaels, John Madden, Michele Tafoya, Sam Ryan * 2006 Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, Joe Theismann, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2007 Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2008 Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2009 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2010 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2011 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski ** 2012 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters * Ryan filled in duringTafoya’s pregnancy/maternity leave
** Rotation of reporters (Kolber, Nichols, Nix, Paolantonio, Werder)ABC – 1970-2005; ESPN – 2006-present
That’s it.
Aug
16
Doing Some Tuesday Links
Well, yesterday I was two jobsites. Today, I forgot to bring my computer AC adapter and my phone so for several hours, I was without any communication to the outside world. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but it certainly felt strange not to have connection to the internet or Twitter.
Now that I’m back, I can provide some linkage and also do some press release posts. I’ll do the linkage first.
Big news from John Ourand and Sports Business Daily. We learn that UFC will move its programming from Versus and Spike TV to Fox, FX and Fuel TV with four MMA events a year on Fox.
Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN will produce the Little League World Series in 3-D for the first time.
Adweek looks at a new ESPN ad that’s being aired in the UK.
Toni Fitzgerald in Media Life Magazine notes that a battle of unknowns in a playoff led to lower ratings for the PGA Championship on CBS.
Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page says details are coming out on the new ESPN Monday Night Football rights renewal from ESPN book author James Arthur Miller. This story has been out there since January when Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand broke it.
Cam Martin of SportsNewser says ESPN’s Brent Musburger and CBS’s Verne Lundquist will be honored in New York for their contributions to college football.
Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says a former WABC-TV sports anchor has pleaded guilty inappropriately touching a minor.
SportGrid’s Ben Axelrod has video of Showtime’s Jim Gray berating boxing referee Russell Mora for missed low blows after the Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko fight. Jim Gray is a real bulldog, let me tell you. This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen.
Dan Fogarty has video of ESPN’s Jon Gruden saying, “this guy” multiple times during last night’s Jets-Texans game.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell says there’s a glut of Terrelle Pryor jerseys. Were they exchanged for tattoos?
Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group talks about ESPN going into the third dimension for the Little League World Series.
Newsday’s Neil Best talks with CBS Sports Network analyst Rich Rodriguez about working in TV.
Joe Drape of the New York Times reports that NBC is in talks to air a series of Triple Crown prep races each Spring.
Daniel Massey in Crain’s New York Business writes that the Jets are catching up with the Giants as far as the New York tri-state area fan support is concerned.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a nationally syndicated radio show will be broadcasting live from Saratoga Race Course on Friday.
Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that Notre Dame football will be heard locally throughout the season.
Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News writes about the announced departure of Howard Eskin from sports radio WIP.
John Miller at Philadelphia Sports Daily says Howard Eskin will be missed.
In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says Rick “Doc” Walker will sub for the talkative Joe Theismann for this Friday’s game on the DC NFL team’s local broadcast.
Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner writes that Texas A&M to the SEC will have a huge fallout in college football.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Mac Engel talks with former Monday Night Football sideline reporter and current Inside Edition reporter Lisa Guerrero.
The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron reports that Texans running back Arian Foster has signed to appear on both Yahoo! Sports Radio and a local radio station.
The San Antonio Express-News has a fascinating look at the evolution of every major sport on American TV in the last 21 years.
Jerry Garcia of the Express-News adds his thoughts on the most notable changes in sports television.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has the local ratings from the weekend.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business talks about how Comcast SportsNet Chicago got an interview with embattled Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano.
Tom Hoffarth has the Sports Calendar for this week.
Because of my busy schedule, I haven’t been able to cover the Barstool Sports/Tom Brady baby picture controversy as much I have liked. It’s a big story in Boston as sports radio station WEEI feigned outrage on a slow news day to get ratings. The story went national and Barstool Sports editor David Portnoy found himself today on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show to explain himself (you can go here and here to listen). Perhaps down the road I’ll spend more time on it and go into analytical mode on it.
In The Broadcast Booth, Dave Kohl looks at Howard Eskin’s announcement that he’s leaving his daily WIP show in Philadelphia.
The Canadian Sports Media blog notes that TSN accidentally leaked a portion of its 2011-12 NHL schedule over the weekend.
At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore says the NHL will finally release its national TV schedule on Thursday.
And that will do it. I’ve been trying to do these links since 3 p.m., but I’ve been interrupted so many times. Glad to finally be done.
Oct
13
Tuesday Linkage
We have the usual linkage today. Let’s get to it without further delay.
Here’s a story I linked to yesterday, but now Sports Business Journal has opened it up to everyone. This is John Ourand’s story on the lower regular season ratings for MLB both nationally and locally.
Yahoo! picks up a story from Ryan Nakashima of the Associated Press who writes that TBS is missing out on some extra revenue due to three sweeps in the LDS.
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has the ratings for selected events from the weekend.
Matthew Campbell and Rachel Layne of Bloomberg report that Vivendi will make a decision on whether to sell its 20% stake in NBC tomorrow and this will have an effect on Comcast’s move to buy the network.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks into the Spongetech signage that you see all over stadia across the country.
Darren analyzes the sudden price increase in chicken wings at sports bars across the country.
Good on Amanda Bruno of Batter-up with Bruno for looking into the Boston Globe’s sports staff’s preseason MLB predictions.
Newsday’s Neil Best says Fox would love to have the Yankees and Dodgers in the World Series.
Neil notes that the Giants and Jets will be playing in the same timeslot again, this time on November 1.
The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman is actually happy to have Tim McCarver on the ALCS after having been subjected to TBS’ Chip Caray on the ALDS.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union speculates on the start times for the LCS on Fox and TBS. The times are not official yet.
Pete says CBS scored in the ratings with the SEC and the NFL during the holiday weekend.
Fran Perritano from the Utica (NY) Observer-Dispatch talks with ESPNews anchor Ryan Burr who has a local connection.
Keith Groller from the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Phillies fans stayed up late to watch Game 3 of the NLDS with Colorado.
And Keith says despite some exciting baseball, people still watch football in droves.
Ryan Sharrow of the Baltimore Business Journal says ratings for the Orioles increased on MASN despite a 98 loss season.
From the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says the Nationals’ ratings had the biggest rise from the previous season.
Tim Lemke of the Washington Times explains why TBS schedules some LDS games so late.
Tim says MLB postseason scheduling presents a lot of challenges.
Jeff Elliot from the Florida Times-Union says the Florida-LSU game on Saturday was the highest rated college football game of the season to date.
Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that the Dolphins rolled out the Orange carpet for last night’s game against the Jets.
Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has the college football TV schedule for this week.
Barry also has the Week 6 NFL TV schedule for the Metroplex.
Barry also projects some words in Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson’s suggestions for the Washington Redskins.
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says while Oklahoma-Texas is all over TV on Saturday, the Texas A&M-Texas Tech game is not.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Bengals fans can relive Sunday’s game against the Ravens tonight on NFL Network.
Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the local sports radio stations’ ratings are being helped by the new Arbitron measuring system.
Ed also pimps a new book he has co-written with sports radio host Dan McNeil.
Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle is puzzled by TBS’ Chip Caray.
ESPN has the SEC TV schedule for October 24.
Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable says World Cup qualifying games are producing ratings for ESPN and Univision.
Inside Edition investigated how hotels have failed to increase security after the Erin Andrews incident by using Lisa Guerrero as bait. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link .
Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says attendance for the League Division Series increased from last year.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk doesn’t understand how Cincinnati could be blacked out this Sunday.
The Sports Media Watch says the LDS clincher between Philadelphia and Colorado drew solid ratings for TBS last night.
Of all outlets, Versus breaks news that the host of its “Sports Jobs” show, Junior Seau has signed with the New England Patriots.
Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog has the latest edition of his media notes and thoughts.
As usual, you have The Five as presented by Kristine Leahy of WEEI.com.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading.
Jul
01
Did You Know It’s The End of BDSSP?
If you’re a regular viewer of the show, you know what BDSSP stands for. If not, then you haven’t seen Best Damn Sports Show Period.
It’s hard to believe it’s been on for 8 years, but it’s been a regular staple of your Fox Sports Net affiliate. It began with a group of guys talking about a myriad of subjects. Every once in a while, you had eye candy such as Lisa Guerrero, Leeann Tweeden, Amanda Beard to Fang’s Bites fav Charissa Thompson.
The cast started with Chris Rose, Tom Arnold, John Kruk, Reggie Theus and Deacon Jones. DeMarco Farr replaced Jones and John Salley joined to replace Theus. From there, the cast went through many incarnations including the ousting of Arnold in 2005.
When it ends tonight, Rose, Charissa and Salley will say goodbye to a program that has held the late night timeslot for FSN since 2001.
Newsday’s Neil Best says the local FSN affiliates no longer need a national program to anchor their lineup.
The Big Lead also says goodbye.
Deadspin’s A.J. Daulerio has some fond memories of the show.
Charissa tweeted that she was sad the show was ending.
Overall, Best Damn Sports Show gave FSN some national attention and some buzz. It had a very loyal following in its early years, but as it rolled into the latter part of this decade, BDSSP lost viewers as FSN affiliates moved the show’s timeslot either due to local programming, games or not running it altogether. While it did not move mountains, BSSDP did give John Kruk, Michael Irvin, and Steven A. Smith their television debuts and all made the move to ESPN based on their appearances on the show.
I admit not having watched the show in a very long time, but there’s no doubting the impact it had for FSN when it tried to compete with ESPN as a national network.
Sep
26
Thursday Evening Links
Let me provide you with a few links here. I’ll provide a bigger update later tonight.
Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch blasts the Boston Globe’s Tony Massarotti for twisting Bill Belichick’s record.
David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch says Providence Journal Red Sox beat writer Sean McAdam is leaving to go to the Boston Herald.
New Friend of Fang’s Bites Keith Thibeault of the Sports Media Journal has part 2 of his feature on covering the Pawtucket Red Sox as a blogger.
Newsday’s Neil Best has a link to WFAN’s Top 25 Moments at Shea Stadium.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Herald writes that SNY got a big rating for Wednesday’s Cubs-Mets extra innings game. Pete says Saturday’s Yankees-Red Sox game should not have been picked up by Fox. I agree.
Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says SNY will celebrate the closing of Shea Stadium on Sunday.
Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says after he spoke with the program director of the local ESPN Radio affiliate, the station will carry the Cubs-Brewers game on Saturday. Ken says since TBS has the Sunday afternoon MLB package, ESPN won’t be providing any live cut-ins to games on the last day of the regular season. And Ken says TBS and Fox have to be thrilled to have big market teams in the MLB postseason.
The Sports Media News site has the TBS Sports press release highligting its MLB Postseason Media Conference Call from today.
Jennifer 8. Lee of the New York Times says some realistic turf ads for ESPN’s Monday Night Football are being stolen out of New York City bus shelters.
Laura Nachman says ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown will look back at the Fog Bowl between Da Bears and the Iggles.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says ESPN Radio blowhard Colin Cowherd wants to become a relationship talk show blowhard. And Tom says SNY’s Ron Darling who will work for TBS during the postseason likes the Dodgers’ chances.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell has noticed that Puma is increasing Usain Bolt’s profile recently. And Darren wonders based on the poll that was included in the last story, is Bolt more marketable than swimmer Michael Phelps?
Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that the Chiefs game against the Broncos will not be blacked out this Sunday despite not being totally sold out.
Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says College Gameday’s first visit to the University of Georgia in 10 years is a big deal to the Bulldogs.
Bob Thomas of the Florida Times-Union talks with Florida State and Tampa Bay Bucs radio voice Gene Deckerhoff about the recently retired voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Larry Munson.
Multichannel News reports that CBS College Sports is being picked up by Time Warner Cable in Dallas.
Larry Barrett of Multichannel says subscribers to Broadstripe in Michigan will see the Big Ten Network as of Friday.
From Awful Announcing through SportsbyBrooks, former Monday Night Football sideline hottie Lisa Guerrero is now writing a blog for the Los Angeles Times.
Mimi Turner of the Hollywood Reporter writes that reality show producer Endemol (creator of “Big Brother”) plans to create a global sports programming division.
Those are your links for Thursday. Look for several posts on Friday starting with your College Football Viewing Picks, NFL Viewing Picks, Friday Megalinks, Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks and anything else I can think of. See you in the morning.
Feb
22
The Friday Morning Megalinks
At 12 p.m., I lost my internet at work, but luckily, I did not lose anything so I can still provide you with links. I’m at home now at 4;38 p.m. Here’s what I started with at 10:18 a.m. and I left off with William Houston’s story in the Toronto Globe and Mail. I’ll pick up with Chris Zelkovich below.
It’s snowing here in Southern New England and I’m at work. I don’t want sympathy, snow falls in the winter here in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but if you watch the local TV stations, it’s as if this is a one-time catastrophic event. It’s funny when you see the banner “Team Coverage” or “Storm Team” or “Weather Team Storm Alert Coverage”. Weather is a natural phenomenon. It snows in New England. It happens every year. I worked at a TV station in Providence in the 1990′s and our news management team was from the South so they never saw snow until they moved North. They treated the snow as if it never happened before. You can get away with that in places where it rarely snows, but when it happens in New England, treating viewers as if they’re stupid rarely works. That’s my rant for now.
Let’s get to your links.
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says it was a stroke of luck that ESPN has the marquee college basketball matchup of the weekend with #1 Memphis taking on #2 Tennessee Saturday night. And USA Today has the weekend sports TV listings.
Today I’ll start the links in the Midwest and then spread out.
Midwest
Starting with George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal, he writes that two documentaries highlight your viewing pleasure this weekend.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune tells us that White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher will be a weekly guest on sports radio station WSCR this season.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says HBO’s new documentary on Joe Louis shows the great boxer was a tragic figure later in life.
Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that local viewers are rewarding the Minnesota Wild with increasing ratings. And we have the ratings for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market for last weekend’s sporting events.
South
The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron says Houston was one of the few markets in the country that watched the NBA All Star Game last Sunday over the Daytona 500.
Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel gives his picks for Best and Worst Sports Movies of all time.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the internet has given sportscasters one more thing to fear.
The State’s Doug Nye says the UCLA-Houston game 40 years ago gave college basketball the popularity it has today.
West
Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) Morning News reports that DirecTV and the mtn. have reached an agreement to have the Mountain West Conference channel on the satellite TV service this summer.
Jay Posner in the San Diego Union Tribune says it’s about time the mtn. gets carried on DirecTV. In his notebook, Posner talks about the NFL Network covering the Scouting Combine with a fine tooth comb.
The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels has a review of the HBO Joe Louis documentary which premieres Saturday.
The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth looks at the Best and Worst Game Analysts in LA and also talks with Lakers’ radio analyst Mychal Thompson. In his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his media notes for this week. And Hoffarth gives us the latest on former Monday Night Football sideline reporter and Fang’s Bites fav Lisa Guerrero.
John Ryan in the San Jose Mercury News is happy to hear that the NFL is lifting the ban on church Super Bowl parties that will show the game on TV’s over 55 inches.
Canada
William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the NHL Trading Deadline will cause all of Canada’s sports networks to ramp up their coverage on Tuesday.
Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL Trading Deadline is an exercise in excess for the viewer.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Jim Williams of the Baltimore/DC Examiner says Versus will show viewers where people can fish in the DC area tonight.
Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says the HBO documentary of Joe Louis tells a compelling story of the man.
Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Roger Clemens made the right move in opting out of ESPN the Weekend.
From the New York Times, Richard Sandomir says MSG Network can’t edit out all of the Knicks’ problems when it shows the “Knicks in 60″ game replay.
The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick criticizes the person responsible for putting the now-infamous Chris Berman videos on YouTube. The Post’s Mike Puma talks with HBO’s Jim Lampley about the heavyweight unification fight on HBO. And Puma has five questions for CBS/ESPN’s Bill Raftery.
Newsday’s Neil Best talks with WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton six months into their new morning show. In his blog, Neil says the column spurred plenty of reaction just minutes after it was posted on the Newsday.com website. Best links to a clip of former WFANer Sid Rosenberg ripping Craig Carton. And Neil has some comments from Esiason that didn’t make the column. Here are some quotes from Carton that didn’t make it into the paper. Neil says he was surprised to see that in doing his “Greatest Highlight” feature on ESPN, Chris Berman actually allowed some calls to survive without Boomer talking over them. Neil has NFL Films President Steve Sabol surprised over HBO’s cancellation of Inside the NFL.
And the Boston Globe’s Nancy Marrapese-Burrell talks with WHDH-TV hottie Julie Donaldson who started her new job in her native Florida covering Red Sox Spring Training.
That’s it. I’ll have an update later tonight, but I’ll do Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, College Basketball Viewing Picks and Weekend Viewing Picks first.
May
25
Hot Chicks formerly in Sports Broadcasting, who should be back in Sports Broadcasting
I have too much free time today. Here’s a post for you, some hot chicks who have been on either on the sidelines or involved in sports TV. They aren’t now, but they should be.
Jilllian Barberie-Reynolds (she’s also pregnant-Grrrr!), Fox NFL Sunday Weather woman, she was only on for three weeks last season when the pre-game show went back to LA for just a brief period. With the show heading back to the studio this coming season, let’s hope Jillian will be back.
Next, Carolyn Hughes, formerly of Fox Sports Net West. She was a host for several studio shows on the RSN, but her affair with LA Dodger Derek Lowe while he was married to Trinka Lowe made the gossip pages and the sports blogosphere. I think she’s paid her penance. Let’s bring her back.
She may have done a horrible job on Monday Night Football, but Lisa Guerrero is definitely a hottie. She’s currently on Inside Edition, but should be back on the sidelines somewhere.
Melissa Stark used to work on Monday Night Football, but I believe she’s working part-time for the Today Show now.
If you have any additions for this list, let me know.
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