ESPN's decision to hire boxing manager Bill Cayton and
promoter Russell Peltz for its "Big Fights Friday Night
Boxing" show on ESPN2 "is disgraceful and shows how the
suits in Bristol perceive boxing," according to Bob Raissman
of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Raissman wrote that while ESPN
would not hire a current coach, manager or GM to consult on
its NFL, MLB or NHL coverage, its decision to hire a pair of
boxing managers to consult on the show "leaves an undisputed
perception of conflict of interest" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/23).
SUNDAY NIGHT REAX: In San Diego, Fritz Quindt noted
that MLB President Paul Beeston called a move of three
Sunday night September games to ESPN2 "bad for exposure,"
and wrote on MLB's decision to reissue the rights to local
TV. Quindt: "Now, THAT'S baaad for exposure. ... We cite
its relationship with ESPN, a network that's stood beside
the game for nine years" (S.D. UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/21). In St.
Pete, Ernest Hooper wrote on MLB's decision: "SportsCenter
and Baseball Tonight have done a lot to help baseball
weather the 1994 strike. Sure, ESPN also has benefitted,
but it's a mutual relationship the league would be hard-
pressed to reproduce with another network, such as Fox
Sports Net" (ST. PETE TIMES, 8/21). In N.Y., Bob Raissman,
who was against moving the games initially, wrote, "on
further review, we applaud MLB for the move," saying that
MLB stood up for its product: "If [MLB Commissioner Bud]
Selig and Beeston don't believe in the power of baseball as
a TV product, they will have a hard time convincing anyone
else of its worth" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/23).
