Thirteen-time Emmy Award winner Jimmy Roberts is
leaving ESPN to join NBC Sports. Roberts' upcoming
assignments for NBC include golf's U.S. Open, Wimbledon, the
Olympics, the President's Cup, the Triple Crown and the
Breeders' Cup. Roberts has been at ESPN since '88 (NBC).
Roberts tells Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES that NBC
Sports Chair Dick Ebersol "came to me and said, 'I want you
to be our essayist, our voice'" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/25).
IN THE JUNGLE, HE'S GOT FUN & GAMES: The HOLLYWOOD
REPORTER notes that Jim Rome "will continue to host his
daily talk show on Fox Sports Net for three more years,
according to sources familiar with the new multiyear" deal
announced yesterday. Meanwhile, Rome's radio show continues
to be heard on the Premiere Radio Network, and while
Premiere and Fox Sports are partners in the new Fox Sports
Radio Network, one source said Rome's new deal "underscores
the previous word that he is not going to be absorbed into
the" new Fox radio net (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 5/25).
THE GREAT BLAND ONE? In Toronto, William Houston writes
that the National Post, when it signed Wayne Gretzky to
write a weekly sports column, "must have forgotten to
explain news content to their [C]$200,000-a-year recruit."
Houston: "In the wake of Gretzky's reported interest in the
Coyotes two weeks ago, we expected him to enlighten us on
the subject in his column. Well, no. Instead, he wrote a
snoozer about the world hockey championship. 'I spent
yesterday morning cheering for Canada' et cetera."
Meanwhile, Houston notes that CBC's Don Cherry and ABC's
John Davidson and Peter Jennings will host "Stanley Cup
2000: Prelude To Glory" on Saturday. The show is jointly
produced by ABC Sports and NHL Productions, which Houston
writes "raises the question of hockey commentators such as
Davidson and Cherry, supposedly independent, participating
in NHL productions" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/25).
