People & Personalities: McShay To Be Added To ESPN Draft Coverage

McShay Will Be Added To ESPN's NFL Draft Coverage

USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand reports ESPN analyst Todd McShay this month "will be added to" the net's NFL Draft coverage, meaning analyst Mel Kiper "will now face off against his Kiper 2.0." ESPN NFL producer Jay Rothman said once an hour during draft coverage, Kiper and McShay will "spar -- go toe-to-toe." Rothman: "But we'll make sure they're not too nasty, that there's not too much blood." Hiestand notes Kiper "will be in his usual perch at the New York draft site; McShay will be at ESPN's studios in Connecticut" (USA TODAY, 4/3).

FATHER FIGURES: In San Diego, Jay Posner notes new Padres TV announcer Mark Neely Friday "will call his first game at Petco Park for Channel 4 San Diego" at the Angels-Padres exhibition game. But Neely is not like former Padres announcer Matt Vasgersian, who moved to MLB Network. Posner: "Doesn't look like him. Doesn't sound like him. Doesn't have the same personality." Neely: "I don't really look at it as a way of replacing Matt's personality because that's unique. But I would like to develop the same kind of chemistry he had with [analyst Mark Grant], the same type of friendship that viewers sense on the air" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/3). Meanwhile, Posner reports Jerry Coleman "no longer will be scheduled to call any play-by-play during Padres radio broadcasts," for the first time since '80. Coleman "still will call play-by-play if Ted Leitner or Andy Masur is unable to work a game." Coleman for the past two seasons "worked one inning of play-by-play and three innings of color analysis" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/3).

NOTES: The San Francisco Peninsula Press Club's compilation of S.F. Chronicle employees who have accepted the company's buyout offer includes Deputy Sports Editor Larry Yant and sports writers Jake Curtis, Nancy Gay and Michelle Smith (SFPPC.BLOGSPOT.com, 4/1)....On Long Island, Neil Best cited a source as indicating that WFAN-AM's Mike Francesa is "considering giving up ... effective this summer" his "Mike'd Up" WNBC-TV show that airs Sunday nights on the net (NEWSDAY.com, 4/2).