Media Notes

Merchant Feels Boxing Deserves Greater Coverage From N.Y. Times Due To Big Events

In N.Y., Clark Hoyt noted HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant recently wrote to N.Y. Times Sports Editor Tom Jolly to "protest the paper's relative lack of coverage of boxing." Merchant wrote he longs for "present day coverage that acknowledges that [boxing] still exists and occasionally flourishes." Merchant: "True enough, boxing is no longer mainstream. Yet it has a devoted following that 6 to 10 times a year reaches beyond that. Big fights generate big numbers: crowds, TV ratings, pay-per-view dollars." Jolly in response wrote boxing has "three significant problems and none of them are a secret." These problems include that there are "no fighters that the general public is fascinated by," few fights are "available for viewing by the general public" and the "alphabet soup chaos of sanctioning bodies makes it next to impossible for people to identify the real champion and to compare how the fighters within a weight class compare at any given moment." Jolly also wrote the Times has "moved beyond the days when event coverage was our main purpose" (NYTIMES.com, 10/28).

LOSS OF DUTIES: In N.Y., Bob Raissman cited NBA sources as indicating that Knicks radio announcer Gus Johnson, who filled in for MSG Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen when Breen worked games for ESPN/ABC that conflicted with Knicks games, "will be replaced by Kenny Albert" on MSG. Albert will work "about 15 games." The move will "infuriate Johnson's cult following," and Raissman sarcastically wrote that is "exactly what you want to do when you desperately need TV ratings and fans -- alienate them even further" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/1).

ON THE OUTS: In St. Petersburg, Tom Jones reported ESPN analyst Shaun King "has been let go" by the net. ESPN in a statement said it has "decided to go in a different direction," and that it thanks King "for his contributions and wish[es] him the best." Jones wrote King was "outspoken, opinionated and honest and that, you would think, would go a long way in making a good television analyst," but ESPN "apparently wasn't pleased with his performance" (TAMPBAY.com, 10/30).

HANDING IN HIS PEN: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram columnist Jim Reeves has "chosen to retire after 40 years at the newspaper." Reeves, who served as the paper's Rangers beat writer for 12 seasons, has written "roughly 5,000 columns" for the paper and has covered 27 World Series and six Super Bowls (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/1).