In N.Y. Richard Sandomir noted Fox Sports announcer Joe Buck’s “improvement since his first baseball game this season, on April 2, is noticeable.” Buck, who is recovering from a virus that struck his laryngeal nerve, said last week, “It’s leaps and bounds better than it was in the middle of February.” Still, his voice “strains when he becomes excited or tries to raise his volume quickly.” Buck will not work again until the NFL regular season alongside Troy Aikman and he said that “football took less out of his voice than baseball did.” Buck: “Football is more rhythmic: play, catch, tackle, how many yards, Troy. Play, catch, tackle, how many yards, Troy.” He said that Fox “offered him time off to recuperate, but he has chosen to keep working, at most calling one game a week.” He added that he “was 90 percent better.” Buck: “If you listened to last week’s game, the normal stuff sounded pretty close to normal. But when I get to the volume and high-energy parts, I have to maneuver around them” (N.Y. TIMES, 8/28). NFL Network's Rich Eisen wrote on Twitter, "I honestly can't understand the venom I see on my Twitter feed towards Joe Buck. On this, we will have to agree to disagree. Love the guy."
HISTORY LESSON: Sky Sports’ Tony Cascarino “has sparked outrage by describing a player as having a ‘holocaust’ of a game.” Cascarino made the comment on Sky Sports News during Sunday’s Arsenal-Manchester United EPL match, which resulted in Arsenal refunding ticket prices to fans who made the trip to the game. Cascarino said of Arsenal D Armand Traoré's performance, "Poor Traoré at right-back is having a holocaust because he's finding himself against (United winger) Nani, who's literally running him from everywhere and (Arsenal midfielder Andrey) Arshavin's just not tracking his runners." Angry fans “immediately responded to his comment on Twitter” (PA, 8/28).
CHANGE OF PACE: In L.A., Tom Hoffarth noted Gus Johnson is “set to call 14 games involving Pac-12 and Big 12 teams this season for Fox and its FX cable channel, including the first Pac-12 championship game in December.” Johnson said of his recent departure from CBS, “Everybody kinda understood this was a new opportunity to be a lead guy at a great company from the ground floor, which will eventually be a penthouse.” He added, “I felt like I needed a fresh start. To challenge myself again. I'm happy where I am. I appreciate where I came from. I'm finally at peace. That was a big deal for me” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 8/28).
NO LOOKING BACK: The Knicks recently hired former Lakers play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes to the same position, and Dedes said, "The way I made my decision was: If I pass up on this opportunity in New York with the Knicks and with CBS, would I be able to live with myself? And the answer was no." Dedes said, "I knew I would just go insane, wondering for the rest of my life: 'What if I had chased it and gone after it?'" In California, Kevin Ding noted the Lakers had “refused to allow Dedes ... to moonlight elsewhere if promoted from their radio voice to TV voice.” Dedes’ responsibility now is to “develop his brand -- which he'll do in a newly expanded role of eight-to-10 NFL broadcasts with analyst Steve Beuerlein on CBS” (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 8/27).
JET SETTER: In N.Y., Bob Raissman noted former NFLer Kris Jenkins reportedly “will be landing at SportsNet New York.” A Jets source said that Jenkins, who “announced his retirement last month, is nearing a deal giving him a featured role” on SNY’s Thursday “Jets Game Plan” preview show. He “likely would make appearances on other Jets-related programming” as well (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/28). Jenkins played for the Jets from '08-10.
