Author James Miller, who co-wrote the inside look at ESPN titled “Those Guys Have All the Fun,” said that the importance of "MNF" to ESPN "has accelerated an internal debate" about Hank Williams Jr. prior to the controversial remarks he made Monday about President Obama that resulted in him being dropped by the net. Miller: “Even before this occurred, there were people who thought the opening was past its prime and were advocating a new one. Others want to keep it for its tradition and legacy” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/6).
HEAT WAVE: ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported “The South Florida All-Star Classic,” hosted by Heat G Dwyane Wade and Fs LeBron James and Chris Bosh, “will be televised locally" on WFOR-CBS and sister station WBFS-MYN at 7:30pm ET Saturday night. The game will also “be streamed live on cbsmiami.com.” Sources said that Florida Int'l Univ. men’s basketball coach and Basketball HOFer Isiah Thomas “was instrumental in getting the TV deal accomplished” (ESPN.com, 10/5).
REPORTING LIVE...: In Chicago, Rick Morrissey writes the worst part of the NBA lockout "is that we’ll get more of what we’ve gotten for weeks from ESPN: endless coverage of the labor strife, even when no progress has been made.” Morrissey: “Right now, it’s death by 1,000 David Stern sound bites. ... We sports consumers can work with real news. We cannot work with images of ESPN reporters standing outside of a building in Manhattan talking about a big clump of nothing that’s going on inside” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 10/6).
WELCOME ABOARD: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has hired Rob Carlin as a television anchor and reporter. He replaces Russ Thaler, who is now the host of “NBC Sports Talk” on Versus. Carlin will serve as an anchor for “SportsNet Central” and will host “Capitals Central” and “Capitals Post Game Live" for home games. Al Koken will take over that role when the team is playing on the road (Comcast SportsNet).
