People & Personalities: Selena Roberts Leaves SI To Develop Sports App

Roberts left SI after her contract expired Dec. 31

The BIG LEAD's Jason McIntyre noted sports columnist Selena Roberts "left SI on Dec. 31 when her contract expired." Roberts was "most famous for breaking the Alex Rodriguez/PED story" in '09, and now she is "delving into new media." She said, "I’ve been in the corporate media world for 25 years, and I thought, 'why not do something different and shake it up a little bit?'" Roberts has founded Roopster Media Group, and is "in the process of developing a mobile device sports app that fuses longform, original sports journalism and entertainment, among other things." She added that she is "partnering with other journalists, but wouldn’t reveal their names -- they haven’t left their jobs yet -- and she’s going to be speaking to investors soon." There is "no timetable yet for the app to debut" (THEBIGLEAD.com, 2/2).

LAST CHANCE WORKOUT: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar reports MLB Cardinals TV play-by-play announcer Dan McLaughlin "will return for his 15th season in the Fox Sports Midwest booth after spending the offseason trying to rehabilitate his reputation -- and more importantly, his life -- after being arrested during the final week of the 2011 regular season on his second drunken driving charge in 13 months." There has been "public criticism when the possibility of McLaughlin returning has been mentioned in recent weeks," and FS Midwest GM Jack Donovan said that "much thought was put into making the decision." The call "was FSM’s, but Donovan works closely with the team on major issues." Donovan said, "We took our time, we didn’t rush into it." McLaughlin said, "This is as last-chance as it gets, absolutely." McLaughlin is "set to do play-by-play on about 100 games, the same as last year." Fellow broadcasters Rick Horton and Al Hrabosky "are expected to also again have about 100 games each" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/3).

VYING FOR A SPOT: In K.C., Bob Dutton notes former MLBers Rex Hudler and George Frazier "have emerged as the leading candidates to replace Frank White as the analyst for Royals’ telecasts" on FS K.C. Sources said that a decision "appears imminent with many citing Hudler as the leading candidate." Neither Hudler nor Frazier "has any previous connection to the Royals." FS has "final say in the hiring, though the Royals have input into the decision." Hudler became the "Angels' analyst upon his retirement and held that position" through '09. Frazier recently completed his "15th year as the analyst" for the Rockies (K.C. STAR, 2/3).