In Minneapolis, Phil Miller reports the Twins are in negotiations with former MLBer Jack Morris "to bring him back to Minneapolis as part of its broadcast team, a position he held on a part-time basis for eight seasons." Morris, who yesteday failed to be elected to the Baseball HOF in his final year on the ballot, joined Sportsnet for Blue Jays games "as a color analyst on the radio last season, after appearing intermittently on Twins broadcasts" from '05-12. The Twins "have an opening in their TV and radio lineup, created when Ron Coomer was hired by the Cubs to join their radio broadcasts" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 1/9).
TRIPLE OPTION: THE MMQB's Richard Deitsch noted Fox "awarded the team of Kevin Burkhardt and John Lynch with the call of Saturday’s Saints-Seahawks game," along with Erin Andrews on the sidelines. The divisional playoff assignment is given by Fox "to the team they felt had the best season behind lead announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman." Fox Sports Exec Producer John Entz said, “We’ve found Kevin, John and Erin to be a really enjoyable and comfortable broadcast team. They have fantastic chemistry both on and off the air and it shows during their broadcasts. Both (producer) Pete Macheska and (director) Artie Kempner deserve a huge amount of credit for bringing this crew as far along as they have in such a short amount of time" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/8).
HERE & THERE: FS1's "Fox Sports Live" hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole "are switching their working schedule." As of Tuesday, the duo is working the 11:00pm ET show from Tues.-Sat. (SI.com, 1/5)....Tennis Channel is expanding HOFer Jim Courier's roster of assignments to include the Australian Open. Courier will have a nightly presence during the net's two-week coverage (Tennis Channel)....Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic hired Keli Fulton to serve as an anchor and reporter for "Geico SportsNet Central" beginning this week. She also will contribute to the RSN's other programming. Fulton spent three years with WPTV-NBC and WFLX-Fox in West Palm Beach (CSN)....ESPN Radio 980 DC afternoon co-host Steve Czaban "has signed a three-year extension" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/7).
