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People & Personalities: Red Sox' Werner Says Jenny Dell Is Free To Leave NESN

Red Sox Chair Tom Werner on Thursday said that NESN reporter Jenny Dell, who was "removed as the in-game reporter in late January, is free to leave" the RSN. In Boston, Chad Finn noted Dell has "spent two years at NESN and has a year remaining on her contract after the network picked up her option." NESN execs "haven't commented on the specifics of why she was removed from the Red Sox broadcast," but the "public perception is that they made the change because of the ethical questions raised" by her dating Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks. Sources believe at least "part of the reason she was moved is as a penance for considering leaving -- Fox Sports 1 expressed interest in hiring her, but that fell through -- with time remaining on her contract" (BOSTON.com, 2/20). Werner said, "I think we came to the conclusion, and Jenny came to the same conclusion, that it would be a distraction for her to be a reporter, and so she’s moving on" (BOSTONHERALD.com, 2/20). 

SPRING CLEANING: In Albany, Pete Dougherty writes CBS performed some "much-needed renovation on 'The NFL Today' panel" by hiring Tony Gonzalez and parting ways with Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe. The show had "become stale and lags behind 'Fox NFL Sunday' in the ratings, although Sharpe is the only analyst who lent personality to the set" (Albany TIMES UNION, 2/21). In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley wrote Marino was the "biggest name and weakest link on that show for some years." Fans "never went into Marino’s hour expecting him to make even a single observation worth repeating and he always came through for you." Even when "talking about his former team ... he was reliably uninteresting" (JSONLINE.com, 2/20).

AROUND THE TRACK: In Indianapolis, Curt Cavin wrote of ESPN IndyCar analysts Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever, "I think sometimes they feel the need to over-explain things, which bogs down the delivery. They need to let things rip because most of the audience is in tune to the sport." Meanwhile, NBCSN's Leigh Diffey "certainly brings excitement, but the key to that broadcast booth is Townsend Bell." Cavin: "I've known him for years, but he's been even better than I expected him to be." Expect new ESPN IndyCar analyst Allen Bestwick to be a "smooth and professional addition" (INDYSTAR.com, 2/20).

STONE COLD: Chicago-based media reporter Robert Feder notes White Sox analyst Steve Stone has agreed to return to WSCR-AM “as its resident baseball expert.” WSCR Program Dir Mitch Rosen said that Stone starting March 10 “is expected to appear several times each week on all of the Score’s prime shows and occasionally on weekends.” Stone “had been a fixture” on WSCR for more than seven years before he “signed on last year” with WLS-AM as its baseball correspondent (ROBERTFEDER.com, 2/21).

LET ME BE FRANK: FS1 on Thursday announced the addition of research firm Luntz Global CEO Frank Luntz as an exclusive sports communication analyst. Luntz will primarily appear on "Fox Sports Live" -- either in-studio or remotely. Luntz will host a segment called "Sound Off," which has taped focus-group discussions featuring audience members that cover a range of sports topics (Fox). Sports Media Watch's Paulsen tweeted, "Because nothing says fun like a Frank Luntz focus group. Get that weak cable news garbage out of here, Fox Sports 1." Awful Announcing's Ben Koo: "Fox sees ESPN's hiring of Silver and Olbermann and jumps the shark with Frank Luntz who I'm sure sports fans were just clamoring for."

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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