SI.com's Ben Golliver writes Raptors TV broadcaster Matt Devlin on Thursday "raised the bar in the arms race for NBA All-Star votes by taking the unusual, and very aggressive, step of campaigning" for Raptors G Kyle Lowry throughout his play-by-play call of the team's 103-95 loss to the Hornets. While it is "common practice for local broadcast crews to pump up the hometown heroes," Devlin "resorted to brute force subliminal messaging by repeating the phrase 'Kyle Lowry Hashtag NBA Ballot' over and over throughout the game broadcast." All told, Devlin "repeated that phrase at least 11 times" on-air (SI.com, 1/9).
FLU OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST: In L.A., Melissa Rohlin writes Clippers TV play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler "had mumbled and slurred speech as he called the game against the Lakers on Wednesday, raising speculation and concern." The Clippers tweeted that Lawler "just had the flu." Lawler, 76, "has been the team's broadcaster for 36 seasons." He tweeted after the game, "Thanks for everyone's concern. I am fine. See you Saturday" (L.A. TIMES, 1/9).
LOCAL FLAVOR: In DC, Scott Allen noted CSN Mid-Atlantic drew a 2.55 local rating on Monday for the Wizards' win over the Pelicans, marking the highest local rating for a regular-season game in the market in "more than four years." It "probably didn’t hurt that there was no football or local college basketball to watch." Through 34 games this season, the Wizards’ average rating on CSN is a 1.47, up 66% over last year’s rating at this time and 44% higher than last year’s final average (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 1/6)....In Atlanta, Chris Vivlamore notes SportsSouth drew a 2.65 local rating in Atlanta on Monday for the Hawks win over the Grizzlies. It marked the "second-highest rating" for a game on the RSN this season, trailing only a 2.78 for Clippers-Hawks on Dec. 23 (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/9).
