ESPN on Thursday revealed that TheUndefeated.com will be the name of its new Jason Whitlock-led site focusing on sports, race and culture. The title is inspired by a passage from late writer and civil rights leader Maya Angelou. The site, which has yet to officially launch, is part of ESPN's Exit 31, the umbrella content unit that also includes ESPN Films, Grantland and FiveThirtyEight. The first content as part of The Undefeated is an in-depth profile of TNT's Charles Barkley (ESPN).
BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN: In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes it appears the Dodgers for a second consecutive year "will begin the season in complete TV meltdown, their games hidden from 70% of their fans," as there is "still no deal between Time Warner Cable and DirecTV" for SportsNet LA. There is "no resolution expected until at least the middle of the summer," and the Dodgers "look greedy for doing a Time Warner Cable deal ... that priced their games far beyond what most pay-TV operators will accept." Meanwhile, TWC "looks bumbling for believing it could sell that package to DirecTV, and failing miserably in the attempt" (L.A. TIMES, 2/13).
STEP RIGHT UP: On Long Island, Neil Best reports SNY Mets analyst Ron Darling, a "rookie play-by-play man," is going to "give it a try" for seven of the net's 16 Mets Spring Training broadcasts this March. With Kevin Burkhardt, SNY's "longtime Mets reporter and fill-in play-by-play voice, having left for Fox after last season, Darling asked executive producer Curt Gowdy Jr. if he could take a crack at it." Darling: "I've been working at listening, watching, trying to do games on my own at MLB Network, because they've got more space where you can kind of sit and do it. And I'm just hoping that I'm good enough at some point to do a creditable job" (NEWSDAY, 2/13).
TOP OF THE CLASS: ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman reported ESPN2 on April 10 will "host the first college basketball postseason awards show in which it will unveil the Wooden Award and five positional awards named after all-time greats." The one-hour program, airing at 8:00pm ET, "will honor the top player in the country with the Wooden Award presented by Wendy's and also include awards for the nation's top point guard (Bob Cousy Award), shooting guard (Jerry West), small forward (Julius Erving), power forward (Karl Malone) and center (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)." ESPN's Rece Davis "will host the program with Jay Bilas and Jay Williams" from Club Nokia in L.A. (ESPN.com, 2/12).
