SI.com's Richard Deitsch reports Fox NFL sideline reporter Pam Oliver will return to the net "for another two years, and in a very good place with Fox Sports management." Oliver last season was reassigned to the net's No. 2 broadcast team and "spent last year on a farewell tour of sorts," working with Kevin Burkhardt and John Lynch. It took her "a long time to mentally accept that this was her final NFL go-around, but she entered last season in a healthy place and had a strong year." Oliver's "bosses noticed" her work. Fox Sports President & COO Eric Shanks and Exec Producer John Entz "told her they really liked the chemistry of the No. 2 team, they thought she had a good year, and they wanted her back." Deitsch reports Oliver "will be part of the No. 2 team of Burkhardt and Lynch for the 2015 and 2016 NFL seasons, which is the duration of her contract." Oliver said, "I wasn't that interested in just one year. So this is great. I know that for the next two years we are a true team and I am not some guest." She added, "The decision (last year) was made and I had to accept it and it took me a little bit. There was never any animosity or hard feelings; I was just heartbroken." Oliver: "But once the dust settled, I have always enjoyed those two (Shanks and Entz). They had a choice and a job to do, and they handled me respectfully. Now we have come to a place where I feel so grateful and fortunate to be on the other end of a different decision they’ve come to" (SI.com, 3/10).
JAY BY THE BAY: In S.F., Joe Garofoli reported former Chicago Sun-Times reporter and ESPN analyst Jay Mariotti "will resurface" as S.F. Examiner Sports Dir, "writing four to five sports columns a week for an outlet not recently known for its sports coverage." The tabloid "doesn't cover many Bay Area teams with staff writers." But Mariotti on Friday said that he "plans to hire two people right away and more down the road." Mariotti is "planning to move" to S.F. for the job (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/7).
AROUND THE HORN: ESPN has reached a multiyear extension with MLB analyst Dallas Braden. The former MLBer will continue to appear on "Baseball Tonight" and will also serve as a game analyst (ESPN).
