Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said that the conference "sent a cease and desist letter to ESPN regarding the network's use of video showing Baylor and TCU football players in a Star Wars commercial." CBSSPORTS.com's Jon Solomon noted ESPN before the Baylor-TCU game on Nov. 27 "aired a Star Wars-themed introduction that featured clips from the upcoming movie spliced with highlights of Baylor and TCU football players in action." The end of the 30-second commercial "showed the date when the movie opens in theaters and encouraged viewers to purchase tickets." Bowlsby: "We were surprised and unhappy." Baylor and TCU spokespersons said that their schools "had no knowledge or involvement in the ESPN piece" (CBSSPORTS.com, 11/3).
AN APP FOR THAT: SPORTSNET.ca's Luke Fox noted Bruins broadcaster Jack Edwards has "developed his own app to help him with his game calls by organizing lines and other information on players and teams." Now he is "hoping to bring his app to the sports broadcasting world at large." Edwards: "I try to put information in a place where I can create easy pathways to it, so I can go from a player on a play-by-play chart, to a bio page, to a directory where I can instantly look up a game [Bruins C] Patrice Bergeron played against the Maple Leafs in 2007 because something was ringing in my memory." He added that all of the information included in the app is "out there in the public domain but it hasn’t been put in one place." Asked if the app has cut down on his prep time for games, Edwards said, "Phenomenally. My goal for the last five years has been to do less clerical work and more analysis -- watch more video, go into more dressing rooms, get more face time with players, and to do less of the copy-and-paste, fill-in-forms type stuff (SPORTSNET.ca, 12/2).
COMPARE & CONTRAST: Fox Sports' Katie Nolan was asked if she is the next Bill Simmons, to which she responded, "I don’t think so. I haven’t built a media property. He’s the best at finding voices he likes and paying people money to work for him. He’s been super supportive, he’s such a nice f*cking guy. I think people compare us because a) the Boston thing, b) the bartender thing and c) the blog thing. But he built a website, and that’s what he’s the best at. I don’t think I’m the next Bill Simmons, but if you want to say I am then I’m not going to stop you because he’s a millionaire. He’s wonderful" (BOSTON.com, 11/3).
