Former Fox golf analyst Greg Norman said he was "totally broadsided" by the net's decision to part ways with him last month. He added it was "totally contradictory to what I was told by the USGA, and many others within Fox headquarters." Norman: "I got nothing but compliments from the right people that knew what’s going on." However, he added, “I thought I was handcuffed, to tell you the truth. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to say, but the final comment they told me (was that) I was too unpredictable. I thought that’s what they want you to do in that role" (Tim Rosaforte, GOLF WORLD, 2/15 issue).
NUMBERS GAME: In DC, Barry Svrluga examined baseball statistics website FanGraphs.com, which was founded by David Appleman in '05 and averaged "roughly one million unique users per month" last year. Visitors are "some of baseball’s most engaged readers, spending an inordinate amount of time poring over the statistics and analysis available." FanGraphs users last year "spent more than 300 years of total time on the site." Svrluga noted FanGraphs and other sites like it "have contributed not only to changing how baseball teams think about analysis, but how fans think about their favorite players and teams" (WASHINGTON POST, 2/15).
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: In N.Y., Bob Raissman notes with the Yankees opening Spring Training this week, there is "no sense of urgency" to get a deal done between YES Network and Comcast. There also has not been "much pressure generated by Yankees fans in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania who are part of Comcast's 900,000 local subscribers." It is "reasonable to wonder if Comcast's opinion on the value of the Yankees as a TV product has changed since November" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/16).
