In Miami, Barry Jackson noted TNT will use Charles Barkley "as a game analyst" for Thursday's Bulls-Heat matchup, Dwyane Wade's first and only appearance in Miami this season. Barkley will work alongside Kevin McHale and Marv Albert. Barkley leaves the studio to "work two or three games a year, and Barkley and Turner management thought this game made sense as one of them" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 11/6).
KNOW YOUR ROLE: In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote Fox' Joe Buck in Game 7 of the World Series "didn't get bogged down with analysis" and instead left that to John Smoltz, the "mechanic who he skillfully set up or reined in when necessary." Mostly, Buck "enhanced the drama of this historic cliff-hanger" knowing the pictures called by broadcast director John Moore were "doing most of the talking." Buck displayed a "sense of balance between yapping and keeping his trap shut." Raissman: "Well done" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/6).
RETURN OF THE KING: In N.Y., Tal Pinchevsky profiled NHL Kings TV play-by-play announcer Bob Miller, who enters his 44th season as the voice of the Kings and made his return for the home opener "mere months after open-heart surgery." This season Miller will "not be embarking on long trips, particularly those to the Eastern time zone." Miller said that when he does retire, he "still hopes to be healthy enough to enjoy a few more years with his wife of 53 years, Judy." He will give "more thought to retirement this summer" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/5).
NOTES: Boston radio personality Jerry Thornton, who "has been the third voice on WEEI's Dale and Holley program for two years, is leaving the station to return to Barstool Sports." In bringing Thornton back to the site, Barstool "gave him a salary that was more than competitive with what he was making at WEEI." Thornton will "host his own podcast as well as write for the site" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/7)....ESPN's NCAA women's basketball Final Four has a "new announcing team (Dave O'Brien, Doris Burke and Holly Rowe) and a new host (Maria Taylor)" (SI.com, 11/6).
