USA TODAY's Adi Joseph noted a tweet by N.Y. Post lead NFL reporter Bart Hubbuch last week "cost him his job." Hubbuch "compared the inauguration of President Trump to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 terror attacks." The tweet on Jan. 20 was "followed by a pair of apologies." Hubbuch: "My sincere apologies for comparing this day to 9/11. It was insensitive and wrong, and I shouldn’t have done it." He then tweeted yesterday, "Last Friday, I was fired by the New York Post for tweeting on my own time seven days earlier my personal belief that Donald Trump becoming President of the United State is a national tragedy" (USATODAY.com, 1/30).
DOUBLE-DIPPING: ESPN officially announced that former MLBer David Ross, who recently accepted a front-office position with the Cubs, will "join the network" as an MLB analyst. In Chicago, Madeline Kenney notes Ross "previously was a guest analyst" for the net in '14 and '15. It "was not immediately clear how he’ll balance working for the Cubs and ESPN." ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Seth Markman called Ross a "proven leader." He said that the thinks Ross' "charisma and humor will benefit him in his media career" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/31).
BITTER-SWEET MOVE: On Long Island, Neil Best notes Fox NFL play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt believes the 49ers "made an excellent choice" in hiring his former broadcast partner John Lynch as GM. But that "doesn't make it any easier to part ways with his Fox Sports partner of the past four seasons." Burkhardt: "We've had a really good thing and it's not just on the air. ... I'm sure it will be great, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't (expletive) to lose a guy like that because, it does." Burkhardt said that he was "'pretty emotional' when he got the news, but he understood Lynch's decision to leave television" (NEWSDAY, 1/31).
STAYING FOR THE LONG RUN: White Sox broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson said that he is "eager to see how the club's rebuilding plan pans out -- and he hopes to be in the booth as it comes to fruition." In Chicago, Colleen Kane noted the White Sox' plan "excites Harrelson enough that the 75-year-old hopes to remain on the broadcast team" through '20, which would mean he will have "worked in professional baseball for parts of eight decades" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/28).
NOTES FROM THE NORTHWEST: Bell Media is again "making cuts" at its TSN Vancouver operation. Whitecaps play-by-play broadcaster Peter Schaad and CFL BC Lions broadcaster Scott Rintoul ARE "out the door." Schaad has been announcing Whitecaps games for "more than a decade, and had done both radio and TV for TSN." Rintoul was a long-time host on TSN's CKST-AM "before moving" to the Lions play-by-play role in '14 (VANCOUVER SUN, 1/31)....Vancouver Sun reporter Jeff Lee noted he is leaving the paper. Lee spent 30 years with the Sun as a reporter and editor. Lee: "All told I have spent nearly 40 years as a news reporter" (VANCOUVER SUN, 1/30).
