The AP's Doug Feinberg noted CBS' Debbie Antonelli has been "analyzing men’s and women’s basketball games for years" and now she will get a chance to "bring her knowledge to a bigger audience as the first woman to work a men’s NCAA Tournament game as an analyst in over two decades." Besides doing "hundreds of women’s games each year, she has worked the ACC men’s tournament for the past six seasons as either a reporter or studio analyst." Antonelli: "If you watch a men’s game and you hear a woman’s voice, you listen a little closer to see if they know what they are doing. It always feels like there’s a constant need to prove you know the game. I’m not going to try and do any of that." Antonelli follows Ann Meyers Drysdale, who "broadcast tournament games" in '95. Antonelli will be partnered with the net's Carter Blackburn and Mike Gminski, both of whom she has "worked with many times" (AP, 3/7).
GRAND SLAM: Fox Sports yesterday announced that Alex Rodriguez will join the net's MLB coverage on a "full-time basis to serve mainly as a studio analyst." USA TODAY's A.J. Perez notes the multiyear deal comes after Rodriguez's "stint as a guest studio analyst for Fox the last two postseasons." Rodriguez will also "occasionally be an in-game analyst and feature reporter." He drew "mostly positive reviews in his stint on Fox in the playoffs" (USA TODAY, 3/8). The N.Y. Daily News' John Harper said, "He's pretty much a natural with the TV. He knows the game and he knows how to talk and people seem to like him a lot more an an announcer than they did when he was a player" ("Daily News Live," SNY, 3/7).
BACK TO BASICS: In Detroit, Lynn Henning notes Tigers radio play-by-play man Dan Dickerson and TV play-by-play man Mario Impemba "will not flip broadcast booths" in '17 as they did for 13 games in '16. Impemba instead will "stick in" FS Detroit’s booth, while Dickerson will "remain play-by-play voice for all 162 regular-season Tigers games." FS Detroit Senior VP & GM Greg Hammaren said, "The assignment I gave them was difficult -- helicopter in and call a game for a very different medium with different partners, then helicopter out." He added, "It was difficult to find their natural rhythm. In retrospect, I’m not sure it was a fair task, and so we decided not to continue it" (DETROIT NEWS, 3/8).
NOTES: ESPN.com's Dan Rafael noted boxer Paulie Malignaggi, who on Monday "announced his retirement," will "turn his attention to broadcasting full time." While still an active boxer, Malignaggi "emerged as one of the best television analysts in the sport." He has "worked for Showtime for several years and has been a frequent guest" on Sky Sports in the U.K. (ESPN.com, 3/7)....The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday tweeted that N.Y. Times reporter Harvey Araton has joined the Yahoo-owned site (TWITTER.com, 3/6)....Former football coach Charlie Weis said that he is "expecting to take a broadcasting job doing college football games next fall" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/8).
