In N.Y., Leonard Greene reports WFAN-AM's Craig Carton yesterday resigned from the station's “Boomer and Carton” morning show "days after he was arrested and charged with running a ticket-sale Ponzi scheme." Carton had "already been suspended from the station." CBS Radio in a statement said that WFAN will "begin a search for Carton’s replacement immediately" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/14).
BIG TIME CALL: In Chicago, David Haugh notes Lisa Byington will "become the Big Ten Network's first female play-by-play announcer to call a football game" on Saturday when she calls Bowling Green-Northwestern. Byington said, "This is the mountaintop for me. I've always wanted to do football." BTN President Mark Silverman "can't recall who suggested putting Byington in the football booth but remembered endorsing it due to versatility more than publicity." He said, "We weren't looking to something to grab a headline. It just fit. There was no hesitation. It is a tremendous source of pride for us." Haugh reports Silverman "doesn't view this as a one-time thing" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/14).
BINKS TO BARSTOOL: THE BIG LEAD's Ryan Glasspiegel reported ESPN soccer reporter Julie Stewart-Binks "will be joining" Barstool Sports. Stewart-Binks "joined ESPN from FS1 as a soccer reporter last November." She will "begin at Barstool immediately" and eventually join the site full-time. Stewart-Binks noted in the time-being that she will "still be able to sideline report for ESPN" (THEBIGLEAD.com, 9/12).
SAY IT AIN'T SO: CSN Mid-Atlantic in August opted not to renew the contract of reporter Jill Sorenson, and SPORTSNET.ca's Elliotte Friedman wrote not having her on the Capitals beat "is a loss." Sorenson's approach to her job was "very professional." Friedman: "I’d turn on CSN’s shows during playoff series to see if I’d missed anything, and you knew when her reports came on they’d be understated, but thorough. It’s the business these days" (SPORTSNET.ca, 9/12).
SEAT AT THE BOOTH: In N.Y., Justin Terranova writes it has been a "long climb from the gridiron to the broadcast booth" for Fox Sports' Charles Davis and NFL Network's Mike Mayock. Davis "put in years covering" the SEC, while Mayock "entered the booth after a career in commercial real estate." The pair said that the path for ex-players to "snare a significant spot as an NFL analyst is more difficult if their careers are less noteworthy" than a player like Tony Romo. Davis said, “Every chance there was to take a rep, I took a rep. (Any frustration) was more self-inflicted than anything else. I’ve always wanted to prove myself ... but these (ex-NFL stars) all have things where they don’t have to say a word, and their resume is evident" (N.Y. POST, 9/13).
