THE MMQB's Peter King reported ESPN's Chris Mortensen's throat and tongue are clear of cancer, but it "has spread to his left lung, where last November doctors found several malignant nodules." Mortensen last week "had his 15th treatment." Mortensen: "I've asked how long this will go on, and they say maybe forever. They have to make sure it doesn't metastasize to anywhere else. Right now, it's metastasized to my lungs." King wrote it "might be this way" for the rest of his life. On TV, he "sounds like the old Mortensen." He looks "close to his old self, too, except 20 pounds lighter; and his hair has come back grayer." Mortensen: "Life's good right now" (SI.com, 10/24).
BREAKING UP A GOOD THING? In Miami, Barry Jackson cites sources as saying that former NBAer Caron Butler, who is slated to join ESPN as a college basketball analyst this season, has been "receiving serious consideration for the Heat's TV analyst job beginning next season." Former NBAers LaPhonso Ellis and John Crotty are also "serious contenders for the job" (MIAMI HERALD, 10/27). Meanwhile, in Ft. Lauderdale, Ira Winderman noted ESPN's Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy during Wednesday's national broadcast of Spurs-Heat vented about the Heat's decision to "break up the team's longstanding television duo of Eric Reid and Tony Fiorentino" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 10/26).
BACK IN THE SADDLE: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar reports Bob Ramsey is "back in the St. Louis sports-talk business." He is "returning" at KTRS-AM beginning next week. Ramsey will serve as "host, or co-host" of KTRS' show that runs 6:30-9:00pm CT on weeknights and 11:00am-noon on Sundays. Ramsey is "expected to be on two or three times a week." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Ben Frederickson will also "appear several times weekly" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/27).
