Media Notes
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Writer Criticizes ESPN2 For Leaving Closely
Contested Federer Match During Key Moment |
In N.Y., Phil Mushnick notes as ATP World Tour member Roger Federer "was about to lose the first set to Tomas Berdych" during their 4th-round Australian Open match yesterday, ESPN2 "cut to commercials." But when the net returned to coverage, Federer "had already won the first game of the second set!" Mushnick: "There's nothing that ESPN touches that doesn't leave sports fans wishing that the nation's all-sports network had chosen to specialize in something else" (N.Y. POST, 1/26). SI.com's Jon Wertheim gives the U.S. TV coverage of the tourney a "B" as part of his Australian Open midterm grades. Wertheim: "One wishes the times were more standard but the ESPN/Tennis Channel partnership continues to work well" (SI.com, 1/26).
TICKET OUT: In Dallas, Barry Horn reported the Cowboys and KTCK-AM Friday ended their radio rights deal. The decision "looks like it was simple business decision by both parties," as each side "believed it could make more money going in a different direction." Though the Cowboys "probably won't announce where they are taking their radio broadcasts until after the Super Bowl," the "lead-pipe lock appears to be KRLD-FM." KRLD "has a much stronger signal" than KTCK. Games also may be simulcast on KRLD-AM "when there is no conflict" with MLB Rangers games (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/24).
THIN-SKINNED: ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber, who has "two columns left before her two-year contract expires in March," participated in a Q&A with USA TODAY's Michael McCarthy. When asked if any ESPN talent has "gotten their backs up about your criticism," Schreiber said, "A couple. I'm not going to say who. ... Your job description is to bite the hand that feeds you. To be a professional second-guesser. What could be less welcome?" (USA TODAY, 1/26).
BEST WISHES: SI.com's Peter King reports SI NFL writer Paul Zimmerman "had a third, minor stroke while in his New Jersey rehab facility, and some of the progress he'd made in the first few days in the place was lost." Zimmerman currently "cannot speak, has difficulty reading because of the effects of the strokes on his eyes, and does not have full use of his right side, including his arm and leg" (SI.com, 1/26).
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