Media Notes
SI.com's Jon Wertheim wrote the Sony Ericsson Open organizers did a "terrible disservice" to tennis by committing to FSN, as the net last week "cut away from" a third set tiebreaker in the Rafael Nadal-Juan Martin Del Potro match in select markets for hockey pregame shows. Wertheim: "We all wish that Tennis Channel were available in more homes; but it's still preferable to second-class treatment the sport gets on the larger Fox Sports Net" (SI.com, 4/6).
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Writer Says ESPN Couldn't Take Credit For
Breaking Cutler Trade Story |
CREDIT LINE: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick notes ESPN Thursday "didn't take credit for the scoop, nor could it," when the news broke that the Broncos had traded QB Jay Cutler to the Bears. But the story "soon became 'ESPN's John Clayton confirms' the Cutler trade story." Also, last Tuesday, after the Memphis Commercial Appeal broke the story of Memphis men's basketball coach John Calipari accepting a job at Kentucky, ESPN "soon followed with an 'ESPN's Dick Vitale confirms' the story." Mushnick: "If not for so many newspaper columnists also being on ESPN's payroll, ESPN would take a beating for that, among many other things" (N.Y. POST, 4/5).
MILLER TIME: NBC's Johnny Miller during Sunday's final-round coverage of the PGA Tour Shell Houston Open said of an errant tee shot from Greg Norman, "Maybe he was aiming at the Shell sign." YAHOO SPORTS' Brian Murphy noted the Shell sign was in the middle of the water hazard and wrote, "It was just a fleeting moment in NBC's broadcast, but it was pure Miller: funny, caustic and unafraid to take on the game's legends." Murphy: "My small personal dream is to have Miller work just one Masters in the broadcast booth" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 4/6).
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: NHL Network’s Don La Greca rhetorically said of NBC’s coverage of Wild-Red Wings Sunday, “How desperate was Minnesota? How much do they need this game?” La Greca: “This is what you’re selling to the casual fan. … If I’m the casual fan, I’m not that familiar with Minnesota, but I can get kind of caught up in a team desperate to try to win a game on the road. You could have really built the theater by constantly reminding people who parachute in on a Sunday” (“NHL Live!” NHL Network, 4/6).
NOTES: Orlando Sentinel Associate Managing Editor for Sports Lynn Hoppes is leaving the paper after 17 years to serve as ESPN.com Senior Dir of Page 2 & Columnists (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 4/3)....SI.com's Peter King wrote, "I think we are owed an explanation, NFL Network: Why have you kidnapped Adam Schefter, where is he being held without ransom, and when do you plan to acknowledge that he has disappeared off the face of the earth?" (SI.com, 4/6).
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