Aretha Franklin will sing an on-air promo for ESPN
supporting the network's '97 NCAA Women's Basketball
Championship coverage (ESPN)....Bryan Burwell will leave his
columnist position at USA Today to join Turner Sports as a
reporter, essayist and studio commentator for NBA, NFL and
other coverage on TBS and TNT beginning March 1 (Turner).
...In N.Y., the POST's Phil Mushnick writes about the SI
swimsuit edition under the header "Porn From The Pages Of
SI." Mushnick on the edition's newsstand price of $5,
normally $3.50: "Like most strip joints when the prime flesh
is in the house, SI even adds a cover charge" (N.Y. POST,
2/21)....USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes when Primestar picks
up coverage of CNN/SI in April, the all-sports network will
have 6.1 million homes, 2.1 million paid, while ESPNews has
1.6 million paid homes (USA TODAY, 2/21)....In N.Y., Bob
Raissman writes on NBC/Boston Globe columnist Will
McDonough's role in the Bill Parcells-Robert Kraft
controversy, under the header, "A Tuna Surprise. Reporter
Sits On Story." Raissman: "McDonough not only was
compromised by his relationship with Parcells, but also had
injected himself so deeply in the situation that he
obviously felt his main priority was to broker a solution to
help free Parcells" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/21)....NBC President
Bob Wright: "[NBC Sports President] Dick's [Ebersol]
depressed. He knows the steep numbers it'll take to renew
both the NBA and NFL. In the end. I think we'll be in the
same situation as we are in now (retaining both), but we do
have a stronger, exclusive position with the NBA" (USA
TODAY, 2/21).
