In St. Louis, Derrick Goold reports MLB Cardinals radio voice Mike Shannon is "recovering from heart surgery he had this week." Shannon had his "aortic valve replaced Monday in a procedure that had been previously planned." Shannon plans to "return to the radio booth on Sept. 23, in time for the Cardinals’ final home stand of the regular season." The Cardinals announced that until Shannon returns, FS Midwest "will use a tag team of broadcasters to fill his role, rotating between Al Hrabosky and Rick Horton." Mike Claiborne also will "continue to contribute to the radio broadcast" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/22).
MAYNE STREET: Kenny Mayne's return to "SportsCenter" comes as part of a multiyear extension with ESPN, after his contract was set to expire this month. He will serve as a fill-in host for the L.A.-based "SportsCenter" when regular anchors Stan Verrett or Neil Everett are on vacation. ESPN did not disclose details of Mayne's extension, but said that his deal does not include any additional on-air or online contributions. Previously, ESPN did not have a regular fill-in anchor for the L.A. edition of "SportsCenter," using a number of different Bristol-based anchors (Adam Harris, Assistant Editor).
CHANGE IN THE LINEUP: Good Karma Broadcasting President Craig Karmazin yesterday said the firings of ESPN Radio 850 Cleveland personalities Kenny Roda, Will Burge and T.J. Zuppe were "made for the long term and for our long-term growth." In Akron, George Thomas writes, "That sounds a bit disingenuous when you look at the subsequent moves he and station management made." It "doesn’t appear that Good Karma has plans to replace the three with the way they shuffled their lineup" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 8/22).
NOTES: Retired tennis player Marion Bartoli has joined Eurosport for the upcoming U.S. Open. She will work with both the French and English broadcasting teams (Eurosport)....Stanford Univ. named Comcast SportsNet Bay Area reporter/anchor Scott Reiss the voice of its football and basketball radio broadcasts beginning this season (Learfield Sports)....Former NFLer and San Diego State Univ. alum Kirk Morrison "will join" the school's radio broadcast team for this season (UTSANDIEGO.com, 8/17)....The ACC Digital Network on Tuesday announced the additions of former NFLers Clinton Portis and Ronaldo Wynn to its broadcast team (ACCDN).
