In Buffalo, Amy Moritz notes the Sabres yesterday honored MSG Network analyst Mike Robitaille, who was "working his final game in the broadcast booth." He was hired in '80 to "work on the team’s radio and television crews," and has "served multiple roles in the broadcast booth with his most popular being the host of 'Hockey Hotline,' which was the postgame show on the Empire Sports Network" (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/14). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Stephen Lorenzo notes Devils TV analyst Glenn "Chico" Resch yesterday also "did his last game from the booth after 18 years." Following his NHL playing career, Resch "began calling games as a color commentator" in '87 (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/14). The N.Y. POST's Phil Mushnick writes Resch had an "appealing balance." While he was "always enthusiastic, he rarely took the game or himself so seriously that he got in the way of the view." He would even "use replays to correct himself ... evidence of modesty and good faith" (N.Y. POST, 4/14).
COMING TO AMERICA: SI.com's Richard Deitsch reported BT Sport's Lynsey Hipgrave will "join Bob Ley and Mike Tirico as the hosts for ESPN's coverage" of the '14 FIFA World Cup, the "first time that Hipgrave will work for a U.S. audience." Hipgrave said, "BT Sport and ESPN have a very close working relationship at various levels on-screen and within the companies, with BT owning and operating the ESPN-branded TV channel in the UK and Ireland. So there are close links and those relationships mean that they have been aware of my work. It's why BT have been so supportive of this opportunity" (SI.com, 4/13).
TAYLOR-MADE: The SEC Network signed Maria Taylor to a multiyear deal to serve as studio host. She also will be a sideline reporter for SEC football games and an analyst for volleyball and select women's basketball contests. Taylor is the first studio host named for the network, which launches Aug. 14 (ESPN).
BOOMER SOONER: In Oklahoma City, Jason Kersey noted former NFLer Dusty Dvoracek joined play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland and color commentator Merv Johnson "in the booth" for the Univ. of Oklahoma's spring football game radio broadcast on Saturday. Kersey: "Could that arrangement carry over into the fall?" A source said that adding OU alum Dvoracek "could be the case, although no final decisions have been made yet." The move "makes sense for several reasons." Dvoracek has "seen his role with Sooner Sports TV expanded of late, and he was the choice to fill in for Johnson last October when the OU icon’s wife was near death, although Johnson ended up working the game" (OKLAHOMAN, 4/13).
