MSG Networks announced on Thursday that Brendan Burke "will succeed Howie Rose as the lead TV play-by-play voice for the Islanders alongside analyst Butch Goring." On Long Island, Neil Best notes Burke is "only the third man to fill the role" since Jiggs McDonald began in '80, four years "before Burke was born." The job "opened up in May when Rose announced he would leave after 21 seasons to give himself a true offseason" after calling Mets games for WOR-AM. In Burke, MSG hired a "respected, experienced announcer, one young enough for a long stay" (NEWSDAY, 8/12). Burke said, "It's not lost on me how big of a seat I'm going to be sitting in" (N.Y. POST, 8/12).
HARD KNOCK LIFE: YAHOO SPORTS' Frank Schwab wrote NFL Films does a "great job on just about everything, and 'Hard Knocks' is tough." The turnaround "must be brutal." The debut for this season "wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t any better or new than what we’ve seen the show do in previous years." But 15 years after the Ravens’ "groundbreaking turn on the first 'Hard Knocks,' the show is up against a lot of challenges" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/10).
BAR TENDER: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jack Marshall noted Barstool Sports has "focused on reaching a relatively small, but highly passionate and engaged, community." Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini, who was hired last month, said, "Barstool is a brand someone relates to. It means something, there’s a humor there, there’s a voice there. As a result of having that brand, it’s a publisher that has a content business model, a commerce business model and a conversational business model." Marshall noted in addition to selling ads, Barstool "generates revenue by selling Barstool Sports-branded merchandise and increasingly hosting ticketed events for its community" (WSJ.com, 810).
COVERED IN CHEDDAR: PackersNews.com has brought on SI NFL writer Aaron Nagler, who also co-founded the Cheesehead TV website, "as a multimedia reporter/social media strategist." Nagler was "chosen for the newly created position after a national search" (PACKERSNEWS.com, 8/11).
