USA TODAY's Dan Wolken notes though ESPN's Holly Rowe is still fighting breast cancer and "has to receive a treatment once every three weeks, another step in her therapy comes Sunday when she returns to college football for Texas-Notre Dame" as a sideline reporter. Rowe said, "The doctor said to me the most important thing in fighting cancer is having a good attitude, so what can we keep you doing that will make you happy? When I said it’s work, he looked at my mom and my sister like, ‘Oh, that’s a weird answer.’ But for me, that’s what makes me happy. I love my job so much and they planned around my schedule. It’s been a total team effort." Rowe has "gotten more and more comfortable with sharing her fight publicly." Friends in the sports world that have "checked in with her the last few months" include Alabama coach Nick Saban, LSU coach Les Miles and Basketball HOFer Bob Knight, among others (USA TODAY, 8/30).
ON THE MIKE: NBC yesterday announced that Mike Tirico this season will host "Football Night in America" live from the game site of "Sunday Night Football." Bob Costas will also work select "FNIA" telecasts during the season, as well as appear on the pregame show for the season-opening NFL Kickoff game on Thursday, Sept. 8. NBC Sports will also produce four "Thursday Night Football" games to be televised on NFL Network, two of which will be called by Tirico and Doug Flutie due to scheduling conflicts with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth (NBC Sports).
LAST CALL? In Kentucky, Mark Story noted announcer Tom Hammond has been with NBC Sports since '84, but whether he will stay with NBC beyond '16 is "unclear" as his contract "expires this year." Reviews for Hammond's performance at the Rio Games for track and field coverage "were mostly strong," as Hammond was "in good form." Hammond: "I’m sure we’ll have a discussion at some point about what’s next. Maybe we do a short deal, a two-year deal and see how we feel about going forward from there. Can I stretch it another four years to another Summer Olympics? I don’t know" (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 8/28).
NOTES: Longtime Arkansas football analyst Keith Jackson Sr. "will leave his post" after this season. Jackson yesterday said that he "wants time to travel to watch his two youngest sons play football." He will be replaced by former Arkansas QB Quinn Grovey, who "currently co-hosts a pre-game show" on the Razorback Sports Network and is the sideline reporter (AP, 8/29)....THE MMQB's Emily Kaplan this fall will write a "weekly college football column (with a twist)." She will "write each week about college football with an eye on the NFL" (MMQB.SI.com, 8/29).
