In Charlotte, Brendan Marks notes NBC track & field analyst Ato Boldon will be "in the broadcast booth" for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as a guest announcer. Boldon, who joined the net in June as a features reporter, "wasn’t selected to be a guest analyst just because of the crossover between different forms of racing." It partially has to do with him being a "visible figure at races and on broadcasts -- specifically, with a minority being that visible figure." Boldon: “The folks at NASCAR have made no secret about the fact that they don’t want NASCAR to feel like ... the way it was described to me was as a closed group that only people who are into it can enjoy" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 10/5).
WHEN I DIPP, YOU DIPP, WE DIPP: SI.com's Richard Deitsch noted ESPN's Sergio Dipp has been "assigned to report" for the English-language broadcast of Patriots-Raiders in Mexico City on Nov. 19. Dipp’s reports will be on "SportsCenter" and "Sunday NFL Countdown" that day. Dipp "garnered national attention on Sept. 11 for his awkward first quarter report" on Broncos coach Vance Joseph during a "MNF" broadcast (SI.com, 10/4).
DALE YEAH: In N.Y., Juliet Macur profiles Dallas-based WFAA-ABC anchor Dale Hansen, who has become an "unlikely viral video star at age 69." Facebook, Twitter and pop culture sites have "helped to disseminate the folksy commentaries Hansen delivers," and his words have "regularly traveled far and wide." He has a segment called “Hansen: Unplugged,” that has run on WFAA for years. His riffs have made him "something of an outlier: a local newsman with a national voice, a champion for social issues in a stick-to-sports world, a liberal voice in a deeply red state that’s as passionate about its sports as it is its politics." Hansen has done "little to promote, or embrace, his rising social media celebrity" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/5).
SPEED OF THE GAME: Fox' Joe Buck said of the difficulty calling golf for its knowledgeable fanbase, "That's the big, scary monster in the closet: the really hardcore golf fan. So I find myself really taking my time and making sure that what comes out of my mouth is factually correct. Things happen way faster than you might think. I walk out of the tower at the end of the day ready to keel over. Compared to the other sports I cover, golf is way faster, way more intricate and way more mentally taxing" (GOLF magazine, 11/'17 issue).
DYNAMIC DUO: AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Alex Putterman noted by any definition, CBS' Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson have "chemistry, even only a few weeks into their first season back together" calling "The SEC on CBS." They "crack jokes with each other on-air, veering off-topic and then snapping back to football." They are "not afraid to tease each other or to get goofy." Nessler and Danielson’s "easy relationship and genuine bond makes their broadcasts light and easy to listen to" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 10/3).
