In N.Y., Billy Witz notes former Yankees manager Joe Girardi yesterday "moved into a new role" as a studio analyst for MLB Network. But he "acknowledged that his critiques in front of camera were unlikely to have hard edges to them." Girardi has "aspirations of managing again and should be a prime candidate somewhere next season." So there seems "little point in publicly laying bare the shortcomings of a player you might soon be managing" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/8).
ON THE PLUS SIDE: EMJ Capital analyst Eric Jackson wrote of plans for the upcoming ESPN+ streaming service, "I don’t think $DIS expects to make much from ESPN+ -- at least for first few years. It's a sandbox. If they get any subs, it will be like the incremental benefit of being in a skinny bundle on PlayStation Vue. Then they can say it helped 'abate' linear sub losses. I was surprised they priced it at $5/month. Given that it doesn't really matter whether they get subs from it or not (compared to sandboxing it), why not experiment with $2/month?" Media writer Robert Seidman responded, "I agree about the sandbox. I'm a little more 'we'll see' ... re: expectations, but am coming around to thinking 'so what if all it is is a way to showcase the technology to leagues, conferences and schools?'" (TWITTER.com, 2/7).
SHOOT THE J: In Washington, Jim Meehan noted last week's Gonzaga-San Diego game was the "first of four" Gonzaga contests to be "televised on J Sports in Japan, via an agreement with Root Sports/KHQ through Metta Sport." The reason -- Gonzaga F Rui Hachimura -- who has a "huge following in his native Japan." Gonzaga-Pacific tonight will be "televised on a tape-delay basis and on over-the-top (OTT) platforms to 6.5 million households in Japan." Gonzaga's home games against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 15 and Pepperdine on Feb. 17 also will "air live on J Sports, which is only available to subscribers in Japan" (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 2/7).
