In N.Y. Kevin Draper writes "plenty of questions remain" after former ESPN President John Skipper's interview with author Jim Miller detailing his drug use and exit from the company. Skipper "did not say how long he had been using cocaine, or whether he reported the extortion plot to law enforcement." Did Skipper, Disney Chair & CEO Bob Iger or ESPN "report the extortion attempt to law enforcement?" Skipper said that his cocaine problem "didn’t affect his professional work," but if he "hadn’t been using would he have handled the company’s numerous challenges over his six-year tenure any differently?" Finally, is this the "final shoe to drop," or will news about Skipper "continue dribbling out?" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/16).
FREE AGENT FRENZY: In Boston, Chad Finn notes during ESPN's coverage of NFL free agency, the net "had nine hosts or analysts shoehorned onto its set at once." But the coverage "ran surprisingly smoothly," with host Trey Wingo, in particular, "directing traffic adeptly enough that all of the analysts seemed to get enough time to have their say." It had the "vibe of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage, with graphics of the best players available at each position" and "immediate reaction to the various moves." Finn: "The longer I watched, the more I became convinced that ESPN views the official beginning of free agency as an event it can own -- and in a way that it can no longer own the draft" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/16).
JOB WELL DONE: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes MSG's Steve Cangialosi is "having his best season" in his seventh year as Devils' play-by-play man. After "playing it straight but flat in his first few seasons," Cangialosi’s "escalated energy and input is heard as confident, credible and enjoyable." Cangialosi and Ken Daneyko now "regularly, easily swap good thoughts and observations" (N.Y. POST, 3/16).
