Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania formally announced he is joining The Athletic and Stadium as Senior NBA Insider/Writer and Analyst later this month. He spent the past three years at Yahoo. Charania wrote, "Thank you to all of the Yahoo Sports executives, editors Johnny Ludden and Joe Garza and the rest of the group" (INSTAGRAM.com, 8/14). Stadium also officially announced the additions of Jeff Goodman and Brett McMurphy as college basketball and college football reporters, respectively (TWITTER.com, 8/14). YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel tweeted, "Congrats to Shams. Will miss working with him, but his future is incredibly bright. Great guy, hard worker, terrific teammate" (TWITTER.com, 8/14).
Olbermann's call alongside Perez and Kurkjian was not well-received by a significant amount of fansKEITH OLBERMANN
LIGHTNING ROD: YAHOO SPORTS' Charles Cwik noted ESPN put Keith Olbermann in the booth for Mets-Yankees last night, and the move was "met with mostly negative reactions." WFAN's Mike Francesa tweeted ESPN's booth lineup was a "gift to local radio." While Francesa "probably enjoyed taking a swipe at Olbermann, he may have had another reason for sending that tweet." WFAN has Yankees rights, so Francesa was also "supporting his employer" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/13). In Newark, Chris Ryan noted some observers "pointed to politics as a reason for ESPN making a bad choice," and others "just hated Olbermann's play-by-play style" (NJ.com, 8/14). MLB.com's Aimee Sachs tweeted, "Complaining that it’s unfair ESPN has Keith Olbermann calling a ballgame years after they fired Curt Schilling 'for being conservative' is not a valid argument. Curt Schilling was not fired for *being* conservative; he was fired for offensive, frankly hateful social media posts" (TWITTER.com, 8/13).
GOOD IN GREEN: THE ATHLETIC's Jared Weiss writes Celtics TV analyst Brian Scalabrine is "one of the rare players who has become more famous in retirement." Scalabrine's debut as an analyst "came only days after he finished playing" in '12, and he "seemed like a natural." Most athletes transitioning to TV have to "learn on the job," but Scalabrine "lit up the screen with energy, comedy and gravitas." Still, Scalabrine had to "become a professional, figuring out how to squeeze his exuberance and wealth of basketball knowledge into tight TV segments." Celtics play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman said, “This is what separates Scal from 99 percent of the guys that I’ve worked with: Scal is willing to listen. He doesn’t come into the game with a huge ego that he understands it and you don’t or that he knows how to do television and you don’t. Scal is wide open to constructive criticism. He seeks it out. He works at the craft” (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/14).
NOTES: BROADCASTING & CABLE's Jon Lafayette noted NBC Sports Chicago and the White Sox have "produced a documentary" about longtime White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson. Harrelson is in his "final year broadcasting White Sox games" and the film, "Hawk," chronicles his "eight decades in baseball" and is set to debut on the RSN on Sept. 13. (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 8/13)....SB Nation has hired Natalie Weiner to cover the NFL and general sports. Weiner most recently covered sports and culture at Bleacher Report (THE DAILY)....In DC, Scott Allen noted WTEM-AM's morning drive-time show featuring Chris Cooley and Kevin Sheehan is "no more" as Sheehan and the station are "parting ways." "Cooley & Kevin" debuted in May '16, but had been off the air since Maryland-based Urban One "assumed operational control" of the station on Aug. 1, "two months after the sale" of Redskins Owner Daniel Snyder’s flagship radio property (WASHINGTON POST, 8/14).
