Fox Sports views Meyer as a notable former coach who could raise its pregame show's profilegetty images
SPORTING NEWS' Michael McCarthy cited sources as saying that Fox is "close to finalizing a deal to hire" former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer as its "star college football analyst." Sources said that Meyer is "being given the choice to work either as a color commentator in the game booth or as a studio analyst at Fox." The net "envisions Meyer as the kind of big-time coaching name/TV talent who could potentially put its 'Fox College Football Pregame' show on par" with ESPN's "College GameDay." If Meyer "still has his eye on coaching again," he can "use TV as a way station to get his health in order and pick up a fat paycheck" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/17).
IN THE SADDLE: In Indianapolis, Joel Erickson reported the Colts officially named Matt Taylor their radio play-by-play announcer after telling him he had "gotten the job before the playoffs started." Taylor was "thrust into the play-by-play chair in August" following Bob Lamey's resignation after using a racial slur off the air. That was when Taylor "knew this Colts season was an audition for the full-time job he's always wanted" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/18).
SCARE IN THE AIR: ESPN "Sunday NFL Countdown" host Sam Ponder suffered a seizure on a flight that caused her to miss the Week 17 show, and she is "still not sure" what caused the scare. Ponder: "It was totally out of nowhere. The guy next to me saw me shaking, but I don't remember any of it." Ponder said there has "already been good to come out of it." She said, "Remembering to slow down and be grateful for every interaction. ... It just puts everything in perspective" (N.Y. POST, 1/18).
NOTES: Tennis player Nick Kyrgios "made his debut" as a commentator on Australia's Channel 9 during Friday's Roger Federer-Taylor Fritz Australian Open match. Kyrgios, who lost in the first round of the event, "offered insights" into Federer's style of play and "unsurprisingly a fair bit of humor" as well (CNN.com, 1/18)....Former Univ. of Louisville men's basketball coach David Padgett is working several games this season for ESPN "as a color analyst." He debuted during a Rhode Island-Saint Louis game earlier this month and said, "When I left I really kind of thought to myself, 'Man, that was a lot of fun.' I really enjoyed it even more so that I thought I would" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 1/17)....The L.A. Times named ESPN's Arash Markazi as Sports Enterprise Reporter and Page 2 Columnist. Markazi "spent the past nine years" with ESPN (LATIMES.com, 1/15).
