In Boston, Chad Finn writes NESN's "increasing habit of cutting it close coming back from commercial breaks is extremely annoying" on Red Sox broadcasts. When the broadcast returned from a commercial break Wednesday night, Red Sox P Rick Porcello was already in his windup and "about to deliver a meatball" that Rays CF Kevin Kiermaier would hit for a home run. They are going to "miss something important at some point" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/2).
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal notes Cubs special assistant and ESPN analyst David Ross joined fellow analyst Eduardo Perez and play-by-play man Jon Sciambi on Wednesday's Cubs-Cardinals telecast on ESPN. There is a "big difference" between being an alumnus of a team and being on its payroll. It is "not as though Ross was uncritical of the Cubs." But it is also "not as though Ross is irreplaceable" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/2).
BULL MARKET: St. Petersburg-based WDAE-AM announced Wednesday it will broadcast USF football games the next three seasons, starting this fall. In Tampa, Joey Knight noted there is no word yet if Univ. of Florida football games "will be broadcast locally." The network "no longer will carry Gator contests." All USF games will be carried on the WDAE stations except when a conflict arises with Rays games (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/31).
