In Buffalo, Alan Pergament notes Sabres play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret "doesn't plan to follow" NBC Sports NHL announcer Mike Emrick "out the door" if the next NHL season begins in January. The 78-year-old Jeanneret in April said that he "had the feeling that next season -- which will be his 50th with the team -- will be his last hurrah." He "still expects to return with some caveats," as at this moment, he is "not planning to retire" (BUFFALO NEWS, 10/20).
STEPPING UP: In N.Y., Andrew Marchand writes Joe Davis "did well, pinch-hitting for Joe Buck on Game 7 of the NLCS on Fox." Buck "didn't work the game" since he called Buccaneers-Packers earlier Sunday. Davis "did a good job of picking up the storylines where they were and put exclamation points on the big calls." It "couldn't have hurt that he is the Dodgers' regular season play-by-play man" (N.Y. POST, 10/20).
TALES OF A ROOKIE BROADCASTER: In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes Fox' Jonathan Vilma is "all of six games into his NFL TV career," and so "we'll continue to say there's no reason to think he won't get better, but there's also plenty of room for improvement." Vilma has a "good eye and can be insightful, so we'll give him a pass on small mistakes for now." But he also is capable of "filling empty air with more empty air" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/20).
MAKING AMENDS: In S.F., Ann Killion notes NBC's Al Michaels "wants to make it clear that he’s not opposed to masks," because he "knows that his words in the Oct. 4 Sunday Night Football broadcast of a 49ers game had been viewed by some as being anti-mask." So during Rams-49ers on Sunday, Michaels and partner Cris Collinsworth "wore masks during the game and didn’t comment about them." Michaels said that his "discomfort in his previous stint at Levi’s Stadium came because no other stadium in the NFL has asked broadcasters to wear masks in the booth" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/20).
