The AP's Doug Feinberg reports Ryan Ruocco is joining Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe on ESPN's "lead announcing team" for women's college basketball. Ruocco has "worked with Lobo and Rowe on the network's WNBA coverage for the past eight years." He replaces Adam Amin, who left ESPN in May to work at Fox. Having worked with Lobo and Rowe for "so many years in the WNBA gives Ruocco a huge comfort level heading into the upcoming college season" (AP, 11/20).
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS: In DC, Les Carpenter notes following former NFLer Aqib Talib's debut calling the Lions-Washington game last Sunday, the word "several Fox people have used to describe him is 'raw.'" Fox last spring "asked Talib to do color commentary while watching half of a 49ers-Saints game." Talib's audition was "not perfect," yet there was enough for Fox Sports Senior VP Jacob Ullmanto to "see 'something there was different.'" So the net told Talib that it "would try to find him on a game or two in the fall." That is "why Fox was giving him an opportunity on a Sunday when the network had an extra game." Still, it "came without promises" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/20).
TOUGH TIMES AT ESPN: In N.Y., Samantha Previte noted Katie Nolan "admits she regrets her recent deal with ESPN in light of recent events." Nolan during Tuesday's episode of her "Sports? with Katie Nolan" podcast told fans that she was "blindsided by the network's mass layoffs, which impacted her producer and co-host, Ashley Braband." Nolan "agreed to her new ESPN contract before the layoffs" (N.Y. POST, 11/19).
