ESPN is bringing back Matt Vasgersian and Alex Rodriguez as the voices of “Sunday Night Baseball," and in Chicago, Phil Rosenthal wrote the "non-move makes clear" how ESPN regards MLB’s "weekly national prime-time showcase game -- something to be talked over rather than talked about." The “SNB” telecast is "more talk show than ballgame," and what "happens on the field tends to be the backdrop." Vasgersian "can be a solid play-by-play man," but A-Rod's "pregame and postgame work on Fox is far better than his hit-or-miss in-game ESPN contributions" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/20).
ON-AIR CHEMISTRY: GOLFWEEK's Adam Woodard writes "Golf Today" has "thrived" under the newly hired Shane Bacon and co-host Damon Hack. With Anna Whiteley and Jimmy Roberts hosting on Monday and Tuesday and Bacon and Hack "steering the ship through the weekend," the new show -- which replaced "Morning Drive" -- has been a "bright spot." It has the "kind of repartee you can come to expect for two hours a day Wednesday-Sunday from Golf Channel’s blossoming bromance." Woodard: "It’s not forced. It’s not manipulated. It’s natural, and it’s carrying the show through its chaotic infancy" (GOLFWEEK.com, 1/21).
AHEAD OF ITS TIME? ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser noted Fox 25 years ago introduced the "glowing puck in their NHL broadcast in hope of drawing casual viewers." Many hockey fans "hated the idea," but Kornheiser said, "Maybe the glowing puck wasn’t a success because it was before its time. Golf is doing pretty well with the colored tracer that shows the flight of a golf shot. And the single greatest technological innovation in the history of American sports is the yellow first-down line, which was created by the folks who gave us this puck” (“PTI,” ESPN, 1/20).
