Starting November 5th, Around the Horn is going to be looking much different on ESPN. The show will be moving to ESPN’s New York studios (home to First Take and Get Up, among other shows) and will be launching new graphics, new music, and will begin to include augmented reality into the show.

Here’s a clip from ESPN about the new Around the Horn, which shows off some of the new augmented reality technology they’ll be using.

The augmented reality stuff sounds a bit ambitious, but seems like it could work out pretty well for a show like ATH. This explanation of how it will be used, complete with a hilarious quote from Reali, sounds promising.

As the show progresses from its opening First Word segment through its signature Showdown and Facetime ending, the panelists’ images will appear in-studio with Reali and can be enlarged, shrunk, isolated and more. In addition, the higher scoring panelists who advance through the daily competition will transition forward closer to Reali.

From his touchscreen controls, Reali will continue to mute and award – or take away – points, while now having the ability to use new social media-inspired filters to react to the arguments made by the panel.

“Augmented reality is something we’ve wanted to try for years. A show with an impeccable scoring system and an immaculately wielded mute button just begs for that type of total immersion. The technology of this studio will take the video-game element of Around The Horn to the next level while also enhancing the debate and interplay of our panel,” said Reali, who has hosted more than 3,300 shows since being named to the role in February 2004. “I’m also looking forward to the new touchscreen console and moving around a bit, which will add to the pace and energy of the show.”

sdsfsdf

And here’s the new theme, which sounds…well, a bit less “fun” than the current theme.

The network is also releasing a second-screen experience for ATH, which includes stats from the show’s history and the Behind the Horn clips that populate the show’s Twitter account.

The changes have been in the works for awhile, reports John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, who talked to ESPN Production’s senior director of original content Alex Tyner about the new look for ATH, but the augmented reality technology wasn’t sophisticated enough at the time talks began.

“Two years ago, the proposed changes made too much use of the virtual technology,” Tyner said. “It was a little too far-flung. And really the goal was always like at the core it’s got to be about Tony and the four people. It has to be about their relationship. We can’t get caught up in the virtual world and getting pulled away and all this stuff.”

Around the Horn has avoided major changes during much of its time on the air. The format has remained relatively consistent – a host and four guests talk about the sports topics of the day, scoring points on an arbitrary basis that don’t matter, and whoever the winner is at the end of the half hour get some time to talk about whatever they want. Adding new augmented reality technology theoretically won’t change the show’s core formatting, but it might make things seem a bit fresher going forward.

[ESPN]

The post Significant changes are coming to Around the Horn, including a new studio, augmented reality, and updated graphics appeared first on Awful Announcing.

A championship is the most coveted prize in the world of professional wrestling. When a wrestler becomes the champion, they don’t *really* win that title. I know that’s not exactly breaking news. What it does mean, though, is that the powers that be in World Wrestling Entertainment (or whatever the company is) believe in that person to represent the company as the champion in their storylines.

Think about when you were a kid. I’m sure we’ve all got a story like mine. At WrestleMania 4 in 1987, when I was about six and a half years old, there was the tournament to crown a new WWF Champion. By that point, my favorite guy was “Macho Man” Randy Savage. I can remember having a Macho Man shirt and all of the action figures that every kid had, and I was rooting for him. When the night was over, Savage was holding the WWF Championship above his head after he beat Ted Dibiase, thanks to Hulk Hogan watching Savage’s back and preventing Andre the Giant from interfering. I also remember jumping into the arms of my older cousins that were watching with me and celebrating like my favorite sports teams won championships. I did get to experience that with the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis (now LA) Rams years later, but at that moment, it was all about the Macho Man for me.

Fast forward to today. After watching wrestling for over 30 years and writing about it for nearly 20 years, I don’t really mark out when somebody wins a title, but I know there’s probably some kid out there that is reacting to something the same way that I did with Macho Man. That’s why it’s important that WWE creates those big moments that can last a lifetime. I still get excited about title changes too. I’m happy for some of the guys, like when Kevin Owens won the Universal Title two years ago or AJ Styles won his first WWE Title two years ago. If a favorite wrestler of mine wins a title, that’s something that will remind me that’s why I’m still watching this stuff.

Every title change in WWE isn’t great. There are some bad decisions that make me scratch my head and wonder why, such as Jinder Mahal’s long reign as WWE Champion last year. I thought it was a bad decision. Smackdown was hurt because of it, but Smackdown has been better in the last year with AJ Styles as the WWE Champion. Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title reign was not well liked by most WWE fans. Lesnar held the Universal Championship for 504 days before dropping it to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam back in August. Since Lesnar defended that title less than ten times on TV/PPV over that long reign, it cheapened the title.

There have been plenty of joke champions in the history of the business, like WCW World Champion David Arquette, WCW World Champion Vince Russo (he booked himself to win it), WWE Women’s Champion Hervina (Harvey Whippleman)h and WCW Tag Team Champion Judy Bagwell, to name a handful.

Titles should mean something, and they will always remain a key part of wrestling stories. They are what every wrestler should want to have, whether it’s a major title or one of the others. When somebody wins a title, they should celebrate it as if it was the biggest moment of their career because for a lot of them, it is. Eddie Guerrero winning the WWE Title at No Way Out 2004 is one of the best title celebrations ever because of how far he came in his life to reach that moment.

What I’m here to do today is look at every title situation on Raw while commenting on how well WWE is booking a title, who the next challenger is (if a match has been announced), and who next champion could be.

Here’s a listing of all the titles available to WWE talent on their multiple brands.

Raw (4): Universal Championship, Intercontinental Champions, Raw Tag Team Championships, Raw Women’s Title.

Smackdown (4): WWE Championship, United States Championship, Smackdown Tag Team Championships, Smackdown Women’s Title.

205 Live (1): Cruiserweight Championship.

NXT (4): NXT Championship, North American Championship, NXT Tag Team Championships, NXT Women’s Championship.

NXT UK (3): UK Champion, NXT UK Women’s Champion, NXT UK Tag Team Champions.

Should they add more titles? I’m not sure, because there are clearly a lot of championships today. I would support WWE introducing Women’s Tag Team Titles, as long as champions would be allowed to appear on both brands while they have the titles. I think that’s a cool way to make the titles seem unique and we could get some pretty good matches out of it. There have been Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles rumors for months, but that hasn’t happened. I would be fine with that, but I don’t think there’s a need for more than that, though.

This is part one of my breakdown of the title scenes in WWE. I’ll have a Smackdown and NXT breakdown later this week, likely on Wednesday.

Monday Night Raw

Universal Champion: Roman Reigns (champion since August 19, 2018 at SummerSlam)

Next Announced Title Defense: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel on November 2.

Championship Outlook: I don’t expect Reigns to lose the title at Crown Jewel or at any point before the end of the year. I feel like this is going to be a very long title reign for Roman, continuing to establish him as “the guy” in WWE. We all know that’s how Vince McMahon sees him since Reigns has main evented the last four WrestleManias. I can see him holding the title all the way to the next WrestleMania and even past it, perhaps even getting to the one year mark. If I had to bet, I’d say he’s the champion until at least until WrestleMania as long as he’s healthy.

Possible Future Champions: Braun Strowman, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, or Bobby Lashley.

I don’t know when or who, but if I had to pick I’d lean towards Strowman just because he’s been chasing that title for a over a year now. Ambrose has a shot if he turns heel. If McIntyre or Lashley gets hot as a heel, then either one of them could be the guy. I think Rollins has a chance if they do a Shield triple threat at WrestleMania for the Universal Title and Rollins wins it that way. That’s what I would do anyway.

Raw Women’s Champion: Ronda Rousey (champion since August 19, 2018 at SummerSlam)

Next Announced Title Defense: Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella at Evolution this Sunday, October 28.

Championship Outlook: The phrase “long term champion” comes to mind when talking about Rousey, who is undefeated in her singles career in WWE. Her only “loss” was at Money in the Bank when she challenged Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Title, but even then, it was Alexa Bliss cashing in on Jax and I don’t think it should be considered a loss for Rousey. I expect Rousey to get past Nikki Bella, though they may have a feud that continues past Evolution. I think Rousey will hold the title until WrestleMania, if not longer. This could be a one-year title reign for her.

Looking further ahead into her future, Rousey may be a part of Smackdown one year from now because of the reports that Fox wants Smackdown to be more “sports oriented” when it’s on Fox in October 2019. Some people have suggested that WWE wouldn’t have even got the Fox deal without Rousey under contract, so they will probably want her on there. I know Rousey has talked about wanting to have kids of her own with husband Travis Browne, but maybe she waits until 2020 or beyond for that.

Possible Future Champions: Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, or Natalya.

The reason I have Charlotte and Becky as the first two names is because I think one of them will win the women’s Royal Rumble next year and then move to Raw to challenge Rousey for her title at WrestleMania. Nia Jax could be a contender again if WWE turns her heel. It’s an easy story to tell with Jax becoming a dominant monster. Shayna Baszler has impressed in NXT, is likely due for a main roster call up, and since she’s one of Ronda’s best friends, she could go after Rousey. Natalya is an ally of Rousey that could turn heel at any time.

It’s tough to pick a name because I expect Rousey’s reign as champion to be long. I’ll go with Charlotte as the pick for now.

Intercontinental Champion: Seth Rollins (champion since August 19, 2018 at SummerSlam)

Next Announced Title Defense: None. Rollins is part of the World Cup at Crown Jewel, so he’s not defending the title.

Championship Outlook: This is Seth’s second IC Title reign this year. The first reign had a few memorable title defenses, but this title reign has seen him being booked as a forgotten champion since he was in a tag match at Hell in a Cell last month and he’s in the World Cup in two weeks. I think Rollins is a guy that is above the title at this point. I’d rather see him lose it, then focus on becoming Universal Champion because he should be a main event singles guy rather than just the IC Champion. I can see him losing the title before the end of the year.

Possible Future Champions: Elias, Bobby Lashley, Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, or Dean Ambrose.

Elias immediately comes to mind because it would give him some credibility since he hasn’t won that many big matches in his WWE career. Using the title to elevate a wrestler is a smart move. I know he’s lost to Rollins in the past, but they can always do it again with Elias going over the next time. Lashley is a solid choice since he’s in the heel role now. I thought Finn Balor should have won the IC Title earlier in the year since it’s been two years since he had a title. Let’s see him as IC Champ soon. McIntyre is a possibility since he’s wrestled Rollins so many times. Baron Corbin was a forgetful US Champion on Smackdown and maybe he’ll be a forgetful IC Champion on Raw too. I’m bored by him. I listed Ambrose because it makes sense for him to turn heel on Rollins, but I think Rollins will drop the title before that.

If I had to pick one, Elias is the best choice to take it from Rollins in December at the TLC PPV although if it’s before that, then that’s even better. I’d like the title to be off Rollins before the Royal Rumble match.

Raw Tag Team Champions: Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre (champions since September 3, 2018 edition of Raw)

Next Announced Title Defense: None. Ziggler is in the World Cup tournament at Crown Jewel while McIntyre is not.

Championship Outlook: The first time Raw Tag Team Champions are in control of a division that has really struggled this year. The team of Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy ended due to Matt possibly retiring due to a hip/leg injury. The “B Team” duo of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel were champions that won in a flukish manner, so they didn’t have a lot of credibility. It seems like Ziggler and McIntyre were just thrown together to try to give some credibility to the division, even though they don’t really defend the titles much at all.

Possible Future Champions: Authors of Pain (AOP), The Revival, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose

I think sooner or later, WWE must get the tag team titles on AOP. They are a true tag team that can dominate the division for years since they are guys in their mid-20s and work so well together as a dominant tag team. The Revival have been booked inconsistently since they made their debut on the main roster. I don’t know if they are ever going to get to the title level, but they should be there. I put Rollins and Ambrose on the list because they seem to wrestle McIntyre and Ziggler every week in singles or tag matches anyway. I’d rather not see them win the gold, though. Let another team do it.

The problem with Raw’s tag team division is the lack of face teams. Are Bobby Roode and Chad Gable or The B Team the most credible face teams right now? I guess they are right now, but that’s not very strong.

It’s not a matter of “if” the AOP wins the titles, but when. I think it will probably happen within the next month or two.

Final Thoughts

This is a column I want to do about every three months, and I’ll try to remember that and hammer out another edition before the Royal Rumble next year.

I will look at the Smackdown, 205 Live, and NXT Title situations in a column likely to be posted later this week. Then on Friday, I’ll be back for some predictions for the women’s only Evolution pay-per-view. It should be an interesting week in the WWE Universe.

The post A breakdown of every championship on WWE Raw and who the next champions could be appeared first on Awful Announcing.

2018 World Series | FOX Sports
Boston Red Sox vs Los Angeles Dodgers

FOX Broadcast Talent
FOX: Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal & Tom Verducci
FOX Pregame: Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas, Dontrelle Willis
FOX Deportes: Rolando Nichols, Edgar Gonzales & Carlos Alvarez

ESPN Radio Broadcasts
ESPN Radio (SiriusXM 89): Dan Shulman, Chris Singleton & Buster Olney
ESPN Deportes Radio: Eduardo Ortega, Orlando Hernandez, Renato Bermudez & Jose Francisco Rivera

Other Broadcasts
Streaming: FOX Sports Go, MLB.TV
MLB International: Matt Vasgersian, Buck Martinez
Red Sox Radio (SiriusXM 177): Joe Castiglione, Tim Neverett, Lou Merloni
Dodgers Radio (SiriusXM 184): Charley Steiner, Rick Monday

World Series TV Schedule
Pregame: FOX at 7:30 p.m.; Game 5 at 8:00 p.m.

Game 1: Tuesday, October 23 – at Fenway Park, Boston, FOX/ESPNR 8:09 p.m.
Game 2: Wednesday, October 24 – at Fenway Park, Boston, FOX/ESPNR 8:09 p.m.
Game 3: Friday, October 26 – at Dodger Stadium, LA, FOX/ESPNR 8:09 p.m.
Game 4: Saturday, October 27 – at Dodger Stadium, LA, FOX/ESPNR 8:09 p.m.
Game 5*: Sunday, October 28 – at Dodger Stadium, LA, FOX/ESPNR 8:15 p.m.
Game 6*: Tuesday, October 30 – at Fenway Park, Boston, FOX/ESPNR 8:09 p.m.
Game 7*: Wednesday, October 31 – at Fenway Park, Boston, FOX/ESPNR 8:09 p.m.

*if necessary

h/t Sammy!

The post Your 2018 World Series announcing schedule appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Earlier this summer, WFAN host Maggie Gray went off on Knicks owner (and MSG head) James Dolan after Dolan released a hacky song many assumed to be about sexual misconduct allegations against his former friend Harvey Weinstein.

Now, MSG is reportedly retaliating against WFAN and Entercom, WFAN’s parent, via a variety of measures, including not allowing Knicks or Rangers players to appear on WFAN. This is via Andrew Marchand’s story in the New York Post:

In retaliation for a summer rant by WFAN host Maggie Gray, Dolan’s MSG has ordered all of its businesses across the country to shut down working with Entercom and banned Knicks and Rangers players, as well as MSG broadcasters and personnel, from appearing on the station, according to officials involved in the decision.

In Gray’s summer rant, she called Dolan a “vile piece of trash,” among other things. The Dolan takedown was brought on because Dolan, with his band, JD and the Straight Shot, released a song called, “I Should’ve Known,” perceived to be about producer Harvey Weinstein, his longtime friend, who has been accused of raping and sexually harassing dozens of women. Gray thought it was hypocritical in light of the Garden having been found liable for a hostile work environment in the Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment suit in 2007.

Gray’s rant did get a touch personal, and it also contained some quality burns:

“You are a vile piece of trash,” Gray said about the 63-year-old Dolan on the show she hosts with Chris Carlin and Bart Scott. “You let Isiah Thomas call this woman [Anucha Browne Sanders] the b-word so many times she sued your ass, and she won! And then what did you do? In 2015, you brought Isiah Thomas back into the building to run the Liberty of the WNBA. You are a human embodiment of an online troll. People on Twitter couldn’t even come up with something that stupid …

“I might never get back into The Garden, even with a press pass, after this, and I don’t give a crap. I’d rather not step into that building that’s owned by this hypocrite and this disgusting, disgusting human. Yeah, you should have known. You did know. I forgot for 30 seconds just how embarrassing James Dolan is. Never again. Take your stupid song and everything you stand for, and shove it up your colossal rear end. I’m done with the Knicks.”

Gray ended up apologizing on the air for the tone of her comments last week, while standing by the content, though apparently that didn’t sway Dolan from his revenge quest. Via the Post, this is the MSG statement on the matter:

“Entercom aired a hate-filled rant directed towards MSG, its employees and its Executive Chairman in August of this year,” Kim Kerns, an MSG spokesperson, told The Post. “They chose to take no action to remedy this until the start of this season. Only after learning they would not receive special access to players and coaches did they elect to offer an insincere half-hearted apology. We wish them no ill will. However, we decline to carry on a business relationship. We will continue to afford Entercom league-mandated access only.”

It actually kind of feels like they wish Entercom some ill will, at least, doesn’t it?

Speaking of ill will, we have former WFAN personality Mike Francesa, who has always been quite fond of Dolan, and who decided to go off on a massive rant today in the wake of this report.

Look out below! The big fella is in a bad mood today, and I think we know why if you saw my last RT. pic.twitter.com/ukslAZ8dj3

— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) October 22, 2018

Take a peek under here and you'll find @MaggieGray. pic.twitter.com/nI9OXIpgjn

— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) October 22, 2018

So, we have James Dolan being so thin-skinned that he can’t let it go when a radio host decides to take him to task for his historical lack of institutional control when it comes to sexual harassment that he wages a war on an entire broadcasting company, even after an apology. We have Mike Francesa ranting at clouds. And we have WFAN unable to bring on players from either the Knicks (who are bad) or the Rangers (currently in last place in their division.)

In other words, a Monday in New York.

[New York Post]

The post James Dolan’s MSG is reportedly at war with WFAN and Entercom over Maggie Gray’s withering Dolan rant appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Around this time last year, the NFL was embroiled in a seemingly never-ending news cycle of controversy, as President Trump attacked players who were protesting racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.

Things perhaps came to a head when Trump infamously called for players who protested to be “fired”:

Trump said, “Wouldn’t you like to see one of these owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired!’”

That led to a massive protest the next week, with some owners even joining in, sort of. It was a hot button issue that continued through the offseason as the NFL botched an ill-conceived effort to put an anthem policy in place while the President of the United States continued to take shots at the NFL and its broadcast partners.

Through it all, though, there’s apparently been another force at work attempting to fan the flames of this particular issue: Russian-linked Twitter trolls. That’s according to a Wall Street Journal report ($) from Andrew Beaton:

In the wake of Trump’s Sept. 22, 2017 speech, tweets about the NFL and the national anthem surged from accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency, the Russian and Kremlin-backed company accused of attempting to sow discord in the U.S.

On Sept. 23, 24 accounts almost simultaneously tweeted: “VIDEO: Trump SHREDS NFL Anthem Protesters!”

About eight hours later, the same 24 accounts wrote: “Trump Supporters SACK NFL Commish Roger Goodell For Attacking Trump.”

The same accounts, and others connected to the IRA, continued to blast out tweets on the subject—predominantly criticizing the protests—with thousands of tweets in the days that followed.

The post Russian Twitter trolls reportedly helped stir up the NFL’s anthem debate appeared first on Awful Announcing.

On Monday, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that Mike Francesa threatened to quit his WFAN radio show or $8.99-per-month “Mike’s On” app. This comes after reports that James Dolan and MSG are at war with WFAN and Entercom, following Maggie Gray’s rant on Dolan in August.

Francesa proceeded to throw Gray — his WFAN co-worker — under the bus on Monday, and then suggested he may quit his WFAN afternoon radio show.

Francesa — who returned to FAN in May for what sources described as a significant pay cut — said he hasn’t reached a contract agreement with Entercom, FAN’s parent company. Often in broadcasting, sides will agree to the parameters of a deal before the paperwork is completed.

“We haven’t really come to a deal yet, which makes me think that maybe the app and show don’t work together and that’s something we’re going to have to adjust one way or the other,” Francesa said as he voiced his opinion about The Post’s story detailing the Madison Square Garden boycott of FAN and its parent company, Entercom.

Later on Monday, Francesa said that the reports he was considering to quit the app were incorrect.

“For the totally dense in the media. The Mike’s On app is here to stay. I am completely committed to its continued success,” Francesa tweeted on Monday night.

For the totally dense in the media. The Mike's On app is here to stay. I am completely committed to its continued success.

— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) October 23, 2018

Francesa had a brief retirement from radio in December, before returning to WFAN in May, in what he called an “uncomfortable” situation after unseating Gray, Chris Carlin, and Bart Scott.

“I knew it was going to be uncomfortable, but maybe it’s been more uncomfortable than I thought,” Francesa said. “Probably has been.”

So, Francesa’s future at WFAN appears to be up in the air, but he claims to be committed to the $8.99/month app. But it’s hard to see that holding up as a long-term solution… because people don’t like paying $8.99/month to hear sports radio takes (especially from a guy they’ve been hearing so long for free).

How many people do you know who have the Mike's On app?

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) October 23, 2018

[NY Post]

The post Mike Francesa doesn’t have a contract with WFAN, hints he could leave the station in favor of focusing on his app appeared first on Awful Announcing.

All Times Eastern

College Football
Funbelt
Troy at South Alabama — ESPN2, 8 p.m.

B1G Football Coaches Press Conference — Big Ten Network, 11:30 a.m.
B1G Football Coaches Press Conference — Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
College Football Live — ESPN2, 4:30 p.m.
B1G Football & Beyond — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
College Football Playoff: Top 25 — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 9 p.m.
College Football: Inside Slant — FS1, 10:30 p.m.

College Soccer
Men’s
Maryland vs. Penn State — Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
Michigan State vs. Michigan — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.

eSports
eSports Athletes Rising: The FIFA 19 Continental Cup: The Underdog Champ — FS1, 7:30 p.m.

Golf
School of Golf: Chapter 27: Putting Pointers — Golf Channel, 7 p.m.
Golf Advistor Round Trip: Scottsdale — Golf Channel, 7:30 p.m.
Driver vs. Driver: Demo Day — Golf Channel, 9 p.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
UFC Reloaded: Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve — FS1, 8 p.m.

MLB Postseason
2018 World Series
Game 1, Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Los Angeles Dodgers at Boston Red Sox — Fox, 8:09 p.m.

MLB Now — MLB Network, 4 p.m.
Baseball Tonight: World Series — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
MLB Tonight: World Series — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
MLB on FS1 Pregame: World Series — FS1, 7 p.m.
MLB on Fox Pregame: World Series — Fox, 7:30 p.m.
MLB on FS1 Postgame: World Series — FS1, 11 p.m.
MLB Tonight: World Series — MLB Network, 11 p.m.

NASCAR
NASCAR America — NBCSN, 5 p.m.
NASCAR Race Hub — FS1, 6 p.m.

NBA
Philadelphia at Detroit — NBA TV/NBC Sports Philadelphia/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Clippers at New Orleans — Fox Sports West/Fox Sports New Orleans, 8 p.m.
Sacramento at Denver — NBA TV Canada/NBC Sports California/Altitude, 9 p.m.

The Jump — ESPN, 3 p.m.
The Starters — NBA TV, 6 p.m.
NBA TV Pregame — NBA TV, 6:30 p.m.
NBA GameTime Postgame — NBA TV, 9:30 p.m.
NBA GameTime — NBA TV, 10:30 p.m.
NBA GameTime — NBA TV, midnight

NFL
Good Morning Football live from London, England, United Kingdom — NFL Network, 7 a.m.
NFL Up to the Minute — NFL Network, 1 p.m.
NFL Live — ESPN, 1:30 p.m.
NFL Fantasy Live — NFL Network, 5 p.m.
NFL Power Rankings — NFL Network, 6 p.m.
21st & Prime — NFL Network, 6:30 p.m.
NFL 360 With Melissa Stark — NFL Network, 8 p.m.
Inside the NFL: 2018 Week 7 — Showtime, 9 p.m.
NFL Films Presents: The Defensive Line — FS1, 10:30 p.m.

NHL
Arizona at Columbus — Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
Florida at New York Rangers — Fox Sports Florida/MSG Network, 7 p.m.
Boston at Ottawa — NESN/TSN5/RDSI, 7:30 p.m.
Calgary at Montreal — Sportsnet Flames/TSN2/RDS, 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Nashville — NBCSN, 8 p.m.
Anaheim at Chicago — Fox Sports Prime Ticket/NBC Sports Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Los Angeles at Dallas — KCOP/Fox Sports Southwest, 8:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Edmonton — AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh/Sportsnet One/TVA Sports, 9 p.m.

Hockey Central @ noon — Sportsnet/NHL Network, noon
NHL Now — NHL Network, 4 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Pre-Game Skate — NHL Network, 6 p.m.
Hockey Central Tonight — Sportsnet, 6:30 p.m.
NHL Live — NBCSN, 7 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Overtime — NBCSN, 10:45 p.m.
On the Fly — NHL Network, 11:30 p.m.

The post Viewing Picks for October 23, 2018 appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Given the performance of several of the broadcasters and announcing crews in this year’s MLB Postseason, we’ve decided to expand our annual series ranking the local MLB broadcasters into the 2018 MLB Postseason. With the World Series starting this week, we’re asking you to grade all of MLB’s Postseason broadcast teams, with the final rankings being released sometime next week (likely after the conclusion of the Fall Classic).

Now, some caveats.
-Grade each broadcast crew from A to F, with a score of 4 being given to an A grade all the way down to 0 for an F. Each broadcast crew’s final score will be an average of all of their grades, as we’ve always done it.
-I’m not including the Brian Anderson/Ron Darling/Dennis Eckersley trio that called the AL Wild Card game since Anderson and Darling called the ALDS and ALCS together. I figure that the grades for the two teams will be incredibly similar.
-I *am* including ESPN2’s Statcast broadcast of the NL Wild Card game in addition to ESPN’s main broadcast of the game.
-John Smoltz is being included *three* times with three different partners. Likewise, Bob Costas is included twice with two different partners.
-Remember, you’re grading the teams based on their quality this Postseason. If you normally love an announcer’s local work but haven’t liked their national work, or vice versa, have your grade reflect that.

Polling will close at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT on Friday, October 26th. This will give everyone enough time to watch the first two games of the World Series, and go from there if you want to adjust your score for Fox’s World Series crew.

Happy voting, and if you’re going to comment, please don’t be hateful. Moderating comments gives me heartburn.

ESPN

Jason Benetti, Eduardo Perez, Mike Petriello (NL Wild Card – Statcast feed)

Matt Vasgersian, Jessica Mendoza, Alex Rodriguez (NL Wild Card)

Fox Sports

Kenny Albert, David Cone, AJ Pierzynski (NL Division Series – Brewers vs Rockies, Games 1 & 2)

Joe Buck, John Smoltz (NL Championship Series, World Series)

Joe Davis, John Smoltz (NL Division Series – Dodgers vs Braves, Games 2-4)

MLB Network

Bob Costas, Jim Kaat (NL Division Series – Brewers vs Rockies, Game 3)

Bob Costas, John Smoltz (NL Division Series – Dodgers vs Braves, Game 1)

Turner Sports

Brian Anderson, Ron Darling (AL Division Series – Red Sox vs Yankees, AL Championship Series)

Don Orsillo, Dennis Eckersley (AL Division Series – Astros vs Indians)

The post Rate the 2018 MLB Postseason announcers appeared first on Awful Announcing.

When LeBron James sent the Lakers-Spurs game last night into overtime with a deep three, it didn’t take long for people to notice something almost went very wrong.

Tie game courtesy of the King!#LakeShow (: @SpectrumSN, NBA TV) pic.twitter.com/zh8QS7zoVy

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 23, 2018

You can’t quite catch it in that video, but here’s a better look:

oh my. LeBron called a timeout before the game-tying bomb and the Lakers didnt have any left. pic.twitter.com/HqZs7hqjb4

— LeRob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 23, 2018

The refs obviously weren’t going to give LeBron the tech for a nonexistent timeout in that situation, and he seemed to remember the lack of timeouts pretty quickly. (Perhaps his instinct in the wake of the Game 1 debacle is to call timeout regardless.)

But hey, in the moment, it’s an understandable mistake, and it was tough to catch live even for commentators. But after the game, as Chris Webber was running through the highlights on NBA TV, he wondered aloud whether the Lakers wanted to call a timeout there. Chris Webber.

TV gold: Chris Webber of all people slipping up on the highlight of Bron calling a timeout that he didn’t have… Webber didnt even realize it here, thirty minutes after it happened. CHRIS WEBBER… thought Bron… HAD A TIMEOUT LEFT. He can’t play this one off @awfulannouncing pic.twitter.com/KxAAExMVUU

— Austin Maida (@Maida904) October 23, 2018

It’s actually pretty understandable from Webber, who is essentially just calling the highlight here. But if there’s one thing Chris Webber probably doesn’t want to mix up, it’s how many timeouts a team has (or doesn’t have) remaining.

The post Chris Webber thought the Lakers might have wanted a timeout they didn’t have (and LeBron tried to call it) appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Since I wrote a mixed review of ESPN’s new Monday Night Football announcing setup, I’ve been kind of floored with the consistent and increasing amount of criticism the new setup has drawn. Surprisingly it’s not limited to sports talk or my social media echo chamber either. I’ve overheard people discussing it out at restaurants, bars, and parties, even a lot of my social circle, which generally avoids social media.

The reality is that a significant slice of the MNF audience believes the broadcast has taken a major step backwards. While no broadcast booth or announcer is universally liked (in fact most “A” booths usually have a healthy % of the viewing audience thinking they suck, it’s unavoidable), the constant and loud negative feedback has to be troubling for ESPN. Fans aren’t picking at the edges, they’re saying it’s flatly a bad broadcast, comparing it to regional games on Fox and CBS. That’s not what you want to hear about your nearly $2 billion annual investment.

I don't know how the MNF broadcast feels like a Fox/CBS C-level broadcast, but here we are. How did ESPN decide these were the people to represent the most important sports broadcast there is? Lol. Note: Tess is great. It's the other 2.

— Matt Clapp (@Matt2Clapp) October 23, 2018

Not very hot take: Tessitore overtalks incessantly, and both new MNF analysts are bad-to-very-bad.

— AG (@AndyGlockner) October 23, 2018

Halfway through year one of the new booth, we’re getting to the point where there seems to be some momentum towards ESPN making some tweaks. If they do, here are a few things they should be looking to improve.

Jason Witten is in over his head

By far the biggest problem. SB Nation dove deep on this last week. His performance dominates the online chatter and while he has made some progress, I’m not sure fans are going to come around.

Example of what I don't like about Jason Witten: He said of Eli Manning, "He's off to a great start. He's 8-for-8." Without the context of how short those passes have been. The Giants have punted on both possessions, and both punts came after short completions on third-and-long.

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) October 23, 2018

Witten makes mistakes, he’s inconsistent, gets tongue tied, and can be awkward at times. Given the frequency at which these issues have come up at the start of his broadcasting career, the blunders have almost become Witten’s brand (similar to Mike Carey’s brief stint as CBS rules analyst), with viewers on the lookout for his next error.

If Witten debuted with Fox or CBS doing regional games or even on ESPN’s college side, I imagine these rookie mistakes would go largely unnoticed. That’s not what happened, though, and Witten has yet to have a clean game. I’ve actually thought he’s improved, but the glaring errors are outweighing the improvements around the edges.

ESPN mic'd up Matt Ryan to make Jason Witten sound interesting.

— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) October 23, 2018

And, social media being what it is, those big mistakes are always going to pop more (and have more staying power) than the instances where Witten offers valuable and coherent insight.

According to Jason Witten, Aaron Rodgers pulled a rabbit out of his head, which would be REALLY magical #SFvsGB pic.twitter.com/ld5iH1ny3D

— Someone's An Idiot (@SomeonesAnIdiot) October 16, 2018

It’s early on, though, and I do see the upside ESPN sees in Witten. That said, I think he in particular is getting to a place where the dial test of negative sentiment about his performance is tanking. Even if it doesn’t work out for Witten (which is somehow a possibility, even this early on), Witten could still have a future in broadcasting, and even a successful one. Starting in one of the most visible slots in broadcasting just hasn’t given him the time he needs to get comfortable, and ESPN might not be able to afford to wait.

This whole Booger in a crane thing is just not working

Many have suggested that ESPN move Booger up to the booth. Would you be in favor of that move?

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 23, 2018

As I’m writing this, only 16% of respondents have a preference for McFarland staying in the crane. I honestly don’t really know what ESPN was going for with the two-and-a-half man booth. It’s clunky because all involved have to direct comments and questions to each other explicitly, and there are lulls in the broadcast at times when it’s not clear which of McFarland or Witten should be jumping in.

Both their work suffers, and Tessitore certainly has the added challenge of trying to gin up conversations when it’s unclear whether he’s directing a question to “Witt” or “Boog”. It’s a small touch, but after hearing both announcers names a few dozen times a game, you kind of realize it’s a necessary awkwardness born out of this odd setup.

Also this:

“BOOGER! GET OUT OF THE FREAKIN WAY!”pic.twitter.com/FhWbyVrSVI

— Laces Out (@LacesOutShow) October 23, 2018

McFarland has received better reviews than Witten, but he could just be benefiting from Witten setting the bar so low. If this was Tirico and Gruden with McFarland in the crane, would fans still embrace him? Some would, but I’m not quite there. If he does stay on, it feels like the crane will be gone, though.

Jason Witten and Booger McFarland both called Amari Cooper a "Number 1 receiver." What a terrible looks for ESPN.

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) October 23, 2018

Where did Lisa Salters go? 

Not much to say here other than with this new setup, Salters is getting way less airtime. It’s gotten a bit better, but you almost forget she’s there for long stretches of time. With Booger near the field, they often go to him for what he’s hearing or seeing instead of going to Salters, who has been doing this for decades and is regarded as one of the best in the industry.

The MNF broadcast still has no idea that that was a clear fumble. More worried about who’s getting most time on the mic. Embarrassing. Not to mention the best person on the team Lisa Salters cant buy a second of air time. Total joke ESPN.

— Willie (@WillieJungels) October 23, 2018

I’ve never been much of a sideline reporter enthusiast, but I miss Salters. It’s a shame she’s been more or less boxed out with the new setup.

Sponsorships are now a distraction 

I don’t even know where to start with this, but:

That’s 30 seconds of awkward, “WTF?” television brought to you by Old Spice. Good stuff!

But that’s small potatoes compared to the halftime show, which is my new favorite thing. Every week, ESPN promotes their new halftime format as being COMMERCIAL FREE AND SPONSORED BY GENESIS! I love this because every week, people are baffled when there are commercials and then they google the halftime show and read our site. It’s a random traffic spike every week at 10pm ET and on one hand, I get their confusion/pain, but on the other hand, hell yeah, pageviews.

I’ve been walked through how ESPN believes that the halftime show is commercial free and let’s just say I, as well as most people, take great umbrage with that claim. Plus I’m not exactly sure who if anyone cares about the actual musical acts themselves.

Joe Tessitore is an acquired taste and many are not acquiring it

Tess' amazement reeks of "I've watched way too much MACtion"

— AG (@AndyGlockner) October 23, 2018

I debated putting this in here, as I like Tessitore and enjoyed him doing college games. I definitely think he’s a step up from McDonough, but a big step down from Tirico. That said, a good amount of folks don’t like his style, which involves going HARD on a lot of calls, in energy and volume.

It’s subjective, but with Tessitore some folks just don’t like his style (to them it comes across as manufactured), and would prefer a more subdued enthusiasm for the game he is calling. I don’t really view this as an issue because the amount of criticism aimed at Tessitore seems in line with what you’d see for most “A” team play-by-play announcers, but he is a new ingredient in the booth, so it’s tough to separate him from the overall criticism.

There isn’t an obvious solution for an overhaul

This is probably another article, but if you’re ESPN and you’re feeling the need to make a change, there isn’t much you can do other than move Booger up to the booth. Witten is making a lot of money (reportedly, over four million a year) and while you could move him to a studio role or to college games, there’s no spinning that as anything other than an L.

I’m really starting to hate how this MNF broadcast is produced as a whole.

Everything is so forced, pre-packaged.

How is it possible they’ve taken a step back after Gruden?

— Ikeyo (@Ikeyo_1985) October 23, 2018

The weird sponsorship stuff is money in the bank, so that’s not going anywhere.

From an announcing standpoint, I don’t think ESPN would or should move on from Tessitore. Who on ESPN’s current roster would you want to see in that role? A few years ago ESPN had Tirico, Nessler, and Musburger, so there were certainly some interesting options. But now, ESPN has tried options 1A and 1B with McDonough and now Tessitore. Mike Tirico isn’t walking through that door.

On the analyst side, if ESPN was confident in someone they had under contract, they’d have the job right now. And considering the amount of testing they reportedly did, it’s hard to imagine they have an instant improvement waiting in the wings; if they did, that person would probably just have the job. Even if Witten doesn’t work out, it’s unlikely they can just hope for the best with Tessitore and Booger. At that point it would probably mean another full reshuffle, both to add some star power and to try to wipe the slate clean.

Options that would be enticing include Peyton Manning (he is doing work with ESPN), Gruden (though if he were going to be fired by the Raiders that probably would have happened already), and perhaps Drew Brees. Unless Manning decides he’d like the big job (which could cut into his Nationwide-sponsored awkward bromance with Brad Paisley), ESPN doesn’t have a viable option that doesn’t require years of waiting. Unlike CBS or Fox which each have a depth chart of analysts they can elevate or demote based on performance, ESPN just has one permanent NFL booth, which hampers their ability to develop talent. And while some analysts can step right in and at the very least be entertaining (as Tony Romo did last year), that’s not always the case.

While I do think the scorn for the new booth has been a bit overblown, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the broadcast has struggled to replace Tirico, and now it’s really struggling to replace Gruden. Worse yet, people are taking notice, and it’s become one of the rare sports media topics that finds traction with a broader audience, which is the blessing and the curse of a property like Monday Night Football.

ESPN desperately doesn’t want negative chatter about MNF to snowball, but there’s no easy fix out there, unless they think getting rid of Booger’s crane is going to fix it. They’re in a tight spot here, and they might be stuck.

The post The new Monday Night Football broadcast has a lot of problems, and it’s more than just Jason Witten appeared first on Awful Announcing.

In news that will blow your mind, former NFL player and ex-ESPN analyst Merril Hoge has co-authored a book critical of CTE. The book, with the ridiculous title of Brainwashed: The Bad Science Behind CTE and the Plot to Destroy Football, was co-authored with pathologist Dr. Peter Cummings.

I am excited to announce the release of my new book, #BRAINWASHED!
BRAINWASHED delivers the TRUTH behind #concussions & #CTE.  To purchase your copy, CLICK HERE: https://t.co/lT0jM9hYea pic.twitter.com/KF10jLByEg

— Merril Hoge (@merrilhoge) October 23, 2018

In a Yahoo op-ed, Hoge and Cummings reveal that in actuality, they’re concerned about the science (sure they are!) behind CTE research and hits to the head and concussions are still (maybe) bad.

For the record, we’re not saying that CTE doesn’t exist or suggesting that taking repeated hits to the head is a good thing. Clearly, something is causing neurodegenerative disease in some athletes, and something is leaving CTE’s distinctive protein signature in their brains. But there’s so much we don’t know: what causes it, if impacts to the head are really involved, how much exposure is too much, what clinical symptoms (if any) these physical signs might cause later in life, if other factors are involved, and more. There are too many unanswered questions to justify the fear and hysteria.

They also criticized the media for “peddling sensationalism” regarding CTE, concussions, and head trauma, which sure is an interesting take.

One of the arguments people are making is, “What’s the harm in being overcautious about hits to the head?” Good question. If the work of people like Dr. McKee is wrong and the media is peddling sensationalism and fear backed up by flimsy data, the harm is the impact this anxiety can have on people — young, old, and in between. The dire picture painted by the media could have a negative impact on mental health outcomes in athletes.

For the record, Hoge filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Chicago Bears team doctor more than 20 years ago, eventually winning $1.45 million after a jury ruled that Dr. John Munsell, the doctor in question, should have told Hoge that concussions and head trauma were actually bad.

Munsell should have sat Hoge down and explained the risks involved with the injuries he suffered at a preseason game Aug. 22, 1994 against Kansas City, Fogel said.

“Athletes in all sports will play through aches and pains unless they are aware of their significance,” he said during his closing argument Thursday.

Munsell did not inform Hoge or his wife about the possibility of brain damage and the symptoms relating to a concussion, Fogel said. He also failed to perform a “return to play exam” after the Aug. 22 game, he said.

Hoge also talked about his history with concussions on NFL Countdown in 2009.

Weirdly enough, some NFL pundits are actually heaping praise on Hoge for his tinfoil hat book!

Chris Mortensen called it “interesting” and “insightful.”

Awesome, insightful. https://t.co/POXdBF4RfA

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) October 23, 2018

Suzy Kolber dropped this doozy of a quote, where she seemingly criticized “the narrative of CTE.”

“I urge you to read Brainwashed. Thank you, Merril, for presenting us with perspective and taking to task the people who have owned the narrative of CTE.”

Bill Polian gave a less effusive quote, but still recommended it.

“Whatever your position on the subject of CTE may be, you should read this book. It contains information every parent and athlete should carefully review.”

Trent Dilfer, who suffered numerous concussions during his NFL career, jumped on the “hidden agendas” narrative.

“Reading Brainwashed was an eye-opening experience. It exposes the hidden agendas at play and bad science at work.”

Cris Collinsworth, who’s been saying stupid shit about concussions for awhile, said more stupid shit about concussions.

“Brainwashed turns discussions [about CTE and concussions] upside down and gives them a good hard shake. A very interesting read.”

Trey Wingo said it was a “very interesting read.”

It's a very interesting read https://t.co/qw9SsG2l0I

— trey wingo (@wingoz) October 23, 2018

This is a real shitty look for ESPN and its employees. Just because a former coworker comes out with a book, that doesn’t mean you need to give glowing quotes about it, especially when he and his co-author are essentially attacking journalism, your employer, and science.

To me, it’s absurd and not coincidental at all that this is happening just months after ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro talked about strengthening ESPN’s relationship with the NFL, which resulted in more hours for NFL studio shows (at the expense of Bob Ley, one of ESPN’s more ardent defenders of journalistic integrity, taking a six month sabbatical), the shield defending Joe Tessitore being slotted in the Monday Night Football play by play role, Chris Berman being brought back on a cameo basis, and the network hiring a rules analyst that the league wanted them to hire.

It’s shady, dishonest, and insulting to viewers, readers, and customers that so many ESPN employees are promoting Hoge’s book and seemingly backing this “plot to destroy football”. If I’m one of ESPN’s primary investigative journalists (Don Van Natta, Mark Fainaru-Wada, etc), I’m livid at my employer right now.

The post Merril Hoge has co-authored an anti-CTE book, and many NFL pundits are rushing to promote it for some stupid reason appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Concussions are becoming a more and more important media topic, including reporting on in-game concussion protocols, return-to-play protocols over weeks and months, and the long-term effects of the injuries. And the Concussion Legacy Foundation is hoping to help improve the reporting on concussions with the new Concussion Legacy Foundation Media Project, officially unveiled in a press conference at the Fisher Center at Syracuse’s New York City campus York Thursday.

Here’s a video they put out announcing the initiative:

The project aims to educate both professional journalists and college journalism students on the best practices for reporting and commenting on concussions, both in keeping up with current research and terminology and in informing the public (and particularly families in youth sports who don’t have a lot of information on concussions) about possible signs of a concussion and proper treatment procedures. Professional journalists can take a free test (over the computer or the phone) on their knowledge of concussion coverage, which comes with explanations of why answers are correct, and can receive certification once they get every question right.

The program is also going into top journalism schools across the U.S., with three-hour workshops for students in journalism classes run by Northwestern’s J.A. Adande, Boston University’s Andrea Kremer and Syracuse’s Olivia Stomski so far, and more on the way. Adande spoke to Awful Announcing this week about this program, and said it was a natural fit for his classes.

“They reached out to me, they thought of Medill (Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism) and Syracuse and the other schools that were part of the project, and I was very excited to be considered. This is something that I think is important and something I’m proud to have Medill associated with. There wasn’t much of a sales job that needed to be done. …I’m really honored and pleased that they considered us to be one of the pilot members of this program.”

He said this is a vital step considering the stakes with concussion reporting.

“You could say the future of the most popular sports entity in the United States is at stake, and our graduates very well might be the ones telling that story one day. So it’s really important that they present it accurately, use the proper terminology. Because we’re veering a little bit out of our area of expertise and talking about medical conditions that most people might think they know, but aren’t aware of really what a concussion is, for example. What the process is like, how they’re diagnosed, what the league procedures are. [There are] so many things that are so important to telling the story, and it’s really important to get all these things right.”

Adande added that the stakes don’t just concern the NFL or major college players reported on, but also the readers who have to consider the risks of participating in certain sports for themselves or their children.

“You’re affecting parents and children, and their ability to determine if this is something they want to be participating in. They should be armed with as many facts as possible.”

The project has already run two workshops at Northwestern, and Adande said they went well and helped improve his students’ understanding of concussion reporting.

“I thought they were great. [Concussion Legacy Foundation program coordinator] Brandon Boyd came in and we did two versions; one was an abbreviated version and then he did the full version for my undergrads. I think it was effective; my students tended to get the answers right on the test I gave them afterwards. They were given a pre-test to kind of prime them before the session, and I had a few questions on my midterm exams, and they did really well on them. So I think it shows that they effectively got across the points they were trying to make.”

Adande said the program seemed to go over well with the students, too, with a visit from former Northwestern and Chicago Bears player and former sports broadcaster Mike Adamle (who’s battling long-term medical issues ascribed to the concussions he suffered as a player) proving particularly impactful.

“I think they’re appreciative, I think they absorbed the knowledge. In the case of my graduate students, it was particularly emotionally resonant, because  Mike Adamle came in and spoke to them about his experiences and what he’s going through, dealing with the aftereffects of all the concussions that he suffered in the course of his playing career. For them to visibly see his condition and hear from him and have him explain just how serious this is, I think that really resonated. I don’t think it’s something they’re going to forget.”

Adande said he’s always tried to cover injuries to some extent in his journalism classes, but concussions are perhaps even more vital for students to understand properly.

“I used to have an injury segment in my sports and public relations class that I taught at USC…I always thought it was important for them to know the difference between a strain and a sprain, for example, the various degrees of a ligament tear and some things like that, but this is even more important.”

He said he expects to be using parts of this program for years to come.

“I can definitely see this being a component, and the great thing is, they’ve established a template. So we can be consistent, we can be accurate, we can be informative, and this should be something that will be a staple of my sports reporting classes and commentary classes. And it should be easy to update as well with any additional developments that come in.”

[The Concussion Legacy Foundation]

The post New Concussion Legacy Foundation Media Project has J.A. Adande’s Medill students, others learning concussion reporting best practices appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Thursday, November 8

7 PM- UNC Central at Bethune-Cookman (ESPNU) Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker

7:30 PM- Wake Forest at NC State (ESPN) Dave Flemming, Tim Hasselbeck, Matt Hasselbeck, Laura Rutledge
(ESPN Radio) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Ian Fitzsimmons

Thanks to Daniel for our weekly college football schedule.  Visit his site Eye on Sky and Air Sports for more broadcast schedules.

Friday, November 9

7 PM- Louisville at Syracuse (ESPN2) Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer, Olivia Dekker

10:30 PM- Fresno State at Boise State (ESPN2) Mike Couzens, Kirk Morrison, Alyssa Lang

Thanks to Daniel for our weekly college football schedule.  Visit his site Eye on Sky and Air Sports for more broadcast schedules.

Saturday, November 10

Noon- Wisconsin at Penn State (ABC) Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath
(Westwood One) Tom McCarthy, Ross Tucker

Noon- Ole Miss at Texas A&M (CBS) Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, Rick Neuheisel, John Schriffen

Noon- Ohio State at Michigan State (FOX) Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft
(Touchdown Radio) Brett Dolan, Gino Torretta

Noon- South Carolina at Florida (ESPN) Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy, Tom Luginbill

Noon- Navy at UCF (ESPN2) Anish Shroff, Ahmad Brooks, Roddy Jones

Noon- Tulsa at Memphis (ESPNU) Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia

Noon- TCU at West Virginia (FS1) Justin Kutcher, Petros Papadakis, DeMarco Murray, Holly Sounders

Noon- Vanderbilt at Missouri (SEC) Dave Neal, D.J. Shockley, Dawn Davenport

Noon- Kansas at Kansas State (FSN) Jeff levering, Brian Baldinger, Lesley McCaslin

Noon- Illinois at Nebraska (BTN) Brandon Gaudin, Glen Mason, Elise Menaker

Noon- Maryland at Indiana (BTN) Lisa Byington, J Leman

Noon- Lafayette at Army West Point (CBSSN) Ben Holden, Jay Feeley, Tina Cervasio

Noon- BYU at UMass (ELVN, BYUtv) Eric Frede, Andy Gresh, Bill Spaulding
(BYU Radio) Greg Wrubell, Marc Lyons, Mitchell Juergens

Noon- Fordham at Holy Cross (Stadium) Matt Martucci, Dave Owens, Meghan Kluth

12:20 PM- North Carolina at Duke (Raycom, ACC Extra) Tom Werme, Dave Archer, Lericia Harris

12:30 PM- Columbia at Brown (NESN+, ESPN+) Allen Bestwick, Nick Coit

12:30 PM- Colgate at Lehigh (SE2, PLN) Steve Degler, Doug Heater, Kristi Fulkerson

1 PM- William & Mary at Villanova (FCS Atlantic) Matt Janus, Ken Dunek

1 PM- Harvard at Penn (NBCS PHIL+, ESPN+) Joe Tordy, Jason “Coffee” Jones

1 PM- Albany at New Hampshire (NBCS BOS) Brendan Glasheen, Mike Murphy

1 PM- Delaware State at Morgan State (STN, ESPN3) Phil Schoener, Emory Hunt, Jeff Jezewski
(HSRN) Gary Laing, Mike Walker
(HSRN2) Lamont Germany, Renard Stubbs, Kelvin Bridgers

2 PM- UCLA at Arizona State (P12, P12 AZ, P12 LA) JB Long, Anthony Herron, Lewis Johnson

2 PM- Rhode Island at James Madison (MASN, ELVN Next) Curt Dudley, Dorian Brooks, Jack Fitzpatrick

2 PM- Western Illinois at South Dakota (Midco SN, ESPN+) Jay Elsen, Andre Fields, Kelly Stewart

3 PM- Liberty at Virginia (ACC RSN, ACC Extra) Wes Durham, James Bates, Rebecca Kaple

3 PM- Northern Colorado at Montana State (RS NW, Audience, dish Studio) TBA, Taylor Barton

3 PM- Maine at Richmond (Spider TV) Bob Black, Robert Fish, Chris Anderson, Matt Smith

3 PM- Portland State at North Dakota (Midco SN 2, Pluto TV 240) Alex Heinert, Ryan Kasowski, Greg Enkers

3:30 PM- Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (ABC) Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Todd McShay
(Compass Media) Jesse Agler, Tony Hill

3:30 PM- Mississippi State at Alabama (CBS) Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, Jamie Erdahl
(Compass Media) Gregg Daniels, Dale Hellestrae

3:30 PM- Northwestern at Iowa (FOX) Joe Davis, Brady Quinn, Bruce Feldman

3:30 PM- Washington State at Colorado (ESPN) Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams
(Sports USA) Josh Appel, John Robinson

3:30 PM- Purdue at Minnesota (ESPN2) Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman

3:30 PM- Virginia Tech at Pitt (ESPNU) Kevin Brown, Andre Ware

3:30 PM- Baylor at Iowa State (FS1) Bran Custer, Ben Leber

3:30 PM- Kentucky at Tennessee (SEC) Taylor Zarzour, John Congemi, Kris Budden

3:30 PM- Michigan at Rutgers (BTN) Kevin Kugler, James Laurinaitis, Rick Pizzo

3:30 PM- New Mexico at Air Force (CBSSN) Rich Waltz, Aaron Murray, Amanda Balionis

3:30 PM- Abilene Christian at Sam Houston State (ELVN, Southland DN) Randy McIlvoy, Shea Walker

4 PM- ECU at Tulane (ESPNews) Jay Alter, Dustin Fox

4 PM- Appalachian State at Texas State (KNVA, ESPN3) David Saltzman, Steve Foster, Megan Birdsong

4 PM- Stephen F. Austin at Nicholls (CST, ESPN3) Ken Berthelot, Wayde Keiser

4 PM- Houston Baptist at Lamar (MyTV, ESPN+) Sam Leavitt, Lemont Williams

4 PM- UC Davis at Eastern Washington (SWX, Pluto TV 234) Sam Adams, Bill Ames

5:30 PM- Oregon at Utah (P12, P12 MTN, P12 OR) Ted Robinson, Yogi Roth, Jill Savage

6:30 PM- Montana at Idaho (RS NW, Audience, dish Studio) TBA, Jason Stiles

7 PM- Auburn at Georgia (ESPN) Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe
(Westwood One) Ryan Radtke, Derek Rackley

7 PM- Miami-FL at Georgia Tech (ESPN2) Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky, Paul Carcaterra
(ESPN Radio) Bill Rosinski, Barrett Jones, Ian Fitzsimmons

7 PM- USF at Cincinnati (ESPNU) Bill Roth, Mike Golic Jr.

7 PM- Temple at Houston (CBSSN) Dave Ryan, Randy Cross

7 PM- Weber State at Southern Utah (ELVN, Pluto TV 236) Neil Harwell, Jaycie Pearson

7:30 PM- Florida State at Notre Dame (NBC) Mike Tirico, Doug Flutie, Kathryn Tappen
(Notre Dame JMI) Paul Burmeister, Ryan Harris, Jack Nolan

7:30 PM- Texas at Texas Tech (FOX) Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, J.P. Morosi

7:30 PM- LSU at Arkansas (SEC) Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers, Cole Cubelic

7:30 PM- Southern Miss at UAB (beIN) Mike Gleason, Brett Romberg

8 PM- Clemson at Boston College (ABC) Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Maria Taylor

9 PM- Oregon State at Stanford (P12, P12 BAY, P12 OR) Guy Haberman, Chad Brown, Camryn Irwin

9 PM- Northern Arizona at Sacramento State (KMAX, KASW, Pluto TV 233) Dave Lewis, Aaron Garcia

10:30 PM- Cal at USC (ESPN) Adam Amin, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich
(ESPN Radio) Marc Kestecher, David Norrie

10:30 PM- UNLV at San Diego State (ESPN2) Mark Neely, Ray Bentley, Alex Corddry

10:30 PM- Colorado State at Nevada (ESPNU) Roy Philpott, Tom Ramsey

Thanks to Daniel for our weekly college football schedule.  Visit his site Eye on Sky and Air Sports for more broadcast schedules.

WatchESPN exclusives
Noon- SMU at UConn (ESPN3) Drew Fellios, Al Groh

Noon- Akron at Eastern Michigan (ESPN3) Dan Gutowsky, Bobby Carpenter

Noon- Southeast Missouri at Murray State (ESPN3) Kevin Ingram, Bob Belvin

Noon- Central Connecticut State at St. Francis-PA (ESPN3) Paul Dottino, Kevin Gilbride, John Schmeelk

Noon- Kennesaw State at Monmouth (ESPN3) Matt Harmon, Eddy Occhipinti, Suzi Mellano

Noon- Campbell at Presbyterian (ESPN+) Tyler Cupp, John Orck

Noon- Northern Iowa at Youngstown State (ESPN+) Jim Campbell, Drae Smith

12:30 PM- Princeton at Yale (ESPN+) Jack Ford, Josh Hess

1 PM- Howard at Norfolk State (ESPN3) Ross Gordon, Glen Mason

1 PM- Illinois State at Indiana State (ESPN3) Michael Winstead, Garrett Short

1 PM- North Carolina A&T at Savannah State (ESPN3) Spencer Turkin, Curtis Foster, Terry Hones

1 PM- Robert Morris at Eastern Kentucky (ESPN+) Greg Stotelmyer, Jim Tirey

1 PM- Jacksonville at Valparaiso (ESPN+) Todd Ickow, Dave Huseman

1 PM- Mercer at Chattanooga (ESPN+) Chris Goforth, Scott McMahen

1 PM- Troy at Georgia Southern (ESPN+) Greg Talbott, Danny Waugh

1:30 PM- Dartmouth at Cornell (ESPN+) Brendan McDaniels, Matt Miller

1:30 PM- Furman at VMI (ESPN+) Wade Branner, Chip Tarkenton

2 PM- Samford at The Citadel (ESPN+) Kevin Fitzgerald, Dominique Allen, Emily Crevani

2 PM- South Dakota State at Southern Illinois (ESPN+) Darren Kinnard, Mike Trude, Connor Onion

2 PM- Austin Peay at Eastern Illinois (ESPN+) Mike Bradd, Jack Ashmore

2:30 PM- Charlotte at Marshall (ESPN+) Jake Griffith, Mark Martin

3 PM- Jackson State at Alabama State (ESPN3) Butch Alsandor, Ken Moore

3 PM- Bowling Green at Central Michigan (ESPN+) Chris Vosters, Marcus Ray

3 PM- Middle Tennessee at UTEP (ESPN+) Andy Morgan, Trevor Vittatoe

3 PM- Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern (ESPN+) Kevin O’Rourke, Danny Croghan III, Danielle Hensley

3 PM- North Dakota State at Missouri State (ESPN+) Scott Warmann, Don Patterson, Kelly Burke

3 PM- Tennessee Tech at UT Martin (ESPN+) Tom Btitt, Chris Brinkley, John Able

3 PM- Jacksonville State at Tennessee State (ESPN+) Howard Gentry Jr., Derek Fleming

3:30 PM- North Texas at Old Dominion (ESPN3) Ted Alexander, Andy Mashaw, Doug Ripley

3:30 PM- Wofford at Western Carolina (ESPN3) Daniel Hooker, Dan Gibson, Summer McMahan

4 PM- South Carolina State at Florida A&M (ESPN3) Keith Miles, Albert Chester, Dei’Ja Martín

5 PM- UL Monroe at South Alabama (ESPN+) J.D. Byars, Pat Greenwod, Lauren Velez

5 PM- Arkansas State at Coastal Carolina (ESPN+) Jeff McCarragher, Nate Ross

5 PM- Georgia State at Louisiana (ESPN+) Dan McDonald, Gerald Broussard

7 PM- McNeese at Northwestern State (ESPN3) Jeff Palermo, Gary Reasons, Taylor Verrico

7 PM- Rice at Louisiana Tech (ESPN+) Lyn Rollins, Doug Anderson, Madison Kaufman

7 PM- FIU at UTSA (ESPN+) Lincoln Rose, LaDarrin McLane, Tina Nguyen

Thanks to Daniel for our weekly college football schedule.  Visit his site Eye on Sky and Air Sports for more broadcast schedules.

Free Streams
Noon- Sacred Heart at Duquesne (NEC Front Row) Tim Benz, Ellis Cannon

Noon- Stetson at Butler (Facebook) Mark Minner, Josh Molyneux

Noon- Towson at Elon (CAA TV) Taylor Durham, Brian Morris

12:30 PM- Bucknell at Georgetown (Stadium on Facebook)

1 PM- Delaware at Stony Brook (CBS Sports Live) Scott Sudikoff, Brandon Noble

1 PM- Wagner at Bryant (NEC Front Row) Tristan Hobbs, Tim Lynch

1 PM- Morehead State at Dayton (Facebook) Alex Mikos, Jared Phillips

2 PM- Marist at Drake (Bulldog Vision) Chuck Reed

4 PM- San Jose State at Utah State (Stadium on Facebook) Ari Wolfe, Max Starks, Dani Klupenger

4 PM- Incarnate Word at Central Arkansas (Southland DN) Justin Acri, Chris Kane, RJ Hawk

5 PM- Western Kentucky at FAU (Stadium on Facebook) Chris Hassel, AJ Hawk, Kristen Balboni

7 PM- Idaho State at Cal Poly (Pluto TV 244) Chris Sylvester, Alex Clupper

Thanks to Daniel for our weekly college football schedule.  Visit his site Eye on Sky and Air Sports for more broadcast schedules.

The post Your 2018 college football Week 11 announcing schedule appeared first on Awful Announcing.

“I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. This is my dream; this is my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor, and surviving.” That famed Colonel Kurtz quote from Apocalypse Now might be the best way to explain this nine-minute press conference from Miami University (Ohio) RedHawks football coach Chuck Martin after his team’s 30-28 home win over the Ohio Bobcats Wednesday in the Battle of the Bricks rivalry game.

Unlike many notable press conference rants, Martin never tips over into full yelling here, but he sure seems to be crawling along that razor’s edge, and he manages to take what seem like pretty significant bridge-burning shots at both his school and his team’s fans. Here’s the press conference (the part with Martin goes from the start to around 9:15):

As mentioned, there’s a lot of this that’s relatively subdued and normal, but there are also plenty of parts where Martin takes some major shots at his school and its fans, and where he seems on the edge of really melting down. Some transcriptions with timestamps:

0:00: “Obviously, crazy excited about the win, really excited for my seniors, they came here a long time ago and I say it’s volunteering to be like the guy in Shawshank (Andy Dufresne in 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption), to come here five years ago, ‘Okay, here’s your assignment; you’re going to crawl through human feces for the next three miles. That’s what you’ve got to do.’ And they all came, and they battled, they’ve been unbelievable players here, unbelievable leaders.”

1:28: “When you’re playing a good team like OU, they’re fighting, they’re not going to give up. It’s not like at halftime…I’m sure there are some idiot fans and media who thought the game was over, but we certainly didn’t.”

4:20: “If you execute and you make more plays, you win. It’s not luck, it’s not anything. You keep fighting, you keep battling. Sometimes you don’t make plays because you don’t execute, sometimes you don’t make plays, last week…their guy was better! He was better! Our guy was battling his tail off, he was on him, we couldn’t stop him. We tried everything.”

4:58: “You know, the last play [a failed OU Hail Mary], it’s not bad luck, it’s because you don’t execute. We kept talking about executing, and you come down, and there’s a ton of panic because you can hear our fans stinking, our home fans yelling at us as the game’s unraveling. I mean, welcome to Miami! Welcome to Miami! Our home fans are yelling at our players and coaches as the game’s unraveling. That’s helpful! And they can hear it, right, the kids can hear it. Because they’re panicked that we’re going to lose. Okay, well, you’ve got to block it out. Welcome to life. You keep fighting, you keep digging, or you panic, and if you panic, bad things happen.”

5:50: “And, you know, I get fans. We’ve come a long way, and it’s hard. Miami football’s been down for a while. But that makes it better. And the defense, I kept saying ‘We signed up for this shit. We’re not very good right now. But we’re going to make a play to win the game. Somebody’s going to make a play to win the game. That’s what it’s ABOUT! When nobody believes, somebody, and if you don’t, you don’t win, and you keep being the team that’s…our kids stuck in there and fought their tails off and I’m very proud of them.”

6:17: A reporter asks “How much of a relief is it for this program to finally beat OU?” (Ohio had won the last five Battle of the Bricks games, including a 45-28 win last year and a 34-3 win, the largest margin in series history, in 2015.) Martin responds “Great, it’s a huge relief. Huge. Beat them, win the Battle of the Bricks…is there a trophy or anything? I was waiting for the trophy to come storming out, there’s no trophy for the thing? We talk about this rivalry, I just assumed there was a trophy! We hadn’t won, in, you know, 50 years! How can it be such a rivalry if there’s no damn trophy! I’ll pitch in, I think! It’s a pretty big deal! I’m like ‘Where’s the dang trophy?’ I guess it’s not that big of a deal if no one can afford a trophy for the rivalry. It just shows how cheap the schools are in this league.” The reporter follows up with “So it is a relief?” and Martin goes “It’s ridiculous. So huge relief, yes.”

The trophy part of that is the funniest, and yes, it is somewhat weird that no one has made a trophy for an in-state rivalry game played 95 times. It has a Wikipedia page and a logo, though, so that will have to do. But yeah, this is a remarkable rant from a winning coach, and one that throws a whole lot of shade at his program’s fans and his athletic department. The RedHawks have improved since Martin got there in 2014, going 2-10 in his first season (a step up from the 0-12 mark the previous year), then 3-9, 6-7 (with their first bowl appearance since 2010), 5-7 and now 4-6 so far this year, but he seems to be not all that thrilled with the support (or lack thereof) he’s getting from fans and the administration, and they may not be all that thrilled that he hasn’t yet produced a consistently-winning team.

We’ll see what comes of this, but yeah, this definitely feels like a bridge-burning rant to remember. Even if it never quite tips over into a full explosion.

[Miami RedHawks on YouTube; H/T to @laplanck on Twitter]

The post Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin goes off after win, bashing his team’s fans for booing and “cheap” schools over lack of trophy appeared first on Awful Announcing.

There are a lot of unknowns and chaotic cycles in the world of sports TV ratings. Lord knows we’ve been through it with the NFL for a while now. But if there’s one thing we all know for sure, one thing we can all agree on, it’s that SEC football is dependable. And not just dependable, but highly profitable.

And boy does the SEC know it. That’s why they’ve hired sports media advisory firm Evolution Media and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as its “exclusive media advisors,” which is a fancy way of saying “the people who are going to make sure we get way more money on our next TV deal.”

“More than ever before, SEC fans have greater access to view Conference programming as a result of the SEC’s existing broadcast agreements and the development of new technology,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in a press release. “These realities make it increasingly important for the SEC to engage a sophisticated media advisor with expertise to assist the Conference in considering a media strategy in the years ahead.

“Evolution Media and Creative Artists Agency provide the SEC with exceptional media advisory expertise and their record of success is an indication of the many healthy relationships they maintain across all aspects of traditional and emerging media, which will help us maximize the Conference’s future opportunities,” Sankey said.

The SEC’s current deal with CBS (which is for the top football game of each week, but not an exclusive window any more following a renegotiated agreement in 2013 ahead of the 2014 launch of the SEC Network) nets them a cool $55 million per year. But by all accounts, that’s a steal for CBS right now. Just look at this past weekend when No. 1 Alabama demolished No. 3 LSU, 29-0, and audiences still showed up in droves. In fact, CBS announced that more people watched Alabama/LSU than any other game so far this season. And while the game registered a national 6.7 rating with a 13 share according to CBS, imagine how much bigger it could have been had the game been close.

The SEC’s current deal with CBS goes until 2023, which isn’t as far away as it sounds. If the conference and its new partners can get the ball rolling now, they’ve surely got one hell of a bidding war ahead of them. It’s likely that every major broadcast network, sports cable network, tech company, and subscription service will want to see if they’ve got what it takes to get in on the SEC’s golden ratings. Of course, ESPN already has a deal with the league for certain games, and you’d better believe they’d be interested in wrapping themselves in Alabama crimson and Tennessee orange all Saturday long.

It’s also going to be a very exciting time in the world of sports TV deals. As The Big Lead notes, multiple major contracts are expiring around that time (MLB, Champions League, and NHL in 2021, NFL, EPL, and MLS by 2022, and Big Ten by 2023). So we could see major shifting and a changing of the guard in the years to come, especially when you factor in all the new players like Facebook, Amazon, DAZN, and Stadium.

It’s hard to predict exactly how much the Saturday deal could be by 2024 but, much like the Alabama football team, you can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be very good for the league.

[SEC]

The post SEC hires Evolution Media & CAA to help them make a ton of money when their CBS deal is up appeared first on Awful Announcing.

All Times Eastern

Baseball
Japan All-Star Series, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
MLB All-Stars vs. Japan All-Stars — MLB Network, 4:30 a.m. (Saturday)

Bundesliga
Matchday 11
Hannover 96 vs. VfL Wolfsburg — FS2, 2:20 p.m./Univision Deportes, 2:25 p.m.

Previa a la Liga Alemana — Univision Deportes, 2 p.m.
Bundesliga Weekly — FS2, 4:30 p.m.
BundesGol — Univision Deportes, 4:30 p.m.
Bundesliga Best of October — FS2, 5 p.m.

College Basketball
Men’s
Armed Forces Classic, Fort Bragg, NC
Arkansas vs. Texas — ESPN, 7 p.m.

Pac-12 Communist China Game, Baoshan Sports Center, Shanghai, Communist China
Cal vs. Yale — ESPNU, 11 p.m.

Veterans Classic, Alumni Hall, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
Providence vs. Wichita State — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
Maryland at Navy — CBS Sports Network, 8:30 p.m.

Drexel at Eastern Michigan — ESPN3, 11 a.m.
Antelope Valley at Cal State-Bakersfield — ESPN3, 2 p.m.
Indiana State at Wisconsin-Green Bay — ESPN3, 4:30 p.m.
Bowling Green at St. John’s — FS2, 6:30 p.m.
Gardner-Webb at Virginia Tech — ACC Network Extra, 7 p.m.
Lehigh at Miami (FL) — ACC Network Extra, 7 p.m.
North Carolina Central at Clemson — ACC Network Extra, 7 p.m.
Virginia Military Institute at Pittsburgh — ACC Network Extra, 7 p.m.
Farleigh Dickinson at Rutgers — BTN Plus, 7 p.m.
Stanford at North Carolina-Wilmington — CAA.TV, 7 p.m.
North Carolina at Elon — ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Chicago State at Central Michigan — ESPN3, 7 p.m.
Detroit Mercy at Temple — ESPN3, 7 p.m.
Piedmont at Mercer — ESPN3, 7 p.m.
American at George Mason — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
Dartmouth at Davidson — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
DeSales at Princeton — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
Longwood at Richmond — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
New Hampshire at UMass — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
Northeastern at Harvard — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
Northern Kentucky at Northern Illinois — ESPN+, 7 p.m.
Hampton at Virginia Commonwealth — MASN, 7 p.m.
Vermont at Boston University — NESNplus, 7 p.m.
Southern Illinois at Kentucky — SEC Network, 7 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Florida — SEC Network Plus, 7 p.m.
Stony Brook at South Carolina — SEC Network Plus, 7 p.m.
Lamar at Georgia Tech — ACC Network Plus, 7:30 p.m.
Northern Florida at Penn State — BTN Plus, 7:30 p.m.
Mount St. Mary’s at Hofstra — CAA.TV, 7:30 p.m.
Jacksonville State at Samford — ESPN3, 7:30 p.m.
Coastal Carolina at Campbell — ESPN+, 7:30 p.m.
Old Dominion at St. Joseph’s — ESPN+, 7:30 p.m.
Austin Peay at Mississippi State — SEC Network Plus, 7:30 p.m.
Montana State at Indiana — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
Albany at Iona — ESPN3, 8 p.m.
Robert Morris at Missouri State — ESPN3, 8 p.m.
Air Force at Texas State — ESPN+, 8 p.m.
New Jersey Institute of Technology at Binghamton — ESPN+, 8 p.m.
Rice at Penn — ESPN+, 8 p.m.
Kennesaw State at Kansas State — Fox Sports Kansas City/ESPN3, 8 p.m.
Furman at Loyola (Chicago — NBC Sports Chicago/ESPN3, 8 p.m.
North Carolina-Greensboro at LSU — SEC Network Plus, 8 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas-Rio Grande Valley — Fox College Sports Pacific/Fox Sports Net, 8:30 p.m.
Savannah State at Georgia — SEC Network Plus, 8:30 p.m.
Buffalo at West Virginia — ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Illinois-Chicago at Radford — ESPN+, 9 p.m.
Mississippi Valley State at Texas Tech — Fox Sports Net, 9 p.m.
Hartford at Utah State — Mountain West Network, 9 p.m.
Eastern Washington at Oregon — Pac-12 Network/Pac-12 Oregon, 9 p.m.
McNeese State at Arizona State — Pac-12 Arizona, 9 p.m.
Bethesda at Weber State — Pluto TV, 9 p.m.
Colorado College at Northern Colorado — Pluto TV, 9 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette at Tennessee — SEC Network Plus, 9 p.m.
Washington at Auburn — SEC Network, 9 p.m.
Cal-Irvine at Texas A&M — SEC Network Plus, 9:30 p.m.
Utah Valley at BYU — BYUtv, 10 p.m.
Pacific at Nevada — ESPN3, 10 p.m.
Simpson at Sacramento State — Pluto TV, 10 p.m.
Long Beach State at UCLA — Pac-12 Network/Pac-12 Los Angeles, 11 p.m.

Inside College Basketball — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.

Women’s
Cal-Riverside at BYU — BYUtv, 7 p.m.

College Football
Louisville at Syracuse — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Fresno State at Boise State — ESPN2, 10:15 p.m.

College Football Live — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
B1G Football & Beyond — Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 10 p.m.

College Hockey
Men’s
Minnesota at Wisconsin — Fox College Sports Atlantic, 8 p.m.

College Soccer
Men’s
Big Ten Tournament
Semifinals, Grand Park Sports Complex, Westfield, IN
Indiana vs. Maryland — Big Ten Network, 1 p.m.
Michigan vs. Wisconsin — Big Ten Network, 3:30 p.m.

BTN Live — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.

Patriot League Tournament
Semifinals, Ridley Athletic Complex, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Army vs. Loyola (MD) — Stadium, 4 p.m.
Colgate vs. Lehigh — Stadium, 7 p.m.

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
1st Round, McAlister Field, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
USC vs. Long Beach State University — Pac-12 Network/Pac-12 Los Angeles, 4:30 p.m.

1st Round, Mike A. Myers Stadium, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Texas vs. Virginia Tech — Longhorn Network, 8 p.m.

Curling
Curling Night in America, Chaska Curling Center, Chaska, MN
United States vs. Italy (mixed doubles) — NBCSN, 8 p.m. (delayed from 8/27-29)

Drag Racing
NHRA Finals, Auto Club Raceway at Ponoma, Ponoma, CA
Friday Nitro Live — FS1, 10:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

Formula 1
Grand Prix of Brazil, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Sâo Paulo, SP, Brazil
Practice 1 — ESPNU, 7:55 a.m.
Practice 2 — ESPNU, 11:55 a.m.

Golf
PGA Tour
Mayakoba Golf Classic, Mayakoba Resort (El Camaleon Golf Club), Playa del Carmen, Mexico
2nd Round — Golf Channel, 1 p.m.

Golf Central Pregame — Golf Channel, 12:30 p.m.

PGA Tour Champions
Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Phoenix Country Club, Phoenix, AZ
2nd Round — Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

LPGA Tour
Blue Bay LPGA, Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club, Hainan Island, Communist China
Final Round — Golf Channel, 11 p.m.

European Tour
Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa
3rd Round — Golf Channel, 3 a.m. (Saturday)

Ligue 1
Lille vs. RC Strasbourg Alsace — beIN Sports, 2:40 p.m.

The Ligue 1 Show — beIN Sports, 2 p.m.
The Express Preview — beIN Sports, 2:30 p.m.
The Express Wrap-Up — beIN Sports, 4:45 p.m.
This Is Paris — beIN Sports, 6:30 p.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
UFC Fight Night, Korean Zombie vs. Rodriguez, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Weigh-In — FS1, 7 p.m.

Legacy Fighting Alliance 53, Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
LFA Interim Flyweight Championship
Brandon Royval vs. Casey Kenney — AXS TV, 9 p.m.

Tuff-N-Uff: Future Stars of MMA — beIN Sports, 9 p.m.

MLB
Hot Stove — MLB Network, 9 a.m.
MLB Now — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 6 p.m.

NASCAR
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs: Round of 8
Lucas Oil 150, Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, AZ
1st Practice — FS2, 10:30 a.m.
Final Practice — FS2, noon
Qualifying — FS1, 5:30 p.m.
Race — FS1, 8:30 p.m.

NASCAR RaceDay: NCWTS Setup: Phoenix — FS1, 8 p.m.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: Round of 8
Can-Am 500, Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, AZ
1st Practice — NBCSN, 1:30 pm..
Qualifying — NBCSN, 7 p.m,

Xfinity Series Playoffs: Round of 8
The Race That Runs for 200 Miles and Has Four Left Turns, Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, AZ
1st Practice — NBCSN, 2:30 p.m.
Final Practice — NBCSN, 4:30 p.m.

NBA
Charlotte at Philadelphia — NBA TV, 7 p.m.
Boston at Utah — ESPN, 9:30 p.m.

The Jump — ESPN, 3 p.m.
The Starters — NBA TV, 6 p.m.
NBA TV Pregame — NBA TV, 6:30 p.m.
NBA TV Postgame — NBA TV, 9:30 p.m.
NBA GameTime — NBA TV, 10:30 p.m.

NFL
Good Morning Football — NFL Network, 7 a.m.
NFL Up to the Minute — NFL Network, 1 p.m.
NFL Live — ESPN, 1:30 p.m.
NFL Fantasy Live — NFL Network, 5 p.m.
Kyle Brandt Football Experience — NFL Network, 6 p.m.
NFL GameDay Pick’Em — NFL Network, 6:30 p.m.
Bill Cowher: A Football Life — NFL Network, 8 p.m.

NHL
Columbus at Washington — NHL Network, 7 p.m.

Hockey Central @ noon — NHL Network, noon
NHL Now — NHL Network, 4 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Pre-Game Skate — NHL Network, 6 p.m.
NHL Tonight: Bonus Coverage — NHL Network, 10 p.m.
On the Fly — NHL Network, 11 p.m.
On the Fly: Minnesota at Anaheim Bonus Coverage — NHL Network, midnight
On the Fly — NHL Network, 1 a.m. (Saturday)

Soccer
Turkish SuperLig
Yeni Malatyaspor vs. Trabzonspor AS — beIN Sports, 11:55 a.m.

The Keys & Gray Show — beIN Sports, 5 p.m.
La Liga World — beIN Sports, 6 p.m.
The Xtra — beIN Sports, 7 p.m.
The Locker Room — beIN Sports, 7:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
SportsCenter:AM — ESPN, 7 a.m.
Get Up — ESPN, 8 a.m.
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience (AT&T U-Verse/DirecTV)/NBCSN, 9 a.m.
Morning Drive — Golf Channel, 9 a.m.
The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz — ESPNews, 10 a.m.
Sport Today — BBC World News, 11:45 a.m.
The Rich Eisen Show — Audience (AT&T U-Verse/DirecTV)/AT&T SportsNet (Pittsburgh/Rocky Mountain/Southwest)/Root Sports, noon
BYU Sports Nation — BYUtv, noon
The Jim Rome Show — CBS Sports Network, noon
SportsCenter — ESPN, noon
Outside the Lines — ESPN, 1 p.m.
Jalen & Jacoby — ESPN2, 2 p.m.
Tiki & Tierney — CBS Sports Network, 3 p.m.
The Will Cain Show — ESPNews, 3 p.m.
The Paul Finebaum Show — SEC Network, 3 p.m.
Sport Today — BBC World News, 3:30 p.m.
High Noon — ESPN, 4 p.m.
Highly Questionable — ESPN, 4:30 p.m.
Around the Horn — ESPN, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
SportsCenter — ESPN, 6 p.m.
SEC Now — SEC Network, 9 p.m.
Sport Today — BBC World News, 9:45 p.m.
SportsCenter at Night — ESPNews, 11 p.m.
Titulares y Más — Telemundo, 11:35 p.m.
SportsCenter at Night With Scott Van Pelt — ESPN, midnight
Contacto Deportivo — Univision/Univision Deportes, midnight
TMZ Sports — FS1, 12:30 a.m. (Saturday)

Tennis
USTA Women’s Pro Circuit
Red Rock Pro Open, Red Rock Country Club, Las Vegas, NV
Quarterfinals — Tennis Channel, 1 p.m.
Quarterfinal — Tennis Channel, 8 p.m.

The post Viewing Picks for November 9, 2018 appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Even if you don’t know what a “billboard” ad is, you’d know it if you saw it. In fact, if you’ve been watching sports on television for even a short while, you’ve probably seen thousands of them.

For example, you’re watching the NFL on Fox. One team kicks off and the other team signals fair catch. Instead of going to commercial, the broadcast stays with the game but cuts to a wide shot of the stadium. A graphic pops up on the screen touting your favorite beer or some new action movie or some financial company that seems like they’re probably doing something shady. The play-by-play announcer interrupts the football conversation to tell you that today’s game is brought to you by the aforementioned company and then the graphic disappears and you return to the action. That’s a billboard ad.

And if the NFL has it’s way, billboard ads will be going the way of the dinosaur.

Per Variety, the league has started asking its broadcast partners to do away with the time-honored advertising tradition. The reason? Well, if you were a certain kind of copy editor, you might say that millennials are killing the billboard ad.

Older generations of TV viewers had to tolerate commercial breaks that diverted their attention for minutes on end. Modern video fans, however, have grown accustomed to binge-viewing programs with few commercials – sometimes none.

In other words, modern TV audiences just aren’t conditioned the same way as previous generations when it comes to ad breaks. Whereas you used to just suck it up and deal with the 47th Bud Light commercial of the day, now some people just say enough and change the channel.

At least one NFL partner is listening. Variety reports that Fox has basically done away with billboard ads from “Thursday Night Football.” However, the ads are still prevalent in Sunday afternoon NFL games. ESPN also appears to be testing out several replacement options so that they can still get that precious advertising money without the interruptions and slowdowns costing them viewers.

However, for as powerful as the NFL might be, they’ve got a fairly impressive foe in this battle to eradicate billboard ads completely. Madison Avenue fell in love with the billboard ad a long time ago. And some networks, such as CBS, have no plans to stop using them anytime soon.

“We have that option” to trade them out for a different kind of in-game commercials, “and if we see something we like, we may utilize it,” Anthony Taranto, senior VP of NFL sales at CBS, told Variety. “We will continue to give people billboards,” he added. “They are a solid value, and advertisers like them.”

Part of the problem the NFL is running up against is that billboards have been such a cornerstone of the sports broadcast advertising deal for so long, advertisers might feel like they’re losing out on value if they’re taken away. And that could lead to less advertising or at least the loss of some long-term partnerships.

Amanda Herald, VP of media strategy and business development at the NFL, told Variety that the hope isn’t to just eliminate an ad opportunity altogether, but instead encourage network partners to find different solutions.

Billboards “are not necessarily going to be eliminated entirely, and we are not seeking to mandate that,” says Herald. “But we are encouraging measurement of the results” of using other formats “to see what impact it has. Advertisers can get the same return and same bang for their buck – and maybe greater – but also engaged fans. It isn’t just about the ad message, but it’s also about the fan engagement.” Some of those potential alternatives include the takeover of an entire ad break during a game or secondary revenue sources like those found on Twitch where viewers can make purchases while watching.

The numbers all point to the NFL’s ratings rising in most cases, so the league isn’t coming from a place of desperation. But it’s clear they’re looking to the future all the same. With so many different ways for consumers to watch NFL games and so many untapped resources and revenue opportunities, they’re going to want to push their partners towards that rather than resting on their laurels for a little too long. Ultimately, whether or not advertisers want to come with them is what will likely determine how quickly the future comes.

[Variety]

The post The NFL wants to get rid of ‘billboard’ ads during games to appease modern TV audiences appeared first on Awful Announcing.

A more useful corollary to oft-stated advice like “Dress for the job you want” may be “Publicly share opinions for the job you have.” Less than a year ago, John Skipper was the president of ESPN, with a new contract extension to boot. In that role, he made plenty of comments about a bright future for pay TV in general (one example comes from January 2016) and for ESPN in particular (one example comes from last December, where he talks about the importance of ESPN’s growing streaming numbers, but also reinforces how important linear TV still is to them). Now, he’s making some rather different remarks on that subject, and that may have a fair bit to do with the role he currently holds.

Six days after that December interview, Skipper suddenly resigned, citing a substance addiction; as per a March interview with Jim Miller, that was over extortion from a cocaine dealer. Skipper then landed at Perform Sports Group/DAZN (his official title is now executive chairman of the DAZN Group). He’s done a wave of interviews this week about DAZN’s place in the sports media landscape, talking with Peter Kafka of Recode and with former ESPN colleague Jemele Hill at the Web Summit in Lisbon. Here’s video of the Hill interview and audio of the Kafka interview, both of which include Skipper criticizing pay TV in a way he (understandably) didn’t seem to do at ESPN.

Some key comments from the Hill interview, as transcribed by Sports Radio PD:

“If you’re watching on cable or broadcast television, it is so anachronistic that it still relies upon Nielsen ratings, which are done on a sampling technology so that it infers that X number of people watched. They don’t really know how many people watched, and they don’t have any idea who in the house is watching. They have no idea, really. They know when the television set was cut on. They know when it was cut off. And maybe someone’s watching, or maybe they’re in the back yard gardening while the TV set is on. We know when someone’s engaged. We can then do things to make that experience better.”

“We do not have advertising in our subscription service right now, but we will. And what we will do is just as we will disrupt the way that we acquire the ability to watch sports through an app, we will disrupt the way that advertising works. We really will follow the Facebook/Google model — we will understand things about you that will allow us to target ads.”

“We will not run 30-second ads in pods of 5-6 of those so they see the same car ad 14 times in a 3-hour game. We will not interrupt games in a way that are unnatural, the way they do on television. I know this because I negotiated it: We had the rights to run 78 commercials during the average American football game. That is a lot of commercials to watch. What we will do is figure out a way to integrate content into the production.”

And from the Kafka interview, as transcribed by Recode’s Eric Johnson:

“We think we can create a different business model, which is going to be the business model in the future, take advantage of that interest, go in a direct consumer relationship with the fan, get data from the fan, create new ad models.”

“We think we’re a first mover in a lot of places. This country will move last because you have more big sports media companies with more money as part of big overall conglomerations. You have the highest penetration of paid television in any country in the world by far. And that’s going to decline slowly because there lots of big companies invested.”

“…I don’t think there’s anybody in a broadcast network thinking, “Oh, we don’t need to be in sports.” There still is a lot of money in the paid television system. I, now, of course, believe it will be disrupted by new companies. So let me be on the record that it will be disrupted by new companies.”

“…To have only bidders, broadcast and pay and cable television companies who are facing very, very significant issues with their two streams of revenue to have them as your only bidders I don’t think is a comfortable position for them to be in. They’d like new bidders. I think they would like DAZN to be a bidder.”

Of course, Skipper was already talking about the challenges with Nielsen ratings and if they were properly reflecting streaming audiences while still at ESPN, so that’s not entirely new. But it’s interesting to hear him making such critical comments about the business model of TV networks so soon after running one. And some of his remarks, from the Web Summit in particular, seem open to a couple of challenges. “We know when someone’s engaged” doesn’t really seem true, especially as related to someone turning the TV on and going gardening, as they can also turn on a streaming service (on a computer or a TV) and go gardening.

Also, Skipper cites Facebook and Google as examples to follow here, but anyone who spends any amount of time online knows how wrong Facebook and Google still often are with their targeted ads, and they have far more information on their users than DAZN will (presumably) be able to get. Moreover, Skipper’s right that the traditional ad blocks on sports TV have issues, but it’s notable that leagues and networks (including his former employer) are rapidly altering their own patterns there. And some of that includes efforts to “integrate content into the production,”  just as he’s hyping here. Yes, there are still traditional ad blocks that can still be criticized this way, but the networks are shifting as well, and some of Skipper’s comments relate more to the way things have been than the way they currently stand. Oh, and on that front, the areas where he’s praising streaming services tend to also be applicable to ESPN+, which is far larger than DAZN in the U.S. (but not worldwide, as he’s keen to note) and currently has far more rights at a lower cost.

Is Skipper completely wrong about any of this? Not necessarily. He’s a smart guy who’s run several big media companies and given a ton of interviews over the years, and he’s very careful with his public comments. He doesn’t appear to say anything in either of these interviews that’s completely and obviously refutable, or anything that’s a 100 percent contrast to remarks he previously made while at ESPN. But all of his remarks should be considered in the context that he’s currently running a subscription sports streaming service and not a TV network. Thus, he has a whole lot of reasons to be optimistic about the standalone streaming landscape and critical of the pay-TV landscape.

[Recode]

The post Former ESPN president, current DAZN chairman John Skipper takes some shots at the traditional TV model in a pair of interviews appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Welcome to another edition of This Week In Hot Takes, this time looking at the hottest media takes from Nov. 2-8. 

5. Phil Mushnick’s still whining about “acts of excessive immodesty” and “hips-gyrating me-dances”: If a celebration happens, you know Mushnick will be there to criticize it. The New York Post‘s resident curmudgeon is back on that beat this week, ranting about NFL celebrations:

With 35 seconds left, fourth-and-10 from their 48, [Jets’ QB Sam] Darnold threw a deep pass that, again, was foolishly intercepted, this time by [Dolphins’] CB Walt Aikens, who next obligatorily demonstrated his excessive self-affection to the approval of teammates.

“Demonstrating his excessive self-affection” sounds like a euphemism for what Randy Howe got arrested for this week. But that wasn’t the only anti-celebration take in this column:

Late in the third, Washington RB Kapri Bibbs ran it in from the 5 then made with a hips-gyrating me-dance. His team was down, 28-13? So what.

Also on Fox, Sunday, the Bears were in the process of beating the Bills, 41-9, when Chicago LB Aaron Lynch, another college man — Notre Dame — drew extra attention then a flag for a lewd post-play me-dance that Moose Johnston classified as “classless.”

“Hips-gyrating me-dance” and “lewd post-play me-dance”? Here’s an exclusive look at Phil Mushnick:

But we all know how this ends:

One day, the great hero named Kevin Bacon will teach a New York Post columnist with a stick up his butt that dancing is the greatest thing there is.

Rating:

4. Skip Bayless says Tim Tebow “definitely earned” a promotion to Triple-A, has “some of the strongest winners’ intangibles in the history of professional sports”: The new New York Mets’ GM Brodie Van Wagenen (sadly, not the New New York Mets‘ GM) used to be the agent for Tim Tebow, as well as several other Mets’ players, and that perhaps helps explain his comments about promoting Tebow to triple-A or even the majors at the start of next season despite his subpar stats. Van Wagenen was roundly and deservedly roasted for that, but Fox’s Bayless, known for promoting Tebow more than anyone else on the planet, is of course in Tebow’s corner here too:

One great part of that comes about 1:30 in, where Bayless says “He definitely earned a promotion to Triple-A to see if he can then earn his way into the big leagues.” Tebow hit .273/.336/.399 with 103 strikeouts and six home runs, which for most 31-year-old left fielders wouldn’t be close to earning a Triple-A promotion. And he hasn’t exactly earned his promotions so far, but keeps getting them anyway to sell tickets and merchandise. Even his signing was attributed to the director of marketing.

But this gets even better at the end, where Bayless says “You know what Brodie knows as well as anybody outside of me? He knows about Tim Tebow having some of the strongest winners’ intangibles in the history of professional sports.” Yep, intangibles, all right; that’s what you have to use to defend Tebow, as the tangible stats sure don’t speak well for him. It is quite funny that Bayless’ constant Tebow promotion has gone from an entire day on ESPN to a short segment not even spotlighted on Undisputed‘s Twitter or Youtube channels, though. That’s a further suggestion that while Bayless is still on the Tebow train, a whole lot of the world is tired of hearing him talk about it.

Rating:

3. Stephen A. Smith calls the Wizards “a disgrace” and “an abomination”, says “It’s time for a blowup”: There are few things as funny as ESPN’s Smith getting truly incensed about something, and boy, did he deliver on that front this week with this First Take rant about the Washington Wizards:

Some highlights, via Scott Allen of The Washington Post:

“It’s time for a blowup,” Smith said. “It didn’t work, Ernie Grunfeld. It didn’t work . . . This conversation hurts me, because Ernie Grunfeld and I go back to his days with the Knicks. I’ve known this man for over 25 years, I love that man. But this is a disgrace taking place in the nation’s capital. People have their opinion of a negative around here about what else goes on in the nation’s capital. Thank God they didn’t contaminate themselves further by going over to the damn Verizon Center. What a disgrace that is taking place in the nation’s capital! Scott Brooks? Gotta go! Gotta go! And listen, let me be very clear: I’ve known Scott Brooks, like him. I’m not trying to say he can’t coach. He is not the right man for this job. This job requires a heavy hammer. Scott Brooks is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. The problem with that is, unfortunately, you don’t like confrontation. And with the Wizards, you need confrontation.”

Well, hey, Smith managed to produce that confrontation himself, and to get the Wizards mad at him. Good work.

Rating:

2. Leafs’ blogger That’s Kappy says Wayne Gretzky “was not good at hockey,” “nobody was good at hockey until probably 2000”: Sports evolve over time, and comparing players across eras is always difficult. There are some well-constructed arguments that early stars like Babe Ruth probably wouldn’t be as dominant in today’s game (although you never really know; what if Ruth had become a devotee of today’s strength and conditioning regimes?), and those are reasonable; they’re not provable one way or the other, as no one has a time machine, but there’s some merit to those arguments in considering how eras impacted players’ performances. And then there are takes that take that idea to the extreme, such as one this week that got a lot of play from Twitter user “That’s Kappy,” who writes for Toronto Maple Leafs’ blog Leafs Nation:

Wayne Gretzky was not good at hockey. Nobody was good at hockey until probably 2000. Go watch 80s highlights before you @ me.

— That's Kappy! (@ThatsKappy) November 5, 2018

Everybody on the ice was dogshit. Goalies literally could not stand up and weren't remotely good at the sport. If you come at me with any best player of all time who was drafted before 1990 you can shut up.

— That's Kappy! (@ThatsKappy) November 5, 2018

Even being better than your cohorts in the 80s though means literally nothing, imo. And we'll never know. Just better to focus on the era where, you know, we kind of figured out how to be good at the sport.

— That's Kappy! (@ThatsKappy) November 5, 2018

Pretty amazing how everyone who is mad at this clearly had their nostalgia goggles sewn onto to their faces.

— That's Kappy! (@ThatsKappy) November 6, 2018

Again, the base point of a different era’s somewhat valid, especially when it comes to Gretzky’s scoring numbers and the offense-heavy era he played in. (However, it’s notable that even after adjusting for era, Gretzky still dominates the scoring numbers.) And there are reasonable debates to be had about if Gretzky was the best player ever (there are cases for the likes of Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe, and possibly Mario Lemieux if not for injuries), and if he would be the best player in the league if he played today (maybe not, but it’s impossible to completely tell how well or not he’d adapt to modern changes). Saying Gretzky “was not good at hockey” and “nobody was good at hockey until probably 2000” is a hell of a take, though, and involves a ludicrously narrow definition of “good at hockey.” But sure, fire off the bold takes. Even Gretzky advocated for that sometimes, and so did Gretzky-channeler Michael Scott:

You sometimes miss the shots you take too, though, and this one was definitely a miss.

Rating:

1. Bill James calls all players “replaceable,” generates huge backlash: James, currently a senior advisor to the Boston Red Sox, laid a lot of the groundwork for advanced statistical analysis in sports, and he deserves praise for that. Recently, though, he’s been dropping quite a few bad takes on Twitter, such as running a poll on “the likelihood [then-Supreme Court nominee Brett] Kavanaugh’s accuser is telling the truth,” and he really made waves with one this week. In a discussion with Chris Towers of CBS, James tweeted “If the players all retired tomorrow, we would replace them, the game would go on; in three years it would make no difference whatsoever. The players are NOT the game, any more than the beer vendors are.”

That sparked huge backlash from media, players and the MLBPA, and it even led to a lame statement from the Red Sox trying to disassociate themselves from James:

The #RedSox Statement Regarding Bill James’ Recent Remarks: pic.twitter.com/JffB08Hqad

— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) November 8, 2018

Yeah. Sure.

"he's literally one of 25 people identified as executives of our very large company (with links and bios), but he's not an employee and can't speak for us" –@RedSox, draft 1, which they somehow decided to publish

— Bill P[ilgrim] (@Bill_TPA) November 8, 2018

But hey, that’s on-brand for the Red Sox, who have repeatedly criticized partners they choose without actually doing anything about it. And the take here is on-brand for James, at least in this day and age. He did eventually delete the tweet in question, but still argued that this was mostly about how his comments were perceived, not what he said:

I think that's right; in fact, that's a remarkable Twitter-short summary. I don't think of myself as the Establishment or part of the establishment, but I do think that this controversy has arisen because yesterday's comments were perceived in that way. https://t.co/1DURExzhgK

— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) November 8, 2018

I do my best not to offend people. Can't say that I have much talent for it.

— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) November 8, 2018

What I said here yesterday, I once said to Marvin Miller. Marvin very strongly disagreed with it, but we were still friends. He understood that it was not in any way disrespectful to the players; he just thought it was factually wrong.

— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) November 8, 2018

And really, that’s the bigger issue with James’ comments. “Disrespectful” is one thing, as is the idea of an ownership consultant making these comments about players, but James is also just wrong. Yes, professional baseball absolutely could exist in some form if every current major leaguer suddenly retired, or if they were somehow barred from the game and replaced with a minor leaguer (and hey, that’s a form where Tim Tebow might be able to make the majors on somewhat-merit), ignoring all the labor and legal controversies that would arise from an attempt like that and ignoring how it’s probably impossible barring Rapture. But “In three years, it would make no difference whatsoever” is completely inaccurate.

Those who argue that Billy Beane did this with the Moneyball approach, an approach that owes a fair bit to the writings of James and others, are missing the point on three levels. One, Beane grabbed players whose talents were undervalued by the market then, but those talents aren’t undervalued anymore; two, Beane was forced into that approach by the necessities of the A’s budget, and gladly would have paid to keep some stars if he could; and three, more stats-focused approach only led to World Series titles when teams like the Red Sox, Cubs and Astros started combining stats insights with larger payrolls. So yes, you could theoretically replace all MLB rosters with minor-league players (again, barring legal fights), but arguing that it would make “no difference whatsoever” in terms of the quality of play is absurd.

And the quality of play does matter. Many leagues have tried replacement players and replacement officials during particular labor fights, and it never ends well. Yes, some fans will still tune in to watch their team even if it’s clear the sport is no longer employing the best players possible, but many won’t. And that means less revenue for teams and for leagues. Ultimately, professional sports are businesses, and they’ve figured out that it’s more valuable for them to pay the best players (even if there are regularly squabbles about just how much those players should be paid) than to try and replace them on the cheap. You’d think James would also have figured that out by now, but apparently not.

Rating: 

Honorable mention: Jim Matheson doesn’t understand sports revenue and TV contracts: Long-time Edmonton Journal columnist Jim Matheson dropped not just a “please like my sport” take this week, but one sincerely wondering why a top MLB player will make more than a top NHL player:

Let me get this right…Nats offer Harper $300 mil for 10 yrs and that's not enough for his agent. The glorious McDavid makes $100 mil for eight yrs and he's a generational player too. Harper batted .249 this past season.

— Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) November 7, 2018

Baseball has much more revenue than hockey, Jim, as shocking as that might seem to you.

Hot Take Standings: 

Jason Whitlock – Hall of Fame
Stephen A. Smith – 220
Skip Bayless – 194
Phil Mushnick – 164
Colin Cowherd – 74
Rob Parker – 44
Doug Gottlieb – 44
Shannon Sharpe – 35
Dan Shaughnessy – 26
Albert Breer – 25
Ray Lewis – 25
Britt McHenry – 20
JT The Brick – 20
Charles Barkley – 19
Danny Kanell – 17
Darren Rovell – 17
Jason McIntyre – 16
Tony Massarotti – 15
Ben Maller – 15
Don Cherry – 15
Bill Plaschke – 14
The Sporting News – 13
Andy Benoit – 13
Chris Broussard – 13
Dan Dakich – 13
Rick Morrissey – 13
John Middlekauff – 11
Michael DeCourcy – 11
Keith Olbermann – 11
Bill James – 10
Jason Smith – 10
Joe Simpson – 10
Bob Brookover – 10
Jeremy Roenick – 10
Berry Tramel – 10
Kristine Leahy – 10
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo  – 9
Michael Wilbon – 9
Mike Francesa – 9
Ross Tucker – 9
Ryen Russillo – 9
Garth Crooks – 9
C.J. Nitkowski – 9
Mike Felger – 8
Steve Simmons – 8
Frank Isola – 8
Michael Rapaport – 8
Bart Hubbuch – 8
Mike Bianchi – 7
Kirk Herbstreit – 7
Cris Carter – 7
Pat Forde – 7
Pat Leonard – 6
Luke Kerr-Dineen – 6
Terry Bradshaw – 6
Greg A. Bedard – 6
Bill Welt – 5
Jack Todd – 5
Aaron Murray – 5
Chris Childers – 5
Mark Knight – 5
The Herald Sun – 5
David Booth – 5
Tom Nichols – 5
Keith Hernandez – 5
Bill O’Reilly – 5
Brandel Chamblee – 5
Michael McCarthy – 5
Mike “The Reputation Doctor®”  Paul – 5
Dennis Dodd – 5
Rich Lowry – 5
Chris Reed – 5
San Diego Union-Tribune – 5
David Hookstead – 5
Tomm Looney – 5
Alex Shaw – 5
Rick Reilly – 5
Randall Mell – 5
Ian O’Connor – 5
Michael Bamberger – 5
Bob Bubka – 5
Cathal Kelly – 5
Pete Prisco – 5
Damien Cox – 5
Bill Simons – 5
Christine Flowers – 5
Jason Lieser – 5
John Steigerwald – 5
Josh Peter – 5
Alexi Lalas  – 5
Greg Gabriel  – 5
John Moody  – 5
Marni Soupcoff – 5
Ryan Rishaug – 5
Kurtis Larson  – 5
Rod Watson  – 5
Dan Wolken – 5
Chuck Modiano – 5
Joel Klatt – 5
Steve Buffery – 5
Joe Morgan – 5
Michael Felger – 5
Howard Eskin – 5
Nancy Armour – 5
Richard Justice – 5
Ameer Hasan Loggins – 5
Jesse Watters – 5
John McGrath – 5
Mike Sielski – 5
Gordon Monson – 5
Scott Fowler – 5
Terry Frei – 5
David Jones – 5
Sabrina Parr – 5
Abbey Mastracco – 5
Terry Cushman – 5
Rob Rossi – 5
Rick Bozich – 5
Michael O’Doherty – 5
Simon Briggs – 5
Dan Wetzel – 5
Mike Parry – 5
Bob Ryan – 5
Robert Reed – 5
Pete Dougherty – 5
Dan Le Batard – 5
Marcus Hayes – 5
Kyle Turley – 5
Mike Ditka – 5
Erril Laborde – 5
Lowell Cohn – 5
Rosie DiManno – 5
That’s Kappy – 4
Mitchell Nathanson  – 4
The New York Daily News – 4
“Big” Jim Murray – 4
Jeff Diamond – 4
Marc Berman – 4
Evan Roberts – 4
Corbin Smith  – 4
DJ Siddiqi  – 4
The Express  – 4
Mark Kiszla – 4
Greg Witter – 4
Myron Medcalf  – 4
Bill Polian – 4
MJ Franklin – 4
Alex Reimer – 4
Joan Vennochi – 4
Graham Couch – 4
Matt Yglesias – 4
Bill Livingston – 4
Michael Irvin – 4
Shawn Windsor – 4
Brock Huard – 4
Byron Tau – 4
Maggie Gray – 4
Michael Powell – 4
Mark Spector – 4
Chad Forbes – 4
Gary Myers – 4
Mark Schlereth – 4
Andy Gray – 4
David Fleming – 4
Jeff Pearlman – 4
Tony Grossi – 4
FanSided – 4
Tony Kornheiser – 4
USA Today op-eds – 4
Nathan Ruiz – 4
Bill Simmons – 3
Mark Teixeira – 3
Wally Hall – 3
Damien Woody – 3
Victor Cruz – 3
Andrew Walker – 3
Jim Kaat – 3
Jason Gay – 3
The Wall Street Journal – 3
Steven J. Brams – 3
Aaron Isaksen – 3
Will Muschamp – 3
Buck Lanford – 3
John Feinstein – 3
Stan Fischler – 3
Sonnie Wooden – 3
Chris Jones – 3
Kelly Smith – 3
Reggie Miller – 3
Mark Madden – 3
Larry Brooks – 3
Dan Canova – 3
Steve Rosenbloom – 3
Stephen Jackson – 3
Mike Sando – 3
Walt Borla – 3
Nick Cafardo – 3
Ice Cube – 3
Justin Peters – 3
Elise Finch – 3
Kevin Skiver  – 3
David Bahnsen – 3
Harold Reynolds – 3
Kevin Reynolds – 3
Mike Sheahan – 3
Bob Ford – 3
Steve Greenberg – 3
Matt Burke – 3
Malcolm Gladwell – 3
Mike Milbury – 3
Mac Engel – 3
Nick Kypreos – 3
Caron Butler – 3
Don Brennan – 3
Robert Tychkowski – 3
Mike Johnston – 3
Jeff Mans – 3
Joe Browne – 3
Mike Harrington – 3
Greg Mitchell – 3
Mike Greenberg – 2
Trent Dilfer – 2
Grant Paulsen – 2
Jeff Ermann – 2
Ed Werder  – 2
Ben Mulroney – 2
Ron Cook – 2
Brian Kenny – 2
Barrett Sallee – 2
Craig Calcaterra – 2
Max Kellerman – 2
Gareth Wheeler – 2
John Cornyn – 2
Tony Dungy – 2
Bruce Jenkins – 2
Chris Wesseling – 2
Seth Greenberg – 2
Doug Smith – 2
Newsweek – 2
Teddy Cutler – 2
Will Cain – 2
Bill Cowher – 2
Paul Finebaum – 2
Charley Casserly – 2
Amin Elhassan – 2
Jim Henneman – 2
Mitch Lawrence – 2
Nick Wright – 2
Domonique Foxworth – 2
Gary Parrish – 2
Michael Farber – 2
Andy Furman – 2
Donovan McNabb – 2
Seth Davis – 2
Jon Heyman – 2
Jason La Canfora – 2
Booger McFarland – 2
Joe Schad – 2
Cork Gaines – 2

Thanks for reading! Tune in next week for more This Week In Hot Takes. As always, you can send submissions to me via e-mail or on Twitter.

The post This Week In Hot Takes: Bill James says replacing every MLB player “would make no difference whatsoever” three years later appeared first on Awful Announcing.

Welcome to another day in the never-ending saga of reports on the Fox regional sports networks. The 22 networks were initially part of Disney’s deal to buy Fox assets, and part of Comcast’s counterbid, but Disney agreed to the Department of Justice’s condition of selling off the RSNs to gain approval for the rest of the deal. Since then, there have been plenty of discussions of bidders, from cable providers to teams to private equity to tech firms to station owners like Sinclair to agencies like Endeavor to Fox themselves.

Some of the latest developments have seen high-profile names added to bids, such as billionaire CEO Carolyn Rafaelian teaming up with Ice Cube and LL Cool J. And another bidder looks to be going targeting a high-profile teammate of their own, with Dylan Byers of NBC News reporting Thursday that private equity firm Apollo Global is exploring bringing LeBron James’ Uninterrupted media company in as “a strategic partner”:

Scoop: Apollo courts LeBron — Apollo Global, one of several private-equity firms considering a bid for Disney’s 22 regional sports networks, has held early talks with LeBron James’ media company, Uninterrupted, about bringing them on as a strategic partner, according to sources with knowledge of the talks who were not authorized to speak publicly.

… Several potential buyers have expressed interest, including Apollo, Blackstone Group, KKR, Providence, Silver Lake and Endeavor, and Lachlan Murdoch’s “New Fox,” which owns Fox Sports and Fox Broadcasting.

Apollo’s talks with James’ multimedia platform have focused on a strategic partnership deal that could see James contributing and advising on content for the networks, the sources said. There has been no talk of an ownership stake for James’ company.

That makes some sense; having big names on board never seems to hurt, and James’ media company’s big enough and wide enough at this point that they add perhaps more to the table than your average celebrity connection. And in particular, they might be able to help with providing programming for the hours of the day not consumed with live games. Yes, the RSNs have some studio shows (often simulcasts of local radio, but some original ones focused on local teams), but a lot of their daytime programming is stuff they currently pick up thanks to their Fox affiliation, and that wouldn’t necessarily continue after a sale. And private equity firms in particular might be looking to cut costs, and maybe syndicating some existing programming from Uninterrupted could help there. Or maybe LeBron and Uninterrupted will help develop original programming for the channels, something they’re already doing at seemingly every other network (and even in theaters).

In any case, the RSN drama is far from over. As Meg James of The Los Angeles Times writes, the initial bids were submitted this week for investment bankers Allen & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to assess, and Disney “is expected to allow potential suitors to bid on individual channels or a cluster of channels.” So there are a ton of people in the mix, and there’s expected to be at least one further round of bidding, with the auction likely wrapping up early next year (after Disney finalizes its purchase of Fox assets).

There’s no particular indication this Apollo bid will win, even with LeBron. Still, his involvement is notable, and it adds yet another layer to this tangled web. We’ll see what stories come out on this next, but there are going to be plenty more until these networks finally find their new home or homes.

[NBC News]

The post One private equity firm pursuing the Fox regional sports networks is trying to land LeBron’s Uninterrupted as “a strategic partner” appeared first on Awful Announcing.