The Sports Media Thread

[dfwabel]

2 hours ago, GFB said:

Let's see what's going on over at FS1:

 

You know, if Fox's strategy was to pick up blowhards like Whitlock, Cowherd, and Bayless only to publicly roast them on a daily basis... I have to admit, I'd watch that. 

 

(not that putting microphones in front of Lavar Ball on a regular basis is a great idea either)

 

http://awfulannouncing.com/fox/lavar-ball-jason-whitlock-dont-think-can-comment-anything-snacks.html

 

Quote

The trouble started when Leahy questioned Ball, the father of NBA Draft prospect Lonzo Ball, on how many sneakers his Big Baller Brand had sold. Ball told Leahy to “stay in your lane,” called her a hater, mimicked her voice and refused to make eye contact with her.

 

 

[Cujo]

David Ross has joined the booth at ESPN -- weeks after major layoffs decimated their baseball dept.

[FGM13]

12 minutes ago, Cujo said:

David Ross has joined the booth at ESPN -- weeks after major layoffs decimated their baseball dept.

 

I've only watched one inning of the Cards-Sox game he's doing but I think he's a good addition to the booth, at any rate.

[TBGKon]

Just another thing to consider in the whole Mike and Mike situation...

 

Report: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic barely speak to each other, show atmosphere is ‘poisonous’

 

&

 

The icy breakup of Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg

 

[MadmanLA]

Greenberg was a guest on the His & Hers podcast a couple years ago, and when he was asked by Jemele Hill how he and Golic get along, he said that their relationship is strictly professional, nothing more, and they're just two totally different personalities, on and off the air.  Hell, just based on Greeny's earlier comments on His & Hers, I can't say I'm surprised that there's friction between he and Golic.  It's not uncommon that there's friction between "stars" on TV and radio shows, because how much no matter they get along (on a professional level) with all of the years they've worked together, something will eventually come to a head.

[dfwabel]

6 hours ago, MadmanLA said:

Greenberg was a guest on the His & Hers podcast a couple years ago, and when he was asked by Jemele Hill how he and Golic get along, he said that their relationship is strictly professional, nothing more, and they're just two totally different personalities, on and off the air.  Hell, just based on Greeny's earlier comments on His & Hers, I can't say I'm surprised that there's friction between he and Golic.  It's not uncommon that there's friction between "stars" on TV and radio shows, because how much no matter they get along (on a professional level) with all of the years they've worked together, something will eventually come to a head.

But Greenberg really never wanted to be there and replace Tony Bruno.

 

From 2015 this interview with USA Today, followed by the public moves from his agent(s), mark the kindling in the fire.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/03/mike-and-mike-espn

Quote

“I accepted the job with the agreement that I would continue to anchor SportsCenter and I was anchoring 100 SportsCenters a year for the first 11 years we were doing Mike and Mike. The primary reason I accepted it because I thought maybe the executives at ESPN would hear my work on the radio and like it and it would serve me well in my goal to get a higher-profile position on TV at ESPN.” 

For the past 15 years, the two have often joked about their differences — one is a former NFL player (Golic) while the other draws from his experience in journalism and as a reporter (Greenberg). And even outside the office, they say, their lives aren’t that similar. The two live about 90 minutes away from each other and have kids that are different ages. So as close as they seem on the air, they said, their lives are completely separate once they leave the office.

 

They were never the same. Greenberg likely thought that Golic would you eventually be fired, ESPN would name new morning show hosts and he could move on to what he thought his (then) goals were.

[Sport]

Mike & Mike was "The Odd Couple". It worked because they had two points of view on any given sports topic. He's a big football player, and he's a whimpy dork, what a wacky pairing!

 

I liked them when I was still listening to sports talk radio, but that was over a decade ago. Since then they both turned into corporate shills and Greenberg started getting a little Hot Takey once that proved to be a useful way to get heard. 

[OnWis97]

The quote a couple of posts above is no big deal.  I have seen few of my co-workers outside of work over the years for the same reason; we just have different lives, ages, lifestyles, etc.  It seems like it's more recent that they've actually stopped getting along professionally.

 

I like the show, though I only catch about a segment a day while getting ready in the morning.  "Greeny is a wuss" gets kinda old, but when I compare it to local sports radio and all of the time they spend laughing at their own jokes, it's a huge improvement.  I do agree that Greenberg's gotten pretty preachy at times and belabors points that, even if I agree with, a get worn out on (the water at the Olympics, his distaste for college sports, etc.). Generally, I think they were a decent pair. And my big beef with the show was how it grew more and more NFL-centered (starting from a pretty NFL-centric place).  And that's not going to change with the switch to Wingo.

 

I think people identify with the show because most of us are more like Greenberg, and wanted to be like Golic (i.e., professional athletes).  Greenberg's probably no more a wuss than the average guy but is willing to go all in on the shtick, since that's his role.  Before announcements of the shows end, it had dawned on me just how long it's been on an that's a fairly long run. So one way or the other, I figured it would be coming to an end.

 

Despite the occasional high horse, I like Greenburg.  That said, the most upsetting thing about this is learning that he makes $6 million a year.  I'd have figured he made a good living, but geez.  If I ever find out what the "Fox and Friends" hosts make, I'll probably just break down crying.

[dfwabel]

The Ringer is moving from Medium to Vox servers.

 

http://thebiglead.com/2017/05/30/bill-simmons-and-the-ringer-are-moving-to-vox/

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

That's good! Medium's commenting platform is bizarre.

[CS85]

ESPN fires John Clayton.

[The_Admiral]

22 hours ago, dfwabel said:

The Ringer is moving from Medium to Vox servers.

 

Cool cool, maybe we can get "Different Leagues Have Different Safety Rules And That's OK"

[dfwabel]

Simmons is still so bitter.

 

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/bill-simmons-criticizes-espn-john-skipper-says-tech-will-own-sports-rights.html

 

Video:  https://www.recode.net/2017/5/31/15720190/bill-simmons-espn-video-watch-code-conference-interview

[DG_ThenNowForever]

3 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Simmons is still so bitter.

 

http://awfulannouncing.com/espn/bill-simmons-criticizes-espn-john-skipper-says-tech-will-own-sports-rights.html

 

Video:  https://www.recode.net/2017/5/31/15720190/bill-simmons-espn-video-watch-code-conference-interview

 

 I don't know about that. The Awful Announcing guy comes off way, way more bitter. That was an awful lot of "well acutallys" for relatively brief remarks.

[dfwabel]

7 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

 

 I don't know about that. The Awful Announcing guy comes off way, way more bitter. That was an awful lot of "well acutallys" for relatively brief remarks.

He wanted to be in Skipper's "bullpen", but wasn't.

[HedleyLamarr]

1 hour ago, BlackBolt3 said:

First step by ESPN in admitting they've been leaning left the last few years?

 

Should you not remember, Bocephus was drop-kicked by ESPN for comparing Obama to Hitler.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

There've been countless articles shooting down the supposed liberal bias of ESPN, so I won't repost them here. I do think that if you spend 30 years with the conservative-ish/jock-ish opinion as the default (okay to mock gays/women/other, anything questioning the status quo gets shut up with "stick to sports), then yes, new viewpoints can be shocking. But the old ones are still there. Mike Ditka is still employed by ESPN, right?

[HedleyLamarr]

6 hours ago, DG_Now said:

There've been countless articles shooting down the supposed liberal bias of ESPN, so I won't repost them here. I do think that if you spend 30 years with the conservative-ish/jock-ish opinion as the default (okay to mock gays/women/other, anything questioning the status quo gets shut up with "stick to sports), then yes, new viewpoints can be shocking. But the old ones are still there. Mike Ditka is still employed by ESPN, right?

You have current and now-former employees of ESPN that say otherwise.

[The_Admiral]

I have no doubt that many ESPN employees are quite liberal, but I don't think their programming leans toward anything but promotion.

[The_Admiral]

In NHL news, TSN poached the English rights to the Canadiens from Rogers, fortifying their daisy chain of NHL coverage in lieu of the national contract. For those scoring at home:

 

TSN: Winnipeg, Ottawa English, half of Toronto, Montreal English, most Montreal French (RDS)

Sportsnet: Canucks, Flames, Oilers, other half of Toronto, Ottawa French (TVA), some Montreal French (TVA)

 

I don't know how TSN is gonna work out the scheduling with the Senators because Ottawa and Montreal have coterminous TV territories -- from Belleville all the way to Newfoundland -- and now they'll need at least an overflow feed on top of the five they already have, a TSN5+, I guess? Meanwhile, Sportsnet East now has no hockey properties other than picking up the national games. It'd be a good place to put the Nordiques en anglais if a certain Mr. Burnsian owner would allow a team there.