Fang's Bites

Looking at the Next Generation of Olympic Announcers

As we go into the second week of the 2012 London Olympics or the Games of the XXX Summer Olympiad, I thought I would take the opportunity on this middle Sunday to look ahead for the next set of Games on television.

We know that NBCUniversal will carry the Olympics through 2020, that’s two Winter and two Summer Games in that timespan. While the network has been served well by its current crop of announcers, some of whom date back as far back as 1988, it’s time to replace them with a new generation of hosts, play-by-play callers and analysts who can carry the network through 2020 and possibly beyond.

I’ll focus this post on the Summer Games since that’s what we’ve been watching for the last 8 days. I’ll do a Winter Olympics announcing post at a later date. I’ll start with hosts, then go by the glamor sports.

HOSTS

Bob Costas — Bob is 60 this year and while his youthful look betrays his age, he’ll be 64 in 2016 for Rio and 68 in 2020 at a site yet to be determined. ABC’s Jim McKay hosted his last Olympics in 1988 at age 65. Costas remains the best interviewer on sports television and should be allowed to host the Olympics on NBC for as long as he wants. I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

Dan Patrick — Dan is just four years younger than Bob, but if Costas decides to leave, DP could step into his shoes as Primetime host.

Liam McHugh — For 2016, I would think this is where NBC could tap Liam McHugh and put him in Al Michaels’ place on Daytime. Al would be 71 in Rio and while he would still be very good at calling Sunday Night Football in four years, I would not put him in the host’s chair in Rio. McHugh has proven he can be very versatile hosting the NHL Postseason, the Stanley Cup Final, the Tour de France and the Olympics over a four month span. That is not easy, but Liam has made it look easy and that’s the sign of a very good host.

Bonnie Bernstein — ESPN’s Bonnie Bernstein is the best personality not to have an Olympic gig. This is like saying she’s the Best Golfer Not To Win A Major. She has proven as a substitute host for Dan Patrick and on Twitter that she can discuss multiple sports. And Bonnie’s also a former gymnast. Watching BBC’s coverage of the London Games, the network utilizes both studio and venue hosts. Making Bonnie a venue host at Gymnastics with Nastia Liukin as her analyst would work to one of her strengths. She was a five-time host of the NCAA Gymnastics Championship when she was at CBS. I would love to see her work an Olympic Games.

Ryan Burr — Ryan will be coming to the NBCUniversal family to work at Golf Channel and at NBC Sports Network. We could see him host on either MSNBC or NBCSN.

Michelle Beadle — Michelle’s done a great job thus far in London. She has shown she can talk Olympic sports and bring some humor as well.

Kelly Tilghman — I’ve liked her work on MSNBC. I can see her on future Olympics as well.

ANNOUNCERS

Let’s do this by sport.

BASKETBALL — If the NBA continues sending players to the Olympics, then NBC could continue utilizing Bob Fitzgerald from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Chris Carrino. This is where NBC should tap Turner Sports for a Steve Kerr or even Reggie Miller for analysts.

If basketball becomes an Under 23 tournament as speculated, NBC may have to hire college basketball announcers. Borrowing Ian Eagle from CBS and YES to call games would be a good move. Jay Bilas from ESPN would forge a strong team with Ian throughout the Games. And NBC should still utilize Craig Sager as the reporter although he looks muted with a regular wardrobe.

On the women’s side, if NBC could get Doris Burke on loan from ESPN, that would be ideal. She could work men’s games too as she’s proven over the past few years. If NBC can’t get Doris Burke, why not former ESPN’er Stacey Dales or Fox Sports Net’s Debbie Antonelli?

BOXING — Bob Papa and Teddy Atlas are a very good team and should remain, but I’d love for NBC to bring in its old friend Jim Lampley with Larry Merchant and Emmanuel Steward from HBO to call one or two bouts a day. What could be better than that? And bring in Harold Lederman for judging analysis while we’re at it.

Host Fred Roggin should be replaced with boxing fan Brian Kenny of MLB Network.

CYCLING — If it’s not Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, NBC should go announcer-less.

DIVING — Can you believe Cynthia Potter has worked every Summer Olympics on network television since 1984? She’s been solid, but it’s time to bring in some new blood. 2000 gold medalist Laura Wilkinson who worked the Diving Trials for NBC Sports Network in June is a potential candidate.

GYMNASTICS — Utilizing a favorite word of Tim Daggett’s, the announcing on this sport over the last two Olympiads has been catastrophic. Normally, I like Al Trautwig, but his calls of gymnastics in 2008 in Beijing and this year in London is reaching John Tesh disastrous proportions in 1996. Al makes everything seems at life or death levels. In addition, his penchant to focus on crying gymnasts borders on creepy.

Tim Daggett’s constant talking and use of the word “catastrophic” is annoying. Elfi Schlegel has been reduced to short sentences. NBC needs to replace this team for 2016.

This is where NBC can utilize a venue host (see Bonnie Bernstein above) with an analyst. Nastia Liukin could fill that role very nicely. Bela Karolyi has proven to be Must See TV and should be one of the studio analysts. And if his wife, Marta retires, imagine the fireworks on the set between those two.

NBC is using Terry Gannon this year to call rowing. Why not have Terry call Olympic Gymnastics in 2016? He has called the sport for ABC and did it well. And having watched the World Feed this year through NBC’s Olympics Live Extra app, I’m very impressed with Shannon Miller from 1996′s Magnificent Seven Team. She’s been the sole analyst for Olympic Broadcasting Services and has done very well in explaining certain moves, the scoring system and their implications without sounding overdramatic. Terry Gannon and Shannon Miller would make an excellent team.

GOLF — Remember, golf makes its return to the Olympics in Rio in 2016, having made its last appearance in 1904. NBC/Golf Channel has an established team with Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, Nick Faldo, Roger Maltbie, Brandell Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, Rich Lerner, the aforementioned Kelly Tilghman, David Feherty, the incoming Ryan Burr and so many others who could work this event.

Some people have asked me on Twitter if Dan would stop calling swimming to do golf. I think Dan could do both especially if the IOC (with the help of NBC) decides to schedule golf in the second week of the Olympics, so that it doesn’t interfere with swimming, tennis, gymnastics and other sports in the first week. This is where a venue host would come in handy, perhaps Kelly or Ryan with one or two of the many Golf Channel analysts. And we could expect Golf Channel to have a role in picking up the first two rounds of Olympic Golf with NBC coming in for the last two rounds.

SOCCER — NBC used its MLS crew, Arlo White and Kyle Martino on the men’s games along with JP Dellacamera, Glenn Davis, Steve Cangialosi and Allen Hopkins. I’d love to see English Premier League announcers Martin Tyler and Ian Darke on US TV calling some Olympic action.

Brandi Chastain despite Hope Solo’s complaints last week is doing well on women’s games and I would keep her in the booth.

SWIMMING — Dan Hicks has made this one of his signature sports along with golf throughout his career at NBC. I can’t see him leaving the sport unless golf is scheduled in the first week, but I don’t think that would happen. Rowdy Gaines has been a good salesman for swimming and he’s doing yeoman’s work to raise money for the sport to establish a training center. However, I’ve grown tired of his screaming and his voice raising over 50 octaves. This is where NBC could bring in a plethora of gold medalists to replace Gaines. This is also a sport that could utilize a venue host and it’s where Liam McHugh could go if NBC decides to keep Al Michaels in Daytime.

While Phelps has said he’s retiring, NBC would like to see him in Rio either as a swimmer or perhaps an analyst. If the network uses him on TV, I’d prefer to see him in the studio. At first thought, I felt putting Phelps on camera would be a bad move, but this was based on his interviews in Beijing where he looked uncomfortable. During his NBC interviews in London, Michael has looked more at ease, but that does not necessarily make for a good analyst. If he wants to go the TV route, putting him in the studio for short spurts might be best for 2016.

As for the races, I’d go with Amy Van Dyken to replace Rowdy. For the past year, Amy has been co-hosting Fox Sports Tonight with Rob Dibble on Fox Sports Radio and she’s been in London analyzing the Olympic swimming for FoxSports.com. Amy is not only funny, but she speaks her mind. She knows the mind of an Olympic athlete and I think she’d be perfect with Dan in calling the races.

TENNIS — This sport finally received some glamor treatment from NBC this year. However, it was treated badly with Pat O’Brien as the venue host. Not only did Pat demonstrate a huge lack of knowledge, he conducted awkward interviews as well. Brett Haber and Andrew Catalon did very well on the play-by-play and I liked Rennae Stubbs to want her to return in Rio. Justin Gimelstob was a weak link in the crew. I’d replace him with ESPN’s Darren Cahill or have John McEnroe call more matches.

TRACK & FIELD — There’s not much I would replace here. Tom Hammond is about as classy an announcer as you will find. Ato Boldon has become a very strong analyst. And NBC has brought back Craig Masback, long a staple of track coverage in the 1980′s and 1990′s. But for 2016, I think Lolo Jones would make for a good studio analyst. And Michael Johnson who has been on the last few Olympics for the BBC would work well too. Having Bob host Primetime from the Athletics venue would be a nice change of pace from being in the studio. And he could mix it up with Lolo and Michael.

Those are my suggestions. If you have some of your own, put them in the comments below.

A Few Sunday Sports Media Thoughts

Let’s provide a few sports media thoughts on this Sunday. They’ll be in bullet form.

• Last Thursday’s release of Louis Freeh’s report on Penn State University’s conduct in the Jerry Sandusky scandal was the sports media’s version of the Obamacare Supreme Court decision. Unlike the Obamacare decision, no media outlet made errors in reporting. But there were a couple of errors in judgment in the aftermath.

  First was allowing Matt Millen to go solo on SportsCenter to spout freely to defend Joe Paterno and his legacy. ESPN should have had one of its legal experts like Roger Cossack to discuss the contents of the reports. To let Millen go on to defend Paterno right after the report’s release was irresponsible. If ESPN was going to have Millen on, it needed to have an opposing viewpoint accompany him. Bad decision by ESPN.

  Second was crackpot Bill James originally stating on his own site and then again on ESPN Radio’s Doug Gottlieb Show on Saturday that the Freeh Report had somehow exonerated Paterno. James currently works for the Boston Red Sox in an advisory role and while he did not make those statements representing the team, they have a conundrum knowing that the calls for James’ firing have already begun. Someone should have corralled James before he went on ESPN Radio and embarrassed himself. How James could believe the report that report exonerated Paterno is beyond belief. The Red Sox will have to take action on James. And no, this is not a First Amendment issue. Under an organization’s employe, that organization can fire someone for actions or statements it deems offensive or contrary to its values.

  The Paterno story and its effects on Penn State will be going for a while, I’m afraid.

• I’m a fan of HBO’s boxing coverage from Jim Lampley to Larry Merchant, Emanuel Steward and Harold Lederman, but when it comes to Max Kellerman, the man is abrasive, obnoxious and a charlatan. Often, he repeats what Jim Lampley has already said. Larry Merchant is much better in the third analyst role. How Kellerman has worked for ESPN, Fox Sports Net and HBO is beyond me.
• After watching a few MLS and US Soccer games on NBC Sports Network, I’ve become a fan of how Arlo White and Kyle Martino call contests. With White in the traditional commentary box and Martino down on the field, the two have very good chemistry. I look forward to having them call Olympic Soccer in the UK at the end of this month.
• If I’m on a baseball team playing on a Fox Saturday Baseball game that’s being called by Kenny Albert, I’m calling in sick. In 2010, Kenny called two marathon games, a 20 inning affair between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals and a 13 inning contest between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. Then on Saturday, Kenny had another 13 inning game, this time between Detroit and Baltimore. Kenny is truly a baseball Marathon Man.

That will conclude the thoughts for today.

Two Press Releases for Your Reading Pleasure

I received two particular press releases of interest in my inbox today. Neither have anything to do with one another, this is just one way for me to clear out some of my e-mail and also provide you with some information.

First, NBC says last Sunday’s Cowboys-Packers game was the second most watched game since NBC got the rights to Sunday Night Football.

COWBOYS-PACKERS IS SECOND MOST VIEWED “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” GAME IN HISTORY

“NBC Sunday Night Football” No. 1 Show For 3rd Consecutive Week Easily Defeating the Primetime Emmy Awards by 80 Percent

22.2 Million Viewers, 13.3/21 Rating Show Significant Year-to-Year Gains

NEW YORK – September 23, 2008 - The Dallas Cowboys 27-16 victory over the Green Bay Packers on "NBC Sunday Night Football," drew 22.2 million viewers and stands as the second most watched Sunday Night game in NBC's two-plus year history of SNF, trailing only the much-hyped "Manning Bowl" on the first Sunday of the 2006 season (22.6 million), according to data provided by Nielsen Media Research.

Sunday night's 22.2 million viewers represents a 17 percent gain over the comparable week in 2007 (Cowboys-Bears, 19.0 million on 9/23/07) and posted a household rating of 13.3 and a 21 share, a gain of 13 percent over the Cowboys-Bears game (11.8/19).

"Sunday Night Football" easily won the night defeating the Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast on ABC by 80 percent in viewers (22.2 million to 12.3 million) and 62 percent among households (13.3/21 vs. 8.2/13).  SNF ranks No. 1 among primetime programs for the week of September 15-21 among households, average viewers and other key ratings categories, marking the third consecutive week SNF has ranked No. 1.  
 
MOST WATCHED GAMES IN SNF HISTORY:
1) Colts-Giants, 9/7/06, 22.6 million
2) Cowboys-Packers, 9/21/08, 22.2 million
3) Colts-Patriots, 11/5/06, 21.9 million
4) Eagles-Patriots, 11/25/07, 21.8 million
5) Saints-Cowboys, 12/10/06, 19.9 million

And HBO’s World Championship Boxing returns this Saturday as Sugar Shane Mosley takes on Ricardo Mayorga in a Jr. Middleweight fight.

HBO SPORTS SHOWCASES WORLD-CLASS FIGHTERS WHEN

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^®: SHANE MOSLEY VS. RICARDO MAYORGA

AND ANDRE BERTO VS. STEVE FORBES

IS SEEN LIVE SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 ON HBO

Sparks will fly when HBO Sports spotlights world-class performers on WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: SHANE MOSLEY VS. RICARDO MAYORGA AND ANDRE BERTO VS. STEVE FORBES, presented live SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 (10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT) from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Cal., exclusively on HBO. The WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING team will be ringside for the event, which will be presented in HDTV and in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Expect a September heat wave when former lightweight, welterweight and junior middleweight champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley (44-5, 37 KOs) stands toe-to-toe with Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga (28-6-1, 22 KOs), one of boxing’s most animated fighters, in a 12-round junior middleweight bout. In his first fight in Southern California since 2000, Pomona, Cal., native Mosley returns to the ring in search of another title shot. A native of Managua, Nicaragua, Mayorga hasn’t fought since handling Fernando Vargas last November. He’s never ducked a challenge, having tangled with Vernon Forrest, Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya.

In the opening bout, newly crowned welterweight titleholder Andre Berto (22-0, 19 KOs) defends his belt against crafty veteran Steve Forbes (33-6, 9 KOs) in a 12-round, 147-pound tilt. Florida native Berto captured his first title by defeating never-before KO’d Miki Rodriguez in June, scoring his 19th knockout in just 22 fights. Las Vegas resident Forbes is a formidable contender who elevated his status significantly last May when he went the distance against Oscar De La Hoya.

Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward will have the call this Saturday. Keeping Max Kellerman off my TV is a very good thing.

So there you have it. Ratings news on Sunday Night Football and the latest on HBO’s World Championship Boxing. I read the press releases so you don’t have to.

NBC Sports’ Entire Olympics Roster

This is the press release from NBC Sports which outlines every single announcer working the Summer Olympics in Communist China starting on August 8. There are over 100 announcers working for NBC.

Some familiar names include veteran announcer Tim Ryan, reporter Jim Gray for boxing, TNT’s Craig Sager doing sideline work for basketball and nice to see ex-Lakers announcer Paul Sunderlund getting some work for indoor volleyball. Melissa Stark returns to sports television as the host of MSNBC’s coverage.

While all of the major sports will be called by announcers on-site, much of the online coverage will be called by announcers off a monitor at the NBC studios in New York.

Costas Returns for 8th Olympics, 7th as Primetime Host

NBC Talent Roster Has Won 42 Olympic Medals Including 25 Gold Medals

Collinsworth, Carillo, Roberts Olympic Correspondents

NEW YORK – July 16, 2008 – A record 106 NBC Olympic commentators will broadcast an unprecedented 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage, the most ambitious single media project in history. NBCU’s Olympics coverage features the most live coverage in the United States (nearly 2,900 live hours in total), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history when the Games of the XXIX Olympiad commence on Aug. 8. The lineup, led by the 19-time Emmy Award-winner, Bob Costas, returning for his seventh Olympics as primetime host, was announced today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Executive Producer of NBCU’s Olympic coverage and returns virtually every one of the network’s signature Olympic hosts, play-by-play announcers and analysts.

“My first Olympics in Mexico City in 1968 were the first Olympics live in primetime and we had maybe two dozen commentators,” said Ebersol. “To have a roster of 106 commentators broadcasting 3,600 total hours is simply astounding. It’s a tribute to David Neal and Molly Solomon that we’re able to put together such a talented and versatile roster, with a great mix of Olympic veterans and newcomers, particularly considering many of these sports are rarely televised.”

NBC Universal’s roster of Olympic commentators:

· Roster includes 28 Olympians who won a combined total of 42 Olympic medals (25 Gold, 5 Silver and 12 Bronze). “Team NBC” would have finished sixth at the Athens Olympics with 42 total medals behind Australia and Germany with 49 and ahead of Japan who amassed 37.

· Ranges from Jim Lampley – who is working his record 14th Olympics – to Olympic gold medal wrestling legend Rulon Gardner making his Olympic announcing debut.

· Cris Collinsworth, who will serve as an Olympic correspondent, makes his second Olympic appearance for NBC and his first since 1996.

· Mary Carillo pulls double duty as NBC’s late night host and Olympic correspondent, her ninth Olympic Games and sixth with NBC.

· Bela Karolyi, arguably the most successful coach in the history of his sport, one of its most recognized personalities and who has coached and trained world-renowned gymnasts for the past eight Olympics, makes his broadcast debut.

Here is a rundown of NBC’s Olympic talent:

HOSTS:

· The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be Bob Costas’ eighth for NBC Sports and his seventh as primetime host. After serving as late night host in 1988 from Seoul, Costas has won acclaim and Emmy Awards each year for his work as primetime host from Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Salt Lake City and Athens. Costas, who has the longest tenure of the network’s sports announcers, joined NBC in 1980. He has handled a wide array of assignments, including play by-play, studio hosting and reporting.

· Jim Lampley, America’s most experienced Olympic broadcaster, will work his record 14th Olympics in Beijing. Lampley possesses the record for the most-ever Olympic broadcast assignments for any television commentator. He will anchor NBC’s afternoon Olympic telecasts in his seventh Olympics with NBC.

· Mary Carillo will host NBC’s late night coverage. Carillo will also serve as an Olympic correspondent in her ninth Olympic games and sixth for NBC.

· Alex Flanagan makes her Olympic debut as host of CNBC and USA Network’s coverage.

· Matt Vasgersian, who made his Olympic debut as the play-by-play announcer for both softball and baseball during NBC’s broadcast of the 2004 Athens Games, will serve as host of USA Network’s coverage. In 2006 in Torino, he served as the ski jumping play-by-play commentator.

· Melissa Stark will work her third Olympic Games for NBC serving as an anchor for MSNBC’s coverage. Previously, Stark served as the speed skating reporter during NBC’s coverage of the 2006 Torino Games and the swimming and diving reporter at the 2004 Athens Games.

· Bill Patrick will serve as the host of MSNBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, making his debut as a full-time Olympic host.

· Fred Roggin, the sports director at KNBC-TV, NBC’s owned-and-operated station in Los Angeles, will work his fifth Olympics for NBC as host of CNBC’s Boxing in Beijing. Roggin’s previous Olympic assignments have included hosting CNBC and MSNBC’s curling coverage from the 2006 Torino Games, CNBC’s coverage from the Athens Games, serving on the “Special Features Unit” at the Salt Lake Games in 2002 and working as the boxing reporter at the 2000 Sydney Games.

· Lindsay Czarniak will make her second Olympic appearance and her first as host of Oxygen’s coverage and as a Sports Desk reporter for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She made her Olympic debut as a Sports Desk reporter during NBC’s coverage of the 2006 Torino Games.

OLYMPIC CORRESPONDENTS:

· Cris Collinsworth: The most honored studio analyst in sports television, Collinsworth, who is a co-host with Costas on NBC’s “Football Night in America” will serve as an Olympic correspondent, providing on the scene reports throughout Beijing. This will be his second Olympic assignment having reported from the track & field venue in Atlanta in 1996.

· Mary Carillo: In addition to her role as host of NBC’s late night coverage, Carillo will serve as an Olympic correspondent and provide a look into life in China through a collection of features done in her own inimitable style.

· Jimmy Roberts, a 13-time Emmy Award winner, will contribute feature stories and essays and serve as an Olympic correspondent during NBC’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Games.

SPORT BY SPORT:

NBC’s signature announce teams return in gymnastics, swimming and track and field. Following is a partial rundown, sport-by-sport. A complete roster is attached.

· GYMNASTICS: Play-by-play commentator Al Trautwig is once again joined by Olympic gold medalist Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel, who have provided analysis on NBC’s Olympic gymnastics coverage since the 1992 Barcelona Games and veteran Olympic reporter Andrea Joyce. This Olympics will also mark the broadcast debut of Bela Karolyi, arguably the most successful coach in the history of his sport and one of its most recognized personalities who has coached and trained world-renowned gymnasts for the past eight Olympics. He will serve as a gymnastics studio analyst.

· SWIMMING: Dan Hicks has the call alongside analyst Rowdy Gaines – working their fourth Olympics together – with Andrea Kremer reporting in her Olympic debut. Gaines, who won three gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, is working his fifth Olympics for NBC.

· TRACK & FIELD: Tom Hammond, who has won acclaim for his memorable calls at the last four Summer Olympics, will once again call track & field. Dwight Stones, Carol Lewis and Lewis Johnson return as analysts. New analysts include Ato Boldon and Ed Eyestone. Bob Neumeier returns for his second Olympics as a reporter and Craig Masback, who worked as a track & field commentator for NBC in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996, returns to provide analysis on the men’s marathon.

· DIVING: Ted Robinson, working his fifth Olympics, debuted as the diving play-by-play commentator for the 2004 Athens Games. Cynthia Potter, who made three Olympic teams and won bronze in 1976, returns as analyst, a role she’s handled for NBC since the 1992 Games. Reporters for the diving venue are Neumeier and Kremer.

· BASKETBALL: Mike Breen, working his fifth Olympics, will handle the play-by-play of both the men’s and women’s competitions, alongside two respected analysts: Doug Collins (men’s) and Ann Meyers (women’s). Collins, a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic basketball team, takes on his third Olympic broadcasting assignment. Meyers, who won silver as a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team in 1976, is working her fourth Olympics as a broadcaster. Craig Sager returns as reporter for both men’s and women’s hoops. Other basketball commentators include Chris Carrino (play-by-play), Mike Crispino (play-by-play) and analysts Steve “Snapper” Jones, Bob Salmi and Teresa Edwards.

· BOXING: Bob Papa and analyst Teddy Atlas will call boxing. Athens is Papa’s seventh Olympics, as he previously called the boxing play-by-play in Barcelona in 1992 and Athens in 2004. Atlas analyzed the boxing competition from Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. Jim Gray, reporter, returns for his first Olympics for NBC since 2000 where he served as a reporter for swimming and track & field for the Sydney Games. In 1996 he received critical acclaim for his reporting from the scene of the Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

· SOCCER: Veteran soccer play-by-play commentator JP Dellacamera calls his second Olympics, working alongside analysts Marcelo Balboa, who made his debut as a soccer analyst at the 2004 Athens Games and first time Olympic analyst Brandi Chastain. Balboa, a longtime star in Major League Soccer, was the first American to play in three World Cups. With the Women’s National Team, Chastain has played in three Olympics (Athens, Sydney and Atlanta) and three Women’s World Cups (1991, 1999 and 2003).

· BEACH VOLLEYBALL: NBC’s beach volleyball coverage will once again include analyst Karch Kiraly, the most accomplished player in the history of the sport and the only man to win Olympic volleyball gold both indoors and on the beach. Kiraly made his Olympic broadcasting debut in Athens in 2004. Entertaining play-by-play announcer Chris Marlowe, who won a gold medal as captain of the 1984 U.S. Olympic volleyball team, returns for his fifth Olympics as an NBC commentator. Heather Cox returns for her second Olympics as a reporter.

· VOLLEYBALL: Paul Sunderland, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. volleyball team at the 1984 Olympics, returns to call indoor volleyball, an assignment he had for NBC in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney. He is joined by two-time Olympian Kevin Barnett, who is making his debut as an Olympic analyst.

· WATER POLO: Bob Fitzgerald makes his Olympic debut for NBC as the Water Polo play-by-play announcer. His previous Olympics broadcast assignments included commentating for basketball at the 2004 Athens Olympics and swimming at the Atlanta Games in 1996. He is joined by Wolf Wigo, a three-time Olympian and former captain of the USA Water Polo Men’s National Team.

· WRESTLING: Veteran commentator Matt Devlin returns for his second Olympic assignment and first calling wrestling. He is joined by Olympic gold medalist and American wrestling legend Rulon Gardner, who is making his Olympic broadcasting debut. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, Gardner won the gold after defeating Aleksander Karelin. Karelin had been undefeated for 13 years and had not given up a point in six years prior to his loss in the gold-medal match to Gardner. At the end of the 2000 Olympics, Gardner was selected to serve as the U.S. flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony. He then followed with a bronze in 2004 at the Olympic Games in Athens, where he left his shoes on the mat, the sport’s traditional symbol of retirement. Gardner is also renowned for surviving several near-death experiences.

The 3,600 total hours of coverage on seven NBC Universal networks: NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Telemundo and Universal HD, as well as NBCOlympics.com, is 1,000 hours more than the combined coverage for every televised Summer Olympics in U.S. history (Rome 1960 – Athens 2004, 2,562 hours). NBCOlympics.com will feature approximately 2,200 total hours of live streaming Olympic broadband video coverage, the first live online Olympic coverage in the United States.

SPORT-BY-SPORT RUNDOWN:

GYMNASTICS:
Al Trautwig, Play-by-play
Elfi Schlegel, Analyst
Tim Daggett, Analyst
Andrea Joyce, Reporter

TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS:
Al Trautwig, Play-by-play
Elfi Schlegel, Analyst
Tim Daggett, Analyst

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS:
Andrea Joyce, Play-by-play
Elfi Schlegel, Analyst

TRACK & FIELD:
Tom Hammond, Play-by-play
Lewis Johnson , Analyst
Carol Lewis, Analyst
Dwight Stones, Analyst
Ato Boldin, Analyst
Craig Masback, Analyst
Ed Eyestone, Analyst
Bob Neumeier, Reporter

RACE WALKING:
Ron Vaccaro, Play-by-play
Ed Eyestone, Analyst
Carol Lewis, Analyst

SWIMMING:
Dan Hicks, Play-by-play
Rowdy Gaines, Analyst
Andera Kremer, Reporter

OPEN WATER SWIMMING:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Rowdy Gaines, Analyst

DIVING:
Ted Robinson, Play-by-play
Cynthia Potter, Analyst
Bob Neumeier, Reporter
Andrea Kremer, Reporter

BEACH VOLLEYBALL:
Chris Marlowe, Play-by-play
Karch Kiraly, Analyst
Heather Cox, Reporter

INDOOR VOLLEYBALL:
Paul Sunderland, Play-by-play
Kevin Barnett, Analyst

CYCLING (Road/BMX/Mountain Bike):
Pat Parnell, Play-by-play
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Kenan Harkin, Analyst
Paul Sherwin, Analyst
Marty Snider, Reporter

TRIATHLON:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Siri Lindley, Analyst
Marty Snider, Reporter

BASKETBALL:
Mike Breen, Play-by-play
Chris Carrino, Play-by-play
Mike Crispino, Play-by-play
Pete Pranica, Play-by-play
Eric Collins, Play-by-play
Teresa Edwards, Analyst
Doug Collins, Analyst
Ann Meyers, Analyst
Bob Salmi, Analyst
Craig Sager, Reporter

ROWING:
Tim Ryan, Play-by-play
Yaz Farooq, Analyst

CANOEING (Flat Water):
Tim Ryan, Play-by-play
Joe Jacobi, Analyst

CANOEING (White Water):
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Pat Parnell, Play-by-play
Joe Jacobi, Analyst

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING:
Craig Hummer, Play-by-play
Heather Olson, Analyst

WRESTLING:
Matt Devlin, Play-by-play
Rulon Gardner, Analyst

WATER POLO:
Bob Fitzgerald, Play-by-play
Wolf Wigo, Analyst

BOXING:
Bob Papa, Play-by-play
Teddy Atlas, Analyst
Jim Gray, Reporter

MODERN PENTATHLON:
Ron Vaccaro, Play-by-play
Rob Stull, Analyst

WEIGHTLIFTING:
Pete Pranica, Play-by-play
Shane Hamman, Analyst

EQUESTRIAN:
Kenny Rice, Play-by-play
Melanie Smith-Taylor, Analyst

SOFTBALL:
Joe Castellano, Play-by-play
Michele Smith, Analyst

SOCCER:
JP Dellacamera, Play-by-play
Glenn Davis, Play-by-play
Adrian Healey, Play-by-play
Steve Cangialosi, Play-by-play
Marcelo Balboa, Analyst
Brandi Chastain, Analyst
Shep Messing, Analyst
Lori Walker, Analyst

TENNIS:
Barry MacKay, Play-by-play
Jimmy Arias, Analyst

BASEBALL:
Eric Collins, Play-by-play
Joe Magrane, Analyst

HANDBALL:
Andrew Catalon, Play-by-play
Dawn Lewis, Analyst

TABLE TENNIS:
Bill Clement, Play-by-play
Sean O’Neill, Analyst

BADMINTON:
Jim Kozimor, Play-by-play
Steve Kearney, Analyst
Bill Clement, Analyst

FENCING:
Joe Castellano, Play-by-play
Pete Pranica, Play-by-play
Andrew Catalon, Play-by-play
Mika’il Sankofa, Analyst

ARCHERY:
Joe Castellano, Play-by-play
Denise Parker, Analyst

SHOOTING:
Bill Clement, Play-by-play
Shari LeGate, Analyst

FIELD HOCKEY:
Mike Corey, Play-by-play
Nick Conway, Analyst

SPORTSDESK REPORTERS:
Lester Holt
Peter Alexander
Eyee Hsu
Julie Foudy
Lindsay Czarniak
Alan Abrahamson
Lindsay Soto
Nancy Snyderman

NBCSPORTS.COM:
Julia Mancuso

TELEMUNDO:
Andres Cantor, Host
Jessi Losada, Host
Monica Noguera, Host

Videos of the Week: NFL on NBC Opens

Last week, I showed you various ABC Monday Night Football Opens. Today, it’s NBC’s turn. We can go back to 1973 to show the various opens and closes of and go to the present day. This will actually be quite fun so let’s get started.

This is the open from 1973 with some pretty funky music. Actually, NBC used this music for baseball, hockey and college basketball. Back then, NBC had a pretty good lineup for sports. Note the use of filmed footage for the open.

In 1978, NBC broadcast the AFC Championship Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Oilers. Note the late Curt Gowdy calling the game with John Brodie and Merlin Olsen. This was the era when the Steelers were in the midst of their dynasty. The one thing I remember was the freezing rain that plagued this game.

By 1981, both CBS and NBC were embroiled in a bitter battle for viewers to their respective pregame shows, the NFL Today and NFL ’81. Bryant Gumbel and Mike Adamle were co-hosts of NFL ’81 and I thought it was the better show, but the ratings did not bear that out as the NFL Today on CBS regularly slaughtered NBC, but that was mostly due to the NFC having bigger markets than the AFC, something that bears out today between Fox NFL Sunday and the NFL Today. This video is of poor quality, but as you’ll note, it’s the open for NFL ’81 right before the Miami-San Diego AFC playoff game. The music is the same as the 1973 open.

Here’s the lengendary Charlie Jones at the open of the 1983 AFC Wildcard Playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos at the old Kingdome. Yes, Bob Griese actually did NFL games before becoming a college football analyst for ESPN/ABC.

Here’s a promo for the NFL on NBC and at the end, the team for NFL ’85, Bob Costas, the late Pete Axthelm and Ahmad Rashad. That was it. There was no need for three analysts and a host.

In 1988, NBC Sports got to air one of the greatest NFL games ever, Super Bowl XXIII in which Joe Montana engineered a comeback for the San Francisco 49ers over the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL Live host Bob Costas gives his thoughts on the game, then Dick Enberg closes the broadcast with thoughts on the previous six months on NBC Sports which included the 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea, the World Series between the Dodgers and A’s (and Kirk Gibson’s miracle home run) and the Fiesta Bowl which decided the college football national championship for Notre Dame. Great video montage and one of the best I’ve seen produced. Note Tom Brokaw at the end.

From 1993, the AFC Championship pitted the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills and this was the time when the Bills went to four straight Super Bowls and lost them all. Dick Enberg and Bob Trumpy were the announcers for the game.

In 1994, Jim Lampley replaced Bob Costas as host of NFL Live on NBC and only did one season. The following season, Greg Gumbel came over from CBS to host the show. Here’s Jim’s open for Super Bowl Live just before Super Bowl XXVIII.

In 1995, NBC had to try to get viewers to the Pittsburgh-San Diego AFC Championship Game so Dick Enberg wrote a very good open.

Here’s the intro for Super Bowl XXX between Dallas and Pittsburgh narrated by Dick Enberg. Great stuff. You’ll like the music, trust me. And note the announcing team, Enberg, Paul McGuire and Phil Simms.

Here’s the NFL on NBC theme from 1995 to 1997 and tigernike who composed this video added the announcer pairings with Dick Enberg.

In 2006, NBC returned to the NFL with Sunday Night Football after losing the rights to the AFC to CBS in 1998. This is the open for the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts featuring Pink. Come to think about it, I prefer this intro to the Access Hollywood open featuring Faith Hill that was used last season.

And here’s the Football Night in America theme composed by John Williams.

That was fun to research and to bring these to you. Enjoy them. Sunday links will be coming up later.

Sports Emmy Nominations Announced

The nominees for the 29th Sports Emmy Awards have been announced.

HBO leads the list with 31 nominations with 5 for Real Sports and 5 for Inside the NFL. ESPN is next with 27 (although I’m sure ESPN will have a press release stating that combined with ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ABC, it leads the nominations with 37) followed by NBC Sports with 23, Fox with 18 and CBS with 17.

Some interesting nominations, Jay Bilas gets a nomination for studio analyst award. I also find the Cris Carter nod in the same category a bit odd. Mike Emrick gets a nomination for best play-by-play along with usual suspects Al Michaels, Joe Buck and Jim Nantz. Versus is crowing to have Al Trautwig for best studio host for his work for the Tour de France. I still think Versus should put him on the NHL, but that’s me.

Here is the list of the major nominations. The entire list can be seen at emmyonline.org.

Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL

2007 Open Championship – ABC/ESPN

AFC Championship Game – CBS

BCS on FOX: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – FOX

NASCAR on FOX: Daytona 500 – FOX

NBC Wild Card Playoff: Dallas vs. Seattle – NBC

Super Bowl XLI – CBS

Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SERIES

ESPN Monday Night Football – ESPN

NASCAR on FOX – FOX

NBA on ESPN/ABC – ESPN/ABC

NBC Golf Tour – NBC

NFL on FOX – FOX

Sunday Night Football – NBC

Outstanding LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND

De La Hoya vs Mayweather Delay Broadcast – HBO

Inside the PGA TOUR – PGA Tour Productions

NFL Mic’d Up: Ravens vs. 49ers – NFL Network/NFL Films

Quest for the Cup – NASCAR Images

Tour de France – CBS

Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL

De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7 – HBO

Super Bowl 360 – ESPN/NFL Films

The 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship – NBC/Ironman Productions

The Natural: Major League Baseball Celebrates an Epic – ESPN2/MLB Productions

Unsettled Scores – ESPN2

Outstanding SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

Barbaro: A Nation’s Horse – NBC

Dale – NASCAR Images

Ghosts of Flatbush – HBO

Jonestown: The Game of Their Lives – ESPN

Triumph and Tragedy: The Ray Mancini Story – ESPN Classic

Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology

America’s Game: The Super Bowl Champions – NFL Network/NFL Films

Greatest High School Football Rivalries – Versus/NFL Films

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs – HBO/NFL Films

HBO Boxing: Countdown Shows – HBO

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO

Outstanding STUDIO SHOW ? WEEKLY

College Gameday – ESPN

Football Night in America – NBC

Inside the NBA – TNT

Inside the NFL – HBO

NFL on FOX: FOX NFL Sunday – FOX

Outstanding STUDIO SHOW ? DAILY

Inside the NBA – TNT

NASCAR Now – ESPN2

Pardon the Interruption – ESPN

SportsCenter – ESPN

Wimbledon Tonight – NBC

Outstanding SPORTS JOURNALISM

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO
Broken: NFL Disability Debate

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO
Dogfighting: Bred to Die

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO
Fading Hope: Sports in Iraq

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO
Headgames: The NFL Concussion Crisis

Outstanding SHORT FEATURE

College Gameday – ESPN
Martel Van Zant

Inside the NFL – HBO
Coal Miner’s Sons: The Jones Brothers

Inside the NFL – HBO
Packers Fans Rebuild

MLB 2007: Never Miss a Game – ESPN
Never Too Early – MLB Productions

Sunday NFL Countdown – ESPN
Fear

Outstanding LONG FEATURE

E: 60 – ESPN
Ray of Hope

NBA TV Game Night – NBA TV
59th and Prairie: Dwyane Wade’s Journey ? NBA Entertainment
A Story told by Terrence Howard

NFL Films Presents: Finding Your Butkus – NFL Network/NFL Films

Outside the Lines – ESPN
Still Alive

The Super Bowl Today – CBS
Bill Walsh

The Super Bowl Today – CBS
Hines Ward

Outstanding OPEN / TEASE

107th U.S. Open Championship – NBC
The Open Returns to the Steel City

2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee – ABC
Championship Round

Barbaro: A Nation’s Horse – NBC

De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7 – HBO
Episode 1

Indianapolis 500 – ABC
Tease: All Roads Lead to Indy

NBA Playoffs – TNT
Opening Night Tease

Super Bowl XLI – CBS
Super Bowl XLI Tease

Outstanding Sports Personality ? STUDIO HOST

Al Trautwig – Versus

Bob Costas – HBO/NBC

Bryant Gumbel – HBO

Ernie Johnson – TNT/TBS

James Brown – CBS

Outstanding Sports Personality ? PLAY?BY?PLAY

Al Michaels – NBC

Jim Lampley – HBO

Jim Nantz – CBS

Joe Buck – FOX

Marv Albert – TNT

Mike Emrick – NBC

Outstanding Sports Personality ? STUDIO ANALYST

Charles Barkley – TNT

Cris Carter – HBO

Cris Collinsworth – HBO/NBC

Jay Bilas – ESPN

Terry Bradshaw – FOX

Tom Jackson – ESPN

Outstanding Sports Personality ? SPORTS EVENT ANALYST

Doug Collins – TNT

Gary Danielson – CBS

John Madden – NBC

Phil Simms – CBS

Tim McCarver – FOX

Troy Aikman – FOX

The Dick Schaap WRITING AWARD

2007 ING New York City Marathon – NBC
Alec Baldwin Open – IMG Media

Costas Now – HBO
The Year of the Cheat

E: 60 – ESPN
A Dream Come True: Gunnar Esiason

Every Man A Tiger: The Eddie Robinson Story – NBC

Inside the NFL – HBO
Lewis Black: Miami Vice & Lonely in LA

Mayweather/Hatton 24/7 – HBO

The George Wensel TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

ESPN NASCAR – ABC/ESPN/ESPN2
Draft Track

Golf on CBS – CBS
Swing Vision

Jim Nantz Remembers Augusta ? The 1960 Masters – CBS
Color Restoration and Colorization

PGA TOUR and LPGA coverage – Golf Channel
AimPoint

Sport Science – FSN
Sport Science Laboratory – BASE Productions

There you have it. I omitted some technical, graphics and sound awards and if you’re interested in those, head to Emmyonline.com. The Sports Emmys will be awarded in April.

The Friday Morning Megalinks

At 12 p.m., I lost my internet at work, but luckily, I did not lose anything so I can still provide you with links. I’m at home now at 4;38 p.m. Here’s what I started with at 10:18 a.m. and I left off with William Houston’s story in the Toronto Globe and Mail. I’ll pick up with Chris Zelkovich below.

It’s snowing here in Southern New England and I’m at work. I don’t want sympathy, snow falls in the winter here in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but if you watch the local TV stations, it’s as if this is a one-time catastrophic event. It’s funny when you see the banner “Team Coverage” or “Storm Team” or “Weather Team Storm Alert Coverage”. Weather is a natural phenomenon. It snows in New England. It happens every year. I worked at a TV station in Providence in the 1990′s and our news management team was from the South so they never saw snow until they moved North. They treated the snow as if it never happened before. You can get away with that in places where it rarely snows, but when it happens in New England, treating viewers as if they’re stupid rarely works. That’s my rant for now.

Let’s get to your links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says it was a stroke of luck that ESPN has the marquee college basketball matchup of the weekend with #1 Memphis taking on #2 Tennessee Saturday night. And USA Today has the weekend sports TV listings.

Today I’ll start the links in the Midwest and then spread out.

Midwest

Starting with George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal, he writes that two documentaries highlight your viewing pleasure this weekend.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune tells us that White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher will be a weekly guest on sports radio station WSCR this season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says HBO’s new documentary on Joe Louis shows the great boxer was a tragic figure later in life.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that local viewers are rewarding the Minnesota Wild with increasing ratings. And we have the ratings for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market for last weekend’s sporting events.

South

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron says Houston was one of the few markets in the country that watched the NBA All Star Game last Sunday over the Daytona 500.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel gives his picks for Best and Worst Sports Movies of all time.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the internet has given sportscasters one more thing to fear.

The State’s Doug Nye says the UCLA-Houston game 40 years ago gave college basketball the popularity it has today.

West

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) Morning News reports that DirecTV and the mtn. have reached an agreement to have the Mountain West Conference channel on the satellite TV service this summer.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union Tribune says it’s about time the mtn. gets carried on DirecTV. In his notebook, Posner talks about the NFL Network covering the Scouting Combine with a fine tooth comb.

The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels has a review of the HBO Joe Louis documentary which premieres Saturday.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth looks at the Best and Worst Game Analysts in LA and also talks with Lakers’ radio analyst Mychal Thompson. In his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his media notes for this week. And Hoffarth gives us the latest on former Monday Night Football sideline reporter and Fang’s Bites fav Lisa Guerrero.

John Ryan in the San Jose Mercury News is happy to hear that the NFL is lifting the ban on church Super Bowl parties that will show the game on TV’s over 55 inches.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the NHL Trading Deadline will cause all of Canada’s sports networks to ramp up their coverage on Tuesday.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL Trading Deadline is an exercise in excess for the viewer.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Jim Williams of the Baltimore/DC Examiner says Versus will show viewers where people can fish in the DC area tonight.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says the HBO documentary of Joe Louis tells a compelling story of the man.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Roger Clemens made the right move in opting out of ESPN the Weekend.

From the New York Times, Richard Sandomir says MSG Network can’t edit out all of the Knicks’ problems when it shows the “Knicks in 60″ game replay.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick criticizes the person responsible for putting the now-infamous Chris Berman videos on YouTube. The Post’s Mike Puma talks with HBO’s Jim Lampley about the heavyweight unification fight on HBO. And Puma has five questions for CBS/ESPN’s Bill Raftery.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton six months into their new morning show. In his blog, Neil says the column spurred plenty of reaction just minutes after it was posted on the Newsday.com website. Best links to a clip of former WFANer Sid Rosenberg ripping Craig Carton. And Neil has some comments from Esiason that didn’t make the column. Here are some quotes from Carton that didn’t make it into the paper. Neil says he was surprised to see that in doing his “Greatest Highlight” feature on ESPN, Chris Berman actually allowed some calls to survive without Boomer talking over them. Neil has NFL Films President Steve Sabol surprised over HBO’s cancellation of Inside the NFL.

And the Boston Globe’s Nancy Marrapese-Burrell talks with WHDH-TV hottie Julie Donaldson who started her new job in her native Florida covering Red Sox Spring Training.

That’s it. I’ll have an update later tonight, but I’ll do Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, College Basketball Viewing Picks and Weekend Viewing Picks first.

The Weekend in Review

The sports weekend was quite busy. We had the Kentucky Derby, NHL and NBA Playoffs, Roger Clemens returning, the Wachovia Championships and the Oscar De La Hoya-Roger Mayweather, Jr. fight.

The Kentucky Derby on NBC
The Queen made it to Louisville to see her first, and probably last, Derby. NBC milked her appearance with shots of Queen Elizabeth entering a luxury box and various cutaways of her watching the action. There were many stories to tug on your heartstrings plus features galore on the horses. But that’s the NBC formula. Lots of storytelling, features to bring the casual viewer in and lots of shots of the crowd. The show was dragged out to two and a half hours as NBC went 30 minutes longer than advertised, running the show until 7 p.m. ET. Once the race was run, NBC did a very good job in giving us replays of the race with blimp shots, isolated replays and analysis. I give Tom Hammond some kudos for saying a bonus from Yum! Brands for the horse and jockey breaking Barbaro’s 6.5 lengths margin of victory last year was sending the wrong message. Yum! sponsored NBC’s telecast. Overall, I give NBC a B for this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Wachovia Championship on CBS
CBS and golf go hand-in-hand. You have an announcing crew led by Jim Nantz, production crew led by Lance Barrow and combined, this leads to one of the better sports telecasts on TV. The pictures of the last round where Tiger Woods was coming down the stretch to victory were excellent. CBS is the best golf network. NBC is ok and Johnny Miller is one of the best analysts, but as far as pictures, humor and guys who know their sport, CBS is the best. For the last round, CBS gets an A for their golf coverage this weekend.

De La Hoya-Mayweather on HBO PPV
Boxing is HBO’s sport. Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emmanuel Steward all work well together. I joined this fight in the 7th round after being out all night. At that point, the fight was pretty close. About the 8th round, Oscar stopped using his left jab and Mayweather gained control of the fight. Lampley, Merchant and Steward were right on top of the action and the cameras were as well. The buy at $54.95 was expensive, but for some, it was worth it. I’ll give HBO an A for its coverage.

Yankees-Seattle on Fox
Fox does a decent job on baseball, but even with a compelling story of Chien Ming Wang throwing a perfect game, somehow the network dropped the ball. You have a pitcher on the verge of history, but Joe Buck and Tim McCarver didn’t pick up the story until the 6th inning. Yes, they would say, “Wang is perfect through 4″ or “He’s perfect through 5″, but not really picking up on the trend. Instead, they talked about the weather, whether Clemens would return or the upcoming NASCAR race on Fox. What about the game? For this, Fox gets an F.

Tonight’s Primetime Viewing
24 – Fox, 9 p.m.

Sunday Musings

Recovering after being out for a day.

A few things for today.

Against my better judgment, I bought the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight from DirecTV. I joined in the 7th round. It turned out to be a better fight than I expected. But also, I wanted to see what may be one of the last HBO assignments for Larry Merchant. On Friday, I linked to Bob Raissmann’s article in the New York Daily News regarding Merchant’s contract talks with HBO. While Merchant doesn’t have the command he once did, he still was able to hold his own with Emmanuel Steward and Jim Lampley. On the technical side, HBO’s camera work was solid and Lampley’s call showed why he’s still one of the best ever at boxing play-by-play along with Howard Cosell. My only complaint was that DirecTV on its own, ended the PPV while Merchant was interviewing De La Hoya. Lampley had not signed off. Apparently, one overeager technician at DirecTV decided to end everyone’s viewing of the night on his/her own. Thanks a lot, jerk.

I’m going to miss not having the Atlanta Braves on TBS next season. It’s nice to have the option on a Sunday or any summer day to switch to TBS and have the Braves on. Back in the 1980′s, Ted Turner decided to put his Braves on his Superstation for programming. At one point, TBS cablecast 150 Braves games. Skip Carey, Pete Van Wieren, Joe Simpson and Don Sutton have all been welcomed into the nation’s cable homes. Of the MLB teams that have national followings, you can put the Braves into that category. It’s obvious that the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs all have national followings. Thanks to Superstation TBS, the Braves do as well. But with its new TV contract to cover the entire League Division Series and one League Championship Series each year for the next six years, TBS will drop the Braves next season in favor of carrying 26 Sunday afternoon games involving the entire MLB. The Braves will go to Fox Sports South exclusively next season and that’s too bad. The only way to follow the Braves nationally will be through the sporadic ESPN, Fox and yes, TBS pick ups. Unless you have MLB.TV through the internet or the Extra Innings package on cable or DirecTV, you won’t be able to see the Braves on a day-to-day basis. So if you’re watching the Braves on TBS this season, get ready to find another way to watch them next season.

The Sports Emmy Awards were handed out last week. NBC won 9 awards including Outstanding Live Sports Series for its NASCAR coverage, Outstanding Play-by-play for Al Michaels’ call of Sunday Night Football and Technical Achievement for the XX Winter Olympic Games in Italy. HBO won obligatory awards for journalism (Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel), ESPN had eight awards (I’m including four for its ABC Sports division which unfortunately was swallowed up before last year’s college football season). The entire list is here.

As a regular viewer of Red Sox baseball on NESN, I must say their broadcasts have improved drastically since the John Henry ownership took over the team and the network. Some of their ideas have not worked including having a rotation of studio analysts for their pre-game shows. Dennis Eckersley is the best. Bob Tewksbury wasn’t bad. Sam Horn was just plain awful. This season, NESN has added Ken Macha, the former Oakland A’s manager, and from what I’ve seen, he shows promise. His first two days on Friday and Saturday were with Jim Rice. Today, he’s flying solo. Ken was dry on Friday, but he makes good points and gives a manager’s perspective, something the others, all former players cannot. Since it’s his first weekend of work, I won’t totally review him until he has at least 10-20 games under his belt, but so far, he’s pretty decent.

We’ll have some links on Monday. I might return later today if there’s something of note. Oh, I will return with my thoughts on The Amazing Race finale. I know who wins, but I want to see how the team wins.