Random baseball card: Ferguson Jenkins as rookie with Phillies; this trade worked out for Cubs

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A few weeks ago, my random baseball card was of Lou Brock as a young player with the Cubs. The Brock-for-Broglio trade always has served as one of the defining moments for Cubs futility.

However, it should be noted that not every trade imploded on the Cubs. Note this rookie card of Ferguson Jenkins as a young pitcher for the Phillies.

On April 21, 1966, Jenkins, along with John Hernstein and Adolfo Phillips, was sent to the Cubs for aging pitchers Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson. That’s definitely a trade the Phillies would like to have back.

Jenkins went on to post six straight 20-win seasons with the Cubs en route to a career that landed him in Cooperstown.

Here are Jenkins’ stats.

 

Olbermann might make things uncomfortable for ESPN with NFL

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Oh, don’t be surprised if ESPN president John Skipper’s next lunch meeting with Roger Goodell and his NFL buddies includes a word or two about Keith Olbermann.

In the wake of the concussion settlement, Olbermann weighed in several pointed commentaries. He definitely didn’t hold back.

On Thursday, Olbermann recalled former Giants running back Doug Kotar and how the league turned its back on him.

Friday, Olbermann used a misguided commentary by CBSSports.com’s Pete Prisco to make a much broader point about the concussion issue.

Weekend wrap: Will Fox squeeze out Turner for upcoming NBA rights?; Olbermann and the greatness of Vin Scully

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Spanning the globe to give you the constant variety of sports media…

NBA TV rights: Jason McIntyre of Big Lead reports that Turner Sports, not ESPN, will feel the greatest threat from Fox Sports in the upcoming negotiations for the league’s TV rights.

The TV rights showdown over the NBA will accelerate in the coming weeks/months, and many in the media are portraying the battle as ESPN vs. Fox Sports.

One problem: Although it makes for a great headline, those aren’t the two networks to keep an eye on.

There’s virtually no chance ESPN is losing the NBA.

Turner? That’s another story.

The real bidding war will take place between Turner and Fox Sports, multiple industry sources tell The Big Lead. The NBA’s current TV deals with ABC/ESPN and TNT run through the 2015-2016 season. But the next TV deal is expected to be complete by early next year, with discussions expected to intensify in February, after Adam Silver takes over as commish for David Stern.

Keith Olbermann: Will Leitch of Sports on Earth writes that things will be different for Olbermann at ESPN than they were at MSNBC.

The ESPN of today is not the ESPN that Olbermann left. They’re the big dogs now, and whether Olbermann would want to admit it or not, thusly so is he.

When Olbermann was lobbing rhetorical bombs at President Bush from the MSNBC chair, well, this was a guy on a then-fledgling basic cable network screaming into the void at the leader of the free world. But last night, when Olbermann began his show with a shockingly long, 20-minute screed against New York Daily News Jets beat reporter Manish Mehta, it felt less like a justified takedown and more like institutional bullying. Olbermann wasn’t necessarily wrong about Mehta’s (and the New York media’s in general) ridiculousness about Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez, but to rain that much thunder on a beat guy? To have Jason Whitlock come in and talk about how “incapable” Mehta was? For 20 minutes of airtime on a signature ESPN station? It was using the world engine to squash an ant.

Keith Olbermann II: Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News is glad to have Olbermann back.

And reading between the lines in everything Olbermann does, even if there are some less-than-subtle jabs at his own company’s policies, is mandatory if anyone plans to stick with it past the some volatile opening monologue and get to the compelling interviews, retro sports highlight commentary and even a re-washing of his “worst people” segments as they relate to the sports world.

“I’m here to calm you down,” joked Wednesday night guest John McEnroe, introduced shortly after Olbermann’s railing against the NCAA’s decision to suspend Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel for the first half of Saturday’s opener, a follow-up lambasting from the night before where he created a well-told but refreshingly new spin on how the game Manziel  plays is really “college pro football.”

“You don’t need to be that angry,” McEnroe continued. “You seemed fairly mellow early on, and now you’re coming on strong.”

McEnroe couldn’t be serious. But in a way, he was.

Vin Scully: Dan Shaugnessy of the Boston Globe writes about the great one coming back for his 859th year (or so it seems) in the Dodgers booth in 2014.

In all of sports, there is nothing like the Scully-Dodgers relationship. Ernie Harwell was the sweet honey voice of the Tigers for a million years and Marv Albert has been the signature caller of the Knicks forever. We came to associate Keith Jackson with college football and Al Michaels with believing in miracles. Boston has been graced with the iconic Curt Gowdy, the mellow Ned Martin, Drano-gargling Johnny Most, steady Gil Santos, puckish Fred Cusick, and pom-pom Joe Castiglione, who moved thousands of “can you believe it?” bottle openers after the Red Sox finally won in 2004.

All of these guys are/were great, but none can be Vin Scully. Only one man can be the greatest sports broadcaster who ever lived.

Vin Scully II: Howard Megdal of Sports on Earth also praises the great one.

Scully doesn’t just stay and chat a while, every day, for six months. He tells you things you didn’t know, and in a singularly interesting way. The Mets happen to have excellent announcers on both the radio and television sides — and still, when the Mets go to Los Angeles, I learn things about them I haven’t heard all season.

Bart Scott: Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News thinks Bart Scott has a chance to be very good on the new pregame show on CBS Sports Network.

Scott marketed himself to CBS in a most unusual way. The fact that he has a big mouth does not separate him from other former NFL players who tried making it on TV. What separates Scott is his overt dislike of the media.

So, when CBS Sports boss Sean McManus heard Scott once tried organizing a player boycott of the local media while he was with the Jets, he must have said: “Bart Scott, that’s our guy.” Or maybe what really impressed McManus was when Scott angrily approached Dan Leberfeld , the Jets Confidential publisher who was taking his picture, and said, “I’ll kick the s— out of you.”

Brian Urlacher: Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times writes the new Fox Sports 1 analyst wasn’t so media friendly as a player.

On Sunday, I heard someone mention Brian Urlacher was going to be a TV analyst. I thought I must have heard wrong. No way the former Bears linebacker would join the Dark Side. He wasn’t as bad with the media as the aforementioned cornerback had been, but I never got the feeling he would have reached for a bucket if a reporter’s hair were on fire. So no way he would put in with us media slobs. I went back to minding my own business.

On Monday, I Googled ‘‘Urlacher’’ and ‘‘TV.’’ And there it was. Urlacher will be an NFL analyst for the new Fox Sports 1 network. I guess I missed the news while covering the Cubs’ big turnaround.

How’s that for a 180 on Urlacher’s part?

Urban Meyer: Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing thought Rolling Stone was wrong for including Meyer in a story about Aaron Hernandez.

That’s a pretty large, serious allegation to make… with almost no weight behind it.  Meyer “may have” helped cover up failed drug tests and shootings?  May have?  Sure, and Urban Meyer also “may have” been the second gunman on the grassy knoll too.

When the actual piece was published today, it was revealed that Rolling Stone misfired in a needless attempt to capitalize on the cottage industry of painting Urban Meyer as a corrupt despot and it hurt the credibility of the rest of the piece as a result.

Pac 12 Network vs. DirecTV: Ben Koo of Awful Announcing examines the discord.

DTV will tell you it’s the Pac 12 Network’s fault for trying to ripoff their customers and not having an a la carte option for the channel. DirecTV operates the Root Sports affiliates that carry sporting events in Seattle and Pittsburgh and don’t seem to embrace the a la carte concept when it applies to them.

The Pac 12 Network will scream bloody murder that other providers entered into deals and this is just the market rate for the channel, and DTV is just being unreasonable.

Most industry experts will tell you that is has to do with a number and both sides are apart on that number. Here is the nonsense though:

It’s none of the above.

Sochi Olympics: Erin Sharoni, writing in the Huffington Post, suggests people become active on social media during the Games to protest Russia’s anti-gay stance.

So, if only for two weeks in February 2014, become a superfan, whether you’re gay, straight, in between, or something else entirely, and whether you’re watching from a dorm room, on an iPhone, or in the city of Sochi itself. Support the athletes, regardless of whom they sleep with, what nation they hail from, or what god they worship. For the sake of equality, civility, and in the name of tolerance, be seen and be heard. Every person reading these words has benefitted from someone else’s raised voice in the past. Pay it forward. Wearing a ribbon and silently signing an online petition is not enough. Get rowdy. Make noise. Invite everyone. Start the dance party, and keep people moving.

Greg Gumbel: Paul Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch talks about Gumbel’s Chicago roots.

Paul M. Banks: tell me about your time at WMAQ-TV

Greg Gumbel : It’s where I got my start; in March of 1973, I worked there for seven and a half years, it was a nice learning platform. Local news was frustrating to me because local news really isn’t about sports. Local news is fine with the local sports team until they are no longer in contention. And you couldn’t explain to these idiots running the place that sports fans don’t care if they’re in contention or not, they want to know what their team did.”

Whereas management thought they’re no longer in contention, so you don’t need that. Bull you do need that. So there was a certain amount of frustration built into doing local news, but it was a good learning platform and from there I went to ESPN and then to Madison Square Garden to CBS.

Podcasts:

BS Report: Bill Simmons talks to Matthew Berry about his new book on Fantasy Football.

Sports-Casters: Interviews with Andy Staples (Sports Illustrated, SI.Com), and Joe Lemire (Sports Illustrated, SI.Com).

 

 

 

 

Will Peter King’s MMQB site not use Redskins? Time has come for all to drop nickname

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Saw this via Jason McIntyre and Big Lead.

Apparently, Peter King’s new MMQB site is considering not using “Redskins” in its copy about that team in Washington. In an email, King told McIntyre a final decision hasn’t been made.

However, in a radio interview, MMQB’s Robert Klemko said:

“I know that our site, we’ve talked about it, and we’re not going to use Redskins in our writing,” Klemko said on CBS Sports Radio’s MoJo with Chris Moore and Brian Jones.

“We’re going to say ‘Washington football team,’” Klemko added. “And it’s not something we’re going to publicize or write about. We’re just not going to do it.”

Sorry, Robert, but an entity as large as Sports Illustrated isn’t going to be able to fly under the radar with this decision. If the magazine and its sites don’t use Redskins in its coverage, it is going to make major news.

I might be wrong, but I can’t imagine King can act unilaterally here. How would it look if SI continued to go with Redskins while MMQB didn’t?

The Redskins nickname easily is the most vile in sports. No explanation required. The fact that it represents the NFL team in DC, where an African-American president is sitting in the White House, is even more outrageous.

The Washington Post never would refer to a Native American congressman “as the redskin representative from Arizona.” Yet it writes about the Redskins daily in its sports section.

Washington owner Daniel Snyder is defiant about not changing his team’s name. He says it is about tradition, although surely marketing factors in there too.

King is noble in his desire to not want to use the Redskins nickname. However, he and SI shouldn’t have to go at it alone.

It is time for other news organizations, including ESPN, to stop using the nickname. As I said in regards to the Washington Post, it should be a matter of policy consistent with what takes place elsewhere in these publications or on these sites.

Only in the NFL would it be allowed for someone to be called a “Redskin.” It can’t be tolerated anymore.

 

 

 

 

Time to change old expression: It’s about page views, not selling newspapers

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Want to give some props to my old pal, Paul Sullivan, who is killing it in his new assignment as a baseball feature writer for the Chicago Tribune.

Thursday, he had a terrific piece on former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who is spending 2013 in baseball exile.

One line, though, caught my attention. While talking about his stormy relationship with former Sox GM Kenny Williams, he brought up the media’s role.

Guillen said:  “We had a meeting with Jerry (Reinsdorf) and we were OK. And all of a sudden a couple of days later, it (wasn’t OK). I don’t need stuff like that. I think the media did what they were supposed to do — sell papers.”

How antiquated is that last line? For generations, dating back to the glory days of Hearst, reporters have been accused of going for the flashy headline in the effort “to sell papers.”

There was a paperboy on every corner, yelling, “Extra, extra, read all about it.”

However, it hasn’t been that way since the last typewriter was manufactured. People aren’t running out to buy newspapers.

No, it’s all about page views. That’s the currency that sells for newspapers and their websites, and for people like me with their blogs. Stir up things in the hopes of getting people to click on your site. Perhaps even several times.

All those clicks add up to more page views, which hopefully translates into more advertising.

So in 2013, it is time to retire the old expression of “selling newspapers.” Next time Ozzie, or anyone else for that matter, should say:

“I think the media did what it was supposed to do–get page views.”

 

 

 

Q/A with author on new book on Notre Dame’s 1988 national title team: Miami game was among best ever

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Whenever I get asked about my favorite game to cover, I always go back to Notre Dame-Miami in 1988. Of course, the famous “Catholics vs. Convicts” game.

I can’t remember ever attending a game that had a more electric atmosphere than at Notre Dame Stadium on that October Saturday. The game then lived up to its hype, with Miami’s missed two-point conversion at the end sealing the Irish’s 31-30 victory. The thrilling finish left everyone spent, not just the players.

It’s all recounted in a new book, Unbeatable, by Jerry Barca. Barca, who attended that game as an 11-year-old tells the complete story of Notre Dame’s 1988 national title team. It will serve as an early Christmas present for Irish fans.

As someone who covered most of its games that year, including Notre Dame’s win over West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, it was a chance to relive some old memories.

It’s hard to believe 25 years have flown by. Here’s my Q/A with Barca.

How did this book come about?

I was helping produce the documentary film Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself when I met with literary agent Scott Gould. I was asking him if any of his clients had been influenced by Plimpton’s sports writing. As the conversation splintered into different tangents, I told him I was surprised no one had gone back and revisited Notre Dame’s 1988 national championship team. He didn’t believe it. At that point, the thought was that if I could gain access to the archives, and the former players and coaches, this idea could become a book. The next day, I was on the phone to the Notre Dame Sports Information Department and work began that day in late 2011.

How much time did you spend with Lou Holtz? What memories stood out for him after 25 years?

I spent about two and a half hours with him in New York City. Since there was a lot of source material on him, including two books he wrote, I wanted to know details about games from ’88, and specifically what it takes to win a championship at Notre Dame and how it was different than other places where he had coached.

There were a lot memories that stood out for him: visiting the Notre Dame dorms to talk to students; scrutinizing his quarterbacks in practice; the players who weren’t stars, but great character guys.

Among many others, two other memories stand out and they have to do with the No. 1-versus-No. 2 matchup to end the regular season at USC. I found it funny that both he and Tony Rice talk about Notre Dame’s first offensive play from scrimmage – a play action bomb to Raghib “Rocket” Ismail with Notre Dame backed up to its one-yard-line – and without prompting they both remember ABC play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson misstating that Rice had stepped out of the back of the end zone. The other memory was of Rice’s 65-yard touchdown run. Holtz actually ended up using my notebook to draw up the play. He specifically designed this reverse option to get a half step on the USC middle linebackers and spring Rice for a big play.

Besides Holtz, the other compelling character in the book was Tony Rice. What memories stood out for him?

He has a very detailed memory of how Lou Holtz coached him in practice and that Holtz did not even call him by his name until his junior year. Instead, Holtz called him Rickey, as in Rickey Foggy, an option quarterback out of South Carolina who played for Holtz at Minnesota.

I covered that Miami game, and it is in my top 3 for favorite events I attended. For those who weren’t there, what was the atmosphere like in Notre Dame Stadium?

The atmosphere, it wasn’t just the stadium. It was the campus. It was the months, weeks and days leading up to it. Ever since Miami put that 58-7 pasting on the Irish at the end of the ’85 season Notre Dame fans had the game in ’88 marked on the calendar because it would be the first time the ‘Canes would visit South Bend since that thrashing. It was really as if nothing else was going on in the world.

Loud is probably an understatement to describe the fans inside the stadium. They wanted the win so bad, maybe even more than the players, if that’s possible. I was in the corner of the student section in the 59th row of what was then a 60-row stadium. When Pat Terrell returned an interception for a TD to put the Irish up 21-7 I remember my older brother having to quickly grab me and move me out of the way as this mass of bodies piled on each other in celebration.

As a sporting event, it was the perfect combination of storylines. Miami was the elite program of the era and Notre Dame was resurgent. The revenge factor from ’85 played a role and of course the flashiness of Miami and its pro-style attack countered the veer-option run-first style of Notre Dame. But let’s be honest, the student-made bootleg T-shirt dubbing the game “Catholics vs. Convicts” took the game and the series to an unmatched, galvanizing level.

Besides what people already know about that team, what surprises did you learn while researching the book?

How much the hypocrisy of NCAA and the battles about big-time college football haven’t changed all that much. The particulars might be different, but the fights for TV rights, and, more pointedly, money, along with the questionable fulfillment of the “student-athlete” ideal were as ever-present then as they are now. 1988 provides a great snapshot in time just before the full-on explosion of college football that we have today.

Talk about the legacy of that team?

I think it gets overlooked. While talking to Notre Dame and college football historians during my research, they were quick to tell me, “You know, this wasn’t Notre Dame’s best team.” But people forget this is the group that started and accounts for more than half of the longest winning streak in school history. The ’88 roster had 34 guys who went on to sign NFL contracts. Then the gauntlet of teams they went through, beating the No. 1, 2, and 3 teams throughout the year, winning 10 of 12 games by a double-digit margin. That’s a pretty good legacy to leave.

As someone with close ties to Notre Dame, are you surprised they have gone 25 years without winning a national title?

In 1988, I think if somebody offered you a bet that it would take Notre Dame at least 25 years to win another national title, you’d think the person offering it was crazy. Back then, not winning another title for this long was inconceivable. But things changed and in the post-Holtz era it has taken a while for Notre Dame to find the right guy at the helm. It seems like now they have that type of a leader in Brian Kelly.

 

NSJC columnists on ESPN-Frontline: ‘Roundhouse delivered to journalism’

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I had intended to do a commentary on the ESPN-Frontline fiasco for this week’s column for the National Sports Journalism Center site at Indiana University. However, my fellow NSJC columnists, Michael Bradley and Eric Deggans, weighed in with pieces that echo what I would have said.

Bradley writes:

There were many denials about the reported reasons ESPN backed out of its arrangement with PBS’ “Frontline” to investigate the NFL’s approach to concussions in football and subsequent impact on players, but the whole thing still stinks. By removing itself from the relationship, the Bristol-based sports conglomerate sparked considerable conjecture – and direct accusations – that its business arrangement with the NFL led to the exit.

If that’s the case, consider it another roundhouse delivered to journalism.

Later, Bradley writes:

That’s why it’s getting less and less possible to consider anything’s being aired about professional or collegiate sports as objective. If ESPN backed out of its relationship with “Frontline” because of NFL pressure, how then can anybody expect the network and its other platforms to provide an unvarnished look at the league? Just the simple mention of ESPN as a “business partner” in the NFL response to the NYT

story shows how the lines have been blurred between journalism and commerce. When any news outlet moves into a relationship with the people or entities it covers, objectivity suffers.

Deggans, meanwhile, was critical of ESPN president John Skipper and his comments about withdrawing from the documentary.

Skipper did deny that anyone at Disney or the NFL demanded the partnership end. But the idea that ESPN would blow up a 15-month collaboration with public television’s highly respected investigative show over two lines in an advertising promo — especially knowing that many in sports media would assume NFL pressure was the inspiration, regardless of whether that was true — seems, well, fishy.

ESPN is essentially saying the most traditional investigative unit on television was too sensational after 15 months of allegedly smooth working relationships. Yeah, right.

Deggans concludes:

Executives at Skipper’s level shouldn’t be involved with the journalism unless a serious ethical breach has occurred or somebody made a big mistake. That’s how truly independent journalism works.

And perhaps the saddest aspect of this entire display is that everyone involved with the issue has been around the media block long enough to know all of this.

My hope is that Lipsyte doesn’t write another column until he can answer some of the questions we’ve all posed.

Because sports fans who expect accountability from the Worldwide Leader deserve better.

Couldn’t have said it better.

Updated: Forbes writer refutes previous Forbes report about soaring profits for Houston Astros

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Update: Keith Olbermann did a tweet saying he plans to address the Forbes-Astros stories tonight on his show.

Already locked in to Worsts tonight RT @Sherman_Report To @KeithOlbermann and others who reported original Forbes story on Astros. Check out rebuttal on Forbes today.

Also Dan Alexander issued a rebuttal to Maury Brown’s rebuttal.

Here’s the entire story.

*******

On Monday, Dan Alexander, listed as a contributor to Forbes, created major headlines by proclaiming that the Houston Astros are “the most profitable team in baseball history.”

Alexander cited the Astros invisible payroll and a big new local TV deal.

The Astros are on pace to rake in an estimated $99 million in operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) this season. That is nearly as much as the estimated operating income of the previous six World Series championship teams — combined.

Since it was Forbes, the assessment had to be right. Right? Despite strong denials by the Astros (what do you expect they’d say?), the story was reported as fact throughout the country. Keith Olbermann on his debut show even made Astros owner Jim Crane his first “Worst Person in The World of Sports.”

However, there is a problem. Maury Brown says it isn’t true.

And here’s the catch. Brown also is a contributor to Forbes.

Brown, founder of the Business of Sports Network and highly respected sports business writer, felt compelled to refute the original Forbes story. In an email to me this morning, he writes: “I wrote the editors and asked if there was a problem. (One of the editors) replied, ‘It’s my understanding contributors can take on other contributors. Let him run it.’ Speaks well of Forbes.”

So Brown did a post on Forbes that began this way:

Business is a difficult industry to cover, and more so with Major League Baseball. As a private industry, financial information is rarely—if ever—disclosed. So, it was with interest (and some shock) that I saw an article here on Forbes.com claiming the 2013 Houston Astros: Baseball’s Worst Team Is The Most Profitable In History.

There are few times that the need for an article refuting a Forbes colleague is in need of publishing, but this is one of those instances. Beyond statements from the Astros and club president Reid Ryan saying that the article was factually incorrect—something that could smack of protectionism—the fact is, the Astros are not the most profitable MLB club in history. As well, they are most assuredly not even the most profitable this year. In a case of ensuring that as the initial story weaves its way across the internet to other media, thus creating revisionist history, here are the reasons why the story is not only off-base, it has to be classified as grossly inaccurate.

Brown lays out his reasons, namely the Astros aren’t making nearly as much money off their TV rights deal, which essentially was the crux of the first Forbes piece.

Brown writes:

With start-up fees to get the regional sports network off the ground, the fledgling RSN is running at a loss. Not only do my sources in the broadcast industry say that cash calls for CSN Houston have already taken place, other reports speak to how difficult gaining carriage is, and will likely, continue to be. SNL Kagan, which Alexander quoted for the “most profitable, ever” story has said separately, “CSN Houston ‘has been a bust.’”

And there’s more.

Brown writes that he has been a critic of Crane, but not in this case.

I’m sure Brown’s rebuttal is getting considerable play today in Houston. But elsewhere in sports media, I doubt most people will delve heavily into the nuances of Brown’s report. They had their headlines on Monday, and have moved on.

However, at the very least, I hope Olbermann revisits the Astros story, given what Brown wrote. He should know. Olbermann also noted on his first show how much of what is reported about him isn’t true.

Major shift: Why several NFL beat writers left newspapers to join ESPN

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My latest column for the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana University is on one of the bigger sports journalism stories of the summer: ESPN hiring away several NFL beat writers from newspapers for its major initiative to cover all 32 teams.

From the post:

********

There is an element of the big-fish-little-pond tale as it relates to Rob Demovsky. He lives and works in Green Bay, a town that happens to have a football team named the Packers.

Green Bay may be the smallest market by far in the NFL, but when it comes to the Packers, breathing ranks second on the importance meter. For more than 15 years, most of those fans woke up every morning to breathlessly read Demovsky’s reports on the team in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

It would be hard to ask for a better situation as a beat writer. Yet in July, Demovsky left the newspaper to become the Packers reporter for ESPN, a really big pond that has a staff almost large enough to fill Lambeau Field.

“I had a great job at the Press Gazette,” Demovsky said. “I always said it would take something extraordinary to change. This qualifies as extraordinary.”

Demovsky is part of one of the biggest developments occurring in sports journalism this summer. Seizing on the infinite popularity of the NFL, ESPN is going to have a dedicated reporter for each of the 32 teams. Their work mainly will appear on the NFL Nation page of ESPN.com, and they also will be featured on ESPN’s other TV and radio platforms.

“The expansion of NFL Nation represents one of ESPN Digital’s most ambitious projects in our continuing effort to provide the ultimate personalized experience for fans,” said ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Patrick Stiegman.

ESPN’s staffing targets have been established beat writers from the city’s top newspapers. Besides Demovsky, Jeff Legwold (Denver Post), Mike Wells (Indianapolis Star), Ben Goessling (St. Paul Pioneer-Press), Adam Teicher (Kansas City Star), Scott Brown (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) and Phil Sheridan (Philadelphia Inquirer) are among the writers making the jump to ESPN.

Why? Legwold, who will cover the Denver Broncos for ESPN, explained his children (ages 10 and 12) influenced his decision on two key levels.

“I saw their reading habits,” Legwold said. “They read tons of books, but not actual books. They always are on their devices. It’s not like how we did it.”

And that brings up reason No. 2 for Legwold. He is worried about the future of newspapers, and with good reason. He was part of the staff when the Rocky Mountain News folded in 2009.

“That definitely affected me,” Legwold said. “I love newspapers. It’s been my whole adult life. If a newspaper that good closed, it really is a testament to what’s going on within the industry. I had to think of my family. When I was offered the ESPN job, it really was an easy decision.”

********

And there’s more at NSJC.