Larry Merchant to call final fight for HBO Saturday night

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I’m not a boxing guy, so I haven’t followed Larry Merchant’s work on the sport through the years. So I’ll let someone else assess his legacy upon the news that the 81-year-old commentator will work his last fight for HBO Saturday night.

Yahoo boxing writer Kevin Iole says it has been quite a run in a column:

For 35 years as a ringside analyst for HBO Sports, Larry Merchant was the conscience of boxing, saying the things that needed to be said but that no one else would or could.

Later, Iole wrote:

In era on television when Howard Cosell would boast of telling it like it is, Merchant would do exactly that. Merchant never dodged an issue and spoke of boxing intelligently, with clarity and with great passion.

He concludes:

Kellerman will fill Merchant’s chair, but whether he can come close to filling Merchant’s shoes remains to be seen.

The network has wanted to get younger, and Merchant’s departure will help do that.

Getting younger, though, isn’t always getting better.

Merchant was a giant in the industry and his departure leaves an incredible void that the powers that be will be challenged to fill.

In a story at ESPN.com, Merchant said he isn’t retiring:

Merchant’s exit is part of the contract negotiation he went through two years ago.

“I agreed two years ago to a two-year extension to my contract with the condition that years after that I would be the ‘senior kibitzer,’ ” he said. “That I would parachute in from time to time when there’s big stuff happening. That’s my agreement, so this is not a retirement. I still am a work in progress.

“I’ve had this happen in the past when I left my column (for the Philadelphia Daily News and later the New York Post), when I left NBC. I am ever looking for another place to play in.”

 

 

Posted in HBO

Yahoo! Sports-NBC Sports look to take on ESPN; Will it impact SI’s King?

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Just went on Yahoo! Sports and the NBC Sports sites to see how their new arrangement is working out. You know what? They both looked the same to me.

Of course, it won’t be that way much longer. The two big powerhouses have come together in a partnership deal that they hope will allow them to better take on the biggest powerhouse, ESPN.

Here is a link with the details, but essentially the big element of the deal boils down this: Yahoo! gains access to all-important video from NBC Sports; NBC receives Yahoo!’s critical mass in terms of pageviews.

From the New York Times:

“Yahoo provides massive scale for the NBC Sports Group,” Mark Lazarus, the chairman of that group, said in an interview by phone on Sunday.

Though stopping far short of an actual merger, the two sites expect that their traffic will be measured together in a way that solidly makes them the No. 1 sports Web site in the United States. Yahoo came in a close second to ESPN in November rankings by the Web analytics company ComScore, which showed ESPN with 42 million unique visitors and Yahoo with 40 million. Sites operated by the NBC Sports Group ranked eighth, with 11 million visitors — evincing why NBC felt it necessary to find a new source of traffic.

Mr. Lazarus said that measuring the two together would “allow our sales force to walk into meetings with the ability to say we’re the No. 1 sports site.”

I expect the folks at ESPN.com may dispute that notion. There are all sorts of different ways to interpret the numbers when you factor in time spent on the site, etc.

Still, this is a very good deal for both Yahoo! Sports and NBC Sports. It makes them both stronger.

*******

A side note of the deal: Jason McIntyre of Big Lead has noted that Peter King’s contract is expiring at Sports Illustrated. He speculated the Yahoo!-NBC Sports deal may give him an enticing alternative.

McIntyre writes:

King is the No. 1 NFL insider for the most popular sport in the country, and he’ll be coveted by the likes of NBC Sports, ESPN, and probably even the NFL Network (even though few in the industry think he’d go there). Sports Illustrated could have a hard time keeping King, who has been there for 23 years.

Might this week’s Yahoo-NBC Sports deal have an impact on King’s situation with Sports Illustrated?

At the very least, it’ll give King some nice leverage with SI.

 

 

 

Posted in NBC

Is Deadspin fair to ESPN? John Koblin addresses coverage in AA podcast

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If you have 55 minutes to spare–and who doesn’t?–it is worth your time to check out Awful Announcing’s latest podcast with John Koblin.

Interviewed by AA’s Matt Yoder, Koblin talks about covering ESPN for Deadspin. At the top, Yoder tells Koblin to say hello to all the ESPN PR folks, who most definitely are listening.

Plenty of territory is covered here. From AA:

-His conversation with John Walsh and reaction to being put into the story himself.

 -Thoughts on why it took that embarrassing episode for ESPN to finally correct the plagiarized stories.

 -The importance in aggressively covering ESPN and the comparison to other media beats.

-The state of the Deadspin-ESPN relationship.

 -ESPN President John Skipper’s comments about the network pulling back on its Tim Tebow coverage.

 -The appeal of Skip Bayless within Bristol.

 -Sourcing issues and controversies at ESPN.

 -Whether or not the journalistic questions raised in the last year will ever effect the average ESPN viewer or ESPN brand.

 -The modest progress ESPN has made in the last year and where the company goes from here.

Koblin makes some good thoughts, especially on ESPN reacting so slowly to the plagiarism problem. However, there were some points of disagreement for me.

I think the entire ESPN sourcing issue has been blown out of proportion. Nobody in this business is good at crediting sources, speaking as someone who didn’t receive credit for stories I broke through the years.

Koblin and Yoder failed to note that ESPN admitted it went overboard on its Tebow coverage months prior to network president John Skipper’s statements this week. Mark Gross, ESPN’s executive producer said back in September: “Some things work out, some things don’t.  You sort of pick it up and move on to try something else the next day.”

Regarding the larger issue of Deadspin’s agenda when it comes to ESPN, Koblin makes some reasoned remarks about being fair with his coverage. Perhaps.

However, clearly there is a desire to highlight and magnify the network’s flaws. That’s what Deadspin does. Negative stories about ESPN leads to page views. I don’t think I’m breaking news here.

Yet having said all that, Koblin seems like an interesting sort. Worth your time if you have some.

 

 

Rising sports rights fees = rising cable fees: When is enough enough?

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I think this could be a big story for 2013.

Sports networks are spending billions on rights fees thanks mainly to you and me. Your cable fees eventually go up to help pay for all that NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA we all consume. ESPN now charges $5.13 per month for each subscriber.

At some point, the already frustrated cable operators will say enough is enough. It could happen sooner than later.

The issue is starting to build some momentum.

From a recent LA Times story:

The average household already spends about $90 a month for cable or satellite TV, and nearly half of that amount pays for the sports channels packaged into most services. Massive deals for marquee sports franchises like the Dodgers and Lakers are driving those costs even higher. Over the next three years, monthly cable and satellite bills are expected to rise an average of nearly 40%, to $125, according to the market research company NPD Group.

So far, people seem willing to pay. But the escalating costs are triggering worries that, at some point, consumers will begin ditching their cable and satellite subscriptions.

“We’ve got runaway sports rights, runaway sports salaries and what is essentially a high tax on a lot of households that don’t have a lot of interest in sports,” said John Malone, the cable industry pioneer and chairman of Liberty Media. “The consumer is really getting squeezed, as is the cable operator.”

From Multichannel News:

DirecTV Exec VP/Programming & Chief Content Officer Dan York: “We would love to make all of these channels available to our customers, but the sports programmers are making it impossible with their unreasonable, unsustainable prices.”

Derek Thompson of The Atlantic recently wrote that non-sports fans should start pushing back.  They are paying for content they don’t want.

He writes:

Maybe DISH will decide it won’t pay the high costs that ESPN and regional sports networks demand and will become synonymous will “cable for people who hate sports.” That way, households in an area served by DISH and Comcast can choose between sports and not-sports, and if more people choose not-sports, then sports networks will necessarily slow their inflation rate to keep from upsetting sports fans who suddenly get stuck with a higher bill.

Will Leitch of Sports on Earth adds:

We live in an information-wants-to-be-free age, and we’re still being held down by these media-company gatekeepers. In the real world it’s 2012; in the cable universe, it might as well be 1988. Eventually, this will have to change. It’s too insane and rigged-against-the-consumer for it not to. The problem, of course, is that, like so many capitalists before them, leagues and teams and sports networks are all assuming that it’ll always be like this, that these revenue will keep growing forever and ever, that this golden goose will always keep laying eggs. There are decades upon decades of Darwinian consumer trends that contradict that. In 30 years, we may have all unplugged our cable bundles and be paying a la carte. This is the nightmare situation, but I’m not the first person to suggest we’re living in a cable sports television bubble. Someday it’ll pop. Then, suddenly, we’ll look and think: Why in the world is Maryland in the Big Ten?

Keep an eye out on this. And be sure to watch what happens to your cable bill.

 

 

 

March Madness turns 75: CBS plans series of specials to celebrate world’s greatest office pool

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The NCAA basketball tournament turns 75 this year. Since we love anniversaries that reach neat milestone numbers, CBS is going to take the opportunity to produce more programming on “March Madness” beyond the zillion or so hours they produce in March.

It begins soon with a pair of specials on Dec. 29. Here’s the rundown from CBS:

CBS Sports salutes 75 years of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship with original programming celebrating the rich history of March Madness. Starting this month and through the 2013 NCAA tournament, CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com, in conjunction with the NCAA, will air a series of themed specials dedicated to the players, coaches and commentators who have made an impact over 75 memorable years of March Madness. The programming, CBS SPORTS PRESENTS 75 YEARS OF NCAA MARCH MANDESS, features CBS Sports college basketball announcers, including Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Bill Raftery, Greg Anthony, Greg Gumbel and Doug Gottlieb, as well as others.

The salute tips off Saturday, Dec. 29 with two shows on CBS Sports beginning with 75 YEARS: BEHIND THE MIC (2:00-3:00 PM, ET).  The special features a round-table discussion with on-air voices of the NCAA tournament reliving the greatest March Madness moments and sharing their memories calling the action.  Greg Gumbel hosts and is joined by Clark Kellogg, Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Dick Enberg, Greg Anthony and Gary Bender.  The show also includes a special segment with Verne Lundquist, Len Elmore and Christian Laettner reliving the legendary Kentucky-Duke regional final game in 1992. 

Jim Nantz hosts 75 YEARS: A COACH’S PERSPECTIVE (3:00-4:00 PM, ET) featuring a panel of top college coaches reflecting on the greatness of the NCAA tournament and reminiscing about their own experiences. Coaches include Billy Donovan, Tom Izzo, Steve Lavin, Rick Pitino, Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens, Bill Self, John Thompson III and Jay Wright.

Greg Gumbel hosts the other specials airing on CBS Sports, including:

  • TOP 10 COACHES – Saturday, Feb. 9 (12:30-1:00 PM, ET)
  • TOP 10 ONE-HIT WONDERS – Saturday, Feb. 16 (12:30-1:00 PM, ET)
  • TOP 10 BUZZER BEATERS – Sunday, Feb. 17 (12:30-1:00 PM, ET)
  • TOP 10 UPSETS – Saturday, Feb. 23 (1:00-1:30 PM, ET)
  • TOP 10 CHAMPS THAT NEVER WERE – Saturday, Feb. 23 (1:30-2:00 PM, ET)

CBS Sports Network’s programming is highlighted by a series of specials, including: 

  • THE ULTIMATE 75-YEAR BRACKET – Saturday, March 2 (7:00-8:30 PM, ET) – A 90-minute studio show playing out the ultimate fantasy March Madness bracket with the best teams from the past 75 years.  A panel of experts will pick the teams, determine seedings and debate the games in a single-elimination style.   
  • THE 75 GREATEST MOMENTS IN TOURNAMENT HISTORY – Sunday, March 3-Thursday, March 7 – Five 30-minute programs that count down the 75 greatest moments in tournament history.  
  • MARCH MADNESS: THE ALL-TIME TEAM – Sunday, April 7 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET) – A one-hour show selecting the top NCAA tournament all-time players. 

In addition, CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com will feature a vignette series beginning Saturday, Dec. 29 that traces the history of all 75 years of the NCAA tournament.  During each day leading up to the 2013 NCAA tournament, a vignette will air that features a summary of one year’s March Madness tournament from 1939 through 2012.  CBSSports.com also will provide coverage and content from its EYE ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL reporters. 

CBS Sports and Turner Sports will provide live, full national coverage of the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across four national television networks – CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.  Starting in early January, fans can vote on the greatest all-time players, teams and moments at NCAA.com/MarchMadness, the official online destination for the 75 years of March Madness celebration.

Jack Whitaker on latest honor: Thank you for giving it to me in time for me to remember I got it

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Jack Whitaker is cleaning up in 2012.

Earlier this year, the legendary announcer/essayist received the Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. Tuesday in New York, he was among the inductees to the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

In both cases, there is the obvious question: What took so long? Were they going to make Whitaker, now 88, wait until he turned 100 to give him fitting recognition for an exceptional career?

Even Whitaker, ever the gentleman, couldn’t resist a jab during the ceremony Tuesday in New York.

“Thank you for giving me this award and for giving it to me in time for me to remember I got it,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker also noted the difference between then and now in covering sports.

“We used to pal around with (the athletes),” he said. “Now they’re all multi-millionaires.”

Joining Whitaker in the class of 2012 were ESPN executive chairman George Bodenheimer, audio pioneer Ray Dolby, famed NFL commentator Frank Gifford, sports production visionary executive Ed Goren, legendary NBC cameraman Cory Leible, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, NBC operations and engineering guru Jack Weir.

The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame is relatively new. Its first class in 2007 featured Roone Arledge, Howard Cosell, Jim McKay and Pete Rozelle.

 

 

Marcus Allen: New NFL Network documentary features ups (great runs) and downs (feud with Al Davis)

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Next up on A Football Life: Marcus Allen (Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET, NFL Network).

Here’s a link to the preview.

The essential information:

“If God put one person on this earth to be a professional football player, it would have been Marcus Allen.” – Marty Schottenheimer

As a Heisman Trophy winner, a first-round pick, a Super Bowl and league MVP, and a Pro Football Hall of Famer, running back Marcus Allen is one of the most talented and decorated players in football history.

NFL Network’s Emmy nominated series A Football Life continues Wednesday, December 12 at 8:00 PM ET with a chronicle of Allen’s football career, from his time as a two-way star at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego, California, to becoming the first running back in college history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season at USC, and to his career with the Los Angeles Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs.

The one-hour documentary includes a sitdown interview with Allen, who describes his football life extensively, including the tumultuous relationship he had with the late Raiders owner, Al Davis. Additional interviews include former teammates Ronnie Lott, Howie Long, Jim Plunkett and Matt Millen, broadcaster Al Michaels, former Raiders Director of Player Personnel Ron Wolf, and Allen’s parents, Harold and Gwendolyn Allen.

Marcus Allen: A Football Life also includes footage from Allen’s interview with Michaels on December 14, 1992 for Monday Night Football in which he spoke publically regarding his relationship with Davis at the time, as well as Allen lighting the flame in honor of Al Davis in Oakland in September, 2012.

Marcus Allen: A Football Life includes interviews with the following people:

Marcus Allen

Harold “Red” Allen – Marcus’ father

Gwendolyn Allen – Marcus’ mother

Marty Schottenheimer – Kansas City Chiefs head coach, 1989-98

Ronnie Lott – Teammate of Marcus at USC and with the Raiders

John Robinson – USC head coach, 1976-82, & 1993-97

Howie Long – Raiders defensive end, 1981-93

Al Michaels – Broadcaster

Ron Wolf – Former Raiders Personnel Director

Jim Plunkett – Raiders quarterback, 1979-87

Matt Millen – Raiders linebacker, 1980-88

Terry Robiskie – Raiders assistant coach, 1982-93

Carl Peterson – Chiefs general manager, 1989-2008

Tim Grunhard – Chiefs center, 1990-2000

Emmy-nominated actor from CBS’ The Good Wife, Josh Charles, narrates.

Following are select quotes from Marcus Allen: A Football Life:

– “If God put one person on this earth to be a professional football player, it would have been Marcus Allen.” – Marty Schottenheimer

– “There are two types of players: those who know and those who don’t. The smartest ones usually play the longest and [are] usually the most successful.” – Marcus Allen

 – “I never quite understood what made things go bad. To me, the whole thing was a waste of great talent and energy. If you don’t like me, let me go.” – Allen on his relationship with Raiders owner Al Davis

 – “He never complained. He knew that there was a sacrifice to be made for this team.” – Ronnie Lott on Marcus Allen playing fullback at USC

 – “There wasn’t one aspect of playing the position that Marcus didn’t excel at. You could name 20 running backs who were bigger, stronger, faster. You couldn’t name two or three running backs who were as versatile.” – Howie Long

 – “I can recall talking with Al about Marcus and he felt at some point that Marcus was getting bigger than the Raiders. He had a hard time with that because it was always about the Raiders. Whatever the split was, that caused that.” – Ron Wolf

 – “Al took him from a Hall of Fame running back and turned him into a fullback for Bo [Jackson]. Marcus did it, but we would go, ‘Why are we not using this guy?’ We knew something was up.” – Matt Millen

Skipper defends ESPN: Standards of journalism are at highest order

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It’s been open season on ESPN of late. John Skipper has decided to fight back.

In an interview with John Ourand of Street and Smith’s Sports Business Daily, the ESPN president reacted to mounting criticism from various outlets (Deadspin, Awful Announcing in particular) that the network’s journalistic standards have been reduced, and that its brand has been diminished by an endless array of debate shows, headed by First Take.

The always candid Skipper clearly thinks enough is enough. “The brand’s never been stronger,” he said.

Regarding standards:

We have standards of journalism that are at the highest order. There’s a separate question, which is, ‘Are we adhering to them?’ But at least our intention and what we publish is that we are going to adhere to high standards. We don’t discourage the scrutiny, we welcome it. Generally, we react to it….

We started Front Row so we could be a little more transparent. I don’t think anybody responds more or has higher standards. So I reject the overall criticism that we’re not doing this stuff.”

On whether ESPN goes soft with its league partners:

The thing that makes me angriest is that ESPN has a conflict. Give me three examples where we pulled up. I think that we did a comprehensive story on stadium and arena food standards and found about one quarter of the stadiums to be deficient in terms of their health standards. I don’t recall anyone else doing that or being in that much conflict with all of their partners. I think I remember a whole week of stories about the concussions in the NFL. But people still write it as a matter of fact, ‘Of course, ESPN’s not leading the way in writing about concussions.’ Other than the N.Y. Times, we’ve clearly been the most aggressive on that. Talk to David Stern about whether he thinks we pull up on stories.

And here’s my favorite. Regarding criticism of First Take:

It’s just another show. It’s not journalism. Nobody goes, ‘Gee, look how awful it is that CBS does these awful reality shows. Doesn’t that taint their great news organization?’ We have seven networks. There’s 8,760 hours per year. We’re programming 50-60,000 hours per year. … But people say, ‘Gee, that awful debate that you’re doing, how can the great ‘SportsCenter’ coexist with the debate of ‘First Take.’ I don’t know, how do infomercials coexist with the great journalism they’re doing someplace else? We’re not a micromanaged place. Jamie Horowitz is the producer of ‘First Take.’ He’s gone in a direction that’s working. Ratings are up.

So here’s my question: Who’s going to be the more upset? Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith over Skipper comparing them to “awful” reality shows; or with the polarizing hosts, reality shows being compared to First Take?

Given the way Skipper spoke out, I’m sure he would have no problem holding his own on First Take. Now there’s a show.

 

 

Samantha Steele: Relationship with Ponder hasn’t been a problem for ESPN

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I’ve seen enough movies to know that love happens under unusual circumstances. Samantha Steele’s relationship with Christian Ponder has been anything but usual.

Steele, in her first year as host and sideline reporter for ESPN, has faced scrutiny ever since it was disclosed that she was dating the Minnesota Vikings quarterback; they now are engaged. It is generally frowned upon by women sports reporters to go out with athletes.

In an interview with SI.com’s Richard Deitsch, Steele said that her relationship with Ponder does not conflict with her role at ESPN.

From the post:

Steele said she told her bosses and colleagues about the relationship early  on, and inquired of her agent how she should approach things regarding any  journalistic landmines. She said she would reconsider her assignment if she  believed her relationship with Ponder posed a conflict editorially.

“I don’t do anything in the same circles professionally as him,” Steele said.  “When it comes to doing my job and covering the sports that I cover and doing my  best to do that with journalistic integrity, there has not been a single time  where that has ever come up and been a problem. I understand what you are saying  in the sense that there has never been something as clear-cut as this, but I did  not invent this wheel. This has definitely gone on before. The main thing for us  is we were going to be honest about this situation once we realized this was the  real deal. Obviously, I had zero interest in people knowing about it, but once  people started asking I certainly was not going to lie.”

ESPN expressed its take early this year, saying via a spokesperson:  “Regarding any policies, we expect any commentator to raise any relationship  that could be a conflict with the sport they cover. This does not fit that  scenario as she covers college football.”

The relationship probably precludes Steele from covering the NFL as long as Ponder still is playing. That might not be a problem for long if Ponder doesn’t step up his game. He has failed to throw for more than 100 yards in each of his last two games.

 

 

 

Sporting News prints final magazine after 126 years; web site still continues

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It was inevitable.

After the 126 years, The Sporting News is printing its last magazine. One of the great traditions in sports is yet another casualty of the modern news era.

The Sporting News, though, isn’t going away. It still will exist at Sportingnews.com.

Here is the official statement from publisher Jeff Price and editor Garry Howard.

After 126 years of printing ink on paper with weekly, biweekly or monthly frequency, Sporting News will officially become a digital brand as of January 1, 2013. Based on interest expressed by a number of longtime readers, Sporting News will continue to print six highly popular, sport-specific yearbook previews in 2013—Baseball, NFL, College Football and College Basketball plus Fantasy Football and Fantasy Baseball—that will be available at newsstands across the country.

Having spoken with many of our longtime subscribers, we recognize this is not a popular decision among our most loyal fans. Unfortunately, neither our subscriber base nor the current advertising market for print would allow us to operate a profitable print business going forward.

Howard added:

“Sporting News is very much alive in the digital sports world, publishing a free daily sports App that is dynamic in nature and one of the leaders in its category on the iPad, in addition to our 24/7 web site, sportingnews.com.

“Yes, it’s a new day for Sporting News, but one that is looking toward the future and one that will help our brand reach more avid readers than ever before in its storied history.”


It’s been a while since many people thought of The Sporting News as a magazine, which is why that vehicle is fading away. It follows the lead of Newsweek, which also is ceasing its print publication.

Yet news of The Sporting News’ print demise had many of us veterans feeling nostalgic today:

@TimGrierson Reading the Sporting News as a kid made me the baseball fan I am today. I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels that way.

The Sporting News was huge when I was coming of sports age in the 70s. Unlike the glossy Sports Illustrated, with its long articles, The Sporting News felt and read like a newspaper. Back then, the magazine still had its tradition of printing the boxscore of every baseball game. I mean, every game. I’m not sure I spent much time pouring over them, but it was something to see it all there on several pages.

The Sporting News featured columnists from other towns such as Furman Bisher from Atlanta and Art Spander from San Francisco. Later, they became friends in the profession.

The Sporting News also had Jack Craig, the first sports media columnist for the Boston Globe. For many of us, it was our introduction and eventually inspiration to cover this beat.

I had one of my greatest thrills in college when The Sporting News printed my story on the Illinois basketball team in 1981. I knew I had arrived. Later when I joined the Chicago Tribune, I wrote several pieces on college football for the magazine. I always felt it was an honor to see my byline in The Sporting News.

Time marches on, and The Sporting News is making its presence felt with its web site. It makes sense to pour all of its resources into that department.

But for those of us who grew up waiting for the magazine to land in the mail box, we owe a debt of gratitude to The Sporting News. A truly great institution.