ESPN College GameDay going to Notre Dame Saturday

Posted on by

Yes, the Irish are 5-0, and ESPN, like everyone else is excited. It will GameDay’s first visit since 2005.

From ESPN:

College GameDay Built by The Home Depot — returning to South Bend, Ind., for the first time since Oct. 15, 2005 — will originate from the site of next Saturday’s matchup of No. 18 Stanford (4-1) at No. 9 Notre Dame (5-0). College GameDay, in its 26th year, will be making its eighth all-time visit to Notre Dame’s campus. The Irish are 3-4 with the GameDay crew on-campus.

The Cardinal are coming off Saturday’s home, overtime win over Arizona (54-48), and the Irish handled Miami, 41-3 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

College GameDay will air live at 9 a.m. ET on ESPNU and 10 a.m. on ESPN with host Chris Fowler, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and host/reporter Samantha Steele and Tom Rinaldi.

Lee Corso is 2-1 in his South Bend-based picks. His one miss came in 1998 when he chose No. 5 Michigan over the No. 24 Irish. His two wins were also with picks against the Irish (Nebraska in 2000 and USC in 2005, in the famous “Bush Push” game).

Corso didn’t make head gear picks in GameDay’s visits from 1993-96. Stanford has not been part of a Corso “headgear game” at Notre Dame.

Sunday books: Alan Ameche: The Story of ‘The Horse’; Author Q/A on interviewing great Colts from 50s

Posted on by

The play is among the most famous in sports and has been shown millions of times: Alan Ameche plunging in for the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a.k.a, “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

However, there was much more to Ameche’s story. A Heisman Trophy winner, he always will be an icon in Wisconsin. In the pros, he played with the storied Baltimore Colts and likely would have joined him many teammates in the Hall of Fame if not for injuries.

And he had one of the greatest nicknames of all time: “The Horse.”

Long-time Wisconsin writer Dan Manoyan details his achievement in a new book, Alan Ameche: The Story of “The Horse.” It is a must-read if you’re a Wisconsin Badgers fan, and the passages about the Colts and the NFL in the 50s provide an interesting historical perspective.

Here’s my Q/A with Dan:

How did you get the idea for this project?

I give full credit to the Big Ten Network. I had met Ameche back in the 70’s when I was a cub reporter at the Kenosha News, but honestly hadn’t thought of him in years. One night I’m watching the Big Ten’s series on icons and Otto Graham from Waukegan is showing. My first thought was to wonder when the Ameche showing would be. It turns out he didn’t make the cut for the top 20, which was a little surprising to me.

It made me curious if anyone had ever written a book about Ameche. When he left Wisconsin, he had won every award known to man, including the Heisman and owned every NCAA rushing record. He went to the Colts and won the 1955 Rookie of the Year award and led the NFL in rushing his rookie season. I tracked down his widow, Yvonne Ameche-Davis and she was receptive to the idea. There were a few bumps in the road, but we crossed every bridge and got it done.

What did/does Ameche mean in Wisconsin?

Well certainly at the time he was playing, Ameche was THE man in Wisconsin. He turned around moribund programs in high school (Kenosha Bradford) and at Wisconsin and was a huge part of the Colts championship reign of the 50s. His 1950 high school team is still considered by many to be the greatest Wisconsin team of all time. He took Wisconsin to its first ever Rose Bowl in 1953, a month after he was married to his junior high sweetheart. He was one of the first building blocks for the Colts’ dynasty and Johnny Unitas’ appearance put Baltimore over the top.

Talking to old timers in Kenosha, especially a lot of the Italian-Americans, many were Colts fans in the 1950s because of Ameche. Also, that was before Vince Lombardi transformed the Packers into a power. Ameche wanted to return to Wisconsin after his playing days were over, but his business ventures were so successful, that wasn’t possible. Even though his philanthrophy extended to Kenosha and the University of Wisconsin, I think the fact that he didn’t return to Wisconsin hurt his legacy. In my mind, and I say this in the book, of the homegrown talent produced in this state, he was the greatest athlete ever.

What was it like to track down and talk to some of the old Colts?

What a thrill! Unfortunately, the seance with Johnny Unitas fell through, but I still talked with four Hall of Famers, Art Donovan, Gino Marchetti, Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry. Donovan’s reputation for spinning a yarn is legendary. Marchetti was Ameche’s best friend (and business partner) on the Colts, so he shared some great insight. Raymond Berry had the best quote…he said Ameche was “the first Italian I ever met.” Berry also told me the Colts would have won a couple more championships if Weeb Ewbank hadn’t been so stubborn and encouraged Ameche to return to the team in 1961.

But perhaps the best interview involved Moore, who was also the hardest guy to pin down. I literally called Lenny 10 times and each time he said the same thing…”Man, I’ll do it, but I just ain’t feeling it today.” So on the 10th call I just started shooting questions at him. It was one of the best interviews I’ve ever had. Lenny bared his soul about everything from Big Daddy Lipscomb to what it was like to be a black man playing in the NFL in the 1950s. I can honestly say, Lenny didn’t hold back. He loved his teammates, especially Ameche, Unitas and Berry, but he deeply regretted that the social climate of the time prevented them from getting to know each other better. I felt his interview was so powerful that I decided to make it a separate chapter.

Why did Weeb Ewbank not like him? Would his career have been different with another coach?

That is the question. To do this day, nobody has the answer to that unfortunately. Donovan said Ewbank resented Ameche because he was smarter than he was. It could be Ameche signed for the princely sum of $15,000 a year, which was a ton of money for 1955 and probably a lot more than Ewbank was making. Raymond Berry told me the Colts could have won two more titles if they had had Ameche running the ball, but the Colts offense became lopsided passing the ball because of Unitas’ greatness and the lack of an effective power runner in Ameche’s absence.

Ameche had a great rookie season, winning the NFL rushing title (including a 79-yard touchdown run against the Bears the first time he touched the ball as a pro). But things changed when Unitas arrived the following season and Ewbank built the Colts offense around him.

Ameche was vocal about his bitterness in his last few years with the Colts. I do think Ameche’s career would have played out differently if he had played for a different coach. In later years he made no secret of the fact that he wished that he played for Don Shula, who replaced Ewbank with the Colts. Ameche loved the way Shula used his fullbacks like Norm Bulaich with the Colts and Larry Csonka, later with the Dolphins. Not surprisingly, the college coach Ameche most admired was Woody Hayes.

What is his place/legacy in sports history? Has his career been overlooked?

Unfortunately, Ameche will never get the credit he deserves. There is one reason for that, the brevity of his professional career. It’s telling that one of the most frequently asked questions about Ameche is “Why is he not in the NFL Hall of Fame?” Quite simply, he only played six years. He played in the Pro Bowl 5 of those 6 years, played on two championship teams, led the league in rushing as a rookie and scored the winning touchdown in the “Greatest Game Ever Played.”

If it wasn’t for his dysfunctional relationship with Ewbank and the fact that his business was taking off, I’m sure he could have come back from his Achilles’ Heel injury in 1960 and played 10 years in the league.

As for his legacy in Wisconsin, consider this: Ron Dayne’s number was hung in Camp Randall’s Ring of Honor before Ameche’s. Considering Ameche won the Heisman 45 years before Dayne, that’s pretty much unforgivable. Also, Ameche never turned down Wisconsin for anything. He donated the money for a new weight room at one point and even gave his Heisman Trophy to Wisconsin. There are two statues outside of Camp Randall: Barry Alvarez and Pat Richter. I’m not saying both men aren’t deserving, but what about the school’s first Heisman winner???

Even in Kenosha he doesn’t get the respect I think he deserves and that’s probably because he chose to live in Philadelphia after his playing career. But Ameche donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kenosha charities, including a gymnasium for a boys club and money to keep the city’s Catholic High School’s athletic programs afloat.

Again, I think he was the greatest home-grown athlete Wisconsin has ever produced. Will he ever be recognized as such? I doubt it.

Headlines: Jeannie Buss can’t see Lakers games on Time-Warner; a day with Chris Russo; Now SVP & Russillo show

Posted on by

Making the rounds as fall to starts to settle in. It was 80 Thursday; 45 as I write this now.

******

Jeanie Buss can’t watch the Lakers games on Time Warner. Tom Hoffarth reports.

Is there a GQ cover jinx? It hasn’t work out so well for Tom Brady and Tim Tebow. From LZ Granderson at ESPN.com.

A day in the life of Chris Russo. Newsday’s Neil Best reports.

Ryan Russillo gets on the bill. Afternoon program now is the SVP & Rusillo. ESPN.com reports.

All-time high 30 for 30 rating for Broke. TVbytheNumbers has the number.

BTN documentary focuses incredible story of women rower. Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago reports.

Eric Deggans of the National Sports Journalism Center writes how sports talk has invaded political talk on radio.

Romenesko.com talks to the author of the story on the Bleacher Report that has caused quite a stir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25th anniversary celebration: Sports talk radio and how it changed sports

Posted on by

It will be a big night for sports talk radio Saturday in Chicago. The 25th anniversary of the format will celebrated at the Chicago Theater.

Michael Wilbon and Chicago radio personality Dan McNeil of WSCR will serve as the co-hosts of the sold-out show. Among the honorees will be Jeff Smulyan, founder of WFAN, the first sports talk station in 1987.

Also being honored are Mike Francesa, Dan Patrick, Angelo Cataldi and the Wing Bowl in Philly.

The event is organized by Bob and Michelle Snyder. They met at a radio station. Bob went on to be a general manager at sports talk outlets in Chicago, Washington and Miami.

“This is a way for us to recognize the format,” said Sndyer, currently a radio consultant for teams and stations. “It is deserving because of the importance of the last 25 years. You look at the impact it had on fans and teams. It truly changed the landscape of sports in America.”

However, this event is highly personal for the Snyders on another level. Proceeds go to Parent Heart Watch, a program designed to protect youth from sudden cardiac arrest.

Their daughter, Jenny, died of sudden cardiac arrest on a soccer field in 2008. I continue to admire the Snyders for working to prevent this tragedy happening to other families.

“As a former GM, this is a chance to rally around an industry that was very good to me and use that industry to raise money for a good cause,” Snyder said.

 

 

TBS scores: Wildcards games mini Game 7s; Smoltz thinks Detroit primed to make run

Posted on by

Say what you will about Bud Selig pushing for the wildcard for the regular season. The concept makes for a great day of baseball Friday.

The most exciting games in sports are the Game 7s of a playoff series (or Game 5s of a baseball division series). Winner goes on; loser goes home.

TBS has two of them today with Atlanta-St. Louis and then Baltimore-Texas.

If I was a player, I’d be ticked off by the idea that an entire season’s worth of work can go down the drain in one game. But as a fan, it adds a level of excitement that previously didn’t exist. I’d expect TBS to do a strong rating for the games.

TBS’ John Smoltz and Ron Darling talked about the wildcard games and previewed the postseason in a conference call. Here are the highlights:

Darling on the new Wild Card format: It has changed forever how general managers and the people upstairs [front office] think about their teams. If you put any team at .500 on September 1 they feel like…with a strong September, they’ll have a chance to go to the postseason.

Smoltz on the Wild Card: You always have to give certain things time. You put a lot of pressure on the schedule, and the weather and a bunch of tiebreakers. You’ve got to give it a few years. It gives teams another chance to improve their chances. Now, if a Wild Card team wins a World Series, they’ve really had to work for it.

Smoltz on which team is best equipped for the best-of-five LDS format: Best of fives are scary. [I give] a slight edge to the San Francisco Giants because of their offensive improvement and overall depth in pitching. When you get to a short game, the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves are as good as it gets. They can shut you down from the seventh inning on.

Smoltz on the Orioles and Tigers: Baltimore has got the ‘it’ factor and they keep winning. The American League is truly up in the air but, if I have to make a prediction, I do like the way Detroit has it set up with their rotation. I like Detroit coming out of the American League and surprising some people.

Darling on the Tigers: This Detroit team might be the most dangerous team in the playoffs.

Darling on Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander: Verlander is the surest thing in baseball. If you look at his numbers at the end of the year his ERA is low two, he’s got 15+ wins, 230+ innings, he doesn’t miss a start…he’s the surest thing in baseball.

Smoltz on the Tigers chances in the postseason: Look for the front of that offense to be bigger. Playoff baseball is so different. Justin Verlander puts pressure on the other pitchers. I like the fact they [Tigers] are starting at home. Detroit has a bit of an advantage in that first best-of-five series.

Smoltz on the difficulty of the Wild Card game and its impact on setting up a pitching staff: When you have to use your No. 1 guy (in a Wild Card game) it is a disadvantage. Nobody wants to really manage this type of game because there’s going to be so much second guessing.

Smoltz on who to watch on the surprisingly successful Oakland Athletics: Josh Reddick has had an incredible year coming over from Boston. Jonny Gomes has been around and is experienced. Their bullpen has been very underrated. This is a team that has the ‘it’ factor…this is a team that is very dangerous when you talk about the unknown factor. This is one of the best stories that has not been told.

Darling on the Athletics’ team chemistry: They are tight [knit]. They’re all about team. They are not about individual performances. They want to win games. When you have that combination and you have energy, that swashbuckling style they’ve got is one of the great stories.

Smoltz on the Washington Nationals chances without Stephen Strasburg: Without him [Strasburg], they’re still a very good team. It definitely lessens their chances when you take a stud out of your rotation. This team [Washington] has proven they are deep.

Smoltz on the Nationals without Stephen Strasburg and their chances in the postseason: It’s the intimidation factor; that’s really what it is. There is an intimidation and an edge that you have when you have him and when you don’t, it’s a little bit more difficult but not impossible. I think because it was so talked about it took away from the success that this team had.

Darling on Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg getting so much attention in the regular season: The [Strasburg] story became an entire year story and I think that’s a shame. Lost in this is how great [Ryan and Jordan] Zimmerman and [Gio] Gonzales were.

Smoltz on whether the Giants continue to use the entire bullpen to close: They are one of the few teams that can pull this off. They have guys down there with no ego. They are dominant. They have every specialty that you need. This is a team, when you think about‘bullpen by committee,’ there are very few teams that can do it. They are a very deep, very underrated bullpen. I like their chances.

Smoltz on AL MVP: AL MVP, for me, is more of a no brainer than most people, it’s Miguel Cabrera hands down. [Mike] Trout has had a phenomenal year. He just picked the wrong time to have a phenomenal year. He’s going to win Rookie-of-the-Year; he’s been MVP to his team, but as far as the MVP goes, hands down Miguel Cabrera.

Smoltz on NL MVP: I think its going to be a very close [NL] MVP race, I think it’s going to be one that splits a lot of votes which is going to hurt a lot of players, but the position of catcher has got to be thought of a little bit different than an everyday player because it has been so difficult to have those positions and produce the numbers that a [Yadier] Molina, and I know [Buster] Posey has played some first base so it kind of skews it a little bit…as of today, I think the guy that had the most phenomenal year statistically would be Ryan Braun, but I could see any of those guys nosing him out because their teams are in the playoffs and Milwaukee is not.

Darling on the AL MVP: I’m a [Miguel] Cabrera fan also. Mike Trout had an amazing year, an amazing five months of baseball. [He] really changed [the Angels] from a team that was struggling to a team that had a good summer not a great summer. That seems to be the easy one for all of us.

Darling the NL MVP: In the National League, [Yadier] Molina has been amazing. I think Ryan Braun has had the best year but, because of the technicality issue, that is going to cost some votes this year. In a close race, I think Buster Posey…this will be his year. I know Molina has been consistent all season long, but when San Francisco needed someone to carry them offensively Posey did it…if you check his numbers in the second half, they are almost obscene. So it’s Posey for me in the National League.

Smoltz on the AL Cy Young: This is a very tough situation in the American League. I traditionally don’t think relievers should win the Cy Young [Award]. David Price noses out [Justin] Verlander just by a little bit. It’s a tough year for a lot of guys. Voters have their hands full.

Darling on the AL & NL Cy Young: In the American League it’s David Price for me. He’s done it all season long and I thought he was the best pitcher over the course of the year. In the National League, it’s R.A. Dickey.

 

 

Posted in MLB

Arizona fires Sutton, Grace: Likely to pursue Brenly, Stone

Posted on by

Changes in the Arizona broadcast booth also could mean changes in Chicago.

The Arizona Republic reports the Diamondbacks have fired Daron Sutton and analyst Mark Grace. Sutton had been suspended since June. Among other things, he wanted to wear a suit, not a polo shirt on the telecast.

Really? How many people would put on a clown’s outfit for a chance to broadcast Major League Baseball.

From the Republic:

Until Thursday, the team had been cryptic about its reasons for suspending  Sutton. Hall said Sutton was not too negative on the air nor did he have any  run-ins with the law.

“It’s things that have happened over the years,” Hall said, when asked to  elaborate on what he meant by “philosophical differences.” “The collaboration  here of our personnel, dealing with Daron and us trying to go in a direction  that was different than he wanted to go as a broadcaster. It’s no knock on him.  It’s style differences and differences of philosophies, as I mentioned. Daron’s  going to be a good broadcaster for years to come, I certainly hope.”

As for Grace, a second DUI was the last straw.

“It was definitely a factor,” Hall said. “We had told him before that if it  happened again, we were not going to have him return to the booth. He knew that.  We had a conversation about that after the second one.

“We feel terrible for Mark and what he’s going through. He’s obviously got a  legal process, as well, on his hands. We hope everything works out for him and  we’re here for him, but again he knew that this was going to be a consequence.  It just so happens that his contract is up after this year, as well.”

Arizona likely will be looking to Chicago for Grace’s replacement. Bob Brenly, who works the Cubs TV games, won the 2001 World Series as manager of the Diamondbacks. It still a bit baffling that he hasn’t landed another job in the dugout since he was fired in 2004 considering he has a ring on his finger.

White Sox analyst Steve Stone also is a candidate. He lives in Phoenix. As I reported yesterday, Stone appears to be at odds with TV partner Ken Harrelson.

 

 

 

 

Posted in MLB

Are Harrelson-Stone breaking up? Stone talks candidly about relationship in Sox booth

Posted on by

My antenna was raised this morning when I saw a small item in the White Sox notebook by the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales:

“Sox television announcer Steve Stone, who is in the midst of a multiyear contract, is expected to receive interest from other media outlets but would need permission to get out of his current pact.”

Hmmm, what’s that all about? I have covered team beats, and I know that item didn’t come out of nowhere.

Then WSCR-AM 670, the White Sox’s flagship station, played a clip of Stone as he signed off on their season finale Wednesday.

Stone said: “There are a lot of lessons to be learned, and one of them is that the clock is always ticking. You’ve got to enjoy what you do.”

Was that a dig at his partner Ken Harrelson? There was a long pause and Harrelson said, “Alright..”

Stone then appeared on the McNeil and Spiegel Show on SCR. He was frank about his relationship with Harrelson, which definitely appears to be strained at best. And he wasn’t definitive about whether he would be back with the Sox next year. Here are some of the highlights.

On returning to the Sox in 2013: I’m pretty sure I am, but you never know what next year will hold…(Harry Caray) used to say as you get older, time moves more quickly. You’d like to slow it down, but you can’t. You have to enjoy what you’re doing.

On working with Harrelson: When you have a partner in any business, you are going to have periods where some things are good and some not so good. Some periods where things are exhilarating and some when they are frustrating.

Hawk is the face of the franchise. The booth is named after him. He might be the ultimate fan. When things are not going so well, he gets grumpy. Grumpier than the normal person would get doing that particular job.

When things are going well, he’s absolutely ecstatic. For those of us who don’t have those phenomenal highs and exceptional lows, it becomes a bit difficult at times. But that’s the kind of person he is.

I understand the game of baseball. Some of the times when things didn’t go so well in the partnership were a direct result of how the team was doing at the time and how he felt stressed about this thing starting to slip away.

Do you want to be back with the Sox?: I want baseball and broadcasting to be a part of my life. (McNeil then pressed him for an answer).

I have a contract with the White Sox. They’ve been wonderful to me. I fully expect nothing will change.

Our job is really easy when things are going well. For 118 days, when the team was in first place, our job was easy. Our difficulty came when things get negative and the team didn’t perform the way it should or you expected. That’s the time when you have to go to the vaudeville act.

*******

I’ve known Harrelson and Stone for a long time. Both men are very good at what they do. They also have significant egos and have a certain way of doing things.

Did that interview sound like someone who wants to return to the same situation in 2013? At the very least, both men will have to go through some couples counseling.

Stay tuned.

Here’s the podcast. The Stone segment comes at the 25-minute mark.