This new ESPN ad is destined to become an instant classic.
Don’t you just want to give the poor guy a big hug? By the way, according to this site, there are 3,026 people named Michael Jordan in the U.S. They can relate.
Examining your couch time with NFL in 2012
There’s something wonderful about the release of the NFL schedule. I always picture those late November, December Sundays when it is cold outside, giving you the perfect excuse to park on the couch all day and watch football. Of course, I do the same thing on those beautiful Sundays in September.
Here’s my breakdown of how the NFL divided up the goodies among the networks.
NBC: The network gets 19 games this year, including a new Thanksgiving night telecast. And it’s a good one: New England at the Jets.
NBC should get off to a huge start with Dallas-New York Giants on Wednesday, Sept. 5 and then the Pittsburgh-Denver game on that Sunday. It’ll be all-Manning-all-the-time during the first week. Should do big ratings.
Best games for NBC: Besides the first week, its schedule is loaded: Detroit-San Francisco on Sept. 16; New England-Baltimore on Sept. 23; Green Bay-Giants on Nov. 25 and several others.
Landmine alert: NBC has the flex schedule beginning on Nov. 18, so it won’t get stuck with any late-season dogs. Prior to that week, it has Houston-Chicago on Nov. 11. Keep on an eye on that one if both teams underachieve. However, even then, Al Michaels always likes doing a game in Chicago.
ESPN: It gets a better slate than last year, when it had some atrocious games (San Diego-Jacksonville, St. Louis-Seattle) at the end. Still, I can’t say I’m thrilled about a Baltimore-Cincinnati/San Diego-Oakland doubleheader for its first Monday night of the year. It’s not exactly Pittsburgh-Denver.
Best games for ESPN: ESPN gets its first crack at Peyton Manning with Denver-Atlanta on Sept. 17. Chicago-Dallas should do a strong rating on Oct. 1; Philadelphia-New Orleans on Nov. 5 could be intriguing if the Saints hold up; and Atlanta-Detroit on Dec. 22.
Landmine alert: With no flex options, it has several clunker candidates. San Francisco-Arizona on Oct. 29; Jets-Tennessee on Dec. 17 has potential disaster written all over it; and Atlanta-Detroit could be a dud if the Lions revert to their old form.
NFL Network: It’s the first season of their new expanded 13-game package.
Best games for NFL Network: The NFL awarded itself a plum for its opener: Chicago at Green Bay on Sept. 13. You’ve got to like Giants at Carolina the following week; New Orleans-Atlanta on Nov. 29; and Denver-Oakland on Dec. 6.
Landmine alert: Unless Andrew Luck morphs into Peyton Manning really quick, I’m betting most people take a pass on Indianapolis-Jacksonville on Nov. 8.
Fox: The NFC network gets out of the gate quick with San Francisco-Green Bay as its first doubleheader game.
Best games for Fox: Giants at San Francisco in an NFC title game rematch on Oct. 14; New Orleans-Green Bay on Sept. 30; Giant-Dallas on Oct. 28.
Landmine alert: Any games with the 49ers. Are they are a one-year wonder? Fox obviously can switch off its highlighted doubleheader slots, but it would help the network if the 49ers remained strong.
CBS: With Denver’s first two games in prime time, the AFC network has to wait until week 3 to get a shot at Peyton Manning.
Best games for CBS: Denver-New England on Oct. 7 with Manning-Brady; Pittsburgh-Giants on Nov. 4; Pittsburgh-Baltimore on Dec. 2.
Landmine alert: CBS needs Manning to be healthy and playing like his old self. If not, CBS will see a lot of potential ratings points fly out the window for those Denver games.
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Mayhem ruining good story for NHL playoffs
The storyline is being hijacked for the NHL.
Instead of talking about exciting series leading to strong increases in the ratings for NBC and the NBC Sports Network, the story is about a continuing string of brutal, vicious hits making hockey out to be the sport of thugs.
Another one occurred in the Chicago-Phoenix series last night. Watch how Phoenix’s Raffi Torres takes out Marian Hossa.
This is the NBC Sports Network call. I was watching the local telecast on Comcast Sports Net in Chicago. Pat Foley and Ed Olczyk were going crazy. Olczyk, who handles color for the Hawks along with his network duties, called for Torres, a repeat offender, to receive a 10-game suspension.
Amazingly, Torres didn’t even get a penalty for the hit which had Hossa being carried off the ice in a stretcher. Wonder what game they were watching.
All in all, it was another black mark for the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman, who was at the game. Stu Hackel ripped into the league at SI.com.
After watching too much go too far during the last five days, I think it should be obvious to anyone who has any sense of proportion that the Stanley Cup playoffs are out of control. There have been head-rammings, sucker punches, maulings and ambushes, all of which is apart from the more commonplace vendettas, elbows, crosschecks, spearing, charging, knee-to-knee shots and line brawls that we’ve come to expect each spring.
This isn’t just hard hockey. It is, as one of the sport’s prominent personages called it during the first phone call I got on Monday morning, “a disgrace.”
I began watching the NHL 50 years ago and I can’t recall ever seeing anything like this, not even in the game’s darkest days of the mid-1970s. In more games than not, the play has degenerated into open warfare.
The NHL is ruining its chance to build some serious momentum during the playoffs. This twitter feed from a fan following the Hossa hit should get the league’s full attention.
I almost don’t even care about this game right now. That was one of the most sickening headshots I’ve ever seen in my life. NHL, NFL, MMA.
NBC wins: Manning, Broncos vs. Pittsburgh in Sunday night opener
As predicted here this morning, NBC won the Peyton Manning sweepstakes.
It’ll be Pittsburgh at Denver on Sunday night during week 1 of the NFL season, according to several reports on Twitter. NBC should score huge ratings for Manning’s first game in a Broncos uniform. Also, it’s a rematch of last year’s playoff game, which Denver and Tim Tebow won in a dramatic overtime finish.
What ever happened to that Tebow guy, anyway?
According to Peter King, Baltimore travels to Cincinnati for ESPN’s first Monday night game of the season.
The entire schedule will be revealed on NFL Network and ESPN at 7 p.m.
Let the Peyton Manning countdown begin.
Radio war: Messy situation looms over dismissal of SF host
Nothing moves the sports talk radio meter like a heavy dose of controversy. KNBR in San Francisco has a good one within its own walls.
Ralph Barbieri had been a fixture at KNBR for 28 years before he was fired last week. The veteran sports talk host worked an afternoon shift with former NBA player Tom Tolbert.
Barbieri is 66 and suffers from Parkinson’s disease. His attorney, Angela Alioto claims he was unfairly terminated.
A San Francisco Examiner story reports:
While station managers reportedly told Barbieri he was being fired for tardiness, Alioto said that the termination was motivated by age and disability discrimination, because Barbieri, 66, suffers from Parkinson’s disease. Though the condition is apparently slow-developing, Alioto said he takes dozens of pills a day to control it.
“They told him he’s not peppy and energetic,” she said. “He goes to work every day, it’s just that he’s not as perky as he used to be.”
Alioto told the San Jose Mercury-News:
“The whole tardiness issue is just a cover-up to get rid of someone who is sick,” Alioto said by phone, noting that Barbieri was likely to rack up huge medical bills in future years.
KNBR VP Bill Bungeroth refuted the claims.
“It is disappointing that Ralph’s lawyers have issued a press release filled with inaccurate statements and baseless accusations,” Bungeroth said. “The simple fact is that Ralph refused to honor some of the most basic terms of his contract.”
Looks like this one will land in the courts, and not a basketball court.
Viral video: Ian Eagle says he and Fratello were just joking
There’s a video making the rounds showing a somewhat heated exchange between Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello during Saturday’s New Jersey Nets-Boston game. All of which begs the obvious question: You mean, people are actually watching Nets games?
Somebody noticed and the video went viral.
In the video, Eagle scolds Fratello over a previous discussion about slip screens. It certainly sounds as if Eagle is ticked off.
However, Eagle tells Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News that the pair were just joking. Eagle said:
“Every bit of that was a put-on. Not 40%. Not 70%. It was 100% busting each other’s chops. We do it every game. What happens sometimes is the local audience knows what we’re up to, but when something like this goes viral the unfortunate part is the familiarity goes out the window. There are people who just don’t get it, they’re not in on the joke. . . . Sarcasm is hard to comprehend, especially when you can’t see the broadcasters.”
Do you believe him? Matt Yoder, who did an initial analysis of the alleged spat at Awful Announcing, writes:
While that’s a good story, and it’s nice that Eagle addressed what happened, I’m not buying it…
I will say this: Calling Nets games would be enough to make anyone cranky.
ESPN free agent Michelle Beadle: What is her next move?
Michelle Beadle is one of the big free agents on the market, and we’re all breathless about her next move. However, I’ll stop short at hyperventilating.
Beadle’s contract with ESPN is up at the end of May. The co-host of Sportsnation currently is allowed to negotiate with other networks.
Colin Cowherd spoofed her about her status during Monday’s show.
Beadle should have plenty of options, including those from outside of the sports realm. However, she is playing coy about her decision.
She told SportsGrid:
I 100% don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not trying to be coy or cute or anything. I really don’t.
In a wide ranging interview with Big Lead last week in which we learn her favorite Friends character is Chandler, Beadle said:
You know what’s funny – I can honestly say that I have no idea. I’m not in the room, I’m not on the phone. That’s all CAA stuff. I go to work, I get questioned a lot, and I’ve gotten some funny comments … but I really don’t know. I haven’t even had a chance to make a decision because technically we’re not allowed to talk to anyone until next week.
Next week now is this week. Presumably, her agents are talking now.
We’ll interrupt regular programming as events warrant.
Which network gets Peyton’s season opener?
Oh, to witness the scrambling within the networks to see which one lands Peyton Manning’s regular-season debut with Denver.
Talk about backroom politics.
Manning’s first game will be the biggie from week 1 in the NFL. It will be quite a sight to see No. 18 in an orange uni playing in a game that counts.
The schedules will be announced today with both the NFL Network and ESPN having special reports tonight.
NBC already has the NFL opener with Giants-Dallas on Sept. 5. I’d have to say Al Michaels and company will be the leading contender to land the game with Eli’s brother.
The NFL has to want Peyton’s debut in prime time. The ratings should be huge. And it just feels like a Sunday night game. Besides, it would allow NBC to hype the heck out of it during the Giants game earlier in the week, not to mention during the three-plus weeks of the Olympics.
Sorry, ESPN. And you too, CBS, which will get plenty of shots at Manning with the AFC package.
However, here’s one thing to consider: Is Manning truly healthy? What if you commit to Denver for the Sunday night opener and Manning is sitting in the press box? That would take considerable appeal off this game. I just looked at Denver’s roster and saw Caleb Hanie’s on it. Trust me, from living in Chicago, no network wants to see Hanie in prime time.
Still, I’m guessing that the NFL will take the gamble that Manning will be on the field for game 1. His presence will make the winning network very happy.
Reporter wins Pulitzer Prize for Penn State coverage
One day on the beat, and we’ve already got a Pulitzer Prize winner for a sports-related story.
Sara Ganim and the Harrisburg Patriot-News were cited for their coverage of the Penn State-Jerry Sandusky saga. They were awarded a Pulitzer for local reporting.
From the Patriot-News:
Ganim broke the news in March 2011 that Sandusky was being investigated by a grand jury. Hundreds of journalists descended on State College after Ganim’s story drew national attention following Sandusky’s arrest in November.
“What really struck me about this story and about Sara’s work is that this was not a case where we uncovered some big issue or wanted to look at some big issue or did a massive investigation. This was a case of a reporter doing her job,” Patriot-News editor David Newhouse said.
Congratulations to Ganim and the Patriot-News, although it is a little bit of good news-bad news for the paper. Winning a Pulitzer at age 24 means Ganim will be in high demand.
ShermanReport.com makes its debut
As Brent Musburger would say, “You are looking live…”
Welcome to the debut of ShermanReport.com.
I did consider naming this site in the honor of Jack Craig. He was the legendary Boston Globe columnist who launched the first sports media column in the 1970s. I read him in the Sporting News. He made me, and countless others, think, “Wow, you really can make money watching TV.”
Thanks to Craig’s inspiration, I went on to become the sports media columnist for 12 years at the Chicago Tribune. It definitely was a favorite beat during my 27-year run at the Tower.
Sports media truly has been a life-long passion. I learned how to read from the box scores. I also was inspired by my father, Jerry (pictured here with my boys Sam and Matt in a 2005 photo), a great sports fan who never went a day without reading the sports section.
While considering the next move in my post-Tribune career at the end of 2011, I started to think about sports media. Frankly, I was influenced by seeing a Sports Illustrated cover, heralding a 20-page review of the year in sports media. Interesting.
One thing led to another, and here I am on the first day of ShermanReport.com. Sorry, Mr. Craig, but I was convinced to use my own name for branding purposes, as they say.
I’ve always been a student of all things sports media. It’s a fascinating industry that has so many different spinning wheels. It is ever changing, even in the two seconds it took you to read this sentence.
Unlike athletes, you’re doing interviews with personalities who want to talk to you–at least most of the time.
As for how this site will work, I plan on covering all the latest developments and trends in sports media. The site will have regular Q&A interviews with the top personalities in the business and with the key executives who call the shots. I also will have analysis of breaking stories and offer reviews and critiques of sports programming.
In addition, ShermanReport.com will follow what’s being written about sports media. Much like JimRomenesko.com, who runs a highly successful site on journalism, I will highlight and run excerpts from important stories about the industry.
The site also will have regular features, such as a spotlight on the latest sports books and vintage videos and stories.
I think there are several good sports media sites out there. They do a solid job of tracking this complex business.
I’m just looking to add my voice to the discussion. I hope you will join me and contribute a comment or two along the way.
And thanks Jack Craig, from all of us.
Cheers.