After a three-year run on ESPN's SportsNation, Michelle Beadle went out with a bang...

BEADLE LEAVING ESPN

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There have been rumors floating around the web for while that with her contract set to expire at ESPN Michelle Beadle would be leaving the sports network.

We may be getting closer to knowing where Beadle's final destination will be. Sports by Brooks tweeted on Friday that Beadle is leaving ESPN for NBC Sports with an eye towards also working for Access Hollywood and the Today Show.

The popular Sports Nation co-host certainly has the ability to cross over to mainstream media from the world of sports and would be a big land for NBC.

If she does leave it will be interesting to see who ESPN replaces her with. Speculation has already started in the blogosphere on who will be the network's next girl in. My bet, and vote for that matter, is for Charrisa Thompson.

Beadle already proved she can handle morning television well when she talked about porn with Regis Philbin while filling in on Live for Kelly Rippa last summer.

Just For Fun michelle beadle, espn, nbc, leaving espn, charrisa thompson

ESPN’s 4th annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Tuesday, Nov. 15 will be highlighted by 12 live college basketball games in 24 consecutive hours on ESPN for the third straight season

12 AM - Washington State at Gonzaga

2 AM - Northern Iowa at St. Mary's

4 AM - South Alabama at Hawaii

6 AM - Drexel at Rider

8 AM - Morehead St at College of Charleston

10 AM Kent St at West Virginia

12 PM - Belmont at Memphis

2 PM - San Diego State at Baylor

4 PM - Rhode Island at Texas

7 PM Duke vs Michigan State

7 PM Jacksonville St at Cincinnati

7 PM IPFW at Xavier

8 PM Florida at Ohio State

9 PM Kentucky vs Kansas

10 PM Austin Peay at California

College Hoops college hoops tip-off marathon, espn

from the Orlando Sentinel...

Retired Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin has joined ESPN’s Baseball Tonight as an analyst and is scheduled to start in March.

This isn’t the first go-around in television for Barry Larkin. Larkin, a 12-time MLB All-Star, previously worked as a broadcaster for the MLB Network from 2008-10.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to work at ESPN with Karl Ravech, John Kruk and Bobby Valentine, Baseball Tonight and the whole crew," Larkin said. "I've heard a lot of great things about the place and I’m looking forward to being a part of the team."

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MY TAKE: I am going to miss Larkin on MLB Network, which has surpassed Baseball Tonight for having the best game night highlights/analysis. He is rock solid though and should help rejuvenate a Baseball Tonight cast which has not been the same since the company fired Harold Reynolds (now with MLB Network). Going to ESPN will put Larkin in front of more eyeballs and only help his chances of getting voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

MLB cincinnati reds, barry larking, mlb network, espn, baseball tonight, sports tv

Like most of you I am so sick of hearing about LeBron James and the scenarios that I actually miss Ed Werder up Brett Favre’s jock.  Since the final second ticked off the clock on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season as they bowed out ungracefully to Boston in the playoffs ESPN has been wall-to-wall coverage throughout its network.

On Thursday night the network will air a one-hour special at in primetime during which James will make his final decision on where he’ll suit up in 2010 and beyond known to the public.

Really? Is this what sports journalism has become?

The answer is simply yes. In a world where tweets and status updates are more consumed by readers than print newspapers athletes, especially the elite ones, are in control of the story. 

Sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that representatives for James contacted the network, proposing the idea of a dedicated special. The sources said James' representatives requested they be allowed to sell sponsorship for the broadcast, and ESPN agreed.

"Due to the unprecedented attention and interest surrounding LeBron's decision, we have decided to make this announcement on national television," James' business manager, Maverick Carter, said on LebronJames.com. "By doing so we have generated funds that will be given to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. LeBron has a longstanding commitment to giving back to the community, and has worked with the Boys and Girls Clubs in cities across the country."

It is believed that James is down to four teams including the Cavaliers, Bulls, Knicks and the Heat. Miami appears to be the favorite, but at this point it's anybody's guess. ESPN doesn't even know.

The idea of making money for charity is good, but it still amazes me that an athlete can make a TV special out of free agency.  The thing is as sickened as I am by all of this, I must admit that I will be watching along with millions of more.

NBA cleveland cavaliers, espn, lebron james, miami heat, chicago bulls

ESPN personality Chris Berman's contract with the World Wide Leader is set to expire in three months.  Two reports have surfaced linking him to potential openings elsewhere.

According to Sports by Brooks, DirecTV "is in full pursuit of the longtime broadcaster."

Brooks hears that DirecTV approached Berman about a pre- and post-game opportunity involving the Red Zone Channel, which is currently hosted by Andrew Siciliano.

Berman would also work with Dan Patrick on a to-be-launched sports channel.  Patrick is already involved with DirecTV, hosting a radio show that is simulcast on the network's Channel 101.

Meanwhile, The Big Lead reported Monday evening that NFL Network "is putting the full court press" on Berman for an undisclosed opportunity.

COMPLETE ARTILCE (ProFootballTalk.com)

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Surely, you've heard by now that a certain sideline reporter for the four-letter network had her privacy invaded by an unnamed party with a camera pointed through an opening in a hotel where she was staying. Reports from TMZ.com tend to indicate that the voyeur-in-question may have been a co-worker of Erin Andrews at the network and part of the game day crew, allegedly. This was a tasteless act committed without Andrews knowledge or permission that is virtually becoming sensationalized and has blown up every conceivable news outlet there is.

Deadspin blogged about it and posted a link to the footage of Andrews. The 'Spin editor A.J. Daulerio has since apologized, though no one knows if he had his fingers crossed while he did it. Bill O'Reilly played clips of the video in question on his show, live on television. Not a surprise considering the source, but even he should know better. Andrews' employer, ESPN, is trying everything to stop people from seeing this nude video of one of their prized employees, including banning New York Post personalities from their shows. Not a major loss, but if the sports network keeps rooting out those news services that put Andrews' unclothed, blurred out pics online it makes you wonder if they secretly want to keep this story going. Sure they would like for it to go away, yet are drawing more attention and curiosity from its audience just so the network can sweep this unfortunate incident under their rug.

The revealing of sports celebrities or on-air personalities private lives is nothing new in the era of twitter and internet blogging. With that comes some distortion of the truth at time. While most of Bengals receiver Chris Henry's mistakes have been well-documented, I'm sure now all he has to do is look at some over served fan the wrong way and next thing you know he's back to being the old Chris Henry.

What separates this incident from ones involving other visible sports personalties, is that Ms. Andrews is a beautiful, pinup-style sideline reporter who has not herself attracted undue attention from her actions. Andrews has at times seemed to play to the frat-boy, party crowd while doing her job covering sporting events, adding to her popularity and ratings. Besides that she hasn't incriminated herself publicly in anyway.

That her privacy invasion has made this big of a splash in the media so quickly already is another troubling aspect. Within a day if a football star runs over a person, like Donte Stallworth did, it is all over ESPN and all sports outlets. Coverage of his trial is seen and heard until their is an outcome. But this is different. Andrews own body was videotaped in her hotel room without her knowledge. Now this problem is magnified by most mainstream news services and she is being publicly objectified.

Unfortunately, for better or worse this story will go on until they find who did this and Ms. Andrews gets the legal justice she's looking for. It just seems like just because she's a pretty face and her bare self was photographed and splashed on the web, that it's open season on showing those pictures and all news organizations will just follow suit. At this point Deadspin and TMZ are still feeding the fire, when they should've checked themselves to start with. While Deadspin apologized, most other outlets will just keep going saying its news and should be reported. The message sent is that while what happened to Andrews is heinous and deplorable, we as a news organization will show you this and keep objectifying the product, Erin Andrews.  

Look I love football and college football as much as the next red-blooded American male and I am also guilty of viewing Erin Andrews more than just for her sideline reporting skills. But there has to be a point where the pursuit of TV or web ratings has to chill out once a story like this gets out. It's stuff like this that messes up something good. In the future do you want all-male sideline reporters?  Those females who would like to break into the business might think twice from now on.

This could all be some backward publicity stunt hatched by the people at the four-letter network to get better ratings for their football programming involving Andrews in the future. As unlikely as that sounds, it is something to think about in these rough economic times.

The handling of this story could have been better handled by Deadspin, the New York Post, and even ESPN to some degree. The drive for ratings and attention has to have a stopping point. Showing Andrews blurred out body has no real journalistic purpose. Condemning this behavior instead of ingratiating it would have been the better way to go.  

erin andrews, espn, peep hole video, peepgate

One time, long ago, I attended an appearance by local writer/former 700 WLW employee Paul Daugherty as he was promoting his book of past columns.  He made mention that he graduated with the worst degree possible for becoming a sports journalist.

Surprisingly enough, his degree was in journalism.

From listening to national sports talk radio recently (as there is very little local fare remaining), it is very clear that a majority of reporters nationally squawk on daily without the slightest integrity as journalists.

Too often national sports news doesn't surround what is truly newsworthy in the sports world, but rather what they believe is the most interesting angle to the majority of sports fans.  The coverage of the NBA playoffs this year is quite the indicator of today's state of affairs.

To the casual fan, a Lakers/Cavs final would be splendid.  Correction: a Kobe/LeBron final would be splendid.  In fact, if they could find a way to pit 5 Kobes against 5 LeBrons then that would be something, wouldn't it?

Unfortunately, the teams that are playing more like teams, the Nuggets (who are tied in their series) and the Magic (who are winning theirs), are getting very little media love for playing well in the playoffs.  You know, the one time in the NBA schedule when winning actually matters?

Case in point: on today's ESPN Radio Sportscenter, the lead went something like this: "Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough.  The Nuggets beat the Lakers 120-101 to even the series."

Quick note: WHO CARES how many Kobe scored when they got spanked by 19?  It should be an afterthought, not the first item mentioned out the shoot.

"In other news, John Smith is distraught over the loss of his favorite pen.  That pen was one of many casualties in the apartment fire that killed 7 residents."

For the record, the internet counterpart ESPN.com does a better job of telling the story, emphasizing the injured Carmelo Anthony (y'know, the star of the winning team last night) and the efforts of the Nuggets to pick up the slack when Anthony couldn't contribute.

But what came over the radio airwaves is no anomaly, it's the rule.  I've heard more talk about where LeBron's going in 2010 then what the Finals is going to look like if Orlando advances.  Even in that context, it's assumed that Orlando is on their way to winning the series already, but not explicitly mentioned.  LeBron's apparently what people would like to hear about, not the current season's playoffs.

As Michael Vick might say, I don't have a dog in this fight.  (I figured I would throw the Vick reference in to get the casual fan in the door.  Oh, and Brett Favre, too.)

It doesn't matter to me either way who ends up in the Finals, and I believe that likewise, sports journalists should just report.  Orlando is dominating the Eastern Conference finals, and if you were a casual fan, all you would know is that LeBron hit a great game-winning shot in Game 2.  You might even think, if you weren't paying attention, that Cleveland was already in the Finals.

That's where coverage needs to address what's really happening, not viewer's fantasies or the glitzier matchups.  Cover what's happening, not what your marketing department would rather make promos for.

Basketball's not the only sport getting this treatment.  Golf coverage has been vilified for it, and rightly so.  Certainly Tiger's performance in any tournament is newsworthy, as it may be the only recognizable player many know.   But keep the Tiger coverage in the "notable finishes" section, not as the lead.

Beyond the emphasis on the stars of sports, there is a considerable lack of accountability in reporting.  From an overabundance of anonymous sources to straight-up uncorrected errors, it's a wonder the truth ever finds its way out.

Heard recently on those same useless airwaves, and as can be verified here, this wonderful fact:

"Albert Pujols hit his 333rd home run, passing Moises Alou and Bobby Bonds for eighth all-time."

Confusion sets in...eighth all-time?  Really?  Try 88th. In fact, the eighth-place player has 250 more homers than Mr. Pujols.  And was also a Cardinal.

It can be written off as a mistake, but it's an 80-place mistake that was repeated (I heard it again in the newscast later that morning) and hasn't even been corrected on their website five days later.  And even though Albert Pujols did indeed pass Bobby Bonds and Moises Alou for 88th place, it's not newsworthy.  Let's begin talking about it when he hits more significant milestones like 400 or 500.  Until then it's not even worth mentioning.  Unless you really, really like Albert Pujols.

What is worth mentioning is that the Cardinals got a win against a strong division foe (the Cubs) behind a strong performance from Adam Wainwright (5 hits over 8 2/3 innings).  Not what Pujols' mundane place on the career HR list might be.

You might be led to find ESPN's ombudsman to complain, but she is no longer employed by them.  In fact, her parting shot made mention of how the elite teams received a disproportionate amount of coverage.  So, yes, there is a solid basis for those Yankees/Red Sox gripes.

Unfortunately, in this day and age of instantaneous information,  the real story is still not readily available.  It still takes digging into the box score or, heaven forbid, actually watching the games, to find out what's really going on.

espn, media, nba, nba playoffs, brett favre, michael vick, tiger woods, albert pujols, steroids, sensationalism

from the San Francisco Chronicle:

The best all-around NFL analyst over the past two or three years hasn't been John Madden, but Collinsworth. The difference is hard-line criticism. Madden had too much respect for the participants to go that route, but Collinsworth - a skinny kid who won state high-school sprint championships and had a fine career as a Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver - leads with his chin. Nobody likes a smart-aleck trying to make himself the story with outrageous remarks, and Collinsworth won't cross that line. His opinions are sharp, well-considered and guaranteed to trigger conversation.

Collinsworth and Michaels should be spectacularly successful together, and when you add the likes of Bob Costas, Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann in the NBC studio, that network absolutely crushes ESPN's stable of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Tony Kornheiser, Tom Jackson ("a football team that knows how to run the football") and Chris Berman. How do you lose Madden and never break stride? The evidence arrives in September.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

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The four letter network rolls into the 'Nati tonight to see the Cincinnati Bearcats (5-2, 1-1 BIG EAST) take on the No. 23 ranked team in the country, the South Florida Bulls (6-2, 1-2 BIG EAST). Both teams are coming off disappointing losses. UC lost to UCONN this past Saturday, 40-16, while USF suffered a heartbreaking loss to Louisville, 24-20. This is a huge game for both teams with BIG EAST Conference title implications at stake. The team that loses is likely to be out of the hunt for the conference crown, thus taking them out of any shot at a BCS bowl game.

UC has won three of the five meetings between the two teams. They've won three of the last four including coming away with a "W" in each of the last two games they've played USF in Nippert Stadium. UC came away with a victory in Raymond James Stadium last season by a score of 38-33.

The Bearcats come into this game with some questions on the offensive side of the ball. It was thought that season starting quarterback, Dustin Grutza (broken leg), would be back in time for the game against USF. To this point, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Tony Pike (broken arm) came back last week in their game against UCONN but looked rusty and out of sorts. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Chazz Anderson when the second half started. Anderson didn't fare much better against the Huskies. As of right now Pike is a gametime decision. If he is able to go, he will get the starting nod. If he's unable to go, head coach Brian Kelly will turn again to Anderson to see if he can get the job done.

USF doesn't have any worries when it comes to their quarterback situation. Junior Matt Grothe is one of the most underrated players in the country at his position. He's 104 yards away from 2000 yards passing this season. He's thrown 14 TDs and only five interceptions and he's ran in three scores as well. He plays a tough, gritty style of game. One minute he'll throw the ball deep down field, the next he'll take off running and isn't afraid to take a hit from defenders. If the Bearcats want to come out of this game with a win, they're going to have to stop Grothe from beating them. If they can keep him in check and get him rattled and keep him from hitting his two primary targets in senior wideout Taurus Johnson and junior Jessie Hester.

Odds are UC cornerback Mike Mickens will be responsible for keeping Johnson from making any big plays. Mickens needs just one interception to break the all-time career mark at UC with 13. In addition to Mickens, another player on the defensive side of the ball that USF will have to keep tabs on is Conner Barwin. He leads the BIG EAST with seven sacks and is ranked 10th nationally. He's also blocked a few punts this season which makes him dangerous on special teams as well.

The Bearcats face a tough task tonight. Not only will they have to find a way to stop Grothe, but they will also have to find a way to move the ball on the ground against the eighth ranked rushing defense in the country. The USF defense is only allowing 81.5 yards rushing per game this season. Last week the Bearcats only ran the ball SEVEN times, something they cannot afford to do again this week. They need to attempt to establish the ground game with Jacob Ramsey and John Goebel in order to buy time for either Pike or Anderson or whomever may be taking the snaps.

The game starts down at Nippert Stadium at 7:30 tonight. Coach Kelly is asking for a BLACKOUT on the eve of Halloween. He wants every fan coming down to the game to wear black. UC even had a special shirt made up just for this game that could be purchased on campus. The question is, how many people will really be wearing black tonight? "There's nothing like a night game in Nippert Stadium," Kelly says. "Having 35,000 Bearcats fans in our house and dressed in black will make a statement to the nation that UC football is a force."

For a nationally televised game, hopefully everyone heading down will adhere to Kelly's wishes and COME EARLY! BE LOUD! WEAR BLACK!

College Football cincinnati, bearcats, south florida, dustin grutza, tony pike, chazz anderson, brian kelly, matt grothe, taurus johnson, jessie hester, mike mickens, conner barwin, jacob ramsey, john goebel, espn