Let’s give you a few more links before I head out of here for the Labor Day weekend.
See this? Get ready to see a new NFL shield starting next year. The league offices have decided to streamline the NFL logo. USA Today’s Michael McCarthy writes that the new logo will be unveiled at the NFL Draft in April and is the first redesign in 27 years. Notice how the number of stars is reduced and the football now resembles the top of the Vince Lomardi trophy. Right now, I don’t like it, but perhaps I will down the road.
Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram outs ESPN for something I was about to discuss this weekend. If you watched the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s coverage of the FIBA Americas Tournament in Las Vegas this week, you may have noticed you never see John Saunders and Bill Walton, they’re always off camera especially in the opening of the telecasts. There’s good reason for that. They’re not in Las Vegas. They’re doing the games from Bristol, CT. I noticed that last week, Saunders called a game with Walton on Saturday and then hosted “The Sports Reporters” on Sunday from the ESPNZone in New York as usual. I thought to myself, “Did Saunders take a red eye from Vegas or did he call that game from Bristol? He looks good for someone who would have to fly from Vegas to New York.” I was looking for clues, but this article by Hubbard pretty much nails it as he went to Vegas to cover the tournament, but also correct something Saunders and Walton said during a broadcast, but discovered they weren’t there. This isn’t new. ESPN did this during the FIBA World Championships in China last year, doing the games from the studio and not sending announcers. ESPN also did this with two of its announcing teams during the FIFA World Cup as well. If ESPN is going to do this, it should say the announcers are watching the games just like us, off the television and not at the event.
Also from the Star-Telegram, Ray Buck talks with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit about the impact Texas and Oklahoma will have on the college football rankings.
Like David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch, Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter went to ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, CT on Thursday. ESPN execs said they would be taking a pass on scripted material and spend more time on live sporting events. Good, I say. It appears that “The Bronx is Burning” is the last scripted event on ESPN for a while.
TV Week gives you the full breakdown of the ratings from last weekend’s sporting events. And in his Pressbox blog, TV Week’s Chris Pursell talks with ESPN’s Sal Masekela.
Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post writes that the NHL’s Washington Capitals are moving radio stations from the Team 980 to 3WT.
Brandon Griggs of the Salt Lake Tribune writes about the city’s sports radio wars.
For those of you who have Sirius Satellite Radio (like me), you can plan out your college football weekend with the link to the schedule.
That’s it for now. Viewing Picks coming up later.
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