More Friday Stuff

As I enjoy listening to 1st Wave on Sirius.com, time to give you some media columns from across the country. Let’s go from East to West shall we?

First, from the New York Times, Richard Sandomir profiles the Voice of HBO Sports documentaries, the smooth Liev Schreiber who has narrated more than 30 for the pay cable network. Over to the Times’ crosstown rival, the New York Daily News where Bob Raissman has some harsh words for HBO. Not for their documentaries, but for not coming to terms with long-time boxing analyst Larry Merchant. There are rumors abound that HBO wants to replace Merchant with charlatan Max Kellerman. While Larry may have lost a bit on his fastball over the years, he has forgotten more boxing than Kellerman will ever know. Does anyone remember, I Max on Fox Sports Net? I didn’t think so.

The New York Post has a plethora of media stories on Fridays. Pat Reichart has three stories. First has him asking 5 questions to Jim Lampley about the Floyd Mayerweather-Oscar De La Hoya fight tomorrow. The second story is more of a general media column, but the main focus is on Mike & Mike of ESPN Radio gaining momentum in NYC. Reichart’s third story deals with the Kentucky Derby, also this Saturday. Gary Stevens is doing work for NBC this weekend and Reichart asks him what to watch for in this year’s edition of the Run for the Roses.

Newsday’s Neil Best asks if the sales for the De La Hoya-Mayerweather PPV bout will match the hype.

Jim Williams of the Baltimore Examiner usually has good stuff in his columns. He’s one writer who has actually worked in TV so he knows of what he speaks. Williams writes about the NBC documentary on Barbaro who passed away last year. Some skeptics wonder what the fuss was all about when Barbaro died, but to many who follow the horses, he was something special. He also has a preview of what NBC has in store for viewers for the Derby including a Red Carpet show. Whatever. Finally, Williams also has a story on Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder wanting to increase the signal on his radio stations.

Susan Bickelhaupt of the Boston Globe also has a story on NBC’s coverage of Saturday’s Derby.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune gives his picks for weekend viewing.

Down to Texas and the Houston Chronicle, David Barron has a breakdown of the ratings for the Houston sports radio stations from the Winter Arbitron book.

Out west, Larry Stewart of the LA Times also wonders with Newsday’s Neil Best if the action in the De La Hoya-Mayerweather fight can match the hype. And Stewart has his news and notes column which includes a preview of the Derby on NBC.

And from Toronto, Chris Zelkovich of the Star writes about the innovation to put a small camera in the net for hockey telecasts. As puckheads will tell you, that innovation along with the overhead cameras at the goal line have done nothing but to enhance the broadcasts as well as give officials an extra tool to determine goals. I haven’t thought about it, but Zelkovich notes that the netcam first made its appearance in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Can’t believe it’s been 13 years since its inception.

If there’s anything to add, I’ll update the blog, but that appears to be it for now.