Thursday’s Leftover Press Releases

Here are the releases that are still lingering in the Fang’s Bites inbox and need to be cleared before I go to bed. So let’s get busy and wind down for bed.

Starting with WEEI in Boston, I finally get a press release announcing “The Five” hosted by my new best friend, Kristine Leahy on WEEI.com. I’ve only been linking to this all week. Well, it’s about time corporate got around to promoting it (that’s a joke, btw…. WEEI’s PR firm tends to be without humor).

WEEI.com Showcases the Day’s Top Stories

in a Fun, Unique Video Segment Called “The Five”

WEEI.com newcomer Kristine Leahy hosts the new daily feature that highlights

the web site’s top stories and features, while providing easy access for site visitors

BOSTON (July 16, 2009) – WEEI.com has launched a new daily video feature that runs down the top stories and features on the web site entitled “The Five.” Each day on The Five, new WEEI.com personality Kristine Leahy will count down the site’s latest content, while providing direct links adjacent to the video.

The Five showcases WEEI.com’s top five new stories and features each day in a fun, light format featuring Leahy’s commentary. WEEI.com visitors can easily access links to the highlighted stories by navigating to the right of the video player and clicking the corresponding number. The Five can be accessed on the rotating scroll on the WEEI.com home page or by visiting WEEI.com/Five.

“The Five is a great way for us to organize and distribute the freshest content on WEEI.com,” WEEI.com Site Editor Rob Bradford said. “The Five is a convenient way for WEEI.com visitors to quickly access all the top stories every day and get a sneak preview before clicking. Kristine Leahy brings an upbeat and youthful energy to the feature that Boston sports fans are going to love.”

Leahy is a graduate of Boston University College of Communication, earning her B.A. in Journalism. At Boston University she hosted Offsides, BU Television’s sports talk show. Leahy also has experience in television at WFXT-TV in Boston and CBS2-KCAL9 in Los Angeles.

The Five is the latest component of the continued growth at WEEI.com. The web site of the nation’s top-rated sports radio station has more than doubled in size since announcing its re-launch and hiring Bradford as site editor in August 2008. In June 2009 WEEI.com drew more than 517,000 unique visitors, a 143% growth over the last year.

For more information on The Five, log onto WEEI.com/Five.

Next, NBC Sports received some rare primetime Emmy Award nominations for its airing of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games in Communist China as well as the Super Bowl XLIII halftime show featuring Bruce Springsteen.

NBC SPORTS RECEIVES 8 PRIMETIME EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

Opening Ceremony of the XXIX Olympiad Nominated in Four Categories, Including Outstanding Special Class Program

NEW YORK – July 16, 2009 – NBC Sports has been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, four for its coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, including in the category of Outstanding Special Class Program. The nominations were announced Thursday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles. 

The Primetime Emmy Award nominations for NBC Sports' coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games are:

• Outstanding Directing for A Variety, Music or Comedy Special
• Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For a Miniseries, Movie or Special
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special
• Outstanding Special Class Program

NBC Sports'
 coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the most-watched event in television history with 215 million viewers, won six Sports Emmy Awards including Outstanding Live Event Turnaround, in April.  

NBC, along with White Cherry Entertainment in association with Don Mischer Productions, also was nominated in four categories for the Bruce Springsteen Super Bowl Halftime Show in the following categories:

• Outstanding Directing for A Variety, Music or Comedy Special
• Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For a Miniseries, Movie or Special
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special
• Outstanding Special Class – Short Format, Live-Action Entertainment Program

NBC earned a total of 67 nominations, ranking the Peacock as the top-nominated broadcast network.

Next week, it’ll be Kenny Mayne’s turn to offer essays during ESPN’s Fan Feast. Mike Greenberg has been offering them this week.

Kenny Mayne’s SportsCenter “Fan Feast” Essays Debut July 20

SportsCenter and ESPN.com’s four-week, fan-based celebration of the top sporting events to experience as a participant and to watch continues Monday, July 20, through Friday, July 24, with daily essays by Kenny Mayne, host of ESPN.com’s Mayne Street, on his top five events to see. The essays, one each day, will debut on SportsCenter at 9 a.m. ET and will be repeated on all editions of the program.

SportsCenter “Fan Feast” combines online (ESPN.com) submissions of 50-word essays by fans proposing their favorite sporting event to attend and favorite sporting event to participate in. On Monday, July 20, a panel of ESPN.com editorial staff will post the top 10 essays submitted by fans in each category on their best sporting event to play. The series will culminate in two winners – one for each category – to be announced the week of July 27 on SportsCenter at 6 p.m. Highlights of Mayne’s essays:

Monday, July 20: Attend a Title Fight in Vegas

“Same day a title fight is announced: Get your flights, get your rooms, get your tickets … There’s nothing like being there. There’s an electricity on site that just doesn’t translate through your cable box … Whether you get halfway close or star gaze with binoculars from the rafters….you’re there…you’re in the same room with Denzel, Jack and not unattractive women.

“It builds and builds … The guy coming to the ring is either your fighter, or their fighter. This is war, man. You gotta take sides. They enter the ring. They stare each other down. They ignore the ref’s instructions. They want to attack…but not until Michael Buffer — Hold on. I think it’s copyrighted … And when they go at it, it’s like you feel every punch when your man is being pummeled. And you’re throwing haymakers from your seat when your man is on the attack … It’s one man defending himself against another … And you’re there to see your man rise…or fall.”

Tuesday, July 21: Travel to a World Cup Game
“I mean my favorite is still our tackle football, but you gotta go with the world flow. You need to make the journey to a World Cup game. South Africa this next time, and no matter where it’s held, the whole world shows up. A missed goal, with all the action involved in the set up to the chance is more exciting than a lame one yard touchdown run in our football.

“The other countries had like a 300 year head start on us. But we’re getting there. Our soccer people are doing their damndest to give us something to root for. In the meantime, the spectacle is there for us to be a part of, to learn from even. Maybe one day our country will send fans who do something better than the wave.”

Wednesday, July 22: Visit Royal Ascot Racecourse

“It’s called ‘Ascot’ all the time. But when the queen shows up, it’s then referred to as “Royal.” And that’s been going on since 1711 … Breeders’ Cup would be my runner-up for a must-go horse event. But this place is something to behold. I’m not much for convention but there’s no going against the grain at Ascot. A suit at minimum, top hat and tails if you don’t want the queen looking at you sideways.

“I’d seen nothing like it before and nothing like it since. A day at Ascot is a day of make believe – except for the Queen. She remains Queen. But for the rest of us, it’s a chance to play dress-up, to feel a part of something with perfect structure, to be in a place where the past and present blend together perfectly, poetically.”

Thursday, July 23: Experience the Men’s 100M finals

“Guys…I need your attention. But only for ten seconds. Not even a full ten seconds … This is the biggest deal there is. Fastest man in the world … The fastest known men gather every four years at the Olympics. They weed out the relatively slow ones, and eight of ’em line up for the greatest (just under) ten seconds in sports.

“And it’s not just the finals race, it’s everything leading to it … They gather in the blocks, take their final stretch, and when the starter calls them to a set position, time stands still. Which is almost what the best of them are able to do once the running begins … Say, every four years, I want to know who the fastest man in the world is. There’s no other title quite like it.”

Friday July 24: Watch a Children’s Game

“The best entertainment, and the thing closest to the spirit of any sport can be found at any children’s game. Disregard the handful of pushy parents and coaches who think they’re the second coming of Vince Lombardi. Concentrate on the kids. You used to be one. Remember how it felt when you got your new glove? When someone gave you a football for Christmas? It was so simple then. You needed a ball and a friend. With more friends you had a bigger game. Wiffle ball all day, every day.

“There is a window of opportunity for everyone to play, to be a part, to go unjudged, to just play. Go watch. It’s free and it’s a break from all the rest that’s made us cynical. No talk radio’s gonna bring ’em down. They’re playing their games. They’re getting their ice cream. They’re throwing their uniforms down from the bath so mom can get them ready for the next time they go to play.”

And ESPN will offer extensive coverage of the World Football Challenge. Take a look at what that means.

ESPN and ESPN2’s 2009 World Football Challenge Television Schedule and Commentators

All Matches in High Definition; Coverage on ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com will combine to present live coverage of all six matches of the inaugural World Football Challenge, a six-city round-robin tournament in the U.S. July 19 – 26 featuring four of the best club soccer teams in the world – Chelsea FC, AC Milan, FC Internazionale Milano and Club America. All the matches will be available in high definition.

The series will kick off Sunday, July 19, with Mexican Primera Division’s Club America vs. Italian Serie A champions Inter Milan live from Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., at 7 p.m. ET. The Challenge will conclude Sunday, July 26 with an ESPN2 doubleheader – AC Milan vs. Inter Milan, in a first Milan derby to be played outside of Italy, from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., at 5 p.m., and Chelsea vs. America from Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at 7 p.m.

The World Football Challenge gives soccer fans in the United States the opportunity to experience global soccer superstars such as Chelsea’s John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack; AC Milan’s Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf; Inter Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Javier Zannetti, and Douglas Maicon; and Club America’s Pavel Pardo, Guillermo Ochoa and Salvador Cabañas.

Additional highlights:

• ESPN Deportes: live, on-site presentation of its critically-acclaimed studio program Futbol Picante and SportsCenter segments from the state-of-the-art Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, surrounding the Chelsea vs. America match (July 26),
• ESPN.com: pre-tournament preview and post-tourney wrap, fixture previews and post-match sidebars and stories, live gamecast and commentary, and photo gallery, and
• ESPNDeportes.com: match previews and post-match stories, interviews with players, and video highlights.

ESPN’s World Football Challenge Commentators

Two commentator teams will call the matches. ESPN’s lead commentator team for U.S. Men’s National Team and Major League Soccer telecasts, JP Dellacamera (play-by-play) with analyst John Harkes, and play by-play commentators Derek Rae with Adrian Healey and Alexi Lalas, former U.S. National Team defender. ESPN Deportes SportsCenter anchor and seasoned bi-lingual sideline reporter Fernando Palomo will work matches featuring Club America.

Bios:

• Dellacamera – has worked six straight FIFA World Cups as a play-by-play commentator…the lead voice for U.S. National Teams (men’s and women’s) and MLS telecasts on ESPN and ABC;
• Harkes – former U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team captain who made his ESPN debut during 2006 FIFA World Cup, is the lead game analyst for U.S. Men’s National Team and MLS matches on ESPN and ABC;
• Healey – play-by-play for Euro 2008 title match…also calls UEFA Champions League matches for ESPN International;
• Lalas – former U.S. Men’s National Team defender is ESPN studio analyst for soccer…joined the network after successful career as a professional and team manager in MLS;
• Palomo – ESPN Deportes SportsCenter anchor has covered many marquee sports events including the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan…works select U.S. National Team and MLS matches providing English and Spanish-lan
  guage reporting from the sidelines,
• Derek Rae – has called ESPN’s English-language UEFA Champions League Final for the past eight years…lead play-by-play commentator for ESPN International.

2009 World Football Challenge Commentators Schedule

Subject to change

Date	Time (ET)	Networks	Match	Site
Su 7/19	7 p.m.	E2/360/ED	Club America vs. Inter Milan JP Dellacamera, John Harkes and Fernando Palomo	Palo Alto, Calif.
Tu 7/21	11 p.m.	E2/360/ED	Chelsea FC vs. Inter Milan Dellacamera and Harkes	Pasadena, Calif.
We 7/22	7 p.m.	E2/360/ED	AC Milan vs. Club America Derek Rae, Alexi Lalas and Palomo	Atlanta, Ga.
Fr 7/24	8 p.m.	E1/360/ED	AC Milan vs. Chelsea FC Adrian Healey and Lalas	Baltimore, Md.
Su 7/26	5 p.m.	E2/360/ED	AC Milan vs. Inter Milan Dellacamera and Harkes	Foxboro, Mass.
	7 p.m.	E2/360/ED	Chelsea vs. Club America Healey, Lalas and Palomo	Arlington, Texas

E1 – ESPN E2 – ESPN2 360 – ESPN360.com ED – ESPN Deportes

That’s going to do it. Good night.