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The thrill of live sports comes from the awareness that any moment could become legendary. And for the people producing live sports on television, that means the spotlight is brightest in the big spots. The lesson was unfortunately driven home last weekend at Augusta National, as the CBS Sports production crew got stuck with a…
NFL reporter Dianna Russini resigned from The Athletic on Tuesday, a little less than a week after Page Six published photos of her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at a resort in Arizona. The photos led to an internal investigation by the New York Times-owned sports outlet, during which Russini was pulled from…
While much of the attention surrounding the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel controversy has focused on the potentially salacious details of their relationship, many in sports media see it as a prime example of how modern sports reporting has lost its way. It’s certainly no secret that reporters, especially insiders, have strong relationships with players, coaches, executives,…
Joe Buck’s rise to fame as an announcer came in tandem with the rise of the internet and social media. So as he was learning the ropes and making mistakes on the biggest stages in broadcasting, he was, for a time, the poster boy for criticism and discourse. From the way he called his beloved…
The NFL is preparing to ratchet up negotiations with television and streaming partners ahead of its plan to opt out of its current broadcast deals and collect an additional several billion dollars in rights fees. But while CBS and Fox have been at the center of a swirling storm that now involves public pressure from…
This originally appeared in Tuesday morning’s edition of The A Block, Awful Announcing’s daily newsletter with the latest sports media news, commentary, and analysis. Sign up here and be the first to know everything going on in the sports media world. Destiny Betts was 22 years old and in Miami for spring break when she got…
The long slog to get YouTube TV subscribers authenticated for ESPN Unlimited continues, and they will now miss WWE’s flagship event, WrestleMania. YouTube TV subscribers reportedly will not gain authentication access in time for WrestleMania 42 this weekend, which will air exclusively on the Unlimited tier of ESPN’s new app, according to a report by…
Sometime on the evening of Dec. 24, Jeff Passan sat down and typed a long email to a man whose face he had never seen. The email went to Richard Staff, the presiding eccentric of Staffcast, a baseball podcast so constitutionally, almost militantly weird that its episode descriptions read like dispatches from a parallel universe…
Golf prides itself on being a gentleman’s game. Players are supposed to call penalties on themselves. Proper etiquette reigns supreme. That’s why it’s a shock to hear real shots being fired in the golf world. And that’s what makes NBC golf analyst Kevin Kisner going scorched earth on CBS’s 2026 Masters coverage truly astonishing. When…
Legendary Toronto Maple Leafs radio broadcaster Joe Bowen announced last June that this NHL season would be his final one behind the mic. Bowen has been the radio voice of the Maple Leafs for 44 years. Monday night brought Bowen’s final home radio broadcast in Toronto, and it was an emotional evening for everyone at…
After six seasons with the Sacramento Kings, Kyle Draper is leaving his role as play-by-play announcer. Draper tag-teamed the role with longtime ESPN announcer Mark Jones, calling plenty of games while Jones was on national duty. However, last week Jones announced his own departure from ESPN after serving the WorldWide Leader in Sports for the…
As a former NFL reporter, Skip Bayless believes the photos of Dianna Russini and Mike Vrabel exposes a larger industry issue. Last week, Page Six published photos of Russini, a senior NFL insider for The Athletic, poolside at an adults-only hotel with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Russini and Vrabel immediately issued strong…
There will never be another like Jerry West again. West was a singular figure in sports history. He was so iconic that his silhouette inspired the NBA’s logo. As great a basketball player as he was, he was an even better basketball executive. He was the first three-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of…
A year after departing from Meadowlark Media, prolific sports columnist and author Howard Bryant has signed a documentary development deal with All the Smoke Productions. The partnership is a “multi-project unscripted development deal” between ATS Productions and Bryant’s production company, Hawley Road. Bryant most recently served as an executive producer on the Sports Emmy-winning Netflix series…
All Times Eastern Bundesliga Bundesliga Special #18- The Legacy of Manuel Neuer — ESPN+, 5:30 p.m. College Baseball Creighton at Nebraska — Big Ten Network/Fox One, 7 p.m. Cal-Santa Barbara at UCLA — Big Ten Network/Fox One, 10 p.m. College Basketball The Hoops HQ Show — Fubo Sports Network, 11 a.m. ACC Network Basketball Podcast…
Dave McGinnis, a longtime radio analyst for the Tennessee Titans and former NFL head coach, passed away on Monday in Nashville. He was 74. The Titans announced the news on social media. We extend our deepest condolences to the family of Dave “Coach Mac” McGinnis, who passed away Monday afternoon in Nashville with family at…
The Pittsburgh Pirates played a weekend series at one of the great shrines in sports, Wrigley Field. And it was the perfect baseball setting for the Pirates broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh to make a beautiful recreation of the Masters intro ahead of the prestigious golf tournament’s final-round action on Sunday. Pirates play-by-play announcer Greg Brown…
For pro wrestling fans unhappy with the current angle involving Pat McAfee’s insertion into the WrestleMania 42 main event storyline, it’s good to remember it always could have been worse. ESPN’s First Take dedicated a segment to discussing this weekend’s WrestleMania 42. As part of that discussion, Stephen A. Smith seemed to admit that he…
Last Tuesday, Page Six published a series of photographs showing New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and The Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini, both of whom are married to other people, hugging, holding hands, and lounging side by side at a pool several weeks ago at the Ambiente, an adult-only resort in Sedona, Arizona.…
As the status of NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and his placement on the NFL reporter depth chart under the ESPN umbrella lingers unresolved, Adam Schefter has offered a response. Rapoport’s contract will expire at the end of April, though ESPN has signaled its intention to keep him after taking over the NFL Network. The Worldwide…
Meghan McPeak’s time as a Washington Wizards sideline reporter for Monumental Sports Network came to an end this weekend, but the NBA team’s players didn’t want her to leave without a little appreciation. McPeak, who called games for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the G League’s Capital City Go-Go before taking on the role with…
As Doc Rivers departs the Milwaukee Bucks following a tumultuous fifth stint as an NBA head coach, his former employer is in dire need of some help on its NBA commentary bench. ESPN just lost Michael Malone to North Carolina, leaving a hole in its No. 3 broadcast team on the eve of the postseason…
Dick Vitale announced Monday that a recent biopsy revealed that he has melanoma, a form of skin cancer, in his lungs and liver. The 86-year-old college basketball announcing icon says he will start immunotherapy soon. ESPN shared the announcement on Vitale’s behalf. Sharing a health update on behalf of @DickieV Your ESPN family is with…
Rory McIlroy won his second consecutive Masters title on Sunday as he defeated Scottie Scheffler by a single stroke. With the biggest stars in the golfing world and millions of viewers at home tuned in, it was the biggest sports story of the day by far. So it was only natural that ESPN’s First Take,…
