Behind the Mic: Scully Set to Call it a Career; Jimmy Rollins Joins MLB on TBS
Story Highlights
Vin Scully, widely regarded as the greatest broadcaster in baseball history, will call the final game of his 67th and last season as the voice of the Dodgers in San Francisco on Oct. 2. Scully will call his last game call from Dodger Stadium when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Colorado Rockies this Sunday, September 25 at 4:00 p.m. ET. MLB Network will simulcast SportsNet LA’s production of the game. KTLA (Channel 5) is also airing Scully’s final six regular-season games (simulcast from the Dodgers’ SportsNet LA channel).
Scully said last week he would not call the Dodgers’ playoff games on radio, as he had in previous years and would “probably not” attend the World Series should the Dodgers advance, according to the L.A. Times…
…Jimmy Rollins, the 2007 NL MVP and 2008 World Series Champion, has joined Turner Sports as a studio analyst for MLB on TBS coverage leading up to and throughout the 2016 MLB Postseason. Rollins will team with 2015 Hall of Fame inductee Pedro Martinez and nine-time MLB All-Star Gary Sheffield as studio analysts alongside host Casey Stern for pre- and post-game shows on TBS, the exclusive home of the American League throughout the MLB Postseason. The TBS studio team will also provide pre-game coverage for the final two Sunday MLB on TBS regular season telecasts (Sept. 25 and Oct. 2)…
…Sage Steele will become the lead host for ESPN’s expanded SportsCenter on the Road initiative as part of a multi-year contract extension and larger on-air role with the company. SportsCenter on the Road powered by Ford, which brings ESPN’s signature news and information program out of the studio and to sports events, will add more locations to its schedule over the next year. The initiative, which includes traveling anchors, crew and a set to events, began in early 2015 and has originated SportsCenter programs from more than 30 locations.
Steele will debut in her new role next month during the MLB postseason, including at the World Series, and her SportsCenter on the Road schedule also will see her anchoring programs from events such as the NBA Finals, Super Bowl, NFL Draft, NCAA Men’s Final Four, College Football Playoff National Championship game, the Masters and more.
Steele will continue to serve as the host of the weekend editions of NBA Countdown, preceding NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC – the national NBA game of the week – and the popular ABC NBA Sunday Showcase series.
…In addition to Steel’s new role, ESPN has expanded the roles of Michelle Beadle and Doris Burke.
Michelle Beadle will join ESPN’s NBA Countdown – the company’s NBA pre-game show – as the host on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the season, beginning with NBA preseason coverage this October. Beadle has guest-hosted NBA Countdown previously. The avid NBA fan and popular ESPN commentator will continue her position as co-host for SportsNation – the daily, fan-driven commentary program. Weeknight editions of NBA Countdown will expand to one-hour shows and air Wednesdays and Fridays on ESPN, preceding NBA doubleheaders.
Doris Burke will expand her role as an NBA and men’s and women’s college basketball game analyst this season. Burke, who is recognized as one of the industry’s most respected and knowledgeable basketball commentators, will be a regular ESPN NBA game analyst, while increasing her men’s and women’s college basketball analyst assignments as well. Burke will also continue to serve as an NBA sideline reporter and analyst for the NCAA Women’s Final Four. More details on Burke’s new role will be available in the coming weeks…
…Longtime announcer Brent Musburger has been selected to receive the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting. Musburger’s 40-year plus career has taken him to CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN Radio and the SEC Network. With one of the most recognizable voices in sports television, Musburger has worked The NFL Today, the Final Four, tennis’ U.S. Open, the NBA, the Masters and the Little League World Series. The award is presented by Fordham University’s WFUV radio station. It is named for broadcast Hall of Famer Scully, a Fordham graduate in his 67th and final year as voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Musburger is a host and play-by-play commentator for several sports on ESPN and the SEC Network. Last year’s recipient was Mike “Doc” Emrick. The award will be presented on Nov. 9…
…Former All-Pro wide receiver with the Indianapolis Colts, Reggie Wayne, has joined NFL Network. Wayne will appear as an analyst on various NFL Network shows, including NFL Total Access every Monday following Monday Night Football, as well as Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00 PM ET.
A six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and Super Bowl champion, Wayne played 15 seasons and amassed 14,345 career receiving yards and 82 career touchdown receptions. A first-round pick in 2001, Wayne spent his entire career with the Colts and became one of the most recognizable players in the history of the franchise. A New Orleans native, Wayne attended the University of Miami where he was a four-year starter for the Hurricanes and was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2011…
…NFL front-office veteran Michael Lombardi has joined FOX Sports as a guest analyst and contributor on FS1 studio shows SKIP AND SHANNON: UNDISPUTED, THE HERD WITH COLIN COWHERD and SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, in addition to making appearances on the Sunday morning FOX NFL KICKOFF (11:00 AM ET) pregame show on the FOX broadcast network.
Lombardi began his career with the San Francisco 49ers organization in 1984, and spent time with the 49ers (1984-86), Browns (1987-95 and the team’s General Manager in 2013), Philadelphia Eagles (1997-98), Oakland Raiders (1999-2007) and New England Patriots (2014-15) during his career, earning Super Bowl rings with San Francisco (1985) and New England (2014-2015). No stranger to sports media, Lombardi made his initial foray into broadcasting in 1998 as an editorial consultant and segment host on CBS’ Sunday pregame show, “The NFL Today.” In 2008, he landed as an on-air contributor for NFL Network and in 2010, added the responsibility of writing columns for NFL.com, duties he performed until 2012. Lombardi has also appeared on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL” and contributed writing to Sports Illustrated’s digital platform and the National Football Post…
…Earlier this month, ESPN reached a multi-year agreement with Keyshawn Johnson that includes a multi-faceted new role on television and ESPN Radio. The Super Bowl champion wide receiver will work as a Los Angeles-based NFL analyst and become a regular daily host for ESPNLA 710 AM, ESPN’s owned radio station in Los Angeles. In his NFL analyst role, Johnson will make regular appearances on SportsCenter and ESPN’s NFL shows from the company’s Los Angeles Production Center. He will also contribute features to Sunday NFL Countdown. Details on his ESPNLA host role will be announced in the coming weeks.
Johnson, who joined ESPN in 2007, has been a NFL analyst on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown in Bristol since he retired from pro football. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft and a member of the Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Johnson played 11 NFL seasons for the New York Jets, Bucs, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers…
…Yahoo Sports has added Super Bowl Champion and 12-year NFL veteran Tony “Goose” Siragusa to its NFL studios team. Siragusa, who recently split with Fox Sports, will offer viewers unique insight and analysis from a pro’s perspective and a broadcaster who’s covered the league for over 13 years. Filming from the Yahoo Studios in NY, Siragusa will host the recurring weekly series, “In the Trenches” which will offer a collection of untold stories, irreverent takes on the NFL’s unwritten rules and rituals, feature videos, premiere interviews, and strong takes on the major issues facing the league and its players. In this personality driven series, Goose will regularly pull back the curtain on the topics that shape the NFL landscape…
…Jeff Darlington, an award-winning journalist who has covered the NFL and other sports since 2004, joined ESPN on Sept. 1 in a reporting role that will include SportsCenter and multiple ESPN platforms. Darlington’s responsibilities also will include general assignment reporting on all sports, along with long-form enterprise and feature storytelling for multiple platforms. For the past four years, Darlington was a national field reporter for the NFL Network, covering many of the NFL’s biggest stories from stadiums and team facilities and regularly appearing on the network’s Sunday morning preview show. He transitioned to the TV role from NFL.com, where he was a national reporter in 2011. Darlington was Miami Dolphins beat reporter for the Miami Herald from 2006-2011…
…120 Sports has named Michael Kim and Alexa Datt as its leading talent team for the newly relocated ‘Morning Run,’ the live-produced, national sports show that combines game highlight video, live guests and social interaction in a quick and easy format. Kim and Datt will co-host the daily show from 8-11 a.m. (EST) from its new location at the Major League Baseball Advanced Media studios in Manhattan’s Chelsea Market.
Kim, who is an original 120 Sports host dating back to its launch in June 2014, moves with The Morning Run from Chicago to New York. Prior to his move to 120 Sports, Kim spent more than 17 years at ESPN. In addition to his duties as an anchor on Sportscenter, the network’s flagship news show, Kim was one of the lead anchors on ESPNews and Sportscenter on ESPN America. The newest addition to 120 Sports is Alexa Datt, a rising star in sports reporting. Datt serves as the full time in-stadium host at Citi Field for the Mets as well as the Mets preseason sideline reporter for SportsNet NY. Datt has worked as a sideline reporter across many sports for the past seven years and has guest hosted for Bleacher Report and appeared on the Players Tribune radio show on Sirius XM. Most recently, Datt started the widely popular “Datt’s What She Said” podcast, a mix of sports talk, comedy and exclusive interviews that has featured such stars as Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Katie Nolan, Jim Lampley and Victor Cruz…
…Veteran baseball journalist Sam Miller is set to join ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine as a national baseball columnist and feature writer beginning Oct. 2. Miller is a New York Times bestselling author and an accomplished baseball writer and editor. Since 2014, Miller has been editor-in-chief of the widely-acclaimed Baseball Prospectus website. He has also covered the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the Orange County Register as a beat writer…
…DeMarcus Ware is now hosting a new NFL Media digital series, Talk NOW with DeMarcus Ware. The Super Bowl champion linebacker for the Denver Broncos and nine-time Pro Bowler airs each week during the 2016 NFL season on NFL Now. Talk NOW is a weekly talk show in which DeMarcus will talk with current players from around the league, as well as individuals who have a unique impact on his life and his in-season routine. In addition to airing on NFL Now during the season, Talk NOW will also be distributed on the NFL’s various digital, social and network platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Every episode of Talk NOW will be available on-demand on the NFL’s YouTube page, and clips from episodes will air on various NFL Network studio shows…
…Comcast SportsNet Chicago has brought on Bears legend/eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker BRIAN URLACHER and former Bears defensive end standout ALEX BROWN as part of the network’s Bears programming for the 2016 NFL season. Urlacher, who spent all 13 seasons of his storied career in a Bears uniform, which earned him numerous honors including NFC Defensive Player of the Year and eight Pro Bowl nods, will be featured in a brand new weekly Bears show this season entitled The Hard Count with Brian Urlacher, presented by RESTORE airing Thursday nights at 10:30 PM. Urlacher will be joined by host Mark Schanowski and fellow analysts, former Bears quarterback Jim Miller and former Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt, to discuss the team’s next game and break down the match-up from a defensive, offensive, and head coaching standpoint.
Brown, who spent eight of his nine NFL seasons with the Bears amassing a career total of 45.5 sacks, joins CSN’s signature Bears game day coverage as a studio analyst on BEARS PREGAME LIVE presented by Meijer and BEARS POSTGAME LIVE presented by State Farm…
