Behind the Mic: CBS’s Dan Dierdorf to Retire After NFL Season; Mark DeRosa Joins MLB Network

Dan Dierdorf, the longest-tenured NFL analyst on television, has announced that he will retire following this season. Currently play-by-play man Greg Gumbel’s partner for CBS’s NFL coverage, Dierdorf has spent the past 30 years as an NFL broadcaster following a 13-year playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Dierdorf began his NFL broadcasting career in 1984 as a color analyst for KMOX’s Radio coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals and NFL games for CBS Radio Network. He was a play-by-play announcer for THE NFL ON CBS broadcasts in 1985 before switching to color analysis in 1986.  In 1987 Dierdorf joined ABC Sports’ Monday Night Football for 12 years, before returning to CBS Sports in 1999. Dierdorf was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was the 2008 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award for “long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”  He joins Frank Gifford, John Madden and Len Dawson as the only members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to also have won the Rozelle Award…

…After a 16-year MLB career, Mark DeRosa has joined MLB Networks’ roster of on-air talent as a studio analyst. DeRosa, who served as a guest analyst on MLB Network during the 2013 and 2011 Postseasons, will appear across MLB Network’s studio programming and make his debut on MLB Tonight on Dec. 9, live from the Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL…

…Bob Costas will once again serve as host for NBC’s primetime and late night coverage at teh 2014 Sochi Winter Games, becoming the first U.S. television’s first 10-time Olympic primetime host and marking the second time that Costas will host both the primetime and late night shows (2000 Sydney Olympics)…

…Golf Channel has added Hall-of-Famer Juli Inkster, seven-year LPGA Tour veteran Paige Mackenzie, and 2004 Women’s British Open champion Karen Stupples to its broadcast team. Inkster will work as a course reporter for five LPGA Tour events in 2014 (beginning with the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in May), Mackenzie will be the new co-host of Morning Drive and offer commentary on Golf Central, and Stupples will serve as a Golf Channel analyst…

…As for golf on the radio, SiriusXM has added three new stars to their PGA TOUR Radio roster of talent: PGA stars Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter, along with Jim McLean, one of the country’s leading golf instructors. Starting in 2014 all three will host exclusive series airing on PGA TOUR Radio. Stenson and Poulter will give listeners an insider’s perspective as they prepare for tournaments, and will discuss equipment, courses around the world, their competitors in the field, and the headline news happening in the world of golf. Meanwhile, McLean, owner of the world renowned Jim McLean Golf Schools, will join fellow PGA professional Jeff Warne to host Serious Golf, a call-in show airing twice a week and dedicated to providing swing tips and instruction for listeners nationwide…

…Rebecca Lobo will join ESPN’s NCAA Women’s basketball studio team this year, working with returning anchor Kevin Negandhi and analyst Kara Lawson during Championship Week and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship. The trio will also work numerous top regular-season games from ESPN’s studios, while Lobo and Lawson will rotate studio duties for ESPN and ESPN2 telecasts during the remainder of the season. Lobo will also pair with ESPN men’s basketball analyst Bill Walton on the second game of the Jan. 27 Big Monday doubleheader showcasing USC at Stanford with Dave Pasch on play-by-play.

In addition, the Final Four announcing team of Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke will reunite for several marquee games this season. The new ESPN Sunday franchise will be primarily called by veterans Pam Ward and Carolyn Peck. Beth Mowins, a multi-sport play-by-play voice, will team with Stephanie White for most of the Big Monday series, beginning in January 13…

…Digital college sports network Campus Insiders has added former Heisman Trophy winner and nine-time NFL Pro Bowler Tim Brown to its talent roster as a college football contributor. Brown now joins Bonnie Bernstein and Seth Davis as the most prominent faces of the network…

…Gurdeep Ahluwalia has joined Canada’s Sports Leader on a full-time basis as the network’s newest anchor and reporter for SPORTSCENTRE. In his new full-time role at TSN, Ahluwalia will appear as both a SPORTSCENTRE host and reporter, contributing frequent stories from across the Toronto sports scene. Ahluwalia joins TSN from CP24 Toronto’s, where he served as weekend co-host of CP24 BREAKFAST and as a weekday reporter and anchor. Prior to joining CP24, Ahluwalia spent time at a variety of news and sports media organizations across the Greater Toronto Area, including starting out as a story editor at SPORTSCENTRE…

…Hot Clicks creator Jimmy Traina has launched his new weekday morning blog “The Big Buzz by Jimmy Traina” on FOXSports.com.  The Big Buzz features a roundup of photos, videos, tweets and more from around the Web that covers the world of sports and pop culture. In addition to his morning column, the former Sports Illustrated blogger will also contribute podcasts and post content throughout the day at www.foxsports.com/buzzer.