Behind the Mic: Don Orsillo Abruptly Out as NESN’s Red Sox Play-by-Play Voice; Adam Schein To Host Inside the NFL
Story Highlights
Longtime Boston Red Sox play-by-play voice Don Orsillo will not return to NESN next year after his contract expires and will be replaced by Dave O’Brien in 2016. O’Brien has been a familiar play-by-play voice of Red Sox baseball for the last nine years on WEEI 93.7 FM. Orsillo, who began his career on NESN back in 2001 and has also announced MLB Postseason games for TBS, has become a fan favorite in Boston and the move by NESN looks to have shocked Red Sox fans.
O’Brien’s previous play-by-play experiences include the Atlanta Braves (1990-91), Florida Marlins (1993-2001), and the New York Mets (2003-05). In addition, O’Brien has called games on TV for ESPN (2002-present) and ESPN Radio during the last few years. The New England native was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, attended Syracuse University, and currently resides in Rye, New Hampshire with his wife and three children. He has also broadcast NFL football, NBA and college basketball, and soccer…
…Adam Schein has signed on as host of Inside The NFL, Showtime’s weekly news and features program that returns for an eighth season on Sept. 8. He replaces last year’s host, Greg Gumbel, and will work alongside former NFL quarterbacks Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason and current New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the show. Former NFL star Michael Irvin also will appear as an occasional guest analyst. Schein currently hosts three shows on CBS Sports Network: the newly launched one-hour live weekday sports show Time To Schein, That Other Pregame Show and NFL Monday QB. He also hosts a daily sports-talk radio show on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio and previously appeared on SNY’s Loudmouths and Fox Sports radio’s Game Time React with Adam Schein. (Multichannel News)…
…Jay Crawford has signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with ESPN, continuing his role as SportsCenter anchor in the Bristol, Conn. studios, as well as a regular host of ”SportsCenter on the Road” stops at sports’ biggest events, including this week’s annual Little League World Series. Crawford, who has served as co-anchor of the mid-day SportsCenter since July 2012, joined ESPN in August of 2003 as a co-host of ESPN2’s weekday morning show Cold Pizza (rechristened First Take in May 2007). A Sandusky, Ohio native and noted Cleveland sports fan, Crawford began his sports television career in 1987 at WYMT-TV Hazard, Ky., served as sports anchor/reporter for WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio (1993–1998), and graduated from Bowling Green University in Ohio in 1987. Prior to joining ESPN, he served as sports director at WFTS-TV in Tampa, Fla. (March 1998-August 2003), covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2003 Super Bowl Championship…
…FOX Sports Southeast will have a three-person booth for its Charlotte Hornets telecasts during the upcoming season, highlighted by Stephanie Ready becoming the first-ever full-time female NBA game analyst. She will be joined by broadcasting veteran Eric Collins, a new addition to the RSN, and former Hornets standout Dell Curry, who returns to FOX Sports Southeast as a game analyst.
Long-time announcer Collins joins the network following time with FOX Sports and FOX Sports 1 as a play-by-play announcer for Big East college basketball, college football and Major League Baseball. He has also called games for ABC Sports, the Big Ten Network, ESPN, NBC Sports and served as an in-game reporter for the Chicago Bulls on FOX Sports Net Chicago. Ready will be entering her 12th season with the Hornets telecasts. She was previously the host of Hornets LIVE! and an in-game sideline reporter. Prior to her broadcasting career, Ready was an assistant coach in the WNBA and the NBA D-League, making her the first woman to coach a men’s professional sports team. Ready also spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball program at Coppin State University, becoming the first female to hold the position of full-time recruiting assistant on an NCAA Division I men’s basketball staff. Curry returns to FOX Sports Southeast for his seventh season as game analyst. A member of the original Hornets team in 1988-89, Curry is the all-time leader in scoring and games played for the franchise. In 2015, he was named a Hornets Ambassador and Special Projects Advisor…
…ESPN also made several ESPN NFL Commentator/Reporter announcements, including Josina Anderson being named as an “National NFL Insider” – the first female to occupy this role for ESPN. Anderson joins a roster of experts that includes Chris Mortensen, Adam Schefter, John Clayton, Ed Werder, Adam Caplan and Field Yates. As an NFL Insider, Anderson will make regular in-studio appearances as a panelist on ESPN’s weekday NFL Insiders (2:30-3:30 p.m. ET) in addition to NFL Live, SportsCenter and other programs. Anderson, who joined the company as a Chicago-based bureau reporter in 2011, will continue her enterprise feature reporting and serve as a game-day reporter for Sunday NFL Countdown.
Longtime NFL team executive Joe Banner has joined ESPN as a Front Office Insider. He will appear primarily on weekday editions of NFL Insiders beginning Thursday, Sept. 3. He will also contribute to SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and other platforms. Banner has spent more than two decades as an NFL front office executive, most notably with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1994-2012. Under his leadership as team president (2001-12), the Eagles captured four straight NFC East titles (2001-04), made the playoffs 12 times, and appeared in five NFC Championship games and Super Bowl XXXIX. Banner served as chief executive officer of the Cleveland Browns (2012-14) and had most recently worked with the Atlanta Falcons.
NFL writer Sheil Kapadia has officially joined ESPN as the Seattle Seahawks reporter for ESPN.com’s NFL Nation. Kapadia previously covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7 website (2012-15). He also served as a writer/editor at Philly.com, the website for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, and he was a sports producer/writer at BaltimoreSun.com from 2006-08. Kapadia has written for Sports On Earth and served as a correspondent for Fox Sports 1. He has relocated to the Seattle area and will begin coverage of the two-time NFC champion Seahawks this week, appearing on ESPN Radio, television and other platforms…
…Legendary coach Lou Holtz has joined the talent roster at SiriusXM, where he will host shows dedicated to two of his life’s passions – college football and golf. Starting on August 28, Coach Holtz will host twice a week on SiriusXM College Sports Nation. He’ll talk about the world of college football and take calls from listeners on The Playbook every Friday (1:00-4:00 pm ET) alongside Jack Arute. He will also be heard every Saturday hosting the SiriusXM College Football Tailgate Show (9:00 am – 12:00 pm ET) with Jason Horowitz and Phil Savage. Additionally Holtz, an avid golfer who has played to a single digit handicap, will debut a new show on the SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio channel called Holtz in One alongside Fred Albers. Holtz compiled a career coaching record of 249–132–7 and his 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings…
…ESPN New York 98.7FM has reached a three-year extension with Don La Greca for the longtime radio host to remain with the station as co-host of The Michael Kay Show (simulcast on YES Network). He and Kay, who also recently signed a three-year extension, have partnered on The Michael Kay Show since 2002. La Greca is an ESPN New York original and was the first voice listeners heard when the station launched on September 3, 2001. He will continue to host 98.7FM’s Jets Gameday pregame show and The 5th Quarter postgame. La Greca will also retain his duties as studio host and occasional play-by-play commentator for New York Rangers broadcasts. La Greca began his radio career at Sports Phone, where he updated scores and covered all nine local New York pro teams before becoming a sports anchor at 1010 WINS. He also was a talk show host at eYada.com…
Pac-12 Networks has made its on-air broadcasting assignments for its live football game telecasts for the first three weeks of season. Pac-12 Networks’ full slate of live football game telecasts in 2015 once again will be voiced by a team of veteran broadcasters including: Ted Robinson, Kevin Calabro, Roxy Bernstein, JB Long, Jim Watson, Guy Haberman and Josh Lewin. Glenn Parker, Yogi Roth, Jeremy Bloom and Mike Pawlawski return as game analysts with two former offensive standouts – Washington’s Lincoln Kennedy and former Stanford TE Evan Moore – making their debut in the booth this season. Jill Savage, Lewis Johnson, Ashley Adamson and Drea Avent all return to provide reports from the sidelines. One-hour prior to every football game, the Pac-12 Football Pregame Show features new host Anthony Herron, alongside a rotation of analysts including Curtis Conway, Nick Aliotti and Ronnie Lott setting the stage on game day each week from San Francisco. Mike Yam takes over at the end of the night for Pac-12 Final Score, to put a bow on all the day’s action with Nigel Burton and Kennedy…
…Tonight at the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Road America, Dillon Welch, son of FOX NASCAR reporter/host Vince Welch, joins the Motor Racing Network (MRN) team as a turn announcer for the network’s live race broadcast. Dillon, 21, has one semester remaining at Ball State University, also Vince’s alma mater, and has called more than 50 national sprint, midget and silver crown events per year for United States Auto Club (USAC) during the past 18 months. (Fox Sports)…
…Veteran racing media personality Katie Osborne has been named new host for RTM Productions’ PowerNation. Prior to joining RTM Productions, Osborne covered racing as a pit and trackside reporter for TORC on Fox Sports as well as Global Rallycross on ESPN and Rally America on NBC Sports Network. Osborne was also a social media host for SPEED TV in addition to creating and hosting IndyCar’s “In The Passenger Seat.” Outside of the automotive world, Katie has also been a host and reporter for a wide variety of events and sports including MLB, NFL, NHL, and NCAA Football. She has covered the 2014 and 2015 Rose Bowls, the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship, San Diego Padres baseball, Indianapolis Colts football, Indiana Pacers basketball, and Columbus Blue Jackets hockey.
