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WCCO Raises $80,000 for Bone Marrow Charity Be The Match

BNM Staff
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There is reason to celebrate in Minneapolis. WCCO held a live auction last week with the proceeds going to Be The Match, a non-profit organization promoting bone marrow and stem cell donation. The event raised over $80,000.

The cause is a very personal one inside the WCCO studio. Mid day host Jordana Green’s life was saved by a bone marrow transplant last year.

“We are so humbled and grateful for our fans’ incredible generosity, the amazing financial support from our corporate partners, and the remarkable donation of ideas and time by our personalities,” WCCO Brand Manager, Brad Lane, said. “What a fun day auctioning off priceless, unique experiences for a cause so close and personal to us…in honor of our friend, teammate, and bone-marrow transplant recipient Jordana Green!”

Among the big ticket items that were auctioned off were a trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast and a visit to training camp with the Minnesota Vikings.

“Be The Match is so grateful for the support and partnership of WCCO in this important event that will help more patients access life-saving blood stem cell and marrow transplants,” Be The Match Foundation Executive Director and Chief Advancement Officer Joy King said. “As our organization facilitates a growing number of cell therapies for more patients each year, there is a greater need than ever for funding to support patient assistance grants, research to improve transplant outcomes and efforts to diversify the Be The Match Registry.”

Bob Fescoe: The Last Dance Was Popular Because ‘We Were a Captive Audience’

BSM Staff
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Bob Fescoe: The Last Dance Was Popular Because ‘We Were a Captive Audience’

How do you remember The Last Dance? The ten-part docuseries quickly became a phenomenon when ESPN released it in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Bob Fescoe thinks the timing was kind, and it shouldn’t be something networks and streamers look to as a model for sports documentaries.

Fescoe and Josh Klingler discussed HBO’s recently announced Barry Bonds documentary Thursday morning on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City. Fescoe dismissed the project as unlikely to tell any true stories about Bonds’s association with performance-enhancing drugs. He added that he isn’t sure this is a story that deserves the multi-part documentary treatment in fact, most sports stories are not.

“I’m not doing this because it’s not going to resonate,” he said. “But the other thing is, too, everybody thinks we have a space in our lives for more of The Last Dance. The Last Dance came out when we were all being captive with masks on and couldn’t see others. And it was the only new thing on TV and it was the only sports-related thing going on.”

The duo took turns naming documentary series that got considerably more time than they needed to tell the story. ESPN’s multi-part Derek Jeter retrospective The Captain was named as was the new 30 for 30 about the 1980s show American Gladiators.

In announcing the Bonds project, HBO acknowledged that Bonds himself is not involved, but the network is leaving the door open for him. Klingler questioned if that was a good idea for creating an entertaining, honest documentary.

“Do you want him to be fully on board?” Klingler asked before lobbing another criticism at The Last Dance. “It can skew the truth. Certainly put it in question like The Last Dance. Right?”

Fescoe wondered if anyone greenlighting these projects has taken a critical look at what made The Last Dance the phenomenon it was in 2020. He isn’t sure it was as entertaining or as anticipated as the ratings may suggest. Networks don’t seem to consider that.

“I firmly believe that if people had somewhere to go, even the grocery store, they would not have consumed The Last Dance. Not to that extent,” he said. “But because we had nowhere to go and we weren’t allowed to walk amongst the living, we were there. We were a captive audience.”

Ken Carman: Jim Donovan ‘Best Friend to Browns Fans Since 1999’

BSM Staff
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Ken Carman: Jim Donovan ‘Best Friend to Browns Fans Since 1999’

The city of Cleveland and sports community at large was disheartened when Browns radio announcer Jim Donovan revealed his leukemia relapse yesterday, with well wishes pouring in from all corners of the world.

Ken Carman and Anthony Lima reacted to the news Thursday morning on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, reminiscing on memorable moments they have had with Donovan on the show. They look forward to welcoming him back on the program in the future, and wish him nothing but the absolute best in his battle with leukemia.

“Play-by-play voices become best friends to generations of people,” Carman said. “Jim, and I mean this, has become a best friend to Browns fans since 1999. There’s been a lot of down years for the Browns, and Jim’s honesty and Jim’s sense of humor has made some down seasons since 1999 palatable. He made the 2020 season a lot of fun; he made the 2020 season that much better.”

Carman continued by recognizing how the city of Cleveland has been fortunate to have a variety of talented sports broadcasters since the start of sportscasting on KDKA Pittsburgh in 1921 – and radio as a whole in the late 1890s. He conveyed just how strong Donovan is to endure this impediment, and how the entire locale is pulling for him.

“I don’t want to talk about him as if he’s gone,” added Lima. “The great news is that he’s going to be back, and he’s going to continue to be with us [and] he’s going to continue to do Browns games…This is a guy who had a bone marrow transplant 11 years ago, and he fought back and made it to the point where he was doing every game again.”

Both co-hosts acknowledged that Donovan has always been willing to appear on their program to talk about the team and has been forthright with them when he has been unable to attend because of treatment. His ability to be candid with his audience is something they acknowledged could get broadcasters fired today.

“The fans know if Jim says it – if Jim gets excited about something – it’s real. It’s not because he’s been told to say something,” Lima expressed. “He earns that, and that’s what we will always appreciate about having Jim on.”

“I hate starting shows this way,” Carman stated. “I hate it; it sucks, but Jim is a good, good, good friend; a good man; a good friend of the city. We are certainly wishing him well here at the Fan, wishing him well on this show, and obviously wishing him well as sports fans throughout the city.”

Tom Brady ‘Certain’ He isn’t Playing Again, Looking Forward to FOX Job

BSM Staff
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What does the future hold for Tom Brady? He told Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated that when it comes to football, the future is in the booth alongside Kevin Burkhardt.

“I’m certain I’m not playing again. So, I’ve tried to make that clear. I hate to continue to profess that, because I’ve already told people that lots of times,” the future Hall of Famer said.

“I’m looking forward to my broadcasting job at FOX next year,” he added.

While he didn’t break any news or go into any detail, it does seem significant that Tom Brady mentioned FOX. He signed a ten-year contract with the network worth a reported $375 million before the start of the 2022 season.

FOX acknowledged at the time that the contract would begin when Brady was ready for it to begin. He has said that will be in the 2024 season.

The hesitation had many in the sports media wondering if Brady would end up walking away from the deal. Those whispers only intensified when he agreed to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and amped up again when it was revealed that the team could walk away from its deal with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who failed his physical.

Tom Brady will be in the network’s top NFL booth as a color analyst alongside Burkhardt when he reports to work. FOX Sports will also use him as a brand ambassador throughout the year.

Former Twitter Sports Boss TJ Adeshola Joins Arctos Partners

BSM Staff
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Former Twitter Sports Boss TJ Adeshola Joins Arctos Partners

Less than two months after TJ Adeshola announced his exit from Twitter, he has resurfaced. Arctos Partners, a firm that he had been advising, named Adeshola an operating partner on Thursday.

In the new role, Adeshola will be much more hands-on with the firm, a private investment company that focuses its investments in the sports world. The firm says it focuses on unlocking “non-obvious opportunities long before others have noticed the market need or opportunity”.

TJ Adeshola’s digital sports marketing expertise will certainly come in handy with that.

“We believe TJ is an innovator in emerging digital and sports media trends, and his wealth of knowledge is a tremendous resource for our Arctos Operating Platform, the value-added capabilities we provide to our franchise partners,” Arctos’s Jordan Solomon said in a press release. “We’ve been fortunate to have TJ as an Operating Advisor for the past three years, and we are thrilled to have him play a larger role as an Operating Partner.”

During his decade with Twitter, Adeshola served as the Head of U.S. Sports Partnerships. His title was Head of Global Content Partnerships at the time of his exit.

He is credited with securing broad strategic partnerships with the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and MLS as well as NASCAR, esports, college, and high school sports. He helped the platform grow the engagement and audience for those entities.

“I’m thrilled to expand my role with Arctos as an Operating Partner,” Adeshola added. “As the first investment firm to invest across multiple North American sports leagues, Arctos is an innovator and disruptor in the sports landscape. And true to form, the Arctos team recognizes the power of digital media as a tool for growth and an opportunity to drive value for its franchise partners.”

Marcellus Wiley: Maybe Skip Bayless Has Post-Traumatic Stress from Stephen A. Smith

BSM Staff
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FS1’s Undisputed is officially breaking up with the reported departure of Shannon Sharpe following the conclusion of the NBA Finals, according to Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post.

The move comes after visible acrimony following a tweet commentator Skip Bayless refused to delete when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field. Yet some in the business saw this breakup coming months before this week’s news broke. One of them was former FOX Sports commentator Marcellus Wiley. He discussed the matter earlier this year on his YouTube page, speculating that Bayless was beginning to notice the ascending stardom of Sharpe and, as a result, sought to keep him in his place.

“This is a flex because he thinks that Shannon is trying to flex because Shannon is just growing in popularity,” Wiley said. “Maybe he has post-traumatic stress because didn’t this happen with Stephen A. and him? A lot of people told me that. I don’t remember the [details] of that, but Stephen A. kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and it started to go a different way. Maybe he’s reliving that. I don’t know.”

Bayless worked with Stephen A. Smith on First Take until mid-2016, and the show appointed Max Kellerman to take his place. Wiley reflected on that time and thought about the dynamic between Bayless and Smith, and how it presumably changed.

“Everyone knows if you go to war with Skip on the show, he’s going to come for your neck,” Wiley said. “Everybody knows [when] somebody says, ‘Cut,’ or, ‘Go to break – commercial,’ Skip’s the nicest dude in the world.”

Wiley is puzzled at why the Undisputed stars chose not to support one another. There have undoubtedly been moments of tension and anguish with the duo, but having it spiral to a point of no return is an outcome Wiley says he would not have let happen.

“All I know is if somebody is trying to cancel my partner, I’m there for my partner,” Wiley said. “But I also know my partner can’t be trying to flex on me because of my partnership. Because if we’re really teammates, the better ‘me’ is the better ‘we,’ and that’s what I don’t get about their relationship from afar.”

Joe Buck: ‘At Some Point, I’ll Get The Itch’ to Call Baseball Again

BSM Staff
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Joe Buck: ‘At Some Point, I’ll Get The Itch’ to Call Baseball Again

Joe Buck is entering his second season as the voice of Monday Night Football on ESPN, and he is fully dedicated to enhancing the national broadcast and accentuating memorable moments. The move to ESPN, however, meant the end of his time calling Major League Baseball games for FOX Sports. Buck is the son of Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Buck, the longtime announcer for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he grew up and quickly acquired a propensity for the sport. He used the crowd to his advantage, calling iconic home runs, pitching performances and junctures of ultimate bliss as teams captured World Series championships.

“Mechanically, when I was a kid doing games into a tape recorder and then popping that tape out and listening to it with my dad on the way home night after night after night; his notes to me, if you want to call it that, we’re never, ‘Here’s how I would have called that,’” Buck told Matt Spiegel on The PBP: Voices of Baseball podcast by Audacy. “It was about not slurring your words; not getting too fast…. Little things like that, and then finding out if you’re describing things the same way over and over and over. Not every ground ball to shortstop is a ‘bouncer to short.’”

Although he ceded the role to Joe Davis and offered him advice, Buck watched several games from afar and enjoyed the broadcasts. Now, he is starting to think about returning to calling baseball games, publicly stating for the first time that it has recently been on his mind.

“I think I will [do baseball again],” Buck said. “I’ve never said that before, but I just feel like I’m 53, basically 54, [and] I think it’s too early to say nevers at this point in my life. I think at some point, I’ll get the itch again.”

Buck declined an offer from ESPN to call a baseball game for the network last season and previously called MLB on FOX prime time matchups with John Smoltz, including the All-Star Game and World Series. Yet he does not foresee himself ever welcoming people back to national spectacles such as the World Series, instead aiming to endeavor on local team broadcasts and, in turn, represent specific factions of baseball fans.

“Doing a handful of games in St. Louis; doing a handful of games if we move to Denver; doing a handful games in Minnesota,” Buck surmised. “Who knows.”

Coming from a radio background, Buck knows the importance of communicating the game and keeping it at the center of the broadcast’s attention. He is cognizant that his role is to document the game and keep people informed as to what is happening, along with entertaining viewers at the same time. Just as he does on football games, Buck may bring his signature commentary style and sports media acumen back to the diamond sometime in the future.

“The only crisis in baseball is the next pitch. If you don’t respect that, the listener – I would say that as opposed to the viewer, but it still applies in TV – the listener has no idea when the pitch is coming, and there’s no point of reference.”

Greg Gutfeld: Sunny Hostin Not Talented, ‘But An Expert in Calling People Racist’

BNM Staff
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Commenting on other members of the media is a staple of Fox News’s late-night show Gutfeld! Wednesday night, host Greg Gutfeld took aim at Sunny Hosting of The View. 

Earlier in the week, Hostin said on the ABC daytime show that “white women, in particular, want to protect this patriarchy.” She suggested that it is a group that votes only to please their husbands.

“Take, that people who say she’s racist. You forget that she’s also sexist,” Gutfeld said on his show. 

In his mind, there is a much simpler, less nefarious explanation. People tend to marry people with similar opinions and values.

Hostin used to be a regular presence on Fox News. Following an impressive legal career, she was part of a regular segment on The O’Reilly Factor called “Is It Legal?”. The segment featured Sunny Hostin squaring off with Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly discussing the legalities and implications of news of the day. She then moved to CNN. Hostin has been with ABC in a variety of roles since 2016.

None of that impresses Greg Gutfeld though. He told his audience that Hostin’s take on how white women vote is proof that there is not much to her.

“The bottom line, she managed to take a general observation that spouses of any stripe stick together and make it only about whites. And why? Because what else does she have? Nothing. She’s not funny or smart or interesting, but she’s an expert in calling people racist. So congrats on that.”

Rob Manfred: Diamond Threatened Bankruptcy as Negotiation for Streaming Rights

BSM Staff
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Yesterday’s bankruptcy hearing between Major League Baseball (MLB) and Diamond Sports Group (DSG) was, in a word, acrimonious. The first day of testimony to determine whether or not Diamond Sports Group is obligated to pay the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers the full sum of their television rights contracts contained explosive details of business processes and the relationship between the plaintiff and defendant.

It took place just one day after Diamond Sports Group neglected not to pay the San Diego Padres their latest rights payment and relinquished the team’s local broadcast rights to the league itself. While it may seem somewhat abrupt, this practice is a means of contract termination permitted under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The league, however, was prepared for such a scenario and is ready to take over local broadcasts for the 13 other teams airing on Bally Sports’ regional sports networks (RSNs). Commissioner Rob Manfred divulged that in order to make up for lost profits, the league will pay the afflicted teams a minimum of 80% the money owed.

“We arrived at that number as something that would prevent financial distress at the club level, [the] ability to pay players and those things,” Manfred said. “We wanted them to have enough cash flow to prevent a disruption of our business.”

Manfred detailed the league’s discomfit with public comments made by president and chief executive officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Chris Ripley. Manfred said Ripley outlined his goal of creating a digital business that would require gambling, merchandising and ticketing rights that the company simply did not possess, and was subsequently raising public funds from that rhetoric. Manfred says he told Ripley on several occasions that what he was doing was irresponsible and that Sinclair Broadcast Group would not secure those rights.

Sinclair Broadcast Group executive chairman David Smith met with Manfred in New York, N.Y. where he requested the company receive direct-to-consumer broadcast rights to strengthen its Bally Sports Plus app. Diamond Sports Group chief executive officer David Preschlack revealed the app currently has approximately 203,000 subscribers, only 55% of the corporate goal.

Manfred vehemently shot down Smith’s proposal, explaining that people cannot always get what they want. Smith, who invested $2 billion in the purchase of the regional sports network, outlined exactly the way things would, and have, played out.

“He said, ‘So what I’m going to do [is] I’m going to keep this going long enough until I get my $2 billion out, and then I’m going to start squeezing your clubs to take their rights fees down in order to make sure that I stay profitable in the RSN business. And if they don’t agree to that, I’m going to put the entity into bankruptcy and then I’m going to selectively reject contracts,’” the Major League Baseball Commissioner said.

He responded vowing the league would serve its fans by being prepared to produce and distribute broadcasts themselves every time the company rejects or even threatens rejection of a contract.

“RSNs, whoever the hell owned them, had made hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in profit off these long-term agreements,” Manfred said. “And we felt that because they had enjoyed that long period of huge profits, that when things started to look like they were maybe not quite as profitable – to turn around and say, ‘We’re going to squeeze you and make you take lower rights fees,’ didn’t sit very well with us.”

Rico Beard: People Watch Netflix, Why is Streaming Sports a Problem?

BSM Staff
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Rico Beard doesn’t want to hear your complaints. If you love college football, you need to get used to the new television distribution model. That means you better have Peacock.

Wednesday afternoon on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit, Beard reviewed the Big Ten schedule released earlier that day. He zeroed in on games involving both Michigan and Michigan State that would be available only on the streaming service.

Michigan, who has been to the last two College Football Playoffs, only has one Peacock exclusive, but it is their season opener against East Carolina. For Michigan State though, its best non-conference game is not going to be available on linear television.

“This is one right here – Michigan State/Washington, probably the second or third biggest game on their schedule at home this year. You can go to the home game, but if you want to watch it, Peacock Network, plain and simple,” Beard said.

When the Big Ten negotiated its new television deals last year, then-commissioner Kevin Warren seemingly followed a model similar to the NFL. The league spread it’s games out over three broadcast networks and chose not to do deals with streaming services. Still, NBC negotiated some games as Peacock exclusives as part of their package of primetime games.

Many people in The Ticket’s listening audience already have access to Peacock. The Detroit market is served by XFinity, which like Peacock and NBC, is owned by Comcast. Access to Peacock is included with a cable subscription.

Between that kind of access in the market and people’s consumption habits for entertainment that isn’t sports, he doesn’t understand why people complain about finding and watching Peacock.

“You found every way to watch shows on Netflix. You know what that is?” He asked his producer David Hull. “It’s streaming.” 

Mike Valenti had Wednesday off. Rico Beard said he was glad that his partner was not there for this discussion, because they look at streaming sports very differently.

“He would just be hitting the ceiling right now. ’Everything is changed. I don’t like change. The world got me. Oh, I don’t like this,’” he said, impersonating Valenti. “It just it is what it is. I’ve been trying to explain to people when everybody made fun of me. Guys, college football, you’re not going to see it and watch it the same way you always have done it. It’s going to get different.”

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