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Craig Carton: I ‘Would Never Ask’ WFAN or FOX to Pay For My Blue Checkmark

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The long-awaited removal of blue verified checkmarks on Twitter appears to be coming soon, and there have been plenty of folks weighing in on the fact that they’ll have to subscribe to Twitter Blue in order to retain that legacy verification.

On WFAN on Friday, Carton & Roberts host Craig Carton said once his blue check goes away, it ain’t coming back.

Co-host Evan Roberts asked Carton if he thought WFAN or maybe even FOX Sports, where Carton hosts a daily morning show, would pay the Twitter Blue fee for him.

“I would never ask them to do that. I can tell ya that The Fan won’t,” he said. “I can guarantee that right now.”

“Maybe FOX would,” Carton added later. “It’s possible.”

Roberts said having that verification is important, because the way that sports news breaks on Twitter that checkmark can help make sure the information being put out there is accurate. But Carton said having that verification isn’t the end-all be-all.

“Does it really change anything?” Carton asked. “Do you think there are people out there that wouldn’t follow you because you’re not verified?”

FOX Drops Frank Thomas From Baseball Coverage

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Back in February at Super Bowl LVII, FOX Sports announced that Derek Jeter would be joining the network’s studio desk as an MLB analyst. Now it’s been revealed that Jeter has effectively replaced Hall of Famer Frank Thomas.

The New York Post reported that Thomas is officially out at FOX. He had been a part of the network’s MLB coverage for almost 10 years.

Jeter will be limited in his appearances on FOX TV this season. He’ll join the desk for the London Series in June, he’ll be on location with FOX for the All-Star Game in Seattle in July, and then he’ll be involved with the network’s full coverage of the 2023 postseason.

Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez comprise the rest of the FOX MLB studio team.

Pat McAfee Files Motion to Dismiss Brett Favre Lawsuit

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In a lengthy tweet, Pat McAfee announced he has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought against him by Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre.

In the tweet, McAfee says he believed the lawsuit to originally be a joke, but now believes that due to the evidence available publicly, it is clear he did not defame Favre.

The former NFL MVP is accused of participating in a scheme to shift welfare funds from the state of Mississippi to build a new volleyball facility at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre allegedly worked behind the scenes to entice lawmakers to misappropriate the funds to build the facility at his alma mater and where his daughter was a member of the school’s volleyball team.

Lawyers for Favre have claimed their case is “a slam dunk” and after McAfee admitted he isn’t very good at apologizing, Favre’s attorney claimed he would ensure “a Mississippi jury will teach Pat McAfee how to apologize“.

In the tweet, McAfee also asked Favre to match a donation to Mississippi’s Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

“Let’s make something positive out of this sad clown show of a defamation suit with no merit,” McAfee said.

The Pat McAfee Show host then thanked fans and partners for being in his corner during the ordeal.

“I appreciate everybody’s support thru all of this. It has been a bit stressful for me, my pregnant wife, my employees, and their families,” McAfee wrote. “We are all very eager for this chapter to be done with.”

AT&T SportsNet Still Negotiating With Teams As Previous Deadline Looms

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AT&T SportsNet Still Negotiating With Teams As Previous Deadline Looms

Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would shutter its AT&T SportsNet-branded regional sports networks.

In the announcement, AT&T SportsNet alerted teams it would give them until the end of the month to engage in negotiations to reclaim their television rights.

As the month concludes, the Houston Astros and Rockets are still in negotiations to take back their local television rights, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.

Previously, the network had privately shared it had hoped to exit the business as MLB’s Opening Day approached. Now, according to the report from the Chronicle, the network could still exist for the majority of the MLB season.

After reporting that Astros and Rockets officials believe an agreement would hopefully be reached in the coming weeks, reporter David Barron said “it is likely that Warner Bros. Discovery will continue operating the channel for much if not all of the baseball season.”

AT&T SportsNet began airing the Astros and Rockets in 2014 after purchasing Comcast SportsNet Houston.

There has yet to be a report from the network’s outlets in Pittsburgh and Denver about a potential resolution of the local television rights for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Utah Jazz, and the Vegas Golden Knights.

John Sterling: George Steinbrenner Wanted to Fire Everyone Other Than His Announcers

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Former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was widely known for his quick trigger in regard to the employment of anyone involved with his beloved ball club. Nearly everyone involved with the club feared losing their job at one point or another. Nearly everyone, outside of radio voice John Sterling.

During an appearance on 95.7 The Game’s The Morning Roast with Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky, Sterling was asked if he ever caught the ire of legendary owner George Steinbrenner.

Sterling called Steinbrenner “mercurial”, but pointed to a story from the early stages of his tenure as the radio play-by-play announcer of the Yankees, as proof that he was never fearful of losing his job.

“Fifth game of the Seattle playoff series in ’95. Great series. The Yankees lost. I finished my postgame, and came down the stairs,” Sterling reminisced. “The only way to get to the bus was to go through the dugout. Standing on the field, kind of in front of the dugout, was George. And the proverbial steam was coming from his ears. I walked past him and he said ‘Don’t worry. There’ll be changes. Not you and Michael (Kay). You guys are great.’

“That was George, in the moment, telling me how great I was. That was the kind of relationship I had with George.”

The 84-year-old Sterling was asked by the San Francisco hosts about his schedule for the upcoming season. He said he’ll call somewhere in the neighborhood of 130-132 games while joking that the schedule for announcers like Bob Uecker — who won’t be traveling to road games in 2023 — was “a dream”.

RJ Choppy: ‘We Don’t Care About Bally, We Just Watch The Games’

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RJ Choppy: ‘We Don’t Care About Bally, We Just Watch The Games’

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day took place yesterday, with every team in action in the opener for the first time since the 1960s. As fans across the country tuned into their favorite teams, Texas Rangers fans experienced an issue with Bally Sports Southwest. That caught the ire of 105.3 The Fan host RJ Choppy.

Shan & RJ read message after message from listeners saying they were unable to watch the Rangers season opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“We need to get to the bottom of this Bally thing,” co-host Shan Shariff said. “This blew up on my social media.”

“My understanding that there’s a streaming problem Bally is having right now?” Choppy said.

“Yesterday, people were unable to watch the game on the app, even if they were connected on their home wifi,” explained co-host Bobby Belt. “Bally was saying — and I assume this has to do with the Diamond Sports collapse — that they don’t have the licensing to stream their games. I think people just expected it to be there because they had the rights with basketball, but they don’t with baseball. So people just showed up expecting to see it, so whenever you try to watch it through the app, you can’t get it.”

Shariff then read several messages from listeners claiming the followed the steps from the Texas Rangers website verbatim to ensure they were properly subscribed to the broadcasts, and that still didn’t solve their issues.

“Baseball has always had odd blackout restrictions,” Choppy added. “Maybe not odd, but they get in the way. I get the MLB Extra Innings package. It’s $120. My son uses it. He’ll go to the app. I went to the app this morning. It’s got a lot of things you can do on it…I can’t watch a Ranger game on it. I have to watch it on my TV at home or the DirecTV Stream on my phone. That worked, but I hate that people can’t watch these games. We don’t care about your problems, Bally. We just wanna watch the games. It’s a mess.”

Bryant Gumbel: League Networks Make Good Sports Journalism ‘Hard to Come By’

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Bryant Gumbel did not mince words when asked about the state of sports journalism in 2023. He told Dan Patrick that it is “hard to come by.”

Appearing on Patrick’s FOX Sports Radio show on Friday, the HBO Real Sports host said there are too many options for players, coaches, and others in the sports world to tell their version of a story. They can avoid hard questions entirely if they want to.

“Every team now has a television arm,” Gumbel said. “You have the NBA network. You have the MLB network. So, as a result, I think any time anybody gets in trouble, they can go to that network and expect a softer landing than they would if they had to face either you or me on a neutral site.”

Bryant Gumbel is set to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Sports Emmys next month. He told Patrick that between his work in sports and on The Today Show, he has lost count of how many Sports Emmys he’s won.

But Gumbel’s job is getting harder. It isn’t just league networks. He said that social media and outlets like The Players Tribune have made it easy for players to communicate directly with fans.

“It makes it more difficult for those of us who who work in this business to try to elicit honest answers in an honest forum,” he said.

Fred Toucher Updates His Vocal Condition

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Fred Toucher Updates His Vocal Condition

Boston sports radio listeners are not hearing as much from Fred Toucher these days. The morning man on 98.5 The Sports Hub has been dealing with voice issues since the beginning of the year. Anyone that has listened can hear the difference and there are days he has had to bow out of Toucher & Rich entirely.

Toucher missed two days this week. On Friday, his partner Rich Shertenlieb took to the station’s website to tell people what he knows.

“I feel awful for him because he’s truly and believe me when I say this, he is doing everything he can to get his voice back,” Rich wrote. “And if you work in our industry, there’s nothing more infuriating than not having your voice. Now, from everything he’s told us so far, it’s it’s nothing serious medically. It’s just sometimes crap like this can happen. He’s once again getting it looked at.”

He told the audience that he asked Fred Toucher if there is anything specifically he wants the audience to know. Toucher responded with a statement.

“No one wants to go on the IR, but I realize that radio is a physical game and it’s what you sign up for when you put on those headphones every morning,” he wrote. “I’m just pushing through my throat rehab right now, getting a little stronger after each session. I want to thank Coach Radzik for the support.

“Of course, Rich and the boys continue to do tremendous work. My family for all having my back. But most of all, hail zuse (sic) the God of gods. And the reason we have not been eaten alive by the troll people.”

Fred Toucher has not discussed the specifics of his condition on air. Shertenlieb wrote that Toucher has referred to his recent setback as “acid reflux”. There is no timetable for his full-time return.

ESPN Not Reimbursing Talent That Purchase Twitter Verification

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Verification was never meant to stroke egos. The blue check mark was created by Twitter to assure the public they were getting news and opinions from reliable, authentic sources. For many ESPN employees, verification of their identity is essential to the credibility of the news they break on the platform. It isn’t a good enough reason for the network to pay for its talent to keep that checkmark, though.

Whether bosses don’t think verification is essential for their audience or they are taking a stand, a network spokesperson confirmed to Awful Announcing that it will not be footing the bill for anyone that wants a blue checkmark.

“As for the company accounts we, along with several other companies, continue to be in a beta test for ‘Verified Organizations,'” the statement continued. “No decisions will be made until that is concluding.”

League insiders have become some of the most valuable people in the sports media. ESPN has invested significantly in people like Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski. They have also spawned several impersonators on social media.

While company policy may be that paying for verification is not necessary for most employees, it is interesting that no exception has been announced for those reporters. In a business where having information first is as important as having it right, it would not be absurd to expect ESPN to do whatever it needs to in order to maintain its reporters’ credibility.

All Twitter accounts that received verification before Elon Musk took over and introduced a paid plan called Twitter Blue will lose their status on April 1st.

ESPN is not the only news organization that isn’t rushing to sign up for the new model. Both The New York Times and Washington Post are among several news outlets that have confirmed they will not be reimbursing the employees that sign up to retain their verification.

Joe Davis: ‘I Never Want More Time’ During Baseball Broadcasts

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Now that Major League Baseball’s Opening Day has come and gone, questions were answered as to what baseball’s new rules would do to both the television and radio broadcasts of the games. FOX Sports and Los Angeles Dodgers television voice Joe Davis said he never had any worries.

During a podcast interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5, Davis admitted wishing he had more time during a broadcast has never been an issue.

“I can count on one hand how many times in my career I have wished that I had more time. I never want more time,” Davis said. “Our best broadcasts come when the pitchers are working quickly and you’re leaning forward in your seat instead of slouching back wondering when the next pitch is going to come.”

Davis did say, however, that if anyone needed and deserved more time in a broadcast, it was his legendary predecessor Vin Scully.

“None of us are Vin Scully, and none of us are ever going to be so we don’t need a bunch of time between pitches. We need balls in play and we’ll tell the stories that we’re going to tell. It’s the nature of a two-man booth versus what Vin was doing.”

After getting a few games under his belt during Spring Training, Davis said he is optimistic about the way the broadcasts will sound throughout the season.

“I think that I have a good feel and rhythm for the game. I’ve worked really hard on storytelling. I’ve studied it like it’s a discipline and have talked with great storytellers and have listened to Vin for years,” Davis said. “You’re only going to be as good as the amount of practice you put into it. And I’ve done that throughout my seven or eight years of doing this. I’m not Vin and I never will be.

“But I’d like to think that I’m better than I was last year — and a lot better than I was eight years ago — but not as good as I’m going to be at the end of this year.”

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