The following is some of the sportscasting news that has been making headlines recently.
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The Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn has been selected as the final SEC on CBS "Game of the Week" which will air on November 30th. Lifetime ASA Member Brad Nessler will handle the play-by-play with analyst Gary Danielson and sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl.
Don Cherry, longtime "Hockey Night in Canada" announcer who was fired by
Rogers Sportsnet last week for comments he made about immigrants, said
he was willing to clarify his comments but not apologize, which
ultimately led to his dismissal after 33 years. On his new Podcast, "The
Grapevine," the 85-year-old said he wanted to issue an explanation
regarding his comments that new immigrants weren't showing the proper
support for Canada on Remembrance Day by wearing poppy pins, but the
station "made it impossible" for him to do so.
ASA members Joe Castiglione, Ken Harrelson and Dewayne Staats are among the finalists for the 2020 Ford C. Frick Award. Rounding out the ballot is Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Pat Hughes, Ned Martin and Mike Shannon. The winner will be announced on Dec. 11 at the Baseball Winter Meetings in San Diego and honored on July 25, 2020, during the Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, NY.
Charles Barkley issued an apology to Axios reporter Alexi McCammond for the comments he made to her at the democratic presidential debate in Atlanta on November 19. "I don't hit women but if I did I would hit you," said Barkley, after McCammond reminded the NBA Hall of Famer and TNT analyst that he pledged his support to both presidential candidates Peter Buttigieg and Deval Patrick. Barkley issued the apology on Wednesday through TurnerSportsPR on Twitter saying his comment was "inappropriate and unacceptable." Barkley said in the statement that "it was an attempted joke that wasn't funny at all. There's no excuse for it and I apologize."
On the heels of Mike Francesa announcing he will be leaving WFAN Radio in December, another host looks to be following him out the door. It's been reported that Bart Scott, who co-hosts the 1-3pm show on The Fan with Maggie Gray, will be taking his talents to ESPN Radio NY to fill the 1-3pm time slot for the exiting Stephen A. Smith. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds as Gray needs a new partner and Francesa's time slot still needs to be filled. Potential candidates to replace Scott include Marc Malusis and John Jastremski, while Evan Roberts has been mentioned as the heir apparent to Francesa. Stay tuned.
Interesting article by Marc Carig of The Athletic which focuses on national broadcasters who also have paid positions with MLB teams, namely Jessica Mendoza, voice of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball who is an advisor with the New York Mets. It was reported that the Dodgers have a policy in place that bans broadcasters with dual roles from the clubhouse which resulted in Mendoza being denied access during this year's NLDS.
Congratulations to Toronto Raptors play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin, who was named Sports Media Canada’s Broadcaster of the Year.
Jack Morse, former voice of the Syracuse Chiefs and longtime Sports Director of WSYR-TV has passed away. He was 84. Morse is best known as the sportscaster who created the High School Athlete of the Week Award at WHEN-TV in 1972. He carried on that tradition at News Channel 9 WSYR, where he covered high school, local, and national sports.
There was a changing of the guard at Perdue University as Larry Clisby, the radio voice of Purdue basketball since 1977, relinquished his play-by-play duties to Rob Blackmon on November 16. “The Cliz,” as he is known, has been battling stage-four cancer of his lungs and brain since the summer of 2018. He plans to stay on as a color commentator for now.
AXS TV has named Max Bretos and Julianna Pena as the broadacst team for the network’s English-language broadcasts of the world’s Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts franchise, "Combate Americas."
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