Boston Sports Media Watch

The Celtics will hold at press conference  at 4:00pm on Thursday to officially introduce Rasheed Wallace as the newest member of the Boston Celtics.

Comcast SportsNet, the broadcast partner of the Celtics will carry the press conference live, and will stream it on CSNNE.com. Gary Tanguay will anchor coverage from CSN’s Celtics studios and Greg Dickerson will be on-site for post press conference reaction.

Following the press conference, Michael Felger and Tanguay will have full analysis and Dickerson will have an expected one-on-one with Wallace on Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Boston Globe’s (for now) Marc Spears will breakdown the signing on the Late Edition of Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight at 10 p.m.

CSN’s sister station under the Comcast umbrella, NECN will also stream the conference on their website, NECN.com.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Gary Tanguay of Comcast SportsNet reports that Wallace’s agent has told him that his client has committed to joining the Celtics.

In his short post at the CSN website, Tanguay says Wallace’s agent will be a guest tonight on Sports Sunday.

Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald has more extensive story on this.

I also have the Sunday links over at the Fang’s Bites page.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tommy Heinsohn, Comcast SportsNet’s 28-year color analyst and Celtics legendary player and coach, was awarded the NBA Coaches Association’s Inaugural Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award is named for the late Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly and was presented to Tommy for the special contributions he has made to the sport and the coaching profession. Heinsohn has been a member of the Celtics and NBA families for more than five decades as a player, coach and broadcaster.

Here is the release from the NBA Coaches Association:

NBA Coaches Association Presents Inaugural Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award to Hall-of-Famer Tommy Heinsohn

New York, June 10, 2009 — The NBA Coaches Association announced today that legendary Celtics player and coach Tommy Heinsohn will receive the inaugural “Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.” The award carries on the memory of Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly.

Daly set a standard of integrity, class and competitive excellence, and his recent passing is mourned by his fellow coaches. The award will recognize a coach who made special contributions to the sport throughout his NBA career and whose body of work had a positive, lasting impact on the NBA coaching profession. It will be presented annually to a current or former NBA head or assistant coach.

Following his Hall of Fame playing career, Tommy Heinsohn led the Celtics to two NBA championships as head coach in 1974 and 1976. During eight-plus seasons on the Celtics’ sideline, Heinsohn displayed a passion for the game and an unwavering loyalty to the Boston franchise that continues today. His love and respect for the game, along with his major contributions to the establishment of the NBA Coaches Association, make him a perfect choice for the inaugural “Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.”

“I’m honored by this recognition,” said Heinsohn. “Chuck Daly was a man and a coach who everyone had great respect for, and to be recognized in his memory is very special. I humbly accept this honor on behalf of all those who coach and have coached in the NBA.”

Dallas Mavericks head coach and NBA Coaches Association President Rick Carlisle added: “Like Chuck, Tommy Heinsohn has shown a lifetime devotion to improving NBA basketball for all who play, coach and watch the sport. His dedication, drive and vision unified NBA coaches and helped ensure their welfare for decades to come. Tommy helped pave the way for future coaches to make meaningful contributions to the game beyond the locker room and sidelines. All NBA coaches owe Tommy a debt of gratitude for his work and his example.”

The NBA Coaches Association encompasses all current head and assistant coaches, as well as an active alumni totaling more than 225 members. The NBA Coaches Association is an integral part of the NBA family, working closely with the league on a wide variety of game-related, marketing and community service initiatives. With the “Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award” the association salutes Tommy Heinsohn for his groundbreaking efforts on behalf of our group.

Popularity: 6% [?]

From CSN today.

COMCAST SPORTSNET’S MANNY BEING MANNY WINS REGIONAL EMMY AWARD

BURLINGTON, MA – Comcast SportsNet, New England’s original regional sports network, was honored with a New England Emmy Award in the Sports One-Time Special category for Manny Being Manny: The Final Days in Boston. The 2009 Emmy is Comcast SportsNet’s 11 Emmy this decade.

Manny Being Manny examined the key moments in Manny Ramirez’s final season as a member of the Red Sox, including his hiring of super agent Scott Boras, the Kevin Youkilis dugout incident, the Jack McCormick clubhouse incident, his no swing at-bat in Yankee Stadium and his mysterious July knee injury.

Honored with Emmys were Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; William Bridgen, executive producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Torey Champagne, producer/editor; TJ Powers, graphics/editor and Tom Guilmette, videographer.

“Manny Being Manny was a special project for Comcast SportsNet and our production team is honored to be recognized with an Emmy Award,” said Bill Bridgen, Comcast SportsNet executive vice president and general manager.

NBC held a noon conference call (Still going on, actually) to officially announce the additions of Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy to their Football Night in America lineup.

Dick Ebersol, the Chairman of NBC Sports and Executive Producer of FNA had the following to say about Harrison:

“Rodney is someone we’ve had our eye on. He is a strong communicator and personality, and our initial thoughts about him were confirmed when he did a terrific job for us at the Super Bowl. We have no doubt that Rodney will be as hard-hitting with his opinions as he was with his body on the football field.

“To paraphrase one of his teammates, ‘Rodney was as blunt with his opinions as he was with this hits.’”

In the call, Harrison talked about his approach to his new job, and the need to be candid. He said that there would be times when he would need to be “brutally honest with guys you played with, guys who are your friends” – he then gave the example of if when the Patriots play the Colts this year, and Tom Brady is not performing, and the talk is that his knee is bothering him, Harrison is going to need to point that out.

If more of interest is said, I’ll try to pass it along. Update: Such as what Harrison said about Peyton Manning.

Popularity: 8% [?]

On Peter Gammons’ ESPN.com blog  (Insider subscription required) on Saturday, he dropped the following tidbit in there right at the end:

Former big league infielder Lou Merloni caused a stir when he mentioned on a Comcast show in Boston that in 2001 a doctor addressed the Red Sox in spring training and suggested that if taken correctly, steroids could be helpful. Merloni has been hammered publicly, and then-GM Dan Duquette denied it. But a former major leaguer who was in camp that spring training corroborated Merloni’s story and says: “I’m not sure of the name of the doctor; he was someone outside the Boston organization. In no way did I think Boston was trying to push steroids; I think they just wanted to educate us on the subject. But you could tell by the faces on the training staff that they didn’t think the doctor would say the things he did.”

Now if someone could just remember this gentleman’s name, or who it was that asked him to come in and speak…

Popularity: 11% [?]

If you missed it on The Baseball Show Saturday on CSN/WEEI, for Red Sox utilityman Lou Merloni talked about a time he was in a team meeting “before this last regime” when the following happened:

(Your best bet with the video is to hit play, then hit pause and let the video load entirely, and then hit play again)

If you can’t play the video, here is the important part of what Merloni said:

There’s a doctor up there and he’s talking about steroids, and everyone was like ‘here we go, we’re gonna sit here and get the whole thing — they’re bad for you.’ No. He spins it and says ‘you know what, if you take steroids and sit on the couch all winter long, you can actually get stronger than someone who works out clean, if you’re going to take steroids, one cycle won’t hurt you, abusing steroids it will.’ He sat there for one hour and told us how to properly use steroids while I’m with the Boston Red Sox, sitting there with the rest of the organization, and after this I said ‘what the heck was that?

If you watch the video, neither Sean McAdam or Steve Buckley immediately follow up on Merloni’s bombshell, Buckley instead tells Merloni he’s on a different topic altogether than what they’re talking about – which was whether it was the owners or the players association that first sounded the alarm about the dangers and entensive use of steroids. Here you had an ex-player say that the team condoned the use of steroids, and there was no real challenge or followup to the statement.

Nick Cafardo posted about the segment on the Extra Bases blog and has Merloni saying that the team never encouraged the players to use steroids, but just told them how to safely use them.

Former GM Dan Duquette is quoted in the post, denying that the incident took place. Cafardo also has Troy O’Leary and another unnamed player from the Red Sox in that era who also does not remember that meeting.

Merloni clarified on Sports Sunday that it was not a Red Sox team doctor that spoke to the club. So who was it?

Popularity: 13% [?]

More ratings updates, this time from Comcast SportsNet. In their last game telecast of the season, CSN ended on a high note, averaging a  new record 10.1 Saturday night with a peak of 16.6. The national networks (TNT, ESPN, ABC) have the remaining games, but CSN will have full pre and post game coverage.

Once again the Comcast telecast out-rated the TNT telecast, with CSN pulling the 10.1 and TNT a 7.2. Putting those together, that’s a hefty 17.3 average rating for the game.

COMCAST SPORTSNET’S CELTICS-BULLS GAME 7 PEAKS NEAR 750,000 HOMES AND SETS NETWORK RECORD WITH 10.1

BURLINGTON, MA – Comcast SportsNet’s Celtics vs. Bulls Game 7 telecast peaked at a 16.6 rating and 730,400 New England homes while averaging a 10.1 rating and 484,000 homes for the entire telecast. Game 7 smashed the 28-year-old regional sports network’s previous record of 8.2 set one game before during the Celtics-Bulls Game 6 telecast.

Game 7 on CSN was the highest rated sports or non-sports rated program of the evening, out-rating both the Kentucky Derby (7.7) on NBC and the Boston Red Sox (8.6) on NESN. CSN’s telecast bested TNT’s telecast which earned a 7.2 rating.

For the series, Comcast SportsNet averaged an estimated 7.3 rating and 321,200 homes in New England. CSN shared all six of its telecasts in market with a national network (4.4 average) and out-performed the national network by 66 percent.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Last night’s Celtics/Bulls triple overtime thriller scored a combined 13.4 rating. Comcast SportsNet scored a very impressive 8.2 rating, while TNT netted 5.2.

As the release below shows, that 8.2 is the highest Celtics rating in CSN network history, going back 28 years.

COMCAST SPORTSNET’S GAME 6 TRIPLE OVERTIME THRILLER NETS 28-YEAR REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORK HIGHEST RATINGS IN HISTORY

Celtics-Bulls First Round Series Up Nearly 10 percent over Celtics-Hawks of 2008

CSN Has Deciding Game 7 Saturday Night Starting at 7 p.m.

BURLINGTON, MA – The Boston Celtics are generating more interest than any time during Comcast SportsNet’s 28-year history. CSN achieved its highest rating in network history during the Celtics-Bulls Game 6 triple overtime thriller with an 8.2 rating. Game 6 reached an estimated 360,800 homes in New England.

Despite sharing each telecast in New England with a national network and the absence of Kevin Garnett, CSN is outperforming last year’s historic playoff run through five telecasts by nearly 10 percent. CSN has averaged a 6.8 hh rating (299,200), which is up 9.6 percent over CSN’s 6.2 playoff average through five Celtics-Hawks telecasts.

During the Celtics-Bulls series, CSN has outperformed the national network by 78 percent 6.8 to 3.8. In game 6, CSN averaged an 8.2 hh (360,800) rating and TNT a 5.2. In Game 5, CSN bested TNT in ratings nearly 2 to 1 with a 6.3 hh rating (277,200) and TNT a 3.3.

Tomorrow night’s deciding game seven will also be shown on Comcast SportsNet, with the schedule as follows:

7 p.m. – Celtics Pre-Game Live with Gary Tanguay and Donny Marshall

8 p.m. – Celtics vs. Bulls with Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn

10:30 p.m. – Celtics Post-Game Live

Popularity: 8% [?]

Comcast SportsNet, New England’s original sports network, earned 10 Emmy nominations from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Boston/New England Chapter, including a 17th consecutive nomination for its Boston Celtics telecasts. Comcast SportsNet’s Celtics telecasts took home the Emmy in the Sporting Event category in 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2008.

Comcast SportsNet’s 10 nominations include:

Sporting Event/Game-live/Unedited

Boston Celtics – Paul Lucey, producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Jim Burgoyne, director of production; Andy Levine, associate producer; Jeff Grice, editor; Mike Gorman, play-by-play; Tommy Heinsohn, analyst; Greg Dickerson, reporter; Donny Marshall, analyst; Barry Alley, videographer and Jim Edmonds, director.

Sports Series (2)

Celtics Now – Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Nate Long, producer; Joe Rolfe, editor; Donny Marshall, host and Laura Behnke, host.

Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Jim Burgoyne, director of production; Jim Aberdale, producer; Koom Lam, producer; Lucy St. Pierre, director; Gary Tanguay, host and Mike Felger, host.

Sports One-Time Special (2)

Manny Being Manny: The Final Days in Boston - Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; William Bridgen, executive producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Torey Champagne, producer/editor; TJ Powers, graphics/editor and Tom Guilmette, videographer.

Drive for 17: Championship Season – Paul Lucey, producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Jim Burgoyne, director of production; Andy Levine, associate producer; Mike Gorman, host and Jeff Grice, editor.

Promotion Program-Campaign

The Network of Champions – Steve Ratner, Executive Producer

Editor Program

2008 NBA Playoffs – Andy Levine

Editor Short Form (Promos/PSA/Commercials)

Comcast SportsNet promos – TJ Powers

Graphics Arts Program

Comcast SportsNet promos – TJ Powers

Graphic Arts Short Turnaround

2008 NBA Playoffs/Celtics Graphics package – TJ Powers

“I commend all our nominees for their hard work and devotion. We are extremely fortunate that the Boston sports scene has been running at full tilt year after year, and these nominations represent hours of work preparing the region’s best coverage,” Bill Bridgen, Comcast SportsNet executive vice president and general manager.

Related: Red Sox Productions Nominated for 7 New England Emmys

Popularity: 8% [?]

The Celtics blowout win in game three of their opening round playoff series scored a strong 10.8 rating combined between Comcast SportsNet and TNT.

CSN picked up 6.8 of that rating number, leaving the remaining 4.0 to TNT.

You can browse notes from the TNT broadcast here.

Popularity: 8% [?]