By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

We know we say it regularly and then never follow through, but we really and truly need to get away from this blog for the sake of our “real life” projects. If I’m doing what I’m supposed to be and progressing as I need to, my visits to these parts will be infrequent.

It’s become apparent in the process of writing my first book that I get too distracted by all things under the Scott’s Shots purview. I have no idea how to break that habit but I know a good place to start will be to put this labor of love I like to call a “sports media column” on the shelf. There’s a lot swirling right now at The Shanty and the bottom line is that I have the opportunity to let book-writing be my full-time job for the next half-year and I don’t want the regret of having a non-revenue generating endeavor (Shots) hinder a family feeder (a motivational book with Memphis basketball coach John Calipari titled “Bounce Back”).

I hope you understand and appreciate your support. A couple a months of solitude and we’ll be back at you before the year evaporates.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

A SHOTS FIELD TRIP TO. . .

This has never been the regular series it should be, but every once in a while Shots does leave Hull and venture into the crowded streets of - and around - Boston. It usually ends poorly with a traffic jam or general bitterness, but sometimes we do discover new and exciting ventures when we venture off-peninsula. On Tuesday of this week, we had just such an opportunity at the offices of YouCastr in Cambridge. Our tour guide was a co-founder of the “The You” and serial start-up guy, Brad Johnson. Regular Shots meanderings follow, so feel free to skim ahead if you’re not into featurey/business story content.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Across Hurley Street, outside the makeshift conference room’s windows at YouCastr headquarters, the building with the Biopure logo on it sits as a cautionary tale for any 21st century start-up. Biopure appears to have stumbled sloppily in chasing what all new ventures covet: financial success.

Brad Johnson, however, is too busy unwrapping a chicken burrito and glancing at his handwritten notes about YouCastr to even think about Biopure. Or the inherent obstacles of standing out in today’s (overly) crowded digital sports media sector.

“You have to have a level of comfort in taking risks in the start-up world,” says Johnson, YouCastr’s co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, who previously founded Intrepid Learning Solutions and has been on the inside with major players like EMC, PepsiCo, Polaroid, and KPMG. “We don’t pretend we’ll be a huge media company. In fact, our dream is to be a part of large media company like Disney or FOX.”

For now though, the angel-funded, small (under 10 person) start-up is still crawling into its walking phase. Already, the YouCastr crew has developed a robust community of both amateur and professional New Media providers and consumers. At present, the nascent site is a conglomeration of 21st century Ham radio operators who are experimenting with broadcasting globally while thinking locally. They exhibit varying degrees of professionalism and entertainment and they mostly do a good job of taking blogging into its 2.0 phase (video, audio and interactivity).

The bulk of the site is currently audio-driven, but there are written elements as well with video on the horizon. With a mix of opinion-based talk-radio-influenced shows and live broadcasts of high school, college and amateur sporting events, YouCastr’s fledgling “community” is offering up original content heretofore unavailable for widespread consumption.

“We’ve had several hundred listeners who tuned in for an American Legion Baseball tournament,” said Johnson, 46 and a native of Jamestown, New York who did undergrad at St. Bonaventure. “And we’ve had smaller numbers for things like a Whiffle ball tournament and some high school football games. (So-called) ‘Olympic sports’ participants at colleges are loving it because they have a way for their fans to follow them when they’re on the road.”

(The site seems perfect for campus radio stations to use for coverage of non-revenue sports created entirely by students at reasonable costs.)

Added up, the numbers will begin to become attractive for advertisers (and/or potential investors in YouCastr), according to Johsnon, because the users are from all over the country and hit a desirable, hard-to-reach demogrpahic (mostly 14-29 year-olds, Johnson indicates). Still in the Beta phase, Johnson said YouCastr is averaging a respectable 30,000 unique users per month.

That number is likely to jump considerably in the coming weeks as video is incorporated and the chance for live video streams from users becomes available. Already, the audio format is simple-to-use for even novice podcasters and the video offerings will be similar, according to Johnson. In some ways, YouCastr is creating a live-version of YouTube with an emphasis on sports. Although, as Johnson admits, “it translates into all sort of news coverage, entertainment, politics.”

Instead of having 10,000 people listen to one broadcast or show, Johsnon says YouCastr is looking to offer thousands of options to niche audiences. In September, YouCastr had 1,200 broadcasts, Johnson says.

“We had a grandmother from Hawaii write in to thank us for allowing her to listen to her daughter’s softball game from the University of Alabama.”

The concept for YouCastr was conceived, according to Johnson, on the Back Bay roof deck of co-founder Ariel Diaz. “We’d bring a white board up there and just write down ideas of what we thought it could be,” said Johsnon. “There are a lot of broadcasters that bring an event to thousands of people. We realized that what no one was doing was bring a thousand different things to a hundred people each.”

The broadcasts incorporate the ability to chat with users, conduct polls and, for purposes of sports talk shows, accept callers. There are logical extensions being incorporated for hand-held device usage. “One group of our broadcasters have already come together and they have basically created a “station” with regular time slots, cross-promotion and crossover banter,” says Johsnon, “just like a talk radio station would have.” YouCastr has also forged deals to livestream existing radio stations’ content, including that of 890 ESPN, an early signee that helped shape what YouCastr could best provide for commercial stations.

“I didn’t realize how quickly and (virally) the community would spring up,” says Johnson.

That community is expanding with an army of foot soldiers being assembled on college campuses to help spread the gospel of YouCastr through giveaways and buzz-creation. “It’s a good way to put feet on the street at a low cost,” says Johnson. “We’re all over Facebook, MySpace, Twitter - that’s how our users communicate and that’s where we have to be (telling our story).”

It’s a story that Johnson hopes won’t include the travails of its across-the-street neighbor in Start-upVille.

• The tireless and incomparable Michael David Smith picked up on some irresponsible accusations from Angry Michael Wilbon on Thursday’s “Pardon the Interruption.” Shots too was taken aback by the Wilby Words.

We get the feeling that the between-segments “bumper” between Wilby and on-satellite Dan Le Batard wasn’t meant for audio. These are some of the most damning words Wilbon uttered (taken from MDS’s transcription and copacetic with what Shots heard as we were in the backyard in listen-only mode for the segment).

“I don’t know what Kimbo’s ties are,” Wilbon said. “Kimbo still could have taken a dive while others are trying to prop him up. He could have gotten paid.”

His “ties?” That’s not a very nice word to be insinuating about an event that, in one night, had at least the same amount of viewers as the average MLB division series number on TBS (4.3 million).

“Ties” suggest something untoward (as does the fix discussion Wilbon initiated, of course) and without substantiated evidence, Wilbon is treading very lightly on some serious legal grounds. he certainly wouldn’t make such claims about the NHL or, shudder at the thought, the Arena Football League.

Reached via email on Thursday night ESPN spokesman, Mike Soltys, said, “PTI has been doing something different the past month with little segments in the middle of commercial breaks that have the appearance of being accidental look-ins, but (are) all planned. I didn’t see show, but I assume that is what happened.”

. . . Kimbo and Wilby on CBS for the next installment? Might make for a better match than a rematch with the Smoothie King. Might have to rename Wilbon “Mimbo” for the evening.

. . . Sure sounds like a better investment to do an EliteXC event for short money and grab an audience comparable to one of America’s Three Major Sports, right? Elite is actually the poor man’s version of the industry standard, UFC, and its Boston-connected president, Dana White.

. . . Good work by the Herald’s Dan Duggan to get White on the record on Wednesday.

. . . How about old WWZN 1510 AM friend Jon Anik making his mark on ESPN’s MMA show? Anik certainly never got his due in this market as the video confirms.

. . . Lot of MMA talk out there if you’d like a crash course.

• Am I the only one laughing out loud at HBO’s new “Life and Times of Tim?” Not to mention I’m in love with his cartoon girlfriend Amy (yep, a new low for Shots - Cartoon Girl crush). Best I can tell, Tim is a cross between Ray Romano and Jerry Seinfeld. Oh, and Tom Werner is an executive producer, so you’ll be supporting Red Sox Nation by watching.

Trust me on this one. Sunday nights.

• There’s just no need for the three man booth we’ll be getting from TBS for the ALDS [Chip Caray (play-by-play), Ron Darling (analyst), Buck Martinez (analyst) and Craig Sager (reporter)]. Darling and Martinez are equally unimpressive and to try and create one full color analyst out of two halves is a waste of air time. Caray has been underwhelming for the most part and there’s not one iota of homerism when we tell you that Don Orsillo is very close to meriting the Caray role. Very close.

Ernie Johnson has been his usual stellar self in-studio (although you just know he misses Kenny and Charles) and Dennis Eckersley has again proven he’s a National guy with a capital “N.” ESPN really should make another run at The Eck and figure out a way to use him - even if he doesn’t want to go Bristol all the time.

. . . Outdoor pre-season hoops with Charles however could be worth a looksie.

• My goodness, Lou Merloni has really burst on the scene, hasn’t he? Framingham Lou went toe-to-toe with Basketball Bob Ryan on “Globe 10.0″ this week and Lou-Lou held his own across all sports.

. . . Brian Daubach on the other hand, not so good in his WEEI 850 AM shifts.

• Comcast SportsNet announced on Thursday that Tommy Heinsohn will work zero road games this season for the first time in 28 years. In addition, Shots has confirmed that the network’s nine-year relationship with add-in color commentator Bob Cousy has ended. Cousy had averaged about ten games per year for CSN, according to a spokesman for the regional network.

Heinsohn will continue to do color commentary for home Celts’ games alongside Mike Gorman and Heinsohn will provide in-studio analysis for road games, alongside Gary Tanguay. Donny Marshall gets color duty for the full slate of CSN’s road games and Greg Dickerson continues as sideline reporter for both home and away contests.

. . . CSN is also boasting “new in-game graphics, including a new logo; new in-game scoreboard; and new in-game animation. During every Comcast SportsNet Celtics telecast, fans can chat with Comcast SportsNet talent . . . during the game via ComcastSportsNet.com.”

. . . Shots has confirmed that Marshall will not return to the network’s “Celtics Now” weekly, in-season magazine show and that a sole, male host will fill the role previously held by Marshall and Laura Behnke (who left the market, see below). The as-yet-named replacement is from outside the network, Shots is told.

• Behnke is now a few months into her stint at WNTV, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco, and in an email correspondence with Shots reported that things are going well on the Left Coast.

“It’s been interesting so far, but I must admit I do miss many things about Boston, especially the sports passion,” said Behnke, who shone brightly in her NECN and CSN time in Beantown, even making a smooth transition into fill-in duty at WEEI 850 AM. “I still keep a close eye on the New England teams, and had a great time covering the 49ers/Patriots game last Sunday.”

Behnke said she was on Lane Kiffin Watch the past month or so in addition to her sports anchor duties and added that she is learning how to navigate her way through Candlestick Park and McAfee Coliseum.

“This is a much more laid back market, something I’m definitely not used to,” said Behnke. “Bottom line, so far, so good in San Francisco; though part of me will always be in Boston.”

• The Boston Globe’s “OT Magazine” has made its first major mistake by bringing aboard ex-WBZ-TV sports anchor Bob Lobel as a columnist. Lobel - who has incredibly managed to land a morning radio gig - lost all credibility (or what remained of his cred) when he overinflated and mis-reported some Manny matters in July. Now, upstart ‘OT’ brings Lobel aboard and immediately gets demerits for such a useless addition. Name recognition is one thing, one trick ponies are quite another. We have no problem with a responsible and credible contributor like Tom Caron for ‘OT’, but why on earth would a “new” publication with a group of fresh voices go for the such a trite cliche of Boston’s sports media past.

• Monday night’s ALDS celebration once again brought out the worst in local sports anchors from Fenway. Between the giddy screaming of NECN’s Chris Collins and the over-the-top fawning of everything Red and Sox from WHDH Channel 7’s Joe Amorosino it was enough to force all sane-thinking viewers over to Channel 4, which had the good sense (or lack of resources) to go with its regularly scheduled programming of David Letterman at 11:30. (Not surprisingly , Dan Roche got some of the best stuff from the post-game, which ran fresh during Monday’s evening news broadcasts). NESN did a pretty solid job of mixing in analysis and interviews, even utilizing Framingham Lou on-field with Kathryn Tappen (while Heidi Watney once again was relegated to soaking clubhouse duty).

• Lastly, we know we say it regularly and then never follow through, but we really and truly need to get away from this blog for the sake of our “real life” projects. If I’m doing what I’m supposed to be and progressing as I need to, my visits to these parts will be infrequent. I hope you understand and appreciate your support. A couple a months of solitude and we’ll be back at you before the year evaporates.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

The developing East Coast-West Coast feud between Boston’s Gerry Callahan (WEEI 850 AM and the Boston Herald) and Los Angeles’ T.J. Simers (LA Times) is starting to provide a nice sideshow to the Sox-Angels series.

Catch yourself up on the Manny Ramirez-fueled matter here and then check out this Thursday afternoon rebuttal from Callahan (after a request for comment from Shots):

“T.J. is like that friend in junior high who meets his first girlfriend and loses his mind,” Callahan said through email. “I liked him a lot better before he fell in love.”

There’s no record of a Simers-Ramirez couple registered at Williams-Sonoma as of yet, so we are going to state the obvious and say, “The ball is now in the court of Mr. Simers.”

. . . Just do a search of Simers to absorb the pure showmanship he constantly wields.

. . . And how about his complete takedown of the Herald, which he calls a “shopper.”

That’s journalistic trash talk of the highest order.

• Local live-blogging of games has been elevated to a new level with the WEEI.com Game Day blog and especially the yeoman’s work of Alex Speier on Wednesday night. Not merely a play-by-play re-hash of what everyone is watching at home, the GDB offers insight, analysis and pithy humor - exactly what live-blogging should and can be. Tony Massarotti just isn’t there yet and we suspect Mazz would admit as much.

We’re also of the opinion that live-blogging needs to be done with the fabulous CoverItLive web-based software and word is that WEEI.com (and at least one other entity in the market) have been experimenting off-line with it.

. . . Speaking of WEEI.com, the Will Leitch experiment is apparently going very well for the Entercom dot-commers. Leitch will add an every-other-week mailbag to his every-other-week Outsider column, giving him a weekly presence for the site.

. . . The dot-com also confirmed three other new contributors who have already started:

“WEEI.com has added Woburn Daily Times Chronicle sports writer Joe Haggerty to report on the Boston Bruins, while HOOPSWORLD Senior Reporter Jessica Camerato and Boston magazine Online Editor Paul Flannery will join FOXSPORTS.com’s Jeff Goodman in covering the Boston Celtics,” WEEI.com said in a release.

“We’ve compiled a first-rate collection of reporters to cover Celtics and Bruins at WEEI.com,” Editor Rob Bradford said. “With these talented additions, as well as our current staff, I feel that WEEI.com will be a must-read website for any Celtics and Bruins fan.”

• The “Borges Countdown” being run by the Herald this week has been a bit laughable. At a real tabloid, the marketing people would be going bonkers over The Bully arriving at Wingo Way. But at the teetering Herald, all the buzz-creation has to be done by editorial and it amounts to a one-inch box trumpeting the days until Borges’s debut.

Sure would make us feel a lot better if the editorial side were a bit more forthcoming about Borges’s immediate past and a little less smug about adding the provocateur.

• Shots is being told to expect a smaller cut size for the Boston Herald once its printing completely shifts out of the current set-up. It will likely be closer to the relatively new size of the New York Post, we’re told - about a full-inch smaller. The re-shaping of the Herald means even less space for printed content which should, in turn, mean more electronic content (if transitioned properly).

. . . Sean McAdam should be starting up with the Herald any day now and you can expect his re-emergence on radio to follow shortly thereafter.

• CORRECTION: Last week we mentioned that Mark Cofman is editing OT magazine and sloppily reported he was a lecturer at Emerson College. Cofman is actually teaching at Endicott College, but reports to Shots that his class load is significantly diminished now that he is heading up OT.

Shots regrets the error but not as much as the Globe regretted its Kevin O’Connell error from last Sunday. Tough week for the section overall, it appears.

Cofman is a 1979 graduate of Emerson and he is a former Herald sportswriter, who covered UMass basketball back in the days when Shots was a little tyke running around Boyden making copies and inhaling chlorine.

• There is already one substantive reason to give ESPN Original Digital’s Mayne Street a shot and her name is Alison Becker (playing the role of producer Sarah). Scott Van Pelt was pretty damn good in the episode we screened as well and kooky Kenny Mayne has always been a huge talent in our eyes.

See for yourself:

• Ashamed that we missed this one: Ex-CN8 host and reporter Phil Burton (of the famous Burton family) has left the Boston market and landed in Orlando with the ABC affiliate. Burton was one of the nicest, most down-to-earth guys in Boston’s electronic sports media and we wish him all the best down South.

• Time to shed a tear for the no-longer-running I.M. Bettor from the Herald. Insiders say that Bettor’s bad results over last few seasons, coupled with a dearth of freelance money in the budget, sealed the Bettor’s fate.

• The New Hampshire Union Leader welcomed a new Patriots writer and Boston sports correspondent this week in Brian MacPherson. The North Carolina grad is an Exeter, N.H., native and for the past two years had been covering Division II football and basketball for the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times. Prior to that, MacPherson worked as a Pulliam Fellow at the Arizona Republic and as a reporting intern at Sports Illustrated. His work in St. Cloud earned him the 2007 New Journalist of the Year award from the Minnesota Associated Press Association.

“Alex Speier did terrific work during five seasons reporting on the Sox for us, and Ian Clark, who remains an invaluable member of our Sports staff, has provided excellent coverage of the Patriots for more than seven years,” said UL Deputy Managing Editor-Sunday and Sports Vin Sylvia. “Providing quality coverage of both beats will be a challenge, no doubt, but Brian is extremely talented and hard-working, and I’m certain he’s up to the task.”

Clark will continue to file a weekly Patriots report card while taking on additional reporting duties for the paper, according to Sylvia.

• Old friend and Salem State grad Paul Biancardi has landed a very promising gig at the Worldwide Leader as the National Director of Recruiting for ESPN Basketball. Biancardi, now living in Charlotte, will get some air time on select high school and college games, where he will surely excel with his engaging personality and deep knowledge of all levels of the game.

• Happy 20th birthday to one of our favorite shows of all-time, ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters.” Joining John Saunders on this week’s show will be Mitch Albom, Mike Lupica and our own Basketball Bob Ryan. In fact, the very first show in 1988 (with Gary Thorne hosting) included ex-Globie Jackie MacMullan on the panel.

“We were the first sports show with this format – respected journalists addressing the major national stories,” says the show’s executive producer, Joe Valerio. “There’s no agenda. The strength of the show is our unbiased view. We don’t root for teams; we root for good stories.”

Mostly we just root for Lupica not to be part of the panel - sadly he gets a LOT of reps.

• The Duxbury (Mass.) DPW hard at work, in conjunction with the Duxbury’s Clipper’s publisher.

• Pete Thamel strikes again for the New York Times. While the Globe is busy cornering the market on Lifetime stories, the Big Daddy NYT actually does some dirt digging.

• TBS completely missed the boat with no live shots or split screens from Milwaukee as the Mets finished off their collapse on Sunday afternoon. Half the story was the fact that the Brew Crew was on the verge of the playoffs and TBS completely fumbled that portion of the drama.

. . . And what’s with the no sport coat thing for Ernie, Eck and Cal on Tuesday night?

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

In what has to be one of the more humorous apologies in Boston Globe history, the paper today apologized for a photo in Sunday’s paper that depicted Patriots’ back-up quarterback Kevin O’Connell throwing a pass in practice.

The apology (third item in “For the Record”) reads:

Editor’s note: A photo on Page C6 in Sunday’s Sports section showed Patriots rookie quarterback Kevin O’Connell wearing a wristband with inappropriate language written on it. The photo did not meet the Globe’s journalistic standards and should not have been published.

Careful inspection of the Barry Chin-shot photo reveals a sticker on O’Connell’s left wrist (over his play-call wristband) that reads, “My dick is tiny too!”

Adding to the regrettable photo was the caption: “The Patriots are refining Kevin O’Connell’s mechanics, but they believe he has the tools to be a top-flight quarterback.”

A copy of the photo can not be found on-line, but if you have your Sunday Globe handy, it’s readily viewable in the upper left corner of Page C6.

• Shots has three upcoming TV appearances if you’re so inclined to watch:

Wednesday, October 1 - NECN morning show, 7:45 a.m. hit (approx.)
Thursday, October 2 - CN8’s 7 p.m. “Out of Bounds”
Friday, October 3 - CN8’s 11:30 p.m. “Out of Bounds”

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Long-time Providence Journal writer Sean McAdam is headed north on 95 to become a baseball columnist and writer for the Boston Herald.

Early Thursday afternoon, McAdam confirmed to Scott’s Shots that “[he and the Herald] are talking, but nothing is in place.” That changed later in the day and a memo confirming the departure was sent to ProJo staffers late Thursday afternoon. A separate source close to the negotiations also confirmed to Shots that McAdam will be on the Herald staff, possibly as soon as the start of the playoffs.

McAdam could not be reached for comment on Thursday night, as of post time.

Sources have confirmed to Shots that McAdam has been looking for new employment after the ProJo squashed McAdam’s outside work at WEEI 850 AM and ESPN.com over the summer. At least one upper management ProJoer, Shots is told by industry sources, found fault in McAdam being on-air at WEEI during the afternoon drive on baseball’s trade deadline day. That person - not directly associated with the sports department - evidently had a problem with where McAdam’s allegiance rested and subsequently put the kibosh on McAdam’s outside gigs (the very same gigs that provided exposure for the buzzless, sagging Belo Corp. property).

(McAdam’s last ESPN.com column appeared in early August and that coincided with his last WEEI appearance. There has also been a dearth of McAdam at other outside media outlets in the area, although he did remain a guest at Comcast SportsNet.)

In fact, the day after the trade deadline, an ESPN ticker item was giving credit to the ProJo (thanks to McAdam) for information about veteran players meeting with Sox management over the Manny situation. The amount of traffic that kind of mention (and others) can generate for a website is substantial. It’s the ProJo’s fault for not maximizing McAdam - not McAdam’s fault for earning some extra income the same way most of his competitors do.

McAdam, a father of two, who turns 49 in November, has been with the ProJo company since the early 1980s (first, in a radio role) after he graduated from Providence College (Class of 1981). (Scroll down here for a good bio on McAdam from his off-off-Broadway gig of a couple of summers back.) He’s been on the Sox beat since 1989 and is one of the most-respected (and connected) baseball men on the East Coast.

If the reason for his pending departure from the ProJo is because some tyrannical, Stuffed Suit doesn’t understand the inherent benefits of multi-media-platform guys like McAdam, then it’s probably time to start digging the grave for that paper’s sports section - if not the entire operation.

. . . The Herald, Shots has been informed, has no problem with McAdam’s WEEI work or his contributions to ESPN.com. “They’re fine with it as long as he keeps his first allegiance to the Herald,” said one source with direct knowledge, “the way he did all those years for the ProJo.”

. . . The move to the Herald for McAdam makes sports editor Hank Hryniewicz 2-for-2 on his replacements for the Goodbye Four (Mike Felger, Rob Bradford, Tony Massarotti and Jeff Horrigan).

Earlier in the week Hank Herald tapped lightning rod Ron Borges, who was born to write for a tabloid, and now he nabs McAdam, whose breadth and depth on the Sox certainly offsets the Tony Mazz loss (who, by the way, may be most valuable for the Globies on the TV side). McAdam will take over the baseball notes column and also have some type of web presence for the Herald.

Hryniewicz still has one more slot to fill and Shots is told by several informed insiders that a New York tabloid baseball writer is in the lead for that slot. However, there is still a movement afoot on Hank Herald’s desk to go with a football specialist and move John Tomase off the Patriots and back to the Sox. That hire should be made in the coming week.

The key now for Hryniewicz will be maximizing the content delivered by both McAdam and Borges to prop up the sagging Sports section of BostonHerald.com. Neither Borges (at least at his own personal blog) nor McAdam (at the ProJo) have been what you would call “prolific” bloggers. But both are surely capable of breaking stories through the Internet and reacting with voice and authority when stories are broken. Problem is, the Herald’s website has shown little in terms of audio and video content on the Sports side, leading many to surmise they don’t have the manpower to fully implement such rudimentary Web accessories.

But make no mistake, the success of these hires will be determined on the Web page, NOT the printed page.

. . . The “McBrothers”, Joe McDonald of the ProJo and Kevin McNamara will probably be leaned on a bit more to make up for the missing McAdam coverage by ProJo sports editor, Art Martone. Martone has now lost Tom Curran and McAdam - two of his stalwarts - in the course of 24 months. It’s quite possible there won’t be a McAdam replacement made until late Winter, Shots is told.

• Heck of a Thursday night football game for ESPN. Jacked, pumped and totally blindsided. If only college football mattered around here.

• The Herald trumpeted its hiring of Borges as a general sports columnist with an eight paragraph announcement on Page 68 of Wednesday’s paper with quotes welcoming Borges from both Hank Hryniewicz and the paper’s editor, Kevin R. Convey.

However, neither of those veteran, grizzled journalists addressed plagiarism charges leveled against the ex-Boston Globe writer by his former employer.

Instead, the un-bylined announcement/celebration touted Borges for his “in-your-face coverage” that has both “entertained and aggravated” - they seem to have omitted “ethically violated a peer” - “local fans for almost 25 years. . . ”

An email to Hryniewicz on Wednesday afternoon seeking comment on Borges’ past plagiaristic ways was not returned. The email requested comment from either Hryniewicz or Convey.

Convey, who recently whistled in the wind about a sacred bond between the Herald and its readers in the wake of the embarrassing John Tomase affair, crowed in the Wednesday announcement that, “Borges’ arrival is one more reason why the Herald’s sports coverage is a must-read in this town. I’m looking forward to having him on the staff and watching him shake things up.”

Hryniewicz gushed, “I’m thrilled to have him on our team. . .what intrigues me most about adding him to our staff is the idea of turning Ron loose on this town and giving readers a dose of his unique take on the local sports scene.”

According to the announcement, Borges will start writing for the Wingo Waywards from San Francisco for Pats/Niners next weekend.

. . . The Herald was never overly hard on Borges during his tribulations at the Globe. But it was fairly diligent in following up. And, of course, Borges’s new bully teammate, Howie Carr, took a nice swipe at the time of the suspension. This is from Carr’s March 16, 2007 column, titled “Pols’ St. Pat’s time nothing to laugh at”:

. . . It’s sad, though, that none of these hacks who’ll trek to the Convention Center on Sunday can write their own lame stuff anymore. And by the way, if any of my material sounds familiar, take it up with my joke writer, the Globe’s Ron Borges. He has assured me everything came off a joke Web site that everybody has a right to steal from. . .

. . . We’re still waiting to hear if Herald part-timer and Cold, Hard man Kerry J. Byrne will be at the “Welcome to the Building” party for Borges.

. . . Borges will likely be asked to give the Herald some boxing coverage - and every tabloid worth its weight needs outlandish coverage of the outlandish sport - but it better keep a close eye on who and whom, Borges is still in cahoots with.

EVERYTHING that Borges does needs to pass the smell test in order for Hank Herald’s (and Kevin R. Convey’s) risk to pay off.

• As with all start-ups, we are willing to give the Boston Globe’s new weekly sports offering, OT some time to crawl before it walks.

Still, for the sake of maintaining my cranky ways, there have already been three noticeable missteps:

1. How about NO BUZZ whatsoever? Shouldn’t NESN have been promo-ing the bejeezus out of this launch? I mean, the inventory is there during the games, wouldn’t you think? What’s one more product for Jerry Remy to read? Were there any Globe in-house ads?

That wouldn’t have even taken an investment. [This leads to the bigger question of branding. It would have been a lot more sensible to name the magazine "Globe 10.0" and tie it in directly with the Bob Ryan show and maximize the year-plus already invested into "10.0" - which, by the way has OT's Charlie Pierce as a regular foil for Ryan. Now, OT could be part of a larger plan with expansion in other cities, but still, the "10.0" brand has already developed some cache here and it would have made sense to leverage that.]

2. (Bruce Allen pointed this out already, but it bears repeating:) The line about Sports Illustrated from the Globe’s Jay Fogarty in the Thursday story about the launch. What did he even mean? There shouldn’t be a single new media venture that tries to emulate SI because SI doesn’t even know what it is right now. Fogarty needed to emphasis the additional avenue that OT gives advertisers to get into people’s homes - and stay there for a week. The Globe’s ability to package its print and digital offerings is what will ultimately decide whether “OT” has a sudden death or a long life.

The only thing SI is these days is very thin and very disheveled - with a readership that is dying off or jumping ship to the Internet. Is that what Fogarty wants? Doesn’t sound like the best business model to me.

. . . (I knew the name sounded familiar and there’s good reason. I used to contribute to a magazine named OT. Failed miserably as I recall. But that happens with just about every place I’m at. Trend? I think not.)

3. Competing with thyself. How many different sections of the Boston.com site can Chad Finn appear on? When someone asks me if I read Finn today, I am going to have say “Which one?” There’s a point of diminishing returns with over-content and the Globe is now perilously close to that point.

. . . ON THE OTHER HAND - the early staff roster for editor (and ex-Herald writer and current Emerson lecturer) (NOTE: Cofman is actually lecturing at Endicott College - although he did graduate from Emerson in 1979) Mark Cofman is very strong. I’ll probably plunk down two quarters just to read Charlie Pierce (he of the 120 somewhat-related comments in his first offering), Tony Mazz and Finn. But the supporting cast includes ever-steady and under-appreciated Maureen Mullen, Celts’ stalwart Scott Souza, Tom Wilcox on the Patriots and a newbie Umie with whole lot of Kevin Cullen’s pluck in him, Danny Picard on the Bruins.

That right there is a solid justification for $26 bucks a year (assuming they go every week through holidays). Everything else is gravy.

So it’s priced right and the bylines are respectable.

Now let’s see what it can deliver as far as content, originality and - this is where it all shakes down - ad revenue.

. . . We were able to catch up with Souza on Thursday and he indicated by email that he will maintain his full-time role at Gatehouse Media’s MetroWest Daily News and the Daily News Tribune of Waltham (the latter of which he has been the sports editor for since 1999) as well as with the rest of those papers.

“One of the editors of (”OT”) was apparently a fan of the way I have covered the team the past three years and emailed me about the chance to write a weekly notebook and occasional feature for (the magazine),” Souza said. “With the volume of sports copy floating around out there these days, it was nice to be noticed. The folks here thankfully understood that it wouldn’t affect the amount of effort I dedicate to both the Celtics and local sports coverage I provide at Gatehouse.

“I was most impressed at the concept of trying a new print publication in this media climate. With all the bad news that comes out of the industry these days, it is intriguing to be a part of something aiming to buck the trend,” he said. “Hopefully, any success it enjoys will be a positive sign for print publications in general, which I have always felt still have a rightful place in the media environment even with all the advances and benefits of Web reporting and blogs. . .The editors seemed very upbeat about the potential to tap into a different demographic and it would be satisfying to play a small part in helping them do that.

“In a way, the idea of it reminded me of the very impressive publication Jerry Spar used to produce at Boston Sports Review, which I know you were involved with . . . Hopefully, with the corporate backing this will have the legs to keep going.”

RIP, BSR. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

• Been following the YouCastr evolution and the Paul Shirley show may be the first development that keeps us coming back for the foreseeable future. Dude’s funny and irreverent and we did enjoy the book version.

• Rob Bradford confirmed to Shots that WEEI.com’s Celtics coverage will be anchored by contributors Jessica Camerato and Boston Magazine’s Paul Flannery.

• An experiment in sports blogging with the PawSox.

• The movie, “American Pastime” will air on ESPN Classic this Friday night at 9 p.m. ET. Kerry Yo Nakagawa is a big Sox fan and was the associate producer for the film (in addition to having a cameo role). Compelling story indeed.

• Sounds like the return game for this one could be headed to the Boston Garden. That would be very sweet, indeed. And we’re guessing the Tigers will sneak in a meal at Coach Calipari’s new-found North End favorite, Pizzeria Regina.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Scott’s Shots has confirmed that longtime Providence Journal baseball man, Sean McAdam is leaving the paper to join the staff at the Boston Herald. ProJo staffers were informed of the move this afternoon.

McAdam has been on staff at the ProJo since 1985 and on the Red Sox beat since 1989. He was born in Lowell, grew up in Chelmsford and is a 1977 graduate of Chelmsford High School. He graduated from Providence College in 1981 with a PoliSci degree.

Scott’s Shots will have much more on the move in Friday’s regularly scheduled edition, so please check back.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Instant Patriots legend Troy Brown is out of football and into the Comcast SportsNet studio, according to a release from the regional sports network. Brown enters a crowded marketplace for ex-players and will need to be sharp from the outset with probing and prodding Mike Felger on his wing.

Debut is tonight at 10 p.m. on CSN (put that DVR to work, folks. BIG night of boobtube):

VERSATILE FORMER PATRIOT AND THREE TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION TROY BROWN
JOINS COMCAST SPORTSNET AS NFL ANALYST

15-Year-Veteran Paired with Gary Tanguay and Michael Felger on Mohegan
Sun Sports Tonight

BURLINGTON, MA - Selected in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL draft,
Troy Brown proved to be Mr. Versatility during his 15 prosperous years
as a New England Patriots wide receiver, return man and part-time
defensive back. Comcast SportsNet will rely on his high football IQ to
provide unmatched local NFL analysis.

Brown, 36, joins the Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight program which airs
Monday through Friday live, twice-a-night at 6:30 and 10 p.m. In
addition to his in-studio work, Brown will focus on feature pieces from
Gillette Stadium involving the Patriots and its players during the week.
Brown will make his first appearance tonight at 10 p.m.

“I have been asked to do many things during my football career and I
believe that my experience in all facets of the game will provide a
great foundation for providing what I hope to be expert analysis on the
team,” said Brown. “It feels like my rookie year all over again. I look
forward to the challenge as I embark on this new career and as I
continue my fifteen year relationship with this great community and
team.”

“Troy Brown is a great addition to Comcast SportsNet’s Patriots
coverage. Given his on-field versatility, there is perhaps no former
player more qualified to provide the type of insight and analysis that
fans covet,” said Bill Bridgen, Comcast SportsNet executive vice
president and general manager.

(BOILERPLATE PORTION ABOUT COMCAST CORP. NOT INCLUDED)

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

WEEI.com editor Rob Bradford has confirmed to Scott’s Shots that part-timer Ron Borges is leaving the site for a full-time gig at the Boston Herald.

When reached on his cell phone Tuesday night in the 7 p.m. hour, Borges hung up on me after I identified myself. I took that as a classless way of saying “no comment.”

But Bradford indicated Borges would be done with WEEI.com on or about October 3 and that it is likely Borges will be writing for the Herald when the Patriots return from the bye week in San Francisco.

“The Herald is getting a guy who is being read and I have the numbers to prove it,” said Bradford, who declined to be specific on page views. “He was living up to the investment we made in him. I would encourage anyone to go back and look at the 14 (pieces) he has done for us (so far) and they will see exactly the reasons we hired Ron: (among them were) his NFL sources, his strong voice and his writing.”

Bradford said he has no regrets in what turns out to be a month-long rental of the former Boston Globe writer who “retired” after his suspension from that paper for what the Globe termed plagiarism.

Since then, Borges has been on a road to redemption with frequent, paid TV spots and several writing gigs, in addition to a weak attempt at personal blogging. His short, but effective stint at WEEI.com may have helped remind locals what “Good Ron Borges” can offer in terms of expertise and insight. It’s the “Evil Ron Borges” that adds the intrigue to the whole package.

“That was a defining moment in getting Ron and it gave us some momentum that we haven’t relinquished,” Bradford said. “We are grateful to Ron for what he did for us and I think he was grateful for the (opportunity). What he did for us, I think, helped his position in the eyes of the marketplace and that’s good for him.”

It’s unclear whether the move will wind up being good for the Boston Herald and sports editor Hank Hryniewicz. The hire comes at a pivotal time for the scrappy tabloid, especially on the sports desk where recent defections have left the ranks of Hank’s Heroes very thin. Beyond the personnel losses, the Borges hire signifies a calculated risk by Hryniewicz, who finds himself only four months removed from the mid-May maelstrom over the John Tomase matter.

With Tomase and Borges on his staff, Hank Herald now holds two of the most notorious sportswriters in the city’s history on his roster. In reality, it amounts to a cross-highway trade of Borges for Tony Massarotti - a swap that would seem to favor the Globe.

The falling dominoes were set in motion over the course of the summer as the Herald lost valued contributors Bradford (WEEI.com), Massarotti (Globe), Mike Felger (WEEI) and Jeff Horrigan (lifestyle change). Hank Herald is in the process of filling three vacant spots and Borges appears to be the first move that has been locked down, with the two other spots likely going to baseball writers.

Last week, Hryniewicz told Shots in an email that he would have “no comment on any ongoing interviews or negotiations. I will say, however, that I continue to speak with a number of impressive candidates for the three positions and I am quite pleased with the quality of the individuals who have shown an interest in coming to work for the Boston Herald.”

Bradford said he knew there was a possibility that a full time offer would woo Borges away from Entercom’s fledgling webiste, “but it was still a good move for us and for Ron. I told him, ‘I’m happy for you and I’m also happy for Hank and the Herald.”

. . . It’s also unclear how the new job will affect Borges’s other multi-media affiliations. He currently averages about two nights per week on the CN8 7 p.m. edition of “Out of Bounds.” [Disclaimer: Shots also appears on that and the 11:30 p.m. OOB.] But Borges - who will likely be traveling more in his Herald role - also recently appeared on Comcast SportsNet and those appearances likely require less time at a similar payscale to the CN8 spots. Alliances such as the one with Golden Boy Promotions would clearly have to cease if, in fact, they are still in place (as they appear to be according to Dan Rafael). Other part-time gigs would also likely be out for Borges per terms of his Herald deal.

. . . Bradford has already begun the process of filling the soon-to-be vacant Borges spot and said “there is no shortage” of candidates. He also indicated the site is close to filling two part-time Celtics slots after having already posted some of new Bruins’ contributor, Joe Haggerty.

. . . Not sure if we should expect a “Welcome to the Paperhood” note from Kerry J. Byrne or not?

• SHOTS’ INSTANT ANALYSIS OF THE BORGES HIRE:

Bradford is right. The Herald is getting a voice. But at what cost?

Borges is both polarizing and abrasive - two traits that usually make for excellent tabloid journalism. But he’s also never fully explained his departure from the Globe and the lingering questions are something Hryniewicz needs to have answered before Borges can effectively do his job. The Tomase situation was handled with some very sloppy direction from above which makes it imperative for the re-birth of Borges at Wingo Way to be handled with glasnost and transparency by ALL involved.

I don’t want to get too personal on this assessment of Borges, but I do thing his reaction to my Tuesday call is quite telling. How hard is a “no comment” or an “I’m not talking to you,” instead of simply hanging up?

There’s no question I have been critical of the former Broadsheet Bully (turned Tabloid Tyrant), but I have also made every attempt to balance my coverage of Borges since his odd separation from the Globe. When his Brady scoop from earlier in the month happened, I - and others - gave Borges credit. When he started a personal blog and infrequently updated it, I called him out on it. When it was apparent that Borges was in cahoots with Oscar De La Hoya, I pointed it out. And when WEEI.com hired him, I gave both the pros and cons of such a move. In other words, I’ve covered Borges the way he covers his subjects.

Would I hire Ron Borges if I were Hank Herald. Probably not. But maybe that’s because I don’t know Ron’s side of things from the plagiarism examples that were unearthed while he was at the Globe. He once suggested that the Lord would have a role in dispersing the true story, but as of yet the Almighty has not deemed it a worthy topic. Perhaps He should.

There is, as a trusted reader reminded me recently, only one mortal sin in the business of professional journalism and that is the act of plagiarism. Even if the industry has long forgotten that tenet (Witness: Barnicle, Mike; Davis, Ken; et al), it is still the duty of reputable news organizations to have the decency to ensure readers that the highest level of journalism is being practiced. If there is someone on staff who has had blemishes on his past works, it would seem only proper that those blemishes be addressed before the writer begins earnestly trying to gain our trust again.

Especially at a paper where the “bond” of trust is so valued.

• The Papelbon-fueled post-game celebration from Fenway on Tuesday night gave a telling glimpse into how the NESN people are considering using their sideline talent as the season wends into October. Using both Heidi Watney and Kathryn Tappen for post-game reaction, the network leaned much more heavily on the more polished Tappen for interviews (including Terry Francona’s). Watney was caught unprepared with follow-up questions several times (with a very patient Theo Epstein once) and was clearly asked by a producer to fall back on the catch-all “greatest memory of the season” question.

It’s worth monitoring who NESN sends on the road with the Sox in the playoffs as it might behoove the in-house network of the team to have a more seasoned and ready reporter (Tappen) under the pressure of post-season pre- and post-game duties.

. . . “It never gets old,” but then again, it gets old pretty quickly. I mean really, WHAT have they accomplished? I hate to be cranky, but it’s just a little too much champagne spraying for September 23. Save the bubbly for October wins of note.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Watch the following clip get a taste for just how incongruous and out of place it was to have Bob Costas introduce John Mellencamp at Saturday’s Farm Aid music extravaganza in Mansfield.

Was that odd or what? And Costas doesn’t deliver on his 10-second promise, instead taking 30 uncomfortable seconds to bring on the ever-more schmaltzy artist formerly known as John Cougar. Costas was in the NBC Sunday night studios, so he evidently snuck in from Manhattan for his bizarre appearance from stage left which had been delivering Carson Daly to the Mansfield stage as the day’s emcee.

Some more Farm Aid-related tidbits below if anyone cares, but first a few updates and tidbits for your Monday morning:

• The final stages of the Boston Herald’s attempt to fill three sportswriting positions appear to be nearing as Scott’s Shots is still being told by several reliable sources that Ron Borges is close to joining Hank Hryniewicz’s staff as a general columnist. Two other positions - now believed to BOTH be on the baseball beat - are also close to being wrapped up with a local writer and a New York tabloid baseball scribe holding the edge for what will likely become a baseball columnist and a Sox beat position.

That development is intriguing because it could potentially mean that John Tomase would remain on the Patriots beat instead of being switched over to the Sox, as had been discussed over the past month.

A Friday email response to s Shot’s request from Hank Herald would only say, “I will have no comment on any ongoing interviews or negotiations. I will say, however, that I continue to speak with a number of impressive candidates for the three positions and I am quite pleased with the quality of the individuals who have shown an interest in coming to work for the Boston Herald.”

. . . A Borges hire would be similar to the tactic the Herald used in 2004 - with mixed results - in employing Mike Barnicle. That track record alone, would make the hire a must-follow storyline for area business and media writers.

• Meanwhile, one of Borges’s most fervent opponents has entered into an agreement with the Bully’s former employer (which directly accused Borges of plagiarism). Scott’s Shots has learned that Kerry Byrne, the founder of Cold Hard Football Facts has signed a sales and content deal with Boston.com. Combined with pre-existing deals with both Sports Illustrated and OpenSports.com, the move completes an impressive “Big Three” of content distributors for Byrne’s wide-ranging site.

Adding further intrigue into the new deal for CHFF is the fact that Byrne is also a part-timer at the Herald for the Food section.

• Last week’s travel schedule allowed us to have access to the debut week of Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo on Sirius XM and we were pretty encouraged by the Puppy’s first nibbles. There was - as should have been expected - a huge New York presence on the phone lines, but that’s a big reason why Russo was coveted by the satellite radio giant. There’s potential for strong banter with Steve Torre and the addition of a another few “characters” will go a long way in solidifying the show. But overall, Russo is deft enough to handle the show by himself and gets a fairly intelligent and well-spoken class of caller (at least early in the show’s existence).

Russo also happened to be 100 percent correct when he explained on Friday that EVERY sports fan - or TRUE sports fan - would be wise to take in the Yankee Stadium ceremonies on Sunday night. From Don Larsen scooping dirt from the pitcher’s mound to Bern Baby Bern’s ovation and with many other moments mixed in, the event had significance and meaning beyond the glitz and glamour it artificially created (thanks, ESPN).

• Those master marketers, the Kraft Family, last week sent out “2008 Season Ticket Holder lapel pins” as a “small token of appreciation for your loyal support and to recognize your unique status in the Patriots fan base.” Conveniently included in the same padded envelope were four coupons for use at four separate Patriot Place stores (20 percent off at Off Broadway, Reebok and Bed, Bath & Beyond and 10 percent at Bass Pro Shops) and a reminder “Be a part of Patriots history!” at the newly opened Hall of Fame (but no discounts or comps for admission to the new venue).

. . . Fear not, Boston sports media inhalers - the Pats’ bye week will not be as all-encompassing and banal as it would be in, say, Novemeber when they are the only meaningful show in town. The start of the baseball post-season will surely temper the overkill and over-reaction to Sunday’s embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins.

• Stop, already, with the people who truly believe that the team’s radio duo of Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti is still worthy of being on-air. The misidentifications, missed plays and repeated mis-speaks by G&G are ghastly. In less than a full (first) half of listening on Sunday, Shots heard one or the other or both of the duo call Bill Belichick “Bill Parcells”; completely miss a Miami penalty flag that led to a Patriots first down; and give a reception to a receiver who didn’t get his first reception until the second half (an error feintly corrected by Santos when he gave the catch to Ted Ginn, Jr.).

The Rock Radio Nitwits are ready for their curtain call and it’s time to send in the replacements (where the new conjoining of Scott Zolak and Mike Lynch at WCVB has some informed people thinking that duo could be next in the radio booth.)

[Harsh? Maybe - but let's not allow the Krafts to get a pass for foisting the past-their-prime pairing upon us for another full season of sub-par broadcasting.]

. . . WEEI 850 AM picked up the Marconi Award for national Sports Station of the Year and we’d be foolish not to recognize the significance of that accomplishment. So, yes, loud and boorish is actually a way to go through life, we suppose. Congrats to the Wolfe Man and the gang - the formula does seem to work.

. . . Bob Lobel on morning radio at an oldies station. Perfect. Just perfect.

• So, the Neil Young set list at Farm Aid - which started off completely smoking and peaked with a stirring “Powderfinger,” went like this:

Love And Only Love
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Powderfinger
Mother Earth
Unknown Legend
Old Man
Get Back To The Country
A Day In The Life

. . . Kenny Chesney had the women swooning and we gotta admit, there’s some appeal to the Sox-inclusive She’s From Boston Girl and this one, too (having been there before. Several times.) Consider Shots a newfound Chesney chooser (although I was unfairly swayed by a Section 13, bespectacled beauty who sang every song and glowed through the entire Chesney set.)

. . . The Pretenders set was completely overlooked in all the early reviews I saw. Chrissie Hynde still has the sultry voice that can’t be ignored.

. . . Last moment of playing “Rolling Stone Shots”: Great Woods (insert real name if you feel it necessary) is an awful, awful venue that needs to be thoroughly re-done or simply imploded. Saturday night’s monster gathering stretched the place to its limits and it was an ugly sight to see the hammering the facilities took. Concession costs were OUTRAGEOUS and the feel of “Farm Aid” was lost on a very young, very drunk and very green crowd that roamed the upper portions of the seating area and the incredible, shrinking, grassy knoll up top.

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Sorry folks, park’s closed today.

Scott’s Shots is embarking on a one-day journey with the good folks at CN8’s 7 p.m. “Out of Bounds” show as the one-hour nightly extravaganza hits Harrisonburg, Virginia on Friday night and lands on the campus of James Madison University (where UMass finds itself for a CN8-broadcast football contest on Saturday). Despite the inherent danger of putting Shots on any college campus, the road trip promises to be a load of fun and we’d encourage you to tune in for a substitute filling of Shots on-air and in-makeup.

[Disclaimer: I appear frequently on CN8's "Out of Bounds" shows, either at 7 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. Any and all shameless plugs are strictly that: Shameless and Pluggish. If there's a conflict of interest in there somewhere, my apologies. More likely, it's just the way of the media world circa 2008. Capiche?]

. . . In all likelihood, we’ll be out of pocket next week as well as some book duties dominate my schedule for the next few days. However, do check in periodically, as there is likely to be some movement on the Herald’s hirings front.

Thanks for your patience and enjoy the weekend.

Oh, and if you haven’t done so yet, read this Don Haskins tribute from Dan Wetzel.

Adios, Coach. Thanks for the coyote calling and beer can shooting lessons. Not to mention some of the best life lessons of all.

Don Julio for everyone and especially for a man who sometimes called himself, “Hon Daskins.”

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. and can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmediaDOTcom.

Scott’s first book, with Memphis Coach John Calipari, is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2009.

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