By David Scott
Boston Sports Media

The man by whom all other sports executives will forever have to be measured by, Arnold “Red” Auerbach passed away on Saturday. He was 89. ESPN led with it as “Breaking News” in the right hand news slot, with a 9:42 posting.

Boston.com at just about the same time, had an 11-(web)page story with a Peter May byline. (UPDATE: A Shots loyalist wrote in to inform us that the Globe was on the story as early as 8:50 p.m. We thank the reader for that information and believe this points out the need for websites to time-stamp everything.)

Steve Bulpett at the Herald had what was tagged (in red) as a “Developing” story at 9:40 p.m. (just a few paragraphs at that point).

The Celtics home page, at 10:10 p.m. had no mention of the sad news - something that is almost inexcusable, but not something we will harp on at this point. (At that same time, NBA.com was leading with it, complete with video

The ESPN.com news services piece contained this information: “Auerbach’s death was announced by the Celtics, for whom he still served as team president. The team said the upcoming season would be dedicated in his honor.”

ESPN.com also had this from Ken Shouler to immediately accompany the Breaking News.

You can expect a full Sunday of coverage, including on the local Sunday night shows and ESPN’s early Sunday programming (before its NFL shows kick in). Also a lot of John Feinstein, Glenn Ordway and Basketball Bob Ryan. We’ll check back in for Monday morning to assess how the story unfolded and where the coverage peaked and valleyed.

Even at 10:30 p.m., Yahoo! Sports’ main page barely played the news at all, except in its top spot of its Top Headlines box. (Note to Dave Morgan: Get some graphics developed for Breaking News). At the same time, FOXsports.com was leading it’s page with an “ALERT”, and CBS Sportsline had a similar banner splash.

NBCsports.com was also leading with it.

(Note: By 10:30 ESPN was playing the news HUGE with a < href = http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2642131> classic Red shot and also added ESPNEWS video to the page.)

There’s no question Red’s death is national sports news and worth prominent placement at every sports site in the nation. It will wind up being one of the Top 3 local sports news stories of the year, for sure.

(THE FOLLOWING WAS ADDED AT 12:45 a.m.)
. . . The best (and earliest) local coverage we saw was provided by Mike Giardi at NECN, who had a lengthy package in the 10 o’clock hour. Giardi once again helped in convincing us that Tom Ellis still has a pulse, as Ellis suggested (rightfully so) that there will surely be some kind of public tribute to Red. Giardi correctly correlated the outpouring that Will McDonough had received upon his death. Do keep in mind, however, that Jewish custom is to bury the deceased as soon as possible. That won’t exclude a tribute of some sort, but it won’t be of the “lying in State” variety either.

. . .Class act, Dick Vitale, was quick to react, having heard the news while at a Streisand show.

. . . Red’s hometown paper had this.

(END OF UPDATED MATERIAL)

. . . In the mean time, let’s all give a moment of gratitude to Red. Ava Shalom.

Light it up, one more time (just listen once, all the way through). And save your Terry Cashman jokes - the song works.

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