By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Sounds as though there’s been another bit of a shake-up on the Boston Globe sports desk with an internal memo circulated last week that announced a change on the Boston College beat.

One of our Globe mole’s tells us to expect to see Michael Vega shifting from the BC beat to focus more on his secondary beat, NASCAR. In his place, the paper’s “national college” writer, Mark Blaudschun, will be assuming the post of the Chestnut Hill embed.

There could be many things at work here, but at the most elementary level it is another of the Joe Sullivan Switcheroos that have become common during The Pope’s tenure. You’ll recall that Nancy Marrapese-Burrell flipped from the Bruins to college hockey last summer, putting young gun Fluto Shinzawa onto the Jacobs Family beat. Amalie Benjamin was test-marketed on baseball for a while before being given the assignment more regularly and CN8 stalwart Christopher Gasper appears to be settling into a steady back-up role on the Pats.

Sometimes, moves like the Vega/Blaudschun scramble are simply done to freshen things up. Give everybody a change of scenery. Other times there is a re-focusing of what’s important and if the trend of the Globe as a whole is any indication, the local coverage (i.e., BC) will be the emphasis. (Not to mention the fact that a national college writer in a city where even the local colleges are barely distinguishable, is a bit of overkill. National college writers at newspapers are less and less important at most east coast papers - that’s an area well-served by Internet-types.)

This likely means that Blau’s role of roving college guy is less important and he could be better used on the BC beat (likely with a still-heavy emphasis on the big bowls and the Final Four) and Vega can be utilized to bolster the NASCAR coverage – especially on the web where revenue streams are untapped and more important than ever with a 17 percent interest in Roush Fenway Racing. We may not be able to identify the NASCAR fans, but everyone tells us they’re out there. And they are brand-loyal.

The shift won’t be entirely noticeable to Joe Reader as both Blaudy Blaudy and Viva Vega are well-connected on The Heights. However, in basketball land at least, the Herald’s contributor Jeff Goodman was all over BC and college hoops in general, so the Globe needs to keep in mind that they don’t own that beat the way they appear to have BC football locked down.

The move also allows the Globe to continue to ride Blau as an extra hand on Pats coverage, something that resulted in some major Marriott points for the well-traveled Blau last football season.

. . . It’s official, again. The Chief II, Coming May 22nd.

Give him “00,” please.

. . . This Inside Track rumor regarding D&C makes alot more sense to us than the WBCN one that floated a couple of weeks back.

Regardless, those sounds you hear are the ka-chings ringing into the ears of Dean-O and Cranky. All of the sudden, they’re perceived to be in a three-way bidding war (whether it will ever manifest itself is another question) and they are the hottest commodity in Boston radio at a time when the market is ready to (over)pay for a proven winner.

The Caveat to all of this: There’s a lot of spaghetti being thrown at walls here. D&C are up this summer with Entercom and the co-hosts have built up enough juice in this city to make this next contract their marble path into retirement. If they play this thing correctly, the duo will be well-paid and well-employed for another three to five years - an eternity in radio world.

Something could be shaking down, but there’s no way ALL of it is going to occur. And none of it is going to happen to quickly.

. . . Great contrast of a complete waste of time in the Globe on Tuesday; and useful, we-don’t-take-ourselves-too-seriously-to-overlook-something-people-will-be-talking-about reporting by John Tomase in the Herald on the same day.

Tim Gorman (i.d.’d as a correspondent and nothing else, not even his age) performed what he must’ve convinced Joe Sullivan was a “social experiment” by running the Marathon in Yankees gear.

What’s social or experimental about that waste of space? You mean to tell me that Yankees gear will elicit negative comments from Boston sports fans? Stop the damn presses.

Give me the hustle and the eye for news of Tomase over the Globe’s weak attempt at outside-the-box thinking and give it to me every day and twice on Sundays, please.

Whatever you do, please don’t give me a front-of-the-section story on a “flamboyant” skater, who will be taking part in some skating exhibition. How can that possibly be serving the masses? Any idea of how many folks might have made the jump page on that one? A dozen, maybe? Single digits likely.

. . . Oh, boy. I hope Lippy Lupica’s in town for the weekend throwdown. Don’t you? They additional space in the Fenway box will give Mikey some good space to roam and be seen in between innnigs.

. . . I’m not sure if I’m more amazed that something I wrote generated 20-something emails to the person I wrote it about, or that I could have been so ignorant to think someone would want to leave the Ivory Tower of the Boston Globe. But here’s the response from Chad Finn to my conjecture (good word) last week that he’d be a good fit at the soon to be vacant Rob Bradford job at the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. From ‘Touching. . .” this week:

I’ve received 20 or so emails asking me if there’s any truth to the little nugget buried here – not to mention a puzzled query from one of my bosses. While it’s always flattering when someone says nice things about your work, there’s a part of me that’s annoyed by the conjecture, and I suppose I should address it. So let me break down my professional status this way (I’ll try not to sound like a Simmonsish egomaniacal dinkus here):

Let’s see . . . I just hooked up an affiliation with FoxSports and, soon, Boston.com . . . I get to blog here about the Sox and anything else I’m obsessed with (you did read the above item, right?) without having to deal with idiot pro athletes and impossible deadlines that would surely jade the perspective I’ve managed to maintain as a fan . . . I live in lovely coastal Maine and don’t really feel like commuting to freakin’ Lawrence . . . I’ve dreamed of working at the Globe since I was a kid and have so much fun with and respect for the people I work with that sometimes I can’t believe I’m so fortunate . . . I work four nights a week now for what I’d guess is more compensation than I’d make there in seven days . . . And because of the short week, I get to spend more time with my wife and two young kids.

But other than that, yup, I’d consider it.

Okay, so Finn’s not going to the E-T. Which would lead the front-runners in my mind as Alex Speier and Joe Haggerty – assuming the E-T is set on filling the spot, which is still a bit unclear.

And thanks, Chad, for rubbing in the fact that you have somehow achieved bliss while we suffer with bleeechhh. Thanks a lot. And what’s the Boston.com thang? Did you scoop yourself with that subtle drop-in?

Oh, and “idiot pro athletes” did sound a bit “Simmonsish egomaniacal dinkus,” but we get the point nonetheless. You’re jaded, but your jade is a paler green.

All points are well-taken, valid and unequivocally understood.

. . . Sad to see the impending end of sportspages.com. Someone should snatch that up - along with this here website and make a monster linker and critiquer.

Hello, Yahoo!? Google? Anyone?

. . . And I have no idea what this is, but I’m stunned that Tom’s gal was a No. 2-seed.

. . .. . . There’s a strong possibility over at the Herald that utility infielder Karen Guregian will pick up the Pats beat writing slack in the reduced-role absence of Mike Felger, as evidenced by Thursday’s Pats filing from Guregian. It does not appear as though Michael Silverman or Jeff Horrigan will be sliding over to the Pats beat, although the topic was broached at some level, according to our own Herald Insider.

. . .CBS4’s “Sports Final” show continues to sink lower and lower into the Sunday night abyss as they air a two-part interview with Bill Belichick conducted by that illustrious sports journalist, restaurateur and Big Show buffoon, Steve DeAwfulOssie. The Bill and Steve lovefest started last Sunday and will continue on this week’s show with more of the insight and probing you’ve come to expect from DeAwful.

The sit-down, which is clearly a favor from Belichick to Zak’s Daddy, wound up backfiring on BB, as a shot of his now famous Final Four “Mystery Blonde” date was included in the package.

That couldn’t have sat well with the HC of the NEP.

The station is billing DeOffensive as its Patriots correspondent or somesuch. A whole season of this?

Say it ain’t so Lobie.

. . . The local CBS affiliate does, however, deserve credit for overcoming the weather factors with executive producer Jackie Connally’s excellent work on the Marathon Coverage. Snafus and glitches were inevitable in the slop and wind, but the overall result was a strong showing as the only alternative to the Versus coverage, that barely anyone even knew was being broadcast.

. . . Here’s the spin that Ron Borges has been putting out to a few local media folks who have seen and/or spoken to him in the month since his suspension form the Globe started:

1. Don’t believe everything you read.

This is, we assume, Borges way of saying he and he alone has the truth of what led to his now infamous cut and paste job from Mike Sando’s work which sent Borges to the bench for two months, without pay and without pity.

Our reply would simply be: “Don’t cut and paste everything you write.”

2. The editors screwed me. They put the notebook together and they’re the ones who got sloppy.

In this explanation, Borges is apparently saying that despite his name being on the Notes’ column, it’s really someone else’s work and therefore he shouldn’t be held responsible for something that, again, has his name on it.

Our reply to that would simply be: “With your name on the top of the notes column, you damn well better know what’s going in there. Especially when you’re the lightning rod you’ve made yourself out to be.”

. . . We’re hearing whispers that Borges will get a chance to tell his side of the story upon his return, something we would applaud if it was done in an extensive manner and maybe even included an on-line chat with Borges and Sulliva. That way readers could have a one-time chance to get clarification on the incident that has given another black eye to the once-proud section. Transparency, it is called. Remember that whole discussion?

If they’re interested, Shots will even moderate the chat. Free of charge and with no malice.

. . . BostonNow’s web debut this week has the feel of something that should have been done in Beta for about a month before launching in earnest. And the Sports presence is laughably miniscule. You can not possibly do a commuter rag in this city without some sort of STRONG sports presence. (No offense, Danielle, but we, as a city, tend to like a little more meat with our potatoes when it comes to sports coverage.)

We’ve yet to see a hard copy, but in our eyes it’s the web that will make or break that paper. It’s too early to pass judgment – and there are some intriguing bells and whistles, including the editorial meeting live-look-and-partake-ins – but the first priority above all else should be beefing up the sports side.

Shots Consulting Services, at your service. As always.

. . . Shameless plugs of the week:

Saturday’s “Boston Sports Review Show” on ESPN Radio 890 AM – where the NEVER-cranky Mike Salk, producer Drew “Looie Tiant” Brooks and myself hold court from 9 to 11 a.m. – is scheduled to feature two HEAVY HITTERS in the world of baseball coverage.

In the early part of the 9 a.m. hour we’ll have Umie Michael Morrissey of the New York Post and the new author of the widely-acclaimed Yankees book, The Pride and the Pressure on the (yet-to-be sponsored) guest line.

In the 10 o’clock hour, we’re scheduled to have Jerry Crasnick from ESPN.com, in addition to trivia (with tickets as the prize!) and, if we’re lucky, Sully from Quincy, a rich man’s Frank from Gloucester.

As you know by now, there’s all sorts of hijinks and witty banter when Dr. Salk and Professor Scott get together.

Is there any logical reason not to tune into that two hours of weekend radio? We think not. And we’re streaming too, so all you out-of-staters can join in if your technologically enhanced.

See you in the a.m. and we’ll see you at Fenway on Sunday night (with Cousin Bill), Tuesday night (in the Monstah Seats) and even tonight, if you’re lucky (CN8 at 11 p.m.).

Spring starts now.

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