By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Taking a page from their synergetic partner’s playbook (that of the Boston Globe), NESN chose a late Friday afternoon - in the midst of a long Holiday weekend - to announce that WEEI 850 AM midday host, Dale Arnold, will no longer be calling play-by-play for Bruins games on the network, which is partially owned by the club.

Instead, Jack Edwards will do all the PBP for the full Bruins slate and will be joined by “popular” and returning Andy Brickley for the 2007-08 season. On June 25, Shots reported that Arnold was likely out, which prompted a weak response in the Globe from Arnold’s agent, Steve Freyer, who clearly had seen the writing on the wall for his client.

The release from NESN’s Gary Roy, which dropped just before 4 p.m. on Friday July 6, said, in part “Arnold, who has served as the home play-by-play announcer for Bruins broadcasts on NESN since 1995, was offered another position in NESN’s Bruins telecasts, but due to his other work related commitments decided not to accept the position.” (The entire release is cut and pasted below.)

That makes no sense whatsoever of course. Arnold had enough time to do PBP AND co-host his “Dale and Holley” show, but he was too strapped for time to contribute in a reduced role? Please, spare us.

“Jack is a very talented broadcaster who has done a terrific job the past two seasons on our road telecasts, said Joel Feld, NESN’s vice president of programming and executive producer. “We are unifying our Bruins broadcast team. This approach has been very effective in enhancing our Red Sox telecasts and our fan’s experience.

“Dale Arnold has contributed to our Bruins programming for 11 years and he is a true professional,” said Feld, the new Face of NESN through his ONE maneuverings. “We are appreciative for everything he has done for NESN and hope to be able to work with him again in the future.”

In other words, Dale, don’t let the Zamboni plow you over on the way out. The funny thing is, Arnold was a Bruins apologist for the most part during his years on both ‘EEI and working for NESN. A famous flare-up with Pete Meat Sheppard has become Whiner Line intro material and Arnold always seemed to stay loyal the Spoked B through thick and VERY thin.

But the first sign of something not smelling kosher is once again the timing of the announcement.

Close observers will recall that the Globe (which partners with NESN frequently and which owns 17 percent of the Red Sox, co-owners of NESN with the Bruins) chose a late Friday afternoon to announce the “retirement” of embattled columnist Ron Borges.

Somehow, these media giants still think they can get away with “burying” news on late Fridays to try and temper the public reaction. Needless to say, in an Internet world, the tactic doesn’t work so well and local hockey message boards and blogs are sure to jump in the fray quickly. They did so in droves after our initial report in June.

. . . According to the release, “Edwards, a New Hampshire native and UNH graduate, has served as a sports anchor, reporter and play-by-play announcer on both the local and national levels. He spent 12 years with ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor and reporter and also served as a play-by-play announcer for the network covering a variety of sports including NHL broadcasts from 1999 to 2003. In addition to his duties at NESN the past two seasons, Edwards has worked as a play-by-play announcer and studio host for Versus’ national coverage of the NHL.”

Edwards has always been solid and the full slate will help to showcase his talents a bit more. Feld (who was seen talking to Brickley in a corporate box during a Red Sox broadcast earlier this week) smoothly calls it, “. . .unifying our Bruins broadcast team. This approach has been very effective in enhancing our Red Sox telecasts and our fan’s experience.”

Whether or not that is true is up for discussion. More than a few folks miss the Sean McDonough Sgt. Friday stints and the Don-O/Remy pairing has certainly had its share of bumps. But it does, as Feld alludes to, make it easier to get into a game when the same, familiar voice is there each and every time.

The Sox themselves have created a similar problem by wedging earnest Glenn Geffner into the radio booth and now having to deal with a listenership that longs for a full-time Dave O’Brien with every passing Geff Game.

Broadcasting pairs, trios and rotations are not an easy thing and the simple fact is, Arnold just might be too polarizing a figure for the beaten down Bruins to have to deal with.

. . . ENTIRE RELEASE

For Immediate Release
July 6, 2007
Contact: Gary A. Roy
617-536-9233
groy@nesn.com
NESN NAMES JACK EDWARDS FULL-TIME BRUINS PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER

BOSTON – New England Sports Network (NESN), the regional television sports network, today named 26 year broadcast veteran Jack Edwards the play-by-play announcer for all of the network’s Boston Bruins telecasts effective with the start of the 2007-08 season. Edwards will be paired with popular Bruins analyst Andy Brickley.

“Jack is a very talented broadcaster who has done a terrific job the past two seasons on our road telecasts, said Joel Feld, NESN’s vice president of programming and executive producer. “We are unifying our Bruins broadcast team. This approach has been very effective in enhancing our Red Sox telecasts and our fan’s experience.

Dale Arnold, who has served as the home play-by-play announcer for Bruins broadcasts on NESN since 1995, was offered another position in NESN’s Bruins telecasts, but due to his other work related commitments decided not to accept the position.

“Dale Arnold has contributed to our Bruins programming for 11 years and he is a true professional,” said Feld. “We are appreciative for everything he has done for NESN and hope to be able to work with him again in the future.”
Edwards, a New Hampshire native and UNH graduate, has served as a sports anchor, reporter and play-by-play announcer on both the local and national levels. He spent 12 years with ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor and reporter and also served as a play-by-play announcer for the network covering a variety of sports including NHL broadcasts from 1999 to 2003. In addition to his duties at NESN the past two seasons, Edwards has worked as a play-by-play announcer and studio host for Versus’ national coverage of the NHL.

NESN has been the home of the Boston Bruins since 1984 and is scheduled to televise 70 regular season Bruins games this season. Last season NESN became the first regional sports network in the NHL to televise every game in high definition (HD). Bruins broadcasts on NESN earned the 3rd highest average household rating on a regional sports network of all NHL teams in the U.S. last season.