By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

Lots of background noise as Comcast SportsNet continues to slowly build the “news gathering team” it’s been touting publicly since the start of Celtics camp. While no official word on what that team will consist of has been released, Shots figured we could provide a public service by tossing out some on-air talent suggestions for the fledgling (and physically expanding) Burlington-based operation.

Word is there will be eight to 10 talent hires and while a handful will probably come from other Comcast networks throughout the nation (remember, Boston is a very attractive market for young talent now, with opportunities to cover hot teams in marquee events like the World Series and Super Bowl), here’s a look at the local, existing talent that may fit CSN’s needs:

Laura Behnke
Already being used by CSN successfully for its Celtics magazine and other fill-in duties, Behnke has been part-timing at NECN and CSN since her deal at NECN expired. Strong in-studio and in the field, Behnke should be a shoo-in for a CSN roster spot.

Dave Briggs
Showed good promise in his full-time days at WHDH and is a frequent contributor on the CSN studio shows. They already seem to like him.

Kathryn Tappen, NESN
I’m assuming her original deal with NESN isn’t lengthy, but whenever it’s up, you can expect a bidding war to begin for the steadily improving KTap. The freshest face in Boston since Wendi Nix and she went national - expect the same for Tappen.

Mike Giardi, NECN
Also not sure where his deal at NECN stands, but he’s had to play No. 2 (or 1A.) to Chris Collins for too long.

John Carchedi, CN8
Still the most underrated and overlooked of the local sports talent, Carchedi would be perfect in a magazine show role or as an enterprise reporter allowed to track off-beat and out-of-the-box stories.

Butch Stearns, WFXT
Don’t laugh. The Comcast model used in other cities includes grabbing some long-established, recognizable names. Stearns, for better or worse, is a familiar face that would bring immediate name recognition to whatever configuration of news shows CSN ends up producing.

Ryen Russillo
He knows his hoops and is versatile enough to both host and be an informed, expert opinion on the network’s most important property – the Celtics.

Wildcards, Part 1– Mike Felger, Rob Bradford, John Tomase, Tony Massarotti
If they want to truly be a newsgathering operation, CSN is would be smart to follow the ESPN model of developing experts in each sport. Rob Bradford of Mazz can be CSN’s Buster Olney and Felger – who has already worked himself into a nice role for the ‘net – or Tomase could serve as a John Clayton.

Which brings us to the question of how far will CSN go in trying to make its lean website into a meaty destination spot for breaking news and commentary of the written variety? Or will the Herald partnership expand allowing each media unit to share their digital reach and reportorial resources?

Wildcards, Part 2
There will also very likely need to be a minority hire or two in the mix (a good business practice in this or any city). Unfortunately the Boston market hasn’t been real great at grooming minority anchors or talents and the ones that are good (Fran Charles at the NFL Network for example) usually wind up going national or to another city. Larry Ridley hasn’t impressed us very much in his ‘HDH time and the Burton Brothers (Steve at WBZTV and Phil at CN8) appear entrenched and content at their current locations.

. . . So there you have it, Scott’s Shots Fantasy Draft for building on the foundation currently at CSN (the Tanguay/Dickerson/Donny Marshall stalwarts). What was our budget? We didn’t have one. But there’s definite tiers of talent in the pool. Multi-tool guys like Felger and demographically desirables like Tappen will command better deals. Younger, and still emerging talent will be slotted and lower pay scales and there will likely be room for some fresh faces as well (at little pay with no benefits and lots of promises).

What will it mean to the established leader of RSNs in the market? Tough to say - NESN already does a good deal of newsgathering and disseminating and no matter how hot the Celts get, they’ll never match the fervency that the Sox inspire (on many more nights per year). Still, there is room for two RSNs and if CSN is serious about stockpiling talent (and behind the scenes folks who are often just as important), it can push NESN and stir the pot a bit. Especially if there is a focus on the Internet side of things.

• John Chandler, who had been getting reps at NECN, has been popping up as a fill-in at NESN on “SportsDesk.” The most notable thing about Chandler – who’s non-descript and harmless in his “Desk” role – is that he’s not a woman. The ‘Desk has been overrun by women since Joel Feld came aboard and we have to say, we liked that strategy better. Something about going to sleep and waking up with a female anchor that makes us more likely to leave it on NESN.

• Thursday night’s KG and Craig Sager post-game comedic interview was not the first time the two have had sartorial discussions.

• Musical Jeff Horrigan is giving John Kiley a run for his organ these days. Horrigan has “played” for every team in the city during this Fall. He did Sox in-season, Pats pre-season, Bruins this past week and Celts last night. Talk about the swiss-army knife of Boston sports writing!

• A rather telling bit of coverage on the suspension of BC running back AJ Brooks on Tuesday. The Globe included the item in its notebook, leaving the suspension to be explained away as a “violation of team rules.” The Herald, however, had a news-side story (with a tease within its BC football coverage in Sports) on Brooks’ alleged involvement in the bloody beating of a student (whom we later found out was not an RA at the school, as originally reported).

Beating a fellow human isn’t just a “violation of team rules,” it’s a violation of society’s rules and one that deserved more than just an end-item note within a notebook as the Globe had. They did follow up on Wednesday with more specifics, but were clearly behind on the story which definitely has more layers to it.

• 890 ESPN’s Mike Salk will be heading to Nashville for his second straight Winter Meetings on the station’s behalf. Salk – our ex-compadre on the famed BSR Show – is one of the few radio guys that makes the annual trek to the meetings and it pays off large for both the reporter and the station itself. Salk will also be feeding reports to other sports stations throughout the nation and increasing his growing visibility in baseball circles.

• The best part of our visit this week to the Ron Borges archive at ESPN.com is that one of the bottom links was still taking you to the AP Story explaining Borges’ suspension for plagiarism from the Globe.

Someone at the Worldwide Leader has to have noticed how foolish it makes the Mouse look, don’t they? Anyone? Bueller, Bueller?

• Doesn’t sound like too many tickets remain for the old time double dip at the new Garden on Saturday. Shots will be in da house and we’d encourage you to join us over at the CSTV.com Posting Up blog if you get the urge.

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

His work – and weekly college hoops report card – for CSTV.com can be found at the Hang Time blog on Mondays and The Glass Sneaker throughout the week. You can also listen for the weekly Professor’s Podcast, also at CSTV.com and in iTunes at The Daily Buzz.