I’d like to report that I’m back in full force at this space, but I’m still in the editing process and as I’ve said from the beginning of this amazing project, I can’t justify devoting time to my love (Scott’s Shots) over my real-life job.

Thank you for your continued support and hopefully by the time the Nantasket Beach concession stands open for business, we’ll be back dissecting the local and national media scene on a regular basis.

The Re-Launch of WEEI.com

That sound you heard last Monday morning was BostonHerald.com’s sports offering plunging to the depths of irrelevance. That was the day Boston became a two horse town as far as mainstream media sports sites go. With its total overhaul and Entercom’s apparent commitment to make WEEI.com “. . .the new sports page in town,” as the site’s VP/GM Tim Murphy said, the site is now fully ready to compete with the region’s sports-on-the-web leader, Boston.com.

“We didn’t want the site to be just ‘radio good,’” said Murphy in an extensive March 13 pre-launch interview and “walk-through’ of the new site with Shots. “We’re redefining what a sports page is. I like our chances of being the No. 1 (destination for Boston sports fans) in time.”

Boasting aside, what the new WEEI.com does offer is clean navigation, a comprehensive mix of audio and text and, in time we’re told, a healthy dose of video. It is vibrant, well laid out and deep.

Some of the initial slow loading and optimization issues faced last week are beginning to disappear and a spokesman for the site said, “optimizing load times is a normal 1-2 weeks process for a brand new site.”

For the most part, the beta testing of 100 guinea pigs and the months of design which Murphy oversaw seem to have struck gold. This is what happens when good planning, clear vision and proper investments meet creative and forward-thinking people.

The new site is already using its potential to tout upcoming radio highlights – witness the Bill Simmons on D&C Monday morning plug that was posted in the “This Just In” box on Sunday night. The ability to use the site to promote the radio station and vice versa will truly be the biggest asset WEEI.com will have over its competition. Complete and total saturation with the ability to completely dictate the region’s sports discussion is both a powerful position and a scary concept (mostly on the radio side with the all-too-might Big Show’s mob of meatheads).

With a staff and contributors that still lags behind Boston.com (but surpasses, in most every way the Herald), WEEI.com editor Rob Bradford and his lieutenants have shown glimpses of brilliance in both reporting and analyzing – even before the re-launch.

Experiments that haven’t worked have been abandoned – see: Leitch, Will – and personalities who drive traffic like Mike Felger and Curt Schilling are easy to find and promoted prominently through the lead story picture box. (That box is still having loading issues which lead to blurry, unviewable pictures but those kinks will be worked out with further optimization.)

The aforementioned “TJI” box is placed in a strange position for our tastes, but Murphy explained the concept of the placement thusly, “(The) ‘This Just In’ widget was intentionally designed to overlap the lead story block. It never overlaps the core of the image. Subjective area to assess, but we think it offers a compelling visual while also bring TJI, a differentiating content feature, into a premium position on the homepage.”

Fair enough and a great example of how everything was very well thought out and conceived. Almost no stones seemed to have been left unturned.

Advertisers, according to Murphy, have been receptive to the new look. The site’s serious attempt to challenge Boston.com and the Verizon-sponsored re-launch along with a growing preferred partners list would indicate the ad community’s willingness to dabble with the packaging of radio and web sides to maximize exposure and penetration.

Some early signs that should worry Murphy and Bradford is the slacking already being displayed by some shows’ individual pages in terms of updating audio and some not-yet-ready-for-prime time and inconsistent blogging.

They must also either make a committed effort to utilize the LeeINKS space or abandon the idea all together. That is just the kind of offering that Murphy talked about with us when he said every morning while he was growing up, he’d eat his cereal and read the Globe sports page. A quick A.M. romp around the webosphere for Boston-centric stories and oddities could be hugely popular – and cereal appointment reading But not if it’s ignored for days at a time and not clearly defined.

That’s probably the biggest critique we can offer at this point: when building a new site and creating site loyalty, the consistency and quality of the content is HUGE. (And will lead to the high Time Spent Viewing numbers Murphy wants to deliver – “We want this site to be a much ‘stickier’ experience and show advertisers much more engagement through users’ commenting and other (strategies) to keep them at WEEI.com,” he said.

Murphy would be wise to remember, there’s just too many local and national offerings out there to steal readers and page views and once users are let down a couple of times, they may never return. You have one chance to make a first impression.

Still, if the site maximizes its potential and utilizes all its new bells and whistles to the fullest, it will indeed be the revolutionary creation Murphy is envisioning.

What Exactly is CBS College Sports Trying to Be?

While serving as the cable home for the Tournament and “complementing CBS Sports’ exclusive live game broadcasts with over 75 hours of coverage,” the CBS College Sports Network did more confounding during the Tournament’s first two rounds than complementing.

What the network promised would be “exclusive in-progress game highlights, live look-ins and press conferences from every team at every site from the first-round through the Championship Game,” was instead, on Thursday through Sunday’s offering a complete head-scratcher.

With such a unique opportunity to augment the yeoman’s effort consistently put forth by its Sugar Daddy, CBS, the cable outlet put forth a product that felt and looked low budget, haphazard and discombobulated.

Let us count the ways that CBSCS disappointed:

1. It started from jump street when Thursday introductions of three in-studio, guest coach analysts showed IUPUI coach Ron Hunter on-screen as the frazzled host was clumsily giving the credentials of Marist coach Chuck Martin. It only got worse from there, although in fairness Hunter, Martin and Hofstra’s Tom Pecora did their best under some clearly difficult circumstances. Stage tests and rehearsals were apparently not employed by the network formerly known as CSTV (for whom Shots did freeelance work with over the past two seasons).

(Hunter actually shone throughout the weekend and Martin’s debut was also quite promising. Pecora went a little too hard for laughs, but his bluntness was appreciated. It took us two days to figure out who Tim Miles was in his underwhelming appearance.)

2. The in-game shows were billed as being hosted by Adam Zucker and Tracy Wolfson – both of whom were passable – but a constant rotation of other throw-ins from the shallow CBSCS stable only confused matters. Analysts were here one game, gone the next and if there was any pre-scheduling of on-air time, it wasn’t apparent. Almost every analyst spent more time looking for the camera with the red light on than analyzing and the one who did understand camera position – Steve Lappas – has never taken to the medium despite the network’s repeated efforts to make him TV-friendly. That’s a project that needs to be abandoned.

When Lappas got paired with current Drexel coach Bruiser Flint on Saturday night’s desk, the awkwardness of the duo never dissipated. (Flint, who is phenomenal on TV, was replaced as the UMass coach by Lappas, in a move that signaled a decided downturn in Minutemen basketball that has take years to recover from.) As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports pointed out, “it was sort of akin to having Mike Davis and Bob Knight discuss the brackets together.”

3. The self-touted “Live Look-Ins” from CBSCS were a complete disaster with most coming at inopportune times or for too short a period. Now that all games are available FREE on the Internet, it would make sense to give viewers extended “looksies” into riveting games on CBSCS. We know CBS refuses to use the once-popular split screens, but does that mean CBSCS can’t? There’s definitely a sponsor who would buy up that space, wouldn’t you think?

Quite simply, it just seems that CBS doesn’t know what to do with CBSCS, so they’re throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what – if anything – sticks. (Viewer call-ins DID NOT stick and must be discontinued immediately. Callers ranged from school kids to morons who wanted to know how far their team could go in the “playoffs.” Ugh.)

The coup de grace came on Sunday night when three down-to-the-wire contests were being decided but the wizards at CBSCS found it more necessary to show not one but TWO, re-packaged features on Tyreke Evans of Memphis and Blake Griffin of Oklahoma. To call it mind-boggling is being kind.

When they finally did go to live look-ins for the fantastic finishes, the CBSCS feed was almost a minute ahead of the national feed on CBS. What a disaster and what an embarrassment to the mothership at Black Rock.

[On a positive note, the rising star Carter Blackburn proved to be the most capable studio host all weekend and his second year of play-by-play work for both CBSCS and CBS (where he gave first-round breathers to aging Dick Enberg) should have him high on every major, respectable broadcasters list for new and emerging talent.]

The potential for CBSCS in future Tournaments – and maybe even this year as they continue through the Final Four – is limitless. If used properly, with pre-planning and clear guidelines, it can truly enhance the viewers’ experience of what is already a phenomenal event. Left in its current state, however, the network’s supplemental coverage does nothing but frustrate viewers and diminish the overall product shown to the nation.

. . . Over at CBS, Greg Anthony gets the most-improved award for his in-studio work. Partner Seth Davis got the most-annoying award when he referred to Greg Gumbel as “Gregory.” And the netowrk had its share of audio problems, most glaringly with Jim Spanarkel who sometimes couldn’t be heard at all.

Dan Shaughnessy, Cartographer

The site dedicated to such things does a pretty good job of critiquing Danny Boy for this laugher of an offering from Friday.

But there’s probably some good to be done from piling on in this instance. Emailers to Shots were equally appalled by the Curt’s BF’s assertion that, “New England’s history in the NCAA basketball tourney is ancient and rare.”

Shaughnessy bases the column on a completely fraudulent premise based in poor geography and worse institutional memory. Does anyone edit the man? And couldn’t he have had the decency to, I don’t know, write something that justified the expense of sending him on the road? Wouldn’t it have been nice to see a senior-year-unsung-hero Tyrese Rice column from Dan? Or maybe a Rakim Sanders of Pawtucket, RI piece? Or is Rhody too small of a state to be considered New England. Or how about something on the UVM transfer (oh look, another New England basketball school) Joe Trapani? Oh, wait, he’s from Connecticut and since that’s not part of New England, well, he probably doesn’t merit an introduction to the once-a-year BC followers who pop up annually.

I really hope Shaughnessy brings a t-shirt back from Minnesota for his chief enabler, sports editor, Joe Sullivan. You know the one. It reads, “My editor sent me to Minnesota and all I produced were two lousy columns that I put next to no effort into.”

Is there not anyone who talks with Shaughnessy about what he might be writing on? Don’t co-workers like Bob Ryan or Tony Massarotti get embarrassed by the drivel their cohort hands in while they actually still get after it? Things are tough all over and morale at newspapers is below sea level – but it can only be compounded for Globies who have to watch as Shaughnessy skates by on three out of every four offerings.

None of the Globe’s college hoops coverage bodes well for this weekend’s East Regional. Let’s hope Adam Kilgore comes up North from FLA and that Ryan doesn’t get sent to Memphis, Indy or Phoenix.

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 and is now available for pre-order.

In truth I can’t really afford to be coming out of my “book nook” for any amount of time, but two ongoing stories in Boston sports media need some assessing and Shots realizes it’s our official duty to analyze both (and some bonus topics for the new year).

To spice things up a bit, we’ll present those two stories (Globe v. NESN; Ordway v. Entercom) within the 2008 Shotties, given sporadically since 1990 for outstanding achievement in the realm of Boston sports media (and slightly beyond). As always, we welcome your intelligent comments and insight – buffoons need not apply. Have a happy new year and we’ll do our best to come back strong in the Spring time after we put our baby to bed.

The Shotties: A look back at the calendar year of 2008 in Boston sports media.

The Shotty for Least Stable Sports Media Relationship
TIE
A. The Boston Globe and NESN
B. Glenn Ordway and Entercom

The quiet cancellation of NESN’s “Globe 10.0″ in late December and the curious, semi-sign-off of Glenn Ordway were significant on many levels. By this time next year, we will likely look at both “events” as monumental days in the shaping of Boston Sports Media 2.0; hat’s how big the players in these two soap operas are and that’s how impactful the two stories will be on 2009.

First, the Globe’s battle with NESN:

A. Even before the Christmas Eve bombshell about the 17 Percenters looking to dump their Red Sox stake, the rift between the Boston Globe sports department and the Red Sox sports department (NESN) was widening – almost by the day. [For more confounding and confusing looks at the Globe's woes, we'd ask you to check here and here (for the astonishing Barclay's report).

The end of "Globe 10.0" got neatly buried in this Boston Globe's space-wasting, so-called "Media Column", with a two sentence explanation, saying "NESN announced. . . it will cease production of its original programming of "Globe 10.0" by the end of the year. The half-hour show, hosted by columnist Bob Ryan and featuring Globe writers, premiered on the network in June 2007."

Incredibly(!), NESN neglected to post the announcement on its own, pathetic press room page (and the network's oh-so-professional PR arm has long since stopped sending releases of any kind to Shots).

The move, initiated by NESN's higher-ups and delivered (awkwardly and clumsily, according to multiple sources) by Joel Feld, the network's executive vice president of programming and executive producer, was yet another sign of an eroding relationship between the Red Sox broadcast unit and the New York Times Company (dba here in Boston as the Boston Globe). It's a deterioration that was first made public when NESN severed its ties with the Globe on Boston.com, where its on-line presence had lived, and began its own mediocre site at NESN.com.

By dumping the Globe-branded thrice-weekly, half-hour show Feld and and Silent Sean McGrail further bruised egos on Morrissey Boulevard. The tension, Shots is told, has been escalated by the more frequent appearances by Globe personnel on Comcast SportsNet, NESN's direct competitor. We are told it also didn't sit well with Globe folks that both WEEI (Mike Adams) and Boston Herald (Steve Buckley) contributors were being used by NESN.

It's never been a secret that the paper's writers have had discomfort with the NYT Co.'s partial ownership of the Local Nine, but the mistrust and mis-communication between both sides has boiled over in recent months and the end of "10.0" can be seen as the water roiling over onto the stovetop.

For his part, when Shots spoke with Bob Ryan a couple of weeks back, Basketball Bob took the diplomatic approach to the 18 month run he was given. He said the powers-that-be informed him and his producer, Alan Miller, of the show's termination during the course of the week of Dec. 8.

Quite simply, Ryan was told, the move was purely financial. The show debuted in the summer of 2007 with Verizon as the presenting sponsor. That deal with Verizon expired in May, and neither NESN nor the Globe was able to lock down a sponsor to offset the costs of the largely in-studio production. [Ratings for the show were never spectacular, said one NESN insider, but on the days it served as the lead-in to Sox pre-games, it showed promise.]

Neither entity ever put the marketing muscle behind the project that was deserved to give it a legit shot in a difficult time slot (against local news and PTI on ESPN).

Ryan had evolved into a more-than-capable host within about six months of his debut. He – and Miller – used “PTI” and “Around the Horn” as their inspirations and created an enjoyable and informative 30 minute show that deserved a better fate. Ryan’s rapport with Charlie Pierce, Christopher L. Gasper and Lou Merloni began to take on regional similarities to the magic Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon create with “PTI” and the show really hit its stride over the past 10 months.

The much ballyhooed virtual set was never utilized to its full potential (although it is getting new life with “The Insitigators,” where three bartenders stand behind a counter and appear ready to serve drinks. Why are they standing? Why?) Whether it was technical snafus or a lack of commitment to the set, NESN certainly never gave the show all the resources it needed to succeed. They could have created a cornerstone original program, instead they played footsies with it and never gave it a real shot at succeeding.

The upshot is that Ryan will slide back into a 3 times weekly general columnist for the paper and told us he will continue to update his blog for Boston.com.

“I let the column slide,” Ryan admitted. “I haven’t been able to focus as much on the writing and I look forward to getting back to that.

“Listen, I’m a big boy about this,” he said. “This is why I always say that i would never have TV or Radio be my primary gig.”

But the blame does not lie with Ryan on this one, it lies with penny-pinching NESN and its continued curious decisions (vanilla “SportsDesk” anchor John Chandler and overmatched newbie Cole Wright come immediately to mind when thinking of other NESN missteps in ’08).

NESN wants everyone to think its New England’s version of ESPN, but the truth is, it’s a far cry from anything that is being done in Bristol.

And now, to The Big O. . .

B. If it wasn’t for bad timing, Glenn Ordway wouldn’t have no timing at all. With his contract expiring at Entercom, Ordway finds himself in a precarious place as the host of WEEI 850 AM’s afternoon drive, “Big Show.” Long-praised as the cornerstone of the ‘EEI Empire, Ordway and his representative are reportedly locked in delicate, drawn out and precarious negotiation with Entercom Emperors.

The problem is, Ordway has virtually no leverage. Sure, there are still Beantown rumors about an all-sports entrant on the FM dial hoping to nab the Big O and build a station around him. There has even been murmurs of a satellite gig for Ordway, but I think we can all agree he is a regional talent at best. Ordway’s lone, best option is to remain in the big chair with the Big Meatheads he babysits five times a week and get paid handsomely for doing just that.

Time and again, the people Shots has polled on the topic continue to point out that Ordway has no chance of getting what one insider termed “Dennis and Callahan money” in the current marketplace.

So Ordway has to decide whether he can take a “pay cut” from what he might have been able to land had the economy not gone in the dumper and whether his ego will allow for him to be, what he would probably term, “slightly underpaid.” If he’s banking on playing satellite radio or other terrestrial radio off of Entercom, he might as well give up now. No one can justify overspending for a “name” in this economic climate and Entercom has a very realistic replacement waiting in the wings at WEEI.com in Mike Felger.

Ordway is going to need to eat some humble pie and that’s never been a big part of the big fella’s diet. Still, Ordway never struck us as a dumb man and he surely knows what is at stake for the final chapter of his broadcasting career. Will he get STOOPID money? No. But he will have no problem maintaining a lifestyle befitting the King of Boston Sports Talk Radio.

The Tom Ellis Shotty for Overstaying Their Welcome:

Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti, WBCN 104.1 FM, The Patriots Rock Radio Network

The only thing sadder in local broadcasting than Tom Ellis’s NECN farewell last Saturday night is the fact that the earnest Ellis doesn’t realize how far removed he is from his glory days at the anchor desk.

Gil and Gino appear to be similarly delusional about their broadcasting chops.

WBCN and the Patriots (read: The Krafts) need to begin transitioning out of Gil and Gino and into more capable play-calling and color commentating. It’s no longer a matter of IF the Krafts need to initiate a change in the radio booth, it’s a question HOW they handle it. Even with the deep appreciation Shots has for the history of the duo, it’s painfully obvious that they are doing a disservice to the listeners, not to mention advertisers and the organization.

Look for the names of Mike Lynch (PBP), (hopefully) Sean McDonough (PBP), Gary Tanguay (PBP), Scott Zolak (color) and cerebral Tim Fox (color) to circulate WHEN the change is made. It would make sense if the Pats and ‘BCN do it quietly over the off-season.

(By the way, Tanguay’s turn on Celtics games as PBP man in Mike Gorman’s absence probably wasn’t the best audition tape for a potential booth job with the Pats. Tanguay is steady and suitable for studio work – not so much for PBP.)

[One note on the Tom Ellis farewell: NECN mainstay sports guy Jimmy Young tried to soften the shakiness of Ellis's farewell, and Young's knowledge of the market and Ellis's place in it, was sincere.

But the simple fact of the matter is that the Locals (or regionals) don't have room for the Tom Ellises, the Bob Lobels and the Joyce Kulhawiks. That list will surely grow in 2009, as WCVB looks to get younger and leaner, the way its competitors already have.]

The Shotty for the Worst Kept Sports Media Secret

An easy call, as this has to be the not-so-hush-hush departure of Jessamy Tang from almost-also-ran ESPN 890. Tang, it turns out, was well into in her second trimester of pregnancy when she quietly announced to the 890 staff in late Fall that she would be leaving the station all together. Apparently, employees had no clue of the baby bump.

Launched in the Fall of 2005, ESPN 890 has made very little – if any – headway in denting WEEI’s armor but Tang had weathered some storms, some departures and kept investors and ESPN interested enough to let her continue to putter with a weak signal and barely any marketing dollars.

Now, it will be the full-time function of WallerSutton’s WS2K Media to oversee 890, removing Tang and her J Sports from the equation.

Schrafft Building moles tell Shots that Route 81′s CEO, Ira Rosenblatt who will be the “new” Jessamy. You would have to think this is sink or swim time for the station and it’s a heck of a time to be trying to do either in these rough waters of the Second Great Depression.

Safe money says that 2009 will finally be the year that 890 admits it is nothing more than a tin can and string operation that embarrasses the national ESPN brand with each passing week.

The Shotty for the Biggest Waste of Weekly TV Air Time during Patriots Season

Awarded to any of the awful pre- or postgame offerings from WBZTV Channel 4 where Stammering Steve Burton and Steve “DeAwful” DeOssie are paired together. It’s car crash TV at its worst with every potential utterance a frontal assault on the English language. Add in the station’s insistence on using a constantly shaky handi-cam from the company-owned restaurant/bar in Foxborough and the end result was 16 weeks of unwatchable local football coverage.

The Shotty for Most Pleasant Surprise of 2008

WEEI.com

By any sensible standard, the initial months of the website built by Tim Murphy and Rob Bradford were a success for Entercom and even the hiccups have been forgivable. Do not underestimate what the “acquisition” of Curt Schilling meant and you can be sure that 2009 will have even more innovation and exploration by the MurphFord combo.

While I was quoted in the above-linked Phoenix story by Adam Reilly, I think it’s probably worth including some of my (long-winded replies) to Reilly’s questions that didn’t make his article. His questions are marked by “AR” and my responses are after “DS”:

AR: What do you think WEEI.com has done right?
DS: Let’s look at it this way: In less than half a year they have assembled a diverse and provocative line-up that includes Rob Bradford, Alex Speier, Curt Schilling, Will Leitch, Mike Felger and, incredibly, “Fitzy” (I don’t see his appeal, but I’m probably not supposed to).

That doesn’t even mention the in-the-trenches crew they’ve cultivated (Joe Haggerty on hockey was a GREAT freelance hire as was Paul Flannery on the Celts and more than I ever imagined, Mike Petraglia as a jack of all trades).

The web site has been able to inform, entertain and extend the WEEI brand into a space – The Web – that it desperately needed a presence in. They’ve had some some hiccups (design/layout/navigation is still a mess) and I still question that initial hire of Ron Borges, but if you’re asking for a grade on what they’ve done in a short period of time, in a marketplace that is trembling with fear, I’d say it’s a solid B-Plus. Even that should probably be grade-curved up because they’re doing it all under the direction of Entercom’s notoriously fickle regime. The Big E is making cuts all over, but they have been solidly behind the venture at WEEI.com and they need to be commended for that.

And don’t forget, Murphy and Bradford have consistently pointed to January/February as when they will be fully up and running with bells, whistles and maybe even a few more “big name” additions. You can’t give a true judgment until at least 9 or more likely 12 months. They started with virtually nothing as a foundation and now have a very sturdy base (including some eye-catching story art to tease the content).

AR: Where, if anywhere, do you think they’ve been less impressive?
DS: It’s not really “less impressive,” but some of the execution has been lacking because they don’t really have a full-time “Big Picture” guy. Rob and Alex are writing and editing a good deal and that takes time away (understandably so) from thinking about how to package and present stories and use WEEI’s multi-media resources. Instead of bringing on more out-front folks that don’t quite fit**, I’d like to see them bring in a dedicated content configurer who could focus on gaining eyeballs and increasing the site’s visibility. [NOTE: The addition of Christopher Price is an encouraging sign that could help in the area of big picture planning as Price will have editing duties.]

**Just as an aside, I haven’t seen the Leitch presence pay off. I emailed with Will early on about finding his groove within the context of both Boston and WEEI and he admitted then it would be a process. Mailbags have been weak and the columns haven’t quite knocked my socks off. The thing(s) he did with Flannery fell way short and he’s almost too timid as the “Outsider” – like he doesn’t want to offend the good people of Boston? Please. These people deserve to be offended with their boorish behavior.

I am leaning toward his shortcomings in this market being a result of WEEI’s Meathead Factor. There’s just too many Pete Sheppard worshippers that don’t understand the innate genius of Will and he may be trying to cater to them too much.

ALSO, From what I can gather, a good deal of the radio guys aren’t very receptive to being “used” on the web without compensation. Pretty ludicrous from a crew that should just be happy to be employed at all.

AR: And how much of a threat do you think they pose to the Globe and the Herald?
DS: They’ve already done loops around the woeful Boston Herald’s sports-web presence. That wasn’t even a contest. And, to their credit, they’ve certainly pushed the Globe on several fronts (live-blogging, for instance) but for now Boston.com’s reach and established name are too big and too entrenched to allow for a start-up like WEEI.com to truly register. If Entercom stays the course and lets Bradford manage his personnel and find a nuts-and-bolts overseer, it will be the Globe and WEEI.com duking it out for the No. 1 spot in the region’s sports infotainment delivery.

The Shotty for Most Frustrating Re-Design of a Sports Section

The Boston Globe (specifically Sunday notes columns)

Amid all the turmoil and comings and goings that Joe Sullivan has had to deal with for the Globies, it’s the static, glacially evolving sports page that may be the most egregious error of the past year. Instead of figuring out more and better ways to integrate the print product into the electronic copy, Sullivan’s crew continues to tiptoe around making bold changes and instead settles for inconsistent and incomplete moves. The print needs to drive the web and the web needs to drive the print and right now, that synergy is still lacking.

As for the debacle that is the Sunday notes columns, Sulivan allowed for some new designs and elements, but not all of them are treated equally across sports and the result is hard to follow, sloppily laid out notebooks that frustrate more than they inform. I’d like to see them blow up the notes entirely and figure out a way to make them relevant and newsworthy again. As you’d assume, I’ve got tons of ideas, but no one’s asked me for them. Yet.

The insistence on giving Stan Grossfeld space for his Sunday photo play of “What they were thinking?” is a Sully stubbornness at its worst. Each Sunday we ask, “What are YOU thinking by continuing with this feature?”

On the web side, there seems to have been a reluctance to embrace the Cover It Live software for live-blogging, something WEEI.com continues to experiment (successfully) with.

Sully is probably looking at one more major defection in the next calendar year (Rookie of the Year Marc Spears has drawn national interest, according to industry sources), but after he deals with that, he needs to get everyone on staff thinking about one thing and one thing only: Making the Globe sports page come alive on the web every hour of every day.

The Shotty for the Region’s Most Complete Media Talent

Mike Reiss, Boston.com/Boston Globe

Retire this award and call it “The Reissy.” We’ve long been unabashed and unyielding advocates for the work of Reiss, but this past year he took everything up a notch to a point where larger, more significant, national job opportunities are surely in the offing for the Umie stalwart. His blog skills are legendary, but he has spread his wings more on TV reporting for NESN and offering astute, measured and reasonable commentary on any number of outlets (chiefly for undeserving WBZTV and the passable WCVB “Patriots All-Acccess”).

The best part? Reiss still remains one of the most liked, most humble and most respected media members in the entire region – no easy task with the piranhas that populate the local scene.

• And finally, some quick Shotties in various categories:

Best New Blood in the Market
Adam Kilgore, Boston Globe – His baseball coverage has already been fantastic, but we’re actually looking forward to having him spice up the college hoops coverage in the region, especially with Boston as a host site in March. Sully can’t hog all the college hoops for himself.

Worst Old Blood in the Market
Pete Sheppard, WEEI – Sheppard will have to accept this on behalf of his fellow unqualified morons who he shares studio space with daily. It really is a group honor for the Meat Men, who continue to exemplify the very worst elements of sports coverage in the region and indeed, the country. When Sheppard appeared at the “VIP table” of a recent Phantom Gourmet episode with one of Eddie Andelman’s annoying offspring, we were left to wonder what exactly the VIP stood for? Very Ignorant or Virtually Incompetent Person?

Oh, and of course, Butch Stearns.

You’ll Be Missed Shotty
Take your pick here. The market lost Jeff Horrigan from the Herald when he abandoned the business and the city. Likable Laura Behnke, who shone for NECN and Comcast SportsNet headed west. The talented and capable folks over at CN8, where Shots always enjoyed playing TV dude, got discarded. Jeff Goldberg also got bumped at the Hartford Courant and Steven Krasner at the crumbling ProJo sports desk. Those are some tough losses to overcome for any market, but especially one that values quality people doing quality work.

Maybe the biggest loss of all was the little man from down South Coast way, Danny Pires. I still find myself wanting to hit Dan with a wise-ass email or phone call and long to read and hear his wise-ass response. Rest peacefully, DP.

You Won’t Be Missed Shotty
Hazel Mae, NESN – The power of a very good agent at IMG helped Hazel land a job with the January 1-launching MLB network but we stand by our assessment that Mae is far from a national talent. She will need a strong producer and good behind-the-scenes folks to make her a marquee talent for Tony Petitti’s gang.

Let’s also throw Babbling Bob Lobel into this category, although he will never fully go away, no matter how much we wish for it. And of course, despite a re-appearance this week, we say a hearty farewell to Mustard and Johnson.

And, for other reasons entirely, Bob Gamere.

Lastly, this is probably a good place to put the former Boston Sports Guy, Bill Simmons. What? He hasn’t gone anywhere? Oh. My bad. All those hissy fits and Shawshank rebellions during 2008 had me thinking Simmons just had to get out from under the wrath of the Mouse Ears.

Guess it was all just artistic differences. Maybe in Ought-Nine, Simmons can just appreciate how good he has it and focus on the writing that he can still do so well.

Most Questionable Moves by One Newspaper
The Boston Herald – From the (mis)handling of the John Tomase affair and the (mis)hiring of Ron Borges, the Wingo Wayers did some very tabloidy things over the course of 2008, but the payoffs have not been substantial and the paper continues to lag far behind in Web presence. They are the little train that could and we always like rooting for the underdog, but the Herald needs to start making some serious hay on the web side and spicing up its back page if it wants to have relevance in this town. The Herald hired Borges to be his provocative, bombastic self and instead they’ve been given Timid Ron – and they still have never addressed Borges’s boxing connections, despite still using him for coverage of fights put on by his former employer, Oscar De La Hoya. Readers deserved explanation when Borges was hired and they still deserve one today.

Funniest Oversight by a Local Media Organization.
The Tiny Member photo, Boston Globe.

Some other favorites from 2008 in Shots’ coverage:

Callahan v. Simers

Kimball v. Halloran

Sad exit from ProJo for Sean McAdam

Wilbon takes on Kimbo

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 and is now available for pre-order.

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.

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.

The rapid evolution of WEEI.com continues and we’re not even a month into the new incarnation. Content has been bountiful, integration with the radio side has been almost seamless (see: the John Dennis ‘scoop’ from Wednesday AND the dot-com branded Saturday morning show) and there’s even big-name sponsors already jumping into the fray with the big bank backing of WEEI.com’s blogger contest.

That doesn’t even take into consideration the incredibly lively and enjoyable City Hall offering from Red Sox Mayor, Sean Casey. We’ll whet your whistle with 90 seconds of Big Papi At the Movies:

As one respected observer commented over the Holiday Weekend on the shores of Nantasket, “Look at what WEEI.com has done in a few weeks and look at what NESN.com hasn’t been able to do with,” the “Hit It” campaign for its website.

Point being, NESN appears to only be promoting itself and its programming, while WEEI.com is establishing a voice and an identity. (That’s a broad overview and certainly, some portions of NESN.com are equal to or better than those of WEEI.com, but it’s safe to think that ‘EEI.com is on the express route to No. 2 in the market for sports information delivery – to Boston.com.

• Erin Andrews appeared to be sporting some Paulie Walnuts highlights and streaks in hair during her 6 p.m. hit from Vanderbilt on Thursday’s SportsCenter, and for the first time in our natural, Andrews-born life, we went, “Ewwwwwww.”

• Finally, it appears we have closure on the Gordon Edes exit from the Boston Globe – a saga that took the better part of one-third of a calendar year to unravel. Edes confirmed to Shots last week that his ERISA appeal of the Globe’s buyout offer was denied.

“So the Globe saved themselves the equivalent of 80 bucks a week for the 12 years I busted my butt for them,” said Edes in an email correspondence over last week. “It took them just two weeks to replace me w/(Adam) Kilgore/promoting/Amalie (Benjamin). . . their decision cost me thousands. . .”

(If Edes’s math is correct, the denial cost him nearly $50,000 [calculating $80 per week at 52 weeks in a year = $4,160 annually; then, 12 (Edes’ tenure as a Globie) at the yearly rate for a Total of $49,920. Edes used an attorney as well, so he also had legal costs to bear.

The buyout application was denied, according to Edes, because Sports Editor Joe Sullivan deemed Edes “indispensable” to the paper.

More likely, however, Edes ruffled some feathers on Mo Boulevard by letting it be known he was leaving for the big Y! in the Sky, Yahoo! Sports. When the higher-ups got wind of Edes’s plan to “double-dip,” the paper dug in its heels.

Bygones are now bygones and Edes is in a better place with greater exposure; and the Globe has snagged Tony Massarotti to soften the blow (his debut with Bob Ryan this week on “Globe 10.0″ was the show’s most promising pairing since Bob Neumeier teamed with Ryan for Battlin’ Bobs).

The whole Edes episode is a cautionary tale of just how precarious the waters of the Newspaper Downsizing ocean have become.

At least one other recognizable local sports scribe is currently experiencing his own drama over an impending separation from his employer and the positioning and posturing currently at play are so similar to the Edes scenario in several ways. Maybe most of all, the circumstances mean that another domino in the Old Media/New Media universe will fall and more shifting will take place in the marketplace.

. . . The Eagle Tribune layoffs will hit the sports desk, but it still hasn’t been divulged who, specifically, will be affected at the paper. (One visit to that website tells you all you need to know about how far behind the Eagle-Trib is. Jeesh. Worst. Sports. Landing. Page. EVER.

• Couple of add-ons to the now-must read and must visit Jessica Heslam from Thursday’s Boston Herald:

1. Owned and operated, Fox 25′s newest fox, Sara Underwood is, of course, married to multi-media man Mike Felger (WEEI, WEEI.com, Comcast, et al). The duo is once again the No. 1 media couple in Boston, and they have the potential to rival the city’s all-time media power couple, Nat and Chet. Mike’s going to burn out on sports at some point and some creative sort at one of the locals (and FOX 25 is a prime candidate) will pair Felgie and the Missus as news anchors and they will make a run at WCVB’s all-timers, C&N.

2. The re-signing of Kathryn Tappen extension at NESN could be the equivalent of a “bat signal” from the Watertown satellite dishes. Foremost, it signifies that NESN has liked the progress Tappen has made in her two years and rightfully so. Tappen, who is engaged to a hockey journeyman, Jay Leach, has improved in every facet and is probably ready for a call-up to the No. 1 property on the network – the Red Sox.

Shots is told there might even be the temptation to swap Heidi Watney with Tappen and let Watney go the route of Bruins studio host until she becomes steadier in all areas. Watney, it’s safe to say, has not enamored herself to all the NESN suits in the early going, and the Jason Varitek murmurs haven’t helped things.

. . . Heslam forwards the salacious Julie Donaldson story a bit with this update. The smoking gun (and potential bargaining chip, it would seem) is the supposed existence of a sex tape. Heslam has been on top of the sad tale from jump street.

But I’m still not convinced Lattimore is currently a Slamball player because I’m not convinced Slamball still exists!

• Had to like the ESPN counter-program to McCain on Thursday night: No. 24 South Carolina and the Ole Ball Coach taking on feisty Vandy.

That my friends, Red State conundrum for thousands upon thousands.

• Pats Mania is sweeping all outlets and Comcast SportsNet has some guns-a-blazin’ with, as their release touted, “New England’s top football writers and sports personalities such as Former Patriots Christian Fauria and Steve DeOssie; NBCSports.com’s Tom Curran; WEEI.com’s Ron Borges; Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks; The Sporting News’ Albert Breer and ESPN’s Andy Gresh share their Patriots insight.”

Breer will also be the regular co-host with Kevin Winter on 890 AM’s “Monday Night Countdown” (7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) live from a West Bridgewater establishment. That show would seem to have a more realistic shot to register a blip for ESPN Radio than the Sunday morning (10 a.m. to Noon) show with Winter and Boston Metro’s Christopher Price that will do battle with established, strong-signalled offerings from BOTH flagship WBCN 104.1 FM and WEEI 850 AM. During home games, that show will be live from a car dealership on Route 1 in Foxboro.

• A very close – and very astute – Friend of Shots stumbled across a gem from Gerry “Scooter” Callahan that ran in the Boston Herald 17 years ago (this week the station celebrated its own “banner 17″ as an all-sports outfit).

It ran – at a now-unheard of 933 words – on August 7, 1991 in the Herald. My favorite portions are in bold.

© 1991 Boston Herald Library. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.

In a little less than a month, WEEI-AM will become the first all-sports station in the Boston radio market. The station is owned by the Celtics and already carries both Bruins’ and Celtics’ games during the winter. The rest of the air time will be filled with the occasional out-of-town or college game as well as a wide variety of talk shows and syndicated sports programs. Formerly the only all-news station in Boston, WEEI is now busy laying off everyone who doesn’t wear a baseball cap to work.

The Celtics somehow squeezed Eddie Andelman under their salary cap, so in the afternoon the station will feature the most established talk show host in the city. It is assuring to know that for at least a few hours a day the station will not be taking sports too seriously. Along with Eddie, Andy Moes will probably hold his own in the morning, and veterans such as Craig Mustard and Glenn Ordway will not embarrass themselves in their respective slots. Unlike WEEI under its present format, the station may soon be worth listening to even if a war hasn’t broken out in the last few minutes.

What about the other 10 or 12 hours a day? Will they hire generic hosts with cute nicknames who talk about hockey in the summer, subscribe to USA Today, and rate Bill James as their favorite author? Will they have same dozen callers who become close, personal friends with the host? Can they go around the clock with jock talk and not wind up sounding like this?

“It’s 2:27 a.m. and it’s time to take a call. Charlestown, you’re next on Sports Spew with the Scooter!”

“Hello, Scooter? Am I on the air? Hello? ?!”

“You’re on the air. Go ahead, Charlestown.”

“Yeah, Scooter, I’m calling from Charlestown. I’m a first-time caller, and like I was telling you last time I called, I’ve been a season ticket holder for 37 years and … Hello? Are you there? Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you. Turn down your radio, you moron, and make your point.”

“Who you callin’ a moron, moron? Me and my boys will come down there and kick your scrawny &*%$#@ …”

“And you’re next, on WEEI! Go ahead, Boston.”

“Yo, Scootman. We’re, like, over here at, like, Northeastern University and, like, we’re partying, dude. Yeah! Paaaaarty!”

“Good for you, Northeastern. Now what’s your question or comment?”

“Comment? Well, like, I only got one comment: Kick butt in the Beanpot! Yeah! Paaaaarty!”

“It is 2:36 at Sports Spew and next up, we have a call from a stolen car that is being chased the wrong way at high speed down the Mass Pike. What’s on your mind, stolen-car phone?”

“I don’t know about you, Scooter, but I’ve had just about enough out of Irving Fryar. The guy’s nuts, man. He’s got a death wish. They gotta trade the bum.”

“We’re losing you, stolen-car phone. Thanks for the call and good luck in prison. Let’s take one more call before we bring you go to our first guest. It’s our old friend, Ngxyeeb, at 7-Eleven in Chelsea. What’s on your mind, Ngxyeeb?”

“Hello, Mr. Scooter. I think Uruguay will win the World Cup. What you think?”

“Well, Ngxyeeb, I think you’re right. Brazil and Italy have some talent on the back line, but Uruguay has better corner kickers. Thanks for the call and save me a cheese Danish, old buddy. Let’s see, it’s 2:48 a.m. on Sports Spew, and it’s time to welcome our special guest. His name is Bobby “Bentnose” Boyle and he’s a scout for the Winnipeg Jets. Welcome to the show, Bentnose.”

“Thanks, Boomer. It’s great to talk to the people back in Austin. I grew up in Montana, and I think that’s right near Austin.”

“That’s BOSTON, Bentnose. Anyway, let me ask you first about the Jets. A lot of our listeners are wondering who might step up and help the Jets win the tough Smythe Division?”

“Well, Skeeter. We’ve got a kid named Sal out of Saskatoon and a guy named Frank from Frostbite Falls. They’re both tough cookies. I look for big things out of both of them.”

“Thanks for joining us, Bentnose. We’ve got to take a break now. When we come back, we’ll try to think of something a little more interesting.”

Did you know there are only 44 sounds in the English language? Did you know they only use three of them on this show? Did you know you’re brain is turning to Maypo? We could teach you to read, but, hey, why bother?

Are you down, depressed, lonely? Are you considering suicide? Well, we’d like to tell you to call their Samaritans, but since you are listening to hockey talk at 3 a.m., you’re probably a lost cause.

“OK, welcome back to Sports Spew with the Scooter, and in the next hour, we’re going to discuss a real hot topic in sports today: Golf ball dimples – do we really need 360 of them? Back to the phones, and you’re next, Charlestown.”

“Hello? Scooter? Am I on the air? Hello?”

Six years later, Callahan got his morning show with John Dennis. Now, eleven years later, Callahan’s farce is THE force in a city that used to be run by the newspapers.

• Lastly, I have taken a lot of heat in certain circles for first advocating for and then defending the choice of Dick Vitale as a Contributor to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. This is not the day to lose that argument again. Instead, let’s just congratulate the Jersey kid done good and we can agree to disagree on his contributions to the game of basketball.

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.

Capping what could become a defining week in the storied history of the Boston Globe sports desk, sports editor Joe Sullivan announced in Sunday’s paper that the Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore will share the Red Sox beat with Amalie Benjamin.

Kilgore, 24, who has been a star on the WaPo’s college sports coverage team, brings baseball beat experience and Globe (and local) roots with him. Kilgore grew up in York, Maine, about an hour north of Boston.

Following the Tony Massarotti hiring and the Chad Finn re-positioning, Sullivan has made bold moves in showing the Globe is taking the impending threat of WEEI.com very seriously. (WEEI.com will do a “soft re-launch” on Monday with original content from many of its new talents including Rob Bradford and, Shots has learned, Curt Schilling – although he’s not expected to be a regular contributor at the outset.)

Kilgore’s a Daily Orange alum from Syracuse University (2006) and interned in sports at the Globe. His work has also appeared in the Portland Press Herald and Sports Illustrated’s On Campus.

Not only does the Kilgore hire bolster the paper’s Sox coverage, his hire has the added bonus of giving Sullivan a legit go-to option on his college hoops and football bench. Add in a comfort level on the blog/message board/chat side that Kilgore has displayed and the sum total result is an infusion of youth, talent, experience and versatility that the Internet media world demands. He starts September 2 at the Globe.

Reached last week before he had accepted the job, Kilgore joked that he kept his (207)-area code (Maine) because, he said, “It’s my essence.”

In fact, if we’re not mistaken, Kilgore’s family is was involved in this magnificent idea for a food specialist. [UPDATE: The Kilgores, Kent and Lucy (both teachers), owned and ran Maude Hutchins for about two years and Kent still owns a wholesale lobster meat business named Skipper's Bay Lobster Meat.]

• So here’s the scene we’re picturing when Bob Ryan rolls into the office on his first day back from China, probably sometime in early September:

Ryan: Ni Hao, everybo. . . Mazz? What are you doing here? What did you do with Gordon?

Sully: We better grab a coffee, Bob. It’s a whole new world here on Morrissey Boulevard.

For more on the Globe’s increasingly heated competition with the evolving WEEI.com., be sure to check out Shots’ Monday Morning Media Matters.

FOXBOROUGH – An opportune visit to the House of Tom on Thursday night showed us two very evident storylines developing in Patriots’s media land:

1. There’s going to be some shake-up in Pats’ beat once the Herald and sports editor Hank Hryniewicz settle on a hire for this open position. (Made possible by the departure of Rob Bradford to WEEI.com and the eventual sliding of John Tomase back to the Red Sox beat.)

2. The silver anniversary duo at WBCN 104.1 FM’s Rock Radio Network are setting out to make game broadcasts more un-listenable than ever. At the same time Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti were pointing out the pre-season follies of both the Patriots and the Ravens, G&G were in the midst of creating their own FIRST QUARTER lowlight reel. (Santos completely missed a first half challenge by the Ravens, even as the play was being reviewed; Cappelletti mumbled through a discussion of the Harbuaghs by mis-informing listeners that John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim Harbaugh, has been the head coach at Stanford for five years – he’s been there one full season.)

If classy Bobby Kraft is just trying to give his radio tandem a graceful exit after 25 years as partners, he should at least have the decency to tell the rest of us so we can officially begin the countdown to when G&G will be gone and good-riddanced. Only then will we “turn down our TV and turn up the radio,” as Santos urges. We’ve reached our breaking point with the tandem and thankfully with satellite radio, our options are more vast.

. . . As for the Herald gig, several One Herald Square moles confirmed a steady stream of applicants have been through the tabloid’s halls in recent days. The candidate list a who’s who of the Pats’ beat’s current suburban (and urban) papers’ writers. Just about everyone already occupying seats from smaller papers in the Pats’ press box has at least inquired about the job, according to several regulars in Foxborough.

One source familiar with the process indicated that Hank Herald hopes to have the position filled for the start of the regular season, but that would likely mean that the pool of national candidates will not be huge, as out-of-staters would probably need too much time to get out of current jobs/living situations.

• Mike Lynch wears no socks as the sideline reporter on pre-season broadcasts. We just don’t need to know this. And we really didn’t need the clumsily performed, post-halftime interview Lynch tried to execute with Belichick. Incredibly, the Coach actually saved Lynch and even offered individual praise for rookies like Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable.

. . . A shameless Davio’s (at Patriot Place) plug highlighted garbage time of the Kraft Sports Productions broadcast as microphone spinner, Lynchie, whined about not being part of the “team” meal with Don Criqui and Randy Cross.

Wow. That’s some bad TV.

. . . And how about investing in a backdrop for the booth? The post-game wrap by Criqui and Cross revealed some ugly pipes and wires behind the duo.

. . . Scott Zolak was strong in the WCVB post-game, out-shining Lynch at every turn during post-game analysis and a Pierre Woods interview that ended with Showtime Zo-Time saying, “White men can’t jump.” (He played summer basketball with Woods, it seems.)

• An oddity from the 2008 Patriots Media Guide: The very same organization that barely mentions last season in its season ticket holder literature, just about boasts (by its standards anyway) about the Pats’ 18 wins in 2008 with the sidebar chart titled, “Winning Ways,” appearing on both Page 46 and Page 87.

The nugget tells of the Pats “tying the NFL’s all-time record for most overall victories in a season. . . (and) joined the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears as the NFL’s only 18-game winners.”

• Dan Lamothe strikes gold again at Red Sox Monster.

• Early favorite for Gold Medal Olympic Blogger of the 2008 Games: Dan Steinberg of the WaPo. I’m doing my best to be a casual observer and so far the only coverage I’ve needed has come from Dan Wetzel and Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports. Oh, and Basketball Bob appears to be getting the hang of the blogging from Far Away. Just throw in some bullets to separate thoughts and we’ll be in business.

. . . The Globe has, according to this July blog entry, SEVEN “staff reporters,” in Beijing (including NBA writer, Marc Spears, who appears to be chipping on Boxing coverage as well). No mention of of how many photogs and editors, but we’re guessing there’s no fewer than 12 Globies chasing fencing stories in China. A dozen!

The Herald, on the other hand, has zero. And no one will be the wiser, really – AP coverage of this event in tough times for newspapers is more than understandable, it’s perfectly acceptable.

• No news from 890 AM on their 4-7 p.m. team, but an announcement could come before the weekend, we’re told.

Yeah, we know. Hard to contain yourself with all the anticipation.

• On Sunday night’s NBC pre-season opener, John Madden (’08) mentioned Redskins Hall of Famer “Bullet Bill” Dudley (the oldest Hall of Famer in Canton last weekend). The context was a record Dudley holds which still stands and may never be broken and Madden neglected to give the specifics: Dudley scored NINE different ways during his career – rush, reception, kickoff return, punt return, interception, fumble recovery, extra point, field goal and a lateral (considered a scoring play in 1946).

• The contest is officially over for 2008′s most bizarre sports broadcasting moment as Wednesday night brought us Jackie Mason doing color commentary on an ESPN 2 boxing match. The part where Mason and co-horts (Joe Tessitore and Nate Campbell) were naming famous Jewish boxers was just priceless. Mason was supposedly some kind of boxer in his day.

• I’m late to the news, but still quite disappointed that the “Corm and the Coach” show (featuring all-time fave, Tom Brennan) is no more. The duo’s worthwhile golf tournament is next Thursday. Fortunately, Brennan will remain as an ESPN college hoops analyst and Doug Gottlieb’s full-time babysitter.

• XM Sports yakker, BC grad and son of Tim, Luke Russert, is getting a nice gig with Dad’s old employer.

• Some people have too much time on their hands. And boy was Globe Magazine happy to have the story – they released it early (on the eve of the Pats’ pre-season openere) and did an email blast which wound up getting picked up by both Deadspin and The Big Lead.

• The Boston market’s version of vintage Kenny Mayne, CN8′s John Carchedi, has another of his fabulous specials airing this Saturday at 7 p.m. Some of the featured stories include Carchedi’s day with Brazilian soccer fans; a tour of the new Sports Museum of America in New York; and how Yankee fans are dealing with the impending closure of Yankee Stadium.

. . . Shots shared air time with ex-Providence coach Tim Welsh on CN8 from Gillette on Thursday and there’s no doubt he’s ready for some college hoops color commentary and/or in-studio analysis at one media outlet or another. Welsh isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, he’s humorous, he’s well-connected and the ex-Gael head man, has figured out the TV thing in no time at all.

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.