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.

Numerous reliable Scott’s Shots’ sources are confirming that ex-Boston Globe writer, Ron Borges, is in discussions with the Boston Herald about filling one of three vacant spots on sports editor Hank Hryniewicz’s desk.

If true, a Borges hire would indicate the Herald is either very bold or very desperate, as the scars from the John Tomase Saga still linger at the city’s struggling second fiddle news gatherer. At the very least, the paper’s editor, Kevin R. Convey, would be stretching his promised “bond of trust” with readers to the limits if his sports department scoops up Borges, the crosstown rival’s ex-plagiairst.

When asked specifically about Borges via a Monday afternoon email from Shots, Hryniewicz would only say, “I’m still in the interviewing process for all three openings on the staff and I’m quite happy with the way the process is moving forward.”

Borges, it appears, would be in line for the general columnist slot left vacant by Tony Massarotti’s departure to the Globe. Borges would obviously have a heavy football bent to his columns, the way the now-branded “Mazz” leaned toward baseball and as the Brady injury showed for WEEI.com on Sunday, Borges does have a lot of bulldog left in that bully persona of his. (Traffic soared at the site Sunday night and into Monday, according to a WEEI.com operative.) For his new part-time employer, Entercom, Borges was ahead of the Brady-out-for-season story (with Yahoo!’s Michael Silver, it should be noted) as his deep and well-placed league connections were once again on display while the competing locals struggled to gain confirmation of the ACL injury.

• The other two slots – a baseball position and a football opening – have seen local names filter into One Herald Square for sit-downs, as well the inclusion of at least one tabloid baseball writer from New York, according to several sources.

Depending upon how Hank Herald chooses to use his tool chest, the combination of the three hires will go a long way in deciding whether the Herald Sports department is going to be a ‘player’ or an ‘also-ran’ in the rapidly evolving Boston sports media landscape. The paper lost Mike Felger, Rob Bradford, Jeff Horrigan and Mazz in what felt like one fell swoop over the summer. Those were some major contributors across the board for the Heraldos and the hires to replace them will be significant ones for Hryniewicz as he attempts to feed coal into the Little Engine That Could.

There has to be a heavy Internet presence as the paper moves forward and despite the Herald’s site being woefully outdated, the infrastructure is, in fact, in place if the “replacements” are allowed to capitalize on 24-hour drop bin that the is the World Wide Web.

• Borges, is in the midst of a remarkable renaissance after his “retirement” from the Globe, which followed a company-mandated suspension when it was revealed that Borges had taken Mike Sando’s work and passed it off as his own. But like Mike Barnicle and Ken Davis before (and many others surely to come), Borges has found a journalistic second life and is now drawing paychecks from respected media giants, Entercom and Comcast (locally on both CN8 and Comcast SportsNet). So, the Herald wasn’t necessarily first to the Borges re-birth party, but it would be taking the largest risk by putting him on full-time staff and opening up all sorts of scrutiny and, perhaps, unwanted attention that will come with hiring such a polarizing figure.

Still, there is a part of me that thinks Borges would be perfect for the Herald, in that he has always had that “tabloid edge” to his writing and his personality in general. The biggest question is: “Are we still too close to Tomasegate to trust the Herald’s judgment on Borges?”

The coming days and Hank Herald’s ultimate moves will decide all that.

• Speaking of that tabloid edge, Howie Carr once again says what most are too afraid to utter in this town. We do need to get over ourselves a bit.

• Yet another nice get by Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski who beat everyone on the new Doc deal. Can’t imagine why shoehorned Globe Celts’ beat man Frank Dell’Apa didn’t have that one!?!?

• A tease of tonight’s comical Jonathan Papelbon Video that will be shown on Comcast SportsNet:

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.

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.

With a week to digest the rather compelling WEEI.com news that Shots led the way on late last week, it’s clearly time for a Winners and Losers edition of “As the Boston Sports Media Market Turns”:

WINNER
Glenn Ordway

The biggest – in every sense – winner is none other than Glenn “Pay Day” Ordway, whose contract is expiring with WEEI 850 AM. Ordway has the leverage of a Posey and the WEEI.com component of the equation could very well make Ordway famously wealthy, should he manipulate the web extensions to his benefit. (Similar to Posey, Ordway is going to want the extra year AND the extra dollars.)

Some of the things Ordway can now roll into his contract demands would be additional monies for live-streaming (or TV broadcasting) of The Big Show; exclusive on-line chats with the Big-O; a “Big O Big Blog”; Interactive elements to his show; and whatever other scams Ordway and his handlers can figure out.

With all that the Big O has meant to the station, ‘EEI pretty much needs to show him the money.

In short, Ordway is probably just weeks away from becoming the town’s highest paid sports media personality ever. And considering some of the stupid money that’s been thrown around this town (Hello, WCVB and WBZ!), that’s saying something.

LOSER
Local Mainstream Sports Websites

Boston.com’s sports package on the web probably doesn’t need to start quaking in its big boots just yet, but we’d suggest that the Boston Herald’s digital sports division might want to get a move on things. Without Bradford’s blog, the meager Herald site is sure to lose traffic and loyalists.

Further, Bradford’s pending arrival in the New Balance Building means that he’s going to be given the keys to some very interesting toys, aka resources. Video, written word, spoken word and community development options will all be elements available to Bradford. (Might be worth looking at what the Worldwide Leader is doing with something it’s calling “Streak for Cash.” In essence, it’s building brand loyalty and offering fabulous cash and cache prizes.

Bradford thought out of the box on the beat and he will have to continue to go where others fear to tread in his new content editor role for WEEI.com. Best yet, he will still be allowed to spread his wings as a writer.

WINNER/LOSER
Hank Hryniewicz

It’s a mixed bag for Help Me Hank, the Herald’s resourceful sports editor. On the one hand he loses Bradford, a true talent and a voice that popped from his pages (web and print).

On the other hand, he has a built-in escape hatch that can plop John Tomase right on to the Red Sox beat and keep him away from Foxborough, where the whole situation is bound to be a festering sore unless Tomase is quietly shifted off football and back onto baseball. We’re told it’s Tomase’s sport of choice and he has done some of his best work from the clubhouse, not the locker room.

The Bradford departure affords everyone at the Herald a more workable situation with Karen Guregian able to take lead duties and Jeff Horrigan and Tony Mazz able to augment her efforts. Throw in Buck and a couple of Callahan classics and the Pats beat is covered pretty securely while the Sox beat gets the best available replacement for Bradford (although Herald freelancer Alex Speier is a close second).

WINNER
Local Off-Mainstream Sports Websites

WEEI.com operatives are trying to convince us that the content-providers (i.e. columnists and commentators) for the new-fangled website won’t just be old graybeards looking for a check. We’ll believe that once the re-launch is complete and there’s not a Borges or a Peter May to be found on the site. Still, the promise of new blood is encouraging for some of the established local sports blogs that might be able to add content for WEEI.com VP/GM Tim Murphy and Bradford’s newborn baby.

Creative sorts like the people behind Soxaholix, or, dare we say it, 38pitches.com, would be able to bring established audiences to the WEEI site and help to quickly build a loyal audience. It’s almost a shame that Chad Finn jumped to Boston.com because he’s the kind of pick-up that would indicate ‘EEI.com recognizes a “true” blogger-type.

WINNER
Michael Holley

After Gerry Callahan (who probably doesn’t need the headache of writing anything beyond his limited Herald offerings), Holley is the in-house candidate who could help WEEI.com the most. Give him an exclusive column once a week and use him for whatever video component Bradford settles upon and the result would be some original content from an original fella with worthwhile takes. Holley is a five-tool guy and he’s smart enough to know that some groundfloor, reasonably-priced web work for the employer will serve him well down the road.

LOSER
The One Trick Ponies Currently at WEEI

While intrusive laughing, general ignorance and single-mindedness play well on sports talk radio, the effectiveness of our generic, moronic, Meaty Men for use on the website is going to be negligible. Beyond re-packaging the snorts and soundbites of Smerlas, DeAwful and The Dwarves, it’s not like any of those big, bad, bullies could ever blog or otherwise communicate effectively. Sentence writing, we’re guessing, wasn’t high on the course list at Connecticut School of Broadcasting.

The beauty of what WEEI.com is going to be able to do, is that it won’t have to strictly rely on in-house (non-)talents to fill the web pages. Murphy and Bradford will be able to line up freelancers and gifted souls who aren’t beholden to fart jokes and homophobia. Even if the majority of WEEI’s radio talk isn’t intelligent and barely entertaining, the website has the hope and ability to be both.

WINNERS
Jason Wolfe and Julie Kahn

Say what you will (and Lord knows we have) about Entercom’s Boston Duo of Dynamic, but this significant move into the digital market could very well be a coup for the company and ‘EEI in general. The ability to use the WEEI brand across platforms and do so in a new, and much-needed way for the market is the kind of move that will keep ‘EEI on top for a long time to come.

Still, the question of whether the Entercommie culture will overcome guys like Murphy and Bradford or whether they’ll be able to overcome IT, will eventually foretell the success or failure of the initiative.

LOSER
ESPN 890

They lose their only legit local-originating show’s host and he not only jumps ship, he jumps back to the dominating competition. As Felger said to Paul Flannery at BoMag, most (including Shots) figured 890 would last a year. They’ve been around three years now but their effectiveness and place in the market is still as poor as when they began. “That was a tough road to hoe,” said Felger late last week. “I got my brains beat in for three years by WEEI and Glenn. I enjoyed 890 and having my own little show. Yeah, a (better) signal would have helped but it’s all about the competition at WEEI. They have such resources to draw on.”

An 890 spokesman this week indicated the station would have new line-up information in two or three weeks, but for now capable Kevin Winter has been hosting a show inexplicably called “Prime Time Live” in the old Felger slot from 3 to 6 p.m. All the usual suspects have been mentioned as possible permanent replacements for Felger, but the longer the delay in announcing the changes the more likely it is that 890 will be forced to shutter once and for all.

WINNER
Hamilton College

WEEI is now Hamilton College East. Both Murphy and the guy who brought him into the New Balance building Jim Rushton are Hamilton College grads. Both graduated in 1992. Go Continentals! (Worst. Nickname. Ever.)

[One clarification on Murphy's career path from our reporting last week. Here's how Murphy confirms his profession progression in resume form: 1994-1999, Titleist & FootJoy Worldwide, last title was Senior Brand Manager; 1999-2006, NYTimes Company/Boston Globe Media, last title was VP of Advertising & Marketing; 2006-2007 Monster.com, VP of Strategic Marketing; 2007-2008, Comcast/Golf Channel, Director of Digital Media; Current, WEEI.com, VP/GM.]

• The Hartford Courant’s Red Sox beat guy, Jeff Goldberg confirms that he is taking the paper’s buyout (effective at the end of the Sox season) and it’s likely he’s not the only sports desk member of the Hartford staff that takes the option.

Said Goldberg via email, “I grew up in West Hartford, went to Hall High (and eventually Central Conn. State Univ.) and started an internship in the sports department (at the Courant) the summer before my junior year at Hall (16 years old, I’m 39 now). I did just about everything up the sports department food chain – took high school scores over the phone, filed photos, did agate, copy-edited, then started writing on a regular, full-time basis about 10 years ago.

“But, all good things must come to an end, I’m afraid,” said Goldberg, who hopes to continue writing in the Boston market. “UConn won the first 70 games I covered (Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird crew) for the Courant. (Goldberg) switched to the Sox beat in 2007 and between UConn and the Red Sox, I’ve covered four championship teams in six-plus seasons. Not bad.”

Mark our words, as guys like Felger and Goldberg leave newspapers, there will not be 20 years-at-one-paper writers for a foreseeable stretch and the mere thought of Lifers like Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy is laughable in today’s race-up-the-totem-pole world of sports journalism.

“Leaving the Herald is by far the hardest part of all of this,” said Felger last Friday. “I’m 39 years old. This would have been my 20th year at the Herald. It’s going to be weird not being in the paper. It really is.

“But the brand of WEEI is huge. They are No. 1 in the market and what they’re doing is the future.”

• Familiar Providence voice Scott Cordischi confirms to Shots that he will be hosting a show on WPRO on Saturday mornings from 9-11:45am. “It will be called ‘Scott Cordischi On Sports’ and starts Saturday (July 19th),” he said via email. “I am very much looking forward to talking sports with Rhode Islanders and Southern New Englanders once again here in Providence. I have missed talking about things like the Sox, Yankees, the Celts run to a championship, the PC coaching search, the NFL Draft, etc. It’ll be nice to do it again.”

• While I agree with the general sentiment that ESPN Ombudswoman Le Anne Schreiber has been mostly effective and aggressive in her role, I couldn’t help but giggle this week when she brought up the fact that ESPN announcers sometimes do game coverage from the confines of a Bristol bunker.

The practice has been going on for years and we had exposed it two years ago, but the tactic is still employed and there is very little way for viewers to know what is ral and what is Memorex. It was misleading then and it is still misleading now. Schreiber’s ignorance on certain rudimentary matters is still puzzling to me and it makes me wonder just how effective she really is and how seriously her Ombudsing is taken by the higher-ups.

• A different take on Josh Beckett from Friend of Shots (FOS), Matt Waxman.

• Speaking of former CSTV cohorts, look at what goodies the former network (now CBS College Sports) is pulling out starting this Monday:

CBS COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK RELIVES THE ACTION AND EXCITEMENT OF THE 2008 NCAA® DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP WITH “NCAA MARCH MADNESS® REWIND”

Extensive Programming Block Begins Monday, July 21, and Features EveryGame from the 2008 Tournament

CBS College Sports Network relives March Madness this summer with a special encore presentation of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. “NCAA MARCH MADNESS REWIND” features all 63 tournament games, from the first-round to the championship game, in their entirety, beginning Monday, July 21 (NOON, PM ET). A full programming schedule is available at www.cbssports.com/cbscollegesports.

Kansas’ thrilling overtime win against Memphis in the National Championship Game will air twice, Friday, Aug. 1 (10:00 PM, ET) and Saturday, Aug. 2 (6:00 PM, ET). Other memorable games include:

First Round – #12 Western Kentucky over #5 Drake (101-99, OT)
Airs Wednesday, July 23 (10:00 PM, ET)
Drake erased a 16-point deficit in the final eight minutes of regulation to push the game into overtime. Down 99-98 in OT with 5.7 seconds left, Western Kentucky’s Ty Rogers hit a desperation three pointer from the wing to notch the win and give the Hilltoppers their first tournament victory since 1995.

Second Round – #1 UCLA over #9 Texas A&M (51-49)
Airs Sunday, July 27 (4:00 PM, ET)
Down for much of the game, the Bruins survived the Aggies with the help of Darren Collison’s late game heroics. Collison’s shot with 9.5 seconds left gave the Bruins the lead for good, propelling them to the Sweet 16.

Second Round – #3 Stanford over #6 Marquette (82-81, OT)
Airs Sunday, July 27 (6:00 PM, ET)
Stanford’s Brooke Lopez hits the winning shot with 1.3 seconds left in overtime. The Cardinal overcomes the first half ejection of coach Trent Johnson and a six-point halftime deficit.

Second Round – #10 Davidson over #2 Georgetown (74-70)
Airs Monday, July 28 (9:00 PM, ET)
Led by Stephen Curry’s dominating second half performance, Davidson upsets Georgetown. Curry outscored Georgetown 25 to 22 over the final 14:24 of the game.

. . . For the record, I’m still not ready to watch the Memphis-Kansas game. Maybe another decade or so.

• Brand new farmer’s market starting up in Hull on Friday – see you there.

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.

John Tomase’s Monday night appearance on Comcast SportsNet was, as expected, the next in his multi-platform redemption tour that began with May 16′s non-apology, apology for his role in the Boston Herald’s Spygate coverage.

Appearing for the first time on CSN since April 24 on the 10 p.m. edition, Tomase joined regular host Mike Felger and fill-in co-host, Sean Grande as well as Scott Zolak, and mention of Spygate did not come until the B Block, a full 12 minutes into the show.

The three-minute discussion of Tomase’s role in the matter took place between Grande, Felger and Tomase (Zolak was benched for that segment). It was not the bloodbath Felger teased about, but it did include some reasonably tough, insightful questions – mostly from Grande – and a contrite and remorseful Tomase admitting that he has some major work to do in order to gain the readership’s trust back. It will never be enough for the Tomase Tormenters, but it was about as good as could be expected on a show where Tomase has been a long-time contributor.

In true Belichickian fashion, Tomase even uttered the words, “We’re moving on.”

. . . Tomase inexplicably brought up the name of a fellow lightning rod football wreter, Ron Borges. Whatever it was he was trying to say about Borges (he was using him as an illustration of how fervent a fan Tomase was growing up), it was surely time that would have been better served with a different, less controversial example.

. . . The night’s poll question was intended to be about Manny Ramirez but would have applied a few weeks back to Tomase: “Should he be suspended?” (Results were 76-24 in favor of suspension for Manny, although no total vote count was noted.)

. . . While I can agree agree the A Block should have been led by the Sox, I would have liked to have seen CSN put the Tomase discussion also in that first 12 minutes. It wasn’t necessary to use all that time for Sox talk and getting Tomase’s side would have been a more genuine approach to the appearance that was heralded a bit during the day on Monday.

. . . NBCSports.com’s Tom Curran was originally scheduled for the show, but was replaced by Zolak. It’s fair to wonder whether that was a Tomase-related defection by Curran, or if he simply had a scheduling conflict. [We have sent an email to the CSN spokesman seeking clarification and will post his response here when received.] NOTE: Curran appeared on the 6:30 p.m. show and was not – despite information from CSN to the contrary – scheduled for the 10 p.m.

• A source inside Morrissey Boulevard is once again indicating that baseball writer Gordon Edes is finally ready to cut the cord and make the jump to Yahoo! Sports. There has been no word on the status of Edes’ appeal of his Globe buyout rejection, but for a saga that has dragged on (like Tomase’s) since April, it is about time that Edes either fish or cut bait. We’re told to expect Edes to be gone from the Globe by the All-Star break. A potential start date for his long-discussed Yahoo! gig as a national columnist is not known at this time.

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.

Boston Herald sportswriter John Tomase will appear on Comcast SportsNet’s 10 p.m. “Sports Tonight” show on Monday and is expected to discuss his role in Spygate, according to a release from the network.

Touting the paid appearance with a subject heading of: “Tomase Makes First TV Appearance Tonight on Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight,” the email release promises that, “Host Michael Felger and guest co-host Sean Grande will interview Tomase, who will comment on “tapegate” for the first time since he issued an apology in the Boston Herald after Matt Walsh denied taping the Rams
Super Bowl walkthrough in meetings with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Sen. Arlen Specter.”

Tomase has been a regular contributor at CSN but has not been on-air since April 24 and has been used in a utility role by Herald sports editor Hank Hryniewicz since the mid-May apology. His Sunday notes duties have been curtailed (using wire copy instead) and Karen Guregian was the prominent Pats writer at the most recent off-season camp, although Tomase did attend parts of the camp.

. . . Felger and Grande are going to need to show some teeth or the entire exercise will be seen as nothing more than a Tomase Image Rebuild infomercial.

. . . The hyper-interactive CSNers appear to have passed on opening up a chat session for this hot-button topic.

. . . The Herald is a presenting sponsor of the “Sports Tonight” show.

• A class action by Bill Belichick, by the way, in signing the on-line guest book for Dan Pires, a Pats beat writer who passed away at the age of 52 last week. Pires’ funeral was held on Monday and donations may be made to: CIB/ Pires Education Fund, c/o Credit Information Bureau, 70 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI 02888.

• The quiet bump of the Herald’s newsstand price to 75 cents began on Monday. I, for one, plan on saving my money and doing the Herald entirely digitally – except for Sunday beach and tailgate reading.

• Sean McAdam either had something that no one else had with his Manny/McCormick bombshell, or he was the only one brave enough to go with it. Incredible thing is that the ProJo’s sports editor Art Martone posted the McAdam note at 7:20 p.m. on Sunday and still, the competition didn’t have anything on it. The Globe had to settle for an early Monday morning follow-up (and link) from Steve Silva and then chase the story with Gordon Edes nabbing the 60s-ish McCormick for a mid-day post.

“Manny being Manny” is entirely separate from “Manny pushing an elderly gentlemen” and there should be no way the Sox can are allowed to brush this under the turf simply because the house organ was beaten (badly) on the nationally-significant story.

• The Herald’s Steve Buckley took over Boston sports TV on Sunday night, appearing on two sports shows simultaneously (on NECN and NESN). All Buck, all the time.

• Patriots season tickets arrived on Saturday and in addition to signaling the end of summer (which happens in earnest on July 4), the ducat delivery also gives an early glimpse into how the Pats are handling last season – despite an unprecedented 18-0 start: they are innoring it almost entirely.

An insert letter from the Stadium folks briefly mentions the February 3 outcome being “not what we hoped” and the 2008 Fan Guide letter from 15-year owners Bob and Jonathan Kraft doesn’t mention 2007 once. Instead, the team is looking ahead to its 50th anniversary celebration in 2009 and to continuing the sellout streak (now 149) this season.

. . . Game (and event) tickets depict 11 “Great Moments in Patriots History” from 1964, 1979 (56-3 over Jets), 1982 (Snow plow game), 1986 (Orange Bowl jinx-breaker), 1993 (Tippett’s last game for Andre Tippett Night Monday game), 1994, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 (Brady to Moss record-breaker).

. . . “The Hall” at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon is heavily touted in the season ticket holder material as are the commercial aspects of the sprawling development on Route One.

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.

News this week of a Sporting News re-launch and re-focus brought equal parts optimism and pessimism. As we’ve chronicled here before, when Shots was part of the final staff to ever produce SPORT magazine, there were constant rumors that Sporting News would either be our partner in business or our partner in death.

Instead, SPORT was put in the hands of some flashy, funky Brits who never understood the magazine’s history and place in American sports and decided to kill it just weeks before a spirited re-launch was scheduled. Sporting News forged ahead – however feebly – and now, with the latest news that it will go bi-weekly and re-focus some electronic resources, TSN enters another of its nine (hundred) lives.

Good for them, especially the part about going bi-weekly. US News & World Report is doing the very same thing and it’s not unreasonable to think others will surely follow. If we may be so bold, we’d even suggest that venerable Sports Illustrated should do the same thing. They’re too proud to ever do such a thing, but it really does make a lot of sense.

. . . We were thrilled to hear one of the all-time good guys in the business, Florida Gator beat guy, Dave Curtis, of the Orlando Sentinel – as well as a Syracuse grad and a Rhode Island native – will be part of the new staff at TSN. Curtis, who will move to Chicago, will be sharing the national college football beat with TSN’s Matt Hayes. Curtis starts July 7 for TSN.

. . . Interesting to note that Deadspin’s Will Leitch will also have a column for TSN. We’re also hearing some other familiar names that will join TSN but until we confirm them, we won’t rumor-monger. But do stay tuned.

• The Fidgety Guy, Bill Simmons, took another not-so-subtle swipe at the conglomerate that is Disney this week in the introduction to his latest personal web page posting:

“. . . the good old days when I could poke fun at bad sports announcing. . . ” he wrote as a lead-in to a 1999 Digital City column.

An ESPN spokesman informed Shots earlier in the week that, “(ESPN) employees are currently permitted to write personal blogs, but it is a policy that is under review.”

Sounds like Simmons better get his woe-is-me-under-the-big-corporate-umbrella comments out now while he still can.

• The nastiness of commenters reared its head with John Tomase’s filings from Los Angeles this week. At some point, the venom will probably run out, but it won’t be any time soon.

• A new venture for ex-Herald scribe Mike Shalin, who is pairing with the incomparable “Danny V,” Dan Ventura for a high school-centric show over at (yes, they still exist) 1510 The Zone. Looks like some good early signings for Shales and the V-Man as “Hacks with Haggs” auteur, Joe Haggerty, is going to contribute regularly.

Shalin reminded us that, 23 years ago, he was part of the original SportsCall crew at WRKO. So he does know good radio – although good radio doesn’t seem to have much of a home in this market where The Meat Roars and The Dale Bores.

• I’ve got a new project I’m taking up. It’s the Derek Kellogg First Pitch at Fenway cause. He’s already been proclamated by his hometown, it’s time for him to get some love from his hometown team. Certainly if non-native Travis Ford got to toss from the shadow of the Monstah, DK should get at least that much – if not a luxury box for the day (to entertain blogger-types and other Beantown friends of the program).

• With new U.S. Citizen David Ortiz on the shelf, we got to thinking about what a Big Papi rehab stint in Pawtucket might look like for the PawSox. Who better to ask than Dan Hoard, the radio voice (along with Steve Hyder) of the PawSox?

“A David Ortiz rehab at McCoy would be on the short list of biggest nights in stadium history,” said Hoard in an email response to Shots. “Curt Schilling’s first rehab start last year was at McCoy and produced a season-high crowd of 11,227, and his popularity in The Nation obviously pales in comparison to Big Papi’s. The ticket demand would be so high that the PawSox would probably be tempted to sell my seat!

“In my opinion, the only events in stadium history that have generated similar hype are as follows:

“1. The resumption of the longest game in baseball history in 1981. Major league baseball was on strike at the time, so when they picked up the game in the 33rd inning, media from all over the world swarmed into Pawtucket.

“2. The Mark Fidrych vs. Dave Righetti game in 1982. It drew 9,389 into the “old” McCoy – an attendance record that lasted for 17 years until the renovated park opened in 1999.”

So there you have it – Papi in Pawtucket will be monumentally historic, should it ever happen.

• NESN has lost its damn mind. Discussing the “Sox Appeal” dating dugout during the game? Please, stop it. Now. Enough is enough.

. . . We had wondered whether the expiration of Hazel Mae’s deal with the Network coincided with the deal that Tom Caron had signed at the same time of Mae’s extension. We’re told Caron’s deal was for a longer term and he’s not up for renewal any time soon, which is good news for NESN viewers, as Caron has become one of the steadiest studio/desk men in all the land.

. . . A billboard on Route 93 is touting Jerry Remy Day at Fenway. No truth to the rumor that the first 1,000 fans will get a pack of Remy’s favorite smokes.

• We’re not usually the museum-visiting type, but this Baseball as America exhibit that touches down at the Museum of Science starting this Sunday could lure us in.

There are four special programs that caught our eye and will likely do the same for you:

Saturday, July 12, 1:00 p.m.
Voices of the Game
Joe Castiglione, Red Sox radio broadcaster and author, and Curt Smith, author, columnist, and television/radio host
Cahners Theater, Blue Wing, Level 2, free with exhibit hall admission

Tuesday, July 22, 6:30 p.m.
Fenway and the New Generation of Ballparks
Janet Marie Smith, Senior Vice President of Planning and Development, Boston Red Sox
Cahners Theater, Blue Wing, Level 2, free

Saturday, August 2, 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Babe Ruth and Ted Williams: Behind the Legends
Leigh Montville, former Boston Globe columnist, former senior writer at Sports Illustrated, and author of “The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero”
Shapiro Science Live! Stage, free with exhibit hall admission

Babe Ruth: 1:00 p.m. | Ted Williams: 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 9 at 1:00 p.m.
The Spaceman on the Art and Science of Pitching
Bill “Spaceman” Lee, former Red Sox pitcher (1969-1978), author, and star of the 2006 documentary film, “Spaceman in Cuba”
Cahners Theater, Blue Wing, Level 2, free with exhibit hall admission

Seating is limited for all shows. First come, first served. . . . Museum members may reserve a limited number of free-seating tickets the week of the program by calling: 617-589-3169. Check with the MOS for more details.

• Lastly, we once again we remind you that Shots is attempting to raise some China Earthquake relief funds.

I have donated the equivalent of $150 to the China Earthquake Relief Efforts by offering a limited edition orange, rubber bracelet with the message, “5.12.08,” on it to the next 35 readers of this blog who forward me a Red Cross (or other earthquake charity) donation confirmation. The orange color is reminiscent of the rescue workers’ jumpers and the date is the day the quake struck. It’s a small gesture or remembrance, but one worth making.

The donation can be for any amount, just as long as it is directed to the China quake. Include your mailing address with the contribution confirmation in an email to me at shots@bostonsportsmedia.com, and I will send a bracelet to you via US Post.

It’s all just one little neighborhood we live in, folks. So help thy neighbor, please.

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.

Embattled Boston Herald sportswriter, John Tomase, remains on the Patriots beat despite working the weekend’s Red Sox-Mariners series, according to Herald sports editor Hank Hryniewicz.

Tomase, who was at the epicenter of the latest chapter of Spygate, had bylines in the paper over the weekend with all of them coming from Fenway. The Patriots held minicamp in Foxborough over the weekend and Karen Guregian was the by-lined reporter for those Herald stories. The Sunday NFL notes column was supplied by wire reports, although an accompanying sidebar had text from Tomase.

“John Tomase is still the Herald’s Patriots Beat columnist. He remains on the
beat,” said Hryniewicz in an email response to Shots. “I have used John ocassionally on the Sox beat since hiring him and will continue to do so when needed. John’s versatility allows me to use him on
various assignments and for various projects. That will not change.”

As to whether Tomase would be put at a disadvantage by not covering the Pats’ camp and thus not getting to know new players, Hryniewicz said, “John attended some of the Pats mini camp this past weekend to speak with some players and to collect notes but did not write because I had him writing
elsewhere.”

Tomase’s versatility will extend to the hardwood this week.

“He will be traveling to LA for Celts stuff this week, too, again due to my staffing needs,” wrote Hryniewicz. “But I plan to keep him on the Pats beat where he has been since coming to the Herald.”

• One other Patriots thought to pass along: Why did the Boston Globe’s Christopher Gasper insist, in his Sunday story, that “(Tom) Brady broke his offseason silence. . .” with Saturday’s talk? Brady had a very well-publicized interview on WEEI 850 AM last month. Just because Gasper, the Globe or any other media outlet wasn’t the chosen entity for that interview doesn’t mean Brady was silent since the Super Bowl meltdown.

Tomase, at least, specified in his Sunday blog that it was the first “en masse” talk with Brady.

In an age when the consumer can get information from radio, TV, computer, newspaper, carrier pigeon and whatever other means, the old rule of “breaking media silence” no longer apply. Gasper – a young ‘un in the game – should know that better than most.

• Did we all catch the return of Jackie MacMullan’s byline in Sunday’s Globe? We had been under the impression that a term of the buyout agreement was that buyout takers could not be by-lined in the Globe for a specified amount of time. Unless the term was a month, it’s probably wasn’t a stipulation in this latest round of buyouts.

So strange to see the “correspondent” tag for Jackie Mack. The paper has missed both her and Peter May for the latter part of the playoffs, there can be no doubt.

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.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Shots will be accompanying the Memphis Tigers basketball program on its upcoming trip to China. Because of that, our Boston Sports Media duties will be on hiatus. But you can follow the journey from Hull to Huizhou at the Conference USA website beginning Monday and continuing through June 2.

Before we board that big bird to the Far East, here’s a few media morsels to tide you over. We should be back with regular posts by mid-June, barring any unforeseen international incidents.

When we did our liveblog of the Tomase story release a week ago we conducted a very informal poll of where T-gate ranked in Boston sports media lore. Inexcusably, we omitted the Lisa Olson story from the conversation. As one Herald hero reminded us this week, “That was before the Internet so people were calling the office directly. They had to hire an intern just to field all the calls.”

With Tomasegate, that anger was vented on the message boards and at sites like this one. So the actual impact to the staff was not felt as deeply. However, BECAUSE of the Internet, this go-round of the Herald’s inglorious history probably had a wider initial impact and a longer residual effect.

. . . Tomase mentioned in a blog item this week that he wouldn’t be writing for a few days. It would appear to be a great time for Tomase to take some time away from the game and the games. It would also appear to be decision time as to whether or not he can continue on the beat.

And heck, everyone’s taking personal timeouts these days.

• At the core of any good media case study is the over-used, but under-utilized term, “transparency.”

The more forthcoming, and the more transparent media organizations, bloggers – even corporations – can be, the more trust and loyalty they will instill in their users. In return, they will likely have repeat customers that help support the cause, as it were. Without that transparency, readers are left to wonder, “What else aren’t they telling me?”

Case in point came from the Globe’s Tuesday A-1, above-the-fold Dan Shaughnessy article – NOT a column, mind you – on Jon Lester’s wonderfully poignant no-hitter. Shaughnessy scraped together a passable report on the accomplishment but he did it from his couch. Shaughnessy was not at the game and a bulk of the quotes in his story appear to have been taken off the NESN broadcast. None of that is noted in the story.

Shouldn’t it have been? Why not even play it up a bit and columnize the concept with a goofy dateline like: MY COUCH.

Shaughnessy saw the game the way thousands and thousands did – on TV and there’s no shame in that. But it’s a fairly important piece of background information if he wasn’t at Fenway for the moment.

Gordon Edes – who was at Fenway and had the no-no gamer on the front of sports – should have been given A-1 and Shaughnessy should have banged out a quick Sports-1 column from home and acknowledged that he was doing just that.

. . . No progress to report on the Edes buyout denial appeal at the Globe, but it is certain that Edes has retained counsel to present his case to the ERISA board, at whatever time that occurs.

Globe sources have indicated that the paper desperately wants to be able to fill the Edes slot with a new hire and if the buyout is granted after the appeal hearing, they can not do that per the terms of the buyout.

• Jerry Remy riffing on hospital gowns during the Wednesday night 9th inning was one of those ever-dwindling times when Remy’s silliness was well-appreciated and quite hysterical. But that needs to be the end of the Pajama Game he’s been playing with Don-O. The Japan trip was many moons ago.

. . . And ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy on “humping” during the Celts’ game on Thursday was also pretty damn amusing. JVG has really shone in these playoffs and if he can shake the coaching urge, he should remain at the TV table.

• Despite FOBS’ (Friends of Bill Simmons) strong denials, Shots is still seeing the strains of his dot-com days wearing on the Sports Guy. The recent launch of his separate blogspot page has been more than just a forum to run his old columns; it’s become a forum for his festering feud with the ESPN.com powers-that-be.

However, just because the former Boston Sports Guy is unhappy with the constrictions that go with his web work, it doesn’t necessarily signal the end of the Disney/Simmons relationship. Even if Simmons’ writing for the website declines, it would only mean more opportunities for multi-media Simmons (E:60, Podcasts, Original Entertainment, etc.), indicating the thought of Simmons bailing out of his most recent contract appears unlikely. But his swipes at the dot-com’s rules and regulations will probably continue unabated.

• New UMass head coach, Derek Kellogg, was masterful in his first Coach’s Caravan stop at Clarke’s on Wednesday night. Kellogg worked the room deftly, gave a solid, enthusiastic stump speech and genuinely looked at home in his new role. Kellogg’s still trying to add a big man late, but really likes his guards.

. . .Speaking of UMass guards, Jim McCoy was in the house to greet DK (or is it Coach K?).

• A very strong showing from ex-Providence coach Tim Welsh on the 7 p.m. Thursday “Out of Bounds” on CN8. Welsh took part in a “Crosshairs” segment and not only gave concise, honest, insightful answers to his inquisitors but also deftly managed his flimsy umbrella as an early evening thunder storm passed through his live shot outside the Garden.

Welsh hasn’t hooked on anywhere to coach this upcoming season, so one of the networks need to snatch him up for some analyst work either in the studio or at courtside. Welsh has all the skills necessary to climb quickly through the TV ranks. And he has a good handle on both the college and pro game.

• I shoulda stayed in Sports Information. Grizzer’s a class act and always has been. I just wonder when Shots’ early mentor, Howie Davis, is going to pull that trick at UMass!!!

• Bob “Neumie” Neumeier, who has been fantastic as always on the first two legs of the Triple Crown, will also handle NBC hockey desk duties for the network’s hyped-up Stanley Cup coverage. Alongside Pierre McGuire and old friend, Mike Milbury, Neumie will be taking his on-site studio show cues from producer Sam Flood, the former captain of the Williams College hockey team (Class of 1983) and the son of a hockey coach.

• We will have some sort of earthquake disaster fund-raiser when we return. We’ll have a better grasp on what will be most beneficial after our trip.

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.

There has been no shortage of follow-ups and re-hashes that have emerged after a tumultuous week in Boston sports media’s rather sordid history.

In an effort to use one of the oldest tricks in the book, we offer a “Winners and Losers” breakdown as our vehicle of choice to deliver the summary in.

One thing before we get into Winners, Losers:

Shots, through plain old dumb luck, is heading to China beginning next Monday. We won’t be adding much to this particular blog during our Asian excursion, but if we figure out a way to tell the story effectively, we will be detailing the 10-day journey for one website or an another. Stay tuned for more on that this week.

Meantime, we’re going to attempt to figure out some way to raise a few shekels for the China Earthquake Relief effort. I’ll have more on that in the days to come as well. If you have any ideas, reach out to me please.

On with the re-hash of the week that was:

Winner
Tom Brady

He gave his spin early, took some swipes at ESPN and the Jets and then got all charitable at the awkwardly-timed Best Buddies International. (Audi got a nice bang out of that, by the way. Well worth whatever the investment ran.)

Loser
The Rest of Us

It got ugly around here. Ugly, ugly, we’d say. We saw a fan-ship with lots of pent up anger at being, as Bob Ryan nailed on Sunday, “. . the most despised and reviled franchise in all of contemporary American sport. . .”

We saw the main stream media unable to properly cover the Tomase angle and a new media that just didn’t quite know how to react. (We also saw WBZTV’s Steve Burton completely ignore the Tomase angle while leading a (supposed) wrap-up discussion with Mike Reiss and Steve DeOssie.)

Sadly, we also saw two media giants – CBS and HBO – get used by a very unconvincing character in Bill Belichick and a very unlikable character in Matt Walsh. Even the usually dead-on “Beat the Press” bungled its assessment with some absurd defenses from the Herald’s Joe Sciacca.

Winner
Robert Kraft

The Family – Jonathan and Robert – seemed to be ready to put things to rest early on, but Belichick’s appearance on CBS on Friday stretched the story at the same time it dulled the Walsh/HBO interview. Kraft the Elder obviously had to know BB was doing the CBS sit-down with Armen Keteyian, but he evidently didn’t see the harm of having the coach speaking on a matter that has been spoken on far too much already.

Maybe there wasn’t much harm done and now, until Walsh’s inevitable book or ESPN Original Entertainment deal, the matter can take a final bow on our stage. For everybody except. . .

Loser
John Tomase

His career is not over. That’s the good news – because the only person who probably should have lost his job, already did: Matt Walsh.

Tomase’s career is forever tainted – especially in this town. I sill can’t envision a way for him to be effective on the Patriots’ beat, but he made it clear in Friday’s, uh, whatever that 1,500-word missive was, that he would be sticking with the Pats’ beat. It will be worth monitoring as a change of scenery might do all aggrieved parties a degree of good.

Winner
The “Profession”

You can pretty much guarantee there will be an immediate chilling effect from the Tale of Tomase. Discussion at the industry’s preeminent message board – sportslounralists.com – has been spirited and I get the feeling from talking to some folks in and around the beats, that reporters are taking a step back to assess whether or not they could ever “Tomase” a storyline.

Most like to think they wouldn’t. But the honest ones at least know they could. This episode will go a long way – in the near term – in making reporters better and more accountable.

Loser
The Profession

All that said, the divide between the media and the fan – at least here in Boston – may now be at an all-time high. No telling yet what the Tomase Effect will be on the Herald’s sports section and the paper as a whole. At the very least, it brings the Herald heavy into the Google mix when a curious surfer keys in “newspaper apology.”

Loser
Shots

I had even been warned by a couple of wise souls that Tomase portion of the story would eventually be a major part of Spygate. For one reason or another – mainly that I figured Tomase was covered – I refused to believe it and neglected to fully ponder the possible scenarios that would result once the lack of a walk-through tape was confirmed.

I failed in my role as “watchdog” in that instance and hopefully it is a lesson I can learn from.

Winner
Shots

I may have been late to the party, but for cryin’ out loud, I live-blogged the explanation’s posting at the Herald website. That’s a sickness is what that is.

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.