• You know what? This ornery old bastard – your very own Scott’s Shots – turned 35 this week. Yup. Three-Five. Reggie Lewis’s number (not quite as cool as Bird for 33 years of age was, but infinitely more satisfying than Marcus Camby’s 21). It’s Danny Ainge’s 44 that will really baffle me, I’m sure.

Of course, as Shots body turns the corner towards FourZero (one word), our soul heads up to about 70. We’ve always had an ‘old soul,’ been told that many times in fact. Admittedly, more often than not, it’s been to our detriment. Bridges burned. “Enemies” made. “Principles” stood for. Yada. Freakin’. Yada. It’s led to a life of freelance, fits of anger and failed job-begs.

But for the past two years or so, I’ve had this space. Scott’s Shots. At this site. Boston Sports Media Watch. And it’s been magic to my eyes, my ears and my cranium. It has been a daily birthday present that no caring relative or dear friend could replicate (although, do try, please. . . ) – no this present comes wrapped in different paper. No bows attached, really.

It’s the gift of: VALIDATION.

As recently as last week, Shots heard a potential business partner utter the common words: “I don’t get it. I don’t know where it fits?”

He was talking less about me and more about this column (I hope) – the following its created and the potential it may or may not have. Who reads this stuff? is the refrain I hear. How would it play in the “mainstream”? they want to know.

And I usually tell them something about my heart guiding my brain.

And they usually tell me to keep in touch. “You know how to get out, right?”

Yes. I most certainly do know how to get out.

And I also know that what I present interests people and affects our world (of sports). In fact, this week, two of the things I have harped on consistently for some 300-plus entries came crashing through our local Media Gate:

1. The Boston Globe’s ruthless mommy dearest telling them to get rid of bodies and. . .

2. Glenn Ordway, the biggest Mouth That Roars in these here parts, began to attack the Boston Globe’s sports page with vim and vigor. And his minions picked up on it. (How could they not with a surf story early in the week and a mud story later on? Surf and Mud? What is this, an X Games Guide or the sports section for a major metropolitan sports city?)

The job cuts simply validate what any observer with half a clue has been forecasting for three or more years. It’s not coincidence that the city’s two major dailies have both had substantial layoffs in the past six months. It’s a nationwide trend with major, metropolitan news deliverers and as we’ve also been saying all along: It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

As for Ordway’s attack on the Globe’s story and space choices, the ribbing extends the feud between Morrissey Boulevard and the NB Building and brings into play the notion that a Herald/’EEI alliance might be able to topple a Globe/NESN pairing. If Ordway and his jokesters bury the Globe daily and make its laughable story choices into Whiner Line fodder, they effectively ask all their coveted listeners to: “Read the Herald. Screw the Globe.” That’s a big, powerful message from a big, powerful outlet – if anyone’s smart enough to try and merge the two, similar entities.

A couple of years ago that would have been a laughable scenario – now, I know I’m not alone in thinking ‘EEI is the single most important influence on the local sports scene. That too, we suppose is a pretty large form of validation.

• Knipplegate II, the Sequel?: It’s not quite Janet Jackson (and I’m ready to argue it’s WAAAAAAY better in fact. But I’m still apprehensive about linking this however the fact is, whether on purpose or not, the lovely, exotic, Keira Knightley has a wardrobe malfunction in the pages of October’s Esquire . Knightley’s Knipple is knicely exposed on page 168.

The odd part is that there seems to be a grease pencil mark meant to indicate the nipple should be photo-shopped into the background of the black waistcoat thingy Knightley is wearing (fashion terms escape me, I’m a sports dude). But that could also be the lining of the jacket. It’s very confusing.

Shots took the liberty of contacting the Hearst Corp (publishers of Esquire) and a helpful Esquire spokesperson said in email response: “It is not uncommon for Esquire to show an entire exposed breast on occasion. (See Kate Moss in the July 2005 issue.) But Keira herself says it best in this issue: ‘I’m okay with topless, but I won’t show my bottom.’” (She goes on to tell the story of her Hiney Double – but you should read that yourself.)

So that clears that up – mostly. Shots still has sneaking suspicion the Knightley Knipple was supposed to be hidden. It’s the same Polo jacket she is shot in on the cover (nicely shot, at that, by photog Marc Hom) and can be purchased here – none of the photos at polo.com show the supposed lining of the jacket. (Sports media crit AND shopping tips for the ladies? Someone please call Oprah, would you?)

The Esky spokesperson, however denies the nipplerror: “It is simply the inner lining of her jacket,” the SP wrote.

(By this point, the spokesperson clearly knows that I have spent hours studying the Knipple shot and is almost certainly alerting the authorities of my obsessive manner. I decide to stop to pursuing Knightley’s Knipples and vow not to type that alliterative phrase for the remainder of Shots. But, admit it, you’re impressed that I took the time to match the $129, Arden Polo jacket on-line at all, right?)

And yes, the Esky issue is worth the buy for that and other Knightley shots, if not the Chuck Klosterman submission on its own merits (non-Knipple category, that is).

• Back to the week’s top story:

Just before the summer began, it was the Boston Herald employees that watched a slew of cuts decimate their various desks. Now, it’s the New York Times company – and local interests including the Boston Globe, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and boston.com – that will see their numbers diminished, and, we might add, some dead weight trimmed from the rosters.

But make no mistake – this is not an isolated matter. Newspapers – never cash cows with wild spending habits to begin with – are now watching their entire industry get down-sized into a leaner, slimmer, practically anorexic version of its former self.

Further, make no bones that the papers and their short-sighted ways have brought all these flammables into the current conflagration they are watching burn their empires.

Where Internet leaders like Yahoo! and Google are exploring the next frontier of information delivery – the old paper pushers are “reorganizing,” “re-focusing” and “re-evaluating priorities.” It’s a sickening regurgitation of the same pabulum puked out by the PR hacks and spin controllers this week at Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., at the LA Times previously and any number of major cities’ dailies. The Washington Post (an actual success story in newspaper circles) had this for some good, in-depth assessment and then we’d recommend what one Shots loyalist was good enough to pass along, which was this tremendous analysis from Bob Cauthorn at www.corante.com. And bookmark that site, if you don’t mind. Great stuff throughout. . .

• As for what the layoffs could mean to the Globe sports desk, we’re assuming that some of the, ahem, elder statesmen, might consider the buyout option. And, as was the case at the Herald, there will be some people who are nudged, secretly, out the door. And forget about the cuts affecting the “wine and cheese” crowd-pleasers like talented Tony Chamberlain or multi-tasking photog/scribe Stan Grossfeld. Sullivan – emphatically during this week – has been going with the theory that because it’s on the Globe’s pages, you will read it. That theory hasn’t held water for some time now, but Sullivan is going to continue to ram minor coverage down the throats of major sports consumers’. If that’s the strategy for the future, we fear Sullivan’s regime will be both curtailed and curtained, in the near future. Those who think in old-school ways will be left in the dust (or ink) of the old printing presses and the print-only strategies.

. . . I always hate having to do this, but the fact that we’re talking about people’s lives here is NEVER lost on me. Never.

As I’ve disclaimed before, I was part of two separate (and distinctly different) national magazine shutdowns. Workforce reductions like this are cruel and often unfair. But what Shots also knows is that in order to survive and thrive, media groups need to adjust their entire thought process. These cuts are part of that adjustment – another part will now be what the corporations do in order to make themselves distinct, different and daring.

• Ted Johnson showed great promise during Wednesday’s Big Show appearance to help herald his arrival at CBS 4 WBZ TV for Patriots pre- and post-game commentary. After the Big O asked what he was thinking by coming over to the dark side, Johnson quickly quipped: “I do have a history of head trauma, you know?”

• These Boston Common elitist bastards and their non-updated, crappy website are starting to get under Shots’ skin: Any time one of the (Jason) Binn-sters is quoted about the Boston launch of the chi-chi glossy they feel the need to compare Beantown to the Big Apple. You know what? We’re pretty comfortable around here NOT being New York City. If the only way you can sell your high-end fluff with its high-end items is by trying to turn us into Park Ave prima donnas, well, we’d just assume remain Beacon Street bums. Thanks just the same you Commoners.

• Aside from a copyright infringement on our proud title of Scott’s Shots, the Boston Globe sports section’s QuickShots was a laughable disgrace last Sunday and even Shaughnasty managed to take a swipe at the new, regular feature from Joe Sullivan. Last week’s “hot-button” issue was “which AFC East team could overtake the Patriots?”
Yeah, that was a real hot button. Almost as big as what revolution defenseman would you trust down the stretch to shut down Pele? Knowing how ridiculous the question was, Shaughnasty had the good sense to answer thusly: “Not to insult the bosses, but this is a preposterous question. . .”
When Danny Boy deems you preposterous, it’s time to re-examine how you diagnose the pulse of your readership.

• After an abysmal showing with his regular Tuesday column (as panned in PodShots No. 3), GriffGruff threw in his hand-fed run-down of Tuesday’s busy day in the local media for a Wednesday article. And he couldn’t even get THAT right, with this gaff of GriffGruff proportion:

WEEI (850 AM) — Announced that Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge will appear each Wednesday morning on ”The Big Show,” and that coach Doc Rivers will join the morning ”Dennis & Callahan” show on Thursday

The Big Show’s in the morning now too? Crowded line-up over there, eh GG? What’s even worse is that despite being made fun of on ‘EEI all afternoon on the day it was published, the Boston.com website didn’t even bother to correct the error on-line. And we still don’t know with whom Danny and Doc will be appearing.

Nice work, GG – of course Shots appreciates what a distinct disadvantage you’re saddled with, getting all those announcements emailed, messengerred and faxed into your pretty little hands.

Shots, on the other hand can’t even get responses from the WEEI higher-ups when he contacts them formally, never mind a press release or two from the Entercom folk. Funny how so many other media outlets in New England (and certainly its own talent) now recognize Shots as a “legit” place to pitch stories and feed info, yet Entercom and its divisions can’t seem to find my email address (located conveniently at the bottom of each column). That may sound like a bitter rant about how unfair “status” is in today’s marketplace, but it’s also some backwardass thinking by shortsighted individuals.

We actually get punished (or ignored) because we actually take the effort (and responsibility) of challenging what goes on in Boston sports media instead of just cutting and pasting the announcements, the ratings or the program notes into a column.

Is it because we’re a “blog” and not a printed column? I could fax you a copy every day – then we’d be printed. Would you like that?

Whatever the case, Griff serves as great clearinghouse for the rest of us who would like a little meat on the bones of our media crit. We’ll take your barebones info and add the meat ourselves. Thanks, G-squared – this has the makings of a spectacular relationship. . . Funny how, on that same day, Griff neglected to mention the biggest story from the previous day regarding local media: the fact that his own paper is going to be slashing jobs, likely within the sports department. Maybe that one hit too close too home for a guy who might be considered a prime buyout candidate, eh G Man?

• I hardly think I’ll be the only one tuning into the Foulke Farewell on WEEI at noon today. Gammons had some great stuff on that very topic with the Meat Man on Thursday afternoon. He also had some serious phlegm that was just painful to hear (and caused “aping” galore on the WhineyLiney).

• So, just to clarify: Sheriff Sully will not be doing a co-authored book with Shaughnasty titled, “I Shot the Shaughnasty: By The Sheriff?” If you missed the SS rant on Danny Boy, it’s worth putting in the weekend pile of must-reads. Sully pulls NO punches and at the same time, exposes a little bit of what makes this business of ours so damn infuriating. Nice work by Sully. . . But hardly as stupendous as this week’s informative – nay, I mean entertaining – picks at Dave Doyle’s demented world of football prognostication. Like the good teams, we’re starting to find our stride early in the season. Unlike the great teams that save something for the playoffs. But we live for today in Dave Doyle’s World. What, I’m not Dave Doyle. Or am I?. . .Shaughnasty, by the way, made an OTL appearance on Thursday night to discuss historic collapses – the ChiSox in particular – and he was virtually shutout on words alloted compared to long-winded Rex Hudler.

• I’m surprising myself early this football season: I actually like both of up-state New York’s new uniforms. Both the Buffalo Bills and the Syracuse Orange are taking classic approaches in their sartorial splendor. . . One other Orange note: Stan Kissel is the new director of basketball operations for Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim. Thus allowing me to type in the words “Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.”

• It took the ESPN/ABC folks more than 40 minutes to switch the Scott’s Shots viewing audience (in Hull) to New Orleans/New York on Monday night, after it started out ABC. It’s probably rude to point that out considering the whole thing was a Katrina fundraiser (that brought in some $5 million), but Shots calls ‘em as he sees ‘em, when he sees ‘em. . . And it gives me the opportunity to mention how odd it was for Regis to be sharing studio time with Gale Sayers and Bart Starr. Regis, Gale and Bart? For a second it sounded like a casting call for “Queer Eye.” . . . It’s sort of a long way from that whole Bravo! Performance hullabaloo to what we now find ourselves witnessing. Manny’s gonna be moving to the ‘burbs just like Foulkie – Westchester County, New York ‘burbs. And I sense the tide turning a bit against Tito as well – listen closely on ‘EEI. Listen closely is all I’m sayin’. Theo’s Turtle Wax (everything beads up and rolls off) for another year. But Tito could be a victim.
Right now, I’d guess the top three that could be run out in a WEEI Ricky James truck are: 1. Manny*; 2. Tito, 3. Edgar, 4. Foulkie, 5. Millar, There is a *Meat Factor with Manny – since PeteMeat is the loudest of the loud AND he had the Big Show reins on Thursday, he was able to boast loudly of how fed up he was with Manny being. . . you know what. Or Who. Is the second ‘Manny’ in ‘Manny being manny’ a noun or a verb – has anyone ever figured that out?

• Word from One Herald Square, hard by the Expressway, is that the previously approved Pats Beat hire was rescinded a few days back – even after a few interviews for that very position had taken place. Expect Karen Guregian to remain with the Pats for the full season and possibly beyond.

• Part of the deal with putting your email out there for “accountability” purposes is that you get a lot of random, kooky emails. Perhaps none more so than the one titled “Kornheiser/Wilbon” that landed in the Shots inbox this week: “Went to your internet about bobble heads. . . nothing! In fact they are listed a number of times but no info. Are they out there and how/where do you find them? Thanks, Earl Minnis, Laurel, MD.”

I once mentioned the Korn and Wilby bobbleheads and therefore Mr. Minnis got directed to Scott’s Shots in his search. I’m thinking of asking Basketball Bob Ryan to steal the things off the set next time he goes down DC way for “PTI” and then I could send them along to Mr. Minnis, who clearly is having a tough go on ‘my internet.’ Poor fella. All he wants is his Wilby/Korn replicas. Can somebody help?

• Shots has decided to send Boston Globe rookie, Jerome Solomon to the TV equivalent of Kangaroo Court for his oversight in not turning off the Solly Celly during the taping of “SportsPlus” on NESN that aired last Friday. First rule of TV: wipe the drool off your chin. Second rule of TV: Turn off the cellphone. Third Rule of TV: Don’t listen to Shots for anymore rules of TV.

Fines in court to be determined by Judge Neumie and paid off in pony tips.

• Remember to check out the new BSMW Pulse Taker poll in the right column of your reading experience. Some interesting early numbers and ones that would suggest the Globe’s on-line coverage (namely newly acquired Mike Reiss) bolsters its perceivably paltry print edition. But we’ll wait until the heavy-hitters chime in – Friday’s a big day for Polling, what with all the time wasted waiting for 5 p.m.

• More TV observations from the end of last week: Tough to say which was more entertaining last Friday night at CN8: the guest-studio-hosting of the woefully under-appreciated John Carchedi or the Ed Berliner-wearing-”Little Trees-flame-retardant-pajamas-in-the-pits” at Loudon? Carchedi came back form the final pit report by Easy Ed and said: “And Ed’s hair never really moved.” Tremendous really. When will someone scoop up Carchedi and give him the larger audience and attention he deserves? He’d be hire No. 2 or 3 for ShotsTV. And give Berliner credit as well – he got almost a full hour of NASCAR coverage with unlimited access and extended 1-on-1s. Not my cup of tea, but you can never argue with NASCAR’s appeal. . . The ESPN2 Friday night package is two for two with consecutive fantastic finishes to college football games. Last week it was it was the UTEP/Houston flag and fun fest; the week before it was Pitt falling to Ohio. Both games ended on an OT interception. This week’s offering? Iowa State and Army. We’ll be watching between pitching changes for the Sox.

• Teasing you softly:
Next Friday’s regularly scheduled Scott’s Shots will be pre-empted so that we may bring you (use your E! “True Hollywood Story” voice here, if you have one): The Boston Sports Guy: Revisited, Reinvented and Revealed!

Coinciding with Massachusetts homeboy, Bill Simmons’ book tour to promote his first book, “Now I Can Die in Peace” (NICDIP, forever more), Scott’s Shots will give a lengthy look at the Sports Guy’s career and his book. We’ll examine it from both Simmons’s perspective (through 4,000 words of his candid responses to a Shots/Sim email exchange) and below the surface a bit, to what he has meant for the “industry.”

Some snippets to whet your whistle from Bill Simmons’ on:

The Herald. . . “I never clicked with the new [and now former] sports editor (Mark Torpey) after Bob Sales was fired. In retrospect, I should have gone to JJ Foley’s on Thursday nights and laughed at his jokes like Mike Felger did, but I didn’t know to do that at the time. . . ”

Why he doesn’t live in Boston. . . “I do want to write scripts though – that’s why I’m out here. I wrote a movie last summer that ended up getting buried by the studio that hired me to do it, even though everyone loved the script and Chris Moore and Live Planet were the producers. I wish I could tell you more, but it’s a horrible story. . . ”

The SG Cartoon. . . “And just for the record, I quit the cartoon – everyone else wanted to keep going. . .”

SG’s career path. . . “I’ve had terrible timing, if anything – I came along about five years too early. If the Internet was around in the mid-90′s, my life would have been much easier. As it was, I still had to practically kill myself with the BSG site just to get a break.”

. . . It’s gonna be worth setting aside time for. I assure you of that. And anyway, it has your two favorite Massachusetts-bred dotcommers of the 21st Century (when and if that lists is required by law and lethal injection to include Scott’s Shots as choice A). Tell two friends and we’ll see ya then folks. . .

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

500 job cuts at New York Times Company and will include 160 at the Boston Globe, Worcester Telegram and Boston.com. More on this and its possible ramifications for the Globe sports desk, will be included in Friday’s Shots.

And. . .

After a brief, late summer respite, PodShots returns in all its glory today with commentary on two of the New York Times family’s newspaper sections as well as some bonus audio of Greenday, Ozzy Osbourne and 60,000 screaming lunatics. All that and Sister Elle, too! PodShots: It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

Go to PodShots or download directly from here.

Scott’s Shots Blog will appear, as always, this coming Friday.

• With one more loss by the Red Sox, all WEEI 850 AM programming will begin broadcasting from the upper deck of the Tobin Bridge to save listeners the trouble of having to call the station before they leap.

• It struck Shots as a bit odd when we first read the message board post at www.patsfans.com. The post was in response to the poster – “Tunescribe’s” – disappointment in a lack of Patriots coverage in Monday’s Globe.
So, Tunescribe sent an email to the editor, as we were all encouraged to do a few weeks back.

Here’s the media consumer’s email to Globe SpEd, Joe Sullivan:

“Subject: WHERE IS YOUR PATRIOTS COVERAGE?!!!!!
Your lack of thorough New England Patriots coverage is an embarrassment, and is the primary reason I have stopped purchasing the Boston Globe. I now get my Patriots news from the Herald and Providence Journal. Why not re-name your sports section Red Sox Daily? It would be much more appropriate.
Yours in sincere disappointment,
(Name Omitted)”

To which, Sullivan kindly and promptly replied:
“Re: WHERE IS YOUR PATRIOTS COVERAGE?!!!!! In a message dated 9/12/05 10:15:14 AM, jtsullivan@globe.com writes: I’m sorry we disappointed you. The Patriots didn’t play yesterday (Sunday), it was a day for the Red Sox and the Saints plus the US Open. If you think the Pro Jo and Herald has more coverage on the Patriots, you’re mistaken. We’ve have (sic) many more pages than either paper since training camp opened in August.”

Shots contacted Sullivan via email to first, confirm that it was indeed his own response and second, to see if he cared to comment further.
We noted in our email to Sullivan: “The question that keeps entering my mind is: There was no NASCAR (on Tuesday), but we had NASCAR Coverage (Wednesday); no Div. 1A football was played on Tuesday – but we still got a notebook (in Wed.’s paper); do you see, at least, where the confusion could come in for readers?”

Sullivan, again, responded promptly and courteously, this time to Shots with the following: “Yes, that was my response. I try to answer any reader who might have question about the Globe’s sports section. Thank you for confirming its accuracy. That’s all I have to say.”

While we are inclined to commend Sullivan for his personal responses and availability, we are also cautiously frightened by the explanation Sullivan gave to “Tunescribe.”

On a certain level, this is the kind of media minutiae that Shots often gets bogged down in; and the same kind that leads to 3,500 word ramblings that not even a true Shots Loyalists will read. But on a different level, it’s exactly what I’ve been venting about for the past two years and it continues to fall on deaf ears. I’m not crying wolf, folks. I’m observing the industry and watching the trends.

“Tunescribe,” plain and simple, shouldn’t be leaving the Globe (or its family of info providers) to find his Pats coverage. And Sullivan should be doing everything he can to encourage ‘Tune and his ilk to find other ways to “use” the Globe.

He should be directed to the web coverage. He should be led by the neck to a Pats Podcast hosted by the Globe (see: Globe Business podcasts if you need tutelage). He should be informed that although there wasn’t a print story there was web coverage by Mike Reiss in his phenomenal “Reiss’s Pieces.” (We interrupt this diatribe for a Globe website programming note: Reiss’s always worthwhile mailbag is moving from Wednesday to Tuesday beginning next week. We’re here to inform!)

Sully, you don’t need to feel slighted that a reader is finding more coverage elsewhere – you need to recruit that reader to your business’s other tentacles and get him hooked by another means!

But Sullivan, like so many of his ink-stained brethren, think that everything needs to be fixed within their own pages, on their own terms. That’s not only short-sighted, it’s a bad, irresponsible and dangerous business practice in today’s media climate. Tunescribe might never come back to the Globe’s print edition to find out how Sullivan rectifies the situation. At the very least he should have been nudged in the direction of the sister-department, Boston.com. It would have made Eric Wilbur and the boys quite happy, I’ll bet you. And it would have shown that Sullivan truly grasps the warp speed evolution now being foisted, both technologically and strategically, on his medium(s).

Which leads us to these three developments from the week that will ALL have ramifications within the greater sports media world at large.

1. Yahoo! Inc. announced the hiring of a full-time war correspondent who will, according to Bloomberg, “report from armed conflicts around the world.”
It is the first time Yahoo! has found the need to have a dedicated journalist report on news stories. Called “Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone,” the move marks Yahoo!’s initial plunge into the “news world” and will surely be followed by other Yahoo! ‘exclusive’ news deliverers in the coming months.

It’s similar to the approach the company used on the sports side (under fellow Umie Sam Silverstein’s guidance) when it brought on Shot’s amigo Dan Wetzel, a couple of years back, as its “national sports columnist.”

That was followed with NASCAR hirings as well as an NFL writer and other “celebrity” contributors. It has worked – in combo with the site’s fantasy operations and of course, it’s search engine – to the point where Yahoo! Sports competes (and beats) ESPN in key categories and indicators. The numbers never lie, folks. (Even if Shots is sometimes skeptical at certain subsets of that data!)

2. The Associated Press, according to this NYT story by Katharine Q. Seelye will launch a “younger audience service” (over numerous platforms including podcasts and blogs) aimed at the coveted 18 to 34 year-olds. Over 100 papers (and their websites) have signed up for the service thus far.

This will be worth keeping an eye on for several reasons, but chiefly because it shows that major media corporations, like AP, are realizing the need to reach this demographic in different ways than they reached even the kids’ parents – never mind their grandparents. It leads nicely to the launch of. . .

3. . . . . “Totally Patriots” which starts this Sunday, hosted by perky (and younged-up) Kerry Connolly (formerly of CBS4 WBZ-TV) and airing every Sunday at 11 a.m. on ABC5, WCVB-TV.

The show is aimed at giving an entry point for young Pats fans to both interact and get to know their home team athletes and associated personalities. It’s another example of the progressive, aggressive nature of Bob Kraftand his production wing, this time headed up by the show’s executive producer, Matt Smith. There will also be cheerleader inclusion; fantasy football (those two are only related in an adolescent’s mind – or Shots’ of course); and plenty of “get to know me”-type segments. And, as Shots tells anyone when they ask about our thoughts on such stellar children magazines as (past employer/current freelance provider) Sports Illustrated for Kids: “Sports naturally incorporates geography, math, science – and so much more.”

We’re guessing that Red Sox Kid Nation will start up a similar kid-friendly type of programming for either the web or TV or both.

• Someone alert the Track Gals to spread the word: Hide your daughters in Las Vegas this weekend – Our Favorite Frat Boy, WWZN 1510 AM’s Ryen Russillo, Ruttillo, Rudillo is broadcasting from the MGM Grand for Friday afternoon’s “The Diehards.”

The crew is down there for an HBO pay-per-view junket promoting this weekend’s fights; but there’s always time in Sin City to try out more Will Ferrell lines, right?

We kid, we joke, we pile on.

But we care. And that’s the point.

• Three Scott’s Shots cheers for Google’s new blog search Beta. Hip, hip, hooray (repeat twice more).

• It’s Called Bruins.

And It’s Called “Opening Night is Sold Out,” meaning with 18 more sell-outs the B’s will match the (announced attendance) sell-outs from the last season the team played their sport.

It’s Called Winning, that will make that happen. (Not to mention the kids-under-12-come-free campaign that will run through Thanksgiving and cover about 10 regular season games – mostly night-time contests, unfortunately for the little kiddies.)

(Shots must confess – we got a huge tongue-lashing about our hockey coverage/consideration by a local Person of Hockey Influence this week and we’re trying to become more hockey-centric. Look for this initiative to continue in forthcoming Shots and/or PodShots (which returns this Wednesday!) And who says we don’t aim to please?)

• Yes, that was Shots getting a WNBA fix last night just after 10 p.m. and lucking into a fantastic finish in Game 2 on ESPN2 (the Sox were floundering). We’re not afraid to admit that it was both compelling and captivating and we’re further not ashamed of the fact that we espied the close, personal friend of our guy, Jeff Ruland – the Alphabet Man, Tommy Abatemarco, a key assistant for the Sacramento franchise. Newly-coifed Doris Burke was tremendous as always and the Connecticut Sun rose from the Mohegan Sun night. . . (Once again, our gender equity requirements are met with little to no fanfare. Haters.). . . Not to be outdone by its little brother, was the ESPN presentation of the Utah-TCU tussle. Sneaky, surprising, scintillating Thursday night viewing and Utah’s winning streak is ended!. . . ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit was lobbying for weekend Sox tickets, hoping to break his Fenway virginity while he’s in town for the BC-FSU game. Dr. Chuck? You out there? I’m sure Corso and Fowler are looking for ducats as well and I think Herbstreit mention Erin Andrews too. They might need a box for all the ESPiNners that will be invading Chestnut Hill! Let’s also be sure NESN gets camera shots of everyone – especially Andrews.

• Shots joins Our Boss Bruce in praise of Herald Howard Steroid Bryant’s Wednesday nugget about the Black Aces and its newest member, Dontrelle Willis. But the two lingering questions for us, were: “What does Dontrelle think of the whole thing?” and “Could HE name the other members of this exclusive club?”

We ask that Bryant follow-up with a call over to the Marlins and a future addendum in Boston Uncommon. Thanks ‘Roid Ranger, signed, Your Pal, Shots.

• Fox Sports New England’s marketing and communications director, Skip Perham was good enough (or is it cruel enough?) to send along a promo CD titled “The Confessional.” A part of the new “Keep It Real” campaign, the DVD includes 14 ad spots that will run in conjunction with FSN’s newest (casino-sponsored) New England Sports Tonight (presented by the Yellow Boxers) marketing initiative (as a replacement for the well-conceived, tolerably executed, “Odd Couple” theme of last year.)

Using a combination of a Reality TV motif crossed with a “This is SportsCenter” feel, the spoofs place the network’s personalities in a pseudo secluded “confessional closet” where “cast members” go to vent about their fellow cast members. Included on the sometimes humorous (Felgie, Holley Barry the Camera Guy, The Interns, Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork), sometimes grotesque (Pete Meat Sheppard’s close-up and the way-too-close, flapping neck of Terrible Tommy Heinsohn) spots offer up some good attempts at garnering attention for the marquee local show on FSN New England.

Directed and produced by Jason Levine and Michael Silvia, the spots continue FSN’s marketing dominance over any of the vanilla campaigns currently run by their all-too-conservative competitor, the NESN/Globe/Red Sox honchos. Announcer Boy eating spicy salsa and Neumie talking about pitchers breaking panes of glass isn’t exactly pushing the envelope in “brand campaigning.”

Lastly, despite giving Sean McAdam the dead-on moniker of the “Baritone,” the true highlight of all the spots was the cameo appearance by Olympia Dukakis lookalike, Attracta, the FSN receptionist. Whether she was acting or not we’ll never know, but she is Emmy worthy regardless.

• The runaway winner in the BSMW Pulse Taker poll from last week was, no surprise, Bill The Sports Guy Simmons, ESPN.com with 33.9% of the 254 votes (86). Sean McDonough made a late surge to second (44), followed by Bob Ryan (36) and Mike (not Michael for radio purposes) Felger.

• Dan Ventura’s high school sports blog for the Herald has the immediate potential to be the most-viewed sports blog in greater Boston – the high school population numbers alone, dictate that. (Not to mention the fact that about 7 of 10 high school sports dedicated fans are web-savvy on many levels.)

If I’m a Boston-area business looking to market to 13-18 year olds, I’m going to Ace Ventura’s blog right about now and figuring out which boxes of ad space I’m coveting for Thanksgiving football rivalry time, tournament time and, of course, national signing days (for regional signees).

Get the point, Yellow Box Business folk? Go sell the crap out of every blog space you can. Make package deals, make sponsorships available, but do it now before everyone else (read: the Globies) figures it out.

• Some first week speed bumps as well as early signs of promise sprang forth during the first four days of ESPN Radio Boston’s (ERB’s) Mike Felger afternoon show, The Drive.

The Monday debut was less-than-stellar and included the unfortunate, dropped phone call from Bob Kraft – the show’s first official guest – who said he was hearing another radio station in the background. Perhaps that was because even Krafty was still listening to WEEI? (The choice of Kraft as the first guest was a peculiar one, knowing that he’s never a great, quick, sound byte that radio requires. Kraft likes to talk slowly and deliberately and that combination over a shaky cell phone makes for risky radio.)

But Felger also came on strong by saying, point blank, that local teams like the Celtics and Bruins need to “prove themselves to be relevant” before Felger will dedicate air time to them. The BU alum even took a swipe at BC when he ranked their relevance “below the (New England soccer) Revolution.” Ouch! Hear that Meter Man? Thems is fightin’ words, right Meterparel?

The Monday debut finished strong as Monday Night Blitz co-host, Russ Francis, questioned the vision of enigmatic slippery fingered Pats tight end Daniel Graham, saying that Graham’s father, Tom (who Francis knew from Oregon), had “awful eyesight.”

Throughout the week, “The Drive” was able to land marquee ESPN talent as call-in guests and on Tuesday also had Basketball Bob Ryan, who, it needs to be noted, has done a 23-year (!) stint with Loren & Wally (yes they’re still alive!), which represents his only, regular gig on local radio. That’s just shocking, considering Ryan’s widespread appeal nationwide on other sports talkers. But we digress. . .

“The Drive’s” cache of being able to land ESPN talent like Chris Mortensen will go a long way in filling guest spots.

By far, the smoothest and most entertaining minutes came on Wednesday when Scott’s Shots fave (as you know) Mike Reiss shared studio space with Felger-Underwood and the solid, feeling-his-way, Kevin Winter.

Felger was also smart in plugging the fact that ESPN Radio is home to the major league baseball playoffs, meaning local listeners will not be hamstrung into listening to the sometimes grating “Joe and Jerry” of WEEI flagship fame.

Felger said on Monday the show’s mission statement was this: “Don’t take ourselves too seriously.” And by Thursday afternoon, Felger announced, just after 5 p.m., that he is “enjoying the crap out of” the new gig.

That will likely last until the first rating book – still, Week One was promising, if not perfect.

• Boston-based Mark St. Amant from www.thesportsrag.com (an ‘Onion’ for sports) shared TV time with Josh Elliott (and the awful Peter Something from Entertainment Weekly,) on Wednesday’s “Classic Now” on ESPN Classic. (Peter Something is the same guy who wastes our time on “Cold Pizza” frequently.) The show continues to flounder as does it’s opposite piece of programming at ESPN2, “Quite Frankly” with Stephen Angry. Toss in ESPN Hollywood and there, folks, is the Triple Crown of BAD evening programming offered up by the Disney dolts. . . At the very least, “Quite Frankly” had the good sense to include former Vermont head coach, Tom Brennan, in a discussion of college athletics on Thursday night. Brennan, according to one Catamount source, is still in the running for a position on ESPN college basketball coverage this upcoming season. Let’s hope they have the good sense to feature Brennan prominently – his presence in New York for the Stephen A show is a good sign that ESPN talks are ongoing. . . Meantime, Hartford Courant scribe, Ken Davis had this interesting piece on a recent New England Basketball Roundtable that coincided with Jim Calhoun’s Hall of Fame induction, and included Brennan along with George Blaney, Dee Rowe, Bob Cousy and BC’s Al Skinner.

• Here’s this week’s favorite line from my favorite job posting at the re-designed www.journalismjobs.com, for a columnist’s position at the Fresno Bee: “If you’re ready to follow in the footsteps of previous Bee writers John Branch, John Canzano, Eric Prisbell and Adrian Wojnarowski, please e-mail no more than three clips (or Internet links) to sports editor Robert Zizzo at rzizzo@fresnobee.com. The Bee is an EOE.”

Notably absent from the list is the ‘Daily Word’, ESPN’s Boston-bred Andy Katz, who also shone at the Bee in the late-90s. Shots is partial, however, to our guy, Woj, and it is in his honor that Shots will apply for the job. Once I get three worthwhile clips, that is.

• Riding With the Blue Moth by Bill Hancock arrived in the “Shots Book Review Mail Slot” this week and we can’t omit mentioning its admirable author, its spirit and its worthiness.

Hancock, who Shots has gotten to know a little bit through Hancock’s stellar NCAA work with the Final Four, is the dad of Will Hancock, one of the 2001 Oklahoma State basketball team’s 10 plane crash victims. Will, according to everyone who knew him, was that rare breed of Sports Information Directors who had both personality and aptitude to spare. His tragic death touched many people in the business and was a huge loss.

Following Will’s death, Bill made a “pilgrimage” of over 2,700 miles on his bike – going from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific and the result is “Riding with the Blue Moth.”

Shots has it on the “To Read” shelf, but for now we thought it was important enough for you to head over to the website and put the 252-pager on your Fall Reading list. The book’s foreword, incidentally, is written by CBS’s Jim Nantz, who calls the book “. . . pure inspiration. . . a snapshot of the American culture. . . (a) deeply personal and uplifting account of how this family responded to a tragic loss. It will make you want to hug your children and to cherish every moment.”

Strong words about a strong book written by a strong man. Shots hides nothing when we wish Hancock the very best with this project.

• “I like it, I love it. I want more of it.” Tug McGraw’s kid tells me this and I’m thinking: Why on Earth is ABC putting us through this?

The halftime highlight package (which must be lyricized by a bunch of ABC interns) is just awful. Give us the highlights, that’s fine. But lose the soundtrack.

• Shots was informed this week of a new podcast started by Shots’ Politico Fave, Barack Obama . I wonder if we could do a quid pro quo podcast? My people will be in touch B. . .Speaking of politicos and all things not sports, remember that Carl Kassel makes his triumphant return to Chapel Hill this weekend for NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. . .” We believe Charlie Pierce will also be in tow for the road show and we’re guessing Pierce gets in at least one or two shots at Tobacco Toker Dean Smith. And won’t Roy Blount Jr. be happy to be in a southern state where they find his drawl endearing!

• The Track Gals have been having a rough go of it in the spelling department with a Bob Craft spelling error last week and the continued incorrect spelling of Emilee Dennis’s name. They’re still our favorite lady tandem in the biz, but the little things do annoy sometimes.

• Don’t forget Dave Doyle’s World and its weekly football picks entry. Shots is quite proud that he has yet to completely embarass himself through two weeks of picks. And, unlike other game pickers, all my choices are made by myself – no intern or desk jockey gets to choose MY losers!

• We bid you a joyous weekend on this, Neil Young’s favorite moon – the Harvest variety. (New Neil available this coming week and we like what we’ve heard so far. A lot better than that Greendale crap he pulled on us a couple of summers back). . .

Come a little bit closer/Hear what I have to say/Just like children sleepin'/We could dream this night away./But there's a full moon risin'/Let's go dancin' in the light/We know where the music's playin'/Let's go out and feel the night./Because I'm still in love with you/ I want to see you dance again/Because I'm still in love with you/On this harvest moon./ When we were strangers/I watched you from afar/When we were lovers/I loved you with all my heart./ But now it's gettin' late/ And the moon is climbin' high/ I want to celebrate/ See it shinin' in your eye./ Because I'm still in love with you/ I want to see you dance again/ Because I'm still in love with you/ On this harvest moon.

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

Scott’s Shots regrets not being able to bring you a flavor of the Shots Tailgate.

As my Podcasting evolves, I am confident I will be able to bring you special programming from The Road – but for now, we’ve got to stick some basics and learn our new equipment a bit better (both GarageBand and the Archos Jukebox FM recorder).

We will plan on resuming regular PodShots on Wednesday, September 21, 2005.

Thanks.
-Shots

With Patriots kick-off now mere hours away, Scott’s Shots will bring you a special Banner Day ‘05 edition instead of the regular Friday offering. As you will see below, things are heating up on the Boston sports media scene at a lot of levels. As good as it is to be an observer of The Games these days, it might be even more interesting to be an observer of The Games Media People Play. We know you’ll agree.

One other programming note: World Famous PodShots was preempted this week, but will return next week (look for a Wednesday morning post), and the inaugural “PodShots On The Road” feature will debut with a package looking at the pre-game tailgate sponsored by Shots in the Foxboro Terminal off Route One. We’re on the North Street side near the utility hut – just scream “Shots,” and we’ll come a runnin’.

• The “Pissing Match That Wouldn’t Die” took an all-too-predictable turn this week as Scott’s Shots has learned that Ryen Russillo will not be a part of the WBCN 104.1 FM Rock Radio Network post-game show as had previously been announced by the radio station.

WBCN field producer Marc Cappello told Shots on Wednesday that Russillo “. . .won’t be a part of the show now, or in the near future.” Producer Howie Sylvester uttered similar words on Tuesday.

Russillo, who had been touted in the original ‘BCN release announcing his hiring as one of the “bright young stars on the Boston media scene,” was reluctant to speak to Shots on both Tuesday and Wednesday, claiming we (Shots) had already decided to “back our guy, Dennis” and RR also took exception to Shots’ referral to Russillo as a “Frat Boy.”

(For the record, once again, I have met both Dennis and Russillo in person just once. I have spoken on the phone to both of them a handful of times combined. I have no “guy” in this, I simply have the facts I’ve been able to cull together.)

Russillo had yet to appear on the network during the pre-season and apparently the Rock Radio Network was uncomfortable having the Martha’s Vineyard native (and University of Vermont grad) as part of their extended family.

Russillo’s (side-job) loss likely stems from a juvenile tiff Russillo found himself embroiled in with WEEI 850 AM’s John Dennis, over an Old School-esque meeting Russillo had with Dennis’s 25-year-old daughter, Emilee, at a party of a mutual friend. Russillo, at the time the story broke in early August, claimed he was kidding with Emilee and goofing with some lines from the Will Farrell movie, “Anchorman.” But this Ron Burgundy didn’t get the girl in the end, and likely got more than he ever could have bargained for.

Russillo, soon after the incident, admitted to Shots his error in judgment in trying to confide in the often-ruthless Track Gals despite thinking he was “off the record.” His comments instead grabbed Boston Herald “Inside Track” headlines when he called Dennis a “schmuck” after Dennis left a threatening phone message for Russillo. ( See Scott’s Shots take from that week. )

That phone message, coincidentally, surfaced on Wednesday when local mudslingers/smut peddlers, Barstool Sports, posted the MP3 version of the message on its website. Russillo, it should be noted, had told Shots on August 5 that he erased the message, but also admitted to having played it for “some” people before trashing it. On Wednesday, Russillo denied giving the message to Barstool and told Shots he was trying to get them to “take it down.” (They hadn’t complied as of Wednesday night.)

(Barstool themselves, it should be noted, also crossed a line with its post-script to the story joking it would send in “fighter pilots” of its own to hit on her “all night long.” It also solicited readers to send in photos of Emilee. That’s crude, immature and exactly the type of actions that preclude the Barstoolies from ever being taken seriously in this market. A representative from Barstool (simply id’d as “Dave”) told Shots that “a reader” had submitted the MP3 file. “I have no clue how the reader got it,” Dave said in an email Wednesday night.)

In reacting to no longer being part of the WBCN team, Russillo said, “If that’s what ‘BCN told you, then that’s what it is.”

If all of this seems like too much “He said, they said,” for your palate, we’d tend to agree. But it does bring up the interesting question of just how powerful John Dennis is in this market? Would he have the “juice” to get Russillo kicked off a Patriots-affiliated broadcast? Or is this just another case of the Pats (and its tentacles) wanting to maintain their “family values” approach within the company? Shots contacted Patriots spokesman Stacey James, who said he was not even aware that Russillo wasn’t doing the broadcasts and admitted to actually having prepared a media credential for Russillo.

For his part, Dennis told Shots on Wednesday afternoon that the first he had heard of the Barstool audio OR of Russillo being taken off the ‘BCN roster was when Shots left a message requesting comment early Wednesday afternoon.

“I will say this,” said Dennis, who, after 4 p.m., had just finished (surprise!) a round of golf. “It’s old news. And I guess he thinks he’s going to embarrass me by having it put out there now.”

Russillo claims he didn’t circulate the message, but the fact remains he must have played it for someone who had recording capabilities (whether known or unknown to Russillo). And for that, he is ultimately responsible. Each man made their own bed on this one and each man is grown enough and mature enough to handle the matter and its consequences.

Dennis also said: “I don’t think there’s a father out there who wouldn’t react negatively to what (Russillo) said he wanted to do to my daughter,” he said. “Perhaps I was a bit more profane than I should have been, but that’s how I reacted.”

He also admitted that in retrospect, he probably shouldn’t have left the message and should have waited for a one-on-one talk with Russillo. Lastly, Dennis said no one from WEEI or Entercom had mentioned the voice mail to him and he didn’t expect they would.

The now month-long incident brings into question the “hire-ability” of Russillo, who at the time of the ‘BCN announcement told Shots he was thrilled and eager for the opportunity to work on the postgame. Talented, informed and connected (especially in NBA circles), Russillo seems to still have a little too much of that dreaded “Frat Boy” attitude to be taken seriously by local media executives. His omission from the line-up at ESPN Radio Boston is perhaps another example that he is not yet quite ready for prime time, or the big time.

(As a refresher, this is what Russillo had to say to the Track Gals during the first week of August when regrettably fanned the flames of a story involving his alleged night moves on Dennis’s daughter, Emilee. Russillo said to the TG’s: “I refused to apologize because he (John Dennis) wasn’t there and didn’t have all the facts,” RR told the Track. “We talked again and now we’re done with this. I have bigger things out there to think about right now and I don’t need the distraction. He’s a schmuck.”)

• Oddly enough, the Russillo flare-up makes the next story seem a little bit too touchy-feely-happy.

As reported here at BSMW and Scott’s Shots on Saturday evening (or, if you prefer, “rumored” and “rhetoricized”), Michael Felger, yesterday, was named the No. 1 Guy at new kid on the block, ESPN Radio Boston (ERB) 890 AM. (First suggested slogan: Got Erb?)

Felger, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin native will serve as the Chauffeur for the lamely named, “The Drive,” beginning this coming Monday, Sept. 12, with a 4-8 pm. stint (with 4-7 p.m. shows also in the mix, depending on night time programming at ERB).

For the time being, Felger said in a lengthy email exchange with Shots, it will be just Felger and sidekick/reporter/flash guy (“Slash”, if you will), Kevin Winter, a Bellingham, MA native and both a Mount St. Charles Academy (RI) and Hofstra University alum (Classes of ’95 and ’00). For now, Winter will be the main, lone, ‘Felgie Foil.’

“We plan to lean on the ESPN stable of talent,” wrote Felger, a 1992 Boston University graduate and the husband of WBZ, CBS4’s Sara Underwood. “We plan on having steady, rotating co-hosts – although not on a daily basis to start. The goal is to have Herald AND Globe personnel, as well as athletes. But all of this will be a work in progress, and the way it sounds in Week 1 won’t be the way it sounds in Week 5. I don’t know Kevin enough to call him a ‘foil,’ but hopefully we’ll be able to get something going.”

Sadly, even if it is ‘going,’ it won’t be ‘going out’ too strong with its current, weaker than weak, 25,000-watt signal. If Scott’s Shots drive up Route 1 on Tuesday was any indication, “The Drive” is going to be stalled immediately by an awful signal; on a drive from south to north we were only able to get a signal that was sporadic and staticky on 890 AM and virtually non-existent on sister station 1400 AM. Felger borrowed from his good buddy, Bill Belichick, when he surmised: “It is what it is. (On-line) streaming is in the cards, but I’m not sure when.”

What Felger is sure about is the fact that he’s being given a good opportunity with a great Brand – ESPN. “I wasn’t their first choice,” Felger admitted. “Why WOULD I be their first choice? It’s not like I’m a broadcast pro or anything. Just so I wasn’t 15th or something like that (which would be a bad sign for the station), who am I to care about such a thing?”

It’s believed that upper-level ESPN people first approached Bill Boston Sports Guy Simmons many months ago (when they were still in the running for the WRKO-landed Celtics rights package) and then went after the usual suspects, such as Michael Smith, Bob Neumeier and Greg Dickerson.

“They (program director, Doug Tribou) called me a few months back and we met, then I didn’t hear from them for a long while,” Felger said. “Then one day last month my agent (Brad Blank) called and said they were back in it. We went back and forth and came to a deal.”

Felger’s print background is impressive, to say the least, especially for a guy in his mid-30s: He’s been at the Herald since 1989 and worked his way up to the Bruins beat in 1997, then fortuitously began covering the Patriots in 2000. He also has a book under his belt, Tales From the Patriots Sideline (Foreword by Steve Grogan, Epilogue by Bill Belichick).

On the electronic side, he has been a regular on WEEI since 2000 as well and he said he takes many things with him form that five-year experience.

“I guess at ‘EEI I learned the importance of providing entertainment value. Knowledge and information are crucial, but if you can’t deliver them in a way people want to listen to, what good is it?” Felger said. “People want to laugh, you know. Not taking yourself too seriously is important, too. I think, with a few notable exceptions (hello, Mr. Baseball), that I was able to take the heat in a good-natured way at ‘EEI.

“I’m very excited but also very respectful of what a daunting task this is. If you ask me how it feels to go opposite the “Big Show” and ‘EEI, then ‘scared’ covers it. I think the key for me is putting on a good show. If I do that and it fails, then I have to believe the failure won’t be attached to me. If the show stinks, then I’m in trouble – no doubt about that. Anyone who thinks they can ‘take on’ WEEI should have their heads examined. Especially the “Big Show.” Glenn (Ordway) is about as good as it gets. Pete Sheppard, (behind-the-sceners) Brett and Andy are also extremely talented. I just think there is room for a second station. But I also understand that being good is A LOT harder than it looks.”

Although he refused to talk about contract specifics, Felger did say it is more than a one-year agreement and that he will continue his myriad other duties, first and foremost as the main guy on the patriots beat for the Herald. (He will also retain his FOX Sports Net New England fill-in duties, his Ch. 4 “Sports Final” spots as well as his Patriots pre and post game duties for WBZ TV.

“Sleep will be hard to come by,” Felger said. “Some days (for the Herald) I’ll be doing the beat. . . other days it will be columns/report card and the like. That part of it is evolving, but the bottom line is I’m still on the Pats and am committed to providing the same coverage. I’ll be traveling to all games. Given the timing of the show (compared to a 2 p.m. start for the Big Show), I’ll probably have MORE time to devote to the writing.

FELGIE LEFTOVERS:
. . .Felger also said that a Ross Carey (no confirmation on the spelling discovered – sorry!), a former producer for both Sean McDonough’s ill-fated show at WWZN 1510 AM and WTKK’s Jay Severin show, will be the Drive’s inaugural producer. . . We had to ask what Sara’s advice on all this was and Felgie delivered this Go-Directly-To-The-Doghouse response: “Let’s just say that sports is not exactly Sara’s forte. If we ever need an update on Manolo Blahniks (the shoes) she’ll be the first person we call. I’m not sure if she really understands what I’m getting into, which means she thought I should do it.”. . .(Sara might enjoy this Manolo-themed blog we ran across as we confirmed Felgie’s impressively accurate spelling of the “Sex in the City” foot faves.). . . As for the Felger-Underwoods’ one-year-old daughter, Emma, DaddyFelgie said: “We’ll get her (on the show) when she starts talking. First word: ‘Favre.’”. . . Let’s not forget that PUP-lister, Tedy Bruschi is also a Brad Blank client and might make sense as one of the rotating guest-hosts to which Felger referred above. . .It is also worth mentioning at this point, the class and dignity Felger is carrying himself with is a sharp contrast to that of Our Favorite Frat Boy (OFFB), Russillo. A few more years of experience – not to mention a wife and a baby – tend to settle guys down a bit. OFFB just needs to hope his Sara and Emma arrive sooner, rather than later. . .As of now, there are no other opportunities for Felger to do work with another division of ESPN, i.e. the dot-com, the Magazine or on TV. Of course if he knocks it out of the park in Boston, the Bristol Bigwigs will be sure to notice. So he’s got that going for him. . .And lastly, let’s lock this one away in the vault somewhere. It was Felger’s response to this question from Shots: “Why does ESPN have chance after you’ve seen what WWZN 1510 AM The Zone has endured? Moreover, ESPN Radio in New York continues to trail 660 AM The Fan – getting doubled and tripled – why would a smaller market, with less national passion be a good fit for ESPN radio?”

Felger’s reply: “All legit questions. I think the original Zone (not to be confused with the programming they have now) had an opportunity to grab a slice of the audience, and their first ratings book showed there were people willing to turn over and check out another show. But, in the end, in my opinion, they didn’t deliver in terms of passion, entertainment and debate. Again, I’m not referring to what they’re doing now.

“The bottom line is that I have no delusions in terms of ‘competing’ with Glenn or WEEI. That’s not realistic right now. The name of the game is carving a niche, and then building on it over time. As for the national programs, I think there’s a place for them. We’ll just have to see how big of a place.”

• If you haven’t voted in the BlogPoll to the right, please do so. The results, although a small sampling, have proved revealing. Too bad, ERB didn’t try something like this beforehand, eh? Felger’s response to the poll?: “All those guys are terrific. I would like to see those guys with their own shows as well. Shows for everybody!”

• And John Dennis’s reaction to the in-earnest launch over at ESPN radio Boston?: “Well see what happens. We’re just going to continue to do what we do.”

• We’d like to kindly ask Shaughnasty to include all his repeated Rolling Stones references in the first half-dozen graphs before the jump page so it doesn’t become necessary to seek them out within the guts of the section. We lost count, but since the Stones played we’ve seen more Mick and the Boys references from Danny Boy than He Who Must Be Named drop-ins. That might be called progress by some wise-acres. . . Shaughnasty and Howard Steroid Bryant shared the “Sports Xtra” high chairs on Sunday night at NBC7 with Wendi Nix and were quite civil, even including a smiley moment when ‘The Cartel’ was joked about. To get a chuckle from those two is fine work indeed, Nixy. Fine work indeed.

• The Felger move just about ensures that the Herald will be looking for a full-time Pats beat guy. One Shots observer and long-time market follower suggested that perhaps Herald Deputy Dog Editor, Mark Murphy would reach out to his old pal, John Tomase of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune and Manny bashing fame. We wonder if perhaps it’s time for Tom Curran, to come back to Massachusetts from smaller-market Rhode Island?

• Good bit of useless trivia was provided by Newton-native and the above-mentioned ‘BCN field producer, 32-year-old Marc Cappello: He, along with Gil Santos and Gino CapelAwful are the only original members of the first-season Rock Radio Network team. This marks the trio’s 11th season together. And as Howie Sylvester said: “There’s a comfort level with Gino and Gil. If you were to hear a different pairing, it would be a jolt to the system.”
We held back from begging the 45-year-old Sylvester to “jolt away,” especially with the getting-even-worse Gino. There is a comfort level in knowing Gil’s pipes will be at it again.

• Despite the lean staff and competitive disadvantage sports editor Hank Herald and his desk are currently working with, they continue to distinguish themselves in other ways. The Sox Clubhouse Insider blog has been a tremendous addition and last Friday’s debut of Patrick Hanrahan’s regular “Fantasy Football” column was a huge step forward. As you know, Shots isn’t a Fantasy guy, but he appreciates sound business decisions just the same. The winning graphic by Herald staffer, Sarah Dubois, titled “Touchdowns & Turnovers” was a great piece of relief art and we’re guessing (maybe hoping?) that the bottom half of the page will soon be offered up to some of the fantasy tout services that populate the Internet. Throw two, quarter-page ads beneath Hanrahan’s ‘editorial content’ and the space would pay for itself within a month. There again, is another perfect example of how the editorial and business sides need to work together to ‘create’ ad blocks that are attractive to companies. It ain’t rocket science, people. It just ain’t.

• Someone smarter than me needs to explain what Boston Magazine was trying to accomplish with its Gossip story on the Red Sox player and the Northeastern co-ed. By leaving the player unidentified, they missed the whole point of the semi-sordid story. Of course with a quick Google of “Red Sox player Northeastern coed” you can confirm exactly what you thought if you read the entire piece. The story wound up frustrating more than it informed, never a good combination. . . The worst part though was when DocSox, Charles Steinberg claimed that because it was an Internet story it had no merit. AND that the pictures could have been doctored (they weren’t). Okay, Doc. Time to get back to your desk and continue writing with the quill pen, the blotter and the ink well.

• A tragic note appeared this week reporting that Adrian Karsten, the former ESPN sideline reporter who made his “Ask Adrian” segment quite famous and quite fun, was found dead at his home in Wisconsin. The wire story from AP said his body was discovered “just before he was scheduled to report to federal prison for tax evasion. He was 45.” Never met the man, but always liked that he pushed the envelope during game broadcasts. He was ahead of his time on the sideline gig.

• The Taunton Gazette has a nice little sports editor/writer job opening for anyone that might need one: Shots is thinking of getting in the running and if I’m successful (long shot, at best), I’d pitch the idea to ESPN Original Entertainment and they could film my (likely brief) tenure as, get this, “The Sports Editor.” It would just be wild, wacky stuff – the perfect lead-in to Knight School.”

• We caught some of the Jon Meterparel debut on BC football and Meter seemed to have things pretty well under control. Also interesting to note that Jayme Parker of NESN fame, is serving as the sideline reporter, a position Shots has been lobbying the ‘BCN Rock Radio Network to add to its broadcast. Parker, was as always, solid.

• How many damn wives do the sox have? Does the 25 woman roster expand in addition to the 25 man roster? In back to back innings last Friday night we got two sets of wives begging for two sums of money for two different causes. Funny how you never see Mrs. 61, isn’t it Boston Magaziners?

• Someone’s going to have to tell me how awful Jimmy Kimmel is at halftime of the Opener because that’s usually when I take my nap in section 226. Don’t bother TiVoing it, it won’t be TV Hall of Fame worthy, we assure you.

• A recent addition to Patriots Football Weekly is John MacKenna, who had previously been a contributor for Scout Media’s Patriots Insider. This is the kind of random stuff I like to throw in down around here just to see who’s payin’ attention.

• Enjoy the new banner, pay attention when Carlos strums the guitar and let’s all be careful out there. Opening Night is often amateur night for the young drunkards. Oye. Como. Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. . .

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

Station general Manager, Jessamy Tang indicated this past Thursday to Scott’s Shots, that any official announcements will be made this upcoming week, when some of the network’s national radio programming originates from ESPN Boston’s new Charlestown studios. Felger could not be reached for comment.

Scott’s Shots has also confirmed through an ESPN Radio insider that the station will begin a locally generated, pre- and postgame, Patriots show to be hosted by the newly hired Kevin Winter (a Bellingham, MA native) and former Patriot great, Russ Francis, who began hosting a weekend sports show in New Hampshire (Concord’s WTPL 107.7 FM) last month according to this Ian Clark, story from the Union Leader.

It is still a possibility that a co-host will be added to the Felger show, which is expected to be a 4-7, afternoon drive show that will go head-to-head with WEEI 850 AM’s “Big Show” and its supreme – if unchallenged – Glenn Ordway and his cast of characters. (Winter, we’re told, could be used in the co-host role as well, or with a three-person format, he’d be used in the Flash/Meter/Meat role.) It would also appear that The Zone’s AM 1510′s Ryen Russillo is not in the mix for a spot on the ESPN roster.

The show would most likely get the 2-4 p.m. lead-in from the popular, national, “Dan Patrick Show” and then serve as a lead-in for whatever local nighttime programming ESPN 890/1400 accumulates (such as Northeastern University hockey, which they have under contract). Doug Tribou, the 890/1400 program director, along with Tang, will have to sort out the plusses and minuses of going head to head with The Big Show for the entire 2-6 p.m. slot or just parts of it. Tang did confirm this week that some timing issues do need to resolved. The chance to be “alone” for the 6-7 hour could help at the outset in getting switch-overs from ‘EEI, which runs a “Best of the Day” segment and the Sox pre-game during that hour on most nights.

• In other regional radio news of the weekend, Scott’s Shots has been informed that Providence’s Andy Gresh will indeed move from The Score 790 AM’s afternoon show to it’s morning drive slot and be replaced in the afternoon by longtime Patriots Football Weekly writer, Bryan Morry. Other “major” changes at The Score are also imminent, but station Program Director John Crowe replied to a request from Shots by emailing: “I do not comment on rumors.” Morry did not reply to a Friday night email from Shots nor would Gresh (contacted earlier in the week) comment on any pending moves. . .If true, it would seem to confirm that Gresh will not be getting the overnight gig at WFAN 660 AM in New York. It could also mean that Gresh will be paired with rising talent, Scott Zolak, for the morning show, an intriguing pairing and one that has shown early promise for the WBCN Patriots Rock Radio Network game day shows.

• Some things to think about with Felger taking on his former cohorts at WEEI:
It would seem unlikely that Felger can continue to effectively offer up Patriots coverage for the Herald AND host the radio station’s marquee, local show. These positions, as Ordway or a Gerry Callahan can attest, require the personalities to be active in the “selling” of the show. Callahan does manage to contribute a column or two per week to the Herald, but Felger’s current responsibilities for the Yellow Boxers require his daily presence in Foxboro. This new job opportunity would seem to preclude him from being “on the beat.”

The guess here is that Felger, who has been at the Herald for almost 14 years, winds up being a TV (FOX Sports New England/WBZ “Sports Final”)/Radio guy and perhaps a part-time Herald Patriots columnist in the mold of Kevin Mannix, contributing a report card-type column and maybe one or two other Patriot columns per week. Felger has been on the Pats beat since 1999 and is the author of “Tales From The Patriots Sideline.” He is married to WBZ’s Sara Underwood.

A reduced Felger role would absolutely decimate the Herald’s already anemic Patriots coverage (hurt recently by the loss of former family member Mike Reiss to the Globe). With the regular season starting in four business days, the timing of a possible Felger departure would be devastating to Hank Herald’s already-barebones, all-hands-on-deck staff. An SOS for Reiss to return would surely be shouted from the rooftop at One Herald Square if the Felger-to-radio deal is consummated.

• Since Friday’s Shots story on ESPN Radio (scroll down), we have been contacted by several high profile media personalities who were surprised – stunned even – that ESPN Radio Boston never reached out to Globie, Basketball Bob Ryan, to discuss the drive-time slot. Not a phone call, not an email, not a smoke signal – nothing, according to several people with knowledge of the search. Ryan, we’re told, would have, at least, listened. And he’s already a part of the ESPN inner circle (See: “Sports Reporters” and “PTI” fill-in duties).

There was also never a concerted effort to bring home Bill Boston Sports Guy Simmons, another ESPN family member who would have a legit chance at competing with “Ordway and the Giggling Guys.” (Imagine, if you can, a “Bob and Bill” show with Ryan and Simmons giving old and new school views on all things sports. It would have been like “PTI” on radio – maybe better.) Simmons, who is said to be enjoying his California livin’ just fine, thank you, would have also listened. But it would have been an admittedly tougher sell to the BSG.

Instead, ESPN Radio Boston barely beat the bushes and supposedly tried to land mid-major, unsexy names like Michael Smith, Greg Dickerson and Bob Neumeier. And while Felger is both competent and compelling, it does appear that the ESPN entrant in Beantown is more concerned with saving money than with TRULY competing against the dominant incumbent. If money is going to dictate what this new entry does – to that extent – than it’s an early wanring sign that ESPN Radio Boston will be nothing but another also-ran. Felger should keep all of this in mind before signing off on the deal which we’re told is very nearly completed. Maybe, however, the talent budget is being trimmed in hopes of landing the Red Sox package when it comes up for bid (‘EEI currently has one season remaining with the Fenway Folk.) Even so, that’s a ways off and seems quite shortsighted.

• Let’s have a little bit of fun for a moment and try to help the ESPiNners come up with a name for their new show.
1. The FBU Show (Felger-Belichick-Underwood)
2. Fee, Fie, Foe Felger
3. Mike and, Ah, Someone to be Announced Much Later
4. The “I’m Sara’s Husband, Who Are You?” Show
5. Mike and the Mad Dog – whoa, already in use, eh?
6. Mike on the Mike (not to be confused with ESPN’s AM show, “Mike and Mike”)
7. Felger? I Nearly Killed Her
8. The FU Show – Felger Up
9. The Collapsed/Uncollapsed Lung Power Hour(s)
10. The We’ll Get Beat, But at Least We’re Not The Zone Extravagazna

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

We ask that you continue to use the LibSyn link so we can track downloads and calculate traffic patterns in our soft-launch phase. It will help when huge media conglomerates ask us about our numbers. Or not.)

Jessamy Tang, before hanging up her cell phone to head into yet another meeting, asks us to say “nice things” about her station, ESPN’s (late) radio entry into Boston (WAMG 890 AM and WLLH 1400 AM).

Scott’s Shots, heading into the wavy Hull waters yet again, tells Jessamy Tang that “there’s nothing to say” about her station. . .

YET, that is. Yet.

But with next week’s announcement of its local programming line-up and talent roster, the honeymoon is soon to be over for the month-old ESPN affiliate. (To start, the station has been delivering: Mike and Mike in the morning, followed by Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Dan Patrick and ‘Slot X’, what will become their challenger to The Big Show and the lead-in for evening programming, likely to be college properties.)

And it’s Jessamy Tang, a Lexington native, who has come home, bringing her mellifluous name and some high aspirations. And, those four letters that could sell just about anything: Eee, Ess, Pee and Enn.

If Tang’s return to Beantown (as ESPN Radio Boston’s general manager) doesn’t make Entercom’s Julie Kahn shake in her heels, perhaps it will in the next 18 months or so.

Because Kahn, the head honcho over WEEI 850 AM’s Jason Wolfe, now has to battle another driven, accomplished and trailblazing female radio executive for control of Boston’s Sports Talk radio market. Wow! The Herald’s Track Gals are going to love this battle, eh? Cat Fight For the Airwaves, the bold headlines will scream from the “Inside Track.”

(Apologies to the Eddie Andleman clingers-on, but WWZN 1510 AM is dead to me – and just anybody else. They really have no juice and are in for the death blow with Disney’s arrival on the scene. If that’s overly harsh or too simply stated, my apologies. But the facts is the facts is the facts.)

That’s right friends, Boston’s relevant sports talk radio market is being ruled by two ladies who think they understand what the boys like. Don’t bet against either mastering the (mainly) males they employ and the manly males they covet as listeners; but at least give the early edge to the entrenched Kahn.

‘EEI will be tough to knock off and even with those four magic letters attached at 890 and 1400, the battle is uphill, to say the least.

But Tang – who comes armed with both an undergraduate degree from MIT (’89) and an MBA from Stanford (’94) – and at least a few of the money people behind her, think Boston’s big enough for two sports talk radio stations.

What’s more, she would appear to have an important personal stake, having helped to organize the business plan (with her J Sports LLC) to scoop up the two stations and lining up the cash from media funder, WallerSutton , for the reported $9 million May ’05 deal.

A quick trip to the woefully under-updated WallerSutton site (last press release: Nov. ’03) indicates this would mark the private equity fund’s first foray into Massachusetts and would further extend their Route 81 division.

It is – at these very unsteady economic and industry times – a fairly sizable gamble. Satellite radio options abound for those who want national sports talk. The appeal of Jim Rome or Dan Patrick isn’t as great as it once was. And let’s face it, ‘EEI, for all its shtick and all its flaws, serves the purpose just fine. They give guys like me just enough to beat on them for and those few ounces of intrigue that keep me coming back consistently.

Tang certainly knows (even if she won’t let on) that Boston is a historically provincial sports town. “There’s a passion for sports here,” says Tang who was station manager at WEAE-AM ESPN Radio 1250 AM until June of 2002. “And, I believe in the quality of programming ESPN has.”

She refused to get into any type discussion of Pittsburgh vs. Boston as markets and repeatedly played on the theme that “Boston is a great sports town.” Left unsaid, was that Tang and ESPN believe that should translate into ALL sports talk not just the Big Four/Big Two of Boston.

But Tang’s not foolish enough to strictly base the strategy on immediately competing with ‘EEI’s reach and talents. Northeastern University recently announced its hockey games will be carried on ESPN Radio and other local college properties are likely as well. As for professional properties, the Pats are locked up through 2012 at WBCN 104.1 FM, the Celtics just signed a “multi-year” deal with Entercom (WRKO 680 AM), and the Bruins might as well have string and two corn cans. They’re irrelevant for the foreseeable future.

That leaves the Red Sox as the lone, worthwhile available purchase when their Entercom deal ends after next season. But it will be a huge sum to pay for the Sox and all they bring (Larry, Curt, Tito, Foulkie, etc) and there’s also the possibility that the Sox could NESN-ize its own radio package on its own network.

Whatever the case Tang, who was cautious not to reveal any details about next week’s scheduled line-up announcement, did hint that more local programming (in addition to the already-signed deal with NU Hockey) as well as signal-strength enhancements are likely in the offing.

The initial signing this week of Kevin Winter, another Boston-area native according to Tang, probably didn’t do too much in terms of revving up the audience or advertisers, but Tang sounds confident that ESPN Radio will be able to compete, if not flourish in Boston. “I listen to a lot of talk radio – all kinds,” Tang says. “I loved listening to it when I was growing up. And my dad (Wen, a former UMass Lowell professor) used to take us to Celtics games.”
Wen passed away this past December at the age of 83, according to this UML newsletter.

“He knew I was involved in (this business venture) and he was a huge Boston sports fan,” says Jessamy, whose mother is still in the area. “She’s definitely proud. It is really very nice to be home.”

So far, that is. Nice doesn’t last forever in this (or any) market.

Down the road – well. . . let’s just say the Track Gals are sharpening their pencils.

• We’re guessing Winter won’t be the last of the ex-WWZNers to join the ESPiNners: Ryen Russillo would be a logical choice to make the jump over and it’s believed that Tang also reached out to more than a few of the Globies. Let’s also hope she’s savvy enough to throw in some fresh meat – the recycled guys are, well, recycled. . . .For instance, if Butch Stearns winds up in the new Charlestown studios you can immediately give a couple of points to ‘EEI for addition by subtraction. . . Maybe this is the spot where a Neumie would fit nicely? If there’s anyone who could figure out a way to get paid by the New York Times Co., NBC AND a ‘subsidiary’ of Disney, we’re guessing it’s the suave one, Neumie. . .The afternoon show will likely be limited to a two-person operation with Winter likely serving as a Flash Guy and a Roving Reporter for sizable events and game coverage. The station will then likely try and get agreements with local writers to fill in guests and guest-hosts. This might be where someone like a Rob Bradford of the Lowell Sun might get to sign on in a semi-exclusive manner. Bradford has always impressed in his ‘EEI work. . . Whatever the case, this ESPN launch and the re-shuffle in Providence at The Score (see below) show you just how important it is to be putting your best foot forward as the all-important “Fall Book” begins. And most of all it gives the listener choices and that’s hardly ever a bad thing.

Scott’s Shots bonus content:

Some background that may be helpful:

1. According to the ESPN radio website , ESPN currently owns and operates five stations (in New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas-Forth Worth and Pittsburgh), the Boston entry is an affiliate. These are the three other affiliates in Massachusetts: Worcester – WWTM-AM 1440; W. Yarmouth – WXTK-FM 95.1; and Garnder – WGAW-AM 1340.

2. A recent New York Daily News story highlighted the four-year-old ESPN Radio entrant in New York’s market. That station, according to the story by Bob Raissman (see below), “. . . has been like a revolving door. Talent and time slots have shuffled. While the style of hosts – featuring lots of “guy” talk – is designed to attract younger listeners, ESPN has moved toward a national sound. . . This takes ESPN-1050’s focus off New York sports.”

The encouraging news form all that is they’re in their fourth year. The discouraging news, for someone like Tang, might be that The FAN “. . .has consistently crushed its competitor, doubling and sometimes tripling, ESPN 1050 (in ratings).”

3. Shots was told by a former program director at an ESPN affiliate that the mother ship requires all affiliates to carry, at the least, two hours of the AM drive show (M&M) and a majority of the Dan Patrick show. In our telphone interview, Tang appeared comfortable with the Jim Rome show she now has form Noon-2 p.m. That breakdown would allow for local talk in limited AM hours and afternoon drive only. ESPN spokesperson, Dan Quinn, was not available on Thursday to confirm the affiliate requirements for Shots. If true, the local elements really need to kick butt for Tang to be attractive to local advertisers looking for a “good buy.”

• ESPN, late last night, posted the AP story reporting that the Boston Globe had been able to speak directly with Tedy Bruschi , meaning that the Globe released the story early to the AP (even before posting it on its own boston.com website) in order to get proper credit for the first meaningful words from No. 54. A nice coup for the Green Boxers, we must admit.

• Uptight Pete Meat Sheppard unleashed what seemed to be a completely uncalled for swipe at Dennis and Callahan at the end of Thursday’s “Big Show.”

“I don’t need to talk about them,” was the gist of what the Mad Meat said in reference, we gathered, to Meat’s mix-up on the Craig Hansen situation (which must have been pointed out by Denky and Cranky). Who the heck does Meaty Boy think he is? The radio talent and appeal found in one pinky of either Dennis or Callahan equals the entire, bitter “Turd” package of Meat. If we were bossman, Jason Wolfe, we might think about reminding mediocre Meat that he’s not the engine driving the ‘EEI train. And furthermore, that he never will be.

• As a public service, we visited andysmojo.com so you don’t have to. With Roddick bounced and interest in male tennis sinking below the Mendoza Line, American Express can consider its Roddick campaign a COMPLETE and TOTAL failure.

• As reported elsewhere earlier this week, there is change IN and ON the air at Providence’s 790 The Score (99.7 FM). Still no official word however and the uncertain status of Andy Gresh might be causing the delay in announcing the re-vamped line-up. Gresh, The Prince of Providence Radio, is still, according to Bob Raissman’s New York Daily News Sunday colum, in the running for the coveted overnight gig at WFAN 660-AM. Gresh – who has done fill-in duty for the past couple of months at The Fan, and performed well according to some Metro NY listeners – is up against at least two in-house candidates. One of them, according to living Dweeb/Dude legend Raissman is “Mike and the Mad Dog’s” producer, Mark Malusis. We’d guess that Double M and Tony Paige (another Raissman reported candidate) have the inside track – so to speak. But it never hurts someone like Gresh to get some looks from the Big Apple folk. But Providence’s The Score can’t wait too much longer and the FAN might not decide on the Schmooze-created spot, until the end of September.

• In addition to a worthwhile read on “Rescue Me’s” sparkplug, Denis Leary, the new Boston magazine has a solid contribution from the talented, Nate Crossman, on BC’s entrance into the ACC. (Shots, it should be noted is quoted in the story, but my assessment of the piece stands just the same. Crossman nailed the piece and accurately portrayed the money-grubbing Eagle Elitists as just the latest institute of higher learning who made a money grab, as this pull-quote illustrates: “This move was never a gamble. The money’s already in the bank. Boston College won the second it joined the ACC.”

• Shots uncovered the Globe’s newest print/on-line attempt to lure the college crowd, Uncovered: The Ultimate Guide to What’s What. The bottom-of-the-webpage silhouettes are almost a direct rip-off of the iPod ad campaign and the “Brought to You” icons of the Metro newspaper leads users to a page that read (as of Wednesday afternoon): “No instance available.” No instance of what? The Globe having a clue or the Metro having a website? (Although shots is hearing that an actual, real live website for the Metro is being bandied about. Once the Globers figure out how to build a compelling website, we assume.)

• We were formerly of the belief that the only extensive cloning operation on network TV was being done in the Bristol Lab of ESPN. This week proved otherwise. NBC, unbeknownst to most of America, has gone and cloned Katie Couric. There were about a dozen of ‘em giving Katrina coverage for Today this week. Same hair. Same legs. Same skirt style. Same ability to go from perky to poised to pretty to perky, all in a flash. One seemed to have escaped to Good Morning America for a bit as well, which means someone must have forgot to lock the doors at NBCLab 3 recently.

• In the course of the 45 seconds that Shots could stomach of the segment on Tuesday night’s ESPN Classic’s Classic Now, the eternally annoying, playah-lovah Michael Silver (of Sports Illustrated) managed two “Dudes” directed at his former colleague, Josh Elliott. May we suggest, Dude Silver, a trim of the eyebrows and a post-haste retreat to the San Diego shore to discover newer, hipper words to call a national show’s Host? Something like ‘Josh’ might work nicely. . .That show, by the way, continues to try anyone and everyone to fill guest roles (hello, Jackie Mack!) and continues to be held back from the learning-on-the-job Elliott. . . Tony Mazz appeared on “Mold Pizza” Thursday morning along with Buster Olney. Buster probably has to do such wasteful spots to keep the ESPN bosses happy. But what’s Mazz’s excuse? That show is reaching all-time awful status with each passing day. Woody needs to be sent back out west and Skip needs to be skipped across the pond like a flat rock. It’s okay to fail sometimes, ESPN. Just be Network enough to admit it.

• We spotted multi-use guy, Mike Perlow in the NECN newsroom doing a local angle on Katrina on Tuesday night. Guy’s got the versatility of a Kapler. . . On Saturday, Perlow will join the “E4” guys (James Murphy and Brian Malone) who are winding down their first summer with WWZN 1510 AM baseball show (Harvard football gets the Saturday time slot during the Fall), but word is that (Umie) Murph and Malone are trading rawhide for pigskin with a football show slated to debut in a couple of Sundays. It is expected to be another “time buy” for the earnest and engaging duo.

• It got some serious play in the six disc changer of the Shotsmobile when we first received, but we neglected to ever mention how much we enjoy the “It’s Possible Team” CD sent to us by the Red Mooner himself, Mike Folloni. The original, Impossible Dream record was a late discovery by Shots in the late 1970s, but it quickly became a cherished treasure. Folloni reports that charities and fund-raisers continue to sell the disc all over the region and many US Troops have been treated to the CD as well.

• It’s always a good idea to check out Dave Doyle’s World, but this weekend will mark the debut of Dave’s World’s Wiseguys , of which Shots is wising up for. So it’s an especially opportune time to check in on the Seattle Rattle emanating form Doyle’s vivid mind. You won’t get rich off of any of the picks, but you’ll be wealthier in spirit, pep and good humor.

• It’s been a while since we heard form My Buddy Paulie Brookline, but after a weeklong retreat to the Shores of Hull for his annual vacay (and Fantasy Draft prep period), we’ve heard all too much from the official Fantasy Football Guru pf Shots.

“Davey Hull,” he always begins, “whaddya think of so and so this season.”

To which I inevitably answer: “Who’s he with now?”

To which MBPB inevitably says: “You sure you follow sports?”

MBPB has been going through a rough off-season with his long-time co-owner and CFO of Team Paulie Brookline, Robbie Brandeis, venturing out on his own in fantasy for the first time. Shots offered to step in and fill the void for MBPB and the only thing I told him in my interview for the still-vacant slot was this: “I will do everything in my power to make sure that any team run by That Traitor winds up finishing last. Or at least behind us.”

In other MBPB news, he spent the first four days of his work respite making buddy-buddy with Skippy Parent’s Hull DPW guys in hopes that they’ll continue to blow out his catch basin (and that’s not a euphemism for anything, sadly).

• Sounds like the debut of newbie Globie, Mike Reiss, on the recently improving “SportsPlus/Minus” show will come in the next week. Neumie appears to have settled in nicely and is starting to push conversation down worthwhile avenues. Reiss will certainly shine and some of the NESN folks are already chomping at the bit to get him some air time.

• How’s this one for confounding? Philadelphia’s Terrell Owens will do an exclusive call-in each week during the season with 790-AM, “The Ticket” in – get this – Miami, the radio home of the Dolphins. Here’s how they spun the announcement in FLA:

“Hollywood Fl. – August 31, 2005 – Sports Talk 790 the ticket in Miami will be the exclusive home of the The Terrell Owens Show. The show will take place Friday afternoons at 5 pm., and will be debut on September 9th. Hosted by Dan LeBatard, this program will be hard hitting and informative.

This show will be simulcast around the country for other stations to carry. “This was a terrific opportunity to feature a personality that is the most high profile athlete in America’s most popular sport. We look forward to Terrell Owens joining us weekly on our radio station.” Jon Weiner, GM of 790 The Ticket the flagship station of the Miami Dolphins.”

• “Don’t buy gas if you don’t need it.” Did our president just say that? Really? We’re doomed, aren’t we?

• One final note on fantasy from MBPB’s favorite Fantasy Forecaster, Jack Pullman of All Pro Publishing: “Drafting is part science and part art. The science part is anticipating what you’re options will be in the next round or so. The art part is making your choices. Good luck!”

I just don’t have the heart to tell MBPB that I could give him that advice for free and he could save his 17 bucks on Pullman. But if there’s one thing MBPB likes, it’s supporting the little guy. Just ask Vito the Barber who gave him the Ivy League Cut on Wednesday. (Like we always say, if you can’t go to the Ivy League, at least get their haircut.)

• We’ve been overlooking the solid effort of bostonherald.com online editor, Mike Ryan, for far too long. He’s always linking the stories that sometimes fall through the cracks and he’s got just enough smarm in him to make him worthwhile on a daily basis. Bookmark the man, would you please?

• A Shots welcome back and best wishes go out to Jeff Jacobs at the Hartford Courant who penned this sobering column on Sunday. Aunt Esta Sarasota, now a year removed from her West Hartford days, says she still misses a good Jacobs offering every now and again. She endures the pain with a trip to the pool with Uncle Stevie Sarasota or with a ride in Stuff’s convertible.

• The Dripping Sarcasm Shot of the Week came from Herald Clubhouse Insider Blogger, Michael Silverman last Sunday: “(By the way, colleague Howard Bryant points out two things: 1) Players have noted that Remlinger occupied the locker of Alan Embree and Lenny DiNardo, so there is obviously a curse at work here. That’s great to hear because there just hasn’t been enough curse talk ‘round here since last Oct. 27.”

Silverman, at least to these eyes, seems to thrive in the HeraBlog setting. These guys are going to start opening eyes with their ability to “playground” write better than we thought. It could, at the very least, make for competition when the bigger content distributors start to Pac Man the littler ones.

• (For more on that type of topic, we’d encourage you to find the Wired magazine story on ESPN from the Jon Stewart-eating-the-remote-Sept. ’05 cover by Frank Rose. There are so many elements of the Big Picture Thinking that is so lacking in the region’s market.

• “NESN is Scouting” – that means they have jobs or money or both. Attack!

• ABC caught Thomas Hitman Hearns at the Detroit pre-season game on Monday night and just as they showed the Hitman, an off-screen person presented something to be signed. Hearns stared the autograph seeker down and reluctantly signed. We were hoping for a couple of round of vintage Hitman.

• How long until the Magic Bus Kid from New Orleans gets a movie deal? Shots is available for the screenwriting, Hollywood types.

• A special delivery from Chief of Staff Jeff O’Malley deposited the Marshall Thundering Herd Collector’s Edition football media guide in the Shots PO Box, and with it came a reminder of the football passion possessed by one Robert Marcum, the former UMass AD (and Shots’ best, ultimate boss ever). Marcum, now leading the Herd into Conference USA, started treating Minuteman football like it was important in the 1990s and low and behold, it became important (albeit briefly). The Chief of Staff reports that new head man, Mark Snyder (former Ohio State defensive coordinator), is getting things rolling at Troy Brown’s alma mater AND that we should be sure to catch the Sept. 10 morning tussle with K State on ESPN 2. (The preceding announcement virtually assures Shots of unfettered access to adult beverages upon my next visit to Huntington, W. Va. And you can never have enough of those passes accumulated. Go Herd!)

• Shots would like to take a moment to thank all of our visitors who were kind enough to download Scott’s PodShots No. 1 last weekend. Because of your kindness, Shots was able to donate $100 ($.30 per download) to the NESN/WEEI Jimmy Fund Telethon drive in the name of Scott’s Shots. All involved should be proud to have pulled off such a tremendously successful endeavor in Year 4 of the Telethon.

• On one other charitable note, Steve Buckley’s Oldtime Baseball Game had a record setting year with more than $50,000 in donations at last month’s event in Cambridge. Monies raised went to the Lupus Foundation. Nice work, Buck.

• Enjoy the waning days of summer and don’t forget to help out for Jerry’s Kids and Katrina’s victims.

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

The second installment of David Scott’s PodShots is available for dowload.

We ask that you continue to use the LibSyn link so we can track downloads and calculate traffic patterns in our soft-launch phase. It will help when huge media conglomerates ask us about our numbers. Or not.

We’ll be back on Friday with a regularly scheduled BlogShots – from the same folks who bring you PodShots.

Until then. . . PodCast till it hurts. . .
- Shots

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

A brief re-cap of the past week in Scott’s Shots History: On Tuesday evening, the media conglomerate of Bo The Dog Publishing launched David Scott’s PodShots.

Watch out Mike and the Mad Puppy. I’m on your asses. (See below, scattered throughout, for more “PodShots Start-up” tales).
But seriously friends, Shots will be donating a nominal amount per each (free) download of PodShots over the course of the weekend. I’m thinking like a dime per download up to $150. So check out the podcast and you can say you did your part for the Jimmy Fund as well. Good luck, ‘EEIers and NESNers. It’s your one day without Shots being fired your way.)

• So an extra hour is going to make such a difference for the grounds crew at Fenway? An 8:05 start? Something fishy there, I’m telling ya. Fishy like shores off Little Brewster.

• Hot Herald hammer-wielder, Howard Bryant continued his own personal, hitting streak this Wednesday when he called his professional mates’ reporting abilities, steroid diligence and ethical allegiances into question. (Bryant was piling on after this Editor & Publisher/Allan Wolper story about the under-reporting of the steroids scandal.)
Bryant names names (Gordon Edes and Shaughnasty), gives examples and, at the very least, seems to forget that his paper didn’t do a lot of digging AT THE TIME, either.

As for the present – where Bryant and the Herald are choosing to live – he is absolutely correct: The Globe is twiddling its thumbs while Bryant’s rattling cages. “Keep diggin’,” Bryant claims he was told by players. That echoes more and more, doesn’t it?. . .Yes, we’ve been paying closer attention to Bryant since the Shots’ assessment of his dual purpose steroid coverage three weeks back) – and the mixed response that item brought. It felt a lot like Bryant was irrelevant in-town but oddly, rising, out of town (on CNN and ESPN, for instance). . . Bryant continues to call out the ‘Cartel’, and sling mud – as it were – at the Green Boxers. Believe it or not, he is now the Face of the Boston Herald Sports Page, and it might be time to start pumping him up a bit – so to speak. Juice the Juice Guy the same way the NY Tabs pub their own.

• “PodShots Start-up” Tale 1

At least with blogging, you can do it quietly. With PodCasting, I found myself shrieking at audible levels to next-door-neighbors. Louie the Hull Cop is my closest abutter. That serves as fair warning if I’m arrested in the next quarter century or so.

• The New York Times’ Jack Curry ( Not linking, sorry: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/sports/baseball/23bench.html) had a nostalgic look at the lost art of bench jockeying in baseball. Funniest part was that Gary Sheffield had no idea what it was.

• The Herald has busted out the ability to give a story a bit more space – suggesting an attention to trends that has been missing in recent years. This week, Tony Mazz was allowed to look into ‘hazing’ (as it were) and a commitment to giving stories some space appears to be filtering through the back of the Herald. We like the approach and think it’s another spot where the Globe is vulnerable. . . Mazz, by the way, has been spreading his wings a bit with some recent Patriots coverage. Might be good for Mazz to stretch out a bit – not to mention a welcome boon to the Yellow Boxer’s anemic Pats-dedicated staffers. It’s basically Michael Felger Underwood Who Drank Too Much On Tuesday Night At The Stones and Whined About it On-air Wednesday. (Please, you have a kid, a great gig, a local celeb wife and you still need to play Wasted Frat Guy on the day after a show? Act like you’ve been there before or risk being perceived as a Ryen Russillo Frat Boy In Training (RRFBIT).

Meanwhile for its Patriots coverage, The Globe has immediately begun using five-tool, utility man, Mike Reiss (see below) to augment the Jerome Solomon, Nick Cafardo, Ron Borges and An Intern combo that will simply dominate if the sports desk match-ups at Morrissey and One Herald remain the same throughout the season. We’re guessing it can’t stay that way and we’re further supposing that George Kimball and Kevin Mannix will have some freelance chances (Herald buyout provisions allowing).

• Couple of heads up for the weekend reading list, both bylined by the stellar New York Times’ college guy, Pete Thamel: A scheduled Friday piece on the Boise State up-and-comer-coach-du-jour Dan Hawkins and the slated, Sunday college football season preview package (which will make super shore-side Shots reading just before the NYT Sunday Puzzleattack). And to complete the NYT Tripleheader, print out this Michiko Kakutani book review. (It should be noted the last option is only for those who continue to see the genius of Catcher in the Rye.)

• “PodShots Start-up” Tale 2
So one of the suggestions I read somewhere was to make a “spit shield” out of a pair of panties and a wire hanger. That – unlike real headphones or a sound studio – is an investment I can make. So I go to Nantasket Pharmacy and grab the buck-fifty-three, dusty-bag-hanging-on-plastic-strip-for-17-years pouch of darkish hose. Crotched, of course. (I wanted to get the egg container desperately, but it was just too pricy. Almost 3 bucks!) And I also need AAA batteries, which they have in stock. So I approach the counter with Coppertops and Control Tops.

At this point I can just see the Hull Times Police blotter entry now: Tuesday, 12:15 p.m. Nantasket Pharmacy calls to report suspicious, tanned, sandal-wearing, gentleman just purchased panty hose and batteries. Caller suspects terrorist and/or lewd behavior. Requests added patrols. O/Love reports negative search of area. O/Negative reports lovely search.

Bottom line: I now speak my PodShots into the crotch of cheap pantyhose stretched over a wire hanger clamped onto a makeshift mike stand.

Welcome to Podcasting, Crotch Talkers.

• More than a few folks chimed in to offer up love and protection for the Herald’s Copy Desk after Shots pointed out a couple of egregious errors from last week. Let it be said for all to hear: I’m sorry about that. And I’m sorry the desk (and the “Rim,” especially) are down staffers. The examples I gave were fairly important aspects (a story subject’s name and the place a suspended football player was watching a game). I clearly don’t sweat the little stuff – just look at my typos and grammatical shortfalls. But I do my durndest to get proper names and places correct. That’s all I’m sayin’. I love copy editors – they just don’t love me back.

• A strong debut with the Pats Mailbag by Mike Reiss of the Globe – it went five web pages and was both timely (including embedded links to stories) and informative (a nice breakdown of the difference between kickoff and punt returners, for instance). Reiss gets points for turning what can be a chore for some into easy reading for the rest of us. . .And while we’re in the ‘hood, we do need to give credit to Joe Sullivan and the Green Boxers for utilizing Reiss right out of the box.

• “PodShots Start-up” Tale 3

In its first 36 hours of availability, 200 people listened to the historic first broadcast. I clicked over to my calculator widget (Mac friendly Shots, we are) and discovered this: I’m awful with numbers.
But I think I could get some listeners in a pretty coveted demographic: Deranged Sports Followers Who Can Download Files.

• Believe me, there are plenty of ways to criticize the Katherine Harris BCS Poll (aka the EmbHarris Poll), so it was a bit over-reactionary when the Association for Women in Sports Media folks started to chime in about the dearth of women on the 114-member panel. (currently it’s 110, soon to be 114 with – SURPRISE – at least two women!) Point is, there probably weren’t very many Asians on there either. Or Bloggers. Or Sri Lankans. Or Hutus.

It’s the BCS people! Everything they touch turns limp or languid within hours of its debut. Deal with it!

It was a list of football-associated people put together by non-football people (the Harris people are, shall we say, more pop culturally aware than sportingly conscious). No matter what the make-up of that list turned out to be, there were going to be complaints. Of course it would be a different story if there was a strong figurehead serving as the face and voice of the BCS. But there isn’t a true one of them in the whole money-grubbing bunch of Big School Phonies. . . Contrast that to the way Paul Tagliabue stood this week (in Foxboro no less) as part of his Summer Pilgrimage to see the peasants do what the peasants do when they make his league all of its billions. Think of it this way: Steroids in football HAD to be MUCH MORE widespread than it ever was in baseball. And yet, largely because of Tagliabue’s presence, very few are even sniffing around the NFL’s ‘labs.’ That, my friends is what you would term: Controlling the media. The only other sporting organization that spins better than the teFLoN NFL is Coach Bush’s White House.

• Speed Channel has the best TV talent, female division – bar none. Sneaky great, even. Check it out. Vroom. Vroom.

• There is no single, bigger TV viewing disappointment than switching to Ch. 49 on my cable system in anticipation of the 5:30 PTI and finding, at first the awful 1st and Ten, and then the almost-as-awful Around the Horn taking up the PTI slot.

• On a similar note: The Thursday night ESPN Fantasy Football Draft was missing both Mel Kiper and a Green Room. But it did have Team Suzy Kolber (taking Jamal Lewis at No. 5), followed quickly by Team Schwabbie’s selection of Edgerrin James. Team Nick Lachey (aka Team He’s the Best ESPN Could Get?) picking via time delay in Sweden, chose Jessica Simpson, noting he could score with her at any moment. Kidding. He took Corey Dillon – a curse of Ruthian proportions for Pats fans. The first round highlight was when Nick Bakay (a Shots fave, mainly ‘cuz of his wife) proposed a Ricky Williams trade to Mike Ditka.

• Here’s the tag line at the bottom of every Boston Sports Guy on-line column: “Bill Simmons is a columnist for Page 2 and ESPN The Magazine. His Sports Guy’s World site is updated every day Monday through Friday.

Here’s the reality of this week as of the end of the work day on Thursday: One column on Hulkamania from Monday. On Tuesday he Cowbelled a brief Frank Deford documentary review (an ESPN show, by the way) and on Thursday he Cowbelled a mailbox entirely with readers comments.

I’m not calling him out for his lack of work this week as much as I’m calling him out for his lack of timely relevance. Can we, I dunno, maybe get some commentary on the major sports stories of the week: Lance? The BCS? Huggins?

No. We get an 80s wrestler, an 80s writer (enduring as he may be) and reader questions about Rocky movies.

That seems, maybe a little bit self-serving, doesn’t it?

I repeat: the guy’s a talent and draws eyeballs. But trying to figure out WHAT? he and his site are nowadays is like trying to figure out where Tara Reid will pass out next (that was for you SG, we see how you love the sloppiest second of all time).

Let the hate mail begin. . .

• All this Manny bashing amounts to a whole lot of nothing – Manny will still play, he will still be Manny and he will still produce. And ‘EEI will ride the Manny Train until it crashes into a brick wall come the off-season.

• An Insider’s follow-up email on the SportsCenter Interruption being perpetrated on Pardon the Interruption viewers confirms all of Scott’s greatest fears: The Worldwide Leader’s Lame Duck Leader of Import, Mark Shapiro (and his fellow meter watchers) have been watching the 6 p.m. SC stumble and bumble for some time now and this “Interruption, Interruption” is a blatant attempt to keep PTI’s viewers for a quarter or more of the daily, dinnertime SC. Those involved with the Network’s marquee banter show are none too pleased with the arrangement. Guys like Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser are smart enough to know when they’re being used and exploited. . .With Shapiro scheduled to bow out October 1, Shots reached out to one of our more connected ESPN Observers for a short list of candidates likely to replace Shapiro. Our Observer, a former ESPN employee and current national media player, gave us this: “Internal candidates are (Senior VP of Programming) John Wildhack and (Senior VP and Executive Producer) Jed Drake. I do think Disney/ESPN might look externally for a candidate. It would seem unlikely that one person would fill (Shapiro’s) job. It’s one of the biggest positions in sports television.”
Media Week reported the same two names this week, and mentioned the possibility of splitting Shapiro’s ESPN/ABC duties.
Drake, according to his ESPN bio, is a Boston University grad (1978) and Wildhack was (surprise!) a Syracuse (and Newhouse) guy (1980).

Folks within the ESPN bunker are reluctant to comment on possible successors to Shapiro, especially with, as one Bristol-based bud said, “they are two of many people here.” Translation: There’s a lot of jockeying going on right now for that sweet gig. Our observer was even mildly concerned over ESPN’s upper management depth and that there’s no slam dunk, gotta-be-him! Shapiro replacement in-house.
Shapiro’s lengthy title (Executive Vice President of Programming and Production) was only a sliver glimpse into his impact, in 12 years, on the Network. That EOE jingle that runs before so much of the programming now, is, for better or worse, the mark of Shapiro.

His position – or whatever it morphs into – is clearly a vital one for the ESPiNners, as they prepare to do battle with whatever sports entity Comcast can put together in addition to other web-based challenges to the Network’s supremacy.

• “PodShots Start-up” Tale 4:

Shots has blogged form the basement of the Seaside Shanty and we’re not ashamed to admit it. But the Podcasting? Well, that’s entirely a basement endeavor, so go ahead and make your basement jokes. I’ll be too busy talking into my new favorite pair of panties to even hear you.

• The WEEI Whiner Line overkill on the Wendy’s Dinner for Four contest was brutal, but the underlying point remains: “You’re No. 1 in the land and you give out fast food coupons?” If I’m not mistaken WMUA, the student station at the State U. used to at least have Ground Round coupons. And they always had the ‘MUA gas card. Stories always abound from the radioheads of how many amazing items you could buy at an EXXON on I-95 under the guise of “GAS.”. . . Speaking of the old Campus Center Basement Media Organizations, it was confirmed from our Denver News Bureau that Jason Nash was indeed the “Cheap Seats” actor portraying a terrier trainer. If Nash doesn’t get an Emmy, Shots will launch an investigation.

• The Globe’s front page picture this week of the Montague Book Mill reminded me of some glorious afternoons spent by the rushing waters of that fantastic spot. It also reminded me of this Springfield Union, Dick Baker story on UMass walk-on, Erin Calipari , that we were alerted to by the ever-alert Howard Herman of Berkshire Eagle fame. There’s a Cal back in Mullins – but not quite a rage in the cage.

• The response to this week’s launch of PodShots has been nothing short of – well, short.

But we feel the love. How about this comment from Drew on Wednesday: “Great, just what we need. More INANE rantings from Scott’s Shots.”

“Inane Rantings,” by the way, used to be the subhead for Scott’s Shots.

• Scott’s PodShots (a shady subsidiary of this space) is proud to announce its first corporate-like sponsorship: On Pats Opening Night, Sept. 8, PodShots will be taping a Special Tailgate Edition (to be broadcast via podcast the week of 9/12). The show will be based at the official Tailgate Spot of PodShots at the Foxboro Terminals Lot. . .This is the kind of stuff we’re talking about, by the way, when we say that Podcasting (and the like) are “programming.” On a larger platform, with more eyeballs, this is what the next wave of Internet entertainment will be. And when the video starts flowing the way the audio is now – watch out, folks. New. Ball. Game.

• The Herald’s Tuesday cover story over a “Fenway Brew-Haha” involving Richard Iannella reminded us of this post from the Jan. 7, 2005 Shots:

. . . Ordinarily, Scott’s Shots prides itself on being one of the shadier patrons at any of the Boston spots we find ourselves. But when Jeff Ruland and his Iona Gaels squad rolled into Joe Tecce’s last week with me gratefully in tow, we didn’t even qualify as any of the Top 10 shadiest guys. Somehow, a guy by the name of Iannella was hosting a party at Tecce’s legendary spot and the guest of honor was the World Series trophy. When asked how he got to hold the prized piece for an extended period of time, he Good Fella’d up and one of his stoolies said, “Don’t worry about it.” Ruland was actually first to spot the Holy Grail of Boston Sports, much the way he can usually espy the finest cut of meat on the menu. When the ever-talented and always-slightly-shot Media Relations Director extraordinaire, Mike Laprey, caught wind of the trophy’s appearance, he quickly tracked the scent and within minutes the Shady Guy and Shorty were allowing some of the Gaels to pose for photos. . .

So if we may be so bold: It seems that (if indeed this is the same Iannella and we bet it is), his connections to the Sox are such that he can get his own private night with the Holy Grail. How do you like them apples, Kevin Rothstein? He’s the Herald newshound who had the (non-)story (on his Aramark connection) this past BoozeDay (Tuesday).

I’d love to see what other “friends of the Sox” got the trophy for private affairs, wouldn’t you KRoth?

• Here’s what we got from the Herald’s Clubhouse Insider Blog and Michael Silverman on Saturday with his Schilling news: “. . . Schilling paused from his Sudoku puzzle in the clubhouse to explain that he was looking forward to the opportunity. . .”
Schill does that freaky video game and Sudoku? With interests like that, he should stay a closer, don’t you think?

Too much Sudoku last night – not enough Controlku.

• Give till it hurts for the fourth WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Telethon and check back for a new PodShots mid-week (Tuesday night or Wednesday).

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

We welcome you to check it out and give us some feedback. It is clearly a work in progress, but now we’re glad to say that process has begun. At some point, we’ll probably figure it out. For now, it’s still in the Beta phase, but worth a listen nonetheless.

Our regular Scott’s Shots (blog edition) will continue to run every Friday, right here at bostonsportsmedia.com. But for once, Shots is trying to be at least a few steps ahead of the pack. In fact, the last time we were this technologically advanced was when we were playing QBert, Donkey Kong and Miner 2049er on ColecoVision. That was 1983.

Click on over and check out PodShots. . . and as always, thank you for your support.