|
Shooting from the lip/Feb. 27th edition
Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...
Best filler
If there was a Sports Emmy for best coverage during a weather delay, we could just give the award right now to Fox for its work during Sunday's delay of the Daytona 500.
Fox came on the air at noon, and five hours later the race was postponed until today. This wasn't a 35-minute rain delay that you might see in baseball. This wasn't a two-hour delay because of lightning at a golf tournament. This was five hours! And Fox's coverage remained enthusiastic, entertaining and enthralling. ... Read more
King David show no longer on 1010-AM
The shake-up on local talk radio continued Thursday with another stunner. The King David Show, co-hosted by Toby David and former Bucs quarterback Shaun King, is done after nearly two years. The show heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on 1010-AM had its last program on Wednesday. It's believed the show ended because King and David no longer wanted to work together.
"I appreciated the time I worked with Shaun and have a great amount of respect for him,'' David said. "I also enjoyed working at CBS Radio and have nothing but the utmost respect for those people and I hope the land on my feet locally.''
King did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. ... Read more
Have faith in Yzerman's Lightning plan
Funny how this is working out. The Lightning keeps trading valuable parts, and the team keeps winning. As much as general manager Steve Yzerman looks to the future, his team won't give up on the present. In the past week, the Lightning has shipped off veterans Dominic Moore, Pavel Kubina and Steve Downie for draft picks and prospects. In that span, the Lightning has won three in a row to pull within five points of a playoff spot. So is Yzerman making a mistake? Has he given up too soon? Should he have waited a little longer to close the door on this season? Absolutely not.
Here are five reasons Yzerman is doing the right thing. ... Read more
Shooting from the lip/Feb. 20th edition
Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...
Best coverage
Have you ever been clicking around aimlessly on your television when you suddenly see something on the screen and think, "Oh, cool, I didn't know this was on.''
I get that rush of excitement when I flip on Fox and see a NASCAR race. And I don't even consider myself a NASCAR fan. But Fox's NASCAR coverage is so good, you can't help but watch. It's right up there with NBC's NFL and NHL coverage, HBO's boxing broadcasts and ABC/ESPN's college football coverage as the finest in sports broadcasting. ... Read more
Ranking Tampa Bay's coaches
Rays manager Joe Maddon, the American League’s reigning manager of the year, just signed a contract extension through 2015. Lightning coach Guy Boucher is considered one of the sharp young minds in the game. The Bucs just turned a new page by hiring coach Greg Schiano. So this seems like a good time to look at the history of Tampa Bay coaches and rank them from best to worst. In all, the Bucs, Rays and Lightning have had 19 coaches/managers, not counting one-time Lightning interim coach Rick Paterson, who coached only six games. So here is one opinion of how the coaches in Tampa Bay sports history stack up against one another. ... Read more
Ronnie "Night Train'' Lane out at 1040-AM
In a major shakeup at ESPN 1040-AM, Ronnie "Night Train'' Lane is out as co-host of the afternoon drive PrimeTime show after 18 months. Lane was let go last week, and his former on-air partner Tom Krasniqi is now hosting the show by himself.
Lane said he was blindsided by the move and thought it was a joke when he was told he was being fired after last Friday's show.
"I asked if the decision was performance-based,'' Lane said, "and all I was told was 'We're taking the show in another direction.' That's all I got. That's all I was told.''
Len Weiner, 1040-AM’s program director, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. ... Read more
Shooting from the lip/Feb. 13th edition
Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...
Most overhyped coverage
Yeesh, could CBS golf host Jim Nantz have gushed any more about the Pebble Beach course over the weekend? We get it. It's a nice track. I just wanted to watch some golf, and I felt like Nantz was trying to sell me property.
CBS's golf coverage is only a few weeks old and I'm already yearning for NBC. The lone bright spot is main analyst Nick Faldo, who mixes in a nice blend of analysis and humor. He knows the game as well as anyone, and he knows how to communicate it. He isn't willing to be as critical as NBC's Johnny Miller. Then again, no one in golf, and few in sports broadcasting, are as critical as Miller. Faldo, however, does a good enough job to make CBS's announcing crew tolerable. Barely. ... Read more
The NFL's 10 best QBs
A year ago this week, in this exact spot, I ranked the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL. It was based on how they were playing at that time. In order, the list was: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Josh Freeman, Matt Ryan, Michael Vick and Eli Manning. So today, the list is revisited and updated. Again, this isn’t based on career achievements, but where they rank now.
1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers
Coming off, perhaps, the greatest individual season ever. He threw for 4,643 yards with 45 touchdowns and only six interceptions. His 122.5 passer rating was an NFL record. He led the Pack to a 15-1 record. Counting the playoffs, he is 20-2 over his past 22 starts. He is only 28. ... Read more
Sports Babe faces health concerns
Nanci Donnellan, better known as the "Fabulous Sports Babe'' and one of the pioneers of sports talk radio, is battling serious health problems and is no longer hosting an afternoon show on ESPN 1040-AM. Donnellan hasn't been on the air since Jan. 20. It isn't known when or even if she will be able to return.
Donnellan, who is thought to be in her late 50s (she has never revealed her age publicly), is believed to be the first and only woman to have a nationally syndicated sports talk radio show when she hosted on ESPN Radio in the 1990s. She took a hiatus from radio, partly to recover from breast cancer, in the early 2000s, but returned to Tampa Bay radio and 1040-AM in 2008. She has hosted a show there from noon to 3 weekdays.
The station would only say Donnellan is out for "personal reasons.'' Attempts to reach Donnellan were unsuccessful. ... Read more
Most Recent Blog Posts
About the blogger
For sports talk filled with strong opinions, Tom Jones is here to give you his two cents -- and get yours as well. Tom might be commenting on the best coverage of TV sports, the dumbest thing said by sport announcers, the best sports trivia lists, or whatever three things just popped into his head. Want his ear?
E-mail Tom Jones:
tjones@tampabay.com.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Most Popular Categories
Follow us on Facebook
Comment Policy
| Please be sure your comments are appropriate before submitting them. Inappropriate comments include content that: |
| Is libelous |
| Is abusive, harassing, or threatening |
| Is obscene, vulgar, or profane |
| Is racially, ethnically or religiously offensive |
| Is illegal or encourages criminal acts |
| Is known to be inaccurate or contains a false attribution |
| Infringes copyrights, trademarks, publicity or any other rights of others |
| Impersonates anyone (actual or fictitious) |
| Solicits funds, goods or services, or advertises |
| The Tampa Bay Times does not edit posts but reserves the right to delete comments that violate our policy. |
Registration FAQ
| Read our Frequently Asked Questions on how to register to comment on the site. |
