June 10, 2013 – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will debut a new sports program called NESN Sports Today on Tuesday, June 11 immediately following the network’s Boston Red Sox coverage. Separately, there will be periodic specials, starting with Bruins coverage on Wednesday, June 12 (see below for more details).

“We want to give New England viewers a live, fast paced, nightly sports show that goes beyond opinions or scores with highlights,” said Joseph Maar, NESN’s vice president of programming & production, executive producer.

Over the past few months NESN has been developing a dynamic sports program that strives to be relevant, insightful and interactive for passionate fans using NESN’s unparalleled access to teams and unmatched resources.

“The new show gives fans everything they need to know in sports, plus interactive debates where viewers can weigh-in on the discussion,” added Maar. “NESN Sports Today will look and feel different from any other sports show in the country and allow mobile device users to participate in the program.”

Maar began the process of transforming NESN’s sports programming back in August when he joined the network. In November 2012, NESN added three new anchors/reporters by hiring Adam Pellerin, Leah Hextall and Jamie Erdahl to team with Jamison Coyle. They will be joined by an already popular and talented group of NESN announcers and hosts that includes Don Orsillo, Jack Edwards, Tom Caron and Dale Arnold, plus regular appearances by analysts Andy Brickley, Billy Jaffe, Jerry Remy, Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice and Tim Wakefield.

NESN Sports Today, which replaces NESN Daily, will air every night in 30-minute blocks from 10 pm to 12 midnight (or immediately following Red Sox or Bruins post-game programming). NESN will broadcast a best of edition of the show the following morning between 4 am and 6 am and again between 12 noon and 2 pm.

NESN Sports Today Specials

The program’s format will adapt during nights of major sports stories, devoting expanded coverage for special days like Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots playoff games. Beginning this Wednesday and before each Stanley Cup Championship game there will be a NESN Sports Today Bruins Pre-Game Special at 5:30 pm.

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With the Big East essentially no more after the spring sports are done, the remaining teams and ESPN have worked out a new television deal.

Here's the release from ESPN:

ESPN and the current Big East Conference, soon to be renamed, will continue their relationship of more than three decades with a multiyear, multimedia rights agreement. The agreement grants ESPN exclusive worldwide distribution rights across all media and will continue ESPN’s coverage of the conference’s football, basketball and more through 2019-20. In addition, video subscribers of ESPN will have access to the games via digital and mobile devices.

ESPN’s existing football agreement with the conference runs through 2013 while the 2013-14 season will act as a bridge year for the conference’s basketball rights. Commencing in 2014-15, football, basketball and other sports will be under one agreement through 2019-20 granting ESPN rights to all conference contests (not included in CBS’s basketball rights package) including at least 66 football games and 170 men’s basketball games which will be made available annually across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and ESPN3, and via limited regional and national sublicense. In addition, select women’s basketball regular-season and postseason contests as well as other conference-sponsored sports will be presented throughout the year.

“This agreement signifies our commitment to ensuring superior content across any device for many more years,” said John Skipper, ESPN President. “Sports fans everywhere, including the schools’ most passionate followers, will enjoy our extensive multi-sport offerings.”

Commissioner Mike Aresco said, “I am delighted that the current Big East Conference, which will be renamed and rebranded, will be partnering with ESPN well into the future,” said Aresco.  “The extraordinary exposure provided by the ESPN networks will give viewers the opportunity to see the exciting competition and intense rivalries that will characterize our Conference.”

Included in the new agreement:
FOOTBALL
Complete coverage: Every conference-controlled football game will be available via a television or digital platform.

BASKETBALL
Complete Coverage: Every conference-controlled men’s basketball game will be available via a television or digital platform.

Conference Championship: The conference championship will be televised on ABC or ESPN.

Women’s Basketball: Conference-controlled women’s basketball regular-season games will appear on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and/or ESPN3.  The championship of the conference tournament will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2, with the semifinals on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

OTHER SPORTS
ESPN will have the rights to action from other conference-sponsored men’s and women’s sports such as baseball and softball.

ESPN OUTLETS: Rights include conference content featured across ESPN entities including exclusive live games on ESPN3. In addition, fans will be able to find select action on ESPN Deportes, ESPN International and more. All conference programming on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater will be available online via ESPNnetworks.com and on mobile devices via the Watch ESPN app to fans who receive their video subscription through an affiliated provider.

LIMITED SUBLICENSING
ESPN can sublicense conference games across all sports for regional and national distribution.

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This weekend The Wall Street Journal released a piece on the amount of Twitter followers North American professional sports teams have.  The article says that each of the 122 professional teams in the four major sports of baseball, football, hockey and basketball all have a team Twitter account.

As I looked over the list there were some surprises as to which sports people followed and which teams.  First I want to take a look at the New England-based teams some of which we cover here at Sox & Dawgs.

Our main team here on the Blog is the Boston Red Sox.  As of the writing of the WSJ piece and this post the Red Sox have 372,960 followers.  Now Boston is what many consider a baseball town so where do you think the beloved Sox fall amongst the New England teams and teams in their sport in general?

You might be surprised to find that the Red Sox are the third most followed team in Boston sports.  I was a little surprised by this but not stunned.

If I were to say that Boston is a baseball town, followed by it being a hockey town, then a football town and then a basketball town I think most would agree.  In the time I spent in Boston I saw more people with Sox and Bruins items than Patriots and Celtics items.

But if you look at the social media numbers, specifically Twitter, the Bruins, who are the most recent champion to grace the city, are fourth with 295,168 followers. 

So what do I know?

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“A sad day in Connecticut.  The nicest, warmest human being in the world has passed on.  RIP Arnold Dean.  You will be missed by all of us.” – Joe D’Ambrosio UConn Football and Men’s Basketball play by play announcer.

Arnold Dean, the man legions of Connecticut sports fans grew up listening to, has left us.  Dean was the host of a sports talk radio show on WTIC-AM 1080 in Hartford way before sports talk radio became what it is today.

Dean was the anti-Big O.  He was the anti-Mad Dog, the anti-Francesca.  He was too nice to be blustery and full of buffoonery.  In all the years I listened to him I never heard him raise his voice.  Dean was a gentleman who treated his listeners and those who called in with the respect and warmth of a long lost friend.  He made you feel as if you were part of his family.

The first time I ever won anything on the radio I won a prize from Arnold Dean.  I was about 11 years old and I was able to answer one of his trivia questions that about 7 or 8 previous other callers couldn’t answer.

In my adult life I got to meet Dean when I was covering the UConn football and basketball teams as a photographer.  He was just as he was on the air, warm and gracious.

Dean hosted the local call-in show, did the pregame for the New England/Hartford Whalers hockey and even did some color work on home games for a few seasons.  Later on after “retiring” he was still involved with UConn football when they went into Division 1-A and moved into Rentschler Field in East Hartford.  He did the pregame show below the scoreboard along with Ray Dunaway, Kevin Nathan, Bob Joyce and others.

If you were or are from Connecticut the sound of Arnold Dean’s voice told you that you were home.  I always thought that Dean, along with Bob Steele and Walt Dibble, should have been hired by Bradley International Airport to record the welcome announcements.  There were no better ambassadors for the state than that trio of broadcasting legends.

Dean was in broadcasting over 60 years (1948-2009) and was best known for his legendary run at WTIC which began in 1965 when he hosted the music show, “One Night Stand”.   With his love of Big Band music he also hosted a daily show called the “Golden Age of Radio” and that would spin into a monthly show featuring interviews with Big Band leaders and others.  He even played clarinet because he was inspired to do so by Artie Shaw. 

In 1976 he started “Sports Talk with Arnold Dean”, a show that still exists today as “WTIC Sports Talk”. 

In his illustrious career Dean won Connecticut Broadcaster of the Year seven times, numerous awards from the Associated Press and in May 1997 he was inducted into the Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame.  He was also the first non-Massachusetts resident to win the “Jimmy Award” for his work with the Jimmy Fund in Boston. 

It wasn’t until 1996 at age 66 that he cut back on his duties which included only doing one night on his then 20-year old weeknight show.  He didn’t officially retire fully until 2009 after 61 years in broadcasting. 

Arnold Dean was a broadcast legend, a Connecticut icon and he will be greatly missed by so many people whose lives he touched in his own special way.

follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: the laurel

Nearly a quarter of a million Boston area DirecTV subscribers have been cut off from a pair of Boston television stations since Saturday.  Unless the stations owners and DirecTV can come up with a resolution to their dispute chances are good those customer’s will have to go elsewhere to watch the Super Bowl on February 5.

WHDH TV Channel 7 and WLVI TV Channel 56 owners Sunbeam Television Corp. blacked out it’s stations signals from DirecTV while it seeks an increase in the fees that DirecTV pays to carry the station.

Sunbeam says that DirecTV refuses to come anywhere near what the established market rate is for those fees and that the proposed rates from DirecTV are too low.

DirecTV executives have accused Sunbeam of a “shameless attempt to extort a more than 300 percent fee increase that our customers will have to absorb."

DirecTV had asked Sunbeam to keep the signals to WHDH and WLVI available over the weekend but to no avail.  WHDH has suggested that customers switch satellite companies, change to cable or buy digital rabbit ear antenna’s to receive the stations over the air signals.

A DirecTV blackout of the Super Bowl broadcast which is being carried by NBC affiliate WHDH this year in the Boston market could be huge with two teams with deep, local roots facing each other.

Several Boston area businesses that have the DirecTV service are concerned.  They are counting on the Super Bowl and the participation of the Patriots and Giants to bring customers to their bars.  If no agreement is reached by February 5th those businesses are in line to lose a lot of money by not being able to show the game.

Follow Steve on Twitter  @SteveMichaelsII

With no managerial openings going his way, former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona has found himself a new job. He'll be replacing the new manager of the Red Sox, Bobby Valentine, at ESPN.

Here's the release from ESPN:

Terry Francona, two-time World Champion manager of the Boston Red Sox, has joined ESPN in a multiplatform role which will include serving as an analyst for Sunday Night Baseball, the network’s exclusive national game of the week. Francona will join Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser in the Sunday Night Baseball booth, replacing current Red Sox manager and former ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine.  He will make his ESPN debut tonight, Dec. 5, on SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight from the Winter Meetings in Dallas.

Francona will also provide analysis for Baseball Tonight, among other news and information shows, and ESPN’s coverage of the Little League World Series.  Additionally, he will be a featured guest on ESPN Radio’s national shows and contributor to ESPN.com and ESPNBoston.com.

“Terry is a brilliant baseball mind, with two World Series rings over the last eight seasons, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to our team,” said Norby Williamson, executive vice president, production. “Ted Williams for Joe DiMaggio never happened, but this is ESPN’s version with Bobby moving to the Red Sox dugout and Terry replacing him on Sunday Night Baseball.”

“I’m excited to join ESPN and to be able to talk about my passion for baseball with fans who love the game as much as me,” said Francona.  “In some ways, I’ll be a rookie all over again, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Francona provided analysis for Fox Sports during the American League Championship Series in 2011.

Francona managed the Red Sox for eight seasons (2004-11), leading the team to a pair of World Series championships (2004; 2007) and a record of 744-552. He previously managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997-2000.

Francona served as a bench coach for the Oakland Athletics in 2003 and the Texas Rangers in 2002.  He also served as a special assistant to baseball operations with the Cleveland Indians in 2001. Francona managed in the Minor Leagues from 1992-95.

Francona played in the Major Leagues from 1981-90 with the Montreal Expos (1981-85), Chicago Cubs (1986), Cincinnati Reds (1987), Cleveland Indians (1988) and Milwaukee Brewers (1989-90).  He was drafted by the Expos in 1980 out of the University of Arizona, where he won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top amateur player that same year.

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Photo credit: Reuters Pictures

ESPN hottie Erin Andrews is in Atlanta this weekend for the SEC Championship Game between LSU and Georgia. David Pollack came along with her and she showed us all of his adoring fans on a video posted on YouTube.

But right at the end of the video, she gives us some tongue as seen above.

Photo credit: Erin Andrews YouTube

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HARTFORD, Conn. (November 1, 2011) – CPTV Sports, formerly the Connecticut Sports Network (CTSN), is Connecticut’s only 24-hour local sports network, covering statewide high school sports college match-ups, professional sports competitions and more.

Launched on November 1, CPTV Sports is available on Comcast cable channels 185, 187 and 744 and on the Cox Communications cable system channel 144. High school sports and CIAC championship games are sponsored by Connecticut Lighting Centers and New England Musculoskeletal Institute at UConn Health Center. In addition, high school football is made possible in part by Connecticut Rental Centers.

For November 1-4, CPTV Sports’ program highlights include:

Tuesday, November 1

8 p.m.              You Make the Call with Geno Auriemma

Wednesday, November 2

7 p.m.              Boys High School Football – Conard vs. New Britain

Thursday, November 3

7 p.m.              High School Boys Football – Hillhouse at Xavier

Friday, November 4

6:30 p.m.         High School Boys Football – Ellington/Somers at Enfield

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HARTFORD, Conn. (November 1, 2011) – CPTV is excited to announce that it is bringing an all-new type of sports coverage to Connecticut with CPTV Sports, a statewide, 24/7 sports channel that covers high school, college and additional sporting events throughout the state.

Scheduled to launch in November on Comcast and Cox cable systems in Connecticut, CPTV Sports is a not-for-profit channel owned and managed by Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) that broadcasts coverage of sporting events and match-ups from more than 40 schools and organizations, including the University of Connecticut, University of Hartford, Central Connecticut State University, Post University and the CIAC state high school championships. The channel will expand to additional cable and over-the-air carriage in early 2012.

CPTV Sports will provide viewers coverage of mainstream sports such as baseball with the New Britain Rock Cats, basketball with the Hartford Lightning and the CT-6 Tournament, hockey with the CT Whale, and soccer with the CT Soccer League, as well as unique sporting events like auto racing from Stafford Motor Speedway, the SpiritFest Cheerleading Championships, and the Connecticut Special Olympics games. Future planned programming includes sports such as rugby, softball, cricket, roller derby, BMX, and others. The channel will also broadcast additional programming related to sports, such as programs on sports medicine.

CPTV Sports will be one of CPTV’s digital channels and will also be broadcast in high-definition television, and will take advantage of CPTV’s unique ability to bring local people and events to exciting life with intimate storytelling and reporting.

The team behind CPTV Sports includes broadcast professionals Bob Yalen, formerly with ESPN and ABC Sports, who serves as channel director and Joe Coss, Post University Sports Information Director, who serves as production manager.

“At CPTV, we know that the best in sports entertainment can be found, not in Boston or New York, but right here in the Nutmeg State,” said Jerry Franklin, President and CEO of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. “Tune in this November as CPTV Sports hits the airwaves, bringing coverage of all the exciting, inspiring fun that can be found right in Connecticut residents’ own backyards.”

BOSTON (June 6, 2011) – WEEI and NESN are proud to announce that the 10th annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon will take place at Fenway Park on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30^th and 31^st from 6am to midnight.  The emotional two day event has become one of the biggest fundraisers of the Jimmy Fund’s year. In 2010, more than $3.1 million dollars were raised, bringing the nine year total to nearly $26 million dollars.

Donations are already well underway thanks to the 4^th Annual “Tame the Tigers” golf tournament, held this past month on May 19^th at The International in Bolton, MA. The event was the most successful to date, raising over $100,000 and was a sell-out for the second straight year.

This year’s Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon will focus on the progress that has been made in cancer research over the past decade. The 36-hour broadcast will once again feature truly compelling stories from Jimmy Fund patients and doctors, as well as celebrity guests from the sports and entertainment worlds.

Julie Kahn, VP and Market Manager for Entercom Boston said, “For the past ten years, WEEI and NESN have been allies when it comes to the fight against cancer. The generosity of WEEI’s listeners and NESN’s viewers is overwhelming and we are grateful to them year after year.”

“Our entire company is committed to this event and all of our employees are actively engaged in this two day telethon,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO. “This collective commitment meaningfully touches all of us and hopefully makes a real difference to the people who are fighting this challenging disease.”

“It is incredible to think that this is the 10^th year for the radio-telethon. The progress that has been made in cancer research and care since we started is staggering,” said Jason Wolfe, VP of Programming for WEEI. Wolfe continued, “Patients are living longer, healthier lives, and in many cases, cancer free. These are the two best days of our year and I’m looking forward to another super event.”

To help strike out cancer during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, call 877-738-1234 toll free. For more information, to purchase tickets, or to contribute online, go to www.jimmyfundradiotelethon.org.