Behind The Mic: Keith Olbermann Out Again at ESPN; Turner Sports Reinstates Greg Anthony for NBA Summer League

Keith Olbermann and ESPN have split once again. The network has announced that Olbermann’s late-night sports show on ESPN2 will end before the end of the month. The network provided little detail on the move aside from saying it has made “a business decision to move in another direction,” and that it wished Olbermann – “nothing but the best.”ESPN’s announcement came two years after 56-year-old Olbermann returned to the network years after his tumultuous but star-making stint as a co-host of “SportsCenter” that ended bitterly in 1997. In between, he abruptly quit his political talk show on MSNBC after eight years and joined Current TV but was taken off the air after just a year. (AP)…

… Turner Sports has assigned Greg Anthony to NBA TV as a game analyst for NBA Summer League play in Orlando from July 4-10. His first appearance was Saturday at 9 a.m. ET for the Heat-Pacers game. SI reports that Turner Sports would not elaborate on whether this meant Anthony is back in the fold for the longterm. Spokespeople for CBS Sports and Turner Sports said that they would decide together if Anthony would work the NCAA tournament again. In January, Anthony was arrested at a Washington D.C. hotel on suspicion of trying to hire a prostitute who was an undercover D.C. police officer. Anthony evenutually reached a plea agreement for community service as the case was dismissed last month. (SI)…

…Molly Qerim, who began her career working for ESPN digital media and ESPN Mobile, has rejoined the network. Her first assignment was on July 1-2 as host of ESPN2’s SportsNation (3-4 p.m. ET) filling in for Michelle Beadle, who was off. On Monday, July 13, she will begin her role as interim host of ESPN2’s First Take (10 a.m.), moderating debate between Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless. Qerim was originally slated to join Mike and Mike in the Morning, but plans changed after the show’s move to New York City was cancelled. She was previously an anchor and reporter for the NFL Network, hosting NFL AM and NFL Fantasy Live from 2012 – 2015. Prior to that, she served as an anchor/reporter for CBS Sports Network from 2010 – 2012, focusing primarily on college football and basketball (NCAA Tournament). Qerim began her career at ESPN in 2006, conducting interviews with athletes and celebrities for ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile. She covered UFC from 2007 – 2013 across various networks, including serving as the original host of MMA Live when it debuted on ESPN.com…

,,,Coming off his work on the the massively high-rated FIFA Women’s World Cup, John Strong is serving as the lead play-by-play voice for Fox Sports’ CONCACAF Gold Cup coverage this month. A play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015 coverage, Strong calls all U.S. Gold Cup matches as well as the championship game. Former U.S. and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Brad Friedel joins Strong as the match analyst for USA-Honduras on Tuesday, July 7 (9:30 PM ET) and USA-Haiti on Friday, July 10 (8:30 PM ET). National Soccer Hall of Famer Alexi Lalas works alongside Strong for Panama-USA on Monday, July 13 (9:30 PM ET). Julie Stewart-Binks reports from the sidelines for all three matches, televised on FOX Sports 1. In addition to Strong, Steve Cangialosi, Keith Costigan, Glenn Davis, JP Dellacamera and Mark Rogondino also call game action for FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Joining Friedel and Lalas as analysts are Warren Barton, Brian Dunseth, Stu Holden, Cobi Jones and Janusz Michallik…

…Marysol Castro has joined ESPN as host of Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN (PBC on ESPN) and will make her debut when the series premieres live in prime time Saturday, July 11, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Castro, who will be on site for all PBC on ESPN fights, will also serve as a reporter on ESPN’s Little League World Series telecasts. Castro most recently worked as a news anchor at WPIX in New York. Prior to that, she had on-air roles on two different national morning shows—“The Early Show” on CBS and ABC’s Good Morning America. Castro joins blow-by-blow commentator Joe Tessitore and analyst Teddy Atlas, as well as reporters Todd Grisham and Bernardo Osuna (both Friday Night Fights veterans) and Hall-of-Fame boxing writer and ESPN boxing contributor Nigel Collins (social media content, insight and analysis.)

ESPN Deportes commentators Pablo Viruega and Delvin Rodríguez will call PBC on ESPN fights as part of the network’s Noche de Combates series, while Leopoldo González and Claudia Trejos will co-host the show. Bilingual reporter Osuna will also contribute, providing live reports and interviews. Additionally, Hall-of-Fame boxing referee and analyst Joe Cortez will join the show on a regular basis…

… Reporters Rand Getlin and James Palmer have joined NFL Media. Getlin will be based in Los Angeles covering the league overall and providing content for various NFL Media platforms, including NFL.com and NFL Now. Getlin previously worked for Yahoo! Sports and joins New York-based NFL Media reporters Ian Rapoport and Judy Battista, and San Francisco Bay Area-based Michael Silver covering the latest news from around the league. Palmer joins NFL Media from Comcast Houston where he covered the Houston Texans. Primarily contributing to NFL Network, Palmer will be based in Denver, Colorado and joins NFL Media’s team of reporters stationed across the country providing location-based reports…

…Golf and curling journalist Bob Weeks has signed an agreement to work with TSN on a permanent full-time basis. Weeks will contribute regularly as a senior reporter and analyst for TSN’s extensive slate of championship golf and curling events, which includes all four of golf’s Majors – THE MASTERS, U.S. OPEN, THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, and the PGA CHAMPIONSHIP – as well curling’s Season of Champions events. Weeks, who most recently oversaw print, TV, and radio properties as Vice President, Content and Editorial Director of SCOREGolf, has worked with TSN since 2000…

…On July 2, Hall of Fame award-winning broadcaster Tim McCarver joined MLB Network’s Bob Costas to call the MLB Network Showcase telecast of the San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals. Though they’ve each called MLB games over the last four decades, it marked first time that Costas and McCarver called a game together since two “Game of the Week” broadcasts on NBC in 1980, and it was the first national MLB game McCarver called since the 2013 World Series…

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will honor ESPN NFL analyst Tom Jackson with the prestigious Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award during the 2015 Enshrinement Ceremony in Canton, Ohio on Saturday, August 8. Established in 1989, the award annually recognizes “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.” Jackson joined ESPN in 1987 after a 14-year NFL career with the Denver Broncos. This fall marks his 29th season as an analyst on ESPN’s signature pregame show, Sunday NFL Countdown. He also appears on Monday Night Countdown and SportsCenter’s Sunday night “NFL Blitz” highlights segment and is part of ESPN’s annual on-site coverage of Super Bowl week and the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony.

…Long-time Clippers play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler has been selected to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Having finished his 36th season with the Clippers, Lawler is a three-time LA Emmy Award winning announcer and has called more than 2,800 career Clippers games as the third longest tenured broadcaster in the NBA. Earlier this year, Lawler was honored by the Clippers, FOX Sports Prime Ticket and City of Los Angeles with “Ralph Lawler Day” in Los Angeles on March 9.

 

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