Pro Sports Media

Gone Again?: The Case Of The Absentee Sports Show Host

Most above-average interest sports fans have their favorite sports news personalities. Whether it's guys like ESPN's Stuart Scott, sports talk's Jim Rome or the NY Daily News' Mike Lupica, fans associate with certain people when it comes to hear and discussing the latest follies and happenings between the lines. With a lot of choices out there for sports media these days, it isn't tough to find at least one favorite voice among the crowd.

If lucky, some of these personalities are associated with their own show. Some of my favorites include ESPN's Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on Pardon the Interruption, ESPN's Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on the Mike & Mike morning radio show and Glenn Ordway on WEEI's The Big Show, the top-rated sports radio show in Boston.

Lately, I've noticed a trend that can be chalked up to vacation or just plain time-off, but I'm going to ask it anyway: why does it seem like the hosts of these shows are never on their own show?

Bonds HR chase is over...now what?

I couldn't sleep last night for a variety of reasons and decided to turn on the last few depressing innings of the Red Sox/Angels game. As I nestled up to the tv at the foot of my bed, I saw the scroller that I knew was coming for months now: BARRY BONDS HITS HOME RUN #756, SURPASSING HANK AARON TO BECOME BASEBALL'S ALL-TIME HOME-RUN LEADER. I watched the rest of the game, went to bed upset about the Sox's plight and woke up this morning like I always do.

This morning, the questions for those that care: "What's your reaction?" and "What now?'

VP of Common Sense

In his columns on ESPN.com lately, Bill Simmons – prompted by the Houston Texans drafting Mario Williams ahead of Reggie Bush - has been advocating for the creation of a position called Vice President of Common Sense.

He writes:

Every professional sports team needs to hire a Vice President of Common Sense, someone who cracks the inner circle of the decision-making process along with the GM, assistant GM, head scout, head coach, owner and whomever else. One catch: the VP of CS doesn't attend meetings, scout prospects, watch any film or listen to any inside information or opinions; he lives the life of a common fan”.

By doing so, he thinks organizations could eliminate (or reduce) the number of bad decisions that groups with access to too much information or who are too close to a problem often make. The VP of Common Sense would always be a step back from everything and have more perspective.