Binghamton athletic director resigns
September 30, 2009
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP)—Binghamton’s athletic director Joel Thirer resignedWednesday following the dismissal of six basketball players last week.
Star player Emanuel “Tiki” Mayben was arraigned last Thursday on cocainedistribution charges and kicked off the team. Players D.J. Rivera, Malik Alvin,Corey Chandler, Paul Crosby and David Fine were also released last week. Schoolofficials wouldn’t discuss the reasons behind the releases.
Thirer said he’ll remain a tenured professor, but Jim Norris, an associateathletic director, will take over as interim athletic director.
College president Lois DeFleur said last week she stressed to Thirer andbasketball coach Kevin Broadus that misconduct would not be tolerated amongstudent athletes.
In a statement announcing Thirer’s resignation, DeFleur said she hasdirected Broadus to provide her with a recruitment and supervision plan for thebasketball team. She said an external consultant also will audit the athleticprogram to make sure it complies with America East and NCAA policies andprocedures.
Broadus signed a contract extension in June through the 2013-2014 season,following the team’s first conference championship and NCAA tournament berth.The Bearcats went 23-9 last season and won both the America East regular seasonand tournament titles. They were 13-3 in league play and won a school-record 11straight games before losing to Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Mayben’s arrest was the third legal problem for a player since Broadusbecame coach in 2007. Mayben has pleaded not guilty to selling cocaine twice onJune 29 and to possessing 3.4 grams of the drug when he was arrested on a sealedindictment last week.
Former player Miladin Kovacevic, who wasn’t recruited by Broadus, facesprosecution in his native Serbia on charges he beat a classmate into a comaduring a May 2008 barroom brawl. He fled New York for home, creating tensionsbetween the U.S. and Serbia that were resolved when Serbia agreed to pay$900,000 to the victim’s family and prosecute Kovacevic.
Alvin, one of the players released last week, was a transfer student broughtin by Broadus. He was charged with stealing condoms from a Wal-Mart in November.
Binghamton is part of the State University of New York system, which is ledby chancellor Nancy Zimpher, who is known to take a hard line on problems withinathletic programs. Zimpher was the president of the University of Cincinnatiwhen men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins was pressured to resign in 2005following the program’s history of low graduation rates, suspensions and arrestsof Huggins’ players. Huggins was also convicted of drunk driving in 2004.
Can anyone catch the Hendrick drivers?
September 30, 2009
DOVER, Del. (AP)—Chad Knaus slung the champagne bottle over his shoulder theway a businessman would carry his jacket after a long day of work. The casualapproach seemed fitting for Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief. Winning a Chase raceand celebrating in Victory Lane really has become just another day in the officefor every member of the No. 48 team.
Johnson’s win at Dover International Speedway made Hendrick Motorsports 2for 2 in Chase for the championship races. Mark Martin kicked off the 10-racerun with a win and helped make Hendrick 1-2 in the championship pointsstandings.
Lurking behind them in eighth place is teammate Jeff Gordon, a two-timewinner of this week’s race at Kansas Speedway.
FILE — This is a March 29, 20… AP – Sep 30, 10:30 am EDT FILE — This is a March 29, 20… AP – Sep 30, 10:30 am EDT
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That the Hendrick drivers—except for non-Chase driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.—would be in the hunt for the Sprint Cup title is about as surprising as anotherbaseball postseason with the Red Sox, Yankees, Angels and Phillies. Johnson andGordon have seven championships, and the 50-year-old Martin is in prime positionto shed the “best driver to never win it all” label that has been attached tohim for years. Holding the points lead, this might be his year.
Nine other drivers want to make the Hendrick boys work for a championship.But it could be too late to end team owner Rick Hendrick’s three-year run ofchampionships.
Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne, 10th-12th in the Chasestandings, need top-five runs and an immediate string of bad luck for thedrivers up front to have any realistic shot at contention.
“Everybody is going to have a 15th-or-worse-place finish somewhere alongthe way,” Gordon said. “It could possibly be worse than that when you get toTalladega and Martinsville, those places where the unknown is there.”
Johnson finished 15th in two Chase races last season en route to thisrecord-tying third straight Cup championship. He won three times, includingKansas, and finished in the top 10 the other five times. Do that again, and itmight be impossible for any driver to catch Johnson. He’s off to a fast start inthis year’s Chase, finishing fourth and first.
“If you get off to a quick start, it makes your life a little easier,”Johnson said. “It doesn’t change the fact that you could have a problem lateron in the Chase. It’s 10 races and they all the play the same.”
Johnson also has a record 15 Chase victories since the format’s inception in2004. There’s a reason Johnson seemingly gets better as the season moves along.Yes, a Hendrick team will almost assuredly have the top engines, car andpersonnel in the sport, but it’s a commitment to winning on and off the track,every week, that has them driven to win.
“I think as the season progresses, we get smarter,” Knaus said. “Not thateverybody else doesn’t. But really as a group, we work together and try to getour drivers on the same page, try to get our crew chiefs and teams on the samepage.”
FILE — This is a Sept. 18, 20… AP – Sep 30, 10:24 am EDT
That all-for-one approach in which all four Hendrick teams share informationhas surprised a veteran like Martin. On the brink of walking away from NASCAR ahandful of times this decade, Martin has enjoyed a career renaissance atHendrick. He leads the series with six wins, winning the Chase race at NewHampshire, and enjoys a 10-point lead over Johnson in the standings.
“We race each other hard on the racetrack, but off the racetrack, we allwork for the same goal,” Martin said.
If any of the three Hendrick drivers are vulnerable over the final eightraces, it might be Martin. He’s had three finishes this season of 40 or worseand four others in the 30s. Neither Johnson nor Gordon have had a 40th-placefinish this season. Most of the poor finishes haven’t been Martin’s fault—hegot caught up in the Big One at Talladega for example—but the fact is he’s hadbad results. Get wrecked at unforgiving Talladega again in November and thissentimental title run could hit a massive stumbling block.
Gordon has the most work ahead to get in the thick of Chase contention. He’s122 points behind Martin and has to pass seven other drivers before he can parkin first place. He does have four titles, but has yet to win one in the Chaseformat. Gordon talked at Dover about how the 10-race format doesn’t necessarilyfit his style and wouldn’t complain if the old system came back. Of course itwon’t, and Gordon realizes that. He also knows he can find a way to make itwork.
“You can have a great year, you can win as many races as you want, butyou’ve got to have everything going your way in those final 10,” Gordon said.“I still think it comes down to the best team, overall team, that’s going towin the championship.”
Wins help in the Chase, and those trips to Victory Lane have dried up forGordon. He has just one this year and was winless last season. He was seventh inthe final standings last year and runner-up in 2007—the closest he’s come tothat fifth championship since 2001.
Gordon wants to keep that championship at Hendrick, and he wants to be thedriver to bring it home.
“There’s going to be times where your teammates are going to out run you,they are going to do a better job of all of the details and you have to givethem credit when they do it,” he said. “But it makes you work that much harderto get those details put together for the next race so that you can go out andaccomplish the same thing.”
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QB Hasselbeck, T Jones likely out Sunday
September 30, 2009
RENTON, Wash. (AP)—The Seahawks are planning to be without quarterback MattHasselbeck(notes) and best blocker Walter Jones(notes) again on Sunday.
Coach Jim Mora said Wednesday he does not expect his three-time Pro Bowlpasser or his nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle to play at the undefeatedIndianapolis Colts.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback M… AP – Sep 20, 7:04 pm EDT Seattle Seahawks quarterback M… AP – Sep 20, 7:04 pm EDT
Seattle Seahawks quarterback M… AP – Sep 20, 6:13 pm EDT
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The 34-year-old Hasselbeck, who broke a rib 10 days ago, still can’t run andstill has pain when he takes a deep breath. So Seneca Wallace(notes) is expected tomake his second consecutive start. Wallace set career highs of 26 completions,44 attempts and 261 yards passing last weekend in a last-minute loss to Chicago.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback M… AP – Sep 20, 6:13 pm EDT
Mora said he doesn’t know for sure if Jones, who has yet to play thisseason, will play at all in 2009.
The team will back off pushing the 35-year-old Jones through practice thisweek, because his left knee has pained him during practices in each of the lasttwo weeks. Jones had his second knee surgery in nine months in August. The firstone was a microfracture surgery that drilled holes into bone to regeneratecartilage.
“We have to give him some time. I think he’s earned that,” Mora said.“He’s had a distinguished career. He’s exhibited toughness his entire career.No one can question his commitment to this game—it’s really beyond reproach.So we just have to be patient and let him work through this, and then make thebest decision for the team when we feel it’s necessary.”
Jones has refused interview requests recently, saying through team spokesmenthat he wants to play first before commenting.
Mora met with his star on Monday. Was Jones discouraged?
“About how he felt physically? Maybe a little, but not where he was just intank,” Mora said. “More concerned like, ‘I want to get right, because I wantto be on the field with my teammates helping them win.”’
Seattle (1-2) does expect to have linebacker Lofa Tatupu(notes) back from ahamstring injury against the Colts.
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Andrews likely to operate on Pennington
September 30, 2009
DAVIE, Fla. (AP)—Chad Pennington(notes) says he’ll undergo surgery soon to repair hisseason-ending shoulder injury, and he’ll start rehabilitation before decidingwhether to retire or continue his NFL career.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback was hurt in Sunday’s loss at San Diego. Hesaid he’ll meet Thursday with Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., and Andrewslikely will perform surgery Friday. Andrews performed surgery on Pennington’sshoulder twice in 2005.
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Regarding the future, Pennington said he’s “not making any fast decisionsthat can certainly wait, and letting Mother Nature take its course.”
With Pennington out, Chad Henne(notes) will make his first NFL start Sunday for theDolphins (0-3) against Buffalo (1-2).
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Johnson doesn’t think 7 titles in reach
September 30, 2009
CONCORD, N.C. (AP)—Jimmie Johnson doesn’t think he’ll challenge the NASCAR record of seven championships.
Seated next to Richard Petty at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Johnson said The King’s mark is probably safe. He said breaking the record of seven titles shared by Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt probably isn’t possible.
Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with four titles. Johnson is seeking a record fourth-consecutive title this season. He’s currently ranked second in the Sprint Cup standings, and trails teammate Mark Martin by just 10 points.
Johnson and Petty were honored Wednesday by LMS as “Kings of the Sport.”
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Dustin Johnson set to defend at Atunyote
September 30, 2009
VERONA, N.Y. (AP)—Dustin Johnson loves the forecast for the Turning StoneResort Championship: Rain on three of the next four days.
“Seeing how the two coldest and the two wettest tournaments I’ve played sofar—I’ve won both of them—I don’t mind it at all,” he said.
That initial PGA Tour triumph came a year ago on Turning Stone’s 7,482-yardAtunyote Golf Club course. Johnson endured soggy conditions and a rain delaythat even included a blast of hail that blanketed at least one green.
Four months later, he won his second event at the AT&T Pebble Beach NationalPro-Am, a tournament shortened to 54 holes when the final round was canceled dueto strong winds and heavy rain. That left Johnson the winner by four strokesover Mike Weir.
The victories injected confidence into Johnson’s game, and this year hasbeen a breakthrough as he prepares to start defense of his Turning Stone titleon Thursday. Johnson ranks third on the PGA Tour in driving distance (308.4),third in birdie average (4.08), and nearly was picked by U.S. captain FredCouples for the Presidents Cup.
“I’m a lot more comfortable out here,” Johnson said. “Last year was myfirst year and I didn’t quite understand. I’ve scheduled a lot better this year.I’m a little more organized, and as far as golf goes I’ve been better atpreparing for each tournament. The more you’re out here and the more experienceyou have out here, the better you get as far as preparing.”
Turning Stone is the first tournament of the Fall Series, which is comprisedof five events. Players are vying to finish the year in the top 125 on the moneylist to retain full exemption for 2010.
With a $6 million purse and $1.08 million of it going to the champion, it’san attractive stop, and the third rendition of the event has attracted itsstrongest field. The original field had 17 of the top 50 money leaders on thePGA Tour heading to the resort, but three—Jerry Kelly, Steve Marino, and JohnMallinger—have since withdrawn.
Johnson, 15th in earnings, is one of three players in the field who advancedthrough all four of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, along with John Sendenand rookie Marc Leishman.
Others prominent players in the field include: Ben Curtis, Rocco Mediate,David Duval, Rich Beem, Mark Calcavecchia, Steve Elkington, Adam Scott, DavisLove III, Rocco Mediate, Rory Sabbatini, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, AaronBaddeley and 2010 Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. Turning Stone’s inauguralchamp, Steve Flesch, also returns, as does John Rollins, who won at Atunyotewhen it hosted the final B.C. Open in 2006.
Still, Johnson, an All-American at Coastal Carolina and three-time Big SouthConference player of the year in college, likes his chances.
A year ago, he birdied the final two holes, saving his best and longestdrive for last. He boomed a 357-yard shot off the tee at the 616-yard, par-518th hole, then hit his second shot 37 feet past the green and into the roughbefore recovering with a clutch chip and nerve-racking 8-foot putt to beatAllenby by one stroke.
“I’m hitting the ball well, but it’s hard to hit it close from the rough,”Johnson said. “Whenever I drive it straight, I’m going to play well, and I’vebeen driving it in the fairway the last few weeks.”
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Symphony of moving parts each weekend on MRN (NASCAR.com)
September 30, 2009
Anyone who's ever listened to even a few minutes of a NASCAR race broadcast on an affiliate of the Motor Racing Network—better known as MRN Radio—no doubt has marveled at the smoothness, fellowship and sheer fluidity of what they're hearing.
So it should come as no surprise that the end product—whether it's a few minutes or a full racing event lasting several hours—is the result of a lot of behind the scenes work by a lot of people.
And just as the seamless production of a racing event is the result of intense, yet equally fluid organizational skills by the race teams, sanctioning bodies and race tracks—usually under-appreciated by everyone who witnesses it—the same phenomenon is in effect at MRN.
Joe Moore and Barney Hall anch… NASCAR.com – Sep 30, 3:18 pm EDT Joe Moore and Barney Hall anch… NASCAR.com – Sep 30, 3:18 pm EDT YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index = 1; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_lazy_images = [http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/turner/ee/fullj.d68cb2534f66936190450478cb6d5a4b/enterprise.behind.scen200909300.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=129&yc=1&wc=184&hc=204&q=70&sig=XieAOmH7eq3zDNtLyNAuMg--]; YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window,load,YAHOO.Sports.articleLazyLoadCarousel.init); 1 of 2 NASCAR Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();
The fact that 2009 is the 40th anniversary season for the network makes its efficiency somewhat understood, or taken for granted. But it's no less impressive when considering its achievements.
MRN started in humble quarters at the NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., and gradually grew to a sizeable production facility there before relocating to its most diverse home to date, in Concord, N.C.
Organization starts at the top
If you tune into the MRN broadcast of this weekend's race at Kansas, be aware that its planning process began almost at the time the 2009 NASCAR national touring division schedules were released, in the summer of 2008.
A color-coded spreadsheet is created indicating what events must be staffed, by how much staff and in what disciplines.
David Hyatt, the president of MRN Radio, likens his entire operation to a finely-tuned set of gears, where everything meshes in perfect sync and results in a high-quality product, whether it's a race broadcast or regularly scheduled daily or weekly show.
MRN is part of a media alliance, or conglomerate that includes the Sprint Vision video displays that are seen each Cup weekend. MRN veteran Fred Armstrong heads that division.
Hyatt explained that MRN, on the radio side, is almost like a two-headed entity. It has its home base in Concord, but also fields a fleet of vehicles that enables it to operate with the same capacity in any "remote" location.
MRN's full-time staff numbers a little more than 40 people, who are involved in administrative and technical roles. When it comes to the "talent"—a misleading term since this entire bunch is pretty talented, but in this case referring to the persons heard on-the-air—they are contract labor.
"Full-time is a relative term," Hyatt said. "We now have a number of guys that make their full-time living through us, but as a physical, full-time employee, as announcers-only we only have one, and that's Kyle Rickey. You could probably say that Woody Cain, who hosts our NASCAR Today show, is also a full-time employee.
"But as far as our normal, on-the-air race team, they're all contractors. But we have enough work and enough programming that a number of them make their primary living working with us."
The Vermonter who works as a turn announcer on MRN broadcasts and also hosts the Monday-Friday Sirius Speedway show on Sirius (satellite) NASCAR Radio is a prime example.
"Dave Moody is contracted to work with us, and we then have a contract with Sirius to produce the Sirius Speedway program," Hyatt said. "So we provide that program turn-key to them. The whole thing comes through our facilities and they basically just air it.
"So when a Dave Moody or a Mike Bagley or a Steve Post comes to the track on a weekend, they're coming to work for MRN first, but part of their responsibility for MRN may be to provide Sirius [content]."
Logistics rule
Hyatt's ringmaster in this grand circus—very little of which is actually seen or heard—is director of operations Frank Beers. The title hardly does him justice, as he oversees many of the company's technical, personnel and business elements.
"It's a big challenge to attempt to eliminate every possible organizational wrinkle that might come up," Beers said. "It's one of those things like the race teams, but unlike the tracks, in that for us it happens every single week."
Beers' right-hand operator is operations assistant Nicole Clark. From a listener's standpoint, probably the most critical thing Clark does, once the event spreadsheet is available, is juggle airplane and hotel reservations, as well as ground transportation. She attempts, as much as she can, to match up itineraries for people coming from widely divergent locations.
And as Beers said, MRN does every Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series event, so that only magnifies the challenge.
For a Cup event, the engineer typically arrives a day early, while the rest of the production and the talent begin to arrive between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
"Delayed flights are another thing that chips a gear, if you will," Hyatt said. "When we fly folks commercially, we have to account for their arrival, so we try to avoid flying people in the evening. As a general rule, morning flights have a better record of being on-time, or not being cancelled, and if they are you have more options to make connections down the road."
For Clark, weather is probably the biggest aggravation, but Hyatt can cite some rarer, but equally fraught instances of "hiccups" in the process.
"We once had a truck en route to a broadcast that crashed, and it was unable to continue," Hyatt said, laughing despite the ill memory. "It was damaged enough that we had to go to a plan B, dispatch another trailer and get it on site.
"Certainly we've had issues, at the last minute, where announcers couldn't be available, and we had to arrange to get somebody else on the broadcast. A rain delay, while we plan for it, [is a problem].
"When you think about the fact that almost all of our [talent] are independent contractors and have to go back and do their real jobs—it's like this is their golf game and on Monday they have to go back and do their real jobs. It isn't like they can use a 'sick day,' because if they call in sick and their boss hear them calling a race, probably not a good thing."
For the staff coming out of Concord, Hyatt said MRN shares Express Jet charter flights with a number of race teams, which ensures—barring bad weather—that their people will get where they need to be on schedule.
And for someone like Moody, who has a Friday Sirius Speedway to knock out each week, every element of MRN's logistical arm is brought into play.
"We have to factor Dave's availability against his travel when we decide where to produce the show from," Hyatt said. "For example, he may travel early on a Friday morning, and Nicole has to keep this in mind. Dave has to travel out of Burlington, Vt., and make a double connection to arrive at the track, and the production trailer by 3.
"Then, he does Sirius Speedway until qualifying starts, and when qualifying ends he goes back to Sirius."
It makes just doing a race seem flat easy.
"Again, it's a number of different people working to make those gears mesh together," Hyatt said, "between travel, operations, logistics and production and figuring all those components out."
Driving that train
Although you could argue that every aspect of Beers' job is critical to the overall picture, his role as "fleet supervisor" is maybe most critical to what listeners hear each weekend.
The fleet has to be diverse enough to cover the two weekends this season in which the Cup, Nationwide and Truck series operate events at three different venues.
For Cup events, the key individuals are Frank Curci, who wheels the 53-foot "production trailer," a 53-foot piece custom-built by Featherlite Trailers, and Mike Weaver, who drives and operates the 40-foot mobile satellite truck.
The 53-foot unit serves in conjunction as an office, production studio, gathering place, kitchen and rest room facility.
Beers also has a 40-foot Featherlite-built trailer that, in addition to being slightly smaller, is slightly less-appointed as the larger unit, but no less capable of getting the job done. On the odd occasions of tripleheader weekends at different places, a Ford F-350 pickup and an 18-foot production trailer are used.
Balancing the need for triple-plays of equipment and personnel is the nirvana-like state that exists when three events are run at the same venue, as they are seven times this season.
Depending on the schedule and where their vehicles need to be, Curci and Weaver sometimes spend several weeks at a time on the road, without getting back to MRN's home base in Concord.
"In many cases the guys do go race track to race track," Hyatt said, citing the turnaround from Richmond, the Chase cutoff event to New Hampshire, the opening event in the Chase. "The production truck would go directly from Richmond to New Hampshire, because there's no point in it going back to Concord, because it's self-contained for everything it needs to do.
"At the events, the production trailer and satellite truck are there on a turnkey basis, so there's nothing that we can't or won't do, from right here [at a track] and make it work.
"In terms of the programs that we produce during the week, we don't use the [remote] facilities to do it, unless we're doing a special broadcast from on-site, like a special program we'll be doing in a few weeks from Tom Johnson's Camping Center [in conjunction with the races at Lowe's Motor Speedway]."
Hyatt said Curci and Weaver dedicate a day to setting up their "compound," which includes the locations of the production trailer and satellite truck, the trailer it pulls and their support vehicles.
Preparation aches
Brian Nelson, an MRN associate producer, along with live event producer Amanda Trautman are the key members of MRN's production team at the track, week-in and week-out with very little variation.
From walking the garage and pit road, observing and then returning to the 53-footer to do assembly work, it's virtually non-stop from arrival through race time.
"Amanda and Brian physically produce the production components," Hyatt said. "There are a lot of little pre-recorded components that go into our broadcast that you don't think about having to do as a program producer, or a content producer, if you will.
"You always think about the cost of production, but when you do something live, it's the cheapest kind of production you can do, because you spend one second to produce one second.
"But there are components in our live broadcasts, like commercials, or promos or advertiser billboards and features—all of which have elements that aren't done 'live,' but they're done to make this live show sound better. And all those things have to be done as prep during the week.
"So, for example, Amanda, leading into a race will have sat down and made sure she's seen who all the advertisers are going to be, assembled a script for what we call our billboards—promotional items—and she makes sure they're recorded and, along with all the other various and sundry components, making sure they're edited and they're going to fit into the broadcast to enhance what the listeners are hearing."
Trautman and Nelson are primarily responsible for Cup events, but when the various series are at different venues, a "mirror crew" is in place there to carry out the same functions.
"Most of the guys do their prep work on their own time," Hyatt said. "They'll start at home and get stats and prep stuff done at home during the week, and when they get to the track they'll hone that down and go walk through the garage and talk to the competitors and come back to the production trailer and start putting things together."
Proof is in the production
For a sports fan, to listen to an MRN Radio broadcast could be likened to a symphony—smoothly melding together numerous elements to comprise a cogent totality.
The talent lineup works smoothly with Trautman and control board operator Mike Doncheff to keep the broadcast flowing. Trautman's worst nightmare, which came early in her career, came when Bagley's microphone failed, and she had to momentarily scramble to figure out how to let the other team members know that one of "the gang" was temporarily down.
But she came through it and ultimately put it into her experience bank to more easily work through anything like it that might occur.
MRN's overall success hinges on several other elements that fall under Beers' guidance, such as sales, traffic and affiliate relations.
"The traffic department's job is to make sure that we have all the right advertisers who are scheduled to be in the broadcast," Hyatt said. "And then they physically assign which break the advertiser needs to go in. At the end of the day they reconcile that it ran, that a log was kept to show it, then they issue an affidavit to the advertiser and do the billing for it."
Five people are in the affiliate relations group.
"What they do all year long is work with our radio stations to make sure the stations are carrying the broadcasts," Hyatt said. "And then they're recruiting into markets where we might have light coverage or need better coverage. Again, they're integral for the back room.
"I always describe our business as a three-legged stool," Hyatt said. "And if all three legs aren't there, the business doesn't sit. Those three elements are our affiliates, our advertisers and our audience, and without all three it doesn't work.
"All this other stuff is—yeah, we've got to produce races and we've got to be credible and make it sound good and we've got to deliver good content. But if we don't have an audience to listen to it, and the audience will listen to it by virtue of having the affiliates on the air.
"And the affiliates on the air, couple with the audience it's going to generate, creates the interest for the advertisers to come buy our commercials, which is where we ultimately make the money. And without that revenue stream coming in, we're not going to be in business."
Judging by the number of people on message boards and in e-mails who say they opt for MRN over television audio that might not be an issue.
Start your engines! — Sign up for Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Auto Racing 09 today. And follow the race action with TrackPass on NASCAR.com.
Indians fire manager Wedge after 7 years
September 30, 2009
CLEVELAND (AP)—The Cleveland Indians fired manager Eric Wedge in the finaldays of a terrible season.
Wedge guided the Indians to one playoff appearance in seven seasons, andthis year the club fell out of contention early and is currently one game out oflast place in the AL Central.
The Indians, who are 64-92, have scheduled a Wednesday afternoon newsconference at Progressive Field to announce Wedge’s dismissal.
Cleveland recently lost 11 straight games and has dropped 20 of its last 25games.
Wedge, who had one year left on his contract, will finish out the season asmanager, including Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox.Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis, hitting coach Derek Shelton, bench coachJeff Datz, first-base coach Luis Rivera, third-base coach Joel Skinner andbullpen coach Chuck Hernandez were also told they will not be retained, but somecould be rehired by the Indians’ next manager.
FILE – In t his Sept. 5, 2009,… AP – Sep 30, 12:19 pm EDT FILE – In t his Sept. 5, 2009,… AP – Sep 30, 12:19 pm EDT
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The Indians are expected to begin interviews for a new manager in the weeksahead. Among the names that figure to be mentioned are Boston pitching coachJohn Farrell, former Indians manager Mike Hargrove, former Arizona manager BuckShowalter and Torey Lovullo, who managed the Indians’ Triple-A Columbusfranchise.
Cleveland has a long history of hiring within the organization. The lasttime the Indians went outside was in 1990, when they hired John McNamara.
Two years ago, Cleveland was one win away from a World Series trip. TheIndians fell to 81-81 in 2008, but were expected to bounce back and contend thisseason. However, a slow start snowballed and by midseason the midmarket club,which is projected to lose at least $16 million this season, traded defending CyYoung winner Cliff Lee(notes) and All-Star catcher Victor Martinez(notes) to begin rebuildingagain.
Those moves triggered outrage among Cleveland’s fans and led to questionsabout why the team would deal its best players one season before they wereeligible for free agency.
Owners Larry and Paul Dolan and general manager Mark Shapiro have spent thepast several weeks reviewing Cleveland’s organization, including the manager,and initially said they would wait until after the season before making adecision on Wedge. However, they decided not to delay what many Indians playersfelt was inevitable.
“When you lose changes are made,” catcher Kelly Shoppach(notes). “Nobody ishappy when you lose.”
The 41-year-old Wedge was the AL manager of the year in 2007, when theIndians won 96 games—tied for most in the majors—and held a 3-1 lead in thechampionship series over Boston before the Red Sox rallied and won threestraight.
Wedge has compiled a 560-568 record in his seven seasons. He ranks fifthall-time in club history for wins, 10 behind Hall of Famer Al Lopez.
BoSox overcome problems, reach playoffs
September 30, 2009
BOSTON (AP)—David Ortiz(notes) hit one homer in the first two months. All-Star TimWakefield(notes) and out-of-shape Daisuke Matsuzaka(notes) were sidelined from the rotationfor long stretches.
John Smoltz(notes), signed to make a postseason impact, was released after eightstarts and an 8.33 ERA. He and Brad Penny(notes) failed to adjust to the AmericanLeague. Team captain Jason Varitek(notes) is batting above .200—barely.
And the Boston Red Sox still clinched a wild card playoff spot despitelosing their fifth straight game.
At this point, does it matter how they got there for the sixth time in sevenyears? It’s time to gear up for the postseason.
“We tried to do it on the field,” third baseman Mike Lowell(notes) said afterTuesday night’s 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. “It’s a little different,but I don’t think that takes anything away from what we’ve done.”
Victor Martinez(notes) came from Cleveland to strengthen the offense, Alex Gonzalezcame from Cincinnati to pick up the defense, and Clay Buchholz(notes) came from theminors to provide a huge lift to the rotation.
And Big Papi’s power came back. From June 6 through Tuesday night, he ledthe AL with 27 homers and was tied for the lead with 75 RBIs.
So after clinching the AL wild-card berth when the Texas Rangers lost to theLos Angeles Angels about three hours after Boston was beaten by Toronto, the RedSox are optimistic about facing the Angels for the third straight year in the ALdivision series starting next Wednesday or Thursday at Anaheim. The Red Soxswept the three-game playoff series in 2007 and won in four games in 2008.
“I like our chances,” said second baseman Dustin Pedroia(notes), who is having avery good year, though not up to his MVP season in 2008. “It doesn’t matter howyou do it, as long as you’re in.”
Two years ago, the Red Sox won the AL East and swept the Colorado Rockiesfor their second World Series championship in four years. Last year, they madethe postseason as a wild card team and came back from a 3-1 deficit to force aseventh game in the ALCS against Tampa Bay, before losing that 3-1.
This year, they were in sole possession of first place from June 10 throughJuly 19 when, in the midst of another five-game losing streak, they wereovertaken by the New York Yankees.
The latest slide began with a three-game sweep by the Yankees, who have thebest record in the majors and could face Boston in the ALCS.
But first the Red Sox would like solid performances from their top threestarters in their final regular-season outings.
Jon Lester(notes) struggled last Thursday before being knocked out of the game whenhe was hit near the right knee on a liner by New York’s Melky Cabrera(notes) andsustained a bruise. Josh Beckett(notes) missed Monday’s scheduled start because of backspasms. Both feel much better and should pitch this week.
Buchholz had gone 6-0 in eight starts, but allowed five homers and sevenruns in five innings to Toronto on Tuesday night.
One bright spot: Matsuzaka is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA in three starts since along stint on the disabled list due to a shoulder problem.
The bullpen, already strong, got better with the addition of Billy Wagner(notes),who has a 2.25 ERA in 13 appearances with the Red Sox.
They might need all that pitching when they face the Angels, baseball’ssecond highest scoring team.
New Mexico probing Locksley fight
September 30, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)—University of New Mexico administrators have opened aninvestigation into a fight where football coach Mike Locksley struck anassistant, and the first-year coach could face suspension or firing.
The probe will be directed by the university’s Human Resources Division.
“It has been given a high priority,” university spokeswoman Susan McKinseysaid Wednesday.
The investigation comes after athletic director Paul Krebs announced Mondaythat Locksley had been issued verbal and written reprimands for his role in aSept. 20 dispute.
Receivers coach J.B. Gerald told police Locksley struck him during a staffmeeting at the football office, splitting his lip.
Under the university’s policies, employees face progressive discipline forviolent behavior and some violations “may be of such serious nature thatimmediate suspension or discharge may be appropriate.”
McKinsey said administrators hope to complete their work as soon as possiblebut no deadline was issued.
“The scope of the investigation is being planned,” she said. “We willgive it due diligence. We will make sure it is as complete as possible.”
Locksley, hired in December after four seasons as offensive coordinator atIllinois, will continue coaching the Lobos (0-4) during the probe. New Mexicoplays Saturday at Texas Tech.
At a news conference Monday, Krebs told reporters he considered the matterclosed. However, McKinsey said Krebs requested the investigation on Tuesday,seeking additional guidance on university policies.
She said one goal of the probe will be to clarify two campus policylistings.
One entry, addressing campus violence, says any act of violence won’t betolerated. A second, in a section titled “Performance Management,” saysassault or battery on another person is grounds for suspension and eventermination.
An athletic department spokesman said Krebs wasn’t available for additionalcomment Wednesday.