One day in the future, Fox’ lead baseball and NFL play-by-player, Joe Buck, might like to add a late-night talk show to his resume.
“Maybe some day down the road,” Buck said. “I also might change my mind and be a ballerina some day.”
Buck, 35, thinks a show could be as far as a decade or more away. He said he has had no official discussions, but he clearly has considered it.
Buck said a format like the one Bob Costas’ used on Later – more long form, with a mix of serious and light – “probably excites me more than introducing ‘Stupid Human Tricks.’ “
For now, Buck is satisfied just calling World Series and Super Bowls. For now, anyway.
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ESPN officially hired ex-Utah coach Rick Majerus to analyze college hoops and possibly the NBA. Mark Shapiro, ESPN’s executive vice president, said the Majerus hire wasn’t a precursor to having Dick Vitale work some NBA next season.
However, it wouldn’t be shocking if Majerus is entertaining enough to replace Doc Rivers as ABC/ESPN’s lead NBA game analyst. While Majerus should cut down on the fat-joke shtick, his past work shows he is comfortable, comedic and insightful in front of a camera. Rivers is leaving to coach the Celtics.
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Last Sunday night during his “Top 10 Plays” on SportsCenter, Chris Berman went out of his way to wish his son a happy birthday. It was a nice gesture, but does anyone in the audience care? Berman also noted ESPN/ABC Sports President George Bodenheimer’s birthday.
“I think after 25 years, people are pretty comfortable with me,” said Berman when we asked him what he was thinking.
“What you miss sometimes, and we’ve talked about it [before], is that the most important part of our job is to communicate. Whereas everyone out there may not have heard of a certain player, everyone out there has a birthday. So I’ve just reached 100 percent of my audience.”
Berman would have been better off sending cards. Anyway, Berman, as part of ESPN’s 25th anniversary celebration, will do the whole SportsCenter on Sunday. As luck would have it, he will turn 49 at midnight during the show.
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I, Max, Max Kellerman’s new show that premieres Monday (6 p.m., Fox Sports Net) officially hired Michael Holley. Holley left the Boston Globe to be Kellerman’s antagonist. The show sounds like a hybrid of PTI and Around the Horn. The very witty Michael Wolff, formerly an ATH producer, will be on-air as well and could really shine. … One MSG show not being canceled is SportsDesk. Toyota just re-upped as its sponsor.