Ryen Russillo, Doug Gottlieb, and Mark Schlereth

[ChrisPozz]

SportsbyBrooks:

Ryen Russillo ESPN deal up as football season kicks in & w/ Boston opps beckoning not sure anon sidekick gig enough for him to stay

W/ Doug Gottlieb's ESPN deal up in Sept, an offer from CBS that includes plum CBB role + Sports Net + radio likely forthcoming

SbB has learned Mark Schlereth is the favorite to land Colin Cowherd's SportsNation role when Cowherd gets his own ESPN TV show in early '13




Russillo would be way up on my short list of quality people hired by them in the last 10 years. Usually comedy on sports television doesn't get you very many bonus points with me but his sense of humor is probably second to none at ESPN. I'm not sure how he'd do as THE guy on any type of show, though.

I like Gottlieb starting at the beginning of the year and then he falls down the list for me a little bit after hoops season. He is still above many in my opinion because I think he can somewhat hold his own when talking about the NBA, and the NFL to a lesser degree. You can tell he does at least a little bit of homework when called upon to go beyond basketball and doesn't consistently spout off uneducated nonsense like many others.

Schlereth and Charissa Thompson should not be on SportsNation in my opinion. Schlereth for that show is baffling.

Thompson, in my opinion, is one of the best hires by ESPN since I started watching in the early-mid 90s. It's a waste to put someone with her talent on a show like SportsNation. That common fan junk on that show is not what she does best and to me it takes away one of the few quality on-air people from helping boost/carry another show.

Jonathan Coachman, with his personality, would have been my first suggestion to replace Cowherd. What he does well on air and the type of background he has before joining ESPN seems to fit a show like that. Another name I saw mentioned was Marcellus Wiley, who has been on that show before. What you see from him on air fits that show much better than Schlereth, too, I think.

There is so much that goes on when the cameras are off so I don't know what things would look like if I saw how they do when they aren't on air, nor do I know what those people want and wouldn't want to do, but that's just my eval based on what I've seen on air.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Agree with everything you've said Pozz. I actually saw Coachman fill in for Cowherd two days ago (?) and thought he did a pretty decent job.

I'd think Doug Gottlieb would've also been an interesting choice to replace Cowherd, but he's probably leaving for CBS it seems.

I LOVE Ryan Russillo. One of the only guys on there I actually sit and listen to.

 

[clyde_carbon]

I think Michael Smith would do well on SportsNotion, too. He's still doing inside the numbers, though.

 

[Slimpikins]

Herm Edwards. I don't agree with a lot of stuff he says but he sure is entertaining.

 

[NinerSickness]

I'd think Doug Gottlieb would've also been an interesting choice to replace Cowherd, but he's probably leaving for CBS it seems.

Gottlieb is one of the very few sports media personalities who actually seems sane and objective. I'm a big fan of his. I was actually going to mention him before I read your post.

I think the problem is that a good portion of them are ex-professional sports players, and that's all they bring to the table. Playing a sport at a high level doens't qualify one to have an intelligent, objective opinion about the sport.

 

[ChrisPozz]

Michael Smith could do well with the on-air portion of the SportsNation job but he thinks
on much smarter, deeper level than 95% of other sports people I've watched. He is also less reactionary so I if it were up to me I wouldn't waste what he brings to the table on a show like SportsNation. He has developed a little too much of a character thing with him but it's not TOO bad. Anyways, he's probably not going anywhere since becoming the lone host on NNL.

As a viewer I don't want any of ESPN's top talent appearing on SportsNation permanently. Why? It might be the least deep show they have on air and seems to tailor to the younger, common fan that isn't looking for deep discusions, debates and thought. Michael Smith is capable of doing that so I'd prefer he spends his time on other shows. Michelle Beadle had THE perfect personality to carry that show. Guys liked her because she was smart, carried herself well and could go beyond sports with ease, which is what that show needs.

I said this same thing the other day in another thread. Numbers Never Lie has never been near my favorite show because they don't dig deep enough into numbers, game situations, analytics, etc..

The idea for an awesome show is there and they were on to something when they had the ONE show from that analytics conference where Paraag Marathe and many others spoke at. You're getting away from the common fan again with a show like that, but I think in today's sports you have enough of a fan base that would be interested in seeing something where they REALLY go deep like that.

There were flashes on that show when they originally were bringing in Aaron Schatz (Football Outsiders) and a few others on a regular basis. I would center that show around the type of things those people do and material that is even deeper than that yet. Instead, they seem to be going to a First Take type show but with different people.

Finally, the other interesting thing with ESPN programming is what they'll do on First Take now that Jay Crawford is going to be going over to SportsCenter. It appears they are testing out and maybe even leaning towards having just Skip and Stephen carry that show with no moderator but seeing the very first ones like that I'm not sure it'll ever work as well. Unless the producers plan to police them in their ears a little bit, there needs to be a third voice there to keep things on point and under control.

I could talk about the on air stuff for a long, long time and with just about anybody that's been hired in sports to do a TV gig.

 

[TobyTyler]

Gottlieb is one of the very few sports media personalities who actually seems sane and objective. I'm a big fan of his. I was actually going to mention him before I read your post.

I think the problem is that a good portion of them are ex-professional sports players, and that's all they bring to the table. Playing a sport at a high level doens't qualify one to have an intelligent, objective opinion about the sport.

Isn't Gottlieb a thief? Wasn't he kicked out of Notre Dame for stealing from his teammates?

 

[NinerSickness]

Isn't Gottlieb a thief? Wasn't he kicked out of Notre Dame for stealing from his teammates?

I never heard of that. I'll have to check later...

 

[Kinzu]

I never heard of that. I'll have to check later...

He did something. I heard it mentioned on his show one day when he was talking about Cam Newton I think. He compared Newtons leaving Florida to how he left Notre Dame. He stated that he made a mistake and got kicked off the team, but the coaches and school helped him find another school and tried to keep the reasons under the rug. Then some of his classmates that knew the real story went to the papers. I don't remember if he mentioned what he did or not, but the story is out there so it should not be hard to find.

 

[Smalls]

He used a roommate's credit card to buy just under $1000 worth of stuff, and was charged with stealing and fraudulently use. He's not shy about talking about his mistake.

And to add, Ryen Russilo and SVP are my two favorites on ESPN radio. I think they really compliment each other well, but I'd understand Russilo's desire to be the guy if he chooses to do that.