You may or may not know who Mark Shapiro is, but he’s the guy who went from Jim Rome’s lowly production assistant in the early days of ESPN2 to the head of network programming in less than 10 years.

(I refuse to give PTI the nod until Tony K. wraps the wraparound)

As head of ESPN on-air conent from 2002-05, Shapiro created some duds, like those lame ESPN movies and Stephen A. Smith, and current ESPN upper management has quite obviously done plenty to distance itself from many of Shapiro’s initiatives. But Shapiro also masterminded many of the net’s signature properties, like the X Games, ESPY Awards and what has become ESPN’s top in-house broadcast property - Pardon The Interruption.

We all remember when PTI debuted. The over-the-top, sometimes nonsensical graphics & countdown clocks, bizarre between commercial look-ins and two well-aged gents no one had heard of outside The District.

Fast forward to today and according to more than one ESPN source, PTI regularly averages more viewers than SportsCenter and also enjoys a higher ad revenue base. And another bizarro Shapiro concoction, Around The Horn, isn’t far behind. Read more…

Amid yesterday’s unmentionable unfortunateness was vindication for FOX SPORTS’ Jay Glazer. When he’s not being Michael Strahan’s little bobo and riding around on his back, Glazer’s making a name for himself as the best reporter in the NFL, consistently sonning ESPN’s cadre of mic-holding talking heads.

(This? This is his fightin’ beard!)

That dynamic came to a head earlier this weekend when ESPN was showing preseason games and the announcers began trying to mock and marginalize Glazer for his reports that Minnesota was still going to sign Sports Voldemort. Obviously, that blew up in their faces, but the sentiment wasn’t lost on Glazer. His totally reasonable response? “Why don’t you say it with your fists!”

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Eight years in, and I never once thought about the demise of this site. Or that SbB had somehow lost its scab-ripping reputation in the sports media.

(If no longer being cool means SbB ascending to the same prestigious pantheon as Liam Gallagher and Tom from Myspace, what exactly is the downside?)

But that changed when I heard a kiss of death-comment last week about SbB by a certain mildly-successful sports radio host who, for a brief moment, was the scourge of the sports blogosphere. Read more…

I started SbB in 2001 because was I was bored working in the sports talk radio biz.  I couldn’t take being hemmed in by the daily local yocal game analysis, pushover interviews, formulaic guy talk, and same ol’ fallback topics on slow days. So I created SbB to escape that noxious environment, if only for my own amusement.

(Van Pelt’s solo show, rusty folding chair, left out in the cold)

Today if you listen to Dan Le Batard’s radio show in Miami, and plenty of others, you hear sports talk radio going in the direction of what I’ve been onto for years: Giving the visitor breaking information accented by clever commentary. That now-burgeoning trend in radio now has trained me back to the medium. And with that, I was very interested when ESPN announced changes in its national radio schedule this week.

First the good news (no, they didn’t blow out Mike & Mike): Beginning on March 16, Brian Kenny is getting a daily show, from 8-10p ET weeknights. Kenny has been the most underrated sports personality on the network for over a decade (sorry Sal Pal!), and it’s nice to see him get some recognition. I’m guessing he’ll be great listen, but those of us in L.A. will have to catch Kenny on the web, as his show will likely be covered by KSPN-AM in afternoon drive. (By my guys Mason & Ireland?)

Another underrated talent and the best radio talk host ESPN has, Doug Gottlieb, is moving his show to 4-7p ET.  Colin Cowherd, who in my estimation is the most overrated host on the net, will get another hour tacked on to his midday show (10a-2p ET). So those of you wondering about the day’s produce selection at Wegmann’s and/or menu specials at your friendly neighborhood Fleming’s, have at it.

(Miracle! Despite disabling TMJ attack, Cowherd still menaces radio audience)

Those time changes mean the show hosted by Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt will move to 2-4p ET, with the one-hour Van Pelt solo show now a memory.

So why the elimination of Van Pelt’s show? Read more…

Sports talk radio is the place where announcers and analysts take off the masks and tell us how they really feel about the sports they cover and the people playing them — because they really don’t think anyone is listening. Last month, Justin Gimelstob used a D.C. radio show to spew against Anna Kournikova. Now, we get Fox’s lead baseball and football announcer, Joe Buck, admitting to ESPN’s Colin Cowherd that he just doesn’t enjoy baseball as much as he used to.

AWFUL ANNOUNCING has the recorded audio, and is appropriately flabbergasted at the whole mess — because he’s right: this is why fans hate so much of the sports media right now.

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Imagine a world with no ESPN. No Steven A. Smith (who has been yelling at me ALL MORNING). No Chris Berman. No Colin Cowherd. Quiet, isn’t it?

Well, leave it to ESPN to take all the fun out of their death. Jerks. Read more…

Ric Bucher is an entertaining fellow. When the ESPN NBA analyst isn’t reporting incorrect trade deals, he’s offending entire states & religions.

SPORTS MEDIA WATCH tunes in to hear Bucher go off on fans of the Utah Jazz. Appearing on Colin Cowherd’s show Wednesday, Ric tried to explain why the Jazz seem to have such a strong home-court advantage:

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INFORMATION LEAFBLOWER gets wind of an amusing email sent out to trumpet an upcoming appearance by Colin Cowherd:

Looks like someone won’t be working with ESPN Radio much longer. But can you really fire a person for showing truth in advertising?

SbB passes along a rundown of the non-Randy Moss news of the day:

• Yahoo Sports is now grabbing more visitors than ESPN.com:

• We can handle the loss of the Lingerie Bowl, just as long as the Puppy Bowl pounces onward.

• Rick Neuheisel should have kept his players on shorter leashes during his U-Dub days.

• George Brett no longer has the appetite for the restaurant business.

• A wedding gown-wearing reporter at Super Bowl Media Day asks for Tom Brady’s hand in marriage:

• A new SI cover will show Tiger Woods as Jesus.

• Pardon the pulse interruption, but Michael Wilbon is recovering nicely from a heart attack.

• Schrutebag wants to start a blog? Seriously?

Listening to Colin Cowherd’s ESPN radio show reminds us of our college dorm days. Remember drinking too much Lowenbrau, too early, then hooking up with the girl who lives on the floor below you?

15 minutes and you can’t finish.

(Distracted by Grocery Store Salad Bar Garbanzo Beans)

We’ve tried over the years to give the show a chance, but we just can’t get past the unceasing arrogance. It’s one thing to have a strong opinion, it’s another to dismiss anyone not named Sean Salisbury in 1.4 seconds if they don’t agree with you. There’s no interchange with callers.

We understand that calls don’t make a radio show. In fact, the less the better. But we focused on that part of Cowherd’s show in this post so we don’t have to get into his monologues, which unintentionally scream mid-life crisis every, single day.

Dan Steinberg of DC SPORTS BOG braves all that to have Cowherd pontificate to him interview Mr. Grocery Store Salad Bar (see, we do listen) on Super Bowl radio row.

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