(Publisher’s note: Hoffarth confirmed to me that he verified Gray’s compensation for the LeBron “Decision” ESPN show via his own source before reporting the story. ESPN has also re-confirmed to me that it only paid Gray’s travel expenses.)

On July 9 I reported the financial details of the LeBron James ‘Decision’ production that was aired on ESPN and billed as a charity benefit.

After the show aired, Dawn C. Chmielewski of the LOS ANGELES TIMES reported of the production’s financial haul:

ESPN agreed to donate the time, sponsors committed about $3 million — which Nike has pledged to match. Proceeds go to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell also followed up the show with a report of his own:

As part of the partnership, ESPN turned over some of the advertising inventory in the show to James’ team to sell commercials to the likes of the University of Phoenix, Bing and Vitaminwater. James’ team said it would donate $2.5 million from the proceeds of the ads to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

So at the very least, we had a $500,000 discrepancy in the amount of money that sponsors pledged to charity and what the “James team” said would be donated.

So where did that $500,000 go? Read more…

A dispute over a comment made by U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Corey Pavin to Jim Gray has gotten rather frothy.

(Steve DiMeglio is a USA Today golf reporter)

Yesterday Gray reported on The Golf Channel that Pavin told him that he would tab Tiger Woods for the Ryder Cup team as his captain’s choice selection. Today Pavin disputed Gray’s claim, saying that he had not settled on Woods as his personal choice for the team.

That dispute led to a confrontation after Pavin’s press conference this morning at the PGA Championship in Wisconsin.

USA TODAY golf reporter Steve DiMeglio noted on his Twitter.com account: Read more…

With the notoriety* garnered by LeBron James and his LRMR Marketing Group the past week, you can’t help but wonder what’s next for James and LRMR.

(Hey you … ESPN sales guy … in the cubicle … yes YOU … GET ON IT!)

I’m now pleased to report that earlier today I did not obtain exactly what that will indeed entail:

1) Pre-book LeBron for June 2011 appearance in Cleveland on Rick Reilly’s highly-rated, critically-acclaimed ESPN Homecoming series. Secure assistance from Blackwater Security in staging event in exchange for presenting sponsorship rights. (Disclaimer: It was Craig Sager’s idea.)

2) Broker eight-figure lifetime endorsement contract with BP for new LRMR Marketing Group Client and New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul. (Includes personal use of BP CEO’s yacht.)

3) Sign Reggie Bush as LRMR Marketing Group Client. Book Bush appearance with former FEMA Chief Michael Brown at annual Superdome Boat Show in exchange for stipend to be donated to charity.

4) Acquire Jim Gray’s exclusive, worldwide marketing rights and immediately begin canvassing Horizon League member schools for broadcasting opportunities and Sacramento-area Bail Bondsmen for endorsement deals.

5) Secure venture capital - from new Miami Heat contract - for company attempting to bring fire-retardant NBA jersey technology to market. Induce Delonte West to test prototype by promising guest appearance on History Channel’s Lock N’ Load with R. Lee Ermey.

6) Schedule press conference inside Clark County Detention Center to introduce latest LRMR hire: Financial Controller Antoine Walker. Continue searching classmates.com for additional LRMR executive hires.

7) Pitch new LeBron Cleveland billboard concept to Nike execs: “WITNESS PROTECTION.” Read more…

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show this morning, Jim Gray said that he was the one who came up with the idea for a one-hour announcement show for LeBron James. Patrick’s official website has a rundown of Gray’s comments about the genesis and format of the James Show:

Jim Gray told us that he pitched the 1-hour announcement special idea to Maverick Carter and LeBron James during game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Gray explained that he saw LeBron’s marketing guy Maverick Carter and super-agent Ari Emanuel at Game 2 of the NBA finals. Gray said he told Carter he wanted to do the interview and suggested they buy an hour of television.

Gray said Carter and Emanuel liked the idea. And then Gray saw Carter and LeBron at a restaurant after the game and kept talking about it.

“What Maverick really liked is that he could raise a lot of money for a charity,” Gray said.

Gray thinks it’s a great idea because it will help Boys and Girls clubs. “It doesn’t bother me at all,” Gray said. “I think it’s wonderful.”

Gray talked about the structure of the show. Read more…

The Milwaukee Brewers announced today that a statue of Bud Selig is being cast and will be unveiled at Miller Park in August.

Whose idea was it? Tom Haudricourt of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL gives us a clue. Read more…

Seems like the Jets trading for quatrogenarian mad bomber Brett Favre and dispatching weak-armed Chad Pennington was a home run for Eric Mangini’s charges, eh? If you listened to NFL TV domepieces since the deal, you’d think the move means the Jets now will do a better job throwing the ball deeper down field.

One small detail though, the Elias Sports Bureau reports that over the past four years, Pennington has been much, MUCH more effective than Favre on passing attempts of 20 yards or more.

Tim Graham of ESPN.com yesterday highlighted the figures in his blog, which I heard about today on Dan Le Batard’s WAXY-AM show in Miami. As you might expect, those statz has South Florida a little more excited about Pennington, with equal parts bemusement.

Great find by A.J. Daulerio over at DEADSPIN:

(Someone might consider upping the wattage on those softboxes)

Sean “The Brand” Salisbury has been unearthed doing commentary for a new site called OpenSports.com. Salisbury will apparently be on the Mike Florio schedule (seven days per week). We’ll see how long that lasts.

Honest to god, the first thing I thought of when I saw the URL “OpenSports.com” was it was somehow related to the gay sports site OutSports.com. But alas, Tim Hardaway is apparently not among the new site’s early wave of hires (though he’s available).

It’s a little amusing to see Cris Collinsworth covering the Olympics, but he’s no less qualified than half the reporters on-site. NBC Universal employees right now must feel a little like the National Guard. You can be 50-years-old and hopelessly underqualified for the job, but that doesn’t mean you won’t soon be in a funny looking uniform, halfway ’round the world on 48 hours notice.

Sports TV execs are enjoying a brief respite from Jim Gray, as the mostly-unemployed broadcaster has called off the stalking for now, after landing the prestigious role of “boxing reporter,” on NBC’s Olympic coverage. I wonder if a monitoring anklet was part of the arrangement - and Dick Ebersol checking into his hotel as “Charles Bronson.”

We received this photo of Jim Gray’s star on Hollywood Blvd. shortly after we posted last Friday that he’s out of work.

We’ve also heard from several, well-connected media moles that no one will now hire him (just check out the hacks roaming the sidelines during the NBA playoffs). Read more…

The Ladies… will be on SbB all weekend to live blog the NFL Draft. They’ll be here for eight hours each day beginning Saturday at 2pm ET. See you then!

• Bolivian basketball babe Claudia Porras still proves she’s a model player.

• Today’s the day Rick Monday cemented himself as a real American hero for rescuing Old Glory.

• Jim Gray is still stalking the press areas - if only he was doing it for an actual sports network.

• Meanwhile, Kelvin Sampson is having no trouble entertaining job offers from the NBA.

• Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen compares Pacman’s trade to Big D with the Cowboys signing Osama bin Laden.

Read more…

It’s been a swift, painful descent for broadcaster Jim Gray, whose contract with ABC and ESPN expired last year and has struggled to find work since.

So much so that as Tom Hoffarth, in his media column in the LA DAILY NEWS, reports that Gray was trolling the hallways of the Staples Center Wednesday night during the Lakers-Nuggets playoff game in what Hoffarth scathingly describes as a “vain attempt to try to stay in the TV employment loop when the fact of the matter is no one is interested in hiring the psuedo sideline reporter.” FACE!
Read more…

• THE FOOTIE finds footage of David Letterman revealing the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’s 2008 swimsuit issue featuring Marisa Miller.

• INTENTIONAL FOUL comes across audio of John Rocker throwing Bud Selig under the bus.

• FAN IQ’s 100% INJURY RATE puts up their dukes, as they offer this indoor lacrosse fight.

Read more…