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Should Jon Gruden Be Able to Call The Titans-Chiefs Game?

Jason Barrett

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Nearly 20 years after being named head coach of the Oakland Raiders, it appears Jon Gruden will join the franchise for a second stint. Gruden hasn’t coached since being fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008, after which he joined ESPN as an analyst on Monday Night Football.

“My understanding is they’re interviewing candidates this week and they’re going to let everybody know sometime early next week or whenever they make their decision,” Gruden said in an interview with Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group.

Asked specifically if he was a candidate, Gruden said, “Well, I think I am being considered, yes. I hope I’m a candidate.”

Much like we saw Scott Frost unprecedentedly coach UCF in a bowl game after taking a new coaching job with Nebraska, Gruden also has previous engagements he’d like to fulfill. ESPN has Saturday’s Wild Card Game between the Titans and Chiefs, which will be called by Sean McDonough and Jon Gruden. Should Gruden be able to remain in the booth for the game? Will the soon to be rival Chiefs and their head coach want to discuss their gameplan during the week with Gruden?

In response to whether or not calling the Chiefs Titans game could be an issue, “They played my brother (Jay) on Monday Night Football once too, so there will be some awkward moments and we’re probably going to laugh a little bit about it, but that’ll be cool,” Gruden told McDonald. “If I have to sit in the truck with my eyes closed, so be it.”

Earlier this season Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen joined Fox during the Panthers bye week while Olsen was still on IR. He was added to the team of Kevin Burkhardt and Charles Davis for the Rams Vikings broadcast. Much to Olsen’s surprise, his presence on the telecast upset the Vikings and their GM, so much so that they tried to get him moved to a different game.

“For anyone who has ever been in those broadcast production meetings, if you’re spilling your deepest, darkest game-plan secrets to the broadcast crew, that’s kind of on you,” said Olsen, who has been in production meetings before. “We’re not getting anything that’s really going to give you much insight on how to beat them.”

Fox limited the amount of pre-game access Olsen had and he did not attend a practice, walkthrough or production meeting.

“The notion that I’m going to gain an unfair advantage is crazy. We have scouts at every game across the league. I’m going to have enough trouble on my hands broadcasting a game, let alone looking for little nuances on the sideline,” said Olsen

Gruden hasn’t yet been named the next head coach of the Raiders, but all signs point to it happening very soon. The Chiefs being aware that Gruden will soon be their division rival might look to limit the information they give the ESPN broadcast team. If the Vikings didn’t want Olsen to be in on their meetings, odds are some of the Chief’s front office would prefer if Gruden kept his distance.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

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Bleav To Launch 2 FuboTV Channels

“Over 1,000 hours of original content is produced by Bleav each month.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Sports and entertainment media production company Bleav has officially launched two channels available now on FuboTV.

Bleav Sports and Bleav Football will utilize content from its podcast network to comprise programming on the TV side.

“We are excited to be partnering with Fubo, one of the premiere companies for sports streaming,” Bleav president Eric Weinberger said.

Over 1,000 hours of original content is produced by Bleav each month. Former NFL and NBA standouts like Ahman Green, Rudy Gay, Lamar Odom, LenDale White, Ike Taylor and Jonathan Stewart are just some of the hosts for Bleav.

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Neil Everett Exits ESPN After 23 Years

“ESPN changed my life, but now it’s time for me to change my life.”

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Courtesy: NBAE via Getty Images

Neil Everett’s SportsCenter days are over. Front Office Sports reports that the anchor has chosen to say goodbye to ESPN after 23 years at the network.

“ESPN changed my life, but now it’s time for me to change my life,” Everett said. “Time to write a new chapter.” 

The network reportedly offered Everett a new deal. Had he agreed to it, the anchor would have taken a salary reduction.

This is a significant moment for SportsCenter. Everett moving on means one of the show’s longest-tenured partnership comes to an end. He had worked with Stan Verrett since 2009.

Everett’s exit comes in the same week that it was revealed Chris Chelios would not return to the network’s NHL coverage next season. The Walt Disney Company is currently in the middle of trying to cut 7000 jobs to save $5.5 billion.

As for the future, Everett says he will seek to increase his TV role with the Portland Trail Blazers. He has been part of the team’s broadcast crew on NBC Sports Northwest for the last two years.

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Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica To Make FOX TV Debut on Belmont Coverage

“Everyone I’ve worked and interacted with at the company has been so helpful and open to someone who has spent his entire professional life elsewhere.”

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Courtesy: KFSM

As the college football season was winding down, fans found out one of the foundational members of the College Gameday staff would be leaving ESPN. Chris “The Bear” Fallica left the network and has been working for FOX since the new year. This weekend during the network’s coverage of The Belmont Stakes, he will finally make his TV debut for his employers.

“It’s been great. This will be my first TV appearance, so I’m excited,” Fallica said in an interview with FOXSports.com. “But we’ve been cranking out content on the digital side since January, and I’m very happy with how the USFL picks have been going (4-0 last week for those of you counting at home). Everyone I’ve worked and interacted with at the company has been so helpful and open to someone who has spent his entire professional life elsewhere.”

Fallica, who worked for ESPN for nearly three decades, is going to be a major presence in FOX’s gambling content both on air and online. Making picks is nothing new. He had been doing it on College GameDay for years prior to his exit. 

In addition to making football picks, horse racing is going to be a major part of what The Bear does for FOX. While this will be his TV debut on FOX, Fallica put the spotlight on one of his colleagues.

“It was a great decision to bring Tom [Durkin] back for this call. His voice is synonymous with the sport for a generation of racing fans, so it will be a treat to hear him call a race again.”

Durbin is coming out of retirement to call the race. This is the first year that the Belmont is airing on FOX as part of a rights deal with the New York Racing Association.

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