During an appearance on Philadelphia’s The Mike Missanelli Show, 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey made what came off as a throwaway joke about NBA trade rumors.
But Missanelli’s fellow 97.1 The Fanatic host, John Kincade, took the joke and ran with it for a funny, possibly opportunistic purchase.
First, the trade rumor that led to the joke. Missanelli asked Morey about rumors of a deal that would send Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and Matisse Thybulle to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Buddy Hield, Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, and two first-round picks. Morey dismissed the sources for most of these reports.
“We had a trade debated, it may have even been this one, that was tweeted out by Ballsack Sports,” said Morey, acknowledging that Sixers fans are starved for news. “People were treating that it was a real thing. I think that was yesterday or two days ago. Like, I’m imploring people not to get too attached to Ballsack Sports tweets.”
You can hear the exchange for yourself at the 11:43 mark below:
There is, in fact, a Ballsack Sports Twitter account. But the trade that the account claimed to report involved the Golden State Warriors, not the Sacramento Kings.
Report: 76ers have offered Warriors blockbuster trade for Ben Simmons that would send 2 all stars, 2 young stars, and 2 future first round picks to the Sixers for the 25 year old phenom. Morey’s asking price remains high. pic.twitter.com/4gjKx6yyyt
But more importantly, Ballsack Sports doesn’t have a website. It’s just a Twitter account. That left an opportunity for someone to purchase the “ballsacksports.com” domain. On his show Friday morning, Kincade announced that he did just that.
The acquisition of https://t.co/cug5w8Wr7V by the @975JKShow has been completed and we will look for content contributors. Even with @dmorey warning you off of the Twitter account 😆 Get those resumes ready
Those looking for an opportunity in sports media might want to keep an eye on what Kincaid does with that domain. It appears that he’s looking for absurd content, so applicants and pitches should probably start thinking of the most ridiculous trade rumors possible.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
WQAM midday host Jonathan Zaslow is no longer with WQAM in Miami.
The radio station has removed his show from the website and references to him and his normal 10a-2p ET midday timeslot program have been scrubbed from the station website.
Zaslow tweeted at 5:19p ET confirming the news.
Today was the last day for the “Zaslow Show” on local Miami radio. 18 years, very good run. Thanks to all my listeners!!!
Whether or not this has any effect on his involvement with the Miami Heat broadcasts is unknown as of now.
Zaslow had been with 790 the Ticket since 2004. He was transitioned from Audacy-owned 790 to sister station AM 560 Sports WQAM last October. During his tenure he has worked with a number of established local voices including Joy Taylor, Amber Wilson, Brett Romberg, and Brendan Tobin amongst others.
WQAM has gone thru a number of changes, including a rebranding effort to call the station “560 The Joe”. That ended last year with the station returning to the AM 560 Sports WQAM brand listeners were more familiar with. What they have planned next in Zaslow’s timeslot is unclear but local listeners will likely get some answers next week.
Changes are taking place in Houston sports media. First, the Houston Rockets will have a new television sideline reporter this season, and she’s a familiar name to Houston sports fans.
Vanessa Richardson, the now former co-host of ESPN 97.5’s Vanessa and Gallant, revealed that she will be on the sidelines for the NBA franchise covering the team for AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
She tweeted the news saying, “Elated to be the new Houston Rockets sideline reporter! I can’t wait to travel the country & share the stories of this dynamic team during 80+ games on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. I’ll continue to fill-in as a host/reporter for Astros broadcasts as well.”
Richardson’s co-host, Paul Gallant, tweeted that with Richardson leaving the show for the Rockets sideline gig, Vanessa and Gallant will become the Paul Gallant Show. The solo show led by Gallant begins Monday September 26th.
My amazing @ESPN975 co-host @SportsVanessa is leaving me for an AWESOME gig. She's gonna crush it!
What's next for me? The return of the most interactive sports talk show in Houston!™️🏴☠️🏴☠️
I'll be on 10-noon CT w/@SeanAMapes for the creatively named Paul Gallant Show. Join us!
“We’re excited to have Paul host his own show”, said Todd Farquharson, General Manager of ESPN 97.5 & 92.5. “He’s super creative, energetic, and likeable. He’ll get the audience involved and have fun.”
Paul commented, “You know what I’ve always loved about sports talk radio? That it’s interactive. Whether through a phone call, text message, tweet or on Twitch, it’s the best place for sports fans to come together and celebrate…or vent. And that’s what The Paul Gallant Show is going to be…Houston’s platform to talk about its teams. THE most interactive sports talk show in Houston.”
The Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers during Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video. 92.3 The Fan morning host Ken Carman applauded Al Michaels for his performance during the presentation.
“Al Michaels feels untethered for the first time. He’s not network television anymore and he can say whatever he wants. We interviewed him on the pregame show and I was nervous,” Carman said.
“He’s a legend,” co-host Anthony Lima added.
During the final play of the game, the Steelers fumbled a lateral into the endzone which the Browns recovered to make the final score 29-17. Michaels said “that may be meaningful to some of you. And you know who I mean”, alluding to people who had placed wagers on the game.
Carman, who hosts two-hours of pre-game coverage on the Browns Radio Network, continued to discuss how nervous he was interviewing Michaels. He also discussed how impressive Amazon’s behind-the-scenes production was, pointing out the only football broadcast with more cameras is the Super Bowl. More than 400 people work behind the scenes for Amazon Prime Video.
“The thing that stuck out was Kirk Herbstreit ripping the elf,” said Carman. “Don’t be ripping Brownie the Elf, man.”
Carman later said people angry that Michaels misspoke by saying the Pro Football Hall of Fame is “down I-71” instead of I-77 were unreasonable, and joked “Al Michaels hasn’t been on a highway in 20 years”.
