A chance for varying perspectives on Astros, Rangers and Odor
Friday nights were wrestling nights at the Sam Houston Coliseum, which brings us to the remarkable coincidence that second baseman Rougned Odor will be in town this weekend, pending the outcome of his appeal of an eight-game suspension for fighting, as the Rangers take on the Astros.
If nothing else, it should be amusing to switch back and forth between the Astros telecast on Root Sports Southwest and the Rangers telecast on Fox Sports Southwest to hear how the respective announcers address the situation.
In Dallas-Fort Worth, of course, Odor is being viewed as a conquering hero. Some, oddly enough, are equating his punch to the Blue Jays’ Joey Bautista with the Nolan Ryan-Robin Ventura altercation a few years ago.
In Houston, of course, Odor is remembered for taking out Astros second baseman Jose Altuve with a hard slide last year and for prompting a nose-to-nose screaming match between Astros manager A.J. Hinch and Rangers manager Jeff Banister when Astros catcher Hank Conger took umbrage at some delaying tactics before an at-bat.
Also, Houston sports fans probably are less in favor of on-field violence than their northern counterparts, given the near-tragic outcome of the Rudy Tomjanovich-Kermit Washington situation.
Odor, however, has at least one fan in Houston in Astros radio analyst and former pitcher Steve Sparks, who says he admires Odor’s aggressive style.
“I like everything about him, to be honest, although you don’t like to see things cross the line,” Sparks said. “I see him as a hard-nosed player who hustles and wants his team to win. I appreciate that.”
Even though the Astros continue to be a work in progress, they’re reaping the benefits of last year’s success in this year’s television ratings. Their Tuesday win over the White Sox on Root Sports Southwest averaged a 3.4 Nielsen rating, which, for those of you now just joining us, is about 10 times what they were getting a couple of years ago on CSN Houston.
That being the case, even though the games against Texas also will be seen here on FS Southwest, it wouldn’t shock me if the games with the Rangers get into the mid-3s and maybe even higher if viewers get engaged to the same degree as the players. “I can sense that the mood of the team in the clubhouse is different when they’re playing the Rangers,” Sparks said. “Some of the guys are embarrassed about the way they played in Arlington (where they lost three in a row last month) and they want to turn things around. But it’s easier said than done when you face good starters on a nightly basis.
“They’re playing better in May. I don’t think they played good baseball in April at all. If they remain themselves and perform close to they are capable of what of doing, they can get back in the race.” ESPN college football changes
ESPN announced a new round of college football announcer changes this week as the network reassembles its on-air roster in the wake of Mike Tirico’s upcoming departure for NBC and Sean McDonough’s elevation to the Monday Night Football booth.
Samantha Ponder will return to
sideline duties on ABC’s Saturday night games, presumably filling the slot held most recently by Heather Cox, alongside Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. Ponder also will continue as a contributor to College GameDay.
Also, with McDonough off colleges and Brad Nessler reportedly en route to CBS as the eventual successor to Verne Lundquist on SEC games, plus the departure of Chris Spielman to Fox Sports and the Big Ten Network, Steve Levy will return to college football play by play for the first time since 2002, working afternoon ABC/ESPN games with Brian Griese.
Joe Tessitore, meanwhile, will move to ESPN’s Saturday prime time game to work alongside Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe.
Four DVRs, no waiting
KILT’s (610 AM) new program schedule will debut Tuesday, May 31, and the station is promoting it with the hashtag #NewDay610, which indicates something larger afoot than merely a replacement for Nick Wright. Program director Ryan McCredden, apparently dealing with some X-factors in the process, would not comment on his plans. … ESPN and Fox have reached agreement with the Nielsen Co. to begin receiving out-of-home viewing data next year, using Nielsen Audio’s portable people meters pager technology developed by Arbitron. ESPN officials suggest that adding out of home viewing totals could result in a double-digit increase in program viewership and, thus, a boost in advertising rates. … Those crafty NCAA schedule-makers have paired Texas and Texas A&M in an NCAA softball tournament regional game at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Adam Amin and former A&M player Amanda Scarborough will call the game on ESPN2. Also, Longhorn Network will have a Texas teamcast presentation called by Tyler Denning and former Longhorns catcher Megan Willis. … No major impact locally, but Charter Communications has completed its acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. Of most interest in the sports world, of course, is the potential impact on increased distribution for Time Warner’s troubled SportsNet LA network featuring Dodgers games. … Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno and silver medalist Tanith White have signed on as reporters for NBC’s Olympics coverage from Rio de Janeiro. … ESPN’s next documentary will be “Doc & Darryl,” on star-crossed Mets stars Gooden and Strawberry, respectfully, airing July 14. … ESPN president John Skipper on the brouhaha associated with Curt Schilling’s dismissal by the network: “We have no tolerance for points of view that aren’t inclusive. We have a diverse culture. We are very focused on making sure everybody can exist comfortably and succeed in that culture. That’s what we have no tolerance for, and I don’t care of what the politics of a person who has such an attitude are.” …Comcast chairman Brian Roberts says the company will stream about 6,000 hours of Olympics coverage from Rio de Janeiro via the company’s X1 set-top box. … ESPN’s WatchESPN app is now available for Android TV subscribers.