On The Air
by Laura Nachman
Bucks County Courier Times
August 24, 2007
After weeks of waiting, Marc Zumoff finally has his broadcast partner.
Former NBA assistant coach and “Post Game Live” analyst Bob Salmi was named the new color analyst for Sixers games on Comcast SportsNet, replacing ex-Sixer forward Steve Mix, whose contract was not renewed at the conclusion of last season.
Zumoff will return for his 14th season as lead television play-by-play man for the franchise.
“I am humbled, honored and at the same time extremely excited about joining the Comcast SportsNet team as the 76ers analyst,” Salmi said in a press release issued by the network. “Comcast SportsNet has a wonderful relationship with sports fans in this region, and I am looking forward to sharing the promise and excitement of the new Sixers season with viewers.”
Salmi won two Emmys for his work as NBC's “Coach in the Truck,” which used his coaching background to help the production of games by focusing on various matchups.
Ties that bind
Entertainment has “The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
Sports now has “The Three Degrees of Kincade,” as Broomall native and Temple graduate John Kincade has personal ties to the three major sports scandals in the news — the Michael Vick dogfighting, Rick Tocchet gambling, and Tim Donaghy gambling scandals.
A couple years ahead of Donaghy at Cardinal O'Hara High School, Kincade also worked on the Flyers' staff for head coach Mike Keenan when Tocchet played for the team, and today is a radio sports show host in Atlanta, where Vick played for the Falcons.
“It's been surreal,” Kincade said. “I was asked to talk about the Vick story for "SportsCenter,' then I stuck around to talk about the Donaghy story.
Kincade, a top-rated talk show host in Atlanta for the last several years, says he was heavily influenced by Philadelphia's WIP.
“WIP is the reason I went into sports radio,” he said. “I owe my career to both Angelo Cataldi and Howard Eskin.”
As one of the stars on the WRTI sports staff at Temple, Kincade patterned his radio shows on “SportsCenter.” Today, he's come full-circle, as he hosts a Sunday morning show on ESPN radio.
It would be great if he someday returned to Philadelphia. Besides his sports knowledge, he can do a mean Stefano DiMera impression.
Olbermann returns
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann makes his debut on the NBC “Sunday Night Football” team during the Eagles-Steelers game this week. This will be Olbermann's first sports assignment in six years.
Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer return for NBC's second year with the Sunday night package. Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Jerome Bettis return for halftime.
Sterling Sharpe will not be back this year. He was replaced by Tiki Barber.
Tragic ending
Basketball's Eddie Griffin, who died in a car wreck this week at the age of 25, participated in the first Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic.
“Eddie Griffin was so much fun to deal with for our first event,” company president Jeremy Treatman said. “He did commercials on Comcast SportsNet for us and had a blast doing it.
“Dajuan Wagner and he were stars not just on the court but in the way they handled themselves in dealing with all the attention that event gave them. This is such a sad thing to hear about.”
Around the dial
Ryan Howard of the Phillies, along with other major league players, appear in the music video “I Don't Dance,” from “High School Musical 2.” ... The release of Jeremiah Trotter means the end of his show on WIP. I'd nominate Brian Westbrook for a show this year.
e-mail: lauranachman@verizon.net