jadeNESN announced today that Jade McCarthy will join NESN as an anchor, host and reporter in January 2010. 

From their press release today:

A Newton, Massachusetts native, McCarthy has spent the last 4 years with WCAU NBC 10 in Philadelphia, where she serves as a sports anchor/reporter. In 2008 she won 2 Emmy awards, one for best sports news story and the second for best sports special for Football Night in Philly. The Mount Holyoke College graduate also served as a host on Sports Final, an anchor on NBC 10’s weekend newscasts and a co-host for The10! Show, a daily lifestyle & entertainment show. 

“Jade’s passion for sports and her unique style will make her homecoming that much more enjoyable for our fans,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president of programming and executive producer. “She will make a terrific addition to NESN’s on-air team.” 

“I am very excited to join the NESN family. I still remember sitting at my first Red Sox game with my great aunt being amazed as I watched Wade Boggs tower over Jody Reed in front of the dugout,” said Jade McCarthy. “My love for the Boston teams went with me as I worked in Alabama, and then in Philadelphia. While it is bittersweet to leave four years in Philly behind, I couldn’t be more thrilled to come home to the Boston area for this opportunity.” 

McCarthy began her career as a reporter at WGGB in Springfield, Massachusetts. She then moved to WAFF the NBC affiliate in Huntsville, Alabama to serve as a weekend morning show anchor and reporter before moving on to Philadelphia in 2005. Growing up, McCarthy rode horses competitively for 10 years.  Although she no longer competes, she still enjoys horseback riding. She will join NESN after completing her current contract at WCAU NBC 10.

Apparently they’re heartbroken in Philadelphia over this move…

39 thoughts on “NESN Adds Jade McCarthy To On-Air Cast

  1. I’m not so sure that the wives of Red Sox players will view this as a positive development. Come to think of it, perhaps Heidi Watney doesn’t view this as a positive development.

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    1. LOL…I was waiting for the first sexist remark..(didn’t have to wait long)…..Rick Mc is the winner!

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      1. No, a sexist remark would be something like “Why is she covering sports?! Woman can’t comment on men’s sports because they’ve never played them” or something like that. Saying she’s hot, albeit in a less than eloquent way, isn’t sexist.

        I think Heidi is going away (unfortunately). Getting too many players in trouble…

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  2. Great, another cheerleader in the Boston pom-pom waving media. IMO, she shouldn’t have publicly professed her “love for the Boston teams” because now she looks biased (even if it was a big factor in her being hired, which I’m sure it was).

    To quote from Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry:” We got the bubble-headed bleach blonde, she comes on at 5. However, I don’t think she’ll be telling us about the gut-wrenching loss to the Yankees with a gleam in her eye.

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  3. Guess there’s no chance of Tina coming back. She was a gem.

    Why is Heidi so lifeless? She has no energy (or personality and needs to show more of the Heidi in the taxi.

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    1. “Guess there’s no chance of Tina coming back. She was a gem.”

      Really? Annoying voice and creepy tooth-filled smile = gem? Don’t quite your day job and become a jeweler.

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      1. Come on ya don’t need to be a jeweler to spot a gem. With Tina you could have more than a 3 minute conversation that would be engaging and with some great laughs.

        Besides I never said she was a “10” (that’s up for you to decide) but she beats Heidi in brains and personality.

        Heidi is the master of the trite question (asked with no enthusiasm)…

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        1. agreed…Heidi is nice to look at, but in a word, BLAND. Can’t remember anything she’s ever said or any question she ever asked…..If they ever got rid of her job I don’t think I would even notice……but that goes for ANY “sideline type” reporter….ask yourself this: Have you ever been watching a game and found yourself saying, “jeeze…When is Hedi, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya,(insert any name) going to do their sideline report…I can’t wait!”……of course you haven’t.

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          1. I look forward to Heidi’s reports. There aren’t many “Perfect 10″‘s out there…and Heidi is one of them. Any time you can look at a girl that hot, whether on TV or elsewhere, it’s a breath of fresh air.

            Is she bland? Sure. Insightful? No. Stunningly beautiful? Abso-frickin’-lutely!

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      2. annoying voice?? have you heard Jade McCarthy yet?? She's a knockout, but that voice goes right through ya

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  4. Hey…don’t be hating on my beloved “Choppers” Cervasio. At least she wasn’t sleeping her way through the lineup!!! If you think outside the box a little bit that “Alligator Mouth” might have spectacular fringe benefits.

    Anyway, she was last seen reporting from the bleachers of the regional LL World Series on NESN. She was looking fit and trim, and giving the baseball dads in the stands chubbies.

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    1. I’m sorry, but is there any evidence that Heidi is actually “seeing” players on the Red Sox?

      I know it makes for spicy rumors, et al, but I think we should all give her the benefit of the doubt unless some actual evidence turns up.

      I mean, how smart would it be for a young woman under the age of 30, who’s got her entire career ahead of her, to engage in such behavior in her first “major” TV gig in a major media market?

      Remember what happened to Carolyn Hughes, Derek Lowe’s little LA television hottie?

      Why would Heidi want to risk that? It’s not like she’d have any trouble finding plenty of good-looking and financially secure guys to date outside of baseball anyway.

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      1. So far she’s only nailed Tek and Nick Green. She’s clearly going backwards. If I was the batboy, I’d be on my toes…

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        1. For the record, I know a woman who has a very unhealthy obsession with Varitek (she knows WAY too much about him and his personal life), and she claims that all of the Heidi/Varitek rumors were b.s.

          I can’t speak to the Nick Green rumors, but again, they’re just rumors as far as any of us know.

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          1. Those two warthogs from the Inside Track had the Green scoop. If they printed it, it’s the truth. What a great TV show they have on the weekends. Just when I think I can’t possibly vomit anymore after watched the Andel-thieves on the Phantom Gourmet, here come Gail and Laura to induce another wild projectile vomitting fit for the next 30 minutes.

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      2. Lets’ see…
        Relatively good looking men, check
        Well off financially, check
        Drive nice cars, check
        Free most nights after 11, check
        Travel to nice places, check

        Who needs a career??? Only Heidi knows the answer to your questions and she’s not talking.

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    2. While this subject is on the board, I must ask that if all the Heidi rumors are true, how in the world is she still employed by NESN? Isn’t this a major conflict of interest, and why wouldn’t another member of the media expose this? I also find it hard to believe Sox management doesn’t know anything about this given how much water-cooler talk it’s been generating for the last year. If all the rumors is true and Werner (who supposedly oversees NESN) allows her to continue covering the team that doesn’t reflect well on him either.

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      1. I’m with you….there’s no way that NESN would keep her on the air if that stuff were true (and I can’t imagine that NESN wouldn’t know about it if it was happening).

        Again, look at the Carolyn Hughes/Derek Lowe example out in LA. She didn’t remain the “Dodgers Dugout Reporter” very long after that story broke.

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      2. I don’t mean to belittle your point, which is valid, but…

        The TEAM OWNS a large chunk of NESN, and you’re worried that a reporter/player relationship might be a conflict of interest? That’s a bit like worrying about a child playing with matches while sitting in the middle of a forest fire, isn’t it?

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        1. I think it’s less about conflict of interest and more about bad publicity.

          This Sox ownership group is about the most P.R.-conscious gang I’ve ever seen.

          If Heidi were dating a player, or players, and God forbid, one or more of them were married, that would be a P.R. disaster when it eventually leaks out.

          In addition, there’s always the potential for a sexual harrassment suit, which would no doubt be filed not only against the player, but against NESN and the team too….another public relations disaster.

          So no, the conflict of interest angle doesn’t hold water, but fears of negative publicity sure does. (Again, the TV network out in LA axed Caroyn Hughes shortly after it was discovered that she was shacking up with MARRIED Dodgers’ pitcher Derek Lowe—a P.R. nightmare that reflected not only on the TV network, but on the Dodgers as well, even though the Dodgers had no ownership stake in the network to my knowledge.)

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          1. Tony, there’s ZERO potential for a harassment suit here. Heidi does not work for Nick Green, or any of the other Red Sox — she works for NESN. Harassment suits only stem from sexual discrimination in the context of one’s job; i.e. your boss refuses to renew your contract unless you “service his needs.” Lisa Olson, for example, did not have a workplace sexual harassment cause of action — she had a “common” harassment claim (which happened to have been sexual in nature, but which also could have been non-sexual and still been actionable) against the individual members of the Patriots, and, since the acts took place while they were working, their employer the Patriots.

            I tend to agree with your bad PR point — although don’t think it would be as bad a PR disaster as you think, so long as she wasn’t dating a married man — but that’s not a conflict of interest. That’s just bad PR.

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  5. I don’t take any of the Watney rumors seriously. I’d imagine there’s a lot of jealousy out there among the likes of the Inside Track, and that’s where these things come from.

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    1. I agree, it isn’t fair to repeat these rumors about Heidi and players. I’d might be more apt to believe them if she didn’t issue a public denial, which she did recently on a Boston radio station. As far as NESN keeping her on board, maybe she’s dating some high ranking executive at the network, which would explain why she’s bulletproof to any rumors.

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  6. …Then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was dating a player. Kathryn Tappen actually married one, right? She’s proof that if you spend some time around a person, you might fall in love.

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  7. Things like “conflict of interest” and “objectivity” — while important for real journalists — really don’t matter one bit in this case. Jesus she’s “reporting” on things like Dick Pole’s tomato plants, not the conference at Yalta.

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    1. Let’s just say that Jade “reports” that Dick Pole’s tomoato plants are tremendous when in reality they’re no better than the bacteria-ridden plants growing in your grandmother’s backyard. And you’re OK with that, TC?

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  8. Since everyone’s already looked past her qualifications as a journalist and has gone straight to the “Is she hot or not?” discussion, she’s not IMO. I mean, she’s good looking in terms of Boston good looks because every Red Sox Nation bottle blonde looks just like her. Her looks are a dime a dozen and require a good hair day and makeup to make it work. Just walk into any bar during a game and you’ll see a few dozen Jade McCarthys hanging around with their boys. I almost feel ashamed ripping apart this woman based on looks, but then again I saw this interview on another site which makes it difficult not to. If you wanna be taken seriously as a journalist and not just be another pretty face, don’t do interviews like this:

    http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/sexy_singles/8625942.html

    So yah, Jade McCarthy, you’re just Red Sox Nation’s new visual distraction for men to oggle at and women to disdain when the game is going on.

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    1. To be fair, that looked like a show about female Philly TV personalities in general, and that everyone who participated was asked to do a “sexy” photo shoot. Most women in the media, if asked, probably would do something like that–even the ones who want to be taken “seriously” as journalists. Let’s face it, MOST TV “news” personalities, both male and female, wouldn’t have their jobs if they looked like Clint Howard (Ron Howard’s ugly brother).

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      1. I don’t think they care that much about looks when it comes to men. I mean come on. Tanguay looks like an aging dork, Shaugnessy looks like an ugly old woman. Michael Holley looks like a Sleestack (do a google image search if you don’t know what a Sleestack is)

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    2. Judging by that video, Jade is definitely much more of a Tappen/girl next door type than a Watney/professional model type.

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  9. Bring me an intelligent woman who can ask an interesting question and is attractive, and I’ll gladly show Heidi the Bore the door.

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