It’s a mixed bag of goods today, while the Red Sox hit six home runs in a 10-4 win over the Orioles that vaulted Boston into first place, we’re going to focus mainly here today on a few other items. You can get all the Red Sox coverage today at RedSoxLinks.com.

Chad Finn in the Globe today has a mini-feature on the competition between Comcast SportsNet New England and NESN, which have battled to be the top TV destination for Boston sports fans. Finn examines the recent Bruins Stanley Cup run as an example, and looks at the two outlets differing philosophies on programming and what each is looking to do. He also has a gallery where you can vote for the top personalities and shows between the two outlets. (I can’t stand galleries – they’re nothing more than a way for websites to generate more page views and click-throughs, at the expense of the convenience of the reader, but this one is worth going through.)

My SB Nation Boston media column today looks at the week Fill-Ins Rule The Airwaves.

Former Dodgers slugger Eric Karros enjoys times in All-Star dugout – Bill Doyle talks to the FOX analyst about the All Star Game, the Red Sox, and the chaos that is the LA Dodgers right now.

Williams changed culture at Fenway – Sean McAdam remembers former Red Sox manager Dick Williams, who passed away yesterday at the age of 82. More on Williams from Bill Reynolds | Dan Shaughnessy | John Tomase | Mike Fine | Joe McDonald | Peter Abraham has the obituary for Williams in the Globe.

The remembrances of George Kimball continue to pile in, Dan Kennedy recalls an encounter with Kimball at the 1986 Woburn toxic-waste trial, where Kimball was called as a potential juror. Charles P. Pierce recalls the first time he met Kimball, and was asked if he had any speed on him. Thus began a 30-year friendship. Sean Kerrigan in The Phoenix looks at Kimball’s time at the publication. If you haven’t read the appreciation from Michael Gee in the Herald yet, I encourage you to do so.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

6 thoughts on “Globe Compares CSNNE/NESN, Others Weigh In on Kimball, Williams”

  1. First off, George Kimball will be missed. He seemed to me as someone who was more concerned with the quality of his work rather than whether or not it would be talked about at the watercooler the next day. People like that are practically nonexistent these days.

    Two quick points:

    1. I couldn't agree more with the "click through galleries." i can't tell you how many times "I've clicked on an interesting boston.com headline only to head directly to a 35+ picture photo gallery. Very frustrating.

    2. The nightly cable sports shows are just too much. Who was the executive that came to the conclusion that 4 hours a day of Michael Felger wasn't quite enough, and that we needed to see him on tv 5 nights a week? There are just not enough opinions about sports to fill a 24 hour cycle.

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  2. Speaking of galleries, the "potential Red Sox trade targets" gallery on Boston.com has a whopper of a dumb error. One of the potential targets (on page 11 of the gallery) is Ryan Spilborghs of the Rockies, last seen here as Colorado's DH in the 2007 WS. However, the blurb (don't know who wrote them as there's no byline) is accompanied by a picture of….

    …. a Kansas City Royal. And one who's obviously an infielder as well.

    I'm pretty sure it's Chris Getz. But even a cursory five-second check — say, clicking the link that's right there on the page — would show that Spilborghs has been with the Rockies his entire career.

    Good job, guys and gals….

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    1. Since they sold off 4% of their share of the Red Sox, the Globe cares 4% less about them.

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  3. It's kind of funny that Boston, which has a good historical boxing tradition, but not the kind of tradition that a Detroit or Philly or NY has, nonetheless had two of the best boxing writers in the country for an extended period of time in Kimball and (yes, it's true) Ron Borges.

    Also, it seems that many of the truly talented writers in sports journalism wind up covering boxing at some point. I've always found that interesting.

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  4. I have absolutely no interest in boxing (negative interest, even), and yet, I appreciated Kimball's writing on it. I love people who can do that.

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  5. Very unfair portrayal of Sean McGrail being 'cheap' at NESN. He single-handedly has taken that network from a pay-station to a giant in television.

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