Tafoya plugged in to 'MNF' sideline job
ABC now has hired four women as sideline reporters on "Monday Night Football," starting with Lesley Visser (1997-99), and continuing with Melissa Stark, Lisa Guerrero, and, as of yesterday, Michele Tafoya.
Time will tell whether Tafoya turns out to be the best . . . and the clock starts ticking with Broncos-Redskins in the Hall of Fame Game Aug. 9.
Tafoya was introduced yesterday as the reporter who will work with Al Michaels and John Madden this season.
This has the feeling of being a good fit. Visser, with a print (Boston Globe) rather than TV background, made it work by dint of the contacts she'd made from her newspaper reporting. She also brought high energy, persistence, news judgment, and, yes, the requisite looks. Even at the beginning, she was a improvement on Lynn Swann (1994-96), who was the first to work the sidelines for ABC.
Stark did an OK job, too. It's just that neither viewers nor the industry realized just how high Visser had set the bar in what now is regarded as the hot seat of sports broadcasting: It's live reporting, on a national stage, amidst a chaotic sideline situation.
"You may look calm on the surface," Visser said, "but you're paddling for all you're worth to stay afloat."
Guerrero never accomplished that. As comfortable as she was in a studio role on Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period," she couldn't adapt to the sideline environment, even when delivering pre-reported pieces. Fred Gaudelli, producer of "Monday Night Football," acknowledged that yesterday, saying, "Her talents and the role didn't match up."
ABC, to its credit, moved to rectify the situation and will try to find another role for Guerrero, who has a year remaining on her contract.
Tafoya's credentials, in contrast, represent the past two decades of women's advancement at all levels of sports broadcasting. She's an established broadcasting pro who is taking a logical step up the network ladder.
Her status and salary as a versatile ESPN staff broadcaster have "been augmented to reflect her `Monday Night Football' and ABC duties," said Gaudelli.
At ESPN, Tafoya has handled a wide variety of assignments including college basketball (men's and women's) play-by-play, analysis, studio hosting, and -- yes -- sideline reporting. She's already passed an unofficial in-house test by working as a sideline reporter for ABC's coverage of the NBA playoffs, with Michaels on play-by-play.
"Al's already done five or six [NBA] games with her," said Gaudelli. "I talk with him a couple of times a week, and he regularly drops a `You know, Michele Tafoya does a great job' into our conversations."
She's also been the on-scene reporter for ESPN's news coverage of "Monday Night Football" games.
"It helps that I have a two-year background of league news and storylines to build on in this job," she said.
Her play-by-play experience will help, too.
"I think it will make me better in the sideline role," she said, "at least from the perspective of understanding how to fit into the overall broadcast."
The NFL is notorious for restricting access on its sidelines, making the reporting job daunting.
Tafoya already has set one benchmark for her work: "If I have any interplay with the booth [Michaels and Madden] and not just a `Thanks, Michele,' it'll tell me a lot."
Maxed out
Michael Holley is departing from the Globe. Again. The sports columnist, who left in 2001 for a job at the Chicago Tribune, only to return several months later, then took a book leave during the Patriots' 2003 season, is off again. He has resigned from the Globe, and it's a sure bet he'll be the mystery guest revealed tomorrow as part of Max Kellerman's "I, Max" show on Fox Sports Net. The half-hour show, featuring talk and interviews, is scheduled to air weekdays at 6 p.m. beginning Monday. Of his Globe departure, Holley said, "Writing takes so much energy and passion -- and I still have it -- but once the column was finished, so was I. I was out of energy." . . . The news of Tafoya's hiring was well-received by Alice Cook of Channel 4 and Wendi Nix of Channel 7. Nix lauded it on-air while co-hosting WEEI's "The Big Show" yesterday afternoon. Cook had good news of her own: a new three-year contract at Channel 4. The deal allows her some flex time for a four-day week to keep up with her kids' activities. Cook was a 1976 Olympian in pairs skating before heading to Boston College. She has been at Channel 4 for 19 years after starting at Channel 38. "Amazing how it's come full circle with the two stations now working together," she said. It's come even further circle: She will emcee the BC sports banquet Saturday . . . The New England chapter of the National Television Academy had its 27th Emmy Awards gala Sunday night. Among those honored: CN8's John Carchedi (sports reporting), NESN for play-by-play (its entry was the Red Sox inning during which Don Orsillo unsuccessfully tried to describe a lunar eclipse), NESN's Mike Narracci for live event directing (Red Sox baseball), Channel 38 for sports series ("Red Sox This Week"), FSN for program elements (Celtics coverage) and sports special ("Road to 17"), NESN's Kevin Newton for program editing ("The Boss in Bosstown"), and Channel 25's Rob Nikoleski for light news story ("Backyard Baseball"). NESN also won for "Zamboni on the Lenny" with Bruins Andrew Raycroft and Patrice Bergeron, its "What's in a Name?" single-spot promotion, and its redesigned graphics package. Channel 38's Kevin J. Connelly was honored for editing news features (Red Sox composite), and the station also won for its "Sox and the City" promotional package.
Short subjects
Cook, at 5 feet 2 inches, says the toughest part of her job is interviewing tall athletes and "holding the microphone at arm's length." This will come across as a shot, but it's not intended that way: Bob Costas was only slightly taller than Kentucky Derby jockey Shane Sellers during a solid interview Saturday on the riders' campaign for higher weight allowances . . . The Derby did an 8.3 national overnight rating (18 share) for NBC, an 8 percent increase over 2003 and equal to its 2001 and 2002 ratings. To find a higher rating, you have to go back to 1992 when ABC's telecast generated a 9.5 . . . Meanwhile, the Sox keep generating amazing numbers. Last Tuesday's 7-8:45 p.m. rain delay did a 5.6 number on NESN . . . Outdoor Life Network continues its "Lance [Armstrong] Chronicles" Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m., followed by "Road to the Tour [de France]" at 9 . . . You knew it was only a matter of time before the NFL Network began to crank up the stakes to gain carriage on more cable systems. With its broadcast partners (ABC/ESPN, CBS, and Fox) carrying 11 preseason games, the NFL Network will carry the other 54 -- some on tape during the exhibition season . . . Globe writer Gordon Edes has a one-on-one with Sox shortstop Pokey Reese as part of Thursday's "Sports Plus" to be taped at The Place in downtown Boston at 7 and scheduled to air on NESN at 11 p.m. Host Bob Lobel will be joined by the Globe's Dan Shaughnessy and Michael Smith.
Bill Griffith's e-mail address is griffith@globe.com
