Perhaps NBC-SN can turn to ESPN for guidance. There, decades of telecasting sports and sports-related shows have yielded a truly diverse programming day.
Here, for example, is a sample of the wide range of uniquely entertaining ESPN shows that NBC Sports might be wise to emulate:
Pardon the Interruption: Two ex-sportswriters argue about sports.
First Take: Two ex-sportswriters argue about sports.
The Sports Reporters: Three sportswriters argue about sports.
Around the Horn: Four sportswriters argue about sports.
Dan Le Batard Is Highly Questionable: One ex-sportswriter argues about sports with his father.
Numbers Never Lie: One ex-sportswriter argues about sports with a blonde.
SportsNation: A guy clearly too stupid and clean-cut to have been a sportswriter argues about sports with a blonde.
Mike & Mike in the Morning: An ex-jock and a know-it-all argue about sports.
Baseball Tonight: Ex-jocks argue about sports.
NBA Today: Ex-jocks argue about sports.
College GameDay: Ex-jocks and an ex-coach/buffoon argue about sports.
Jim Rome Is Burning: An ex-traordinarily obnoxious host argues about sports with himself while making viewers wish the show's title were literally true.
A Sixers buzz
Speaking of Comcast, in the course of just a few short weeks the new owners of the 76ers have exposed the marketing incompetence of the club's former proprietor.
Using Twitter, the team's rich history, and some smart and stirring television commercials, the green and geeky new ownership group has created a buzz about the Sixers that was unimaginable during Comcast's long reign of error.
Quick question
If, as the Winter Classic appears to have demonstrated, fans here like outdoor hockey better than the indoor variety, then why didn't the Flyers continue to play at the Spectrum after its roof blew off in 1968?
Five things 2011 proved
1. Cowboys coach Jason Garrett proved you don't have to be smart to graduate from Princeton.
2. The St. Louis Cardinals proved you don't need good pitching to win a World Series.
3. The NHL's Winter Classic proved that there are more stupid hockey fans than previously imagined.
4. Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun proved you don't have to be a jerk to cheat.
5. Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden proved Joe Paterno made more than one big mistake in 2011.
The four question marks
I don't know about you, but the Phillies infield is giving me nightmares. As currently constituted, it appears to have more holes than Myrtle Beach.
Consider:
Ryan Howard: The possibility that a lumbering, 240-pound first baseman might recover quickly from the severing of an Achilles tendon seems as remote as Jerry Sandusky's return to coaching.
Chase Utley: The possibility that a player with at least one knee in need of surgery is ever going to near his all-star form seems as remote as Alycia Lane's Emmy chances.
Jimmy Rollins: The possibility that a wild-swinging 33-year-old will ever become a protypical leadoff hitter or again approach his MVP production seems as remote as a second season for Work It.
Placido Polanco: The possibility that a 36-year-old whose body has endured a demolition derby of injuries (hip, back, elbow, etc.) is going to give you anything but more headaches seems as remote as Philadelphia's Olympic hopes.
News flash
Penn State's search committee reveals that it will have a new football coach in place before grass grows on the moon.
Contact staff writer Frank Fitzpatrick at 215-854-5068, ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com, or @philafitz on Twitter. Read his blog, "Giving 'Em Fitz," at www.philly.com/fitz
