Bangor all-sports radio station WZON (620 AM) and Dover-Foxcroftsister station WDME (103.1 FM) came back from the annual MaineAssociation of Broadcasters awards with the lion's share of sportsbroadcasting honors.
Aside from second and third place in the sports feature division,WZON and WDME won all other divisions and places.
'It's a good reflection of what we're doing, especially if youlook at the fact there are now a couple other all-sports stations inthe state, so there's more competition,' said WZON announcer JeffSolari. 'And it's nice to be recognized by our peers.'
All Maine MAB entries for 2006 were judged by a panel of mediamembers from Iowa. Maine judges evaluated entries from Wyoming.
The Sports Zone finished first in sports play-by-play for thebroadcast of a University of Maine women's basketball game againstClemson by Solari and Clem Labree and first in sportscast for theSports Zone Morning Show hosted by Dale Duff and Labree. There wasonly one place awarded in the sportscast category this year.
Another winning entry for WZON was a third place in play-by-playfor a UMaine football game broadcast against Shaw by Rich Kimball andBob Lucy. Second went to WDME and Toby Nelson for a collage of highschool calls.
Nelson also took first in the sports feature division for hisFoxcroft Academy football recap used as a pregame segment before thestate championship. Second and third place went to Maine PublicRadio.
Also on the awards front, Fox Sports Net New England won a NewEngland Emmy Award for set design at the recent 30th annual Boston/New England Emmy Awards Ceremony in Boston.
The award was for FSNNE's Mohegan Sports Tonight, a live,weeknight highlights show co-hosted by Greg Dickerson and Rumford'sown Gary Tanguay.
Tanguay also received an Emmy nomination for his spot on an FSNNEpromotional commercial for a network contest. It was his fifthnomination, but he has yet to win.
ESPN2 catching a draft
For the first time, the Major League Baseball entry draft will beaired live as ESPN2 will televise the entire first round today.
ESPN's bid to air the NFL Draft in 1980 was borne more ofdesperation than anything else as the network needed sporting events,any sporting events, to fill a 24-hour programming schedule. Heck,they even televised tractor pulls and log rolling contests. This timearound, however, it's more of a low-risk gamble or novelty move.
It might be critical for the teams, but watching this functionwill be anything but critical for most people. Even some hardcorefans will probably find better use for their time, such as findinganother No. 4 or No. 5 starting pitcher to fill in for an injuredplayer on their fantasy baseball team.
ESPN ran a daily poll on its Web site last month asking fans 'Willyou watch the MLB draft? With 160,114 votes in by 9:30 p.m. Monday, arousing 78.3 percent said 'no' to 21.6 saying 'yes.'
NESN's new lineup
If you wondered why the white-haired guy with former Boston RedSox slugger Jim Rice and former Portland Pirates radio voice TomCaron on the New England Sports Network pregame and postgame showslooks familiar, it might be his Red Sox roots.
Former Oakland Athletics manager Ken Macha has joined NESN'sstable of studio analysts.
Macha joins Rice, baseball Hall of Famer and former Sox pitcherDennis Eckersley, and former Sox utility player David McCarty as arotating pregame and postgame analyst.
Macha was also a manager in the Red Sox minor league organizationfor five years, including two seasons as manager of the Pawtucket RedSox.
Another recent NESN hire is Naoko Funayama, former sports reporterfor a Manchester, N.H., TV station. The Boston University andWilliams College alumna is focusing on stories surrounding Japanesepitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima plus their impacts onand off the field.
Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or ataneff@bangordailynews.net
