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Kevin Calabro Returns To Trail Blazers TV Crew

The Portland Trail Blazers are switching back to Kevin Calabro in the broadcast booth after he stepped away for the 2020-2021 season.

MIchael Quirk

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Pacific Northwest sportscasting stalwart Kevin Calabro stepped away from the broadcast booth with the Portland Trail Blazers last year due to concerns with Covid-19 and to spend more time with his family. It was announced on Wednesday that Calabro would return to the booth for the 2021-2022 season, replacing Jordan Kent who spent one year in the role.

A product of the Midwest, Calabro got his start in his home state of Indiana calling Butler Bulldog and Purdue Boilermaker basketball, and Indianapolis Checkers hockey. He moved west to cover Missouri Tiger basketball as well as the Kansas City Kings, before moving to Seattle to call Supersonics games from 1987-2008 ending when the team moved to Oklahoma City.

Calabro has worked some national games for ESPN, TNT, and Westwood One. He was the play-by-play man for the Trail Blazers from 2016-2020, and will have analyst Lamar Hurd back by his side for his return. The return was reportedly more about Calabro than anything Kent did wrong.

“Our broadcast was as its best when Kevin was calling games with Lamar and (sideline reporter) Brooke (Olzendam),” a Blazers source told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s really more about being able to get Kevin back and be a great broadcast than anything Jordan did or didn’t do.”

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Bleav To Launch 2 FuboTV Channels

“Over 1,000 hours of original content is produced by Bleav each month.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Sports and entertainment media production company Bleav has officially launched two channels available now on FuboTV.

Bleav Sports and Bleav Football will utilize content from its podcast network to comprise programming on the TV side.

“We are excited to be partnering with Fubo, one of the premiere companies for sports streaming,” Bleav president Eric Weinberger said.

Over 1,000 hours of original content is produced by Bleav each month. Former NFL and NBA standouts like Ahman Green, Rudy Gay, Lamar Odom, LenDale White, Ike Taylor and Jonathan Stewart are just some of the hosts for Bleav.

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Neil Everett Exits ESPN After 23 Years

“ESPN changed my life, but now it’s time for me to change my life.”

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Courtesy: NBAE via Getty Images

Neil Everett’s SportsCenter days are over. Front Office Sports reports that the anchor has chosen to say goodbye to ESPN after 23 years at the network.

“ESPN changed my life, but now it’s time for me to change my life,” Everett said. “Time to write a new chapter.” 

The network reportedly offered Everett a new deal. Had he agreed to it, the anchor would have taken a salary reduction.

This is a significant moment for SportsCenter. Everett moving on means one of the show’s longest-tenured partnership comes to an end. He had worked with Stan Verrett since 2009.

Everett’s exit comes in the same week that it was revealed Chris Chelios would not return to the network’s NHL coverage next season. The Walt Disney Company is currently in the middle of trying to cut 7000 jobs to save $5.5 billion.

As for the future, Everett says he will seek to increase his TV role with the Portland Trail Blazers. He has been part of the team’s broadcast crew on NBC Sports Northwest for the last two years.

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Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica To Make FOX TV Debut on Belmont Coverage

“Everyone I’ve worked and interacted with at the company has been so helpful and open to someone who has spent his entire professional life elsewhere.”

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Courtesy: KFSM

As the college football season was winding down, fans found out one of the foundational members of the College Gameday staff would be leaving ESPN. Chris “The Bear” Fallica left the network and has been working for FOX since the new year. This weekend during the network’s coverage of The Belmont Stakes, he will finally make his TV debut for his employers.

“It’s been great. This will be my first TV appearance, so I’m excited,” Fallica said in an interview with FOXSports.com. “But we’ve been cranking out content on the digital side since January, and I’m very happy with how the USFL picks have been going (4-0 last week for those of you counting at home). Everyone I’ve worked and interacted with at the company has been so helpful and open to someone who has spent his entire professional life elsewhere.”

Fallica, who worked for ESPN for nearly three decades, is going to be a major presence in FOX’s gambling content both on air and online. Making picks is nothing new. He had been doing it on College GameDay for years prior to his exit. 

In addition to making football picks, horse racing is going to be a major part of what The Bear does for FOX. While this will be his TV debut on FOX, Fallica put the spotlight on one of his colleagues.

“It was a great decision to bring Tom [Durkin] back for this call. His voice is synonymous with the sport for a generation of racing fans, so it will be a treat to hear him call a race again.”

Durbin is coming out of retirement to call the race. This is the first year that the Belmont is airing on FOX as part of a rights deal with the New York Racing Association.

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