- Dave O’Brien and Eric Wynalda: The lead broadcast team for ESPN Major League Soccer telecasts last season will not be returning for the 2008 campaign. O’Brien will be replaced by JP Dellacamera on play-by-play, while John Harkes will replace Wynalda as lead analyst. Rob Stone (studio host), Julie Foudy (studio analyst) and Allen Hopkins (sideline reporter) return.
- Stephen A. Smith: After being stripped of his column and being offered the less prestigious job of general assignment reporter, Smith has been fired from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Once Smith lost his column — a move perceived as a demotion — he “took an unpaid leave for several weeks, and was at one point scheduled to return but has repeatedly failed to do so.”
- Dick Vitale: The voice of college basketball returns to the air on Wednesday night, just in time for the Duke/North Carolina showdown on ESPN. Vitale, making his first appearance on ESPN since having throat surgery last year, will be joined by Mike Patrick and Stacey Dales.
