Heidi Watney Out At NESN, Joining Lakers
Boston Red Sox play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo re-signed for four more years, continuing his partnership with analyst Jerry Remy.
Yeah, yeah, that's nice, but what about that bodacious blonde Heidi Watney, you ask?
Well, according to the same release, she will not be returning to the Red Sox next year, leaving the organization with nothing redeeming but beer and fried chicken:
Watney, whose contract had also expired, is leaving to work for Time Warner Cable in southern California. Time Warner Cable lured the Los Angeles Lakers away from Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV last February with a landmark 20-year deal said be worth in excess of $2.5 billion.
Watney will work as a sideline reporter on the Time Warner Cable Laker telecasts, beginning with the 2012-13 season. She had worked on NESN's Red Sox telecasts and other Red Sox programming for the past four seasons. Her new job allows her to return to her native California.
The end of Watney's time as a Red Sox field reporter is said to have been a mutual move so the former Miss California could be closer to home. Of course, there were the rumors that she 'dated' players during her time with the team, Jason Varitek in particular, which may have been a determining factor in the end. Just last month, when the Red Sox were being blown up, Watney apparently went against company policy by commenting on the resurfaced rumors. She RT'd Red Sox related news as recent as Tuesday and hasn't updated her profile's info. When someone asked her for an update on her contract status this week, Watney responded that she was on vacation and told people via hashtag not to jump to conclusions. Hmmm.
If only Boston could find a way to get rid of Dan Shaughnessy:
For all that's good about association football, please get it off ESPNFL, that den of soccer haters and egomaniacs!
First, do we really need more instances of US Soccer matches interrupted by Little League ballgames because ESPN keeps insisting on having every sports property under the sun? It's like they act like they're doing us a favor by putting something on the air. They think we're beholden to them or something. Not that NBC and Fox are any easier to stomach but at least they have much more space that needs to be filled, with the slight exception of Fox if they continue to air MLB by 2018. If US Soccer has any balls (and I don't mean soccer balls) they would put everything related to US Soccer off of ESPN and put it on either FX or NBC Sports Network.
Also, eff ESPN3. Make a deal with Roku, Apple TV, Google or Netflix and stream directly to real fans. It's time we show those suckas that we have power and will be willing to walk away as long as they disrespect us. Let them choke on more college cartel bowls and over-the-hill baseball junkies!
Finally, I hope Andres Cantor is still around in 2018 because I would rather that Telemundo do the Spanish commentary.
Next Wednesday is one of the most important days of the next decade for soccer in the United States
