http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2008-02-05-knight-analyst_N.htm "... analyst Eric Wynalda— who, (ESPN VP of Communications Mike) Soltys says, will not return to ESPN. …"
I'm not even gonna bother reading the entire Article. All I got to say is, WTF!? Who are they gonna replace him with? Are they gonna replace him with another Baseball Broadcaster that doesn't know Jack about the Sport? Jim Rome and all of those Nacionalist Anti-Soccer ESPN viewers must be jumping up and down right now....
Well, i think they are going to replace him with Bruce Arena. Who is probably a better analyst then Wynalda.
ives reporting he's gone, too. http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/02/espn-cuts-wynal.html
Disney/ESPN figured out a way to dump Wynalda's big salary (reported by USA Today to be over $1 million a year). There was absolutely no way ESPN was going to pay someone that kind of money to do UEFA CL games to be shown on ESPN Classic (US) and ESPN Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific.
How screwed up is the business of soccer in the US if a color commentator is making over $1 mil a year while the vast majority of the players in MLS make nowhere near that amount? I'm very glad to hear that Wynalda won't be ruining CL games on ESPN.
Because he was actually slated to do other things for the networks, but screwed up his big chance when he was on Mike and Mike and other shows. Eric needs to face the facts - he had his chance for more than MLS and blew it.
If Dana Jacobson keeps her job it will be a travesty. Like him or not, at least Wynalda knew what he was talking about. Thx, Jay!
Jacobson kept her job because ESPN saves money by keeping someone who is "affordable" to do a show which draws at best an 0.2% rating. (Her last gig prior to ESPN was in Sacramento, which was and is still a relatively "cheap" market for on-air talent.) Wynalda was tossed to the curb because ESPN saves money by getting rid his overpriced million-dollar contract.
Agreed. But Jacobson certainly did much more to put ESPN in a negative light than Wynalda ever has. A couple of internet jacknuts whining about his "fire" comment and a well-deserved-bar-chat turned blog-post pointing out the well-known fact that Jim Rome is a dick hardly measures up to the "F* Touchdown Jesus" comments DJ made in public. It certainly has much more to do with money than talent, or squandering thereof. And two more words... Michael Irvin. Thx, Jay!
And somewhere, an executive is planning to pair Jack Edwards and Eric Wynalda for soccer matches. NBC? XM Radio? FSC? Versus? Setanta? What do you think?
if Wynalda was making $1 million I could imagine what people like Stuart Scott and Chris Berman make.
They've never put a non-soccer guy in as the COLOR COMMENTATOR. Play-by-play yes, but plenty of PBP guys do multiple sports. The color guy is specific to the sport being broadcast. Relax...