Familiar Faces In New Places
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
So Tiki is officially a Peacock now. He joins such luminaries as Matt Lauer, Jay Leno, and Carson Daly. The details of the contract are scarce but he is said to be making in the $2.5-3 Million range. The interesting thing is/was that he turned down a more lucrative offer from ABC/ESPN (4 Years-$10M). Very interesting Tiki......very interesting.
Some quotes......
“Tiki Barber is one of those rare personalities who appeals to virtually every audience imaginable.”- NBC Universal President and CEO, Jeff Zucker.Good move by Tiki I say. In related news (not really) Baseball Tonight is adding yet ANOTHER analyst. This time it's Fernando Vina......wait......Fernando Vina?!?!?! Yep.
“Tiki's got that natural curiosity that makes a journalist tick. He personifies the fresh perspective and creative sensibility that the audience at 'Today' has come to expect, and I can't wait for him to get started.”- President of NBC News Steve Capus
“Throughout his playing career, Tiki was never shy about expressing his serve him well as a broadcaster and is what made him attractive to us. During this process, we realized how much the ‘Today’ show appealed to Tiki and as a sports division we are the beneficiaries.”- NBC Chairman Dick Ebersol
What does that give them now.....29 Baseball Analysts.....cause that's necessary.A two-time Gold Glove winner and former Mets infielder, Viña has agreed in principle to a contract with ESPN that would make him the newest analyst on Baseball Tonight. He will also appear on SportsCenter, ESPN News, and ESPN Radio.
ESPN Signing up Vina (NY POST)
8 Comments:
I still think Tiki and Ronde are going to pull a Freaky Friday on us next year.
Well, he's got New York sports fans in his hip pocket, which is nothing to sneeze at in terms of audience. He is also African-American and not a Gumbel, so that's a huge plus in terms of likeability.
He smiles at reporters and they overlook when doesn't perform well or when he throws other teammates and coaches under the bus. I personally find him to be unbearably pompous and lacking in class. He carries himself as if he is the only person in the NFL who can formulate a complete sentance. I hope they put him outside with the sign-bearing tourists and allow his wonderful air of superiority to continue on.
orestes destrade still may be my favorite baseball tonight guy. why? because who the fuck is orestes destrade?!?!?
Vina??...who's next, Louis Sojo?
Clearly Baseball Tonight needs a new lead-off guy for the company softball team now that Harold's gone.
I'm with Zach. Destrade has the best name. Plus it helps that he knows some of what he speaks, unlike certain members of their baseball analyst team.
Can someone clarify to me exactly what the appeal of Tiki Barber is? I can't remember someone ever saying to me "You want believe what this NFL player said" and thought it might be Tiki. Or even "This NFL player just said the most well-thought, articulate, interesting thing" and Tiki jumped to mind.
Hey, maybe I'm missing the boat, or just haven't heard him speak enough. He's good, yea...but so good that he's the center of a multi-million dollar bidding war?
What am I missing?