The odd ABC/ESPN Miami decision this week. And Inter Miami assessment, Bally fallout

A 10-pack of media notes on a Thursday:

▪ On Sunday, jointly-owned ABC and ESPN will ask South Florida sports fans to choose: watch the Heat-Brooklyn Nets game or Inter Miami’s simultaneous opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The decision to slot two South Florida teams in competing windows is puzzling enough.

Stranger yet is the fact that the game that assuredly will attract greater national interest (Heat-Nets) is airing on ESPN, which is in 82.9 million homes nationally, while the soccer game will air on ABC, which is in 121 million homes.

So why was the NBA game placed on ESPN and the soccer game on ABC?

The ESPN/ABC contract with the NBA requires a certain number of games to be played on ESPN, and the network has needed to be creative finding slots for those games — including the 3:30 p.m. Nets-Heat game this Sunday (preceded by Pelicans-Knicks at 1 on ESPN), the Heat game at Boston on Mother’s Day and a rare Monday doubleheader this week.

So this wasn’t a case of ABC and ESPN executives getting together and arbitrarily deciding to put the soccer game on free TV and the NBA game on cable, though ABC’s contract includes a certain number of MLS windows, and this 3 p.m. Inter Miami game will be one of them.

And there was no consideration given to the downside of having two South Florida teams playing at the same time.

Mark Jones and Richard Jefferson will call Heat-Nets. Jefferson’s stock at ESPN continues to rise; he generally seems to say what he thinks, without fear of angering players — a quality viewers appreciate.

▪ The ABC/ESPN lead MLS team of Jon Champion and Taylor Twellman will call the Inter Miami game.

Twellman told me this week that he’s curious to see a revamped Miami offensive attack that he considered “too anemic and too predictable last season.” Miami scored 25 goals in 23 games in finishing 7-13-3 and replaced head coach Diego Alonso with Phil Neville.

“Gonzalo Higuaín is where it falls,” Twellman said of a player signed by Inter Miami last September. “They brought him in to score goals. The No. 1 concern is how to put together an attack more diverse than what they had. They have the players to score. It’s up to Phil Neville to put it all together.”

Twellman is eager to see Rodolfo Pizarro “playing off Higuain.”

On the hiring of Neville, Twellman said: “I’ve never heard any negative things on Phil Neville. I’ve heard good things about his ability to coach player 32 to player 1. “

He said new starting goalkeeper John McCarthy is “tested, has been in Major League Soccer, is relishing the opportunity to be a No. 1.”

Twellman said left back Kieran Gibbs, who is playing in England before joining Inter Miami in late July, will need to adjust to the South Florida heat. “It will be interesting what he looks like fitness wise. You’re playing a different kind of game with a different [level of heat]. What’s going to be difficult is he’s joining it in midseason.”

Twellman sees Inter Miami as “a contender to make a playoff spot. Success can be judged in a variety of ways. If they’re a more exciting team to watch, making the playoffs may not be the judge of success. You have to do it with style in Miami. David Beckham and Phil Neville know that.”

▪ NBC lead NFL analyst Cris Collinsworth tweeted this week that: “I know about the concussions, but Jaelan Phillips is the best defensive player in this year’s draft. I don’t even think it is close.”

That’s notable, because some project Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons or Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr. to go ahead of UM’s Phillips.

▪ What’s the most vocal viewer complaint in the wake of the Fox-to-Bally name change and accompanying cosmetic changes for Florida’s two regional sports networks?

Under the previous production team, shots on goal were superimposed at all times during Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning telecasts. Now, that graphic is displayed every few minutes. Some hockey fans want it visible all the time and have voiced displeasure.

But the Bally Sports production team in Los Angeles — which controls the look of all 19 Sinclair-owned regional sports networks, including Bally Sports Florida and Bally Sports Sun — prefers the screen to be less cluttered on hockey.

▪ My only complaint with the new graphics on Bally baseball coverage: The number of outs needs to be displayed more prominently than simply using small dots. But we’re told there hasn’t been a viewer uproar about that.

Otherwise, the Bally production look is slick, and I like that out-of-town scores are displayed more frequently now.

Incidentally, the renaming of the networks has done nothing to resolve the long-term carriage disagreements between the channels and DISH Network, Hulu and You Tube TV. There’s no resolution in sight to return the channels to any of those carriers.

▪ With the NBA and NHL delaying their seasons, Bally Sports Florida and Sun have had more conflicts among Heat, Marlins and Panthers games.

Fortunately, DirecTV, Comcast and Atlantic Broadband have made Panthers games available on an alternate channel when the three teams play simultaneously. But Comcast has made those Panthers “alternate” games available only on standard definition.

▪ When will our local announcers start traveling again?

The Marlins’ announcers will call road games from South Florida at least through the All-Star break.

There has been no talk of Heat announcers Eric Reid and John Crotty or Panthers announcers Steve Goldstein and Randy Moller traveling in postseason. They continue to call all road games from South Florida.

▪ Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and wife Ciara will host “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” an NBC special that will air at 7 p.m. Sunday and will encourage viewers to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Among others appearing: Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Billy Crystal, Faith Hill; Eva Longoria, Jennifer Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Demi Lovato; Jennifer Lopez and Wanda Sykes.

▪ Showtime has acquired “The Kings,” a four-part documentary series about the careers of legendary boxers Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard. The weekly series will debut June 6.

▪ The Houston Chronicle parted ways with NFL writer Aaron Wilson after he compared the women suing Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson to “terrorists” on a Boston sports radio show. Wilson also called their allegations a “money grab.”

Twenty-one women have filed civil lawsuits against Watson, accusing him of assault and harassment during massages he received from them. Watson has denied the allegations. The NFL is investigating.

In a statement on Twitter, Wilson said:“I made a mistake that I fully understand and own when I did not choose my words nearly carefully enough during a discussion regarding the sensitive, comp on a March 19 radio program regarding the sensitive, complex and controversial Deshaun Watson legal situation, in the days following the initial filing of the civil lawsuits from women against him.

“My efforts to convey perspectives on the situation clearly demonstrated an unintentional lack of sensitivity to the serious nature of these types of allegations and I sincerely apologize for my remarks. I didn’t maintain my own high standards that I’ve established and applied during my two decades of covering many other similarly important and delicate situations in the NFL. I will proceed much more carefully going forward and learn from this moment. I am committed to outstanding journalism now and always.”

Here’s my Thursday Heat piece on where Miami stands in its quest to avoid a play-in game, and tiebreakers and schedules among the teams competing.