Coverage ready and waiting

Jim Williams, The Examiner
Jan 9, 2007 3:00 AM (6 hrs ago)
Current rank: # 8 of 12,512 articles

WASHINGTON - These things are inevitable: death, taxes and Cal Ripken, Jr.’s invitation to Cooperstown.

Around 2 this afternoon, Ripken will be named to the 2007 Hall of Fame class. You can rest assured local media will be all over it.

Although Ripken played his entire career in Baltimore, he has many Washington fans that called the Orioles their own during his tenure.

CSN and MASN — along with NBC-4, FOX-5, ABC-7, CBS-9 and Newschannel 8 — have extensive coverage planned for the big day.

SportsTalk 980-AM and Triple X ESPN radio will also devote considerable air time to the announcement, with Ripken’s press conference scheduled for around 4:30 p.m.

CSN and MASN will carry the press conference live and all local news outlets plan coverage and interviews with Ripken on their nightly newscasts.

Today at noon, MASN will air Cal’s final game (Orioles vs. Boston from Oct. 6, 2001) before carrying his press conference.

At 7 p.m., MASN shows the rerun of all reruns: Cal’s record-breaking 2,131st game played on Sept. 6, 1995 against the Angels.

Ripken will also join CN8’s Gregg Murphy as part of a special live “Out of Bounds” broadcast from the Sports Legends Museum in Baltimore. In addition, the early edition of “Out of Bounds” will feature a number of special guests, including Mike Flanagan, Orioles general manager and former Ripken teammate.

Nationally, ESPN plans coverage starting at 6 a.m. with the “Mike and Mike in the Morning” radio show. Special editions of the Hot List on ESPNews along with “PTI” and “SportsCenter” will have features on all the class of 2007 inductees.

Leave it to the Iron Man to steal the spotlight from the NFL playoffs for at least one day.

Then again, how often does a true local hero earn a well-deserved spot in Cooperstown?

Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.

Examiner