Black Friday At ESPN...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Friday became Black Friday for a handful of well-known sports figures over at ESPN, the nation's preeminent sporting network. Firings came quickly.

This from a report at NYPost.com: [ ESPN is laying off some of its biggest stars, including Jeff Van Gundy, Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson, Suzy Kolber, and Jalen Rose, in a purge that is expected to result in around 20 on-air personalities being let go Friday as the network hopes to save tens of millions of dollars.

ESPN informed all of its employees Friday morning of the forthcoming cuts on an internal website, according to a memo obtained by The Post.

The five-paragraph note did not go into many specifics.

At the beginning of Disney’s three rounds of layoffs, sources told The Post that at ESPN, there would be "no sacred cows" when letting go of personnel. 

This has become apparent on Friday. ]

Van Gundy is a former National Basketball Association (NBA) head coach and league analyst for the network.

Kellerman is a widely-renowned boxing announcer and analyst who has worked some of the sport's biggest fights. He also has sat-in on some of ESPN's sports talk shows, including a multi-year stint opposite ESPN favorite Stephen A. Smith.

Johnson is a former National Football League (NFL) star receiver who played with the Dallas Cowboys. He also has appeared on various ESPN talk shows, especially during the NFL season.

Kolber, shown in file photo below, was an NFL sideline reporter for many years. Age may have been a contributing factor with her dismissal. She is 59.

Rose is a former NBA star player who found a home with ESPN after retiring. He appeared in numerous talk shows and was often seen during coverage of NBA games.

ESPN officials cited a steep drop in revenue, although word also had it that it was celebrity-heavy and needed to thin the star herd.

Who knows where these names will land...

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[Editor's Note:...Contributing to this report was Sun Sports Editor Jerry McHale in New York and Emma Perez Trevino in Bristol, Connecticut, home of ESPN...]