Media Roundup: LeBron James And Brett Favre Make For Another Busy Week In Boston Sports

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a "quiet" week in the Boston sports media.

This certainly was not one of them, with the Celtics opening the NBA season against LeBron James and his Superfiends  from Miami, and then with Brett Favre, Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings invading Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

The Heat-Celtics game Tuesday night, broadcast nationally on TNT, was a media circus, with 500 media credentials being issued for the game -- a number usually reserved for NBA Finals games. Amidst the media crush, it was no surprise here, but Hannah Storm stood out in the crowd for this one.

The television broadcast by TNT managed avoid going completely overboard on the LeBron/Heat love. I can only imagine how many televisions would've been tossed out windows around New England had the ESPN team led by Mike Breen been calling this game. For TNT, Marv Albert is ever the professional on the air, and analyst Steve Kerr even deigned to disagree with a blocking foul called on Paul Pierce when the Celtics star dared to get in the way of a charging James. It was refreshing not to hear adulation for either team coming from the broadcasters.

Speaking of ESPN and the Miami Heat, if you haven't checked their Heat Index page yet, it will leave your head spinning.

Because of the TNT coverage, Comcast SportsNet did not get to broadcast opening night; their coverage began on Wednesday night with the game in Cleveland against the Cavaliers. CSN will broadcast a total of 70 regular season Celtics games (the rest are national television exclusives) this season, and provide full pre and post-game coverage with Celtics Pre-Game Live presented by Ace Tickets and New England Ford Dealers Celtics Post Game Live hosted by Gary Tanguay and NBA analyst Donny Marshall. Greg Dickerson will provide courtside reports on every telecast, and CSNNE.com Celtics Insider A. Sherrod Blakely will provide comprehensive reporting during the pre and post game shows.

CSN added former WEEI.com writer Jessica Camerato to its coverage, to work alongside Blakely on the beat. In addition, the network also returns the weekly Celtics Now presented by Arbella, Comcast SportsNet’s Celtics magazine show featuring WEEI midday host Michael Holley, which airs every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

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Sunday's return of Randy Moss to Gillette Stadium has almost been overshadowed by the media blind spot that is Brett Favre. The Vikings quarterback has managed to be the center of attention once again this week after injuring his foot/ankle in Minnesota's game against the Green Bay Packers last Sunday night.

Favre's consecutive games-played streak is in jeopardy, though many believe that there is no way he misses this game on Sunday, and that perhaps ol' Brett is making this out to be a bit worse than it really is. Add that to the "sexting" scandal that Favre finds himself engulfed in, and Randy Moss can sneak into town and onto the field at Gillette without much of a stir, relatively speaking.

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• WEEI announced on Wednesday that Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia will be joining The Big Show on Wednesday afternoons during the offseason, for an extended segment in which Pedroia will also field calls from listeners.

• The Patriots are sitting at 5-1, yet many in the media, after their preseason predictions of doom, are mystified as to how they are managing to win games. They resort to criticizing the "quality" of wins and complain that the team isn't dominating games. That sounds vaguely familiar to me...

• I know NESN is the home of the Red Sox and Bruins, but why don't they at least have token shows devoted to the Celtics and Patriots? Competitor CSNNE has tried to diversify their offerings enough to cover all the major sports in town, plus offering Boston College football replays.

• Give Karen Guregian of the Herald credit - on the same day when Minnesota reporters were complaining about not being able to talk to Randy Moss, Guregian, who was in Minnesota for the Herald this week reporting on the Vikings, did manage to get a few words from the former Patriot.

• Building on that last item -- why is the Herald the only local outlet able to send a reporter to the opposing city, especially for a matchup with as many potential storylines as this one? Once again, give them credit for going the extra mile.

Tweet of the week:

Suddenly, I'm 12 years old all over again.