NESN's annual Women’s Celebration Night. Credit: NESN
By Qwame Skinner on

The Boston Red Sox have had one of the most remarkable midseason turnarounds in recent memory. After looking like one of teh worst teams in the MLB through the first part of the season, Boston has since gone 24-3 in its last 27 games heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Chicago White  Sox.

As great as Boston is playing, fans watching from home were treated to another reason to celebrate as it was NESN’s third annual Women’s Celebration Night.

Play-by-play voice Emma Tiedemann was joined in the booth by color analyst Alanna Rizzo, with Kasey Hudson reporting from the field.  Nicole Menner hosted studio coverage, with Sophia Jurksztowicz and Jen McCaffrey also contributing.

Per Sportsvideo.org, Wednesday night’s broadcast “is part of NESN’s broader Women of NESN initiative, which focuses on creating access across the industry, from on-air and production positions to roles on the business side of the network.”

Unfortunately, not all Red Sox fans were thrilled with how the broadcast went, including one of the most famous ones in Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.

“I have no problem with a women’s night for the Sox broadcast but can we annouce the game? This stinks,” Portnoy posted on X.

It’s a somewhat shocking take for Portnoy, considering what a big advocate he has been for women’s sports via his support of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark lately. Portnoy’s chief complaint appears to be the amount of dead air there was during the broadcast. Ironically, the best way for Tiedemann and Rizzo to improve is for them to get more opportunities. Hopefully, in their next one, they’re given the necessary time and space to perfect their craft.

About Qwame Skinner

Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.

View all posts by Qwame Skinner