McFeely’s Tip Sheet is a compilation of notes, quotes, rumors, gossip and commentary by Forum columnist Mike McFeely. If you have a tip, a note or a hot rumor feel free to send it along to mmcfeely@forumcomm.com. Not all will be printed because of, you know, legal reasons. But they might lead to something. All tip sources will remain anonymous.

The once-impressive sports coverage at Valley News Live is withering to almost nothing.

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Part of the reason might be the station’s general manager, who has a well-known disdain for sports.

Frankly, the Tip Sheet doesn’t know for sure because said GM, Ike Walker, didn’t return a couple of messages seeking comment.

But this we know: VNL currently has no sports staff after former sports director Devin Fry moved in May to a different role at the station and sports reporter Eric Moon recently departed.

Whatever sports news VNL has, and it often ain’t much, is read by a news anchor.

On Monday’s 10 p.m. newscast — which was mostly crime stories interspersed with weather — the only sports was news anchor Justin Betti spending 35 seconds reading a story about ESPN’s SportsCenter coming to Fargo to cover North Dakota State football.

There were whispers that Walker, who sources say has long loathed sports even when VNL had the NDSU football contract for 14 years until the COVID-forced spring season in 2021, would not rehire for Fry’s or Moon’s positions.

Indeed, VNL did not advertise for or hire a new sports director when Fry changed jobs within the company.

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But talk of the complete death of the sports department was premature. VNL’s corporate owner Gray Media is advertising for a sports reporter/anchor at the station.

However, from the job description it sounds like a hybrid position between sports and news, with only weekend sports anchoring duties.

“You will anchor weekend sportscasts and cover a combination of sports and news on your other days,” the job posting says, adding the person hired will “produce and anchor sportscasts on weekends, and as needed during the week.”

Kinda sounds like a part-time, half-hearted sports gig.

Even little KVRR-TV has two full-time sports reporters on staff. WDAY-TV, which currently holds the Bison and state high school tournament contracts, has four staffers dedicated to covering local sports.

It’s a far cry from the not-too-distant past when VNL — the combined signals of KVLY-TV and KXJB-TV — had five sports guys. And at various times had well-known names like Dan Hammer, Brian Shawn, Scott Peters, Beth Hoole and Rich Lodewyk.

Going back even farther, KXJB was at one time the home of the legendary Jim Adelson and Ed Schultz. KVLY and KXJB have a rich tradition of sports coverage in North Dakota, broadcasting the state high school tournaments for many years and eventually being the home of NDSU football when the Bison became a Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse. VNL also carried the Fargo Marathon at one point.

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In the glory days of local TV, there was fierce competition between the stations and personalities for Bison scoops, high school sports highlights, Dragons and Cobbers coverage, and the ratings that went with it. When KVLY and KXJB were separate entities and it was a three-way competition with WDAY … oh, baby, it was spicy.

In fairness, it’s the trend of many local news operations to cut back on sports in these much-changed media times (and newspapers, of course, have not been immune in this internet-driven world). It’s all about news and weather, which drive viewership more than sports results. And broadcast and cable TV viewership continues to decline. The New York Times reported that in May more Americans watched television on streaming than on cable and network TV combined, the first time that’s happened over a full month.

It’s not unheard of across the country for news anchors to deliver the sports. Even stations that maintain sports staffs have cut back severely on the time allotted for sports. What used to be 3- or 4-minute slots are now down to a minute or 90 seconds. Even WDAY has cut sports to 3 minutes on its 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts most nights, longer on Friday and Saturday nights during the school year.

In TV, live sports are hot. Sports highlights and scores are not. VNL is the ultimate local example.

Jim Adelson interviews former North Dakota State head football coach Jim Wacker at Dacotah Field in 1977. NDSU Athletics photo

Hot take of the day

Something that probably won’t happen, but if it does I’ll look like a genius:

— NDSU will announce this week it is opting out of the House settlement, unlike many other Football Championship Subdivision-level schools.

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A little birdie said …

NDSU is loathe to opt in on the House settlement because it values walk-ons both for athletic success across its programs and overall university enrollment. That’s the reason South Dakota State has announced it will opt out, as well. … Minnesota State University Moorhead honchos are extremely enthusiastic that new men’s basketball coach Jason Kemp will eventually take the Dragons to even higher heights than achieved by predecessors Chad Walthall and Tim Bergstraser.

North Dakota State’s head coach Matt Entz questions a call during play against Montana State during the NCAA FCS playoffs on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana. David Samson/The Forum

Jottings

Former NDSU head coach Matt Entz, now the top dog at Fresno State, was listed as the top “under-the-radar” recruiter in college football by The Athletic, citing the Bison’s Grey Zabel going in the first round of the NFL Draft while Dillon Radunz and Cody Mauch went in the second round. All three players were either two-star or unranked recruits, the publication said. … NDSU was listed as the second-best non-Power 4 talent producer, boasting seven NFL draft picks in the last five years. The pool included all Group of Five and FCS programs. Tulane was tops with eight NFL picks since 2021. Boise State also had seven draft choices. South Dakota State was tied for fifth with five picks. … ESPN reported Texas State of the Sun Belt Conference was the “heavy favorite” to receive and accept an invite from the rebuilt Pac-12 as the college realignment wheel begins spinning again. The domino effect of Texas State leaving the Belt would be Louisiana Tech moving from Conference USA to the Sun Belt and Tarleton State receiving an invitation to leave FCS and move to CUSA. … ESPN’s publicity machine posted on social media that the retiring Lee Corso made 430 mascot headgear picks on the popular “College GameDay” program and only three teams had multiple picks from Corso and no losses in those games: USC (17-0), Virginia Tech (4-0) and NDSU (3-0). … Grand Valley State won the Division II Learfield Directors’ Cup based on success in NCAA championships. It was GVSU’s 17th Learfield Cup. Emory (Georgia) won the Division II award and Cumberlands (Kentucky) took home the NAIA crown. … The NCAA Football Oversight Committee is recommending that the Division I Council reject Sacramento State’s waiver request to transition from FCS to FBS as an independent, according to Yahoo Sports. It’s a major roadblock for the Hornets, who’ve made no secret about wanting to move up. Without a conference invitation, schools moving from FCS to FBS need a waiver to compete as an independent.