Jim Gray, co-star of The Decision and co-star of Pete Rose’s uncomfortable interview during the 1999 World Series, pestered boxing referee Russell Mora after this weekend’s controversial match between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko, which Mares won by decision. Mares got away with a series of low blows, and though Mora warned Mares, he never docked him a point. Gray took issue with that, and asked Mora if Mares would have won the match without his help. Not surprisingly, Mora did not appreciate the question. Nor did he appreciate Gray’s assessment (shared by others) that this might have been one of the worst officiated matches in memory.

On April 5, 1991 a tradition began: Bryant Gumbel asked the “Today” show director to “re-rack” the audio announcing Katherine Couric’s name — as she went by then. It was Couric’s first day as co-anchor of “Today” taking over for Deborah Norville.

And the tradition continued: Katie Couric did it for Matt Lauer; Lauer did it for Meredith Vieira… and this morning Lauer attempted to continue the tradition of replaying the voice over of Ann Curry‘s name. It didn’t go as planned. But the rest of the show, which included a look at Curry’s career (after the jump), and welcomes from around the country, went off without a hitch as the #1 network morning show began a new era.

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ABC’s “Good Morning America” is adding a new senior producer to its ranks, just days after announcing a new newsreader.

Ethan Nelson is joining “GMA” as senior broadcast producer. Nelson joins “GMA” following the announcement that ESPN’s Josh Elliot and “The Insider”‘s Lara Spencer would be joining the program as newsreader and lifestyle anchor, respectively. The moves come after James Goldston assumed senior EP duties on the program in February. Tom Cibrowski is still EP of “GMA.”

Nelson had been a producer for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” where he worked closely with the former “Today” and “Early Show” anchor.

The meeting between the NFL and the NFLPA was canceled after the owners rejected the union’s latest offer and stormed out. The Internet is exploding with various takes on the matter. But really, who cares?

We’re not sure what’s worse: The fact that we aren’t going to have football for a long time or the fact that every minor step towards (or away from) a conclusion will be breathlessly reported by the media. (And yes, we’ll include ourselves in that maw.)

Nice podium, though.

The “Today” show this morning took a look back at an old clip from the show circa 1994 in which Bryant Gumbel asks “What is internet anyway?” and former host Katie Couric explains that it’s a “massive computer network.”

It’s a major TV milestone, that will be celebrated in a low-key way.

Today NBC’s “Today” show celebrates 15 years as the nation’s #1 morning show. Look for a promo to air Monday during the show which will thank viewers for sticking with the program all these years.

So who gets the credit for the winning streak? If you ask EP Jim Bell it goes beyond the names you know.

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NY Daily News reports that Barbara Walters and EP Bill Geddie are collaborating again to develop a new spin-off of “The View” that “will attempt to inject a male perspective into the topics of the day.” Two of the names already being batted around for the show? Former NBCer Bryant Gumbel and former Fox Newser E.D. Hill, who has guest hosted “The View” in the past.

The name Linny Boyette is not a household one, but avid readers of TVNewser may recognize it. Linny is “Today’s” biggest fan, coming to the show every morning from his home in the Bronx.

Boyette has been profiled twice-twice-by the New York Times solely for his loyal fandom of Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker as well as Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel and other “Today” alums. Now the staff of “Today” finally returned the favor:

Filling in today on Live! With Regis and Kelly for Regis Philbin, Real Sports host Bryant Gumbel announced, “Two months ago, I had cancer surgery.”

“It’s nothing to hide from,” the former Today anchor continued. “They opened up my chest, they took a malignant tumor, and they took part of my lung and they took some other goodies, and pathology on most of the stuff came back benign. But enough aggressive cells had escaped the tumor that it warranted some treatment, and I went through treatment, and it’s done now. We hope — we hope — it’s over and done with.”

Gumbel said the surgery was painful, and he kept it private. “I even kept it from my staff at Real Sports.”

When co-host Kelly Ripa asked if Gumbel was going to be okay, he replied that “I’m okay, for the time being”, while adding, “They can’t tell if you’re free and clear until long after the treatments are done.”

As for his next steps, Gumbel said, “I’m seeing my oncologist next week, and I’m seeing my surgeon next week, and I hope that they greenlight me to play golf…”

We’re curious – is it George?

Despite media reports to the contrary, George Stephanopoulos‘ coronation as new co-anchor of “Good Morning America” is not a fait accompli, ABC insists.

“There is no frontrunner,” says network spokesman Jeffrey Schneider. “It’s not done, by any stretch of the imagination. We’re taking our time to do it right.”

What ignited another round of Stephanopoulos speculation was ABC’s announcement that the moderator of “This Week” would sit in for Diane Sawyer on “GMA” today through Friday.

No biggie, Schneider says. Stephanopoulos has hosted “GMA” “plenty of times.” This run will not affect ABC’s timetable for naming the successor to Sawyer, who in January replaces Charlie Gibson as “World News” anchor.

“As we’ve made crystal clear from the moment we announced about Charlie and Diane [in late August], this is a deliberate process that will take four months. We’re about a third of the way through that process.”

Still, ABC insiders say Stephanopoulos is the obvious choice to pair with Robin Roberts on the network’s most valuable cash cow.

With a new deal designating him as Sawyer’s No. 1 “World News” backup and as co-anchor of special events coverage, his stock at ABC is soaring. Come January, he will be the news division’s No. 2 star, behind only Sawyer.

“If they’re going for a big name to replace a big name, who’s bigger than George?,” says an ABC correspondent, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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