TNT NBA analyst Reggie Miller appears to be next in line for the role as president of the Indiana Pacers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Larry Bird has said that he would step down after one more season in the Pacers’ front office. Miller has been with TNT since he announced his retirement in 2005.

Wojnarowski also mentioned a scenario (which would make more sense) where Donnie Walsh would come in and assist Miller.

Commentating about basketball for a living is one thing, running an NBA team is another.

During a highly anticipated radio interview yesterday with Paul Finebaum, Danny Sheridan of USA Today was expected by many to divulge the name of the “bag man” who purportedly delivered the money necessary to bring Cam Newton to Auburn. Sheridan did not name the person, claiming he never promised to do so. When Finebaum said that Sheridan would be raked over the coals by media commentators, Sheridan was unmoved, and went off on a tangent about bloggers who (cliche alert) mostly live in their mother’s basements. He likened them to cockroaches who aren’t man enough to say something and put their name to it.

To recap, people were paying particular attention to what Sheridan had to say yesterday because he claimed to know something, but then refused to divulge the name because he says he didn’t want someone to lose their job. In unrelated news, I know the real identity of D.B. Cooper, but don’t want to reveal his name because someone might lose their job. Come back tomorrow, though, maybe I’ll troll for more attention change my mind.

(H/T to Sportsgrid)

This afternoon HBO announced that it had secured the rights to distribute the November 12 pay-per-view boxing rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. As part of the deal, HBO parent company Time Warner will be promoting the fight on all of its platforms, including during the 2011 Major League Baseball playoffs on TBS.

Also joining in the synergy to promote the fight: Time Warner’s own CNN.

Two people familiar with the matter tell TVNewser that CNN will replay episodes of HBO’s “Pacquiao-Marquez 24/7,” a docu-series that chronicles the two men training for the bout. In addition, ESPN boxing reporter Dan Rafael reports that Pacquiao will be interviewed on an upcoming edition of “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

Media companies regularly use their platforms to promote shows on sister networks. News channels and programs are not exempt from the promotions. Earlier this year Fox News featured programming from Arizona in advance of the Major League Baseball All Star Game, and NBC’s Matt Lauer appeared in an episode of the USA series “Royal Pains.”

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Comedian and political commentator Stephen Colbert has control of Major League Baseball’s Twitter feed today, and has already written, “I can’t wait to see Ken Burns‘ nine-part documentary about my control of baseball’s twitter feed,” and “Am I the only person who thought @MLB was the twitter handle of Matt LeBlanc?”

No, Colbert did not hack into MLB’s system. He won a bet, beating MLB in the Beat The Streak contest. This is where fans pick one player they think will get a hit each day, in hopes of putting together a streak that bests Joe DiMaggio‘s all-time hit streak record of 56 consecutive games. The reward is $5.6 million.

MLB also rolled out a side game, featuring Colbert. If he could put together a longer streak than MLB itself, he’d win control of their Twitter feed for a day. Colbert won — with a hitting streak of two.

In short, MLB is the Mario Mendoza of its own contest.

The lead-up and playing of the annual Army-Navy football game will serve as the basis for a reality show/docudrama called A Game of Honor to be broadcast on Showtime on Dec. 21. Peter Radovich, a show co-producer, said the schools were initially hesitant about allowing cameras to follow their teams in Annapolis and West Point, respectively, throughout the summer, fall and all the way through the Dec. 10 game on CBS. But both service academies ultimately saw it as a possible recruiting tool.

“It was smart on their part, because they have nothing to hide. There are no warts there,” Radovich told USA Today.

Filming began in June, and included seeing U.S. Naval Academy freshman Maika Polamalu, cousin of Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu, getting his buzz cut.

“Without question, this could be an annual thing. … What’s good about this – compared to other annual reality shows out there – is there’s a lot more to this than sports,” Radovich says.

John Feinstein, the longtime Washington Post reporter who contributed color commentary to Navy games for 14 years, recently quit his position in protest of this CBS/Showtime project, explaining that he’d unsuccessfully petitioned CBS to do a documentary about the Army-Navy game in the past.

Lindsay Czarniak of WRC-Channel 4 in Washington, D.C., is moving to Bristol to work for ESPN, and she bade an emotional farewell to the city and sports teams during a segment that includes warm wishes from Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman and former Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell.

(H/T to Dan Steinberg at WaPo)

Hockey analyst Pierre McGuire is leaving TSN in Canada and will be working exclusively on television for NBC and Versus. He will continue to contribute to TSN radio. McGuire and his family are moving to New Canaan, Connecticut, this summer, in close proximity to Versus’ studios in Stamford.

“It’s a chance to spend more time with my family,” said the 50-year-old McGuire, who has an 11-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son. “I’ll be doing two games a week for Versus or NBC, and spend one night in the Versus studio.”

He’ll also have the opportunity to cover the Olympics for NBC, which owns the rights to all the upcoming scheduled Games.

“I’ll get a chance to work on the next three summer Games and two winter Games,” McGuire said.

McGuire is well known for his “inside the glass” assignments, where he’s stationed between the opposing teams’ benches and offers viewers a unique vantage point for in-game interviews and analysis. He’s also known for inspiring the Pierre McGuire Drinking Game, which has its own Facebook page.

Here we go again.

Stephen A. Smith hinted Thursday morning that he heard something is going on in LeBron James‘ personal life, which might explain his poor outing in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Sound familiar? *Cough, Gloria James, cough*

Based on Smith’s recent track record (he broke the LeBron story last year), you have to believe him at this point. But why bring it up if you aren’t willing to dive into the topic?

[H/T SportsGrid via The Big Lead]

Julie Souza has been hired as vice president of business development for the Sports Illustrated Group.

Souza comes from CBS Sports Network, where she was most recently vice president, strategic planning and business development. During her time at CBS Sports Network, Souza was responsible for the network’s rebranding initiative

At Sports Illustrated, Souza will work with the magazine’s leadership team create long-term development strategies for SI Television and video production as well as create a blueprint for international expansion.

Souza earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden is returning to ESPN.

Bowden will write for ESPN.com’s SweetSpot Blog Network and provide multimedia analysis across ESPN’s digital platforms. He will also be a contributor to ESPNLosAngeles.com.

Bowden was the youngest GM in MLB history when the Cincinnati Reds hired him at age 31.

After a stint at ESPN, Bowden returned to baseball as the first GM of the Washington Nationals, where he remained until the 2009 season.

Bowden will continue to co-host his Inside Pitch radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio.