Former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Colin Dunlap claimed last night that West Virginia head football coach Bill Stewart called him last December and asked him to dig up dirt on Stewart’s successor-in-waiting, Dana Holgorsen. Dunlap made his allegations on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.

Holgorsen was named coach-in-waiting on Dec. 16 and Dunlap says Stewart called him several days later and made the request. Dunlap formerly covered Mountaineers football for the Post-Gazette. He resigned from the newspaper in late May.

“He tried to flame-throw the guy in December by calling me and at least one other reporter because the other reporter and I discussed it. [Stewart] said, can you get the word, I think it was scumbag or something, tattooed on the front of the sports page? You need to dig up this dirt; you need to get it out on this guy. And I said, ‘Hey man, I’m not a part of some witch hunt.’ But I understood the guy was like backed in a corner and was in a tight spot.”

Holgorsen has been the focus on several damning newspapers articles in recent weeks, including a May 28 piece in the Huntington Herald-Dispatch that said Holgorsen had been involved in at least three and maybe as many as six alcohol-related incidents since being named to succeed Stewart. West Virginia officials are now investigating the possibility that Stewart or his wife, Karen, were the sources for several disparaging stories about Holgorsen and that information may have been fabricated to paint Holgorsen in an unflattering light.

In related news, naming a successor-in-waiting is always a great idea.

(H/T/ to Dr. Saturday)

ESPN NHL analyst Matthew Barnaby was served with two new court orders of protection that prevents him from any “offensive” conduct against his estranged wife and directing him to “stay away” from her boyfriend.

Barnaby was arrested on May 13 and charged with felony criminal mischief, criminal contempt, criminal trespass, harassment and aggravated harassment following a domestic disturbance at his former residence in upstate New York.

He’s due back in court on July 8 but there are talks about a possible pre-trial resolution to the criminal case. If convicted, Barnaby faces up to four years in prison.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals between Dallas and Miami scored a 10.5 0vernight rating, the highest-rated program of the night in prime time.

Those numbers are down slightly from last year’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals between Boston and Los Angeles, which earned a 10.9 overnight rating. Despite the decline, Mavericks-Heat was the second highest-rated Game 2 in the last seven years.

Locally, the game earned a 35.1 metered market rating in Miami, the highest-rated NBA game ever locally (dating back to 2003). In Dallas, the game earned a 25.6 metered market rating.

ESPN has scheduled a 1 p.m. online chat with John Walsh, executive vice president and executive editor, who will discuss the network’s approach to editorial coverage and take questions from readers. Hopefully someone will ask Walsh what he thought of the singing pink gorilla who crashed his sitdown with Deadspin editor Tommy Craggs, who apparently will not be taking his writing chops to Bill Simmons‘ ESPN’s new website, Grantland.com, after angering the Wide Wide Leader by skewering Page 2 editor Lynn Hoppes in a Deadspin article.

A memorial service was held Wednesday for sportscaster Daryl Hawks, who died while on assignment in Atlanta for NBC Chicago.

Funeral services for the 38-year-old were held last week in Williamsville, New York. The cause of death is still unknown.

Gus Johnson, who’d become the voice of the NCAA tournament during his 16 years with CBS, has joined Fox Sports after CBS declined to match the competing network’s offer, Bob Raissmann of the New York Daily News first reported tonight.

A CBS source who wanted Johnson back said not only money, but politics was an issue. The source said some of CBS Sports’ college hoops voices were not thrilled with Johnson’s rise to March Madness’ most popular voice.

Johnson now moves to Fox as an NFL and Pac 12 football play-by-play man.

Richmond, Virginia, is one of two finalists — along with Oman – to host the 2015 World Road Cycling Championships, a nine-day event that city officials say could bring more than 500,000 people and $135.3 million in economic benefits to the area — while showcasing the city to millions of television viewers worldwide.

A delegation from Richmond is arriving Monday at the Swiss headquarters of Union Cyclist Internationale, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The delegation will hold work sessions with UCI officials Tuesday and Wednesday to get a better feel for what the governing body wants to see in the bid, said Tim Miller, executive director of Richmond 2015, Once the group returns to Richmond, it will take about month and a half to complete the bid. UCI officials are expected to visit Richmond later this month.The official presentation to UCI will be made in August. The winning bid will be announced in late September at this year’s world championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Studies show the race, which is estimated to cost $12.2 million and would be subsidized in part by corporate sponsors, would be a huge windfall for the city.

According to the study, which was based in part on the number of attendees at previous world road cycling championships, Richmond would draw more than 1,000 athletes and more than 452,000 spectators from about 70 countries. A large impact would come from the exposure Richmond would receive because of interest in the race. About 500 media outlets from 35 countries are expected to cover the races. The coverage is expected to generate in excess of 400 hours of television watched by 300 million viewers, the study found.

Time to embrace your inner George Jefferson, LeBron James. So says ESPN’s Bomani Jones.

NBCUniversal has announced its coverage plans for the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, and it is extensive. Much like NBCU does with the Olympic games, a number of networks and platforms will be in place to cover the derby, including some channels not typically associated with sports.

All told, NBCU will present 14 1/2 hours of coverage leading up to the race Saturday afternoon.

Among the participating channels and shows:

On NBC, “Today,” Al Roker and Jenna Wolfe will be live from Churchill Downs Thursday, Friday and Saturday. “Today” will also run a number of segments focusing on the Derby. During the fourth hour, Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford will select a winner who makes the most interesting derby hat to send to the event.

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Anyone who has listened to a Bruins game knows that Jack Edwards is the biggest homer of all time, and that’s fine. In his own way he’s no worse than Suzyn Waldman for the Yankees or any number of fawning media members who refuse to criticize their own teams no matter the circumstances. But Edwards operates on his own ethereal plane in these matters, taking the rhetoric (and inanity) to pioneering heights. Witness this harangue about royalty, the “free and independent states” of New England, the Boston Tea Party and a whole lot of other nonsense after the Bruins beat their hated rivals, the Canadiens, in overtime of Game 7 last night.

Never let it be said that stupidity doesn’t sell.

(H/T to Awful Announcing for video)