Former ESPN, Channel 2 anchor Sara Walsh returns to air with NFL on Fox

Nashville's Sara Walsh made her return to television last Sunday after the longest layoff of her career when she joined the NFL on Fox crew for the broadcast of the Saints-Falcons game. 

The former News 2 and ESPN SportsCenter anchor served as the sideline reporter,  working alongside Cris Carter (analyst) and Sam Rosen (play-by-play) for the game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

As enjoyable as it was for Walsh to be back on the air during the action-packed game, which the Saints won 43-37 in overtime, it was nearly as much fun reading the many texts and listening to all the voicemails left on her phone from people happy to see her working again.

"I couldn't believe how many people saw me and reached out and cared; it kind of blows my mind," Walsh said. "I got featured in Richard Deitsch's media column (in The Athletic) before doing the game, so I think that's how a lot of people found out, because I didn't say much about it. When I did my first take on the air Sunday my phone sort of blew up. I had the kindest messages of support. I'd really never seen anything like that."

It had been 20 months since Walsh had been on the air. She was included in ESPN's mass layoffs in May 2017. Before that she had been on maternity leave.

Walsh and her husband, Matt Buschmann, a former Vanderbilt pitcher, moved from Bristol, Conn., back to Nashville in the summer of 2017.

Last Sunday's game on Fox was just a one-time deal for Walsh. She is still under contract with ESPN through 2020 and unsure about how many more opportunities she will get to work until then. 

"It took some maneuvering (to do the game)," Walsh said. "Because it was just a game and I have to contractually go through some things to make that happen. But it was great to finally return to work. It was just great to be back at it and it felt like I never left."

Walsh was fortunate to land one of the weekend's best NFL games.

"It ended up being a crazy shootout in overtime between the Falcons and Saints," she said. "I got to see (Saints quarterback) Drew Brees break Brett Favre's completion record (6,300). It was awesome. It was really easy and smooth, the transition over to them, so it was great."

Walsh interviewed Brees, who completed 39 of 49 passes for 396 yards and threw for three touchdowns and ran for two, on the field after the game.

► More:Sara Walsh returns to Nashville

Belmont's Bradds joins Celtics staff 

Belmont’s all-time leading scorer Evan Bradds has been promoted to a video coordinator position for the Boston Celtics.

The two-time Ohio Valley Conference player of the year spent last season as an assistant coach for the Celtics’ G League affiliate the Maine Red Claws.

Coach Brad Stevens added Bradds to the Celtics staff as a floater in May after the Red Claws' season ended.

At that point Bradds wasn’t sure if the promotion was permanent or temporary and didn't know if he would return to the Claws.

► More:Former Belmont star Evan Bradds joins Boston Celtics staff for NBA playoffs

Ex-McGavock running back is president of Memphis Express 

Kosha Irby, a former McGavock running back, is the president of the Memphis Express of the upstart Alliance of American Football.

Irby scored four touchdowns as a junior in a game in 1994 and helped McGavock beat Overton 25-17. It was McGavock’s first win in two seasons.

Irby went on to play defensive back for Memphis (1997-2000).

He became assistant athletics director at South Florida (2005-06), associate AD at Saint Louis (2006-09), senior associate AD at Georgia State (2009-11) and then regional director of live events for World Wrestling Entertainment in 2011.

Patrick Smith, Tennessee State's leading receiver last season and a Memphis native, recently signed with the Express. 

The Alliance of American Football will start playing in February, the week after Super Bowl LIII.

► More:Memphis’ new pro football team now has a name and logo

Titans TV ratings soar

Local television ratings for the Titans continue to climb while ratings for the Tennessee Vols and Vanderbilt games continue to be low.

The Titans 9-6 win over Jacksonville last Sunday earned a 22.1 rating, according to WTVF-5 programming and research director Mark Binda. 

That was the highest rating of the season for a Titans game. A total of 225,818 Nashville households watched.

UT's 47-21 loss to Florida, meanwhile, earned a 10.6 rating (108,311 households). That was nine points lower than last year's UT-Florida game, which the Vols lost on a last-second pass.

Vanderbilt's 37-14 loss to South Carolina earned only a 1.9 rating (19,414 households).

Ex-Belmont soccer player Emily Proud joins News 2

Emily Proud, a former Belmont soccer player, is returning to Nashville as a sports anchor/reporter for News 2. She will replace Joe Leadingham, who left the station in August.

Proud, a Knoxville native, spent the two years after graduating as a sports reporter at WATE-TV in Knoxville. 

She began her career as sideline reporter at the OVC basketball tournament for the league's digital network.

Proud was a part-time starting midfielder on Belmont's soccer team during her junior (2014) and senior (2015) seasons. 

► More:Joe Leadingham leaving Channel 2, hopes to get into sports talk radio

Fisk hires new women's coach  

Former South Carolina guard Lauren Falohun was hired as Fisk’s new women’s basketball coach. The Atlanta native played at South Carolina from 2007-10.

She then became an assistant coach at Columbia High School in Decatur, Ga., Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C., Labette Community College in Parsons, Kan., and Lincoln (Penn.) University.

► More:Former NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson hired as Fisk basketball coach

Columbia Academy's Cary headed to Lipscomb

Columbia Academy’s Carson Cary announced on his Twitter feed he had committed to play basketball at Lipscomb.

Cary is a 6-foot-2, guard who averaged 19.0 points as a junior and was named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State Class A Team.

He led Columbia Academy to the quarterfinals of the state tournament and a 26-7 record.  

Snedeker commits to Australian Open

Former Vanderbilt golfer Brandt Snedeker announced he will play in the Australian Open. The tournament will be played Nov. 15-18 at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.

It will be Snedeker’s second time to play in the event. He finished runner-up and one stroke behind Craig Parry in 2007.

Kevin Ingram earns OVC Media Award

The Zone 104.5-FM host Kevin Ingram received the 2017-18 Ohio Valley Conference Media Award, which is given to the member of the media who exhibits the highest commitment to covering the league.

Ingram has served as the radio play-by-play voice for Belmont’s men’s basketball team since 2003.

He also is in his seventh season of handling play-by-play duties for the OVC Football Game of the Week, which is broadcast on ESPN3.

TSU's Davis signs pro deal in Ireland

Former TSU two-sport star I’mani Davis signed a contract to play basketball professionally in Ireland. 

The Tulsa, Okla., native, who graduated in 2017, will play for UCC Glanmire in Cork.

The 6-foot forward was a four-year starter who scored 1,133 career points and helped lead TSU to the 2015 OVC tournament championship. 

Davis also was the OVC high jump champion on TSU’s track team that same year and helped the Tigerbelles claim the league’s outdoor track and field championship.

She holds the distinction for being the only TSU athlete to win OVC championships with two different teams in the same year. 

Fairgrounds racing season nearing finish line

The final point series races of the season at the Fairgrounds Nashville Speedway are Oct. 6.

The races are being billed as Night of Champions/Breast Cancer Awareness and anyone wearing pink or any type of Breast Cancer Awareness swag will receive $2 off the $10 general admission.

There will be seven races beginning at 5 p.m. The featured pro late model race will be the last of the night.

Michael House of Columbia is the current division leader with 325 points. He has won four of the five races this season.

Mt. Juliet native Dylan Fetcho (310) is in second and Madison's Davey Coble (297) is in third. House’s father-in-law, Sterling Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 champion, is in eighth place (233).

► More:At 61, Sterling Marlin looks forward to setting Fairgrounds Speedway record next year

► More:Bristol Motor Speedway owner meets with Nashville mayor to pitch return of NASCAR to fairgrounds

Vandy SID accepts FAU position

After spending one season at Vanderbilt as assistant director for communications, Jessica Poole has accepted a position as senior associate athletic director for external affairs at Florida Atlantic.

The Ann Arbor, Mich., native worked primarily with football and women’s basketball at Vanderbilt. Pool spent four seasons at Ole Miss as the women’s basketball sports information director.

Waltrip speaking at Bridgestone Arena luncheon

Franklin resident and NASCAR Hall of Fame member Darrell Waltrip will be the keynote speaker at the Nashville Leadership Luncheon (11 a.m.-1 p.m.) on Oct. 5 at Bridgestone Arena. Waltrip is a NASCAR analyst for Fox Sports.

Other speakers include retired WTVF-5 sports director Hope Hines and country music star Jo Dee Messina.

Admission is $87 in advance or $107 at the door. For tickets or more information call 615-591-3960 or visit provincialdevelopment.com/nashville-leadership-luncheon.

TSU offering fans special deal

New TSU men’s basketball coach Brian “Penny” Collins is offering a sweet deal — Penny and Practice — to Tigers fans.

For $50 fans get to attend practice on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at Gentry Center while being served dinner. 

After dinner fans will meet the players and coaches. There also will be an auction.

Anyone wishing to attend should contact Matt Richardson at mattrigh803@gmail.com.

Sports on Nashville TV

The top five local ratings for sporting events from Sept.17-23:
1. NFL: Titans-Jaguars, 22.1
2. NFL: Patriots-Lions, 14.5
3. NFL: Cowboys-Seahawks, 11.8 
4. College football: Alabama-Texas A&M, 10.7
5. College football: Tennessee-Florida, 10.6 
Each rating point is equal to 10,218 Nashville homes.
Source: Mark Binda, WTVF-5 senior programming director

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.