NESN’s Women’s Celebration Night at Fenway on Wednesday adds a new wrinkle: The next generation

Wednesday night’s Red Sox’ matchup with the White Sox will double as this season’s continuation of a more than worthwhile new tradition.

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The NESN broadcast will stand as the network’s third-annual Women’s Celebration Night, and for the second year in a row will feature an all-female broadcast. Women will lead all aspects of the production, with more than 25 contributing on air or behind the scenes.

Double-A Portland voice Emma Tiedemann will call the game, with Alanna Rizzo on color. Nicole Menner will be the studio anchor, with Sophia Jurksztowicz and The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey contributing reporting and insight.

This year, there’s something new as well: three local high school students who aspire to a career in sports media. They include Bella Daddario, a rising sophomore from Topsfield who currently is the junior host of “NESN Clubhouse” and will be the in-game reporter; Sophia Alvarado, a rising junior from Chelsea who will shadow the broadcast team, including Tiedemann and Rizzo; and Karlee McLean, a rising senior from Burlington who will be situated in the production truck.

“It’s special to be part of an organization that believes in elevating female voices and broadcasting while creating meaningful opportunities across all areas of production,” said Rizzo. “Giving these younger women who have a legitimate interest in the field an opportunity to be part of something like that is really special. I wish that would have been an opportunity when I was coming up.”

Daddario, 15, already has some experience in television and said she has never had any fear of public speaking. Regardless, she’s “a little nervous, but in a good way” to be part of Wednesday’s broadcast.

“Honestly, one thing I’m really looking forward to is having my family members see what I do,” she said with a laugh. “But I also think it’s going to be really fun to show other young women who want to work in sports broadcasting that that’s a space where they’re included and valued.

“Even when I was younger, making sure that people are in inclusive environments has been important to me, so I’m really happy to be part of something so cool that also represents my beliefs.

“And of course, I don’t want people to just think they’re putting some kid on there,” she added. “I really want to prove myself, because I know how special a chance like this is.”

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It’s easy to wonder whether CBS’s decision to put Tony Romo on leave from his role as the network’s top NFL color analyst until “further notice” ends up foreshadowing a long-term change for the former Cowboys quarterback.

CBS, which has slotted rising star J.J. Watt on the No. 1 team alongside Jim Nantz after Romo’s arrest on suspicion of operating while intoxicated on July 23, has not indicated it plans to shake up its broadcast teams. But Romo, after a sensational beginning to his career in 2017, has become less focused and seemingly less prepared, even after signing a 10-year, $180 million contract in 2020.

Nantz is too much of a pro to publicly criticize Romo, but their pairing has had awkward moments with increasing frequency in recent years.

It’s worth noting that Fox Sports’ Greg Olsen — who is better than Romo and was bumped from his own No. 1 job to the No. 2 team when Tom Brady decided broadcasting was for him — reportedly has an opt-out in his contract that allows him to leave for an opening on another network’s No. 1 team.

Wonder what Nantz would think of that option.

An assortment of readers have asked whether any progress has been made in the carriage dispute between NFL Network and Comcast/Xfinity, which went into effect May 1 and has led to the league’s channel — which is now operated by ESPN/Disney — being absent from the cable provider’s offerings.

The hunch here remains that it will get resolved before Sept. 13, the first Sunday of the season, when many NFL fans would be furious to discover they do not have access to RedZone, let alone NFL Network.

But as of right now, it appears no progress has been made. When I reached out to ESPN to see if there was an update, a Disney spokesperson responded with their statement from April 30, and said there was nothing to add to it. Xfinity’s communication department did not respond to a request for comment or an update.

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