Yes! MSG Rehires Marv Albert

Marv Albert, out of work for nearly a year because of a sex scandal, was rehired today as a sportscaster by the Madison Square Garden Network.

Albert will be the anchor of MSG Sports Desk and do radio play-by-play on half of the New York Knicks games.

Dave Checketts, president of Madison Square Garden, said Albert had undergone therapy, at MSG's request, and was being rewarded for his 30 years of service.

"He got himself together in a good way," Checketts said. "We have decided that the time -- now -- is right."

Albert resigned from MSG and was fired by NBC after pleading guilty Sept. 25 to a misdemeanor assault charge in a sex case that gained national notoriety.

The sportscaster was accused of throwing his former girlfriend, Vanessa Perhach, on a bed in a Virginia hotel room in February 1997, biting her on the back more than a dozen times and forcing her to perform oral sex.

Albert has said he had a "purely sexual" 10-year relationship with Perhach and suggested that she brought forcible sodomy charges against him because she knew he was about to get engaged to someone else.

The allegations about his sex life led him to abruptly stop the trial and plead guilty to assault and battery. He offered a grudging apology and was spared jail time if he stays out of trouble for a year.

"It was embarrassing and humbling," Albert said Wednesday of the media scrutiny about the scandal. "I went through a nightmare."

Albert spent more than three decades broadcasting the New York Knicks and Rangers, many of them in the employ of MSG. He also was the lead NBA announcer for NBC and also did NFL games for the network.

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