Trenni Casey will be running — a lot — for a cause close to her heart

Tenni Casey will embark on a six-day, 161-mile trek in a matter of weeks.

No, a decimal point is not absent from that. For a very personal reason, Casey, the host and anchor of NBC Sports Boston, is embracing the incredible physical challenge of running practically a marathon every day.

The MS Run the US Ultra Relay is a 3,260-mile cross-country race that runs from Santa Monica, California, to New York City, and Casey is one of 21 runners competing.

In remembrance of her aunt Sandi, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 25, she is organizing and collecting money for the research. In November 1995, while Casey was a high school student, she passed away at the age of 37.

We didn’t spend as much time with her as I would have liked because I was only 4 or 5 when she got diagnosed, Casey said. I decided to do this in part because I didn’t really get to know her. For example, I believe we could have done more to make her life happier. We were everywhere, we were busy, we were children. Everyone tells me that you didn’t know any better, but I’ve always wanted to honor her and give back to that community.

Starting in Plattesville on July 1 and ending in Milwaukee on July 6, Casey will race her leg of the relay in her native Wisconsin. She stated that for the first four or five days, she intends to run and occasionally walk thirty or thirty-one miles.

Casey, who has been training for six months, stated that this would leave him with only eight to ten miles on the last day. After running 55 miles last week, she is now reducing her mileage as the event draws near.

A minimum of $10,000 must be raised by relay participants. Ever the competitive, Casey has long since passed that mark and is setting far higher goals.

“I wanted to raise $30,000 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Aunt Sandi’s death,” she began, but I changed my mind and asked, “What’s the highest amount anyone has ever raised?”

The record, she was informed, was approximately $56,000.

After giving it some thought, I decided to try to raise $67,000 because my aunt would now be 67 years old.

http://msruntheus.salsalabs.org/2025relayteam/p/trennicasey/index.html is the URL of Casey’s fundraising page.

Back to college for Bradley Jr.

Before Jackie Bradley Jr. had even considered his broadcasting career, ESPN was considering it.

In April, the former center fielder for the Red Sox and two-time South Carolina College World Series national champion joined ESPN as a college baseball analyst.

He must have considered a career in broadcasting before his playing days ended, then.

During a recent conversation, he laughed and added, “Not for a minute.” When ESPN initially contacted me about it, two years ago, I was still playing and my wife was expecting our fourth child. Over the years, they made a few attempts to get in touch, but until today, the timing was never ideal. I’m having fun with it.

Bradley acknowledged that NESN had contacted him regarding working certain Sox games, even though he hasn’t submitted his retirement paperwork to Major League Baseball.

He claimed that although I didn’t close any doors or anything, I wanted to give the college game my whole attention. Instead than being thrown into something for which I didn’t feel prepared, I wanted to learn how to do this first.

Bradley, Red Sox fan favorite Mike Monaco, and Ben McDonald have been in the studio for ESPN’s coverage of the College World Series, which starts Saturday night with the best-of-three final between Louisiana State and Coastal Carolina.

Bradley, the 2010 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, said, “I’m really enjoying it.” Seeing how much labor goes into production, how complex it is, and how hard everyone works has been entertaining. Since I’ve only been doing this for a few months, I’m still paying close attention to everything, asking plenty of questions, and attempting to gain more trust and improve my skills.

NBA Finals viewership down

For true basketball fans, the NBA Finals have been an exciting event, but the league cannot be thrilled by the viewership figures. As of this writing, official Nielsen data for the Pacers’ series-tying Game 6 victory over the Thunder Thursday was unavailable; nonetheless, the series had averaged 9.18 million viewers on ABC through the first five games. Compared to the Celtics-Mavericks Finals last season, which drew an average of 11.3 million viewers over the course of the five-game series, it represents a 19% decrease. Historically, game 7s have seen a sharp increase in viewership. Such a conclusion is appropriate for this series.

Boston.com’s sports columnist is Chad Finn. For the last four years, he has been chosen as Boston’s Favorite Sports Writer by the Channel Media Market and Research Poll. In addition, he contributes to Globe Magazine and writes a weekly sports media column for the Globe.