I spent the morning away from the office and after lunch, I’ve been dealing with crazy shit so I’m just getting to the links late this afternoon. I’ll put in as many as I can. This week is shaping up to be very busy so just bear with me as you may not see links for a couple of days. I will post press releases when I can.
The sports blogosphere has been abuzz with the release of the first excerpt from the new book on the Alleged Worldwide Leader, “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside The World of ESPN” co-written by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. I am working on getting James as a guest for the Sports Media Weekly podcast for either next week or the week following.
In any event, the excerpt published in this week’s GQ Magazine looks at the tidal wave known as Keith Olbermann and his time co-anchoring SportsCenter with Dan Patrick.
Of course, Keith already has an opinion on the excerpt and has responded on Twitter. Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page recaps so I don’t have to.
At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Tripp Mickle report that ESPN parent company, Disney, is looking to sweeten the pot for its bid for the 2014/16 Olympic TV rights.
Also from the SBJ, John and Terry Lefton look at the impact of the old XFL on both the NFL and on the league’s TV partners.
Terry also writes about one particular XFL technical innovation that is gone, but not forgotten.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power List for April.
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says the arrest of ESPN’s Matthew Barnaby over the weekend is another example in a long line of bad behavior among the network’s personalities.
Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs has some of the funniest typographical errors on sports TV.
Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have turned down an invitation to appear on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer, and say it with me, provided there is an NFL season.
Speaking of which, Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says the NFL has confirmed that there is an option to shutdown the league if the lockout is lifted by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports that several NFL players have been told by their agents not to work out as they won’t be covered by the team if they get hurt.
Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe confirms that NESN’s Jerry Remy is back in the booth tonight.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says there’s a high anticipation to read the new ESPN tome by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels YES’ Michael Kay is embellishing the truth when it comes to Yankee Stadium’s attendance.
Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the NBA’ Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 outrated Red Sox-Yankees in New York.
Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says fans are getting the short stick.
Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend that was in sports TV.
Doug Demmons of the Birmingham (AL) News was surprised to see Fox go split screen during yesterday’s NASCAR coverage.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the ESPN/ABC crew gave praise to the Oklahoma City crowd during Game 7 of the Thunder-Memphis Grizzlies series.
Bob Wolfley looks forward to the new ESPN book.
Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says a new charity event will carry the legacy of the late Cubs legend Ron Santo.
In the Kansas City Star, Bruce Dancis reviews the 2nd DVD box set of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series.
Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says April 18, 2011 will live forever in the annals of the National Hockey League.
Scott Terrell of the Tucson Citizen talks about the Pac-12 TV contract and what it means for fans.
Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News has the sports calendar for this week.
Tom looks at the first excerpt of the new ESPN book.
Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail feels CBC did not do enough reporting on Derek Boogaard’s death.
Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star tells aspiring sportscasters to be careful what they wish for if they want to enter a new Canadian TV contest.
Sports Media Watch talks about the record NBA ratings for TNT.
In the Huffington Post, Colorado University journalism student Weston Gentry responds to Rick Reilly’s speech to his alma mater.
Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Versus throughout the NHL Conference Semifinals.
EPL Talk says with it being Survival Sunday, fans should tell both ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel what games they want to see.
I’m going to end it there.
