I’m dragging today and not in the mood to blog, but blog I will because I serve you. So it’s time to give you some links.
Let’s start off with ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber who says in reviewing ten days of SportsCenter, she was actually pleased to see fewer gimmicks and more highlights.
The Sports Media Watch reports that the ratings for NCAA Selection Show on CBS were down. On the other hand, the ratings for the NASCAR race on Sunday were up. Finally, the blog says the NBA on ABC suffers from non-exclusivity.
Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Dick Vitale is acting like Bob Knight’s agent on ESPN.
Dustin Dow of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with Dick Vitale about his ESPN career. The Enquirer has a timeline of the growth of the NCAA Tournament on TV.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star is surprised to see Bob Knight filling out brackets.
Dave Del Grande from the Oakland Tribune says Knight has kept his emotions in check on ESPN.
John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the Bay Area will get one extra game to watch in the NCAA Tournament as Stanford-Cornell will be scheduled for 1:50 p.m. PT (4:50 p.m. ET). Ryan says it will be easier to play hooky at work thanks to March Madness on Demand.
The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says CBS has made arrangements with another station to carry the Cal State-Fullerton/Wisconsin game as it conflicts with the UCLA/Mississippi Valley State game on KCBS.
Newsday’s Neil Best wonders why CBS Sports/Raycom analyst Billy Packer hasn’t been nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame. Neil has more from Billy in his Watchdog blog. In addition, Neil talks about some ribbing between WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog and Boomer and Craig Carton. Finally, Neil feels tonight’s NCAA play-in game is unnecessary.
The Salem (OR) Statesman-Journal says ESPN’s college basketball analysts stated the obvious on Sunday.
Mike Sielski of the Philly Burbs newspapers has a comparison of CBS and ESPN from this weekend.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about ESPN’s analysts predicting how Wisconsin teams will do in the NCAA Tournament.
The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager talks about ESPN’s Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman last night.
This is Day Seven of CNBC’s Darren Rovell’s Minor League Baseball Logo Contest.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that NBC has chosen yet another Pittsburgh Penguins game for the NHL Game of the Week.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Blackhawks are close to having all of its regular season games on TV next season.
Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL wants to make sure that Spygate doesn’t happen in its league. And Zelkovich has a column on this from Monday.
Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has his review of the sports TV weekend.
David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes in his blog that the Rockets-Lakers game did well locally.
William Houston in the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that Rogers Sportsnet will drop the NBA after this season.
Maury Brown from The Biz of Baseball blog reports that today’s Yankees-Virginia Tech game to commemorate the shooting victims from last year will be available for free on MLB.com. And Maury says XM Satellite Radio will have every MLB game starting on March 25.
John Consoli of Mediaweek says ESPN, Fox and TBS are all experiencing strong ad sales for MLB games.
Doug Zaleski of the Muncie (IN) State Press says the star quality of Ball State’s quarterback has led ESPN to schedule four of its games this season.
Keith Groller of the Allentown Morning Call says Tiger Woods is a ratings magnet.
From Broadcasting & Cable, Ben Grossman writes that NASCAR is looking to reconnect with its fans and increase its TV ratings.
The Niagara Gazette reports that the Voice of the Buffalo Bills is back on TV. Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News talks with John Murphy about his return to TV.
That will do it for now. You have a lot of links to sift through today.
