Haven’t been able to provide the Friday megalinks in a while. Let’s do an edition today.
Normally I include a link to the Weekend Viewing Picks, but I’ll be doing that tonight so you can find it on my site when it’s posted. If you follow me on Twitter or have an RSS feed, you’ll be updated as soon as it posts. If not, you can find it later.
Let’s do the links.
National
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand wonders what effect the gold medal win by the US Women’s Soccer National Team will have on the sport in the long run.
Michael also live blogged Thursday’s Olympic Primetime on NBC.
Jeffrey Martin of USA Today looks at the grand experiment that’s known as the Pac-12 Networks.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the NBCUniversal’s handling of the 2012 Olympics.
At the Sports on Earth blog, Joe Posnanski chronicles his day in covering the Olympics.
Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily says with NFL preseason games airing in many local markets on Thursday, NBC Olympic overnight ratings took a hit.
Bill King of SBD says CBS Sports is forging ahead with a show featuring the professional debut of several US Olympic boxers despite their poor performance in London.
Ryan Baucom of SBD writes that several Olympic athletes are getting a boost in Twitter followers after their success in the London Games.
Tripp Mickle of SBD says Universal Sports broke out an ad on NBC Thursday trying to promote its Olympic sports programming. Good luck with that.
Eric Fisher of SBD says Yahoo is declaring victory over NBCOlympics.com for unique pageviews.
Sohrab Amari of the Wall Street Journal reviews an NBC News documentary fronted by Tom Brokaw which will air on NBC’s Olympic coverage on Saturday.
Sarah Kwak of Sports Illustrated talks with Lolo Jones about the media firestorm that swelled just before she ran her 100 meters hurdles race.
In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with outgoing Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan about his first job. Ryan will be missed in the pages of the Globe.
Sports Media Journal’s Keith Thibault and I have an Olympic-themed podcast with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times and Bruce Beck of WNBC-TV.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Today Show host Matt Lauer had an icy reunion with former co-host Ann Curry on NBC’s London Olympics set.
John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the FCC has already denied a Comcast request to stay its decision requiring the cable provider to give space to the Tennis Channel.
Christopher Heine of Adweek says Olympic marketers have failed to medal in their social media campaigns.
But Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age looks at the Olympic sponsors that managed to get a boost through social media.
Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age says NBC and the International Olympic Committee have to fix the Olympic business model before it breaks down.
Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life notes that NBC’s ratings for Wednesday Olympic Primetime show drew better viewership numbers than Atlanta in 1996.
Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS Sports is preparing for all type of weather conditions for this weekend’s PGA Championship.
Karen Hogan of SVG looks at NBC New York Olympic operations.
Ken Kerschbaumer at SVG says Denmark TV has a floating barge studio for the London Olympics. Now that’s pretty cool.
And Birgit Heidsiek of SVG says Eurosport TV is producing the Olympics in 3-D.
Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute and writing as the ESPN Ombudsman investigates a plagiarism incident at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.
Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that the Pac-12 Conference is readying an aggressive digital strategy that will go along with its television distribution.
Ty Duffy at The Big Lead goes after former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol for being out of touch in defending the tape delayed Olympics.
The Big Lead looks at the Pac-12 being in the forefront of digital distribution after being marred for years of being behind the curve.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the Miami Dolphins will take advantage of the NFL’s relaxed TV blackout policy this weekend.
Emmett Jones of Sports Business Digest notes that Buffalo Wild Wings has purchased naming rights for a college bowl game. Looks like it will be going to overtime every year.
Sports Media Watch says with NBC committed to the Olympics this year, the NFL Hall of Fame preseason game was aired on NFL Network and naturally suffered a big viewer dropoff.
SMW reports that NBC got another ratings increase for the Olympics.
TVNewsCheck says Gannett is declaring victory saying three of its stations are the top-rated local NBC affiliates in key demographics.
Alex Weprin of TVNewser looks at NBC’s Today Show operations in London.
At TVSpy, Alex tours NBC’s operation center for its local affiliates in London.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who’s been calling Olympic handball off a monitor for NBC.
At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen discusses Golf Channel’s meteoric rise and its plans to cover the PGA Championship this weekend.
Jane L. Levere of the New York Times writes about ESPN’s new ad campaign for Monday Night Football.
Verne Gay at Newsday notes that a long-time NBC Sports director is retiring after the Olympics.
Newsday’s Chris Serico wonders if NBC’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera will be a bit more subdued during the Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday than their talkative performance during the Opening Ceremony two Fridays ago.
Neil Best of Newsday catches up with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski who’s filling a new role at the network after being in the Monday Night Football both.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in another one of his moods today.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes a local radio station’s high school football schedule.
Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Pac-12 Networks will be seen on Time Warner Cable locally.
Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says despite a lost season, the Philadelphia Phillies TV crew still has plenty to talk about during games.
Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the business of fantasy football as leagues get ready to hold their drafts soon, if not already.
Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that more people were watching the DC NFL Team in area sports bars last night as compared to the Nationals.
Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says the Nationals radio team tried to explain the term “ball bag”.
South
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald reviews HBO’s Hard Knocks on the Dolphins.
Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Dolphins have announced their TV blackout policy today.
Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says a local high school sports TV show expands to a new market.
Midwest
The Cincinnati Enquirer says ESPN’s College GameDay could be visiting the Queen City in February.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Dick Ebersol’s latest comments on tape delaying Olympic events.
Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with a local sports radio host who’s perturbed at a former employer.
Dan notes that the Olympics and the St. Louis Cardinals ratings have been hurt by each other.
West
Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-12 Networks are ready to launch next week, but without a few major cable and satellite providers.
John Maffei of the North County Times talks with a former NBC Olympics analyst who was fired on the spot after calling a race.
To the Ventura County Star where Jim Carlisle talks about the increased spotlight on the Pac-12 through its new TV networks.
Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.
Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the Irish radio call of boxer Katie Taylor’s victory giving the country its first gold medal of the Olympics.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says this is a critical time for beach volleyball as the sport is in transition now.
Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.
And those are your supersized megalinks for today.
