Time for the Monday linkage. I hope you had a good Easter if you observed the holiday. If not, I hope the weekend was relaxing for you. Let’s go over the linkage for today.
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball analysts like the idea of expanded MLB playoffs.
Mike McCarthy of USA Today reviews ESPN’s upcoming documentary on Steve Bartman and what he’s had to endure since becoming the scapegoat for the Chicago Cubs failure in 2003.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says NFL Network is going all out for the NFL Draft.
Jason Fry at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says like it or not, ESPN isthe standard bearer for most things sports media.
Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebserol could very well pull a successful Olympics bid out of his hat.
David Goetzl at MediaPost says ESPN should be given credit for admitting it’s wrong.
At ESPN Front Row, Dan Quinn looks at how the Alleged Worldwide Leader keeps the ABC’s Wide World of Sports flame.
The always lovely Kristi Dosh of The Business of College Sports tells us why an antitrust suit against the BCS won’t necessarily bring a playoff to college football.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a year supply of 7Up is not a worthy prize for hitting a half court shot.
The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick was apparently in a bad mood when he wrote today’s mishmash of a column.
Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with executives from NBA TV and the NHL Network about their postseason coverage.
Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend that was in sports television.
Steve Svekis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has Bill Parcells discussing his Miami Dolphins drafts in anticipation of his ESPN special on Tuesday.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reviews ESPN’s broadcast of the Thunder-Spurs game over the weekend.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TNT’s Charles Barkley is apologizing again.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says Game 6 of Vancouver-Blackhawks on Sunday set yet another ratings record for Comcast SportsNet.
Ed tells Bulls and Blackhawks fans to get their remotes ready for Tuesday.
Derrick Goold from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at ESPN’s Baseball Tonight paying a visit to the Gateway City.
Dan Caesar of the Post-Dispatch says ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball announcers had trouble getting to the city due to the violent storms in St. Louis over the weekend.
At the Denver Post, Dusty Saunders explores the humble beginnings of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage with Bob Ley.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News goes over this week’s sports calendar for Southern California.
Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star says this month’s crackdown on online sites is forcing ESPN, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and The Score to rethink their poker programming.
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says 2012’s NHL Playoff starting times could be staggered like the NCAA Tournament to gain more US TV viewership.
The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings for the NBA Playoffs on TNT.
At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wonders if the Winter Classic saved the NHL on network TV.
Jim Weber at the Lost Letterman site says if you think the NFL likes seeing the Draft in primetime, then we may be in store for a lot more in the future.
Joe Favorito says the team concept does not work for every sport.
Emmett Jones of the Sports Business Digest says the NFL stands to lose $2 BILLION in revenue if it lost the entire 2011 season.
Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing has the video of the usually solid Versus’ Dave Strader calling the wrong winner during Saturday’s Canadiens-Bruins game.
At Tribal Football, Andrew Slevison talks about ESPN2’s MLS ratings from last week.
Bob’s Blitz correctly calls for Colin Cowherd’s resignation from ESPN based on his sitcom deal working for CBS that is now in violation of the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s endorsement guidelines.
And that will do it for now.
