I’m not going to go crazy with a full set of links, but some that are topical. I was all over the place today and could not do the megalinks and I’m not in the mood to gather a full set tonight. It usually takes over two hours to do the megalinks so I’ll do some national and regional links.
Sean Leahy of USA Today notes that the ratings for the first round of the NFL Draft were down double digits from last year.
Mike McCarthy and Michael Hiestand of USA Today debate who’s the real NFL Draft Guru.
Jeff Pearlman feels one of the more dramatic moments on ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage on Thursday was more exploitation than real.
Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter notes that ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage on Thursday beat The Office on NBC.
Kevin Iole at Yahoo talks about how CBS became a major part of the Manny Pacquaio-Sugar Shane Mosley fight.
From Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds says the NBC Sports Group set ratings records for its NHL Playoffs 1st round coverage.
Mike says NBA TV received its highest ratings ever on Wednesday.
Anthony Crupi of Adweek says stronger competition from the networks led to lower ratings for the NFL Draft this year.
From Every Day Should Be Saturday, Spencer Hall has this funny post on whether the late sportswriter Grantland Rice could ever work for the Captain Blowhard-led website, Grantland.
Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit has deleted his Twitter account over harassment from Ohio State fans.
Jason Dachman of the Sports Video Group says NBC and Versus have become a one stop shopping for the NHL.
Sports Media Watch says the overnight ratings for the Lakers-Hornets series-clinching game finished lower than last year’s comparable game, but still was strong.
Puck The Media has Versus’ complete game ratings for the entire 1st round of the NHL Playoffs.
Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing reviews ESPN’s 1st night of NFL Draft coverage.
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe speaks with NESN’s Jack Edwards.
Newsday’s Neil Best has the best of his blog in his sports media column.
The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says YES’ Michael Kay isn’t getting the job done.
Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says there was no mention of the “L” word during the NFL Draft (and no, I’m talking about the Showtime TV series).
In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com looks at Daniel Snyder’s attempted lawsuit against the Washington City Paper.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at ESPN celebrating the 50th anniversary of ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
David Neal of the Miami Herald says the late Jim Mandich was giving of himself whether it was as a player or as a broadcaster later in life.
Joe Rose of WQAM writes in his South Florida Sun-Sentinel blog about how much he misses his friend, Jim Mandich.
Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times has a Friday version of his sports media column.
Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press feels ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft goes on too long.
John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer would like to hear radio coverage of NASCAR in the Queen’s City.
Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a look at the local sports radio ratings.
And Dan has a breakdown of the ratings.
Iowa Tube Talk notes that Versus’ website is now part of NBCSports.com.
John Maffei from the North County Times says it appears the San Diego Padres have a rights deal in principle with Fox Sports Net for the next 15 seasons.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star wonders how ESPN would have covered the Royal Wedding.
Jim says New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is making the media rounds.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says Major League Baseball cannot approve the Dodgers’ deal with Fox Sports Net because Jamie McCourt has not signed off on it.
Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News says a panel discussion on sportscasting careers will be moderated by a Hall of Fame announcer next month.
Tom says Fox’s role in the Los Angeles Dodgers and in the McCourt ownership mess goes way back.
Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if Winnipeg will get left at the altar in its bid to get an NHL team.
That’s going to do it.
