Since I wasn’t able to provide links this morning, I’ll give you some now. No Dan Patrick today and thinking about it, he’ll probably be back on Monday so we’ll get our big announcement then. Onto other stuff.
I love juicy gossip on the sports biz. Neil Best in his Newsday blog says MLB is punishing ESPN for releasing the All-Star Game results just as TBS was announcing the lineups on the official show.
The big news out of SW19 in London is the fact that the rain has wreaked havoc with the schedule. I’ve had the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon for about 4 hours now and most of it has been devoted to the career of John McEnroe. The BBC showed a documentary on Johnny Mac, then showed the 1980 4th set tiebreaker between he and Bjorn Borg. One person who’s also noticed is Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit Free Press who writes NBC and ESPN2 have had to go to the archives early and often.
NBC Sports has signed a new long-term agreement to broadcast Wimbledon in the U.S. Multichannel News reports that the new agreement also includes (say it with me now) digital rights. Steven Kaus in the Huffington Post blog has some harsh words for NBC blacking out live tennis in the west.
The hype begins for “The Bronx is Burning”, ESPN’s mini-series about the 1977 New York Yankees. Roger Caitlin of the Hartford Courant talks about the filming of the epic in Norwich, CT.
Mark Bradley in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution criticizes ESPN for televising the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
In the New York Daily News, Richard Huff says NASCAR fans would be accepting of a woman in the television booth.
Fox Sports en Espanol will show the MLB All-Star Game again this year.
The Sports Media Watch blog wonders why the NBA chose to keep its new eight year television and digital rights deal the same as far as numbers of games shown on TNT/ESPN/ABC.
Even though I don’t know him and have never had any contact with him, I feel reading Darren Rovell’s CNBC Sports Business blog is like seeing an old friend. He has some good stuff this week including one entry on the Big Ten Network (I think I’ll stop linking to its site now), and Rovell wonders if anyone will watch and/or care? And today’s entry has Darren saying “never again” to the Tour de France which begins later this month.
The Big Ten Network has picked up another small cable company, but not one of the heavy hitters.
William Houston in the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC’s coverage of the FIFA U-20 World Cup has been ok at best.
The Vancouver Sun reports that the International Skating Union is having trouble finding a Canadian television partner for some proposed events in that city in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
And CBS Sports will broadcast Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour stop at the Congressional Country Club at Bethesda, MD this weekend.
Those are the links for now.
