Ok, time for some links on this Wednesday. Let’s provide some for you while I can.
Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that former CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer is not enthused about the new TV arrangement for the NCAA Tournament.
I’ve written a story for Dan Levy’s Press Coverage site on what the Los Angeles Lakers’ new regional sports networks will mean for viewers.
Brian Lowry of Fox Sports is not a fan of excess sports coverage like the NBA All-Star Weekend.
Milton Kent at Fanhouse recaps the strange, but very interesting appearances by embattled actor Charlie Sheen on the Dan Patrick Show.
Mark Cina of the Hollywood Reporter also recaps Sheen’s call to DP on Wednesday.
Etan Vlessing of the Reporter notes that ESPN’s new Sunday Night Baseball voice Dan Shulman will return to Canada to provide some baseball commentary for his original network, TSN.
R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News reports that Cartoon Network is tapping stars from the sports world to take part in its inaugural awards show.
Mike Reynolds from Multichannel takes a look at the new Time Warner Cable/Lakers regional sports networks.
Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser recaps Jay Mariotti’s first public appearance since his arrest on domestic assault charges and the subsequent loss of his jobs from ESPN and Fanhouse.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell takes a closer look at St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols and his contract demands.
Darren says Sports Illustrated did a great job marketing this year’s Swimsuit Issue.
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has the comments from outgoing WEEI midday host Dale Arnold who is the odd man out in a lineup shuffle.
Chad also writes about the WEEI lineup changes that smack of desperation.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that ESPN has apparently dropped out of the bidding for the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner wonders if NBC will pick up the Belmont to reunite the race with the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.
Press Box says WBAL-AM will pick up a slew of Baltimore Orioles spring training games.
David Barron from the Houston Chronicle takes a look at two of the bigger sports media stories from the week.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Cheryl Burke admitting she had a fling with Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. I know, it’s not a sports media story, but it fascinates me and I like Cheryl Burke, ok?
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discovers that the Brewers are not on the MLB on Fox schedule.
Paul Sullivan at the Chicago Tribune says the Cubs have found a replacement for the late Ron Santo on their radio broadcasts.
Steve Rosenbloom of the Tribune wants to know if Cubs fans are ready to hear a traditional radio broadcast from now on.
Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with new Cubs radio analyst Keith Moreland.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the Blackhawks have extended their deal with WGN-TV.
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times says the new Time Warner Cable deal with the Lakers may end up hurting the team in the long run.
Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says one local sports radio station might be left behind in a battle of media titans.
The Canadian Sports Media Blog speculates what the 2012 Olympics will look like on the Canadian Olympic Broadcast Consortium.
Dashiell Bennett from the Business Insider sports page notes that ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons has hired Deadspin contributer Katie Baker (and a Friend of Fang’s Bites) for some unknown project at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.
Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing notes that many people were none too happy over ESPN’s experimentation during the Mississippi State-Kentucky game.
Deadspin has obtained a copy of the Colin Cowherd sitcom script. It’s not pretty, let me tell you.
Brad Cohen at SportsGrid tells us how the extremely overrated Oprah Winfrey got the Michael Vick interview.
Dave Kohl of Major League Programs talks about the new Time Warner Cable/Lakers deal.
I’ll leave it there for now.
