Let’s get these megalinks done as I hope to give you a weekend full of posts for the three day holiday. That’s my plan, at least. They could get changed due to family or weather. You never know.
I have the sports and entertainment programming in the Weekend Viewing Picks. Let’s get to the linkage now.
National
Michael Hiestand of USA Today discusses the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick that followed him for the entire 2009 season and got some rather interesting footage.
Sports Business Daily’s John Ourand speaks with a Fox Soccer exec about having English Premier League games air on the Fox mothership.
John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable reports that President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress next Thursday will not cut into the NFL regular season opener on NBC.
Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Big Ten Network’s BTN2Go service has been picked up by four cable and satellite providers.
Timothy Burke of SportsGrid says former NFL cheap shot artist Chuck Cecil got off to an inauspicious start to his broadcasting career on Thursday.
Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has some really bad network typos from the last week.
Sports Media Watch looks at the extension of the PGA Tour’s deal with CBS Sports, Golf Channel and NBC Sports.
Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says the NHL’s TV partners should lead the discussion on head injuries and how they could lead to tragedies such as the deaths of Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien.
Joe Favorito says the Los Angeles Dodgers are using social media this month to try to get closer to the fans.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Chad Finn from the Boston Globe looks at the PGA Tour’s extension with its TV partners and he talks about Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle talking with various area radio stations.
In SBNation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch has the ESPN Monday Night Football crew previewing this season’s Patriots team.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about college football writer “Free Bruce” Feldman leaving ESPN.com to go to CBS Sports.
Larry Dorman of the Times writes about the PGA Tour’s new contract with CBS, Golf Channel and NBC.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post continues to plaster hate all over his wretched columns.
Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for Monday Night Football’s Jon “This Guy” Gruden and Ron “I’m Telling You, Jaws” Jaworski.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a local TV station is in its 13th year producing a high school football highlights show.
Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call tells football fans not to worry about President Obama’s speech interrupting the Saints-Packers NFL season opener on Thursday.
Laura Nachman has a press release announcing the winner of a Philadelphia sports radio talk show host contest.
DCTRV.com’s Dave Hughes in Press Box notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Russ Thaler moves to Versus for a national gig.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has a few notes about this Sunday’s Baltimore Grand Prix.
Jim has Fox’s college football crew discussing the potential departure of Oklahoma from the Big 12.
South
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald looks at some of the changes in the NFL TV broadcast booths for this season.
Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times has a preview of the weekend on sports television.
Bud Kennedy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Longhorn Network will help Texas down the road, but it’s already hurting its relationship with other schools.
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle reveals that Texas and Texas A&M were in talks to create a joint TV network four years ago.
David says University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum gets a national showcase on Fox Sports Net this weekend.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with the new voice of the Oklahoma Sooners.
In his notebook, Mel looks at the new Fox Sports studio team for college football.
Gina Mizell of the Oklahoman talks with ESPN Sport Science host John Brenkus about how an Oklahoma State athlete was chosen for a feature.
Midwest
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer is still rooting for the late Reds announcer Joe Nuxhall to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And John has a couple of local TV news and notes.
Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with ESPN college football analyst Chris Spielman about the rivalry that is Michigan-Ohio State.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asks if social media has a place in sports broadcasts.
Scott Cooper Williams of the Green Bay Gazette says a bunch of NBC shows will be town to help hype the Saints-Packers NFL season opener on Thursday.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.
Tina Akouris of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Dick Vitale’s new children’s book.
West
Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utah fans should be happy that a local TV station is picking up the team’s games for this season.
J. Patrick Coolican of the Las Vegas Sun says UNLV’s TV contract through the Mountain West Conference just plain sucks.
Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Padres fans should expect to watch games on a new channel next season.
John Maffei of the North County Times says there will be a plethora of college football games this weekend.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star notes the return of former Dodgers broadcaster Ross Porter to play-by-play, but this time online.
Jim says Fox Sports West will be extensively covering high school football online.
Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times says Hall of Fame Kings announcer Bob Miller has signed a new contract that will bring him to 40 seasons with the team.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News also writes about Miller’s new deal.
Tom talks to network executives and producers about how and when to incorporate Twitter into a sports broadcast.
And that’s going to do it for the megalinks. If you’re traveling this weekend, be safe and if you’re still recovering from Hurricane Irene, I hope all returns to normal soon.
