Time to give you the megalinks. Let’s get to them, but as usual, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks.
This weekend, there’s quite a bit of action.
For baseball, Fox gives us St. Louis at Phildelphia among its regional coverage, Saturday at 4. MLB Network will air San Francisco at Colorado, Saturday night at 8. TBS shows Cards-Phils, Sunday at 1:30 and ESPN’s Sunday Night game will the White Sox at Detroit. The full regional split for Fox plus the TBS preview is here.
Also, the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in Cooperstown, NY take place on Sunday as Ricky Henderson, mostly known from his career with the Oakland A’s and Yankees, and Jim Rice of the Red Sox go into the Hall. MLB Network has full coverage starting at 12:30 p.m.
NASCAR heads to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 and it marks ESPN’s first race of the Sprint Cup season. That race starts at 2 on Sunday.
Tennis fans have the start of the hard court season and the U.S. Open Series which kicks off in Indianapolis. ESPN2 and Tennis Channel split coverage throughout the weekend.
The PGA Tour is in Canada for the Canadian Open. CBS has weekend coverage.
NBC actually shows live swimming this weekend as the World Aquatics Championships kick off in Rome on Sunday.
A big test for the United States mens’ soccer team takes place on Sunday as the US takes on Mexico in the finals of the Gold Cup from Giants Stadium. Fox Soccer Channel airs the match at 2 p.m.
And there’s the WNBA which ABC carries on Saturday afternoon at 3;30.
The full schedule of viewing along with your primetime picks are here.
Ok, let’s get to your links.
National
Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he writes that ESPN is denying that it judges news coverage on its relationships with sports leagues.
Michael also writes about the NFL Draft expanding to three days and two nights.
Sports Illustrated’s Jeff Pearlman talks with CBS Sports reporter Lesley Visser.
SI’s Stewart Mandel says the SEC’s new TV deal puts it light years ahead of other college conferences.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if more teams will simulcast their TV game broadcasts on radio.
Darren breaks down Lance Armstrong’s new deal with Radio Shack for next year’s Tour de France.
Darren writes some current and past Yankees have bought memorabilia from the old Stadium.
Darren tells us that despite his legal troubles, Ben Roethlisberger’s new Dick’s Sporting Goods will still run on TV.
Joe Favorito says Army is looking to become New York’s football team.
Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable looks at the NFL’s expansion of the Draft for next year.
John Eggerton of B&C writes about Comcast and Golf Channel’s new documentary on the challenges of those who tried to break professional golf’s color barrier.
Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says the Big Ten Network’s signature studio show will go on the road in August.
The Sports Media Watch feels ESPN’s explanation on its coverage of the Ben Roethlisberger civil lawsuit is not good enough.
However, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban felt ESPN used the proper restraint.
Michael David Smith of Fanhouse writes that ESPN had to pull a report about Michael Vick after the NFL debunked original reports on Twitter.
In the Sporting News, Dan Levy of On the DL feels columnist Jason Whitlock went overboard in his criticisms of the Erin Andrews situation.
Steve Lepore from Puck The Media may have figured out the TSN Wednesday Night Hockey schedule.
Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball has the new logo for next year’s MLB All-Star Game in Anaheim.
I put this in Follow Friday, but I’ll put here as well. You have got to check out the 24 Hours of StarburyMarbury marathon on Ustream. It’s so funny and compelling to watch.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Chad Finn from the Boston Globe writes that ESPN executives are hiding under their desks in regards to the Erin Andrews and Ben Roethlisberger stories.
Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram notices NESN’s silence in regards to Jerry Remy’s return to the booth.
But then today, Barstool Sports caused an uproar by citing “sources” that Remy was going to return tonight.
I e-mailed Gary Roy, a NESN spokesman and he replied, “I was just told about this rumor by three different people in about a 5 minute span.
“The answer is no, Jerry is not returning to the booth tonight. At this point, Jerry has not yet set a date for his return.”
So there you have it officially from NESN. No timetable for Jerry’s return.
Newsday’s Neil Best writes about ESPN banning New York Post’s reporters from TV and radio after the paper published pictures from the Erin Andrews peephole video.
Neil writes that the Mets are slowly fading into oblivion.
In his blog, Neil says ESPN is paying for its too cautious approach to the Ben Roethisberger story. Neil explains why the Erin Andrews story remains in the forefront of many newspapers and newscasts. And Neil points out that the move by the NFL to expand the Draf
t into primetime on Thursday and Friday has annoyed some West Coast fans.
Of course, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News takes the opportunity to jump on ESPN on the Big Ben issue.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says we’re hearing too much from athletes’ lawyers.
The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with YES analyst Ken Singleton about the Yankees’ improved play since the All-Star break.
And Justin has five questions for new NBC NFL studio analyst Rodney Harrison.
Jack Bell of the New York Times talks with Fox Soccer Channel analyst Christopher Sullivan who’s been calling the Gold Cup.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says televised poker is not leaving us anytime soon.
Pete says in a span of 12 hours, we got to hear the best and worst in baseball broadcasting. And Pete writes that the four major sports leagues are in court to fight Delaware’s attempt to start legalized sports betting.
Dean Jones, Jr. of the Baltimore Sun says ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt will get his own bobblehead this Sunday.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has his weekend viewing picks.
Tim Lemke of the Washington Times talks with ESPN soccer analyst Alexei Lalas about the sport’s popularity in the U.S.
Jennifer Harper of the Times says one of her colleagues is joining the ESPN Radio DC affiliate.
South
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the NFL is trying to create more buzz by expanding its Draft to three days.
Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says the Erin Andrews and Ben Roethlisberger stories brought ESPN some unwanted attention.
David Moulton of the Naples Daily News feels ESPN has had one big bad week.
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that some decisions will be made soon at a local sports radio station in regards to its lineup.
Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News wonders when a decision will be made on whether to bring back Texas Rangers TV voice Josh Lewin for next season.
Barry has some thoughts on the recently completed 4th and Long reality show.
Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman writes that ESPN hopes to end the trend of falling NASCAR TV ratings this year.
Mel reports a local sportscaster may be in line to become the sideline reporter for Oklahoma University football games. Mel has his usual media notebook.
Midwest
Brad VanFossen of the Cleveland Leader has manlove for ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd.
In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley culls some Packer tidbits from the new NFL Kickoff Information Guide.
Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin says a local sports radio station is up for a national award.
Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a sports radio station has spun off its FM unit.
Dan writes that the local WPS team is a ratings dud.
West
Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News feels the mtn. botched coverage of the Mountain West Conference’s media days.
Joe Santoro of the Lahontan Valley (NV) News says ESPN represents everything wrong in sports (calling Erin Andrews a “bimbo” is very harsh).
Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic looks forward to one particular NFL Network show.
Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune says a local sports talk show host returns to his former station and finds many of his colleagues gone.
The North County Times’ John Maffei hopes the new Shaquille O’Neal reality show will be must see TV viewing.
Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes that a group of Time Warner Cable customers never got to see Manny Ramirez’s pinch hit home run on Wednesday. Oops.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has his take on the Erin Andrews story.
Tom has his extensive media news and notes in his blog. Tom also reviews the week in blogging.
Howie Stalwick of the Tacoma (WA) News Tribune talks with ESPN’s Cindy Brunson about the Erin Andrews story.
Canada
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at the Erin Andrews story as well.
And Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star agrees with Jason Whitlock’s take on Erin Andrews and how blogs are to blame for Global Warming.
Lots of links today. That’s it. See you later.
