In the euphoria of my joining Boston Sports Media Watch, I got stuck doing a few things and did not do the megalinks. Time to do them now.
As usual, it’s time for the Weekend Viewing Picks.
Interleague baseball’s last games of the season takes center stage this weekend. Games such as Yankees-Mets, Red Sox-Braves, Cubs-White Sox get national attention. MLB Network and ESPN will take Yankees-Mets on Saturday and Sunday nights respectively. Fox and TBS will air Red Sox-Braves on consecutive afternoons. Fox also has Cubs-White Sox Saturday, then WGN has the matchup on Sunday. The national MLB schedule with announcing assignments and regional splits in the case of Fox can be seen at the MLB This Weekend section of Fang’s Bites.
Wimbledon resumes Saturday and then takes the middle Sunday off as is tradition with the tournament. ESPN2 has live coverage Saturday morning at 8, then moves over for NBC at 3 p.m. Then on the rest day, NBC has taped coverage of the best matches of the week at 1 p.m.
NASCAR heads to Loudon, NH for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. TNT has that race Sunday at 2 p.m.
The IndyCar circuit is in Richmond for the SunTrust Indy Challenge that Versus will bury Saturday night at 8.
In soccer, the US is in the finals of the Confederations Cup against Brazil and after its upset of Spain on Wednesday, interest will be a bit higher for the match played on Sunday. ESPN has the game starting at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The PGA Tour is in Cromwell, CT for the Travelers Championship and CBS has weekend coverage at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
And boxing fans have their choice of bouts to watch Saturday on Showtime at 9 p.m. and HBO at 10 p.m.
The full Weekend Viewing Picks are over here.
Now to your links.
National
USA Today’s Michael McCarthy says TBS feels Ron Darling is in the upper echelon of MLB TV analysts.
Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal writes that MLB remains in a ratings malaise.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell says his readers have spoken and chosen a new nickname for Shaquille O’Neal. Darren reports that Vijay Singh was willing to post bail for embattled Stanford Financial CEO Allen Stanford. Darren also projects the contracts for the first round picks of the NBA Draft.
Joe Favorito wonders if soccer can take advantage of the US’ performance at the Confed Cup.
Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says MASN is mixing and matching its announcing teams for the Orioles-Nationals series. Mike writes that ESPN and ESPN2 saw record viewership for the College World Series.
The Sports Media Journal’s Ray Frager says he prefers watching the NBA Draft over the NFL Draft.
Deadspin says HBO plans to ditch the comedy for the next edition of Joe Buck Live.
The Sports Media Watch says ESPN has chosen its hosts for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Andrew Laughlin of Digital Spy says ESPN may use one its existing UK channels to show recently acquired English Premier League gamese.
Len Berman gives us his top 5 sports stories of the day at the Huffington Post.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says Dennis Eckersley is gaining his own legion of fans while sitting in for Jerry Remy on NESN.
Good friend LC at the 38Cliches blog is impressed with Dave O’Brien’s work ethic on Red Sox radio broadcasts.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times chronicles how NBC’s Breakfast at Wimbledon began.
Here’s a Phil Mushnick column I can actually agree with. The New York Post columnist rips WFAN’s Craig Carton for sexually harassing tennis star Jennifer Capriati earlier this week.
The Big Lead also weighed in on Mushnick’s column.
Justin Terranova of the Post talks with YES’ Al Leiter about the Subway Series which has lost some luster this year. And Justin has five questions for MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams about his former Phillies team.
Newsday’s Neil Best talks with WFAN’s Mike Francesa one year after his split with former partner Chris Russo. Neil has more with Mike Francesa in his blog. Neil says Mike is in no rush to find a new partner for his show. Mike has some choice words for former CBS Radio and now Sirius XM chairman Mel Karmazin. And Neil has some more from Mike regarding Russo and ESPN. Neil writes about former WFAN midday co-host Sid Rosenberg whether his future is in the Big Apple or South Florida. Neil wonders why the TSN-produced NHL Draft show carried on Versus did not have a continuous scroll.
The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman goes after ESPN and MLB for “celebrating” the return of Manny Ramirez.
Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes about the Yankees’ deal to stream games online and in-market for a hefty price. Pete adds that ESPN was really happy about its College World Series ratings.
Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner gives us his weekend viewing picks. And Jim says the USA-Brazil final in the Confederations Cup
is a highlight of the weekend.
South
The Munroe (LA) News Star says CBS’ Tim Brando was honored by the nation’s Sports Information Directors.
Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News says Terrell Owens and supermodel Joanna Krupa get to return to The Superstars on Monday.
David Barron in the Houston Chronicle writes that Sporting News Radio gets a new affiliate in town.
Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes about a local sports radio host who’s happy he can see again. In his media notebook, Mel talks about ESPN NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson branching out from his football roots.
Midwest
Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press is another who prefers the NBA Draft over the NFL’s.
Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has quotes from ESPN’s basketball analysts about the NBA Draft.
Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers of the week.
Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin is already looking forward to college football season on ESPN and the Big Ten Network.
Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with former Blues voice Ken Wilson about Brett Hull who will be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame this year.
West
A local sports talk show host switches places with the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner and writes this week’s media column in the newspaper.
John Maffei from the North County Times says rain put a damper on the U.S. Open and its ratings.
Mike Penner of the Los Angeles Times says the NBA Draft lent itself to a lot of trade talk on ESPN.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Manny Mania swept Albuquerque and the media in both New Mexico and SoCal.
Tom has other sports media news in his blog. Tom goes over the week in blogging.
Canada
Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star bids farewell to a different type of sports radio show.
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN NHL analyst Ray Ferrarro will have to wait and see where his son will be picked in the Entry Draft.
And that’s it. I’ll be back with more links Saturday.
