As I’m trying to watch the USA-Brazil gold medal women’s soccer game through NBCOlympics.com, but the video keeps buffering and it’s quite annoying. This is due to the speed of my DSL here at work. Not very fast compared to my Verizon Fios at home which is very fast. Just did it again. I just may to have to depend on a backdoor site. I found one so I’m happy, but I would have preferred the HD-like quality of NBCOlympics.com. Oh well.
UPDATE – The IOC came in and knocked out the backdoor site again so I was able to get back on NBCOlympics.com and watch the game in clear HD-like quality. And despite being outplayed, the USA won the gold, making up for the loss in softball earlier today.
Let’s get to some linkage now.
Let’s start with an agreement between ESPN and Major League Baseball Advanced Media which allows ESPN360 to simulcast Sunday Night Baseball, Monday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball. The agreement runs through 2013.
The Associated Press says the deal between ESPN and MLBAM includes selling games on iTunes.
Staci Kramer of paidContent.org says the new deal also includes international rights.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Usain Bolt is one of the best names for marketing ever. As Michael Phelps graces the cover of Sports Illustated for the 4th time this week, Darren looks at other SI cover subjects. And Darren says thanks to Kerri Walsh and other beach volleyball players, Kinesio tape has found a way to get its name into the public.
The Sports Business Daily/Journal’s Olympic website says Tuesday’s ratings for the Olympics went back over the magic 16 threshhold.
David Bauder of the Associated Press reports that NBC hopes to ride the Michael Phelps gravy train as it has signed to televise the World Swimming Championships next year as well as other swimming events leading up to the 2012 Olympics.
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about NBC’s “LIVE” graphic which has caused consternation on the West Coast.
Newsday’s Neil Best laments the loss of indoor volleyball coverage at the expense of beach volleyball.
Michael Ozanian of Forbes magazine says NBC force fed beach volleyball to viewers.
Richard Sandomir talks with NBC’s Bob Costas and Bela Karolyi about the colorful commentary Bela has been providing during the gymnastics competition.
The Los Angeles Daily News’ wishes NBC would focus some time on US gold medal winning wrestler Henry Cejudo. And Tom has NBC’s Cris Collinworth and Mary Carillo defending their sugar-coated stories while not doing any hard news stories from Communist China.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has Collinsworth having fun in Communist China.
Ron Judd of the Seattle Times says NBC has to be considered a big winner for these Olympics.
As the US women’s soccer team is playing for the gold medal this morning, Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog remembers what it was like in 1996 when the women’s soccer team won the gold medal in Athens, GA.
The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn talks about ESPN’s plans to bid for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics. And Barry has a review of the latest episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks.
Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel lists his favorite Olympic human interest stories.
The Canadian Press reports that CBC Olympics primetime host Ron McLean has left Beijing after learning that his mother had died. Our sympathies go to Ron.
The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says CBC has been working extra hard to tug at viewers’ heartstrings.
William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC has earned a license to launch an all-sports cable channel.
Bill Virgin of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is speculating that the Northwest’s news power, KIRO-AM could switch to all-sports after putting its news and talk programming on an FM station.
The Big Ten Network has picked up another cable company, this time U.S. Cable which has subscribers in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
On the other hand, Jeff Bell of Business First of Columbus (OH) writes that Ohio State University Athletics Director Jeff Smith feels an agreement between BTN and Time Warner Cable is unlikely before the beginning of college football season. George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says Smith is urging OSU fans to switch video providers so they can watch Buckeye football.
Scott Dochterman of the Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette profiles NFL Network host Paul Burmeister.
CBS Sports has two NFL exhibition games this weekend. CBS Sports previews its coverage of the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, the Barclays. And CBS has coverage of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament this weekend.
And that will do it for now.
