Well, it was Father’s Day yesterday and it was time to take dad out for lunch. I was out of the house for most of the day which meant I could not blog yesterday, but I’m back now and let’s get to the links.
Michael Hiestand of USA Today says putting the U.S. Open in primetime paid off for NBC.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says Charlie Jones’ death reminds him of NBC unceremoniously letting him go after losing NFL TV rights in 1997.
Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that the USGA should eliminate its Monday 18 hole playoff. And Neil is grateful that Tiger Woods gets his work done before sunset.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Tiger will wear the same shirt for the 18 hole playoff that he did for the 4th round of the U.S. Open yesterday.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the overnight ratings for the 3rd round of the U.S. Open on NBC were very good for a Saturday night.
And the Sports Media Watch says the U.S. Open helped NBC win Saturday night’s primetime race.
Here’s the NBC press release about the Saturday primetime ratings for the U.S. Open.
Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times’ Two Cents blog is not a fan of NBC’s Dan Hicks or seeing a lot of Tiger Woods.
Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is enjoying the U.S. Open and the College World Series on TV.
John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal has a very nice article on CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus’ thoughts on his father, Jim McKay’s passing. And nice of the SBJ to make this available to everyone.
Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says sports on demand whether it be on the internet or on TV is the future.
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune breaks news that the Big Ten Network and Comcast are about to sign a deal for the channel to be on its cable systems in the Midwest.
Dusty Saunders from the Rocky Mountain News writes that Colorado Avalanche TV announcer Mike Haynes feels lucky to be alive.
ESPN.com’s Jamele Hill apparently wrote a column about Celtics fans that made references to Hitler and the Cold War. Not smart.
The EPL Talk soccer blog likes how ESPN paired Derek Rae and Andy Gray during Euro 2008 over the weekend.
Michael Starr of the New York Post says Fox and ESPN plan to make concerted efforts to get the 2014 and 2016 Olympics from NBC.
R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News reports that NBC Universal has bought a majority stake in World Championship Sports Network, a broadband service that shows Olympic sports.
Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer talks with Comcast SportsNet President Jon Litner about the network’s strategy. Also from the Inquirer, Michael Klein writes that Comcast has suspended Daily News columnist Bill Conlin for comments made on the network and Klein reports that when Conlin may not return when he’s eligible to come back (scroll down).
Chris Reidy of the Boston Globe has the video of a new Sovereign Bank ad showing NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy playing air guitar. Last year, Remy was shown on NESN playing air guitar before an on-air stint and fell off a table. If you haven’t seen that now-famous incident, here it is:
Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star talk about a father and son making their work debut together.
Enjoy the U.S. Open playoff.
