Well, I don’t have to rush back to another office today so I’ll provide some much desired linkage. We’ve already heard about Brett Favre this morning and I don’t want to suckered into another summer of “Will he or won’t he” again. Tired of the whole machinations and ESPN having Rachel Nichols stationed in Mississippi reporting every 15 minutes on SportsCenter. I saw the news break on Twitter. Just glad I wasn’t watching ESPN when the news broke.
Ok, to the links.
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand crunches some of the TV ratings numbers from the weekend.
Brian Lowry in Fox Sports.com isn’t a fan of TV dictating game times.
Fox Sports Net Vice President of Public Relations Chris Bellitti breaks news on Twitter that Fox will not bid for the Texas Rangers.
Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal notes that NFL training camps have become giant reality shows.
Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says DirecTV is about to do an all-out blitz for its NFL Sunday Ticket package.
Milton Kent of Fanhouse says be prepared to see Kurt Warner on Dancing with the Stars this season.
Clay Travis at Fanhouse talks with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and how he got the richest media rights deal in college sports.
Trey Kirby of Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog says expect to see a lot of the Miami Heat on national TV.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite taking a hit to his image, Upper Deck still believes in LeBron James.
Darren wonders why the Miami Heat had to fire its entire season tickets sales staff.
To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center and Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times who writes that Shaquille O’Neal is giving us a lesson on how the sports media world has changed in the 21st Century.
Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that Speed is the closest thing a NASCAR fan has to a 24/7 channel dedicated to the sport.
Bob Flounders of the Patriot-News (PA) profiles Michael Barkann of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
Bob has a little more with Barkann.
In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV writes about the Baltimore Ravens and MASN splitting ways after a five year partnership.
Sam Sessa of the Baltimore Sun saw ESPN’s corporate letter announcing the closure of the ESPNZone restaurants.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner tells us to look for the Ravens to partner with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.
In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says LaVar Arrington will join the Post to write a blog.
Hal Boedecker of the Orlando Sentinel says Bright House cable customers are used to disputes as ESPN is in danger of being pulled in September.
Jeff Shain of the Sentinel looks at Whit Watson joining the Golf Channel.
And Hal says Erin Andrews begins her Good Morning America gig on Thursday.
Barry Shlachter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that News Corp. will not bid for the Rangers.
Jennifer Floyd Engel in the Star-Telegram feels Mark Cuban is in for the Texas Rangers bidding for himself and not the fans.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will put all of its games, except for those picked exclusively by TNT or ABC, on Fox Sports Oklahoma.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer tells us that Brian Collins who gave us, “Boom Goes The Dynamite” is now looking for a new job.
Eric Hansen of the South Bend (IN) Tribune looks at Mike Mayock as the new TV analyst for Notre Dame football.
Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says the local Fox affiliate is surprised over losing a sports anchor.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the White Sox refute manager Ozzie Guillen’s claims about MLB’s treatment of Latin players.
Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times reports of the long term agreement between CBS and Comcast that carries coverage for CBS College Sports as well.
John Consoli of The Wrap says ESPN is selling BASS, LLC. to a former Time Inc. executive.
AJ Daulerio of Deadspin says it appears the new book on ESPN is going to be a blockbuster.
The Big Lead tells us about some rumblings at Yahoo! Sports.
Steven Collins at Bristol Today notes that actor Mark Wahlberg put ESPN’s public relations at Defcon 4 after an interview with Moviefone.
Sports Media Watch says NASCAR’s ratings bounced back on Sunday.
SMW notes that the Miami Heat will have two big national games in December.
Steve Lepore of Puck The Media teases a five part series on the future of the NHL on US TV.
Emmett Jones in Sports Business Digest praises DirecTV for making its SuperFan package available to all NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers instead of a select few.
SportsbyBrooks notes that ESPN writer Arash Markazi has had stories spiked before.
Bob’s Blitz has video of NESN’s Heidi Watney throwing out the first pitch for the Lowell Spinners during her Bobblehead night.
That will do it.
