Fang's Bites

Let’s Get Some Linkage Out

I’ve accumulated a lot of links. They’re slowing down my browser so let’s clear them so I can let my computer get back some memory. Lots of stuff going on.

Let’s start with ESPN stuff as it dominated the news today with its network upfront presentation to advertisers and also confirmed personnel moves.

First, Sports Media Watch talks about Scott Van Pelt reupping with ESPN.

The ESPN Front Row blog has a Q&A podcast with Van Pelt in which he explains why he decided to remain with the Bristolians.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today recaps today’s ESPN upfront presentation in New York.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today notes that with Michelle Beadle leaving ESPN, the network is now focusing on keeping Erin Andrews in the fold.

The Hollywood Reporter goes over some ESPN upfront news including its plans to bring back the 30 for 30 documentary series.

Stuart Levin from Variety also has a story on the new set of 30 for 30 docs.

Jeannie Poggi of Advertising Age also reviews ESPN’s upfronts.

Alex Weprin from TVNewser says ESPN and ABC News will co-produce an interview series to be fronted by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts.

Mike Shields from Adweek says ESPN.com will now partner to sell ads.

ESPN’s Vice President of College Sports Programming, Burke Magnus responds to a Dan Wetzel/Yahoo Sports article on the new ACC TV contract.

Chad Scott at ChuckOliver.net explains how third tier media rights work in college sports.

Andy Fixmer and Alex Sherman at Bloomberg report on how ESPN may expand its WatchESPN app to Apple TV platforms.

Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg says CBS is ready to take the coveted 18-49 ratings title from perennial winner Fox with the airing of Super Bowl XLVII next season.

The great SportsbyBrooks tweets that Erik Kuselias’ move to NBC Sports Network from Golf Channel’s Morning Drive is being considered a demotion by network higher-ups. I had a feeling this was the case. Do you consider this tweet inane, Mike Francesa?

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report enjoyed watching Survival Sunday on the Fox Sports platforms, but wondered why the most important English Premier League game was on another network.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has four different calls of the same moment when Manchester City won the EPL title on Sunday.

John Ourand from Sports Business Journal writes about a now-defunct Twitter account that got under the skin of several sports network executives.

Earlier today, WFAN’s Mike Francesa ranted on how much he hates Twitter.

If you want to see Mike’s veins popping out during this rant, you can see it here on the YES Network website.

And while Francesa seemingly hates Twitter, Media Rantz points out that Francesa has an app where he does something similar to Twitter.

Bruce Jenkins from Sports Illustrated says Tennis Channel failed to serve the WTA Tour’s Madrid Open like it did with the ATP’s side of the same tournament.

Phil Allaway at Front Stretch looks at ESPN’s coverage of this past weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Race.

BBC Sport has announced it will have 24 live HD streams dedicated to the Olympics this summer.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NBCUniversal has set the Olympics programming lineup for Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC.

John Eggerton at Multichannel News notes that a Federal Appeals Court has upheld an FCC ruling that Time Warner Cable did not discriminate against MASN when it refused to put the regional sports network on its North Carolina systems.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the college conference realignment game won’t be settled for at least another decade.

Matt Boutwell of Maine Sports Media looks at a case I wrote about three years ago, about the mysterious tweeter, BrianAdExec.

NESN goes behind the scenes with Jenny Dell and the network’s production team on what goes on during a typical Red Sox gameday.

Rich Elliot of the Connecticut Post has SNY’s president talking about the regional sports network’s plans to air UConn Women’s basketball next season.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with NBC Sports’ Mike Emrick about calling his old team, the New Jersey Devils in the NHL Eastern Conference Final.

In the New York Times, Jay Schreiber talks about the last time the Devils and the New York Rangers met in the Eastern Conference Final and how he had to monitor the series without smartphones back then.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports on ESPN’s plans to bring back 30 for 30.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl NY writes that MSG Network will provide of wraparound coverage of the NHL Eastern Conference Final.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says YES Network will air a Yankeeography on David Wells this week.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that MSG Network will begin airing the WNBA’s New York Liberty starting this weekend.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says two local global conglomerates including Comcast expect to make some big money from the London Olympics.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com Sports goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN’s MLS production.

Jeff Barker from the Baltimore Sun says the Orioles and the Washington Nationals are waiting word from MLB on a decision on how much MASN should pay the Nats.

Over to Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog who writes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is making a change in its DC NFL team beat reporter.

Dan talks about former Post columnist Howard Bryant ranting against Washington Nationals ownership.

Mike Finger at the Houston Chronicle says the Longhorn Network may offer more Texas football games in another attempt to get carriage from state cable providers.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman writes that the Oklahoma City Thunder on TNT set another local ratings record.

In Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks goes over some hate mail.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune writes that Utahans should be able to see the Running Utes thanks to wider distribution of the Pac-12 Networks than the soon-to-be defunct the mtn.

Tuesday night, KNBC-TV did a story on the busy postseason in Los Angeles, but aired the wrong graphic for the Kings and showed the Sacramento Kings instead of the LA Kings. C’mon, man!

Martin Miller of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN upfront presentation showed the network was ready for some football.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media is telling everyone that a New York Rangers-Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Final might not mean boffo ratings as some NHL observers are saying.

Jay Koot of Busted Coverage is disgusted by Erik Kuselias’ engagement to Morning Drive news reader Holly Sonders.

And that’s where we’ll end the links tonight.

ESPN Announces The Return of “30 for 30″

Today is the ESPN Upfront presentation, its unveiling of its programming to advertisers. The presentation is streaming live and I’ve been able to watch what is transpiring at New York’s Best Buy Theater. You can catch it as well and it will be archived starting at 2 p.m. ET today.

We have some press releases coming from the Upfronts and I’ll be posting those this morning. Our first announcement is the return of the ESPN Films brand “30 for 30″.

The 30 for 30 documentaries were unveiled for the 30th anniversary of ESPN and once the films were completed, the network put the brand away, but continued to churn out documentaries under the ESPN Films banner. However, people kept using “30 for 30″ and today, ESPN announced that it will bring the brand back this fall.

The new batch of documentaries will be called “30 for 30, Vol. II” and will have an additional 30 documentaries. Included will be a movie on Bo Jackson. Also, there will be “30 for 30 Shorts” which will be separate and allow filmmakers to provide stories in a reduced format.

Here is the ESPN Films press release.

ESPN Films Announces the Return of the Acclaimed Series 30 for 30

Second Season Includes the Launch of 30 Additional Short Films to Debut on Grantland.com

ESPN Films has announced the return of the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning 30 for 30 film series. As with the first series, which included collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers such as Peter Berg (Kings Ransom), Barry Levinson (The Band That Wouldn’t Die), Ice Cube (Straight Outta L.A.) and Academy Award-winner Barbara Koppel (The House of Steinbrenner), ESPN Films will once again partner with a wide array of filmmakers to tell incredible stories that capture the core of how sports inspire and entertain. 30 for 30 Vol. II is scheduled to premiere in October.

“30 for 30 was conceived as a finite collection and when the original series ended in December of 2010 with Pony Excess, we had underestimated the strength of the connection fans had made between sports documentaries and the 30 for 30 brand,” said Connor Schell, vice president of ESPN Films. “We’re proud to have created a brand that has become synonymous with quality sports storytelling and we see value in bringing back a second collection of 30 films.”

In addition to a second slate of 30 feature-length documentaries, ESPN Films will broaden its scope to support a whole new crop of stories with the creation of 30 for 30 Shorts – a 30-part digital short film series. 30 for 30 Shorts will be similar to the feature-length films in that each piece will represent a specific point of view of the filmmaker and will be a reflection of how they blend the narrative with their own visual style. Beginning in September, a new short film will debut monthly on Bill Simmons’ Grantland.com. A 30 for 30 Short entitled “Here Now” about Pete Rose is currently online as preview of the series.

Schell continued: “Launching the new 30 for 30 Shorts brand will give us the chance to widen the array of talented storytellers we can work with who are passionate about sports and have something to say.  The short film genre frees the filmmaker from some of the constraints common with long-form projects.”

The new season of 30 for 30 will have a much more defined multimedia component through closer integration with Grantland.com by featuring filmmaker podcasts with Bill Simmons, topical oral histories, in-depth features and more.  Each of the feature-length films and digital shorts will be complemented with a long-form written piece on Grantland.com that will deepen the experience for the viewer by providing them with additional context.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we created 30 for 30, but the response wildly exceeded our expectations,” said Grantland.com editor-in-chief Bill Simmons, who is a co-creator of the series. “We learned through social media and word of mouth, that each film seemed to provoke a broader conversation about the topic, so with these digital extensions on Grantland, we’re giving fans the opportunity to dive deeper into each film subject. It’s the logical next step for the 30 for 30 series – to make it the most ambitious multi-media storytelling project that we could imagine while continuing to innovate the genre with each new film.”

Films scheduled to air as part of 30 for 30 Vol. II include:

Benji (Coodie and Chike)
In 1984, 17-year-old Ben Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a sweet-natured youngster from the city’s fabled South Side, and America’s top high school basketball prospect. Nicknamed “Magic Johnson with a jump shot,” Wilson’s natural talents and drive assured his best years were yet to come. Then, in November of his senior year, the life of this exceptional youngster was abruptly and tragically cut short. Wilson’s grim fate sent ripples of horror through the city and the country.

Broke (Billy Corben)
Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, most pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar, Leon Searcy and Andre Rison, as well as commentary from Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, Bart Scott of the New York Jets and many other informed voices, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature carries them to victory on the field and ruin off it.

Bo Knows (Mike Bonfiglio)
A close look at the legendary sports figure Bo Jackson and the marketing campaign that shaped his legacy and redefined the role of the athlete in the pop cultural conversation. Even without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, Bo will forever be known as one of the most famous athletes of all time. This film will look at the marketing of athletes, impossible expectations and the legend of Bo Jackson.

The Season of Their Lives (Jonathan Hock)
When the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his North Carolina State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations. But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack’s only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Sampson, Jordan, Olajuwon and Drexler, N.C. State had “survived and advanced” its way to a national championship. In The Season of Their Lives, director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled and explores what at times has been a tragic and heartbreaking aftermath in the 30 years since.

Previews of the 30 for 30 Vol. II trailer and the 30 for 30 Short “Here Now” can be viewed at ESPN.com/30for30.

More stuff from ESPN Upfronts coming up throughout the day. I’ll have to read through the press release to make sure I’m not giving you unadulterated spin.

Cranking Out The Sunday Links

Let’s give you some linkage on this Sunday morning. I’m at work again. No rest for the weary here.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that Sports Illustrated’s Peter King broke news this weekend about HBO’s Hard Knocks.

David Whitley of the Sporting News says there’s some hypocrisy in the Big 12′s criticism of the Longhorn Network.

John Taylor at College Football Talk says ESPN.com’s Joe Schad reported a story on a potential LSU violation without giving credit to its original source.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid has video of NESN’s Jerry Remy trashing Mike Lowell during a commercial break, but knowing Remy during commercial breaks and him knowing that the monitors at Fenway Park can be heard, I’m 100% positive he was joking.

Awful Announcing gathered tweets from people watching Fox Saturday Baseball as Dick Stockton and Thom Brennaman were calling separate games. Let’s just say the reaction wasn’t pretty.

Joe Favorito has some tips for anyone using social media.

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe says the Celtics will have a lot of green thanks to its deal with Comcast SportsNet New England.

I’ll break my boycott of Dr. Gloom & Doom, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News for a week. Today, Gloom & Doom has a story filled with backhanded compliments and vitriol on the successful return of Stephen A. “A is for Angry” Smith to ESPN Radio New York. No quotes from Smith though.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes about college hockey games possibly being aired on Versus.

On this Baseball Hall of Fame Day, Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom states that the HOF is barren without two people who made a huge impact on the game.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes that ESPN’s Nicole Briscoe gets a bigger role in the network’s NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage starting next weekend.

Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes about Florida Marlins broadcaster Dave Van Horne being inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.

Andrew Carter of the Sun Sentinel says the director of the ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentary on Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams plans to film a follow-up.

Berry Tremel of the Daily Oklahoman has former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer weighing in on the Fox Sports/Big 12 alliance.

John Klein of the Tulsa World feels the Longhorn Network controversy is much ado about nothing.

Jeff Korbelik of the Lincoln (NE) Journal-Star writes that the sports radio format is finding its niche in town with a second station launching this week.

Warren Gerds of the Green Bay (WI) Gazette talks about a local reading of “Lombardi” which recently finished its Broadway run, featuring most of the original actors who performed in the play.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the sports calendar for Southern California for the upcoming week.

In the Los Angeles Times, college football writer Chris Dufrense looks at the SEC Media Days event that has become larger-than-life.

Sports Media Watch notes the end of ESPN The Weekend at Walt Disney World.

And that will end the linkage for today.

ESPN Films Has A Home On ESPN Classic

Thanks to the success of the “30 for 30″ series, ESPN Films will make ESPN Classic its home. I think this is a good move. So every weekend, 50 hours of films will be aired on ESPN Classic starting Friday night at 10 ET and lasting until Sunday at midnight. That’s a lot of films. And it’s your chance to catch up on any documentaries you might have missed.

Here are the details.

ESPN ANNOUNCES “ESPN FILMS ON CLASSIC”

ESPN Classic Expands to Showcase the Power of Sports Films

On the heels of the Peabody Award-winning 30 for 30 documentary series, ESPN Films is set to build on the critical acclaim and viewer interest by creating a consistent destination for sports documentaries on ESPN Classic.  “ESPN Films on Classic” will feature an expanded focus on the channel’s unique ability to reach sports fans through films and is designed to target the fans whose interests are broader than news and analysis, and more focused on entertainment.

“One of the things that makes sports storytelling so captivating is that when a pivotal moment happens, it is almost instantly considered ‘classic’, said Keith Clinkscales, SVP, Content Development and Enterprises. “With 30 for 30, we were able to prove that classic sports stories resonate with a large and diverse audience so our intent with “ESPN Films on Classic” is to create a permanent destination for this genre.  We feel this is a natural brand extension for ESPN Classic, which already features documentary and historical programming.”

The current programming plan for “ESPN Films on Classic” is to showcase films for 50 hours each weekend starting at 10 p.m. ET every Friday through midnight every Sunday.  ESPN Films currently owns an extensive catalog of titles and additional documentaries are being produced annually.  ESPN Films will also look to make tactical acquisitions of sports films to complement existing programming.

Additionally, ESPN Films is creating an annual documentary film series, to debut on ESPN in the Fall, following the same general parameters as 30 for 30.  This will give the company an ongoing relationship with some of today’s most talented filmmakers, while at the same time, delivering inspirational sports stories that connect with both avid and casual fans.

“We feel that 30 for 30 represented an evolution in how we tell sports history at ESPN,” said Connor Schell, executive producer, ESPN Films.  “We’ve learned that we can provide a window into American culture through detailed sports storytelling as it can serve as a very effective time capsule of people, places and events that often shape our lives.”

The upcoming programming schedule includes two featured films from the 30 for 30 series.  As the weekend starts on June 17^th, the first film will be Oscar-nominated director Brett Morgen’s June 17^th 1994, a documentary that showcases a day like no other in the sports world.  That will be followed by Game 5 of the1994 NBA Finals between the Rockets and the Knicks, which was taking place during the O.J. Simpson car chase and is featured prominently in the film.  This weekend also marks the 25th anniversary of Len Bias’ death so the second featured film will be Kirk Fraser’s Without Bias.  That film will be followed by one of Bias’ most notable games, the 1986 matchup between Maryland and UNC.   Additional programming will include a mix of content produced by ESPN Films along with acquired content.

Schell continued: “Acquisitions will play a key role in our programming plan for “ESPN Films on Classic” as we know that some of the most creative storytelling in this genre comes from independent filmmakers and this new approach allows us to create an on-air film festival for our own documentaries as well as others in the field.”

That’s it.

Working On Your Tuesday Links

It’s been a busy day for me as I’ve been working on the story on NBC approving plans for a Stanley Cup Final Viewing Party at TD Garden in Boston. Amazing how things fall into place on a story like that. But still working to confirm on the Bruins and Garden end of the story. Once that happens, the story will be complete.

Let’s do links while I can.

Sports Business Daily notes that the NBA Finals finished as the 2nd most watched NBA Finals since 2004, but still finished below last year’s Celtics-Lakers series.

The Sporting News picks up a story from the Sports Business Journal’s Tripp Mickle about Fox’s increased ratings for NASCAR this season.

Sarah Kuta of the Associated Press Sports Editors page notes that economic realities have hit newspaper sports coverage quite hard.

Ken Campbell of the Hockey News gives us this item that hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire is being offered a full-time position at NBC/Versus (scroll down).

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy has the overnight ratings from Monday night’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry shares his thoughts on the launch of Grantland.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says the Miami Heat’s crash and burn in the NBA Finals is not what the script doctor ordered.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter writes that ESPN Classic will become home to ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 documentaries and all future projects.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek says ABC scored with the NBA Finals.

And Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life also writes about the NBA Finals’ ratings.

Matt Hegerty of the Daily Racing Form says this year’s Belmont Stakes received higher ratings on NBC than last year’s race on ABC.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser notes that ESPN NFL analyst Tedi Bruschi unveiled Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s media rules.

Ben Axelrod of SportsGrid notes that today is the “24th Anniversary” of the Keith Hernandez spitting incident made famous on Seinfeld.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says the NFL Network is tapping the podcast for actual programming.

ESPN.com’s David Ubben talks with Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe about the new revenue distribution and the TV appearance formula for member schools.

Richard Lawler from Engadget HD looks at the expansion in programming at ESPN 3D.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says tickets for Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final are a hot commodity due to the lack of a secondary ticket market in Vancouver.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes that NBA Finals Game 6 brought in the viewers as compared with last year.

Richard says a LeBron James critic writing a book on the Miami Heat star got the happy ending he was hoping for.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Wimbledon TV schedule.

Pete says Fox NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip will be inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame later this year.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says LeBron James’ attack of his critics shows us what’s wrong with sports.

Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says a recent reairing of Super Bowl XIV gave him an appreciation of Pat Summerall as a play-by-play man.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that DC United’s TV ratings are way, way up this season.

Del Milligan of the Lakeland (FL) Ledger says get ready for plenty of TV coverage from the U.S. Open.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Game 6 of the NBA Finals brought in record ratings locally.

Fox Sports Southwest will air the Dallas Mavericks victory parade this week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes that the local ABC affiliate saw a ratings record for the NBA Finals.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the local minor league hockey team returns to radio next season.

Mark Snyder at the Detroit Free Press says former Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez heads to the broadcast booth for the upcoming season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the NBA Finals did not do as well locally as compared to last year.

Bob says Packers coach Mike McCarthy revealed in a radio interview that he had his players sized for Super Bowl rings the night before the game!

Robert Feder from Time Out Chicago says the Tribune is losing its media critic (and a good resource for Fang’s Bites as well).

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business continues his talk with White Sox analyst Steve Stone.

Mark Faller of the Arizona Republic isn’t a fan of the Longhorn Network ads.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that one website recognizes Pac-12 Commish Larry Scott as a pretty powerful guy.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes that CBC Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek is quite in demand now that his contract is up.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reviews the first two weeks of Canadian sports television.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that an estimated 12 million people watched Stanley Cup Final Game 6 across the US and Canada.

Sports Media Watch says Gold Cup Soccer is gathering a strong audience for Univision’s networks.

TV Technology notes that NBC/Versus tapped a Swiss company for its telestrator graphics on the Stanley Cup Final.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk has the video of a new Golf boy band that debuted on Golf Channel.

Emma Carmichael of Deadspin talks about her time working for the NBC Olympics unit.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead reviews “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”

And that will end the links.

Quick Sunday Linkage

The last couple of days have killed me going to New York on Friday for business then having to go to work on Saturday preventing me from really reacting to the Dick Ebersol resignation. I will do a Sunday thoughts column today and also start answering the mailbag. Good questions from all of you. If you want to squeeze question in, you can send it to kzf1@fangsbites.com and I do have some swag for you.

But let’s do some linkage first.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks about Tennis Channel and ESPN2 beginning their two weeks of French Open coverage today.

Mike says thanks to free previews, Tennis Channel’s audience will expand for the French Open.

Jessica E. Vascellero and Sam Schechner of the Wall Street Journal write that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol clashed with Comcast corporate officials over money.

Marisa Guthrie at the Hollywood Reporter explains why Dick Ebersol chose to resign.

Brent Lang at The Wrap wonders what Ebersol’s next move will be.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says NBC local affiliates really appreciated Dick Ebersol’s support of the broadcast stations.

Jon Lafayette of B&C notes that upfront ads have been selling fast and furious for the NFL despite the uncertainty over its season.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that automakers are buying up the available Super Bowl XLVI spots making NBC quite happy.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy reports that ESPN has reupped analyst Cris Carter for Sunday NFL Countdown.

Steve Jones of USA Today reviews the 2nd volume of the ESPN Films 30 for 30 DVD gift set.

Rick Chandler of NBCSports.com reviews the whole Chris Berman “You’re with me, Leather” incident that the Swami tried to deny in the new ESPN book.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the new ESPN book and recounts some of his experiences at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Chris Ariens of SportsNewser notes that CNN’s John King (a URI alumnus and a guy with whom I attended journalism classes) caught David Ortiz’s 300th career home run at Fenway Park.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe previews tonight’s MLB Network airing of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

William S. Paxton of the Stamford (CT) Advocate catches up with Chris Berman to talk about the NFL.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Dick Ebersol won’t have a chance to redeem himself from the heavy financial losses from the 2010 Olympics.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick says taped Olympics and XFL brought down Ebersol’s legacy. Leave it to the Gloomster to find something negative.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the new book on ESPN has definitely struck a chord.

Greg Connors at the Buffalo News talks with Tennis Channel’s Mary Carillo.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer, John Gonzalez speaks with ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi about replacing Josh Elliot on the daily morning SportsCenters. You’ll have to mute the autoplay video that starts as soon as the page loads. Just a warning.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com talks about the spike in TV ratings for the Baltimore Orioles.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with Mary Carillo about her move to Tennis Channel.

Jodi Belgard at the Alexandria (LA) Town Talk profiles a local student who got an internship with ESPN.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes that ESPN’s NBA analysts were critical of the Oklahoma City Thunder last night.

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune has Dick Ebersol saying that he expects NBC/Comcast to put forth a very strong bid for the 2014/16 Olympics.

Bryce Miller in the Des Moines (IA) Register talks with ESPN/ABC NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty.

Bryce also profiles the technician from Iowa who’s working ESPN on ABC’s production of today’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Trevor Hughes of The Coloradoan recaps Denver News columnist Woody Paige’s honoring by Colorado State University about his piece last year about the suicide of a Broncos player and his brush with killing himself.

Dick Harmon from the Deseret (UT) News writes about BYUtv preparing to add more sports coverage to its agenda.

John Maffei at the North County Times reports that the San Diego Padres and Fox Sports are about to come together on a two decade, nine figure deal.

Michael Oliveira of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC is no longer bullish on 3-D TV.

EPL Talk says ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel have improved their English Premier League coverage, but still have a ways to go.

Sports Media Watch says the ratings Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on ESPN were up from last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference Final on Versus.

Ian Bethune of Sox & Dawgs has the video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy cracking up on the air again.

And that will do it.

A Very Busy Set of Monday Links

I spent the morning away from the office and after lunch, I’ve been dealing with crazy shit so I’m just getting to the links late this afternoon. I’ll put in as many as I can. This week is shaping up to be very busy so just bear with me as you may not see links for a couple of days. I will post press releases when I can.

The sports blogosphere has been abuzz with the release of the first excerpt from the new book on the Alleged Worldwide Leader, “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside The World of ESPN” co-written by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. I am working on getting James as a guest for the Sports Media Weekly podcast for either next week or the week following.

In any event, the excerpt published in this week’s GQ Magazine looks at the tidal wave known as Keith Olbermann and his time co-anchoring SportsCenter with Dan Patrick.

Of course, Keith already has an opinion on the excerpt and has responded on Twitter. Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page recaps so I don’t have to.

At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Tripp Mickle report that ESPN parent company, Disney, is looking to sweeten the pot for its bid for the 2014/16 Olympic TV rights.

Also from the SBJ, John and Terry Lefton look at the impact of the old XFL on both the NFL and on the league’s TV partners.

Terry also writes about one particular XFL technical innovation that is gone, but not forgotten.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power List for April.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says the arrest of ESPN’s Matthew Barnaby over the weekend is another example in a long line of bad behavior among the network’s personalities.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs has some of the funniest typographical errors on sports TV.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have turned down an invitation to appear on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer, and say it with me, provided there is an NFL season.

Speaking of which, Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says the NFL has confirmed that there is an option to shutdown the league if the lockout is lifted by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports that several NFL players have been told by their agents not to work out as they won’t be covered by the team if they get hurt.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe confirms that NESN’s Jerry Remy is back in the booth tonight.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says there’s a high anticipation to read the new ESPN tome by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels YES’ Michael Kay is embellishing the truth when it comes to Yankee Stadium’s attendance.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the NBA’ Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 outrated Red Sox-Yankees in New York.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says fans are getting the short stick.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend that was in sports TV.

Doug Demmons of the Birmingham (AL) News was surprised to see Fox go split screen during yesterday’s NASCAR coverage.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the ESPN/ABC crew gave praise to the Oklahoma City crowd during Game 7 of the Thunder-Memphis Grizzlies series.

Bob Wolfley looks forward to the new ESPN book.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says a new charity event will carry the legacy of the late Cubs legend Ron Santo.

In the Kansas City Star, Bruce Dancis reviews the 2nd DVD box set of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says April 18, 2011 will live forever in the annals of the National Hockey League.

Scott Terrell of the Tucson Citizen talks about the Pac-12 TV contract and what it means for fans.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News has the sports calendar for this week.

Tom looks at the first excerpt of the new ESPN book.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail feels CBC did not do enough reporting on Derek Boogaard’s death.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star tells aspiring sportscasters to be careful what they wish for if they want to enter a new Canadian TV contest.

Sports Media Watch talks about the record NBA ratings for TNT.

In the Huffington Post, Colorado University journalism student Weston Gentry responds to Rick Reilly’s speech to his alma mater.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Versus throughout the NHL Conference Semifinals.

EPL Talk says with it being Survival Sunday, fans should tell both ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel what games they want to see.

I’m going to end it there.

Thursday’s Links Are Here … Finally

Been doing some work and also keeping an eye on the Detroit-Yankees game online. It’s been a joy watching games online. It has been a lifesaver when I’ve been at work bogged down with stuff in the office. And MLB.TV is free for Apple iOS users via the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Anyway, let’s do some links.

John Ourand at the Sports Business Daily mentions that ESPN has filed suit in court his week against Conference USA for not bargaining its TV rights in good faith and awarding them to Fox instead.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid is calling MLB’s “Always Epic” ad campaign an “Epic Fail”. I have yet to figure out what the ad with San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson is all about.

However, SportsGrid’s Glenn Davis is amused at the new SportsCenter ad also featuring Brian Wilson.

Sheldon Spencer at ESPN’s Front Row talks about the launch of the corporate blog.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News explains why ESPN is not included in the Time Warner Cable iPad app.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek notes that MSG Network has reupped with the MLS’ New York Red Bulls for another three years.

Kunur Patel at Advertising Age says a sponsor is coming through to allow Apple devices to have free access to MLB.TV for a month.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL’s TV partners could stand to be the biggest loser of any prolonged lockout.

Alex Weprin at SportsNewser notes that SB Nation has launched a new baseball-only blogging site.

At TVNewser, Chris Ariens says ESPN was among those honored for a prestigious Peabody Award for its 30 for 30 documentary series. HBO also received a Peabody for Magic & Bird.

The Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam notes that two local sports radio stations brought in good ad revenue from last year.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times discusses ESPN’s Josh Elliot’s move to Good Morning America.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that YES and DirecTV’s agreement runs out on Friday if a new carriage accord is not reached soon.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union also writes about the YES/DirecTV deadline.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that a local radio station is bumping the Yankees on Saturday in favor of the Final Four^®? What happened to Most Favored Nation status for baseball on the radio?

Ken says a local NBC sports anchor is heading to Augusta to call The Masters^® on DirecTV.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record talks about MSG Network bringing the New York Red Bulls back into the fold.

Cindy Boren at the Washington Post’s Early Lead blog says a federal appeals court ruled against the DC NFL Team stating it must provide captions of all song lyrics and text public service announcements at the Stadium formerly known as Jack Kent Cooke for its hearing-impaired fans.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that it’s MLB Opening Day not only for the sport and its fans, but for TV as well.

Kristi E. Swartz, Larry Hartstein and Alexis Stevens of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution report on former Hawks star, current vice president and TV analyst Dominique Wilkins getting attacked by a former NBA referee following his broadcast spot last night.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Fox’s MLB analysts are bullish on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ed Sherman with Crain’s Chicago Business says the early start of the MLB season means a busy time at Wrigley Field and the Park formerly known as Comiskey.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with announcers, young and old, local and national, about what Dodgers voice Vin Scully means to them.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose has apologized for getting arrested earlier this month on DUI charges.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore finds the tentative Stanley Cup Finals TV schedule for NBC/Versus.

The NFL Chick pays tribute to women in sportscasting.

Cee Angi at Aerys Sports’ Essence of Baseball site gets on the MLB Fan Cave for reaching to the lowest common denominator.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs likes seeing MLB Opening Day and the Final Four finally separated.

And that’s where we’ll end the links for today.

ESPN Crowing About A Combined 52 Sports Emmy Nominations

When you combine the Sports Emmy Award nominations for ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN.com, the sports behemoth has a massive 52 nods. It doesn’t mean that they’ll win them all, but that’s a very big number. In case you’re wondering, ESPN has 22 nominations, ABC with 13, ESPN2 has 9, and both ESPN Deportes and ESPN.com with 1.

Some of the notable nominations include Chris Berman and Scott Van Pelt for Outstanding Studio Host, Tom Jackson and Kirk Herbstreit for Outstanding Studio Analyst, Jon “This Guy” Gruden in the Outstanding Game Analyst category, last year’s World Cup, Monday Night Football, College GameDay, E:60, The Two Escobars, among others.

Let’s take a look at this long press release which has every of the ESPN family of networks and platforms 52 nominations.

ESPN, Inc. – Industry Leading 52 Sports Emmy Nominations

FIFA World Cup – Most-Honored Entrant; E:60 & NFL Also Lead the Way;
First Nomination for ESPNU; Debut of ESPN 3D Cited for Technical Achievement

ESPN, Inc. earned 52 Sports Emmy Award nominations, the most of any submitting company for the 10^th time in 11 years, it was announced today by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.  The winners will be announced Monday, May 2.

ESPN’s nominations were led by 12 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, more than the number earned by any other single production effort from any entrant.  Fittingly, as the largest commitment to a single event in ESPN’s 31-year history, it also earned the most nominations for any single entity ever for ESPN.  The nominations ranged from Outstanding Live Special for the final on ABC to ESPN Content Development’s I Scored A Goal in Edited Special to a variety of technical categories, including Technical Team Studio, Camerawork, Graphics and Music (two).

NFL programming garnered five nominations: Chris Berman (Studio Host), Tom Jackson (Studio Analyst, won in 2009), Monday Night Football (Live Series), Jon Gruden (Event Analyst, second nomination in his two years on MNF), and “ESPN NFL Unmasked” (a behind-the-scenes player profile regularly on Sunday NFL Countdown, in Production Design/Art Direction).

ESPN’s two critically acclaimed news magazine programs focusing on issues and personalities in sports combined for 10 nominations. E:60 totaled six (Edited Series, Journalism, three in Long Feature and Short Fetaure) while Outside the Lines earned four (Documentary, two for Long Feature and Short Feature).

NBA content drew four nominations.  The NBA Finals on ABC were cited in Live Special, Jeff Van Gundy earned a second straight nomination in Event Analyst; and the NBA Draft received two nominations (Open/Tease and Production Design/Art Direction).

ESPN Content Development also received four nominations.  In addition to I Scored a Goal, two “30 for 30” films were cited — “June 17, 1994” in Documentary and Editing and “The Two Escobars” in Documentary for its premiere on ESPN Deportes.

Among ESPN commentators, in addition to Berman, Jackson, Gruden and Van Gundy; Kirk Herbstreit, the 2010 winner, was again nominated in Studio Analyst; Orel Hershiser was a first-time nominee in Event Analyst; and another first-timer, Scott Van Pelt in Studio Host.

Other notable nominees:

• Three nominations combined in the two categories for Promotional Announcements:  “30 for 30” and The Open Championship in Episodic Promos, and “Is it Monday Yet?” in Institutional Promos.
• Two nominations for Technical Achievement:  ESPN 3D (debuted June 2010) and “Enhanced Visual Accompaniment,” a virtual studio technology used in a variety of ways, including Center Circle (soccer), Ultimate Uplink (NBA), and Virtual Pitch (MLB).
• ESPNU’s first nomination, for College Football Whiparound in Graphic Design
• The Breeders’ Cup World Championship in Live Special
• ESPN College Football in Live Series
• College GameDay in Weekly Studio Show (won in 2008 and 2010)

Overall, ESPN has won 135 Sports Emmy Awards in 23 years of eligibility.  ABC Sports won 160 from 1980 – 2008.

ESPN’s nominations by category (all are ESPN, except as noted):

Live Special
Breeders Cup World Championship
2010 FIFA World Cup (ABC)
The NBA Finals (ABC)

Live Series
College Football
Monday Night Football

Live Event Turnaround
World Series of Poker Final Table

Outstanding Playoff Coverage
2010 FIFA World Cup

Edited Special
I Scored a Goal (ABC)

Sports Documentary
June 17, 1994
Outside the Lines: Robben Island:  A Greater Goal (ESPN2)
The Two Escobars (ESPN Deportes)

Edited Series
E:60 (ESPN2)

Studio Show/weekly
College GameDay

Studio Show/daily
Pardon the Interruption
SportsCenter

Journalism
E:60 – Children of Bhopal (ESPN2)

Short Feature
E:60 – A League of her Own (ABC)
Outside the Lines: Santa Anita, A Dark History

Long Feature
E:60 – Josiah’s Time (ESPN2)
E:60 – Survival 1 (ESPN2)
E:60 — Unbreakable
Outside the Lines – Asian Carp
Outside the Lines – The Power of Dylan

Open/Tease
2010 FIFA World Cup (ABC)
NBA Draft

New Approaches – Short Format
Sport Science (ESPN.com)

Studio Host
Chris Berman
Scott Van Pelt

Studio Analyst
Kirk Herbstreit
Tom Jackson

Event Analyst
Jon Gruden
Orel Hershiser
Jeff Van Gundy (ABC)

Technical Team Remote
Winter X Games 14 (ESPN/ESPN2)

Technical Team Studio
2010 FIFA World Cup (ESPN/ABC)

Camerawork
2010 FIFA World Cup (ESPN/ABC)

Editing
2010 Scripps Howard Spelling Bee (ABC)
June 17, 1994

Writing
2010 FIFA World Cup (ESPN/ABC)

Music
2010 FIFA World Cup: Day One Tease (ESPN/ABC)
2010 FIFA World Cup: U2 7 Soweto Gospel Choir (ESPN/ESPN2/ABC)

Graphic Design
2010 FIFA World Cup
ESPNU College Football Whiparound (ESPNU)
Sports Science

Prod.Design/Art Direction
2010 FIFA World Cup (ESPN/ESPN2/ABC)
NBA Draft
“ESPN NFL Unmasked”

Technical Achievement
ESPN 3D (ESPN 3D)
“Enhanced Visual Accompaniment”

Promo – Institutional
“Is it Monday Yet”

Promo – Episodic
ESPN Films: “30 for 30”
The Open Championship

That’s it.

ESPN Announces the 2nd Volume of “30 for 30″ DVD Gift Set

Back in September of last year, ESPN announced the first half of the critically acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series would be released on DVD just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Now, get word that the second half of the series, including The Two Escobars and the House of Steinbrenner will be included in this set. In addition, a limited edition set of all 30 DVD’s will released. This all comes out on May 17, which is Father’s Day. We have all the details of what will be released and other information in this announcement.

ESPN Films ‘30 for 30’ DVD Gift Set – Volume 2: Final 15 Films from Award-Winning Series to Be Released; Limited Edition 30 Film Collector’s Set Also Available

ESPN Home Entertainment, in conjunction with Team Marketing, will release ESPN Films “30 for 30” Gift Set – Volume 2, on May 17, in time for Father’s Day.  The six-disc “30 for 30” gift set, with  the final 15 films from the critically acclaimed series, presents a fresh take on some of the most extraordinary sports stories from the last 30 years.

In addition, fans will be able to purchase the ”30 for 30” Limited Edition Collector’s Set of all 30 films in a collectible box set at key retailers.  This limited edition will include “30 for 30” Gift Sets – Volume 1 & Volume 2 as well as an exclusive retro ESPN hat featuring the company’s original logo.

From sports-loving filmmakers with such diverse backgrounds as Barbara Kopple, NBA star Steve Nash, Ron Shelton and John Singleton each film showcases its crafters’ unique skill set and point of view.  Proving the sports world can be fertile ground for excellence in dramatic storytelling, several films were official selections from the Cannes, Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals.  Films from the series were among the highest rated documentaries on ESPN and the final installment, Pony Exce$$, was the most watched documentary in the history of the network.

The first DVD installment of the series included Films 1-15 and was released for Holiday 2010, and the “30 for 30” series was honored with the 2010 International Documentary Association’s (IDA) Distinguished Continuing Series award.

Films from the second DVD installment include: The Two Escobars directed by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist, The Birth of Big Air produced by Academy Award nominee Spike Jonze,

Marion Jones: Press Pause directed by Academy Award nominee John Singleton, Jordan Rides the Bus directed by Academy Award nominee Ron Shelton and The House of Steinbrenner directed by two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple. Also included is the never before released on DVD One Night In Vegas by Reggie Rock Bythewood. Complete list of films and information for Volume 2.

In addition to the last 15 films in the series, the six-disc gift set includes more than three hours of bonus features, including deleted scenes, extended interviews, trailers and director’s statements.  Total running time is 1153 minutes (more than 19 hours).

The “30 for 30” Gift Set Volume 2 has a suggested retail price of $74.95.  The “30 for 30” Limited Edition Collector’s Set has a suggested retail price of $149.95.

“30 for 30” Gift Set  – Volume 2
Street Date:                                                      May 17
Direct prebook:                                                 March 22
Distributor prebook:                                          April 5
Pricing:                                                             $74.95 SRP
Run Time:                                                         1153 Minutes
Aspect Ratio:                                                    Widescreen
Audio:                                                              Stereo
Languages:                                                       English
Closed Captions:                                              Yes

“30 for 30” Limited Edition Collector’s Set
Street Date:                                                      May 17
Direct prebook:                                                 March 22
Distributor prebook:                                          April 5
Pricing:                                                             $149.95 SRP
Run Time:                                                         2314 Minutes
Aspect Ratio:                                                    Widescreen
Audio:                                                              Stereo
Languages:                                                       English
Closed Captions:                                              Yes

Film Festival Selections
Official Selection 2010 Tribeca Film Festival: The Two Escobars, The Birth of Big Air
Official Selection 2010 Festival de Cannes: The Two Escobars
Official Selection 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival: The Two Escobars
Official Selection 2010 Toronto Film Festival: Into the Wind
Official Selection 2010 Hamptons International Film Festival: Once Brothers

And that will do it.

Some Monday Night Linkage

I’ll add some links to the ones I provided earlier today. Let’s do this while the BCS National Championship Game is on.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says ESPN will commemorate Martin Luther King’s Birthday with a live, Town Hall Meeting.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek notes that Fox and NBC scored in the ratings for the NFL Wild Card playoffs.

Michael Dunaway of Paste magazine talks with the Executive Producer of ESPN Films and the 30 for 30 series.

Radio Ink magazine reports that the Dan Patrick Show has renewed its syndication agreement with Premiere Radio Networks at the same time the show has re-upped with DirecTV. 

Noah Davis at SportsNewser says NHL Network US has hired an ESPN veteran to be its Executive Producer.

At the Albany Times Union, Pete Dougherty notes Fox’s ratings for the the NFC Wild Card playoff game.

David Zurawik at the Baltimore Sun says CBS did not get the job done during the Ravens-Chiefs Wild Card playoff game.

The Baltimore Sports Report speaks with the lovely Jen Royle of MASN. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with the new MASN Nationals analyst.

Aaron Knox of the Tampa Bay Tribune says ESPN is not apologizing for putting the BCS on cable.

To the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Ray Buck who writes that Fox had a unique opportunity for a dress rehearsal for Super Bowl XLV with last Friday’s Cotton Bowl at Cowboys Stadium. 

W. Scott Bailey of the San Antonio Business Journal tells us that the Spurs top the local NBA ratings across the country. 

David Burger in the Salt Lake Tribune writes that country star Kenny Chesney is producing his second football-centric documentary for ESPN.

In the Los Angeles Times, David Kronke says The Onion is skewering both ESPN and CNN in two new shows.

Sports Media Watch says CBS got a huge rating for Baltimore-Kansas City on Sunday. 

SMW notes that the Packers-Eagles game was the most viewed Wild Card playoff contest ever.

Chris Byrne at the Eye on Sports Media has the national and local honorees for the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.

And that’s going to finish us for the night.

Fang’s Bites’ Big Dozen Sports Media Stories of 2010

Another year is over and another year is just beginning. It’s time to review the 12 biggest stories in sports media in the year of 2010 A.D. We had plenty of stories to choose from. Not every one made the cut. Some will receive honorable mentions. Others will be listed here. Sports media never sleeps and that’s been proven throughout the year. Let’s go through the list and there is plenty of stuff to review. I’ll go in reverse order from 12 and go to number 1.

12. Silly Carriage Disputes Prevent Fans From Watching NHL, MLB and Other Programming

The Versus/DirecTV dispute started in September 2009 and carried over until March of this year, causing NHL fans to lose almost five months of games. And while Versus had decent ratings during the first days of the dispute, the dispute caught up with the network and the loss of millions of subscribers eventually hurt. And it took six months for the channel to return to DirecTV at basically the same terms it had when it was dropped.

At the beginning of 2010, Fox and Time Warner Cable averted a dispute that would have meant the loss of the BCS and the NFC Championship in several major markets.

But the silliest dispute of the year was between Fox and Cablevision that lasted for two weeks and led to the loss of the National League Championship Series and NFL games in New York, New Jersey and parts of Philadelphia. When Fox’s local stations as well as a number of cable channels returned to Cablevision, it left a bitter taste in the mouths of the cable provider.

As we close out 2010, Versus’ sister network, Golf Channel is in danger of being pulled by DirecTV and you have the dispute between the Sinclair stations with Time Warner Cable so this Merry-Go-Round continues and it leaves viewers holding the bag. Basically, no one wins.

11. Passing of Broadcasting Legends

2010 meant the passing of several broadcasting legends including Chicago Cubs analyst Ron Santo, Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame announcer Dave Niehaus, Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell and original Monday Night Football analyst Don Meredith. The mourning of each man from all over the country, especially Harwell and Santo show how much impact they had on broadcasting. Harwell handled his death with dignity exuding class throughout his last interviews and final public appearances. The outpouring of love and affection for each man after their passing was truly touching.

10. The Rise of 3-D TV, But Virtually No Impact

ESPN launched ESPN 3D in 2010, and other networks aired events in 3-D such as The Masters, NASCAR, MLB, Hockey Night in Canada, the US Open, the World Cup and even an NFL preseason game. But reaction to 3-D has been cold to lukewarm. Sales of 3-D TV’s have fallen short of expectations as the TV industry has been surprised by the lack of enthusiasm by consumers.

And while programming for 3-D is certainly not close to filling a complete day, there was speculation whether ESPN would kill 3D if it didn’t take off. In my own informal poll on Twitter and on Facebook, there isn’t interest from consumers to buy a 3-D set. The cost is prohibitive and so are the glasses which are bulky and can only be used with the set you buy.

There are rumors that Toshiba is developing a 3-D set that won’t require glasses, but it wouldn’t be coming to the United States by mid-decade at the earliest. TV manufacturers may have made a huge miscalculation on 3-D.

9. Potential Free Agents Remain At Home

As we entered 2010, there was talk that it could be a year of upheaval for network free agents. But when it was all said and done and the dust cleared, the free agents decided that home was where the heart was.

It began in February with speculation that ESPN’s Chris Berman could leave the Mothership for a role with DirecTV or NFL Network. It never happened as Boomer signed a new contract in April to remain at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

At the end of March, lead Fox voice Joe Buck signed a new four year deal ensuring that he would call MLB and NFL games as long as both remain with the network.

Just before the current NFL season, Rich Eisen agreed to a four year deal of his own to remain at NFL Network, giving him expanded duties including hosting NFL GameDay Morning, his own podcast and continuing as main host for NFL Total Access.

But it appeared the most speculation was over Erin Andrews as her star rose earlier this year as she did “Dancing With the Stars” and finished third during the Spring 2010 season. Then we learned in July that Erin would indeed remain at ESPN with host duties during an expanded College Gameday.

In broadcasting, sometimes the best move is the one you don’t make. In the cases of Chris Berman, Joe Buck, Rich Eisen and Erin Andrews, staying put ends up being the right move.

8. Deadspin’s Continues To Influence the Sports Agenda

We saw Deadspin’s influence in 2009 when it went all Wu-Tang on ESPN. The influence got even bigger on two particular stories, the Brett Favre/Jenn Sterger mess and the Rex Ryan foot fetish story.

Both stories forced the mainstream media to report on them. In the case of Favre’s alleged sexting to Sterger, it led to an NFL investigation into whether Favre violated league workplace conduct policies. Of course, the story came to, ahem, a head (sorry) when Favre was fined $50,000 for not cooperating with the league’s probe (sorry again). We’ll see if it leads to a lawsuit from Sterger (most likely) and where it leads.

For her part, Sterger might have been able to stem some of the negative reaction towards her had she used her now canceled show, The Daily Line, to at least make a one or two sentence statement about the situation. Instead, she said nothing and any buzz the show might have received went by the wayside.

As far as Rex Ryan is concerned, more foot fetish pictures of his wife have come out and we probably haven’t heard the end of this as we go into 2011.

7. ESPN’s 30 for 30

The series began last year and continued into 2010. While there were some misses (Jordan Rides the Bus, Four Days in October), there were many hits and successes for ESPN’s foray into the sports documentary genre. Films such as The Two Escobars, June 17, 1994, and the extremely poignant Once Brothers showed that when ESPN gets serious, it can put together some really compelling and excellent television. Bill Simmons wanted to prove that HBO did not have a monopoly in sports documentaries and he certainly has made ESPN a player. 30 for 30 has now become a successful brand for ESPN.

6. NBC’s Olympics Record Ratings Were Offset by Huge Financial Losses

For NBC, the Vancouver Winter Olympics that made Curling into a household sport for two weeks, had a great hockey tournament and gave Canada tremendous national pride, the Games were a mixed bag. While overall, Vancouver ended up being the 2nd most watched Olympic Games in history, it had to write down a loss of $225 million based on a larger rights fee and increased production costs.

The losses are being taken into account by the new owners of NBC, Comcast which will be dealing with the bidding for the 2014/2016 Olympics as well as ESPN, CBS/Turner and Fox who will join NBC at the table in Lausanne, Switzerland. Whether NBC can retain the rights in 2014/2016 and beyond is anyone’s guess.

5. ESPN’s World Cup Coverage

As with 30 for 30, ESPN’s understated and low key coverage of the World Cup led to high interest for the final between the Netherlands and Spain as a total of 24.3 million people watched on ABC and Univision this summer. Ian Darke became a star in the United States thanks to his World Cup calls and eventually became the signature voice for soccer on ESPN.

There were fears that ESPN might go over the top for its coverage of the World Cup, but it gave the event plenty of respect and gave a flavor of the enthusiasm for the games in South Africa. It gives hope if the Alleged Worldwide Leader gains the rights for the Olympics.

4. Women in Media Start Up Debate Once Again

I thought that the debate over female reporters in locker rooms had ended, but it all started once again when TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz was allegedly harassed by the New York Jets when she tried to interview Mark Sanchez. For her part, Ines really didn’t pursue the whole case, but it led to men being angry about women being allowed in locker rooms. It was a polarizing issue on the talk shows for a couple of weeks.

One other issue involving women was Tony Kornheiser’s comments about Hannah Storm’s attire on SportsCenter which has been a subject of debate over the last couple of years. ESPN suspended Mr. Tony for two weeks over his comments. It also led former CNN Sports and News anchor Daryn Kagan to blog about the issue as well.

Will this lead to other things in 2011? Good question.

3. NFL TV Record Ratings

Every week, I get press releases from each of the NFL TV partners and they keep going up. Records keep getting set. NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football package had its highest ratings ever as did ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Week after week, the NFL’s ratings top everything whether it was primetime programming, NBA games and for the first time ever, the World Series head-to-head.

Based on these trends, one would have to think that Fox is in gear to see a viewership record for Super Bowl XLV as CBS did for Super XLIV in 2010.

2. CBS/Turner Gains Rights to NCAA Tournament

After broadcasting the NCAA Tournament all by its lonesome since 1991, CBS brought in a partner, Turner Sports to help do the heavy lifting. There was speculation that ESPN would take the tournament back, but in mid-April, there was surprising news that it was dropping out of the bidding leaving CBS/Turner all alone.

CBS had mentioned that it was losing money on the Tournament and a report surfaced that it tried to get ESPN to take the event off its hands, a request that was eventually turned down. CBS manages to keep the tournament and allow a cable partner to get involved.

And now to our number one sports media story:

1. Athletes Trying To Control Their Message and Doing It Badly

Since the dawning of social networking, athletes have tried to circumvent the normal channels of sending their message to the world, doing an end run around reporters. However, there’s no doubting the power of television to reach a mass audience. Two instances of athletes trying to use TV to their advantage and not coming off well were Tiger Woods and LeBron James.

In Tiger Woods’ case, he gave both ESPN and Golf Channel five minutes to interview him and Tom Rinaldi and Kelly Tilghman had to ask questions in rapid fire succession. While both Rinaldi and Tilghman were told they could ask any question, they did not really ask what happened to Woods on  the fateful night that changed his life. But since then, Woods has joined Twitter and tried to be more user-friendly.

But the ultimate failure was The Decision, 73 minutes of truly painful TV. All involved came off badly from ESPN to interviewer Jim Gray (who may have made $500,000 off his brutal questioning) to LeBron James who instantly became a villain. ESPN got plenty of viewers, but it led to negative reaction all around. James may wonder why no one is focusing on the donations to the Boys & Girls Club, but he made The Decision all about him by making a two minute announcement into a 73 minute egofest.

It’s safe to say that ESPN probably won’t do this type of program again.

Honorable Mentions:
Fox Sports Hires Mike Pereira As An NFL Rules Analyst
Fox Sports Gains Rights to Big Ten Football Championship Game
NBC Sports Renews Kentucky Derby for Five More Years
Jay Mariotti’s arrest and subsequent suspension and departure from Fanhouse

That concludes 2010. I hope you have a great 2011. It’s certainly going to be quite an interesting year for sports media as Comcast takes over NBC, the Olympics rights bidding, potential lockouts for the NBA and NFL, and the NHL rights bidding. Very interesting stuff coming up in the next 365 days.

ESPN’s 30 for 30 Series Ends On A High Note

The last documentary in the “30 for 30″ series, Pony Excess, received very good ratings for ESPN, garnering a 1.8 final rating and a respectable audience of 2.5 million viewers. There will be a couple of more 30 for 30 films in 2011, but they won’t be scheduled weekly as they were the last couple of years. We have the final ratings of the series plus some highlights. We’ll require a jump break.

Critically Acclaimed ‘30 for 30’ Wraps up with Pony Exce$$ – ESPN’s Most-Watched Documentary

           

ESPN Films  wrapped up the critically acclaimed “30 for 30” films with Thaddeus D. Matula’s Pony Exce$$, Saturday, Dec. 11, immediately following the Heisman Trophy presentation, earning a 1.8 rating, according to Nielsen. That represents an average of 1,843,000 million homes (2.517,000 viewers, P2+) to become ESPN’s most-watched documentary of all time. 

Pony Exce$$ edged out Billy Corben’s The U, which earned a 1.8 rating (1,801,000 homes, 2.368,000 viewers) in December 2009, and Jon Hock’s The Best That Never Was, which earned a 1.8  rating (1,760,000 homes, 2,229,000 viewers) last month. Overall, the “30 for 30” slate of 30 films averaged a 1.0 rating (958,000 homes, 1,193,000 viewers).  The series, created in celebration of ESPN’s 30^th anniversary, not only highlighted some of the most memorable moments in sports history but examined the impact that they had on pop culture and society as a whole.

“Storytelling is at the heart of what ESPN does – whether on TV, online, radio or in print – in our features, game summaries, event productions or, of course, documentaries,” says John Skipper, executive vice president, content, ESPN. “The positive feedback from media and fans shows there is an audience for long-form, high-quality storytelling, and it belongs on ESPN.”

Connor Schell, executive producer, ESPN Films, adds, “We worked with an extraordinary group of directors for the ’30 for 30’ series. Due to the enormous creativity of the storytellers, the collection of films was as interesting in style as in subject matter. We intend to continue making quality, point-of-view films going forward.”

Highlights for the series include –

• Airing in March 2010 on NCAA men’s basketball’s “Selection Sunday,” Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, directed by Peabody Award-winning director Dan Klores, posted a 1.5 rating, the fourth highest ever for an ESPN documentary and the highest-rated show ever in the time slot following the Bracketology program.

• The Two Escobars has played at the prestigious 2010 Tribeca, Cannes and Los Angeles Film Festivals, garnering critical acclaim. Its televised premiere June 21 was ESPN Deportes’ top-rated documentary ever with a 1.2 Hispanic household rating.

• “30 for 30″ won the 2010 International Documentary Association’s “Distinguished Continuing Series” award.

Although major markets nationwide played a big role in the success of the series, it was the Southeast that was the biggest supporter, posting the highest average market rating per film. Birmingham, Charlotte and Louisville were the three top markets for the “30 for 30” series, averaging a 2.0, 1.6 and 1.5 respectively. Smaller markets that posted the highest rating for select films include Birmingham (3.6 for Jordan Rides the Bus), Austin (2.2 for Run Ricky Run) and Knoxville (2.0 for Tim Richmond: To the Limit). 

On several occasions the city or location being depicted in the film was not the top-rated market for that film. Notably, The U earned a 5.6 rating in Birmingham while Miami came in sixth with a 3.3. Additionally, Straight Outta L.A. rated the highest in Miami with a 2.0 while Los Angeles came in seventh (0.8). 

And after the jump, some more fun facts from some of the more popular documentaries.
Here are the aforementioned highlights.

“30 for 30? Film Facts

With the series coming to an end, here are some “film facts” on a few of the documentaries that garnered critical acclaim over the past 18 months.

Kings Ransom (Directed by Peter Berg)

• Kings Ransom features never-before-seen footage of Wayne Gretzky’s wedding to Janet Jones.
• Peter Berg, a dedicated Los Angeles Kings fan even before Gretzky joined the team, has been a close friend of Wayne’s since the 1990s, when they played in a softball tournament together.
• Berg’s next project will be directing Universal’s feature adaptation of the popular board game Battleship.

The Band That Wouldn’t Die (Directed by Barry Levinson)

• 43 interviews were conducted including one with Jim Irsay, son of the man who took the team away in the middle of the night. Levinson thought that enough time had passed – 25 years – that he might want to talk about it.
• During the 12 years Baltimore was without a professional football team, the Baltimore Colts Marching Band still performed at events including The Preakness, 4^th of July parade, Cleveland Browns halftime and the 1991 Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.
• Baltimore’s Marching Ravens is an all-volunteer organization comprising more than 300 musicians, flagline, color guard and equipment crew. It is the largest musical organization associated with the NFL. The members come from all over Maryland and several surrounding states to practice every week from March to the end of the football season.

The Legend of Jimmy The Greek (Directed by Fritz Mitchell)

• Jimmy threw legendary Super Bowl parties that included many Hollywood celebrities and sometimes went on for a week at a time. For one Super Bowl, he rented a penthouse suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Because Warren Beatty was renting the other, Jimmy hired a guy to give haircuts in his suite so guests wouldn’t leave to go to Beatty’s. 
• Gerry Ford is famous for pardoning Richard Nixon, but during his brief presidency he also pardoned Jimmy. In a petition to the President for The Greek’s pardon, the FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley stated that Jimmy was an informant for the FBI. 

Without Bias (Directed by Kirk Frasier)

• Fraser initially recorded interviews with people who knew Len Bias in an effort to find out who Bias really was, with the intent to write a script for a motion picture. The interviews were compelling enough that he decided to produce the documentary first.
• In 1988, Congress passed a stricter Anti-Drug Act that is known as The Len Bias Law. It was backed by both parties and it reinforced the previous Drug Law with stiffer penalties and created the DARE program.

The U (Directed by Billy Corben)

• Because of low ticket sales in the late ‘70s, the local Burger King would give away tickets to the Miami Hurricane games just to fill the seats.
• In the 1992 Orange bowl, Nebraska, which was actually the home team, had requested Miami not run out of the tunnel with their signature smoke. At the last minute Miami’s mascot, Sebastian the Ibis, went out and borrowed a fire extinguisher from the local firehouse so the team could run through the tunnel with smoke.
• Among the 38 program insiders interviewed for the documentary were: players Bennie Blades, Melvin Bratton, Alonzo Highsmith, Michael Irvin, Bernie Kosar, Santana Moss, Brett Perriman, Jeremy Shockey and former head coaches Dennis Erickson, Jimmy Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger.

Muhammad and Larry (Directed by Albert Maysles)

• Albert Maysles is the only person with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes in the two months leading up to their epic fight.
• Kool & The Gang re-wrote their hit song “Ladies Night” with lyrics specifically for Larry Holmes. Holmes is seen singing along to it in the film.
• Muhammad Ali’s training facility had a camp-like atmosphere. People of all ages would go to watch him practice, tell jokes and even do magic tricks.

Silly Little Game (Directed by Adam Kurkland and Lucas Jansen)

• In 1981, the members of the Rotisserie League tried to pool their resources and buy an actual baseball team: a double-A minor league franchise in Massachusetts called the Holyoke Millers, whose owners were looking to sell. Their $85,000 bid was matched by a local group and the owners gave it to them instead. The new owners later sold the franchise for four million dollars, a profit of more than 4500%.
• The legendary meeting in Manhattan at La Rotisserie Francaise restaurant, during which Dan Okrent planted the New York seeds for the Rotisserie League, was actually his second attempt to get friends involved. The first effort was at a barbecue restaurant in Austin, Texas.
• In the early 1980s there was little space in sports publications to cover insider information on injuries and other vital details. To make smarter trades, the Rotisserie Leaguers resorted to calling the offices of Major League teams and posing as reporters for fictional sports publications, in order to talk their way through to the trainer or assistant coach who could give them precious pearls of backstage dish.

Run Ricky Run (Directed by Sean Pamphilon and Royce Toni)

• Most people think his decision to retire was spontaneous, but Ricky told his sister, Nisey, around the same time that he felt “football isn’t my gift, I’m supposed to heal people.”
• Sean Pamphilon quit his job as a producer in sports television to hit the road with two friends and begin filming the documentary. In the following 28 days, they interviewed approximately 30 intimates in Miami, New Orleans, Texas and San Diego.
• The original plan for this film was to be totally independent, take 5-6 months and be completed by the Super Bowl in early ’05. Over the next few years the plan changed several times, until Ricky and Sean both agreed the best place for the film to air would be on the very network (ESPN) that covered so much of his troubles.

Straight Outta L.A. (Directed by Ice Cube)

• Raiders gear was the top seller in the league for a number of years because of its association with rap as well as the exposure it received in music videos.
• N.W.A. did not call themselves a rap group; they referred to themselves as a gang who rapped about their experiences. This then coined the term “gangsta rap.”
• According to Al Davis, the inspiration to add silver to the Raiders’ uniforms came from seeing the success that shoe retailer Stuart Weitzman had selling silver women’s shoes in Oakland.

Birth of Big Air (Directed by Jeff Tremaine, Produced by Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze)

• Hoffman went from virtually unknown to a sponsored rider with just one event – a bicycle freestyle championship at Madison Square Garden in 1986.
• Because he got tired of going to the hospital so often, Hoffman used to carry around his own suture kit to stitch up his own injuries.
• Hoffman has had a total of two comas, 21 broken bones, 23 surgeries, 100+ concussions and 300+ stitches.

Jordan Rides the Bus (Directed by Ron Shelton)

• On the day it was announced that Michael Jordan would be playing for the team, more Birmingham Barons tickets were sold in half a day then in the entire year before.
• Current Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona was the manager of the Birmingham Barons when Jordan joined the team in 1994.

One Night In Vegas (Directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood)

Among those interviewed for the documentary were:

• Hip hop artist Nas
• Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton
• Actor Mickey Rourke
• Poet/Author Dr. Maya Angelou
• Former C.E.O. Death Row Records Marion “Suge” Knight
• Former heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon

Guru of Go (Directed by Bill Couturie)

• Paul Westhead is the only coach to win a WNBA and NBA title.
• Hank Gathers and his brother, Derrick, would break into the local gym at night to play basketball until 3 a.m.
• Being a former teacher, Paul Westhead used to quote Shakespeare to players to motivate and teach them life lessons.
• In a February 1990 LMU/LSU game, Hank racked up a total of 48 points—the most any player has ever gotten against Shaquille O’Neal.

That’s going to do it.

ESPN’s 30 for 30 Series Ends On A High Note

The last documentary in the “30 for 30″ series, Pony Excess, received very good ratings for ESPN, garnering a 1.8 final rating and a respectable audience of 2.5 million viewers. There will be a couple of more 30 for 30 films in 2011, but they won’t be scheduled weekly as they were the last couple of years. We have the final ratings of the series plus some highlights. We’ll require a jump break.

Critically Acclaimed ‘30 for 30’ Wraps up with Pony Exce$$ – ESPN’s Most-Watched Documentary

           

ESPN Films  wrapped up the critically acclaimed “30 for 30” films with Thaddeus D. Matula’s Pony Exce$$, Saturday, Dec. 11, immediately following the Heisman Trophy presentation, earning a 1.8 rating, according to Nielsen. That represents an average of 1,843,000 million homes (2.517,000 viewers, P2+) to become ESPN’s most-watched documentary of all time. 

Pony Exce$$ edged out Billy Corben’s The U, which earned a 1.8 rating (1,801,000 homes, 2.368,000 viewers) in December 2009, and Jon Hock’s The Best That Never Was, which earned a 1.8  rating (1,760,000 homes, 2,229,000 viewers) last month. Overall, the “30 for 30” slate of 30 films averaged a 1.0 rating (958,000 homes, 1,193,000 viewers).  The series, created in celebration of ESPN’s 30^th anniversary, not only highlighted some of the most memorable moments in sports history but examined the impact that they had on pop culture and society as a whole.

“Storytelling is at the heart of what ESPN does – whether on TV, online, radio or in print – in our features, game summaries, event productions or, of course, documentaries,” says John Skipper, executive vice president, content, ESPN. “The positive feedback from media and fans shows there is an audience for long-form, high-quality storytelling, and it belongs on ESPN.”

Connor Schell, executive producer, ESPN Films, adds, “We worked with an extraordinary group of directors for the ’30 for 30’ series. Due to the enormous creativity of the storytellers, the collection of films was as interesting in style as in subject matter. We intend to continue making quality, point-of-view films going forward.”

Highlights for the series include –

• Airing in March 2010 on NCAA men’s basketball’s “Selection Sunday,” Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, directed by Peabody Award-winning director Dan Klores, posted a 1.5 rating, the fourth highest ever for an ESPN documentary and the highest-rated show ever in the time slot following the Bracketology program.

• The Two Escobars has played at the prestigious 2010 Tribeca, Cannes and Los Angeles Film Festivals, garnering critical acclaim. Its televised premiere June 21 was ESPN Deportes’ top-rated documentary ever with a 1.2 Hispanic household rating.

• “30 for 30″ won the 2010 International Documentary Association’s “Distinguished Continuing Series” award.

Although major markets nationwide played a big role in the success of the series, it was the Southeast that was the biggest supporter, posting the highest average market rating per film. Birmingham, Charlotte and Louisville were the three top markets for the “30 for 30” series, averaging a 2.0, 1.6 and 1.5 respectively. Smaller markets that posted the highest rating for select films include Birmingham (3.6 for Jordan Rides the Bus), Austin (2.2 for Run Ricky Run) and Knoxville (2.0 for Tim Richmond: To the Limit). 

On several occasions the city or location being depicted in the film was not the top-rated market for that film. Notably, The U earned a 5.6 rating in Birmingham while Miami came in sixth with a 3.3. Additionally, Straight Outta L.A. rated the highest in Miami with a 2.0 while Los Angeles came in seventh (0.8). 

And after the jump, some more fun facts from some of the more popular documentaries.
Here are the aforementioned highlights.

“30 for 30? Film Facts

With the series coming to an end, here are some “film facts” on a few of the documentaries that garnered critical acclaim over the past 18 months.

Kings Ransom (Directed by Peter Berg)

• Kings Ransom features never-before-seen footage of Wayne Gretzky’s wedding to Janet Jones.
• Peter Berg, a dedicated Los Angeles Kings fan even before Gretzky joined the team, has been a close friend of Wayne’s since the 1990s, when they played in a softball tournament together.
• Berg’s next project will be directing Universal’s feature adaptation of the popular board game Battleship.

The Band That Wouldn’t Die (Directed by Barry Levinson)

• 43 interviews were conducted including one with Jim Irsay, son of the man who took the team away in the middle of the night. Levinson thought that enough time had passed – 25 years – that he might want to talk about it.
• During the 12 years Baltimore was without a professional football team, the Baltimore Colts Marching Band still performed at events including The Preakness, 4^th of July parade, Cleveland Browns halftime and the 1991 Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.
• Baltimore’s Marching Ravens is an all-volunteer organization comprising more than 300 musicians, flagline, color guard and equipment crew. It is the largest musical organization associated with the NFL. The members come from all over Maryland and several surrounding states to practice every week from March to the end of the football season.

The Legend of Jimmy The Greek (Directed by Fritz Mitchell)

• Jimmy threw legendary Super Bowl parties that included many Hollywood celebrities and sometimes went on for a week at a time. For one Super Bowl, he rented a penthouse suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Because Warren Beatty was renting the other, Jimmy hired a guy to give haircuts in his suite so guests wouldn’t leave to go to Beatty’s. 
• Gerry Ford is famous for pardoning Richard Nixon, but during his brief presidency he also pardoned Jimmy. In a petition to the President for The Greek’s pardon, the FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley stated that Jimmy was an informant for the FBI. 

Without Bias (Directed by Kirk Frasier)

• Fraser initially recorded interviews with people who knew Len Bias in an effort to find out who Bias really was, with the intent to write a script for a motion picture. The interviews were compelling enough that he decided to produce the documentary first.
• In 1988, Congress passed a stricter Anti-Drug Act that is known as The Len Bias Law. It was backed by both parties and it reinforced the previous Drug Law with stiffer penalties and created the DARE program.

The U (Directed by Billy Corben)

• Because of low ticket sales in the late ‘70s, the local Burger King would give away tickets to the Miami Hurricane games just to fill the seats.
• In the 1992 Orange bowl, Nebraska, which was actually the home team, had requested Miami not run out of the tunnel with their signature smoke. At the last minute Miami’s mascot, Sebastian the Ibis, went out and borrowed a fire extinguisher from the local firehouse so the team could run through the tunnel with smoke.
• Among the 38 program insiders interviewed for the documentary were: players Bennie Blades, Melvin Bratton, Alonzo Highsmith, Michael Irvin, Bernie Kosar, Santana Moss, Brett Perriman, Jeremy Shockey and former head coaches Dennis Erickson, Jimmy Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger.

Muhammad and Larry (Directed by Albert Maysles)

• Albert Maysles is the only person with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes in the two months leading up to their epic fight.
• Kool & The Gang re-wrote their hit song “Ladies Night” with lyrics specifically for Larry Holmes. Holmes is seen singing along to it in the film.
• Muhammad Ali’s training facility had a camp-like atmosphere. People of all ages would go to watch him practice, tell jokes and even do magic tricks.

Silly Little Game (Directed by Adam Kurkland and Lucas Jansen)

• In 1981, the members of the Rotisserie League tried to pool their resources and buy an actual baseball team: a double-A minor league franchise in Massachusetts called the Holyoke Millers, whose owners were looking to sell. Their $85,000 bid was matched by a local group and the owners gave it to them instead. The new owners later sold the franchise for four million dollars, a profit of more than 4500%.
• The legendary meeting in Manhattan at La Rotisserie Francaise restaurant, during which Dan Okrent planted the New York seeds for the Rotisserie League, was actually his second attempt to get friends involved. The first effort was at a barbecue restaurant in Austin, Texas.
• In the early 1980s there was little space in sports publications to cover insider information on injuries and other vital details. To make smarter trades, the Rotisserie Leaguers resorted to calling the offices of Major League teams and posing as reporters for fictional sports publications, in order to talk their way through to the trainer or assistant coach who could give them precious pearls of backstage dish.

Run Ricky Run (Directed by Sean Pamphilon and Royce Toni)

• Most people think his decision to retire was spontaneous, but Ricky told his sister, Nisey, around the same time that he felt “football isn’t my gift, I’m supposed to heal people.”
• Sean Pamphilon quit his job as a producer in sports television to hit the road with two friends and begin filming the documentary. In the following 28 days, they interviewed approximately 30 intimates in Miami, New Orleans, Texas and San Diego.
• The original plan for this film was to be totally independent, take 5-6 months and be completed by the Super Bowl in early ’05. Over the next few years the plan changed several times, until Ricky and Sean both agreed the best place for the film to air would be on the very network (ESPN) that covered so much of his troubles.

Straight Outta L.A. (Directed by Ice Cube)

• Raiders gear was the top seller in the league for a number of years because of its association with rap as well as the exposure it received in music videos.
• N.W.A. did not call themselves a rap group; they referred to themselves as a gang who rapped about their experiences. This then coined the term “gangsta rap.”
• According to Al Davis, the inspiration to add silver to the Raiders’ uniforms came from seeing the success that shoe retailer Stuart Weitzman had selling silver women’s shoes in Oakland.

Birth of Big Air (Directed by Jeff Tremaine, Produced by Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze)

• Hoffman went from virtually unknown to a sponsored rider with just one event – a bicycle freestyle championship at Madison Square Garden in 1986.
• Because he got tired of going to the hospital so often, Hoffman used to carry around his own suture kit to stitch up his own injuries.
• Hoffman has had a total of two comas, 21 broken bones, 23 surgeries, 100+ concussions and 300+ stitches.

Jordan Rides the Bus (Directed by Ron Shelton)

• On the day it was announced that Michael Jordan would be playing for the team, more Birmingham Barons tickets were sold in half a day then in the entire year before.
• Current Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona was the manager of the Birmingham Barons when Jordan joined the team in 1994.

One Night In Vegas (Directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood)

Among those interviewed for the documentary were:

• Hip hop artist Nas
• Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton
• Actor Mickey Rourke
• Poet/Author Dr. Maya Angelou
• Former C.E.O. Death Row Records Marion “Suge” Knight
• Former heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon

Guru of Go (Directed by Bill Couturie)

• Paul Westhead is the only coach to win a WNBA and NBA title.
• Hank Gathers and his brother, Derrick, would break into the local gym at night to play basketball until 3 a.m.
• Being a former teacher, Paul Westhead used to quote Shakespeare to players to motivate and teach them life lessons.
• In a February 1990 LMU/LSU game, Hank racked up a total of 48 points—the most any player has ever gotten against Shaquille O’Neal.

That’s going to do it.

ESPN’s 30 for 30 Series Ends On A High Note

The last documentary in the “30 for 30″ series, Pony Excess, received very good ratings for ESPN, garnering a 1.8 final rating and a respectable audience of 2.5 million viewers. There will be a couple of more 30 for 30 films in 2011, but they won’t be scheduled weekly as they were the last couple of years. We have the final ratings of the series plus some highlights. We’ll require a jump break.

Critically Acclaimed ‘30 for 30’ Wraps up with Pony Exce$$ – ESPN’s Most-Watched Documentary

           

ESPN Films  wrapped up the critically acclaimed “30 for 30” films with Thaddeus D. Matula’s Pony Exce$$, Saturday, Dec. 11, immediately following the Heisman Trophy presentation, earning a 1.8 rating, according to Nielsen. That represents an average of 1,843,000 million homes (2.517,000 viewers, P2+) to become ESPN’s most-watched documentary of all time. 

Pony Exce$$ edged out Billy Corben’s The U, which earned a 1.8 rating (1,801,000 homes, 2.368,000 viewers) in December 2009, and Jon Hock’s The Best That Never Was, which earned a 1.8  rating (1,760,000 homes, 2,229,000 viewers) last month. Overall, the “30 for 30” slate of 30 films averaged a 1.0 rating (958,000 homes, 1,193,000 viewers).  The series, created in celebration of ESPN’s 30^th anniversary, not only highlighted some of the most memorable moments in sports history but examined the impact that they had on pop culture and society as a whole.

“Storytelling is at the heart of what ESPN does – whether on TV, online, radio or in print – in our features, game summaries, event productions or, of course, documentaries,” says John Skipper, executive vice president, content, ESPN. “The positive feedback from media and fans shows there is an audience for long-form, high-quality storytelling, and it belongs on ESPN.”

Connor Schell, executive producer, ESPN Films, adds, “We worked with an extraordinary group of directors for the ’30 for 30’ series. Due to the enormous creativity of the storytellers, the collection of films was as interesting in style as in subject matter. We intend to continue making quality, point-of-view films going forward.”

Highlights for the series include –

• Airing in March 2010 on NCAA men’s basketball’s “Selection Sunday,” Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, directed by Peabody Award-winning director Dan Klores, posted a 1.5 rating, the fourth highest ever for an ESPN documentary and the highest-rated show ever in the time slot following the Bracketology program.

• The Two Escobars has played at the prestigious 2010 Tribeca, Cannes and Los Angeles Film Festivals, garnering critical acclaim. Its televised premiere June 21 was ESPN Deportes’ top-rated documentary ever with a 1.2 Hispanic household rating.

• “30 for 30″ won the 2010 International Documentary Association’s “Distinguished Continuing Series” award.

Although major markets nationwide played a big role in the success of the series, it was the Southeast that was the biggest supporter, posting the highest average market rating per film. Birmingham, Charlotte and Louisville were the three top markets for the “30 for 30” series, averaging a 2.0, 1.6 and 1.5 respectively. Smaller markets that posted the highest rating for select films include Birmingham (3.6 for Jordan Rides the Bus), Austin (2.2 for Run Ricky Run) and Knoxville (2.0 for Tim Richmond: To the Limit). 

On several occasions the city or location being depicted in the film was not the top-rated market for that film. Notably, The U earned a 5.6 rating in Birmingham while Miami came in sixth with a 3.3. Additionally, Straight Outta L.A. rated the highest in Miami with a 2.0 while Los Angeles came in seventh (0.8). 

And after the jump, some more fun facts from some of the more popular documentaries.
Here are the aforementioned highlights.

“30 for 30? Film Facts

With the series coming to an end, here are some “film facts” on a few of the documentaries that garnered critical acclaim over the past 18 months.

Kings Ransom (Directed by Peter Berg)

• Kings Ransom features never-before-seen footage of Wayne Gretzky’s wedding to Janet Jones.
• Peter Berg, a dedicated Los Angeles Kings fan even before Gretzky joined the team, has been a close friend of Wayne’s since the 1990s, when they played in a softball tournament together.
• Berg’s next project will be directing Universal’s feature adaptation of the popular board game Battleship.

The Band That Wouldn’t Die (Directed by Barry Levinson)

• 43 interviews were conducted including one with Jim Irsay, son of the man who took the team away in the middle of the night. Levinson thought that enough time had passed – 25 years – that he might want to talk about it.
• During the 12 years Baltimore was without a professional football team, the Baltimore Colts Marching Band still performed at events including The Preakness, 4^th of July parade, Cleveland Browns halftime and the 1991 Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.
• Baltimore’s Marching Ravens is an all-volunteer organization comprising more than 300 musicians, flagline, color guard and equipment crew. It is the largest musical organization associated with the NFL. The members come from all over Maryland and several surrounding states to practice every week from March to the end of the football season.

The Legend of Jimmy The Greek (Directed by Fritz Mitchell)

• Jimmy threw legendary Super Bowl parties that included many Hollywood celebrities and sometimes went on for a week at a time. For one Super Bowl, he rented a penthouse suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Because Warren Beatty was renting the other, Jimmy hired a guy to give haircuts in his suite so guests wouldn’t leave to go to Beatty’s. 
• Gerry Ford is famous for pardoning Richard Nixon, but during his brief presidency he also pardoned Jimmy. In a petition to the President for The Greek’s pardon, the FBI Director Clarence M. Kelley stated that Jimmy was an informant for the FBI. 

Without Bias (Directed by Kirk Frasier)

• Fraser initially recorded interviews with people who knew Len Bias in an effort to find out who Bias really was, with the intent to write a script for a motion picture. The interviews were compelling enough that he decided to produce the documentary first.
• In 1988, Congress passed a stricter Anti-Drug Act that is known as The Len Bias Law. It was backed by both parties and it reinforced the previous Drug Law with stiffer penalties and created the DARE program.

The U (Directed by Billy Corben)

• Because of low ticket sales in the late ‘70s, the local Burger King would give away tickets to the Miami Hurricane games just to fill the seats.
• In the 1992 Orange bowl, Nebraska, which was actually the home team, had requested Miami not run out of the tunnel with their signature smoke. At the last minute Miami’s mascot, Sebastian the Ibis, went out and borrowed a fire extinguisher from the local firehouse so the team could run through the tunnel with smoke.
• Among the 38 program insiders interviewed for the documentary were: players Bennie Blades, Melvin Bratton, Alonzo Highsmith, Michael Irvin, Bernie Kosar, Santana Moss, Brett Perriman, Jeremy Shockey and former head coaches Dennis Erickson, Jimmy Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger.

Muhammad and Larry (Directed by Albert Maysles)

• Albert Maysles is the only person with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of both Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes in the two months leading up to their epic fight.
• Kool & The Gang re-wrote their hit song “Ladies Night” with lyrics specifically for Larry Holmes. Holmes is seen singing along to it in the film.
• Muhammad Ali’s training facility had a camp-like atmosphere. People of all ages would go to watch him practice, tell jokes and even do magic tricks.

Silly Little Game (Directed by Adam Kurkland and Lucas Jansen)

• In 1981, the members of the Rotisserie League tried to pool their resources and buy an actual baseball team: a double-A minor league franchise in Massachusetts called the Holyoke Millers, whose owners were looking to sell. Their $85,000 bid was matched by a local group and the owners gave it to them instead. The new owners later sold the franchise for four million dollars, a profit of more than 4500%.
• The legendary meeting in Manhattan at La Rotisserie Francaise restaurant, during which Dan Okrent planted the New York seeds for the Rotisserie League, was actually his second attempt to get friends involved. The first effort was at a barbecue restaurant in Austin, Texas.
• In the early 1980s there was little space in sports publications to cover insider information on injuries and other vital details. To make smarter trades, the Rotisserie Leaguers resorted to calling the offices of Major League teams and posing as reporters for fictional sports publications, in order to talk their way through to the trainer or assistant coach who could give them precious pearls of backstage dish.

Run Ricky Run (Directed by Sean Pamphilon and Royce Toni)

• Most people think his decision to retire was spontaneous, but Ricky told his sister, Nisey, around the same time that he felt “football isn’t my gift, I’m supposed to heal people.”
• Sean Pamphilon quit his job as a producer in sports television to hit the road with two friends and begin filming the documentary. In the following 28 days, they interviewed approximately 30 intimates in Miami, New Orleans, Texas and San Diego.
• The original plan for this film was to be totally independent, take 5-6 months and be completed by the Super Bowl in early ’05. Over the next few years the plan changed several times, until Ricky and Sean both agreed the best place for the film to air would be on the very network (ESPN) that covered so much of his troubles.

Straight Outta L.A. (Directed by Ice Cube)

• Raiders gear was the top seller in the league for a number of years because of its association with rap as well as the exposure it received in music videos.
• N.W.A. did not call themselves a rap group; they referred to themselves as a gang who rapped about their experiences. This then coined the term “gangsta rap.”
• According to Al Davis, the inspiration to add silver to the Raiders’ uniforms came from seeing the success that shoe retailer Stuart Weitzman had selling silver women’s shoes in Oakland.

Birth of Big Air (Directed by Jeff Tremaine, Produced by Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze)

• Hoffman went from virtually unknown to a sponsored rider with just one event – a bicycle freestyle championship at Madison Square Garden in 1986.
• Because he got tired of going to the hospital so often, Hoffman used to carry around his own suture kit to stitch up his own injuries.
• Hoffman has had a total of two comas, 21 broken bones, 23 surgeries, 100+ concussions and 300+ stitches.

Jordan Rides the Bus (Directed by Ron Shelton)

• On the day it was announced that Michael Jordan would be playing for the team, more Birmingham Barons tickets were sold in half a day then in the entire year before.
• Current Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona was the manager of the Birmingham Barons when Jordan joined the team in 1994.

One Night In Vegas (Directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood)

Among those interviewed for the documentary were:

• Hip hop artist Nas
• Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton
• Actor Mickey Rourke
• Poet/Author Dr. Maya Angelou
• Former C.E.O. Death Row Records Marion “Suge” Knight
• Former heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon

Guru of Go (Directed by Bill Couturie)

• Paul Westhead is the only coach to win a WNBA and NBA title.
• Hank Gathers and his brother, Derrick, would break into the local gym at night to play basketball until 3 a.m.
• Being a former teacher, Paul Westhead used to quote Shakespeare to players to motivate and teach them life lessons.
• In a February 1990 LMU/LSU game, Hank racked up a total of 48 points—the most any player has ever gotten against Shaquille O’Neal.

That’s going to do it.

Putting Together Some Linkage

Ok, been busy, but I’m going to do some links while I can.

We’ve all seen the video of the Metrodome roof collapsing under the weight of heavy, wet snow. Michael Hiestand of USA Today has Fox Sports explaining how it made that video.

Michael also looks at some of the ratings from the weekend.

Sports Business Journal has its annual look at the 50 most influential people in sports.

You can get more of an in-depth look at who’s on the list starting with 41-50, 31-40, 21-30, 11-20 and finally, 1-10. SBJ also has a breakdown of the list by category.

Those are the most links to Sports Business Journal I’ve made in a long time.

Eric Fisher in Sports Business Daily has Fox Sports President Eric Shanks downplaying the role of 3-D TV.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter notes that if the NFL goes through a lockout next season, it could stand to lose some $3 billion in ad revenue. 

Broadcasting & Cable Editor-in-Chief For Life Ben Grossman notes that Fox Sports has renewed its rights deal for the UEFA Champions League.

George Winslow of B&C says ESPN will go all out for its 2011 venture, The Year of the Quarterback.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says ESPN has tapped the announcers to call its first 3-D production of an NBA game

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says Speed Channel plans to roll out some new primetime series in 2011.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the Phoenix Suns become the first team to offer a social media suite package.

Darren tells us what newly-signed Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee left on the table by refusing to sign a bigger contract with the Yankees.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says the clock is ticking on whether the Vikings can use University of Minnesota’s stadium as a stopgap to host next Monday night’s game against the Bears.

Janice Podsada of the Hartford Courant reports that Connecticut’s Attorney General worked through Monday trying to get the Giants-Vikings aired in the Constitution State, only to have his appeals fall on deaf ears.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with MLB Network’s Bob Costas about viewing Game 7 of the 1960 World Series again

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman likes how SNY Jets analyst Joe Klecko doesn’t hold back when it comes to the team’s recent pitiful play.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at the NFL Week 15 TV schedule in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete talks about Golf Channel’s new live morning show.

Ken McMillan at the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record takes a gander at this year’s college football bowl season.

Laura Nachman liked how Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese recognized the late basketball writer Phil Jasner.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says ESPN’s Monday Night Football stepped up late in the Ravens-Texans game just as it was getting exciting.

David says Ravens-Texans scored big in the local ratings.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says DC is well represented on the Sports Business Journal sports most influential list.

Sarah Talalay from the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Miami Dolphins are enhancing their social media strategy.

Pete Alfano of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says ESPN the Magazine will host two events in the city during Super Bowl week.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle tallied the number of appearances by Texas media in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Pony Excess.

Wayne Peal of the Northville (MI) Patch says a local high school swimmer who became a TV sports reporter is back close to home working at Fox Sports Detroit. 

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about how the NFL pundits are trashing Green Bay’s playoff chances.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the Metrodome roof collapse comes at a good time for Vikings owner Zygi Wilf who’s been campaigning for a new stadium.

At the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Paul Walsh reports that the Minnesota Twins will have two familiar voices calling some games in the 2011season.

Lindsay Jones of the Denver Post notes that Screamin’ Gus Johnson will be on the call for this Sunday’s Broncos-Raiders game.

Dusty Saunders of the Post loves NFL RedZone.

Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times raves about HBO’s documentary on Vince Lombardi.

Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee says fans noticed Fox sneaking music during replays and timeouts during Sunday’s Seahawks-49ers game. 

Noah Davis of SportsNewser says the ESPN 30 for 30 series plans a documentary on Michigan’s Fab Five which went to two NCAA Basketball Championship Games.

Also from SportsNewser, Marcus Vanderberg interviews NFL Today host James Brown. 

Joe Favorito says the NFL handled what could have been a difficult situation in Minneapolis with dignity.

Sports Media Watch notes that Pats-Bears on CBS scored the highest NFL overnight ratings of the season.

SMW says Army-Navy’s overnight ratings dropped from last year, but still finished strong.

SMW also has a few ratings news and notes.

EPL Talk prefers watching English Premier League games on ESPN2 than Fox Soccer Channel.

At Mashable, Zachary Sniderman notes that The Onion’s fake sports news show has spawned a new website on Comedy Central.

Due to various interruptions, it’s taken me four and a half hours to complete the linkage. It’s yours now.

A Look Back At ESPN’s 30 for 30 Series

With the 30 for 30 series coming to an end, one of the most ambitious projects to bring documentaries to span the last 30 years in sports has been a joy to watch. I’ve seen most of the films and I’ll do a ranking of the best of the series down the road. First, this comes from ESPN Films and it’s a trailer showing the highlights of each of the documentaries in the series.

That will do it for the night.

Review of 30 for 30 – "Pony Excess"

This is a review of the last ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “Pony Excess” on the SMU football program. Directed by SMU alum Thaddeus D. Matula, the documentary is a look at the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of the school’s football program.

As SMU rose to prominence between 1979-1985, it was also the target of NCAA investigations into illegal payments to players. And the documentary also looks at the effect of the “Death Penalty” on the school.

The documentary talks with former players such as Eric Dickerson and Craig James, part of the famed “Pony Express” offense that ran circles around the competition, former coach Ron Meyer who helped to lead the SMU program to prominence, writers such as Skip Bayless who covered the SMU program and saw its huge fall, and Dallas sports anchor Dale Hansen who conducted the fatal interviews that led to the Death Penalty.

Matula uses former “Dallas” series star Patrick Duffy to narrate and hold together the documentary, but the film is carried by the numerous interviews with the people who lived through the time. Eric Dickerson and Craig James are used extensively. We also hear from reporters from the Dallas Morning News and the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald, the two newspapers which underwent a war to attract readers by covering the SMU story from beginning to end.

Director Matula also uses news footage to help bring the story to life. Matula does a good job in chronicling the rise of SMU, showing how coach Ron Meyer was able to recruit the best players from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Houston and East Texas to make the Mustangs a national championship cotender. But the quick rise came with a price as players were paid money. For instance Dickerson appeared to be headed to Texas A&M and also had a new Pontiac Trans Am to boot. However, at the last minute, Dickerson changed his mind and went to SMU. Dickerson would not say how he changed his mind nor would he say if he was paid. Craig James joked that Dickerson would take the secret to his grave.

We also hear from boosters who were a big part of the SMU program, helping to set up what amounted to weekly payments to certain players, providing them with cars, housing and clothing. NCAA investigators were on the school practically from the outset and knowing that it was time to go, coach Ron Meyer got out in 1982, taking the opportunity to coach the New England Patriots.

The period from 1982 until 1985 is when the boosters gained more control of the program as coach Bobby Collins came into lead the program. It was here where word started leaking out about illegal payments. While SMU was on NCAA probation in 1985, a smoking gun came out about an illegal payment to a player. The player was interviewed on Dallas TV. This led to some of the more uncomfortable footage as an SMU official tries to deny the payment while his initials were seen on an envelope.

It’s moments like these that make this 30 for 30 documentary powerful. Instead of describing a moment or recreating it, Matula has obtained the footage that allows the viewer to see for him/herself what happened. He also uses fast cuts to intersperse news reports and newspaper headlines from the period to reinforce the interviews.

Matula also updates the story as SMU seems to be back on the rise, showing the Mustangs playing in their first bowl game since the Death Penalty, in the Hawaii Bowl last year.

ESPN gives us a very good story to end the 30 for 30 series. Pony Excess is a story that provides lessons about how not to run a football program and how the NCAA might have overstepped its bounds by handing down the Death Penalty.

Overall, a very good documentary and one allows 30 for 30 to go out on top. The grade for Pony Excess is a very solid A.

Saturday Links

Let’s do some linkage on this Saturday. Trying to provide you with a full week of linkage for the first time in a while. And look for reviews of Pony Excess, the last ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, and Lombardi, HBO’s documentary on the late coach.

Here are the links.

Mike Demenchuk of Multichannel News reviews HBO’s Lombardi.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes about the new Golf Channel morning show that premieres in January.

Mike says Canadian donut chain Tim Horton’s will advertise during Versus’ coverage of the NHL Heritage Classic in February.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk has some thoughts on the Golf Channel morning show.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite polls showing LeBron James may have lost his marketing power, uniform sales prove the contrary.

Matthew Futterman and Jonathan Clegg of the Wall Street Journal report on the two fanbases of John W. Henry’s teams who are jealous of the spending on each other’s organizations.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says ESPN decided to tape an interview with Cam Newton in advance instead of asking him awkward questions about his father after the Heisman Trophy Presentation. 

Newsday offers the best of Neil Best’s blogging from the week.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record writes that Fox College Sports is in town for a national broadcast.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes about the Big Chill at the Big House, the outdoor hockey game between Michigan State and Michigan that will be available across the country today.

Jim says ESPN is ready for tonight’s Heisman Trophy presentation.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that four Miami-based athletes have made a Forbes magazine list.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn talks with NBC’s Tony Dungy about the Cowboys which is quite different than the team he saw playing against Green Bay earlier this season.

Barry previews Jerry Jones’ appearance on 60 Minutes. 

Mark Norris of the Morning News talks with the director of tonight’s 30 for 30 documentary on the SMU football program.

David Barron reviews 30 for 30′s “Pony Excess” which airs tonight.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune recaps the funeral services for the late Ron Santo.

Robert Gagliardi of the Wyoming Tribune looks at the Mountain West/WAC moves and what it means for fans.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Pac 10/12′s media rights will be sorted out very soon.

Steve Johnson from the San Jose Mercury News says Dish Network subscribers are losing out on seeing Sharks games as Comcast SportsNet California has been off the satellite provider since Thanksgiving. 

Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports on the University of Hawaii’s decision to join the Mountain West for football and Big West Conference for other sports and what it means for its media rights revenue. 

The Toronto Sports Media Blog has a breakdown of the local sports radio ratings.

Over at CBC.ca, Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean discusses how he and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke cleared the air on a couple of issues and writes about tonight’s 3-D broadcast. 

SportsbyBrooks speculates on whether Jim Gray was paid a half million dollars for his role in “The Decision”.

And that will do it for today.

Doing Your Friday Megalinkage Early

At least early for me. Hoping to get these done to free myself for the evening. Lots of stuff to get to.

Your Weekend Viewing Picks give you sports and entertainment viewing suggestions.

Let’s do your links now.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with NFL Films president Steve Sabol about the new HBO Sports documentary, Lombardi which premieres Saturday night.

Mike Snider of USA Today got an inside look at the Madden NFL video game development meetings.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says if you’re looking for some drama during ESPN’s Heisman Trophy Presentation regarding Auburn QB Cam Newton, then you’ll be looking in the wrong place.

Joshua Weinstein of Variety looks back at sports television’s biggest rights deal in 2010, the CBS/Turner agreement with the NCAA for the men’s basketball tournament.

Michael Malone at Broadcasting & Cable mentions some changes in the Univision news and sports divisions.

John Eggerton at B&C writes that a March hearing date has been set for the carriage dispute between Tennis Channel and Comcast.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that four US cable and satellite providers will carry CBC’s first 3-D presentation of Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine writes that the Foxwoods sponsorship deal with MSG Network could have far reaching effects throughout sports.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be profiled on Sunday’s edition of 60 Minutes.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid gets behind the mystery of why Chris Berman had a mustache earlier this year.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL’s doctors are nervous about the league having an official helmet.

Darren talks with the chair and CEO of sports powerhouse IMG. 

Sports Media Watch notes that ABC’s college football ratings and viewership were down from last season.

SMW says on the other hand, ESPN says it had its highest viewership for college football in more than a decade.

SMW says the ACC Championship Game’s ratings were up on ESPN, but still very low overall.

And SMW tells us that the Big 12 Championship Game’s ratings suffered a drop from last year.

My Twitter Trophy wife, Amanda Rykoff, a.k.a. The OCD Chick, has some observations from her first Baseball Winter Meetings in espnW.

Amanda also notes that the Winter Meetings aren’t an Old Boys Club anymore.

Awful Announcing notes that the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett is keeping an eye on the wardrobe of TNT’s Craig Sager.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox’s offseason moves will pay off for NESN’s ratings in the summer.

Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald notes how Patriots coach Bill Belichick has his weekly segment down pat on the team’s weekly in-house TV show.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has his take on the ESPN production of Jets-Patriots on Monday Night Football.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times recaps Auburn QB Cam Newton’s interview on ESPN which aired Thursday.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick reminds us that we watch the game for the event, not the announcers. Thank you for that, Phil.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Bills fans in New York’s Capital Region won’t be able to watch their team on Sunday.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun asks readers which announcers seem to have a bias against the Charm City.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Capitals analyst Craig Laughlin was not swearing on live TV the other night and explains why.

Dan says the Caps are just barely beating the Wizards in the local TV ratings.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with the producer of the joint NFL Films/HBO Sports documentary, “Lombardi”.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald feels it could make for interesting TV when Bill Simmons joins ESPN’s team to call tonight’s Heat-Golden State game.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel notes that the Miami Heat have launched their own store on Facebook.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some various sports media stories in today’s column.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News has a quick preview of Jerry Jones’ appearance on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Fox won’t be using Pat Summerall to call January’s Cotton Bowl and will use it as a dry run for the following month’s Super Bowl XLV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with ESPN’s Tom Jackson about the Texans as his Super Bowl pick.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman discusses the end of ESPN’s critically acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary series.

Mel also has his sports media notebook.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes the Queen City will be getting a live local sports morning show in January.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Gazette talks with the man who will call the Michigan State-Michigan outdoor hockey game on Fox Sports Detroit on Saturday.

Jeff Arnold of AnnArbor.com says Fox Sports Detroit plans to give the outdoor game a big event feel.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has some thoughts on Don Meredith’s passing.

Bob has Fox’s announcing assignment for this Sunday’s Green Bay-Detroit game.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has his weekly winners and losers in sports business and media.

The Chicago Tribune live blogged the funeral services for Cubs third baseman and radio announcer Ron Santo.

At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar notes that the NHL likes being on Versus despite some huge warts.

Dan says the St. Louis Billikens are preparing for what they believe is their first nationally televised over the air broadcast against Duke.

West

Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out that the Chargers narrowly averted another blackout this weekend.

John Maffei at the North County Times says two sports documentaries tomorrow are definitely “Must See TV”.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says Don Meredith helped to make color analysts, colorful.

Jim notes that the Miami Heat have helped the NBA’s TV ratings.

Mike Perrault of the Desert Sun (CA) writes about a new Golf Channel series that will chronicle the comeback of a former homeless man who was once a prominent golf instructor.

Diane Pucin from the Los Angeles Times notes that Dodgers announcer Charley Steiner will receive an honorary doctorate.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Steiner will also be the mid-term commencement speaker at his alma mater this month.

Tom has a look at the new espnW site.

Tom has more on espnW in his media column.

Tom also has his extensive news and notes in his blog.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail has a look at the local sports radio ratings.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star looks at CBC’s first foray into 3-D TV with Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast.

Kimiya Shokoohi of the Vancouver Metro also writes about the CBC’s 3-D production.

And that will conclude the megalinks. They’re actually done before 3 p.m.! That’s bonus for you and me.

Expect some press releases tonight. Actually more than some, lots of them.

Some Tuesday Night Links

Let’s do some additional linkage since I had to cut the regular Tuesday links short earlier today.

Bill Krueger of the Poynter Institute looks at how Yahoo! Sports has made a name for itself in sports investigations.

Jason Humphries of Reuters has International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge hopeful that the US TV rights for the 2014/16 Olympics will exceed what NBC paid for the 2012/14 Games.

Also from Reuters, Steve Keating says the NHL is bullish that a new US TV deal could put the league on equal footing with the other major sports leagues.

Craig Custance at the Sporting News has NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman optimistic over the negotiations for a new US TV contract.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the last bastion of sports sponsorship is time.

From Fox Sports, Brian Lowry says it’s no coincidence ESPN scheduled the Heisman Trophy Presentation and its 30 for 30 documentary on SMU football back-to-back on Saturday.

Dylan Stableford of The Wrap takes a look at the launch of espnW. 

With Newsday free to all for a month, I’m taking advantage. Neil Best has a story on ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series which for all intents and purposes ends on Saturday.
From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg recaps how a local radio station landed the volatile interview with DC NFL team defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth this week.

Leonard Shapiro of the Post notes that the Daniel Snyder-owned sports radio station hasn’t pulled any punches on the DC NFL team.

D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that the local ratings for the Falcons are on fire.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Texas Rangers are changing flagship radio stations. 

Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says Don Meredith may have helped to make Monday Night Football a party, but not in his private life.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the 30 for 30 DVD boxed set is LA-heavy.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times remembers Don Meredith. 

Eric Young at the San Francisco Business Times says Comcast is urging Dish Network customers to cut the cord over the satellite provider’s decision to pull its SportsNet California channel. 

Sports Media Watch mentions that Captain Blowhard will be on the live call of an NBA game for ESPN this week.

SMW says that the Big 12 Championship scored a four year ratings low.

SMW notes that the SEC Championship’s ratings for CBS were down from last year, but still held its own.

Joe Favorito says George Mason University is going all-21st Century by developing a smartphone app so fans can listen to basketball games and keep up with the school’s sports.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says MLB Network wants to gain carriage on Dish Network and AT&T U-Verse.

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog isn’t happy over Marvin Miller’s exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says ESPN’s Michelle Beadle’s attire is burning up the internet.

And that will do it for tonight. Maybe a press release or two and if I get motivated, an original post. Keep your RSS feeds updated.

Some Monday Links

I’ll do a few Monday links. Can’t believe how quickly this day is moving. I’ve already been to three places today. It’s been quite crazy.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes about this season’s BCS not being all that sexy.

Rupal Parekh and Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age discuss the logjam of auto advertisers in Super Bowl XLV.

Jason Fray at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center tells us that Gawker is looking to reinvent the sports blog and sports departments should take note.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News has an obituary of original Monday Night Football analyst Don Meredith who died Sunday.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says Sunday Night Football won the network primetime ratings again.

David Kaplan from paidContent notes that ESPN has launched its women’s sports website today. 

Brian Stelter of the New York Times cites a new ESPN study which finds that a small number of cable TV subscribers are “cutting the cord”.

Toni Monkovic of the Times looks at how Howard Cosell broke the news of John Lennon’s death on Monday Night Football some 30 years ago. Goodness. It’s been 30 years?

From the New York Post, Mike Rubin has his theories as to why the NFL is killing in the ratings this year.

Phil Mushnick from the Post finds two letters that show that Ron Santo almost did not become a Chicago Cub.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a short blurb on Don Meredith’s passing.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes Fox’s high ratings for Dallas-Indianapolis yesterday.

Pete says Don Meredith leaves a big legacy behind.

Pete has the NFL Week 14 & 15 TV schedules for New York’s Capital Region.

Laura Nachman passes her condolences to the family of legendary Philadelphia basketball writer Phil Jasner who died last week at the age of 68.

The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik says NBC came up big during the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game on Sunday night.

David says Pittsburgh-Baltimore drew big ratings for NBC.

And David writes that Pittsburgh not only beat Baltimore on the field but in the ratings battle as well.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog noticed that Vanity Fair had a photo shoot and video with Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin in advance of next month’s NHL Winter Classic.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes the ratings for Steelers-Ravens on NBC.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times has a look back at the weekend in sports TV.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel says the big Lee Corso head was stolen from the College Gameday set in Corvallis, OR over the weekend. 

Tim Colishaw of the Dallas Morning News shares some memories of Don Meredith.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle reviews ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on the SMU football program.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders if Brett Favre will escape penalty from the NFL over the Jenn Sterger issue.

Bob talks about Fox’s Brian Billick’s analysis of the Packers.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says high school football fans were gypped with tape delayed coverage over the weekend.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s SoCal sports calendar.

Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times says the Don Meredith he remembers endorsed Lipton Tea.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says CBC’s Ron MacLean went after Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke over his embattled coach.

Sean Leahy at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy isn’t thrilled over NBC’s new NHL Winter Classic promo.

Barry Rothbard at SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews broke the story of the Case of the Stolen Lee Corso Mascot Head.

UPDATE, 4:09 p.m.: Erin Andrews has tweeted that the Lee Corso head has been found. 

David Krough of KGW-TV in Portland reports that an Oregon State University employee found the head. We can sleep now.

That’s where we’ll end it.

Finally, Some Linkage

Well, it’s been a long ten days since I last did linkage. First, it was the Thanksgiving holidays, then work became crazy. I was able to do press releases as they came into the Fang’s Bites inbox, but you’ve been owed some so let’s get to it without further delay.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes about the big viewership for the Miami-Cleveland NBA game on TNT. 

Mike says Comcast SportsNet California remains off Dish Network systems after being removed before Thanksgiving Day. 

Michael Malone from Broadcasting & Cable says NBC Sports and sister network Universal Sports will air a prestigious international rugby competition starting this weekend.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says the Arizona Republic reporter who asked Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson about his smiling during a bad loss on Monday Night Football was not trying to goad him into a meltdown.

Anthony Crupi from Mediaweek discusses how Super Bowl XLV on Fox will have plenty of car ads.

Speaking of Super Bowl ads, Natalie Zmuda of Advertisting Age mentions that Best Buy will be making its first appearance in the Big Game in 2011.

EJ Schultz of Ad Age says by not abandoning Tiger Woods, Nike helped its bottom line.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that former NFL QB Kurt Warner will be an Amway endorser. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about the marriage of the New York Yankees, the Big East Conference and ESPN for the new Pinstripe Bowl.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post continues his nasty vendetta against WFAN’s Mike Francesa by calling him out on his interview earlier this week with New York Governor David Patterson. Nice mention of Friend of Fang’s Bites, Bob’s Blitz.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union mentions that ESPN wants its analysts to be highly sought after.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette breaks news that a local Capital Region sports anchor is leaving for a bigger market.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has comments from CBS’ Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson on today’s SEC Championship game.

Jim says MASN will air coverage of a local basketball tournament.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some sports media stories in a rare weekend column.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News reviews ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on the SMU football program.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Reds will be bringing back its radio booth intact for next season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Sunday Night Baseball changes by ESPN are definitely an upgrade.

On Friday, we learned of the death of beloved Chicago Cubs third baseman and radio analyst Ron Santo. He was 70. Ron battled diabetes throughout his career and dealt with bladder cancer in his later years. With Ron, you knew where he stood. There were the Cubs and there was everyone else. His love for the Cubbies came through the radio every day. Even though he was never objective, that was ok. He did praise the opposing team whenever there was a good play, but through it all, Santo was the Cubs. And he was also a great third baseman. Why he isn’t in the Baseball Hall of Fame is beyond me. That snub hurt him until his dying day. Let’s hope Ron gets in the next time the Veterans Committee meets.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune writes the obituary for Santo.

Phil Rogers of the Tribune also remembers Santo.

David Haugh from the Tribune says the Cubs have lost their heart and soul with Santo’s passing.

WGN Radio has some of Ron’s best highlights and also some audio reaction to Santo’s death.

Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Sun-Times says Ron Santo embraced life.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business has an obituary for Santo from 2003 as he had a health scare back then.

MLB.com has compiled some highlights of Santo’s playing career.

And the Chicago Cubs’ website has a special section devoted to Ron Santo.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann feels Santo should be in his rightful place in the Hall of Fame. 

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Kurt Warner will be in the booth to witness two of his former teams play on Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has his extensive media notes.

Sports Media Watch notes that the Miami-Cleveland game on Thursday was the third highest watched NBA regular season game since last the 1990′s.

SMW says ABC’s Saturday Night Football got its highest rating of the season last week.

Joe Favorito says we’ve come a long way in the manner we view Russia in the sports world.

Brendan Frazier at Sports Business Digest talks about how two Los Angeles-based groups are pursuing the Minnesota Vikings.

And there you have it for the linkage. Glad to have it back.

Finally Getting To Your Tuesday Linkage

It’s been crazy at work dealing with clients and crazy architects. Now let me see if I can squeeze in some linkage for you.

We’re dealing with the aftermath of ESPN letting go its Sunday Night Baseball team of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. No matter what you think of Joe Morgan and most of the sentiments over ESPN not renewing his contract have been positive. I have not been a Morgan fan since he started on ESPN in 1990 and was wondering how he managed to stay with the network for so long. But that was taken care of last night. As far as Jon Miller is concerned, there are conflicting reports whether he wanted to stay or cut out Sunday Night Baseball after his contract was done. Jon is one of the best play-by-play men, but I felt he was held back by Morgan. Whether he remains at ESPN to call Sunday Night Baseball on radio or decides to call San Francisco Giants games only, Jon will be fine. He’s a Hall of Famer and deservedly so.

Let’s start with the links about Miller and Morgan and then the other sports media stories of the day.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today has a story regarding their departure.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse is not pleased over ESPN’s decision to let both Miller and Morgan go.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid says the Joe Morgan Era at ESPN had to end sometime.

Craig Calcaterra at NBC’s Hardball Talk feels the negative reaction to Morgan’s analysis was overblown. Could not disagree more.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about the Miller-Morgan Era coming to an end.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who broke the original story notes that ESPN decided to make a change after two decades.

Debbie Goffa of the Los Angeles Times wonders if ESPN multi-faceted voice Dan Shulman is next in line to replace Miller at the mic.

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says Miller may have wanted to cut Sunday Night Baseball from his schedule after this season.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball warns all of us that we may not have seen the last of Joe Morgan. Don’t do this to us, Maury.

I have an article at Dan Levy’s Press Coverage regarding the departure of Morgan from ESPN.

Now to the other sports media stories of the day.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reviews ESPN’s 30 for 30 doc on former Oklahoma running back Marcus Dupree which airs tonight.

Back to USA Today’s Mike McCarthy, he looks at some of the TV ratings over the weekend.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says hip-hop artist Nelly will perform his new single during the HBO’s pay per view coverage of the Manny Pacquaio-Antonio Margarito fight this Saturday.

Sports Business Daily says Chevrolet emerged as the brand with the most exposure during Fox’s World Series coverage.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones can not only hurt his product on the field, he can also hurt its merchandising products off the field.

In Marie Claire, ESPN public relations guru Keri Potts tells her experience of escaping an attacker while vacationing in Italy, but eventually bringing him to justice.

Back to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who looks at Discover Card’s new deal with the NHL.

Richard also explores the Yankees trying to set a price on Derek Jeter’s legacy as he approaches the twilight of his career.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman is not a fan of CBS’ Steve Tasker.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the college football TV schedule for Week 11.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that John Wall’s Dougie Dance is making its way across the country.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes the good ratings for Sunday Night Football despite a 38 point blowout win by the Packers.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Miami Heat is offering a four ticket package deal through Facebook and Twitter.

Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune recaps Erin Andrews’ interview with a local TV station on her expanded role at ESPN and her effort to get tougher stalking laws on the books.

Rick Cleveland of the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger catches up with Marcus Dupree who’s the subjct of tonight’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary.

Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News writes the Cowboys set a local overnight ratings low.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News looks at what the national NFL analysts are saying about the Cowboys.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says this Saturday’s Bearcats football game will air on the local CBS affiliate’s digital subchannel.

John also has the behind-the-scenes from ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike appearance in the Queen City for Monday Night Football.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is amazed at the big ratings for Sunday Night Football featuring the Packers.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business has former Bears coach Mike Ditka calling NFL helmets a weapon.

Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald looks at the reasons why Texas would sign with ESPN to form its own sports television network. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News shares his thoughts on the NFL Network’s Top 100: NFL Greatest Players series.

Kevin McGran at the Toronto Star says the NHL is in a position to cash in from the US TV networks.

From the Thoroughbred Times, Frank Angst notes that ESPN received its highest ratings for the Breeders’ Cup since obtaining the rights from NBC.

Nikki Finke and Nellie Andreeva at Deadline has the new NBC/Comcast corporate structure that takes effect next week and it includes NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol.

Sports Media Watch says CBS received its highest overnight NFL ratings in three years on Sunday.

SMW notes that Fox received decent ratings for its NFL singleheader coverage.

SMW says interest in Zenyatta helped to steer ESPN to a big ratings jump for the Breeders’ Cup over last year.

And that will conclude the linkage for today.

Giving You The Monday Linkage

Let’s do some Monday stuff before work overwhelms me today.

Starting with John Ourand at Sports Business Journal, he writes that ESPN and the NFL have reopened their contract to renegotiate mobile rights for Monday Night Football and hash out a few other issues.

Fred Dreier from SBJ says the National Hockey League is launching an interactive Facebook app.

The Nielsen Wire blog says High Definition TV’s now encompass the majority of sets in the U.S., but true HD viewing still lags behind Standard Definition programs.

A couple of stories from Mediaweek. Anthony Crupi speculates on whether the bidding for the 2014/16 Olympics could be the last for NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol.

Anthony writes that ESPN is very interested in regaining the cable rights for the NHL. 

Ryan Lambert of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy tells us what “very interested” means.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today writes that the Sunday NFL pregame shows were all over the Donovan McNabb reaction, or non-reaction, to his benching last week during the Detroit-DC NFL team contest.

R. Thomas Umstead at Multichannel News says MTV2 has secured the rights to a high school football documentary series following eight quarterbacks as they try to secure a spot in a season-ending All-Star game.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel writes that Versus is entering the 3-D world by offering this Saturday’s Oregon-Cal game in the third dimension.

Marc Graser at Variety notes that Fox Sports Net has signed a deal\ with Atlantic Records to promote its artists on local regional networks’ MLB, NBA, NHL games and other programming.

Kara Swisher at All Things Digital notes that blogging network SB Nation has secured some more venture capital. A lot more. 

Dashiell Bennett at the Business Insider Sports Page notes that Patriots pretty boy QB Tom Brady has become a shareholder in Under Armour.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post goes over Isiah Thomas’ interview with ESPN Radio New York’s Michael Kay.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun notes that nothing lures young male viewers to TV like primetime NFL games. 

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner speaks with ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap to preview a powerful story that will air on E:60 tomorrow.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend in sports television.

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reviews ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on former Oklahoma running back bust Marcus Dupree. 

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has some Football Night in America quotage on the Cowboys coaching situation.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle writes that when Comcast SportsNet Houston begins in 2012, it will look like the original home of the Astros and Rockets, Home Sports Entertainment.

David notes that NBC’s Tony Dungy defended Texans wide receiver Arian Foster’s catch that was ruled a non-catch.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer looks at ESPN’s promotion for Monday Night Football which doesn’t just start with game production.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Sentinel notices that ESPN’s Trent Dilfer has become a Green Bay Packers convert.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business wonders if White Sox fans will make the upgrade to HD Radio which about 13 people across the country have.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post appreciates Tony Dungy’s non-confrontational style on Football Night in America.

Dick Facer of the Deseret (UT) Morning News says Utah left a lasting impression on ESPN’s College Gameday.

Matt Minkus of the Tuscon (AZ) Citizen has a clip from his podcast with ESPN’s Mark Schlereth.

Tom Hoffarth has this week’s sports calendar for LA and Southern California.

Mark Tokito from The Oregonian says the Portland Trail Blazers are still trying to find a solution to allow fans to see 55 games which are carried by Comcast SportsNet Northwest, but not available to DirecTV and other local cable providers. This dispute is into its 4th season.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says a CBC hockey blog caused some sparks among the Edmonton Oilers.

Joe Favorito looks at a medical facility that helps retired athletes become pain-free and heal some of the mental scars from competition.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest tells us that ESPN has found a new sponsor for the game formerly known as the Papajohns.com Bowl.

And we’re done for now.

Your Thursday Linkage

Ok, let’s do some links on this rainy Thursday in the Northeast. Time to look at what’s going on today.

First from the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Brian Hendrickson recaps a symposium in which Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio was frank in a panel discussion on the whole Brett Favre/Jenn Sterger story.

Philiana Ng of the Hollywood Reporter says Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose failed to show up in New York to film a cameo appearance on CBS’ “The Good Wife”.

ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael talks with HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg about 2010 being a weak year for the sport. 

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that ESPN 3D will air three Thanksgiving weekend college basketball tournaments later this month.

Mike says CBS College Sports is showcasing TCU-Utah this Saturday as part of a free preview.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the legacy of Mark McCormack, the man who founded sports agency giant IMG, will live on at the University of Massachusetts.

Noah Davis at SportsNewser says winning teams generate TV ratings.

Also from SportsNewser, Marcus Vanderberg shows us how ESPN’s Skip Bayless should not do the Dougie.

Improper Bostonian has an interview with ESPN’s Wendi Nix. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Andy Barall of the New York Times ventures a guess at the Top 10 players in the NFL Network’s Top 100 program.

Page Six at the New York Post goes into detail on how the Bulls’ Derrick Rose stood up “The Good Wife” set.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog transcribes the rant of ESPN Radio hack Colon Cowherd on Wizards guard John Wall’s pregame Dougie dance.

Dan says DC NFL team radio voice Larry Michael is also chiming in on the Donovan McNabb benching from last Sunday.

Leonard Shapiro of the Post talks with NFL Network’s Joe Theismann who starts his new gig with the channel next week. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with the producer of NFL Network’s “Top 100: NFL’s Greatest Players” about tonight’s series finale.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks at a feud between ESPN and a local Tampa Bay Buccaneers blog.

The Knoxville (TN) News Sentinel notes that CBS College Sports is being picked up by Comcast just in time for Saturday’s game against Memphis.

Jason Morton of the Tuscaloosa (AL) News writes about ESPN shooting a commercial in the local area.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes about the finale of NFL’s Top 100 series tonight.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says fans can talk with the Reds radio broadcasters about the Hot Stove starting next week.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that ESPN has made some additions to its college basketball announcing lineup.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says former Bears coach Mike Ditka was mostly responsible for bringing the 1985 Bears back together for the taping of a TV show this Friday.

Ed talks with the author of a new book that looks into how athletes like former Bears QB Jim McMahon became endorsement stars.

Ed says the White Sox’s new radio deal provides for a HD channel which it will program.

Ed notes that the Bulls will also be part of the White Sox’s radio HD channel.

Bill Zwecker and John Jackson of the Chicago Sun-Times says the Bulls’ Derrick Rose isn’t talking about why he didn’t show up to the set of “The Good Wife” earlier this week.

The Salt Lake Tribune says overnight camping will be allowed on Friday for College Gameday’s appearance at the University of Utah’s campus this Saturday.

Olympics writer Alan Abrahamson says disgraced track star Marion Jones is not telling the truth in her interviews and in the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary that aired this week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at what Alan has to say.

Sports Media Watch has a few news and notes.

Allen Levin of Digital Sports Daily speaks with NBA TV’s Steve Smith.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs notes that athletes are using TV and radio to bypass newspapers to get their messages out.

And we’ll end it there.

The Post-World Series Links

Now that baseball is done, and doesn’t it seem right that it’s over by Election Day (Go vote!), it’s time to shift focus totally to the NFL, college football, NHL and college basketball, not necessarily in that order. Of course, there’s the baseball Hot Stove which now begins in earnest today with free agency, but still, time to get ready for the winter sports. Let’s go over the linkage for Tuesday. I don’t think I’ll get interrupted for two hours like I did yesterday, but let’s get started.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy looks at the ratings from the weekend.

Mike says World Series Game 5 beat Monday Night Football, but again, it’s network vs. cable, apples and oranges here.

Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter felt Fox’s dependence on East Coast teams in the World Series showed in this year’s Fall Classic.

Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter cites a study which says as many as 20% of viewers may not be able to watch 3-D TV.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable notes that NFL Network has hired a new senior Vice President of Programming.

Jon Lafayette from B&C says ESPN 3D has added three college football games including the Fiesta Bowl to its schedule.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that NESN National is being picked up by Bright House in Michigan.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine speaks with the founder of a Super Bowl ad-tracking site about Fox selling out the Big Game so quickly.

Darren Rovell from CNBC says Evoshield is getting big buzz from athletes just before it hits the mass market.

David Brown at Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog says San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum’s bowtie entrance at the World Series vindicated Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal’s choice of attire. 

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times talks about the NFL beating the World Series head-to-head in the ratings for the first time.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is happy to see NBC’s Tony Dungy give an edgy opinion. Yes, he’s doing it just for you, Bob.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air two local high school football championships this weekend.

Neal Zoren at the Delaware County Times says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia had to pay off on a bet to Comcast SportsNet Bay Area over the National League Championship Series.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Mike Shanahan’s decision to bench DC NFL Team QB Donovan McNabb on Sunday still remains unpopular with the local and national media.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has a sampling of national media going off on Shanahan.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says this year’s World Series stands to be one of the lowest rated in history.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer notes the ratings for the Bengals finished above the norm on Sunday.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the many from the 1985 Bears Super Bowl team made the transition to the business world.

Chicago Tribune Olympics writer Philip Hersh says ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on Marion Jones has left some facts out of the film. 

Mike Clark at the Chicago Sun-Times says ESPN3.com will pick up the Illinois state high school football finals.

Mary McNamara from the Los Angeles Times reviews tonight’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Marion Jones.

Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertisers says fewer Hawaiians will be able to see Saturday’s Hawaii-Boise State game as it will air on ESPNU which does not have wide access on the islands.

Sports Media Watch notes World Series Game 4 was the lowest rated Game 4 ever, but was this year’s series high.

SMW says the battle of unranked Georgia and Florida did not draw viewers as did for CBS last year.

SMW says NBC is still getting low ratings for Notre Dame football.

And SMW says Saturday Night Football did well for ABC despite being opposite the World Series.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says extra games are actually bringing Versus’ NHL ratings down.

SportsbyBrooks notes that LeBron James is angry at a celebrity gossip blog.

That will conclude the links for now.

Providing Some Sunday Links

Yesterday was busier than I expected both personally and sports media-wise. I was out most of the day which prevented me from providing links, but then the Cablevision/Fox story broke and I give tremendous kudos to Brian Stelter of the New York Times who tweeted the news just as Game 3 of the World Series was about to air on Fox. And he was able to get statements from both companies and in particular, the extremely bitter statement from Cablevision that it acquiesced to Fox’s demands. Thanks to you, the traffic to Fang’s Bites was quite heavy for a Saturday and it’s much appreciated.

I published that statement up while I was in a movie theater, about to see “Red” with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren and Richard Dreyfuss. Good movie, but blogging during the previews wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but it was important to get the news out as fast as possible. Here I am, trying to shade my iPhone so people won’t see the light in the dark theater and copying and pasting the press release from Cablevision. Thank goodness for the BlogPress iPhone app which allows me to blog at a moment’s notice.

Ok, to your links.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel News says the Cablevision/Fox accord was hashed out minutes before World Series Game 3.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that Cablevision and Fox could not kiss and make up after firing off terse statements about the agreement.

Minutes after the Cablevision/Fox deal was announced, New York Times reporters Brian Stelter and Bill Carter gave an overview of how the agreement was reached.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says Cablevision came to an agreement with Fox, then fired a shot across the company’s bow.

Richard Huff and Rich Schapiro of the New York Daily News says the agreement came in time for today’s Jets game against Green Bay which is airing on Fox.

Andy Edelstein of Cablevision-owned Newsday writes about the end of the carriage dispute.

In SB Nation New York, Steve Lepore at Puck The Media looks at how the Cablevision/Fox dispute affected the network’s ratings. 

Ok, we’re moving on from Cablevision/Fox and on to other sports media stories. I’m tired of these carriage dispute stories.

Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal talks with legendary Boston Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who got his start on WPRO-AM in Providence. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that a reluctant Sandy Koufax agreed to take part in a new documentary on Jews in baseball.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the opening segment of Football Night in America with Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels is must see TV.

Phil Mushnick from the New York Post is blaming ESPN for everything that’s bad in society. He does make a good opening point, then sours into extreme bitterness.

Dan Mangan of the Post says brunette bombshell Jenn Sterger will likely meet with the National Football League to talk Brett Favre. Just get it done and over with, honey. And maybe help your dead show, The Daily Line, with a statement or two about the story instead of clamming up. I was on your side on this earlier, but stonewalling the NFL hasn’t helped you.

Chuck Gormley of the Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier-Post profiles the Vice President and General Manager of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Wizards reporter about the team’s chances this season.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reports that Fox Sports Houston will lose the Astros and Rockets in 2012-13.

Barry writes that the NFL TV partners don’t want to kill off the Cowboys despite their pitiful record.

Mitchell Schnurman of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram profiles the real owners of the Texas Rangers, the team behind front men Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan.

Bud Kennedy of the Star-Telegram says Fox is showcasing the Ballpark at Arlington in a way similar to how it showed AT&T Park in San Francisco during the World Series. 

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says Dish Network subscribers could lose the local CBS affiliate later tonight.

David says Comcast SportsNet Houston will become a reality in the 2012-13 season.

The Daily Oklahoman has a video clip from an upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on former Oklahoma University running back bust Marcus Dupree.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the ESPN on ABC crew gushed over Oklahoma’s quarterback last night. 

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has video of a new ESPN NBA promo featuring Stuart Scott and the Bucks mascot, Bango.

Michael Rand in the Minneapolis Star Tribune talks with Dan Patrick. 

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Dish subscribers get Fox Sports Midwest back on their systems.

Matt Solinsky of the Desert Sun (CA) answers a reader’s question on the chances of seeing NFL Network on Time Warner Cable this season. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with disgraced track star Marion Jones about the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on her and her new book.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says Rogers Sportsnet has chosen to reject Fox’s feed of the World Series and take MLB International’s.

Joe Favorito says NBC is choosing to put the Fright in Fright Night tonight.

Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions.

SMW speaks with PromaxBDA President Jonathan Block-Verk about the upcoming Sports Media Marketing Awards.

Jonathan Stein at CultureMob would like to see Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia on DirecTV and so would I.

A good amount of links today. Enjoy your Sports Sunday.

Doing A Late Night Friday Megalink Thing

Time to do the megalinkage on this Friday. Lots of things going on today into this evening and let’s get cracking. Of course, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks.

Now let’s do the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy wants to know who’s your favorite NFL announcer.

Mike says this year’s World Series ratings are down 26% from last year’s.

David Biderman of the Wall Street Journal says there’s too much laughter on the Sunday NFL pregame shows.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel News looks at Dish and Fox coming to a new carriage agreement which restores several of its cable networks and prevents the broadcast network from being pulled.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says the FCC Chairman is pleased over the Dish/Fox agreement.

In Multichannel News, John says Cablevision is accusing Fox of conducting intimidation tactics.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks to a sports executive who feels the Tampa Bay Rays should give away their all of their tickets next season.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred shares memories that shaped him as a sportswriter.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser says Game 2 of the World Series steered Fox to another primetime ratings win.

The Big Lead notes that not everyone at ESPN was thrilled with Hannah Storm’s ensemble on Tuesday.

Deadspin says The Daily Line’s cancellation really had nothing to do with the Brett Favre/Jenn Sterger story.

Jon Weisman of Variety says a long time CBS Sports Communications and PR person is leaving the network.

Sports Media Watch has an interview with HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg.

SMW says this year’s World Series is barely above 2008′s record low ratings pace.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media notes that Versus will continue to carry UFC events.

Joe Favorito compares and contrasts the marketing approaches of the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn talks with NESN’s Heidi Watney.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says ESPN will make a decision on the fates of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan after the World Series.

Richard wonders if the World Series can continue a head-to-head winning streak against the NFL this Sunday.

Stuart Elliot from the Times notes that Fox has sold out its inventory of Super Bowl XLV ads three months early.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath who’s embracing new and social media.

And Neil gives us some of his week in blogging and tweeting.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says the viewers are the losers in the Cablevision/Fox battle.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says Jets fans are the next victims in the Cablevision/Fox dispute.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the World Series is now dependent on market size than actual matchups. I totally disagree with this.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the DC NFL Team’s flagship radio station will add a delay so fans can sync up the TV broadcasts.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a CBS College Sports sideline reporter also pulls duty for CBS News.

South

Anne Blythe of the Raleigh News & Observer says several North Carolina news organizations are suing the University of North Carolina in regards to the NCAA’s investigation into the school’s football program.

The Dallas Morning News notes that ESPN Radio Hack Colon Cowherd blasted the Metroplex as a baseball area.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle previews the Monday Night Football matchup involving the Texans with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht talks with ex-Oregon coach Mike Bellotti who will be with ESPN2 calling the Colorado-Oklahoma game.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike will be in town next month.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press likes the early start time for Game 3 of the World Series.

At the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley says MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig isn’t worried about the World Series ratings.

From Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says a huge crisis was averted when Dish Network and Fox came to a deal on Friday.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says Halloween is perfect for a primetime NFL game.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar wonders if the World Series can beat the NFL head-to-head on Sunday.

Dan says Dish subscribers will be able to watch the St. Louis Blues and Missouri sports once again.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says Saturday’s Armed Forces college football tripleheader on CBS College Sports could go a long way in deciding bowl games in December and January.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes that local Time Warner Cable customers can now watch ESPN online.

Jim notes that the World Series gets some direct NFL competition this Sunday.

Meg James at the Los Angeles Times looks at the Dish/Fox resolution.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with director John Singleton about his new ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on disgraced track star Marion Jones.

Tom has his extensive media news and notes in his blog.

Tom says with tickets unsold for Saturday’s Oregon-USC game and Sunday’s Chargers contest, can the NFL really consider re-entering the L.A. market.

And that’s going to do it for tonight. 

Cranking Out The Tuesday Links

Let’s do some linkage on this Tuesday. Don’t know if I can get everything done today as I’ll be all over the place later today so I don’t know if this will be a complete set of links or an abbreviated edition. Time to get started.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has the ratings from various events over the weekend.

Stuart Levine at Variety has Fox Sports Vice Chair Ed Goren hoping for an extended World Series. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser for the link.

Let the media vultures swarm over the World Series now. Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter has the angle that this year’s Fall Classic could be the lowest rated ever.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse confirms what I reported two weekends ago, that Fox is now using its football theme as the official music of Fox Sports. 

I’ll say this. The World Series always finishes 1 or 2 in primetime programming every year. It’ll win most of the nights it’s on. It does well in the 18-49 demo. While the ratings may fluctuate from year-to-year depending on the matchup, the World Series does get people to watch. It may not be NFL numbers, but what does? The NFL is rare programming that is communal and brings people together to watch. If you look on Twitter and Facebook, people constantly talk about the NFL when the games are on.

The same goes for the World Series, but not in the same manner of the NFL. The NBA doesn’t have that same appeal as the NFL, the only other sports that can do this are the Olympics and the World Cup and they’re not on every week like the NFL. And people are forgetting that with Dallas and San Francisco involved, these are Top 10 markets. Many of the so-called “experts” who are saying that this year’s World Series will be low-rated are on the East Coast. I have a feeling this World Series will do better than some are saying. I’m getting off my soapbox now.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable writes that there are only two spots left to be sold for Super Bowl XLV on Fox.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says Fox is defending itself to the FCC in its dispute with Cablevision.

John has Cablevision’s side of the argument.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine looks at tonight’s TNT NBA season opener.

The Smoking Gun has obtained the tape of the prank call made by an online vandalism group to ESPNU’s Elizabeth Moreau. Thanks to Barry Rothbard of SportsGrid for the link.

Some sad news, BBC News reports that Paul the Octopus, the cephalopod that became famous for correctly predicting eight World Cup matches including Spain’s win in the final, has died. I’m actually saddened by this. I actually liked the little fella. Actually, he wasn’t so little, but you get the idea. The Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany where Paul was housed has a statement.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says it’s unlikely the Feds will get involved in the Cablevision/Fox fight.

Phil says Cablevision is reportedly telling subscribers to watch Fox off an supposedly illegal website.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell likes the new Nike LeBron James ad, but wonders if it will help sell shoes?

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the very first rules of basketball, written by sport creator Dr. James Naismith, will be sold at auction in December.

Newsday’s Neil Best says TNT’s Charles Barkley is already in midseason form. 

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News goes after the NFL for selling violence, while trying to crack down at the same time.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union is another East Coast critic who wonders if the World Series is doomed for ratings disaster.

Pete notes that Time Warner Cable subscribers can now access ESPN and ESPN3 online.

Pete has the entire national NBA television schedule for 2010-11.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that Fox and ESPN Radio are set to air the World Series.

Jim says TNT and ESPN Radio will be all over NBA Opening Night.

The Orlando Business Journal notes that the Magic will broadcast a handful of games in Spanish. 

Julie McGowan of the Daily Oklahoman writes that Oklahoma Baptist University will be teaching a course on the inner workings of ESPN and Google. 

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Bengals matched their season ratings average on Sunday.

Michael Rothstein of AnnArbor.com writes that a University of Michigan wide receiver will be profiled on this week’s College Gameday about his Twitter use. 

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune writes that a member of the Ricketts family which owns the Cubs taped an episode of Undercover Boss that will air in November.

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman notes that Boise State’s move to the Mountain West next year will curtail its appearances on ESPN. 

Jimmy Bramlett in the LAist reviews tonight’s 30 for 30 documentary on former Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.

Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertiser says ESPN needs Boise State to sign off on its intentions to air the November 6th game with Hawaii.

Sports Media Watch says Fox saw a big increase for its Week 7 NFL regional coverage.

SMW also has some ratings news and notes.

I’ll end it there. I have to get ready to leave the office. I’ll be back later with more.