Fang's Bites

ESPN Prepares To Cover The Next-to-Last BCS

As we approach the long-awaited college football playoff in 2015, the BCS is still in effect and ESPN will air the entire five game sequence which includes the National Championship Game on January 7. The BCS begins on Tuesday with the Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl. It then proceeds to the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday and the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday. It all culminates with the BCS National Championship Game on Monday night as Alabama takes on Notre Dame in South Florida.

ESPN plans extensive coverage of the BCS starting on Tuesday, New Year’s Day with all types of pregame and wraparound programming on several of its platforms on TV, radio, mobiles, tablets and computers.

Let’s take a look at the extensive ESPN press release which details its coverage plans.

Extensive BCS Bowls Coverage Includes ESPNU’s Week of Programming, ESPN Radio Live from South Beach and ESPN Deportes’ Spanish-Language Telecasts

ESPN’s extensive college football programming is culminated by all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including the BCS National Championship (No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama) from Miami Gardens, Fla., Monday, Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN 3D and WatchESPN.

Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will work their sixth consecutive BCS National Championship game, calling ESPN’s telecast with Saturday Night Football reporter Heather Cox and College GameDay reporter Tom Rinaldi. For the second straight year, ESPN’s Monday Night Football signal caller Mike Tirico will work ESPN Radio’s broadcast with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge and reporters Holly Rowe and Joe Schad: http://es.pn/11VjVQy.

Studio Coverage

Beginning New Year’s Day, ESPN will provide viewers with daily updates from all the action including all five BCS bowl games. College Football Live at the BCS will be televised daily from 3 – 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2, through Friday, Jan. 4, and again on Monday, Jan. 7, providing all the latest news and analysis of the upcoming matchups. The network’s Emmy Award-winning pre-game show College GameDay will be live from the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl and the BCS National Championship where the crew will be joined by guest analysts and current head coaches Urban Meyer (Ohio State) and Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M): http://es.pn/VCx3UR.

Kicking off 2013, ESPNU will feature its largest on-site presence to-date with seven studio shows from Miami Gardens, Fla. The network’s 74 hours of content begins Tuesday, Jan. 1, and leads into the BCS National Championship. The schedule is punctuated by a marathon of more than 24 hours of BCS-themed content beginning Sunday, Jan. 6, at 10 p.m. and extending until mid-morning Tuesday, Jan. 8: http://es.pn/W5AHXK.

ESPN Radio Shows

Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m. ET M-F, simulcast on ESPN2) and SVP & Russillo (1-4 p.m. M-F, simulcast on ESPNEWS 1-3 p.m.) will originate from Miami’s South Beach Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 7-8. Notre Dame alum and morning co-host Mike Golic will watch his sons Mike Jr. and Jake play Monday night against Alabama.

Also, The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m.-1 p.m. M-F, simulcast on ESPNU) will be in South Beach on January 7, as will Trevor Matich and Brad Edwards, joining Ryen Russillo for a special 2-1/2-hour edition of College GameDay on ESPN Radio at 4 p.m.

Additionally, ESPN Radio will present a 2013 BCS Special hosted by College GameDay’s Russillo, Matich and Edwards. They will be joined by ESPN college football experts, as well as ESPN Radio’s Mikes Golic & Greenberg, Cowherd, Scott Van Pelt, Russillo, and Dari Nowkhah and Mel Kiper Jr. The special will run multiple times the weekend before the title game and will be available for download at ESPNRadio.com.

Additional details:

• ESPN Radio will present exclusive, live national coverage of all BCS contests culminating with the championship game Monday, Jan. 7.
• ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS bowl game since the inception of the BCS. ESPN Radio’s bowl games – 37 announcers spread across 16 days – has been available to more than 400stations nationwide.
• Internationally, ESPN Radio’s BCS coverage can be heard in Canada (TSN 1050 in Toronto) and the U.S  Virgin Islands (WVWI-AM 1000/St. Thomas).

ESPN Deportes:

ESPN Deportes is the Spanish-language television home for the BCS. ESPN Deportes, for the first time, will air all five BCS bowls, including the BCS National Championship: http://es.pn/SE1kpt for U.S. Hispanic sports fans.

ESPN International

ESPN International will televise the BCS National Championship live to more than 100 countries, across six continents, reaching more than 100 million households:

• Latin America (49 countries):  ESPN networks in Spanish-speaking Latin America, Brazil, and the Caribbean.
• Israel and Sub-Saharan Africa (47 countries):  ESPN Israel and ESPN Africa
• PacRim (six countries; 2.6 million households):  ESPN PacRim
• Canada (12.5 million households): TSN and RDS
• Asia (22 countries; 176 million households):  ESPN China, SE Asia, India, Taiwan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan (J Sports 2).

In addition, ESPN America (only European network devoted exclusively to the best in North American sport, available to 19 million homes in more than 40 countries) will broadcast live and exclusive coverage of all five BCS bowls including the title game with all available online through the live and on-demand streaming service ESPNPlayer.com: http://bit.ly/ESPNIntlBowls

ESPN Digital

• WatchESPN: Every live BCS game on ESPN is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox.
• ESPN3: Replays of every bowl game available shortly after the conclusion of the games.
• ESPN.com: Stories, columns, blogs, video elements and more.  The bowls homepage will provide previews and post-game content on every game, as well as an in-depth look at all five BCS bowls with an individual page dedicated to the coverage of each: Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl and BCS National Championship.
• ESPN Mobile: Clips, highlights, news and scores available through the ScoreCenter app and via the ESPN College Football app.
• Fans can follow @ESPNCFB on Twitter for the latest scores, news and highlights.

ESPN 3D

ESPN 3D will televise ESPN’s coverage of the Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship. In addition, Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore will provide extended coverage of the title game during select commercial breaks of the ESPN telecast.
There you have it.

The Sun Bowl Airs on CBS Today

The 79th annual Sun Bowl will air on the CBS Television Network this afternoon. Georgia Tech will take on USC at 2 p.m. today.

Uncle Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson will call the game with Tracy Wolfson manning the sidelines.

This marks the 45th consecutive year that CBS has aired the game in El Paso, TX.

CBS SPORTS WRAPS UP 2012 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON WITH THE SUN BOWL

USC Takes on Georgia Tech on Monday, Dec. 31

CBS Sports’ 2012 coverage of college football concludes on New Year’s Eve with the Sun Bowl on Monday, Dec. 31 (2:00-6:00 PM, ET). USC faces Georgia Tech in the 79^th annual Sun Bowl, live on the CBS Television Network. This marks the 45^th consecutive year CBS Sports broadcasts the match-up from El Paso, Texas.

CBS Sports’ lead college football announce team of Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson call the action from Sun Bowl Stadium. Tracy Wolfson serves as sideline reporter. Craig Silver, CBS Sports’ coordinating producer of college football, produces and Steve Milton directs.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, the Network’s pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show, broadcasts live from New York City with host Tim Brando and analysts Spencer Tillman and Tony Barnhart. Vin DeVito produces and Linda Malino directs. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

CBS Sports’ broadcast of the Sun Bowl also will be streamed live on CBSSports.com.

That is all.

ESPN College GameDay Prepares For The BCS National Championship

Starting on January 1, ESPN’s College GameDay will be live from four of the five BCS games including the Big One, the BCS National Championship game in South Florida on January 7.

College GameDay will begin its cross-country odyssey in Pasadena, CA by doing two shows on New Year’s Day live from the Rose Bowl. Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and charlatan Todd McShay will be in Pasadena for the festivities.

The following day, Fowler, Herbstreit and Howard fly to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and they’ll be joined by David Pollack.

On January 3, the College Football Final crew of Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and Mark May will hold court at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ.

College GameDay will skip the Orange Bowl and studiop coverage of the game on New Year’s Night will be produced from ESPN’s World Headquarters in Bristol, CT.

And finally, College GameDay ends its season from the BCS National Championship Game from the Stadium Formerly Known as Joe Robbie. Former ESPN analyst and current Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin will be on the set to provide analysis of Alabama-Notre Dame.

Samantha Ponder (formerly Steele) will also be on hand for College GameDay.

Here’s the official ESPN press release.

College GameDay: A Look Ahead to BCS Bowl Coverage and Guest Analysts Urban Meyer and Kevin Sumlin

Beginning Tuesday, Jan. 1, ESPN College GameDay will be live from the sites of the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. Coverage of the Orange Bowl will originate from ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn. GameDay will end the season live from Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Monday, Jan. 7, from the BCS National Championship for a two-hour show starting at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Throughout the week, a variety of ESPN analysts will sit on the GameDay set in the various cities. Host Chris Fowler and analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard will travel from Pasadena to New Orleans with a final stop in Miami Gardens, Fla., for the title game. Additional analyst appearances include Lee Corso, David Pollack, Todd McShay and Samantha (Steele) Ponder.

Rece Davis will take the hosting reins, along with his weekly ESPN studio partners, analysts Lou Holtz and Mark May, from the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

The BCS National Championship will add guest analysts including former ESPN commentator and current Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer and Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin, whose team was the only program to top Alabama this season.

College GameDay BCS Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Network	Location/Analysts
Tue, Jan 1	11 a.m.	ESPNU	Fowler, Herbstreit, Corso, Howard & McShay (Pasadena, Calif.)
	noon	ESPN
Wed, Jan 2	7-8 p.m.	ESPN	Fowler, Herbstreit, Howard & Pollack (New Orleans)
Thu, Jan 3	7-8 p.m.	ESPN	Davis, Holtz & May (Glendale, Ariz.)
Mon, Jan 7	6-8 p.m.	ESPN	Fowler, Herbstreit, Corso, Howard, Pollack, Meyer & Sumlin (Miami Gardens, Fla.)

That does it.

ESPN Airs 34 College Bowl Games Including The Next-to-Last BCS

ESPN has sent its schedule for the college football bowls as well as the Bowl Championship Series. In addition, we have the announcing assignments for all of the games on the ESPN platforms. Most of the games will air on ESPN, some on ESPN2. ESPN Radio also carries a series of games including the entire BCS.

Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox will call the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game. ESPN’s other teams for the BCS and the other bowls approaching January are Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe, Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich and Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Maria Taylor.

Other teams include ESPN’s regular combos of Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway, Carter Blackburn/Rod Gilmore/Jemele Hill, Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham, Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell, Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown and Mark Jones/Brock Huard.

Here’s ESPN’s press release in full.

ESPN to Carry 34 College Football Bowl Games including Entire BCS

ESPN’s extensive college football coverage continues with 34 bowl games, highlighted by all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including the BCS National Championship (No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama) on Monday, Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN 3D and WatchESPN.

The schedule will kick off with an ESPN and ESPN Radio doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 15: the New Mexico Bowl (Nevada vs. Arizona), which is also on ESPN 3D, at 1 p.m. ET and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Toledo vs. No. 22 Utah State) at 4:30 p.m.

Schedule highlights:

• An ESPN outlet will offer coverage of at least one game a day for 16 out of the 19 days from Dec. 20 to Jan. 7.
• ESPN’s New Year’s Day lineup will include six games:

• Noon: Gator Bowl (Mississippi State vs. No. 20 Northwestern) on ESPN2 and Heart of Dallas Bowl (Purdue vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State) on ESPNU.
• 1 p.m.: Capital One Bowl (No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 16 Nebraska) on ABC and ESPN Radio and Outback Bowl (No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 18 Michigan) on ESPN and ESPN Radio.
• 5 p.m.: Rose Bowl (Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Stanford) on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.
• 8:30 p.m.: Orange Bowl (No. 15 Northern Illinois vs. No. 12 Florida State) on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.

• Every bowl game on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will be available on computers at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app. WatchESPN is currently available in 40 million households nationwide to fans who receive their video subscription from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast Xfinity TV or Midcontinent Communications.
• ESPN Deportes will televise all five BCS bowls, marking the first telecast of the entire BCS in Spanish for U.S. Hispanic sports fans. ESPN Deportes also aired the BCS Championship between Alabama and LSU last year. According to the most recent ESPN Deportes Sports PollSource: ESPN Deportes Sports Poll 2011, P2+
• , 42 percent of U.S. Hispanics follow college football. That’s more than the Hispanic fanbase following UEFA Champions League.
• ESPN 3D, the world’s first 24/7 all-sports 3D channel, will televise five bowl games, highlighted by the Sugar Bowl and BCS National Championship. It will mark the third year ESPN 3D has televised the BCS National Championship. ESPN 3D, launched in 2010, is available to more than 63 million homes in the U.S. through carriage agreements with DIRECTV, Comcast, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and Google Fiber.
• ESPN Radio will broadcast 24 bowl games, including all five BCS matchups and the Cotton Bowl (No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma on Friday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m.).
• ESPN will cover all seven ESPN Regional Television owned-and-operated bowl games: the New Mexico Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 15, at 1 p.m.), St. Petersburg Bowl (Friday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m.); Las Vegas Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 22, at 3:30 p.m.); Hawaii Bowl (Monday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m.); Texas Bowl (Friday, Dec. 28, at 9 p.m.); Armed Forces Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 29, at 11:45 a.m.); and BBVA Compass Bowl (Saturday, Jan. 5, at 1 p.m.).
• ESPN International will telecast the BCS in: Australia/New Zealand (ESPN Pacific Rim); Latin America North & South; Brazil; Caribbean; Europe (ESPN America); Sub-Saharan Africa (ESPN Atlantic) and Middle East.

Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will work their sixth consecutive BCS National Championship game on ESPN (Monday, Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m.) with Saturday Night Football reporter Heather Cox and College GameDay host and reporter Tom Rinaldi. For the second straight year, ESPN’s Monday Night Football signal caller Mike Tirico will work ESPN Radio’s broadcast with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge and reporters Holly Rowe and Joe Schad.

As part of an extensive four-year agreement with the Bowl Championship Series that began in 2010, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide television coverage, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five annual BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000.

The 2012 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN Radio, ESPN 3D, ESPN Deportes, Longhorn Network, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television, WatchESPN and ESPN GamePlan totals more than 450 regular-and post-season games.

Bowl Championship Series

Tuesday, January 1	5 p.m.	Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Stanford ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox & Tom Rinaldi Radio: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown Deportes: Georgina Ruiz Sandoval & Robert Abramowitz	ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN Radio
	8:30 p.m.	Orange Bowl: No. 15 Northern Illinois vs. No. 12 Florida State ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN Radio
Wednesday, January 2	8:30 p.m.	Sugar Bowl: No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 3 Florida ESPN: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich Radio: Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
Thursday, January 3	8:30 p.m.	Fiesta Bowl: No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Kansas State ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN Radio
Monday, January 7	8:30 p.m.	BCS National Championship Game: No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox & Tom Rinaldi Radio: Mike Tirico, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe & Joe Schad Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D

Additional Postseason Games

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Saturday, Dec 15	1 p.m.	New Mexico Bowl: Nevada vs. Arizona ESPN: Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Kaylee Hartung Radio: Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Marty Cesario	ESPN, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
	4:30 p.m.	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Toledo vs. No. 22 Utah State ESPN: Tom Hart, Mike Bellotti & Quint Kessenich Radio: Rich Cellini, Tom Ramsey & Shelley Smith	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Thursday, December 20	8 p.m.	Poinsettia Bowl: BYU vs. San Diego State ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
Friday, December 21	7:30 p.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl: Central Florida vs. Ball State ESPN: Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Desmond Howard & Cara Capuano Radio: Dave Lamont, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Saturday, December 22	Noon	New Orleans Bowl: East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette ESPN: Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Quint Kessenich Radio: Marc Kestecher, Dan Hawkins & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Las Vegas Bowl: Washington vs. No. 19 Boise State Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN
Monday, December 24	8 p.m.	Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State vs. SMU ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Kelly Stouffer & Kaylee Hartung Radio: Marc Kestecher & Pete Najarian	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Wednesday, December 26	7:30 p.m.	Little Caesars Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Thursday, December 27	3 p.m.	Military Bowl: No. 24 San Jose State vs. Bowling Green Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Quint Kessenich	ESPN
	6:30 p.m.	Belk Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Duke Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN
	9:45 p.m.	Holiday Bowl: Baylor vs. No. 17 UCLA ESPN: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
Friday, December 28	2 p.m.	Independence Bowl: Ohio vs. Louisiana-Monroe Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Cara Capuano	ESPN
	5:30 p.m.	Russell Athletic Bowl: Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor Radio: Adam Amin, Tom Luginbill & Brett McMurphy	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	9 p.m.	Texas Bowl: Minnesota vs. Texas Tech ESPN: Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza Radio: Tom Hart, John Congemi & Niki Noto	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Saturday, December 29	11:45 a.m.	Armed Forces Bowl: Rice vs. Air Force ESPN: Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson Radio: Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:15 p.m.	Pinstripe Bowl: West Virginia vs. Syracuse ESPN: Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer & Tom Rinaldi Radio: Marc Kestecher, Jack Ford & C.J. Papa	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	4 p.m.	Fight Hunger Bowl: Navy vs. Arizona State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN2
	6:45 p.m.	Alamo Bowl: No. 23 Texas vs. No. 13 Oregon State ESPN: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich Radio: Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Kaylee Hartung	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	10:15 p.m.	Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: TCU vs. Michigan State ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Monday, December 31	Noon	Music City Bowl: NC State vs. Vanderbilt Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Liberty Bowl: Iowa State vs. Tulsa ESPN: Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza Radio: Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Bowl: No. 8 LSU vs. No. 14 Clemson ESPN: Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards Radio: Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Tuesday, January 1	Noon	Gator Bowl: Mississippi State vs. No. 20 Northwestern Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2
		Heart of Dallas Bowl: Purdue vs. Oklahoma State Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Kaylee Hartung	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Capital One Bowl: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 16 Nebraska ABC: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele Radio: Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Brett McMurphy	ABC & ESPN Radio
		Outback Bowl: No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 18 Michigan ESPN: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden & Shannon Spake Radio: Carter Blackburn, John Congemi & Jemele Hill	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Friday, January 4	7 p.m.	Cotton Bowl: No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma Brad Sham, Ed Cunningham & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN Radio
Saturday, January 5	1 p.m.	BBVA Compass Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss ESPN: Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra Radio: Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Allison Williams	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Sunday, January 6	9 p.m.	GoDaddy.com Bowl: No. 25 Kent State vs. Arkansas State Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN

That is all.

Doing Our Friday Megalinks

Haven’t been able to provide the Friday megalinks in a while. Let’s do an edition today.

Normally I include a link to the Weekend Viewing Picks, but I’ll be doing that tonight so you can find it on my site when it’s posted. If you follow me on Twitter or have an RSS feed, you’ll be updated as soon as it posts. If not, you can find it later.

Let’s do the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand wonders what effect the gold medal win by the US Women’s Soccer National Team will have on the sport in the long run.

Michael also live blogged Thursday’s Olympic Primetime on NBC.

Jeffrey Martin of USA Today looks at the grand experiment that’s known as the Pac-12 Networks.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the NBCUniversal’s handling of the 2012 Olympics.

At the Sports on Earth blog, Joe Posnanski chronicles his day in covering the Olympics.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily says with NFL preseason games airing in many local markets on Thursday, NBC Olympic overnight ratings took a hit.

Bill King of SBD says CBS Sports is forging ahead with a show featuring the professional debut of several US Olympic boxers despite their poor performance in London.

Ryan Baucom of SBD writes that several Olympic athletes are getting a boost in Twitter followers after their success in the London Games.

Tripp Mickle of SBD says Universal Sports broke out an ad on NBC Thursday trying to promote its Olympic sports programming. Good luck with that.

Eric Fisher of SBD says Yahoo is declaring victory over NBCOlympics.com for unique pageviews.

Sohrab Amari of the Wall Street Journal reviews an NBC News documentary fronted by Tom Brokaw which will air on NBC’s Olympic coverage on Saturday.

Sarah Kwak of Sports Illustrated talks with Lolo Jones about the media firestorm that swelled just before she ran her 100 meters hurdles race.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with outgoing Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan about his first job. Ryan will be missed in the pages of the Globe.

Sports Media Journal’s Keith Thibault and I have an Olympic-themed podcast with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times and Bruce Beck of WNBC-TV.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Today Show host Matt Lauer had an icy reunion with former co-host Ann Curry on NBC’s London Olympics set.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the FCC has already denied a Comcast request to stay its decision requiring the cable provider to give space to the Tennis Channel.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says Olympic marketers have failed to medal in their social media campaigns.

But Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age looks at the Olympic sponsors that managed to get a boost through social media.

Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age says NBC and the International Olympic Committee have to fix the Olympic business model before it breaks down.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life notes that NBC’s ratings for Wednesday Olympic Primetime show drew better viewership numbers than Atlanta in 1996.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS Sports is preparing for all type of weather conditions for this weekend’s PGA Championship.

Karen Hogan of SVG looks at NBC New York Olympic operations.

Ken Kerschbaumer at SVG says Denmark TV has a floating barge studio for the London Olympics. Now that’s pretty cool.

And Birgit Heidsiek of SVG says Eurosport TV is producing the Olympics in 3-D.

Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute and writing as the ESPN Ombudsman investigates a plagiarism incident at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that the Pac-12 Conference is readying an aggressive digital strategy that will go along with its television distribution.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead goes after former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol for being out of touch in defending the tape delayed Olympics.

The Big Lead looks at the Pac-12 being in the forefront of digital distribution after being marred for years of being behind the curve.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the Miami Dolphins will take advantage of the NFL’s relaxed TV blackout policy this weekend.

Emmett Jones of Sports Business Digest notes that Buffalo Wild Wings has purchased naming rights for a college bowl game. Looks like it will be going to overtime every year.

Sports Media Watch says with NBC committed to the Olympics this year, the NFL Hall of Fame preseason game was aired on NFL Network and naturally suffered a big viewer dropoff.

SMW reports that NBC got another ratings increase for the Olympics.

TVNewsCheck says Gannett is declaring victory saying three of its stations are the top-rated local NBC affiliates in key demographics.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser looks at NBC’s Today Show operations in London.

At TVSpy, Alex tours NBC’s operation center for its local affiliates in London.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who’s been calling Olympic handball off a monitor for NBC.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen discusses Golf Channel’s meteoric rise and its plans to cover the PGA Championship this weekend.

Jane L. Levere of the New York Times writes about ESPN’s new ad campaign for Monday Night Football.

Verne Gay at Newsday notes that a long-time NBC Sports director is retiring after the Olympics.

Newsday’s Chris Serico wonders if NBC’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera will be a bit more subdued during the Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday than their talkative performance during the Opening Ceremony two Fridays ago.

Neil Best of Newsday catches up with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski who’s filling a new role at the network after being in the Monday Night Football both.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in another one of his moods today.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes a local radio station’s high school football schedule.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Pac-12 Networks will be seen on Time Warner Cable locally.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says despite a lost season, the Philadelphia Phillies TV crew still has plenty to talk about during games.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the business of fantasy football as leagues get ready to hold their drafts soon, if not already.

Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that more people were watching the DC NFL Team in area sports bars last night as compared to the Nationals.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says the Nationals radio team tried to explain the term “ball bag”.

South

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald reviews HBO’s Hard Knocks on the Dolphins.

Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Dolphins have announced their TV blackout policy today.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says a local high school sports TV show expands to a new market.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer says ESPN’s College GameDay could be visiting the Queen City in February.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Dick Ebersol’s latest comments on tape delaying Olympic events.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with a local sports radio host who’s perturbed at a former employer.

Dan notes that the Olympics and the St. Louis Cardinals ratings have been hurt by each other.

West

Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-12 Networks are ready to launch next week, but without a few major cable and satellite providers.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with a former NBC Olympics analyst who was fired on the spot after calling a race.

To the Ventura County Star where Jim Carlisle talks about the increased spotlight on the Pac-12 through its new TV networks.

Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the Irish radio call of boxer Katie Taylor’s victory giving the country its first gold medal of the Olympics.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says this is a critical time for beach volleyball as the sport is in transition now.

Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.

And those are your supersized megalinks for today.

Some Olympic Media Links

I owe you some linkage and I gathered so many over the last few days that I’m slowing down by browser with so many tabs. I have to clear them so my browser can run properly.

So many things to go over. Let’s do this.

First at SportsGrid, Jordan Rabinowitz at SportsGrid notes that NBC actually spoiled itself by running a Today Show promo about Missy Franklin winning the gold medal in her 100 meter backstroke race just minutes before it aired!

Cork Gaines of the Business Insider has video of that Today promo. It’s in proper context too.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today live blogs Monday night’s NBC primetime telecast.

Michael explains NBC’s policy of holding the glamor Olympic events for primetime.

Will Oremus at Slate reviews the very strange story of NBC getting a UK reporter’s Twitter account suspended because he was critical of the network’s tape delay shenanigans and for tweeting a public e-mail address of a network producer.

Sam Masters of The Independent in the UK says that reporter is a colleague at his newspaper.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead has NBC’s statement on the matter through Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch.

Sports Business Daily Global looks at the global Olympic TV ratings.

Sports Business Daily notes the three-day average rating for NBC for the first weekend of the 2012 Olympics.

John Ourand at SBD’s Olympic site says NBC is utilizing its Comcast SportsNet affiliates to help promote the Games.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has an interview with NBC Olympics rowing analyst Yasmin Farooq.

Matt writes that NBC’s tape delay policy continues to anger some viewers.

Steve Lepore of SB Nation says despite the tape delays, NBC has nothing to apologize for.

Jeff Jarvis at Buzz Machine is intrigued by the Twitter hashtag #nbcfail which has been popping up since the Olympics began.

ESPN’s Julie Foudy is saddened by US Women’s Soccer National Team goaltender Hope Solo’s Twitter attacks on former teammate Brandi Chastain who has been working for NBC during the Olympics.

John Clarke at Forbes SportsMoney says NBC reaped in the ratings for the Opening Ceremony last Friday, but took a beating on Twitter.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says while every Olympic event is being streamed online by NBC, not everyone can see them.

Richard says NBC may have thought putting events online would have eased complaints about tape delays, but they haven’t.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report looks at how newspapers are covering the 2012 Olympics with fewer resources at their disposal in the present day.

Ed says problems with online streaming at NBCOlympics.com should be expected.

By the way, I tried to watch the streaming of Missy Franklin in the 100 meter backstroke on Monday and this is how it looked on my iPad through the NBC Olympics Live Extra app. Actual image.

It should be much clearer than that, but I’m getting that type of quality especially when an event of high interest is on. NBC has to correct that.

Sports Media Watch says Olympic Daytime and Late Night are doing well for NBC.

SMW says the Olympics are off to a fast start on NBC.

A few links that aren’t Olympic-related.

The Big Lead reports that the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb is expected to leave ESPN for CBS and a formal announcement will be made later this week.

SportsRantz got up early on Monday and took notes on the first hour of the premiere edition of NFL AM.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth says a new policy on making injuries public could hurt Jacksonville Jaguars beat reporters.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette can’t believe the latest in bad home run calls by Yankees radio voice John Sterling.

Sports Media Watch says it appears ESPN has snatched the rights to the new “Champions Bowl” that will pit teams from the SEC and Big 12.

And that’s is where we will end the linkage for now.

Bringing Out Some Tuesday Links

Let’s do some links on this Tuesday.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today writes that a tepid LSU-Alabama rematch drew the BCS National Championship Game’s lowest overnight rating ever on ESPN.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today reports that former ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury has either quit or been fired from his MTV2 Lingerie Football League gig. There’s always a gray area with Sean.

Bruce Horovitz from USA Today says Kim Kardashian has been booted from Sketchers’ Super Bowl ad and replaced by a dog.

Sports Business Daily looks at the reviews of ESPN’s production of the BCS National Championship Game.

At Fox Sports, Brian Lowry feels ESPN did a better job in stepping up than LSU-Alabama last night.

Erin Carlson of the Hollywood Reporter notes that NBC will air the London Summer Olympics in 3-D.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News reports from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that ESPN admits a lack of 3-D programming for owners of 3-D sets, but the network says that should change.

Ben Drawbaugh of Engadget was at ESPN 3D’s demonstration of the BCS National Championship Game.

Jaymar Cabebe at CNET looks at ESPN Radio now streaming live through Slacker apps.

Erin Griffith of Adweek says the popular sound recognition app Shazam will power almost a third of this year’s Super Bowl ads.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age says Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow could reach the marketing and endorsement stratosphere as long as he keeps winning.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says a lackluster game between LSU and Alabama should lead the BCS to change its system.

Noam Cohen of the New York Times looks at NBC going 3-D for the Olympics.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY looks at the NYC Marathon’s new deal to have WABC-TV carry the race live starting this year.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union discusses the end of Jim Rome’s tenure at ESPN.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg says in the DC Sports Bog that former WaPo writers Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon say they would take Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio over Washington’s John Wall right now.

David Knox of the Birmingham (AL) News says last night’s BCS National Championship Game drew a big rating locally for Alabama-LSU, but not as big as last year’s involving bitter archrival Auburn.

Doug Segrest at the News says Alabama quickly took the wind out of ESPN’s sails for a close game.

W. Scott Bailey at the San Antonio Business Journal says the Alamo Bowl on ESPN drew good numbers as compared to some of the BCS games.

Mark Dawidziak of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that the voice of the Browns and WKYC Sports Director Jim Donovan will co-anchor the 7 p.m. edition of the station’s newscast.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that local ratings for the NFL Wild Card weekend were very good.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business looks at a new series on Big Ten Network.

Ed says the Big Ten Conference remains steadfastly opposed to a Plus One or anything resembling a playoff in college football.

At the Salt Lake Tribune, Scott D. Pierce says NBC and ESPN have snubbed Real Salt Lake in their MLS schedules.

Houston Mitchell of the Los Angeles Times says you can bid on the chance to have NBA Hall of Famer and TV analyst Bill Walton at your house.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown says it’s best to wait a year before expanding the MLB playoffs.

I’ll end it there for now. If anything warrants, I’ll add some more links.

UPDATE, 6 p.m.: Some more links for you now.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe looks at the record ratings for the AFC Wild Card Playoff Game between Pittsburgh and Denver.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the NFL is seeing more monster ratings.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette notes what Time Warner Cable subscribers are missing on MSG Network in Day 10 of the two companies’ dispute with each other.

Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing notes that ESPN Radio premieres a new show tonight.

That’s going to do it.

Posting As Many Monday Links As I Can

Been busy again today, but I’ll try to post as many links here as possible. Don’t know if I can do a complete set, but I’ll see what I can do.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand hears from ESPN’s Brent Musburger who calls tonight’s BCS National Championship Game.

Tom Weir of USA Today says Tim Tebow mentions broke a Twitter record last night.

Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal says the winner of tonight’s BCS National Championship Game stands to cash in through licensing of its gear.

Eric Fisher and John Ourand of SBJ report that MLB has to make a decision very soon on an extra round of Wild Card playoff games and the TV network that would air them.

Sports Business Daily recaps the mixed reviews for Charles Barkley’s hosting of NBC’s Saturday Night Live this past weekend.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter says a lawsuit brought forth by basketball legends Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson over their likenesses used in video games now has the TV networks getting involved.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable says LG Smartphone users will gain access to a new ESPN ScoreCenter app that will include exclusive HD video.

John Eggerton at Multichannel News has a quick blurb on ESPN gaining rights for the NYC Marathon.

At Adweek, Anthony Crupi looks at the NFL’s final regular season ratings for 2011.

Glen Davis of SportsGrid cannot believe the religious connotations behind last night’s ratings for Pittsburgh-Denver.

Dom Consentino of Deadspin says the NBC reporter arrested last month  on DUI charges after a party thrown by alleged child molester Jerry Sandusky’s attorney, tried to talk his way out of the arrest.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after Fox’s Charles Davis and NBC’s Mike Mayock for talking too much.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Saturday’s NFL Divisional playoff action will be split among two local radio stations.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says MSG Network will be throwing a local viewing party to drum up support in its dispute with Time Warner Cable.

Ken McMillan with the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes about the NYC Marathon running to ESPN from NBC.

At the DC Sports Bog, the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will begin airing a new live show modeled after NBC Sports Talk.

Tom Jones from the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports TV.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that the Texans had their best local ratings since their inaugural game back in 2002.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says on Saturday, the Bengals did not do as well locally as its regular season games.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that NFL Network will re-air two Giants-Packers games.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that CBS stepped up for last night’s Pittsburgh-Denver game.

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

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail continues to go after CBC’s Don Cherry.

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star says Toronto is not the only hockey hotbed around.

I’ll try to add more stuff later.

UPDATE, 5:50 p.m.: I’ll add some more links now.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the top selling sports book of last year was not the ESPN book, but Tim Tebow’s autobiography.

Dave Zoren of the Delaware County Times notes that the NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game did well on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Scott Sloan from the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader says a Kentucky-based high school sports TV and online provider has filed for bankruptcy.

At the Austin American-Statesman, Kirk Bohls says despite a lack of carriage agreements and viewers, ESPN remains committed to the Longhorn Network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that legendary Dodgers voice Vin Scully finally gets his own bobblehead this season.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says theScore has signed a deal to pick up a whole host of college sports.

Sports Media Watch tells us that the Sugar Bowl had its worst ratings in 18 years.

Sports Media Watch says the Orange Bowl had its worst ratings in the BCS era.

The Waiting for Next Year blog notes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews will replace Scott Van Pelt as host of the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. That’s a huge upgrade.

Awful Announcing has the Broncos radio call of last night’s overtime win over the Steelers.

Joe Favorito wonders if MMA fighter Gina Carano is about to crossover to become a mainstream star.

The Sports Business Digest notes that the Lingerie Bowl will be played in Las Vegas.

NBC will partner with Panasonic to air the London Olympics in 3-D which only 145 people across the country can watch.

And that will do it for the links today.

Some Back To Work Tuesday Links

On this day when many of you head back to work after the lazy holiday season, let’s provide some links as we get into the New Year.

I’m still saddened today by the passing of Turner Sports and PGA.com essayist Jim Huber. Reading the tributes on Twitter from those who knew him and those who did not, the man was widely well-liked. Jim gave us the facts, was willing to let the events come to him and never was one to call attention to himself. And when you finished reading or watching one of Jim’s essays, you felt the richer for having seen it.

Some links for you.

Scott Michaux from the Augusta (GA) Chronicle says Jim Huber’s passing was so sudden.

Michael Schulder, an Senior Executive Producer at CNN writes at SI.com, that Jim was not only a great writer, he was also a poet.

Ryan Ballengee at Golf Channel mourns Jim’s passing.

John Kim at PGA.com has an obit.

Carla Caldwell at the Atlanta Business Chronicle also has an obituary.

And the Turner Sports-run NBA.com has a story plus a video tribute to Jim Huber.

Other sports media links.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says ESPN has responded to a column written by The Oregonian’s John Canzano saying the network has bought access to the Rose Bowl while sacrificing journalism.

John Ourand & Michael Smith from Sports Business Journal report that Oklahoma University will have plenty of its sports programming seen in the Sooner State as well as Texas thanks to a new deal signed with Fox Sports.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age says NBC has sold out its Super Bowl XLVI ad inventory in sharp contrast to the last time it aired the Big Game when it was selling ads in the week leading up to the event.

And Brian writes that some Super Bowl advertisers are looking to make a big splash like Apple did with its famous “1984″ ad.

Alex Sherman of Bloomberg Business Week writes that NBC is getting as much as $4 million per 30 second ad for the Super Bowl. That’s a lot of money.

At the Hollywood Reporter, Georg Szalai writes about the neverending dispute between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable.

If you watched the NHL Winter Classic yesterday, you may have noticed a new ad from Bridgestone Tires with a fake press conference involving various ESPN personalities, one TNT analyst and if you’re really sharp-eyed, a reporter from Sports Business Journal. Shirley Brady of Brand Channel looks at the ad campaign that will climax at the Super Bowl.

To Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where he laments the death of Versus.

Jeff Sonderman at the Poynter Institute looks at how Philly.com handled comments in the reporting of Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin’s alleged molestation of seven children.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group mourns the passing of an ABC Sports production legend.

Dan Daley of SVG looks at how Turner Sports wired its NBA broadcasts when the league returned to play on Christmas Day.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Time Warner Cable has put NBA TV in MSG Network’s channel slot.

Richard says HBO’s 24/7 on the NHL Winter Classic is another part of the network’s winning formula in sports documentaries.

Richard looks at the Super Bowl ads selling out and setting a revenue record for NBC.

Newsday’s Neil Best says NBC did its best to sell hockey during yesterday’s Winter Classic.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash catches up with former WABC-TV sports anchor Scott Clark.

Will Leitch at New York Magazine wants to know what’s going on with the MSG/Time Warner Cable spat.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette tells Time Warner Cable subscribers what they’re missing tonight on MSG and MSG Plus.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that two ESPN’ers and also Capital Region natives get an on-air reunion during this week’s Orange Bowl broadcast.

Pete says Fox Sports Radio has debuted yet another morning show.

WCAU-TV in Philadelphia has announced a deal to pick up ACC Network basketball games this season.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has highlights of the DC NFL Team Radio Network’s season finale from Sunday.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times has some thoughts on the holiday weekend in sports television.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes that Jim Rome is promising a return to H-Town in the near future after his local affiliate dropped his radio show.

To the Daily Oklahoman where Mel Bracht says ESPN got the job done for last night’s Fiesta Bowl.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post is a fan of NFL RedZone.

Jason Quick of The Oregonian says Comcast SportsNet Northwest has struck a deal allowing fans without access to the channel to view Portland Trail Blazers games online. For a fee, of course.

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times feels Fox Sports NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira should call things both ways.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL Winter Classic drew its lowest overnight rating ever.

Sports Media Watch notes that TNT is putting Charles Barkley courtside this week.

SMW notes the Rose Bowl saw its lowest overnight rating in years.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer is banning his players from Twitter and CNBC’s Darren Rovell is pissed.

Barry Janoff from The Big Lead looks at the aforementioned Bridgestone ad campaign.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people angry over Matt Millen’s analysis during last night’s Fiesta Bowl. Millen was really awful last night.

Lots of good links for you today. That will do it.

Our First Set of Linkage in 2012

I’ll provide a quick set of links for you on this New Year’s Day. Because 1/1/2012 falls on a Sunday, it doesn’t feel like a holiday. It’ll feel more like the holiday tomorrow with college football and the NHL Winter Classic. Let’s look at what we have for you.

First, Rich Sands from TV Guide tells us what’s in store for NBC Sports Network when it officially changes from Versus tomorrow. Lots of interesting events including Olympics this year.

The Sports Biz Miss, Kristi Dosh, has a story at ESPN.com on the MSG Network/Time Warner Cable dispute.

John Ourand from Sports Business Journal has Time Warner Cable’s full statement in reaction to its dispute with MSG Network.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News has Time Warner Cable’s side of the dispute.

Mike writes about MSG and MSG Plus going dark on TWC as of midnight today.

Multichannel News says Fuel TV is stepping into the UFC Octagon in a big way with a 24 hour marathon today.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times also writes about the MSG/Time Warner Cable dispute.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says 2012 isn’t starting out the right way for Knicks and Rangers fans who subscribe to Time Warner Cable.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wishes ESPN’s college football announcers would learn the rules.

Pete has a poll on the MSG/Time Warner dispute.

At the Bergen (NJ) Record, Evan Weiner says consumers are the ones holding the bag in the MSG/Time Warner fight.

Over to the Philadelphia Daily News and Les Bowen who wants to know who exactly his colleague Bill Conlin really is. Conlin is accused of molesting several children in the 1970′s.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks with NBC Sports executive Jon Miller about tomorrow’s launch of NBC Sports Network.

Jeff Moss at the Detroit Sports Rag gives his Best and Worst in Motor City Sports Media in 2011.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks back at St. Louis sports media in 2011.

At the Salt Lake Tribune, Scott D. Pierce says CBS provided its best announcers for the Sun Bowl involving Utah while ESPN gave viewers scrubs on the Armed Forces Bowl with BYU.

To the Toronto Globe and Mail where Bruce Dowbiggin says the NHL labor talks will be a big story in 2012.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog provides its Big Dozen Sports Media Stories in 2011.

Sports Media Watch provides some predictions for 2012.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media has a suggestion to make the NHL Winter Classic better.

And that’s going to do it for today.

ESPN’s Statement on The Collapse of SkyCam During The Insight Bowl

Last night at the Insight Bowl between Iowa and Oklahoma, the overhead camera known as “SkyCam” or “CableCam” fell to the ground, narrowly missing a Hawkeye player. It also caused a delay. SkyCam has become standard on many football games and other sporting events.

We have the video of the incident as called on ESPN by Sean McDonough and Matt Millen.

ESPN has issued a statement on the incident and says it is is under review.

“We apologize for the accident. The independent company that operates SkyCam for us is in the midst of a thorough review to determine the cause of the problem. We will work with them and bowl officials to determine our future course of action. As always our primary concern will be the safety of fans and those on the field.”

Luckily no one was hurt. There was a similar incident a few years ago during a primetime NFL game that also caused a delay. No one was hurt then either. Networks have to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Some End of the Year Links

Time to provide you some links to close out 2011. Thanks for visiting the blog this year. I moved from my old Blogger site to a new server, only to get kicked off the new place because it couldn’t handle the traffic from you. But then I was able to find HostMonster in a pinch and they’ve been absolutely wonderful in hosting the site and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Thanks to you, I keep plugging along at the site and will continue to do so.

Let’s do some linkage on this New Year’s Eve.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out my Big Dozen Sports Media

We’ll begin with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand who looks at Versus turning into NBC Sports Network on Monday.

Over to Adweek and Anthony Crupi who says the deadline to hash out an agreement between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable is fast approaching.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York may not be seeing Knicks and Rangers games for a while.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel writes that AT&T U-Verse is also fighting with MSG, but at least can provide the network in HD for its subscribers.

Mike talks with ESPN’s Chris Fowler about the bowl system and how it might lead to a “Plus One” playoff.

And Mike writes that CBS Sports Network provides a Tim Tebow programming marathon  starting tonight.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has the site’s Best & Worst in Sports Media for 2011.

My podcast partner, Keith Thibault from Sports Media Journal lists his biggest sports media stories for 2011.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the video of ESPN’s SkyCam crashing down to the field at last night’s Insight Bowl causing a short delay. I like one of the bands doing a SportsCenter sting as the camera was being dragged off the field.

And Ben Koo at Awful Announcing even has video of how the SkyCam works and how it could snap as it did last night.

The great Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch has a Year-in-Review of Boston media at SB Nation.

Max Tedford at WEEI.com has some of the top Boston sports media controversies.

Peter Abraham at the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox AAA farm team, the Pawtucket Red Sox have found their replacement for announcer Dan Hoard who became the radio voice of the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this year.

At Sports Media Watchdog, the great Mike Silva has his 2011 “Stock Up/Stock Down” for New York sports media personalities.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a quick sports media roundup.

Neil has a few columns mixed into one for his year-end thoughts.

Neil notes how the NHL Winter Classic became exactly that in a short period of time.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Friend of Fang’s Bites Ian Eagle is a busy man.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says through radio and TV, local NFL fans will have access to most of the 16 games played on Sunday.

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun says one of the year’s highlights in local broadcasting was also one of the saddest.

David Zurawik of the Sun talks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle about her decision to leave Baltimore and return to her native Boston.

And David has some quotes from CBS’ Dan Fouts who will call Sunday’s Baltimore-Cincinnati game with the aforementioned Ian Eagle.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has his top sports media stories in 2011 for DC-Baltimore.

At the Washington City Paper, Dave McKenna who was embroiled in a legal battle with DC NFL Team owner Dan Snyder is leaving the publication, but not before he fires a few more shots.

Ira Kaufman at the Tampa Tribune gets Jon Gruden to say that he’s not leaving ESPN and will remain with Monday Night Football for the foreseeable future.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says one of Jim Rome’s long-time radio affiliates has dropped the show in favor of local programming.

John Carzano of The Oregonian doesn’t like how ESPN covers the Rose Bowl.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that the World Junior Hockey Championships are doing well on TSN.

In his sports business blog, Joe Favorito provides some thoughts for 2012.

Sports Media Watch reviews its predictions for 2011.

The Business Insider Sports Page provides its Winners and Losers in Sports for 2011.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has some ratings numbers from Versus’ various programming.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth has his last review of the week in sports media for 2011.

And that will end our linkage for 2011. I know I haven’t been providing as many links lately due to my personal schedules. I hope to do better in 2012. Again, thanks for visiting. I have a couple of more features to provide before 2011 is out. Keep your feeds updated.

ESPN Sends College GameDay, College Football Live & SportsCenter to the BCS

As we approach the beginning of the Bowl Championship Series on Monday, ESPN will have three of its signature studio programs covering the five games. College GameDay, College Football Live and SportsCenter will all have a presence leading up to the BCS National Championship Game on January 9.

The usual studio casts including Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, Rece Davis, Mark May, Lou Holtz, John Saunders, Jesse Palmer, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi and many others will be part of ESPN’s coverage of the BCS bowls throughout the week from January 2 through January 9.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik, Oregon coach Chip Kelly and USC coach Lane Kiffin will be among the guest analysts throughout the coverage.

Here’s the ESPN press release.

College GameDay, College Football Live & SportsCenter at the BCS

Joined by Special Guest Analysts Gene Chizik, Chip Kelly, Bret Bielema & Lane Kiffin; GameDay to Originate from All Four Locations

In addition to televising all five of the Bowl Championship Series matchups for the second straight year, ESPN will provide extensive on-site studio reports and analysis across multiple shows and platforms for each of the five bowls. Coverage will be highlighted by four special editions of the popular College GameDay: a two-hour show on January 2 at 10 a.m. ET to preview the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl; one-hour shows on January 3 and January 4 at 7 p.m. to preview the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, respectively; and a two-hour preview of the BCS National Championship on January 9 at 6 p.m.

In addition to College GameDay, one-hour editions of ESPN’s weekday College Football Live at the BCS (daily from 3 to 4 p.m.) will air from New Orleans, site of the BCS National Championship, beginning Tuesday, Jan. 3 through Monday, Jan. 9, the day of the title game (No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio).

Chizik and Kelly Join ESPN as Guest Analysts
Auburn coach Gene Chizik and Oregon coach Chip Kelly – the two participants in last year’s BCS National Championship – will join ESPN as on-site studio analysts from New Orleans leading up to and through the BCS National Championship game. They will provide analysis across College GameDay, SportsCenter, ESPNEWS, College Football Live at the BCS, and pre, half-time and post-game coverage.

Special College GameDay from the Rose Bowl
College GameDay will originate from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. beginning at 10 a.m. ET on ESPNU and continuing at 11 a.m. on ESPN. Commentators include hosts Chris Fowler and Erin Andrews, and analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack.

On-set interviews and guest analysts:

• Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema and Oregon coach Chip Kelly will appear on set together for a live interview as they prepare to lead their teams in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio).
• USC head coach Lane Kiffin will serve as a guest analyst.

Features:

• Big, Bad Badger Offensive Line: Erin Andrews takes a trip to Madison to visit with the Wisconsin players who make up one of the biggest offensive lines in college football history.
• Gruden’s Film Room: ESPN football analyst Jon Gruden breaks down film of the quarterbacks leading their teams in the Outback Bowl (January 2 at 1 p.m. on ABC), Georgia’s Aaron Murray and Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins.
• Andrew Luck Conversation: Tom Rinaldi will sit down with Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck as he prepares for his final game with the Cardinal (against Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl January 2 at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio).
• Images of the Year: A look at the images that made up the 2011 season.

ESPN daily on-site studio coverage:

Date	Time (ET)	Show	Network
Mon, Jan 2	10 a.m. & 11 a.m.	College GameDay (Pasadena) Hosts Chris Fowler and Erin Andrews; analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Todd McShay; and reporter Tom Rinaldi Special Guests: Bret Bielema (Wisconsin), Chip Kelly (Oregon) and Lane Kiffin (USC)	ESPNU (10 a.m.) ESPN (11 a.m.)
	Beginning at 5 p.m.	Rose Bowl (Pasadena) Pregame: Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard & David Pollack Halftime: Chris Fowler, Lee Corso & Desmond Howard Postgame: Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit & Desmond Howard	ESPN
		Fiesta Bowl (Glendale) Halftime & postgame: John Saunders & Jesse Palmer	ESPN
Tue, Jan 3	3 p.m.	College Football Live at the BCS (New Orleans) Wendi Nix, David Pollack & Todd McShay	ESPN
	7 p.m.	College GameDay (New Orleans) Host Chris Fowler and analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack	ESPN
		Sugar Bowl Halftime: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Desmond Howard Postgame: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & David Pollack	ESPN
	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) Wendi Nix, David Pollack & Todd McShay	ESPN
	6 p.m. to 3 a.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard & David Pollack	ESPN
Wed, Jan 4	3 p.m.	College Football Live at the BCS (Miami & New Orleans) Miami: Rece Davis, Mark May & Lou Holtz New Orleans: John Saunders, Jesse Palmer & Desmond Howard	ESPN
	7 p.m.	College GameDay (Miami and New Orleans) Miami: Rece Davis, Mark May & Lou Holtz New Orleans: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Jesse Palmer	ESPN
		Orange Bowl Halftime & postgame: Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & Mark May	ESPN
	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) Wendi Nix, Desmond Howard & Todd McShay	ESPN
	6 p.m. to 3 a.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Chris Fowler & Kirk Herbstreit	ESPN
Thu, Jan 5	3 p.m.	College Football Live at the BCS (New Orleans) John Saunders, Desmond Howard & Todd McShay	ESPN
	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) Erin Andrews, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Jesse Palmer & David Pollack	ESPN
	6 p.m. to 3 a.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & David Pollack	ESPN
Fri, Jan 6	3 p.m.	College Football Live at the BCS (New Orleans) Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer & Todd McShay	ESPN
	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) John Saunders, Desmond Howard, Jesse Palmer, Lou Holtz, Mark May & Todd McShay	ESPN
	6 p.m. to 3 a.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Rece Davis, Lee Corso & Kirk Herbstreit	ESPN
Sat, Jan 7	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) Multiple hosts, analysts & guests	ESPN
	6 p.m. to 3 a.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Multiple hosts, analysts & guests	ESPN
Sun, Jan 8	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & Mark May	ESPN
	6 p.m. to 3 a.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Gene Chizik & Chip Kelly	ESPN
Mon, Jan 9	3 p.m.	College Football Live at the BCS (New Orleans) Set 1: Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & May Mark Set 2: John Saunders & Todd McShay	ESPN
	6 p.m.	College GameDay (New Orleans) Set 1: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Gene Chizik & Chip Kelly Set 2: Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & Mark May Field reporters: Erin Andrews, Wendi Nix & Tom Rinaldi Field analysis: David Pollack & Todd McShay	ESPN
	7 p.m.	College GameDay (New Orleans) Set 1: Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit & Desmond Howard Set 2: Rece Davis, Lou Holtz, Mark May Gene Chizik & Chip Kelly Field reporters: Erin Andrews, Wendi Nix & Tom Rinaldi Field analysis: David Pollack & Todd McShay	ESPN
	Beginning at 8 p.m.	BCS National Championship Pregame: Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard, Gene Chizik & Chip Kelly Halftime: Chris Fowler, Gene Chizik & Chip Kelly	ESPN
	Conclusion of game	Postgame and SportsCenter Set 1: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Gene Chizik & Chip Kelly Set 2: Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & Mark May On field: Erin Andrews, Wendi Nix & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN
	9 a.m. to noon	SportsCenter (morning segments) Rece Davis, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Jess Palmer, David Pollack & Todd McShay	ESPN
	6 p.m.	SportsCenter (evening segments) Rece Davis, Lou Holtz & Mark May	ESPN

And that’s going to do it.

Some Quick Thursday Links

I’ve been all over the place. I think I’m busier on unemployment than when I was working. It’s cut into my blogging time. Thanks for your patience during this time.

I’ll provide a few links for you.

With the Bill Conlin story continuing to explode, let’s get some links there first.

If you’re not familiar, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin hastily retired after Philadelphia Inquirer investigative reporter Nancy Phillips wrote a story about four people accusing the Baseball Hall of Fame writer of molesting them as children in the 1970′s.

Daily News editor Larry Platt writes how hard it is to report on one of your own.

Gail Shister from the Philly Post talks with Phillips on how she broke the Conlin story.

Mike Silva’s Sports Media Watchdog was angry over the initial reaction from the Baseball Writers Association of America to Conlin.

Andy Martino of the New York Daily News says the BBWAA doesn’t speak for him.

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin chronicles a strange e-mail conversation he had with Conlin the day before the story broke.

To other stories now, Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that new media is putting teams in competition with traditional media to break stories.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age has details on NBC’s plans to stream Super Bowl XLVI online and to give online viewers access to the TV ads that are a big part of the game.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for NESN National, firing a big shot at MSG Network.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost’s Media Daily News says the NBA is offering its League Pass out-of-market package free to cable and satellite customers at no cost for the first two weeks of the season.

Yesterday, there was a minor Twitter scuffle that started when Deadspin creator Will Leitch (now of New York Magazine) tweeted his morning run. CNBC’s Darren Rovell got irritated with it and called him out. It then led to Late Show with David Letterman staff writer Justin Stangel to get involved. Stangel was unfollowed by Rovell a couple of weeks ago over a tweet and he’s been bitter about it ever since.

Leitch wrote this post in Deadspin about his tweeting and Darren today. To their credit, Leitch and Rovell made up so all’s good apparently. Stangel and Rovell are a different story. Darren does have a sense of humor about being called the Twitter Police and this is his Twitter profile pic.

Speaking of Darren, he has this report on CNBC looking at the increase in broadcast rights fees for sports.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing has part one of his Sports Media Wishlist for 2012. He also has part two of this wishlist.

Joe Gill at Boston Sports Then and Now looks at how the Boston Red Sox used Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s likeness without permission.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that the premiere of HBO’s 24/7 Flyers/Rangers garnered over one million viewers over a week’s worth of airings.

Obsessed With Sports looks at how ESPN makes money on the non-BCS bowls.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that come Saturday, the Bengals will be blacked out again in Cincinnati.

I’ll leave it there. Wanted to give you some links.

Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some links for today. Lots of stories and lots of stuff going on. From the NFL announcing the online streaming of Super Bowl XLVI to some mind blowing revelations about reporters, this has been an amazing day. It will call for some sports media thoughts later tonight. First the links.

I’ll begin with a story that’s breaking now. Nancy Phillips of the Philadelphia Inquirer breaks the story about Baseball Hall of Fame writer Bill Conlin being accused of molesting four children in the 1970′s. For his part, Conlin denies the allegations and has resigned from his columnist position at the Philadelphia Daily News. Last month, Conlin wrote the following about the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

In what has to be a giant conflict of interest, we learn from TMZ and the Crossing Broad blog that Jay Gray of NBC News was arrested on DUI charges after leaving a party thrown by Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola who invited a bunch of reporters to his house to curry favors for interviews of his client down the line.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin notes the ESPN Monday Night Football debut of sideline reporter John Sutcliffe of ESPN Deportes. For such a big game, ESPN brought in someone who had not worked on the MNF package on the Mothership (he has been sideline reporter for Deportes) and it didn’t work.

Last night on Twitter, I said something about Sutcliffe that I should not have. It was wrong. You will not find that tweet now. I’ve deleted it. I apologize and it will not happen again.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com writes that ESPN’s ratings for Monday Night Football are down this season.

The Futon Critic notes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football won the ratings last night not just on cable, but across all networks.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter writes about the NFL’s plan to stream Super Bowl XLVI online.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter talks with an industry analyst regarding the new NFL TV deals.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times also has a story on the Super Bowl going online for the first time.

Aaron Kuriloff of Bloomberg reports on the potential increase of the Thursday Night Football schedule on NFL Network as early as next season.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the war of words between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable over their carriage talks is ratcheting up.

Mike says ESPN has ponied up $500 million to expand its deal with the NCAA.

John Eggerton of Multichannel writes that Tennis Channel has won a key FCC Administrative Law Judge ruling against Comcast.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says ESPN’s ad sales for 33 college football bowls are red hot.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has his NBA Broadcasting Guide for the upcoming season.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid talks about ESPN’s plans to overhaul its NBA pregame show.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell suspects Nike will raise prices to make up for lost revenue.

Elizabeth Kim of the Stamford (CT) Advocate goes in-depth on how NBC Sports decided to move to Connecticut.

Brian Stelter and Amy Chozick of the New York Times say you pay for sports on your cable bill whether you like it or not.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that Fox has assigned Kenny Albert, Moose and Goose for the battle of New York this Saturday.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia aired CSN Mid-Atlantic’s coverage of the 76ers road game against the Washington Wizards last week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman looks at the local weekend ratings.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals ratings on Sunday weren’t very good.

John says a local sports radio talk show host who left his regular gig earlier this month may have another one in line.

And I’ll end it there for now. I’ll try to bring some more linkage later.

Some Sunday Morning Sports Media Thoughts & One Musical Comment

As we get into the home stretch and the Christmas holiday is now just a week away, let me offer a few thoughts on sports media this morning. As usual, they’ll go in bullet form.

• So we have a couple of cable carriage disputes looming large as we end 2011. Looks like MSG Network and Time Warner Cable are heading towards a train wreck unless something drastic happens. It appeared the two sides were heading towards an agreement, but now, MSG Media is encouraging TWC subscribers in New York and Buffalo to find another cable provider in case MSG Network, MSG Plus, MSG Plus 2 and MSG Buffalo are pulled. It’s another example of both sides accusing the other of making ridiculous demands. And in the end, it’s the consumer that gets the shaft, not the cable or content provider.
• The other sports channel that’s in danger of being dropped is Universal Sports. A whole slew of providers are threatening to drop the channel on New Year’s Day unless NBCUniversal can convince them to keep it. Just this year, Universal Sports got an agreement with DirecTV, but any gains made with DirecTV will be lost when it goes dark on a bunch of providers that put it on a sports tier. Universal Sports airs Olympic sports that don’t get much play on the regular networks. Here’s hoping that this dispute will be resolved as well.
• With bowl season starting, I wonder how major college football has gone so long without a legitimate playoff system. The NCAA manages to get a championship done in the other divisions including the smaller Division I schools. Yet, the bowls and college presidents somehow think that they must protect the “integrity” and the “sanctity” of their systems. The Bowl Championship Series has done nothing but raise more questions and the fact that we have a #1 vs. #2 matchup involving teams from the same conference and also a rematch from a game this year totally stinks. Yet, the bowls make money from shoddy accounting and executives lining their pockets. The bowls make their matchup choices based on which schools “travel well” and can sell their allotment of tickets. Often these trips are money losing operations, but because the bowls have such a grip on the BCS schools, they refuse to change. Here’s hoping that at least we get a +1 addition to the BCS when the current TV contract with ESPN ends because what we have is not working right now.
• While we have seen resolution of TV rights for the NHL, Olympics, World Cup and NFL this year, it’s 2012 where we could see some upheaval in rights. Bidding for MLB and NASCAR will open up and there’s a lot of interest in baseball. Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig has said there’s more networks bidding for the rights than at any time. In the last contract, TBS took postseason rights from ESPN and half of the League Championship Series. We’ll see if Turner remains in the baseball business. Will NBC get back into baseball after leaving in 2000? Can Fox stay with MLB despite declining ratings in the regular season and postseason? Will ESPN spend to break back into the playoffs? We’ll find out when the new contracts are signed.And what about NASCAR? ESPN went all in to return for the Sprint Cup series. With three networks Fox, TNT and ESPN taking three different approaches to televising the sport, will the higher ups at NASCAR decide to make one certain style uniform or will we see one of the partners drop out? This will be quite interesting to see this play out.
• And lastly, we learned last week that Etta James, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, is terminally ill. While this is not sport media news, it’s sad to hear that one of the greatest voices in rock history will be leaving us. Etta gave us great songs like “At Last”, “A Sunday Kind of Love”, “Tell Mama” and “Something’s Got A Hold on Me.” She had a heroin addiction in the 1970′s and kicked that. She’s had several health problems over the last few years including dementia, but they don’t diminish what James gave us. She won’t have much more time with us, but her music will live on long afterwards. I’ll leave you with her signature song, “At Last.”

Enjoy your Sunday.

Sirius XM To Air Every Single Bowl Game This Season

Sirius XM Satellite Radio will air all of the college bowl games over a 23 day span starting on Saturday, December 17 and running through January 9 with the BCS National Championship Game. That’s correct, Sirius XM through ESPN Radio will also air the BCS games which are comprised of the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game.

And Sirius XM through ESPN Radio and various radio syndicators air bowls including the Las Vegas, New Orleans, Holiday, Cotton, Sun and others.

We have the entire list of the games plus the start times. Check them all out below in a nice neat package.

SiriusXM To Air Every Bowl Game This College Football Postseason

SiriusXM will be the only broadcaster offering live play-by-play of every bowl game through the BCS National Championship on January 9

NEW YORK – December 15, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today that it will offer listeners, for the first time, live play-by-play of every bowl game during the 2011-12 college football postseason.

Sirius and XM listeners will get access to 35 games, more than any season before, including the BCS National Championship, the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl.

The schedule will begin with the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, December 17(2:00 pm ET, on ESPN Radio, SiriusXM channel 84) and continue through Monday January 9, when #1 ranked LSU faces #2 Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game (8:30 pm ET on ESPN Radio, SiriusXM channel 84). A complete schedule of games and channels appears below.

Fans can stay up to date on everything happening throughout the bowl season with SiriusXM College Sports Nation, channel 91, SiriusXM’s 24/7 college sports channel. From the best games, to the latest news and biggest stories happening around the college football landscape, SiriusXM College Sports Nation covers it all with a daily programming lineup that features 24/7 Sports Radio’s on Campus with Bill King (weekdays, 6:00 am ET); SiriusXM College Sports Today (weekdays, 9:00 am ET), hosted by Mark Packer and Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George; SiriusXM College Football Playbook (weekdays, 12:00 pm ET), hosted by veteran college football voice Jack Arute, the acclaimed Paul Finebaum Show (weekdays, 3:00 pm ET), College Football Coast-to-Coast with Chris Childers (weekdays, 7:00 pm ET), plus several college coaches shows.

SiriusXM College Sports Nation will broadcast live from New Orleans, the site of the BCS National Championship game from Thursday, January 5, through game day, January 9.  Hosts Jack Arute, Paul Finebaum, Eddie George, Mark Packer, Bill King and Chris Childers will be live on site where they will interview LSU and Alabama players and coaches, cover pre-game practices and preview the game.

SiriusXM’s College Bowl game schedule: (All times ET)

New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque, NM – Temple vs. Wyoming
December 17, 2:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Boise, ID – Ohio vs. Utah State
December 17, 5:30pm, SiriusXM channel 84

New Orleans Bowl, New Orleans, LA – San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
December 17, 9:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

St. Petersburg Bowl, St. Petersburg, FL – Florida International vs. Marshall
December 20, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Poinsettia Bowl, San Diego, CA – TCU vs. Louisiana Tech
December 21, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Las Vegas Bowl, Las Vegas, NV – Arizona State vs. Boise State
December 22, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Hawaii Bowl, Honolulu, HI – Nevada vs. Southern Miss
December 24, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA – Missouri vs. North Carolina
December 26, 5:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Little Caesars Bowl, Detroit, MI – Western Michigan vs. Purdue
December 27, 4:30pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Belk Bowl, Charlotte, NC – Louisville vs. NC State
December 27, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Military Bowl, Washington, D.C. – Air Force vs. Toledo
December 28, 4:30pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Holiday Bowl, San Diego, CA – California vs. Texas
December 28, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Champs Sports Bowl, Orlando, FL – Florida State vs. Notre Dame
December 29, 5:30pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, TX – Washington vs. Baylor
December 29, 9:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Armed Forces Bowl, Dallas, TX – BYU vs. Tulsa
December 30, 12:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Pinstripe Bowl, Bronx, NY – Rutgers vs. Iowa State
December 30, 3:20pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Music City Bowl, Nashville, TN – Miss. St. vs. Wake Forest
December 30, 6:40pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Insight Bowl, Tempe, AZ – Iowa vs. Oklahoma
December 30, 10:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, Houston, TX – Texas A&M vs. Northwestern
December 31, 12:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas – Georgia Tech vs. Utah
December 31, 2:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN – Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt
December 31, 3:30pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Fight Hunger Bowl, San Francisco, CA – Illinois vs. UCLA
December 31, 3:30pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Atlanta, GA – Virginia vs. Auburn
December 31, 7:30pm (approx.), SiriusXM channel 84

TicketCity Bowl, Dallas, TX – Houston vs. Penn State
January 2, 12:00pm, SiriusXM channel 85

Outback Bowl, Tampa, FL – Michigan State vs. Georgia
January 2, 1:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL – Ohio State vs. Florida
January 2, 1:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

Capital One Bowl, Orlando, FL – Nebraska vs. South Carolina
January 2, 1:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA – Wisconsin vs. Oregon
January 2, 5:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, AZ – Stanford vs. Oklahoma State
January 2, 8:30pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, LA – Michigan vs. Virginia Tech
January 3, 8:30pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Orange Bowl, Miami, FL – West Virginia vs. Clemson
January 4, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 84

Cotton Bowl, Arlington, TX – Kansas State vs. Arkansas
January 6, 8:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

BBVA Compass Bowl, Birmingham, AL – SMU vs. Pittsburgh
January 7, 1:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

GoDaddy.com Bowl, Mobile, AL – Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
January 8, 9:00pm, SiriusXM channel 91

BCS National Championship, New Orleans, LA – LSU vs. Alabama
January 9, 8:30pm, SiriusXM channel 84

All games airing on SiriusXM channel 84 are ESPN Radio broadcasts.

For more information, please visit www.siriusxm.com/collegesports.

And that does it.

2011-12 College Bowl Schedule With TV Networks

With all of the bowl matchups announced, let’s provide you with the TV schedule and network. Let’s be honest, the ESPN Family of Networks airs all but two of the games. CBS has the Sun Bowl while Fox continues to air the Cotton Bowl. There was a time when the bowls were aired on all of the networks, but ESPN has made it big business for itself.

This comes courtesy of Matt’s College Sports. We give you the schedule below.

There you have it.

A Few Sunday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll be away for most of the day as my Sunday has been planned behind my back once again. I’ll have the Sunday NFL pregame quotage later in the afternoon.

Let’s provide some sports media thoughts. As always, they’ll go in bullet form.

• In its first college football conference championship weekend, Fox Sports had a mixed bag. Not only was the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday between UCLA and Oregon not a good game, Fox’s production was very choppy. While the announcing team of Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster were fine, the audio for the Pac-12 was at times muffled and the crowd sometimes overpowered Davis’ analysis. Gus went into breaks rather awkwardly and there were times the replay didn’t show the proper angle. It wasn’t until the second half when the production hit its stride, but by that time, the game was already decided and most of the audience had probably tuned out.

  For the Big Ten Championship, the regular College Football on Fox production crew that had been working with Gus, Charles and Tim all season on FX was on hand in Indianapolis and this was a much better production. Replays were sharp, the picture was much better than in Eugene for the Pac-12.

  As for the other parts of the production, the college football studio needs improvement. Lots of improvement. Kevin Frazier is an awful host. He’s bad on Tennis Channel. He’s bad on Fox. He comes off unprepared. Marcus Allen is a very weak analyst. John Lynch did a decent job at the Pac-12 and Dhani Jones when he wasn’t trying to ask questions was ok at the Big Ten. Last year, Fox utilized Darrin Horton for its college football host and I don’t know it didn’t keep him for this season. Kevin Frazier must go.

  And I want to talk about why Tim Brewster starts off every question with “talk about.” It’s almost as annoying as when Paul McGuire started off every replay with “Ha ha! I’ll tell you what!” on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football. It’s obvious Tim Brewster wants to coach again because he’s not polished on TV.

  As for Gus Johnson and Charles Davis, they were on their “A” game for both the Pac-12 and Big Ten. They’ve formed one of the best announcing teams in college football. Gus was back in his realm in the national spotlight especially with a barnburner in the Big Ten. If Gus was auditioning for Joe Buck’s spot on the NFL on Fox, he passed with flying colors. While it’s great to have Gus in college football, he really belongs back on the NFL.

• If Tennis Channel wants to be taken seriously, it really should send announcing crews to the events rather than having them call matches off a monitor in its Los Angeles studios. For tournaments like the WTA World Tour Finals and this weekend’s Davis Cup Finals between Spain and Argentina, Tennis Channel has had Brett Haber, Ted Robinson and Leif Shiras call matches off a TV. You may not notice the difference, but when the satellite picture is lost, the announcers have to vamp and act like they’re there. Tennis Channel does send crews to the Grand Slam tournaments, but it should start treating other tournaments the same way as it does the Australian, French, US Opens and Wimbledon. In addition, the announcers are held hostage to the world feeds and cannot give us a sense for the atmosphere or giving us a sense of how the players look off camera. Tennis Channel needs to step up its game or it will continue to be treated as a bastard stepchild.
• The Big Lead is reporting that Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman is leaving to take a job with CBSSports.com. That would be a huge get for CBS which has brought in Bruce Feldman from ESPN.com and a couple of other writers. I’m thinking this is part of a bigger picture upgrade for CBS and to possibly set up content for CBS Sports Network which currently is stuck in the ghosts of its previous brand, CBS College Sports. Maybe CBS decides to bid for baseball for CBS Sports Network. It would certainly help as the channel currently doesn’t have much summer programming besides from college sports repeats.
• ESPN is trying to sell us the BCS as a major event. While the ratings for the BCS National Championship Game have been good, until the college presidents decides on a way to decide on a legitimate postseason playoff system, we’re going to be stuck with the potential of an LSU-Alabama game every year. Not the two teams, but the way the final teams for the mythical college football national championships are chosen. The NCAA has over 60 championships including college football, but not in what is called the Football Bowl Subdivision or whatever they’ll name it in the future. As ESPN has so much invested in college sports, it may be up to the Alleged Worldwide Leader to throw some money around to help develop a way for a college football tournament to come to fruition. Until then, we’ll hear BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock give infuriating explanations as to why the BCS is good for college football.
• Nothing new to report on the continuing soap opera that is NESN’s search to replace Heidi Watney. Jen Royle of 105.7 FM in Baltimore was brought in for an interview last week. I heard it went well. Erin Hawksworth of the Fox affiliate in Seattle is also in the running. I believe it’s down to these two and as you know, I’m fully behind Jen in this. If you need any further convincing, let us remind you of Erin’s most famous moment from two months ago.

  I don’t think I need to add anything more.

Enjoy your Sunday

ESPN Releases The Final BCS Standings on Sunday

On Sunday at 8:15 p.m., ESPN will provide the final BCS standings and then release the matchups in the BCS games followed by the matchups in all 35 postseason bowls. ESPN will have the BCS Selection Show at 8:15 p.m. Then at 9 p.m., the College Football Bowl Selection Special will unveil the bowl matchups.

Rece Davis will host both programs and be joined by a whole host of analysts including Kirk Herbstreit, Mark May, Robert Smith and charlatan Craig James.

We have the press release from ESPN.

College Football Regular-Season Finale on ESPN Sunday Night/h2>

Final BCS Standings Revealed and All 35 Bowl Game Matchups Analyzed

As the college football regular-season schedule comes to a close, fans can look ahead to post-season play when ESPN reveals the final BCS Standings Sunday, Dec. 4, at 8:15 p.m. ET on the BCS Selection Show. Immediately following at 9 p.m., fans will learn selections for the balance of the 35 post-season bowl games on College Football Bowl Selection Special.

After announcing the final BCS Standings, the BCS Selection Show will reveal the teams selected to play in all five BCS Bowl games including the BCS National Championship set for Monday, Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN 3D, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio. Host Rece Davis and analysts Brad Edwards, Kirk Herbstreit, Craig James, Mark May and Robert Smith will discuss the Standings, analyze the BCS Bowl matchups and give their thoughts on the Heisman Trophy frontrunners. Also, the show will feature live interviews with coaches of the teams occupying the top two spots in the Standings thus far:  LSU’s Les Miles and Alabama’s Nick Saban. Then, on the two-hour College Football Bowl Selection Special, Davis, Rod Gilmore, Herbstreit, James and May will break down each of the remaining 30 bowl game pairings as they are announced.

Bowl Week on ESPN networks kicks off Saturday, Dec. 17, with a tripleheader: New Mexico Bowl (2 p.m.), Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (5:30 p.m.) and the New Orleans Bowl (9 p.m.). ESPN will televise 33 bowl games from December 17 through January 9 culminating with the BCS National Championship.

That’s it.

ESPN Assigns Announcers For All of Its College Bowl Games

The ESPN family of networks will air a total of 33 college bowl games including those that comprise the Bowl Championship Series. Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will call the BCS National Championship Game which will be held January 9 from New Orleans. They’ll also call the Rose Bowl on January 2. Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge will do the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Sean McDonough will call bowls on consecutive nights for both ESPN and ESPN Radio.

We have the entire schedule of games plus the announcing assignments. It’s all listed below for you and you can see who will call the game that will involve your team.

Football’s Top Commentators to Work ESPN’s Bowl Game Coverage

ESPN’s extensive college football coverage will continue with 33 bowl games, highlighted by all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including the BCS National Championship on Monday, Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m. ET. It will mark the second straight year the entire BCS will be available on ESPN, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio.

ESPN 3D, the first 3D network to launch in the industry, will continue its extensive schedule of college football with exclusive 3D coverage of six bowl games, concluding with the BCS National Championship. The network televised the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship last year.

Overall, ESPN will utilize a minimum of 64 on-air commentators to provide play-by-play, analysis and sideline reports for the network’s exclusive multiplatform coverage of the 33 bowl games. Highlights:

• The BCS National Championship (Jan. 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio): For the second consecutive year Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will call ESPN’s telecast. ESPN’s Monday Night Football signal caller Mike Tirico will work ESPN Radio’s broadcast with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge and reporter Holly Rowe.

It will mark Musburger’s and Herbstreit’s fifth consecutive BCS National Championship, the first two on ESPN Radio, followed by the BCS National Championship Game from the Rose Bowl on ABC two years ago and last season’s Championship from Glendale, Ariz. on ESPN.

• Sean McDonough, Matt Millen and Heather Cox will work BCS bowls on consecutive days, calling the Fiesta Bowl on ESPN on Monday, Jan. 2, at 8:30 p.m. and ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the Sugar Bowl Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 8:30 p.m. They will also work the Insight Bowl on Friday, Dec. 30, at 10 p.m. on ESPN.
• Musburger, Herbstreit and Andrews – the ESPN on ABC Saturday Night Football announcers – will also call the Rose Bowl on ESPN on Monday, Jan. 2, at 5 p.m.
• Tirico will be joined by Monday Night Football analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski on ESPN’s telecast of the Orange Bowl with reporter Lisa Salters on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 8:30 p.m. Tirico, Gruden and Salters will also work the Outback Bowl on ABC, Monday, Jan. 2, at 1 p.m. on ABC.
• In addition to the BCS National Championship, Blackledge and Rowe will work ESPN’s coverage of the Sugar Bowl with their regular-season play-by-play partner Brad Nessler on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 8:30 p.m.
• Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore, ESPN’s regular Friday night game announcers, will call ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the Orange Bowl on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 8:30 p.m.; ESPN’s telecast of the Capital One Bowl Monday, Jan. 2, at 1 p.m.; and ESPN’s coverage of the Champs Sports Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 5:30 p.m.

Bowl Championship Series

Mon, Jan 2	5 p.m.	Rose Bowl ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Erin Andrews ESPN Radio: Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	8:30 p.m.	Fiesta Bowl ESPN: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Tue, Jan 3	8:30 p.m.	Sugar Bowl ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe ESPN Radio: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Wed, Jan 4	8:30 p.m.	Orange Bowl ESPN: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski & Lisa Salters ESPN Radio: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Mon, Jan 9	8:30 p.m.	BCS National Championship ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews & Tom RinaldiESPN Radio: Mike Tirico, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio

Additional Postseason Bowl Games

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Sat, Dec 17	2 p.m.	New Mexico Bowl ESPN: Clay Matvick, Brian Griese & Jessica Mendoza ESPN Radio: TBA, David Diaz-Infante & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	5:30 p.m.	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ESPN: Dave Flemming, Mike Bellotti & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	9 p.m.	New Orleans Bowl ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard & Shelley Smith ESPN Radio: Adam Amin, Jay Walker & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
Tue, Dec 20	8 p.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl ESPN: Mike Patrick, Craig James & Jeannine Edwards ESPN Radio: Rob Stone, Danny Kanell & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
Wed, Dec 21	8 p.m.	Poinsettia Bowl ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Lou Holtz, Mark May & TBA ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Thu, Dec 22	8 p.m.	Las Vegas Bowl Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN/ESPN3
Sat, Dec 24	8 p.m.	Hawaii Bowl ESPN: Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham & Jessica Mendoza ESPN Radio: Marc Kestecher & Trevor Matich	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Mon, Dec 26	5 p.m.	Independence Bowl Rob Stone, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2/ESPN3
Tue, Dec 27	4:30 p.m.	Little Caesars Bowl Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti & Eamon McAnaney	ESPN/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Belk Bowl Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese & Shannon Spake	ESPN/ESPN3
Wed, Dec 28	4:30 p.m.	Military Bowl Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Holiday Bowl ESPN: Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer & Jenn Brown ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Thu, Dec 29	5:30 p.m.	Champs Sports Bowl ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore & Holly Rowe ESPN Radio: Mike Gleason, John Congemi & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
	9 p.m.	Alamo Bowl ESPN: Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich ESPN Radio: Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard & Eamon McAnaney	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Fri, Dec 30	Noon	Armed Forces Bowl ESPN: Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano ESPN Radio: Adam Amin, Tim Brown & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	3:20 p.m.	Pinstripe Bowl ESPN: Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer & Tom Rinaldi ESPN Radio: TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	6:40 p.m.	Music City Bowl Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN/ESPN3
	10 p.m.	Insight Bowl ESPN: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Sat, Dec 31	Noon	Texas Bowl ESPN: Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese & Eamon McAnaney ESPN Radio: Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Liberty Bowl ABC: Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley & Quint Kessenich ESPN Radio: Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins & TBA	ABC/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Fight Hunger Bowl Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard & Shelley Smith	ESPN/ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Bowl ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe ESPN Radio: Dave Neal, David Diaz-Infante & Cara Capuano	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
Mon, Jan 2	Noon	TicketCity Bowl Clay Matvick, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Outback Bowl ABC: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden & Lisa Salters ESPN Radio: Bob Wischusen, John Congemi & Joey Galloway	ABC/ESPN Radio
	1 p.m.	Capital One Bowl ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich ESPN Radio: Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
	1 p.m.	Gator Bowl Mike Patrick, Craig James & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN2/ESPN3
Sat, Jan 7	1 p.m.	BBVA Compass Bowl ESPN: Mike Gleason, John Congemi & Eamon McAananey ESPN Radio: Clay Matvick, Charles Arbuckle & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Sun, Jan 8	9 p.m.	GoDaddy.com Bowl Rob Stone, Danny Kanell & Cara Capuano	ESPN/ESPN3

As part of an extensive four-year agreement with the Bowl Championship Series that began last year, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide television coverage, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five annual BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. Last season was the first time ESPN televised BCS games while ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000.

ESPN’s coverage of last year’s BCS title game averaged 27,316,000 viewers and 17,718,000 households, making it the most watched program in the history of cable television.

That will do it.

A Few Saturday Links

I’ll be heading out later today, but before I do, I’ll provide a few links here.

Don’t forget your College Football Viewing Picks are here.

The always lovely Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press says the NFL is getting ready to negotiate new contracts with its TV partners.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes about John McEnroe joining Tennis Channel for its weekend primetime coverage of the U.S. Open.

Tim Baysinger of Multichannel notes that MLB Network has been picked up by Dish Network.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says Nissan will unveil its sponsorship of the Heisman Trophy tonight on ABC.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid has the classic video of a penalty description during last night’s insane TCU-Baylor game.

Karen Hogan at Sports Video Group says NCAA.com will be unveiling a whole host of exclusive content for college football season.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that the New York Islanders now have an official tattoo shop.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports has details of the first UFC on Fox bill coming up in November.

Eric Adelson of Yahoo’s The PostGame says FoxSports.com produced a racially insensitive feature about Asians and football.

MediaMatters is on top of the story as well.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a poll asking you about the best NFL announcing teams.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that a local radio station will air a rescheduled high school football game on Monday.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN mislabeled the DC NFL Team’s quarterback controversy.

Dan also talks with NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson about his mission to feed the poor before he joined NFL Network.

The Augusta (GA) Chronicle picks up a story from Gracie Shepard and Gary Smits about the Gator Bowl getting a new sponsor.

Greg Sullivan at The Tennessean talks with a more relaxed Kirk Herbstreit who moved to the Volunteer State from his native Columbus, OH.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News feels ESPN’s Lee Corso is still on top of his game on College GameDay, although some Twitter comments feel otherwise.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes about the Longhorn Network getting a big pickup in Texas and it picking up one Big 12 Conference game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Packers beat the Badgers in the ratings in a rare head-to-head matchup.

Bob says ESPN’s Jon Gruden feels New Orleans Saints head guy Sean Payton could coach for him.

Bob writes that Milwaukee has moved up a notch in the Nielsen TV market rankings.

Dave Newhouse of the Oakland Tribune profiles legendary announcer Barry Tompkins.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN got off to a bad ratings start for college football.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that despite losing the Thrashers, Atlanta will continue to get hockey games on TV.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing loves that paralyzed football player Eric LeGrand is going to be on Rutgers radio this season.

And I’ll end the linkage there for today.

ESPN 3D Announces 2011-12 College Football Schedule

Increasing its total from 10 to 20 games this season, ESPN 3D, which a total of 21 people across the country can access, has announced its slate of college football contests for the upcoming season. The schedule includes the season opening UNLV at Wisconsin on September 1, Miami at Maryland on September 5, the ACC Championship Game, 5 bowl games and the BCS National Championship Game on January 9, 2012.

Here’s the schedule.

ESPN 3D to Televise 20 Regular Season College Football Games in 2011

ESPN 3D to Televise 20 Regular Season College Football
Games in 2011
Network Doubles the Amount of Coverage; Will Also Air  BCS National Championship and Five Postseason Bowl Games

ESPN 3D will double the amount of college football telecasts this year as the network plans to air 20 regular-season games along with the BCS National Championship and five postseason bowl games.  The network will kick off its second year of extensive college football coverage with two games in five days over Labor Day weekend when UNLV travels to Wisconsin on Thurs., Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. ET with Miami at Maryland on Mon., Sept. 5, at 8 p.m.

The 2011 season marks the return of Miami, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin to the ESPN 3D schedule and the addition of multiple top programs highlighted by LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, and Texas.  It will also be the second straight year the network will air the ACC Championship game, slated for Sat., Dec. 3, at 8 p.m.

The network will increase its post season coverage this year with the return of the BCS National Championship Game on Mon., Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m.  as well as five additional bowl games.

The complete 2011-2012 schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Game
Thurs, Sept. 1	8 p.m.	UNLV at Wisconsin
Mon, Sept. 5	8 p.m.	Miami at Maryland
Thurs, Sept. 8	8 p.m.	Arizona at Oklahoma State
Sat, Sept. 10	7 p.m.	BYU at Texas
Thurs, Sept. 15	8 p.m.	LSU at Mississippi State
Thurs, Sept. 22	8 p.m.	NC State at Cincinnati
Sat., Sept. 24	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Sept. 29	8 p.m.	South Florida at Pittsburgh
Sat., Oct. 1	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Oct. 6	9 p.m.	California at Oregon
Thurs, Oct. 13	9 p.m.	USC at California
Sat., Oct. 15	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Oct. 20	9 p.m.	UCLA at Arizona
Thurs, Oct. 27	8 p.m.	Virginia at Miami
Tues, Nov. 1	7 p.m.	Northern Illinois at Toledo
Fri, Nov. 4	9 p.m.	USC at Colorado
Thurs, Nov. 17	8 p.m.	North Carolina at Virginia Tech
Sat., Nov. 19	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Dec. 1	8 p.m.	West Virginia at South Florida
Sat, Dec. 3	8 p.m.	ACC Championship Game
Sat, Dec. 17	9 p.m.	New Orleans Bowl
Tues, Dec. 20	8 p.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl
Thurs, Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	Champs Sports Bowl
Sat, Dec. 31	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Bowl
Mon, Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Capital One Bowl
Mon, Jan. 9	8:30 p.m.	BCS National Championship

In addition to ESPN 3D, ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the 2011 college football season features more than 400 regular- and postseason games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN Radio, ESPN Classic, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN GamePlan. Full schedule details can be found here.

Additional dates will be announced as the season progresses; schedule subject to change.  Sony is an official sponsor of college football on ESPN 3D.

Additional programming for ESPN 3D will be announced throughout the year and will include college basketball and Winter X Games 17.

And we end this post here.

ESPN’s Extensive and Comprehensive 2011-12 College Football Schedule

There was a time when ESPN had less than 100 college football games a season. But with ESPN programming itself, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, Big East Network, SEC Network, ESPN Plus MAC games and ESPN3.com, the total has risen to more than 400 games across its vast network of platforms. We have the list of games. It’s very long. Get ready to scroll.

2011 ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Radio College Football Schedule (As of July 21)

Note: All ABC split national, ESPN and ESPN2 games will be simulcast on ESPN3.com.
(ESPN Mobile TV schedule will be determined as season progresses; schedule subject to change; windows will be added as the season progresses)

* Part of reverse mirror in which ABC’s split national telecast is televised regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 and ESPN3.com to markets receiving another game on ABC
** Game will be televised at 8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2; If on ABC, to be determined game on ESPN will begin at 7:45 p.m. and ESPN2 at 7 p.m.
*** Game on ESPN or ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN3.com

2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Bowl Championship Series

Additional Postseason Games

I told you this was long.

Quick Saturday Links

I keep getting interrupted at work. I wrote a post earlier today on Brent Musburger’s night in Las Vegas, but I kept being recruited to the leave the office and something that should have taken 20 minutes to write ended up being three hours. And now I’m trying to do some linkage and keep getting interrupted as well. Who said Saturday’s are easy? Who said weekends are for relaxing? Who said you’re not supposed to work on weekends?

Anyway, you don’t want to read my complaints. Let’s do some linkage.

This won’t be as big as the recent news of the deaths in Norway or the just reported death of Amy Winehouse, but legendary boxing promoter Butch Lewis passed away today at the age of 65. He was a prolific promoter of fights in the 1980′s and had his signature tux with no shirt look. Lewis also produced movies and TV shows. He will be missed.

Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy of USA Today debate whether US coverage of global sporting events should be neutral or American-centric.

Rebeca Ford of the Hollywood Reporter says comedian Artie Lange is getting closer to co-hosting a Fox Sports Radio show with fellow comic Nick DiPaolo.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the NBA released its national TV schedules this week to a lot of fanfare, but little buzz.

Andy Lewis at the Hollywood Reporter reports that Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has been ordered to negotiate a new bankrupcty loan with MLB after a judge ruled voided one negotiated with another party.

To Sports Grid where Dan Fogarty notes that Jim Rome decided to dredge up some old street slang that people thought was dead for several years.

Glen Davis at SportsGrid says Fox Sports Detroit MLB analyst Rod Allen tried to make a joke about the Tigers’ large Latino contingent, but it came out very wrong.

James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press had Allen trying to clarify that remark.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that legendary announcer Dick Enberg will be honored by the Rhode Island-based International Tennis Hall of Fame for 50 years in broadcasting.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at NBC/Versus getting into summer horse racing at Saratoga starting today.

Neil says athletes will miss getting their 15 minutes on HBO’s Entourage as the last season airs starting tomorrow.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspapers could lose special access to the London 2012 Olympics due to the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

To Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette who reports that Versus may be interested in airing college hockey games to supplement its NHL schedule.

Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that Fox has selected the Pirates for its Saturday Baseball package for the first time since last decade.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that MASN gives Mid-Atlantic baseball fans a show to watch.

Jeff Weiner in the Orlando Sentinel says ESPN is pulling out its ESPN the Weekend event out of Walt Disney World.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News writes that the SEC Media Days event has outgrown Birmingham.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at some of the developments that occurred in sports media over the week.

Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram notes that TCU is now keeping a watchful eye the Longhorn Network.

Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World says the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes are looking forward to increased TV exposure this football season.

To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where Dan Caesar writes that you need a scorecard to keep up with the Cardinals’ TV and radio broadcast teams.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports a local TV station will air selected University of Utah football games starting this season.

Richard Ruelas of the Arizona Republic chronicles how the Fiesta Bowl made it to TV.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at the announcers CTV could employ for the London 2012 Olympics.

The CSM also looks back at the week in Canadian sports media.

Sports Media Watch says Fox got off to a fast start of the second half of the MLB season last Saturday.

The Business Insider Sports Page lists the 10 worst sportscasters on the planet.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing has audio of Yankees voice John Sterling singing crazily about “The Grandy Man.”

That’s going to do it for today. Lots of links for a Saturday.

A Few Tuesday Links

Got bogged down with a bunch of paperwork so I can’t do a full set of links. I’ll do my best to give you what I can plus catch up with any press release posts. To be honest, I really haven’t seen any releases come in today, but I’ll do some posting for you tonight during the All-Star Game.

Steve Gardner of USA Today spends some time with ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk.

Great story from the Wall Street Journal’s Reed Albergotti and Cameron McWhirter on how Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium has become a huge tax burden for the city and its residents.

A couple of things from Awful Announcing. First, it has the video of ESPN’s Bobby Valentine saying “fagged out” on Baseball Tonight and then backtracking.

Then Matt Yoder from AA has angry tweets targeted at Chris Berman’s performance at the Home Run Derby.

The Big Lead also found people who just could not stand Berman’s play-by-play and frankly, I could not either.

Crossing Broad had the patience to live blog the Home Run Derby.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin notes that ESPN photoshopped Hope Solo’s nipple out of a shot. Don’t go crazy, guys, it’s not what you think.

Tom Scocca of Deadspin fires a shot at Captain Blowhard’s Deadspin site for some questionable quotes in an article written by noted plagiarist Mike Barnicle.

At the Business of College Sports, Kristi Dosh explains why the NCAA doesn’t go after a school’s bowl or TV money when it imposes sanctions.

The Lost Lettermen explore the lawsuit filed by ESPN against Ohio State for the school’s failure to release records pertaining to the NCAA’s investigation into the Jim Tressel era.

Elizabeth Haldane at ESPN Front Row talks with Women’s World Cup analyst Julie Foudy about the people she follows on Twitter.

Sports Media Watch says the NASCAR Sprint Cup debut at the Kentucky Speedway received solid numbers on TNT.

SportsbyBrooks looks at the new book by former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach who claims ESPN was part of a conspiracy to force him out from the school.

And that will tie you over for links for now.

Handing Out The Wednesday Links

Time for the mid-week links. Lots of stuff to get to.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at the ratings from some of the events held this past weekend.

Michael says networks may have to scramble to fill holes if the NFL lockout extends into October and November.

Brian Lowry at Fox Sports wonders if teams should be looking at the broadcast booth for their next coaches.

Andy Lewis of the Hollywood Reporter reviews the new book on ESPN co-authored by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.

Jason Gay at the Wall Street Journal also reviews the tome.

Sam Schechner of the Journal has some of Dick Ebersol’s departing thoughts as he prepares to leave NBC Sports.

Erin Griffith from Adweek says Lance Armstrong’s brand and Livestrong organization are being hurt by the latest doping allegations.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes HBO had decent viewership for its boxing card last Saturday.

Mohammed Rahman of SportsGrid has the Tosh.0 video from last night which teamed two sports blogosphere icons, Screamin’ Gus Johnson and Brian Collins of “Boom Goes the Dynamite” fame.

Some sad news from CNBC. Original anchor Mark Haines, host of Squawk Box and Squawk on the Street died suddenly on Tuesday. He leaves behind his wife, Cindy and a son and a daughter. He was well known in the financial world and well loved by viewers. I remember him when he co-anchored the news on WPRI-TV in Providence in the late 1970′s and early 1980′s. He was very good.

CNBC has an entire section of memories from co-workers and viewers.

Darren Rovell shares his memories of Mark Haines.

Jason Dachman at Sports Video Group writes that Sony will extend its sponsorship of ESPN 3D.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says for the first time, ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike beat WFAN’s Boomer & Carton in younger male demos, but WFAN turned the tables in the important categories.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News also writes about the ESPN Radio/WFAN ratings.

Richard Sandomir in the New York Times notes that the Mets finances are very shaky.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom blames Ronald Reagan for much of the sports labor and business troubles of today.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg finds that Tony Kornheiser still cannot forgive a former colleague for his review of Monday Night Football.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says outgoing NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol would make for a good replacement for MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig.

Bob wonders if the Green Bay Packers wouldn’t mind being on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says Turner Sports sets the standard for NBA coverage.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Windy City continues to watch the Bulls in the NBA postseason.

Phil also has a story on Dick Ebersol leaving NBC Sports.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a SoCal-based radio duo will get a tryout in Portland.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL Eastern Conference Final is performing solidly for Versus.

Steve writes that Boston is shining brightly in the NHL ratings universe.

SportsbyBrooks says a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter is now looking into the machinations with Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football program.

The Big Lead puts together its sports announcing dream teams.

And I’ll end here for now, but I’m not close to being done with the linkage. I have to leave the office so I’ll post more later.

UPDATE: 8:20 p.m. – Here are some more links.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today writes that ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose has pleaded guilty to DUI charges stemming from an arrest in Michigan back in March.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has Fox Sports President Eric Shanks saying the network would go live from the Olympics in 2014 and 2016.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that TNT saw received an audience of just under 10 million for Game 4 of the Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel says ESPN is changing satellite distribution system to affiliates.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says with Vancouver in the NHL Stanley Cup Final, NBC desperately needs Boston to advance to help its ratings.

Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com says the Pac-12 Conference is looking at an additional $1 billion in revenue over a 7-10 year period from a league-owned channel.

Reuters reports that actor Russell Crowe is attempting to bring Australia’s National Rugby League to the United States through Fox Sports.

Alex Weprin of SportsNewser says Fox Sports Net has purchased a weekly baseball series to be hosted by former NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the audio of Dan Patrick telling “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World of ESPN” co-author Jim Miller about his abusive relationship with ESPN management.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the local Time Warner Cable system will air the AHL Calder Cup Final.

Robert Cox of the New Rochelle (NY) Talk of the Sound says ESPN took over a local high school to shoot a high school prom theme for the ESPY’s.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner notes the viewership for TNT from Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Ron Higgns of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that the Liberty Bowl is moving from ESPN to ABC and expanding its reach to a bigger audience in the process.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has CBS golf analyst Gary McCord picking his favorites for the upcoming Byron Nelson Championship.

Bob has Fox Soccer Channel host Eric Wynalda singing the praises of Lionel Messi of Barcelona in advance of this Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final.

Scott D. Pierce from the Salt Lake Tribune notes that despite a down year, the Utah Jazz are constantly on TV while the minor league baseball Salt Lake Bees aren’t able to get on TV.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times says the Pac-12 could move football games to Sundays or even Monday nights if the NFL lockout goes into the fall.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reports that CTV/TSN have snagged the rights to Skate Canada events from CBC.

Sports Media Watch says the final round of the PGA Tour’s Colonial Invitational saw a big jump for CBS.

SMW Sunday’s NASCAR on Fox race saw a huge ratings increase.

Joe Favorito asks if Newark, NJ could become a sports capital.

I’ll end it there. You’re up to date on links.

Doing Some Monday Links

Let’s do some linkage on this last Monday before Memorial Day.

By the way, if you’re on Facebook, hit my fan page and click “Like”. It acts like an RSS feed. All posts should be there and you can click on the links to see the latest information. Already, 375 people have signed up and you should as well. Thanks for reading that paragraph.

Also, I hope to do the mailbag tonight. I said that yesterday, but for some reason, weekends have become busier than weekdays for me. Not sure why that is. Anyway, the mailbag will be posted tonight and two lucky people will get a $50 gift card from Nike.com. I hope to get one more gift for you as well.

To the links now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today delves into the clip that went viral of ESPN’s and Rhode Island’s own Doris Burke mouthing a swear word during a report before the Oklahoma City-Dallas NBA Western Conference Finals on Saturday. For the record, ESPN taped that report and a techie in the production truck cued the tape to the wrong report. And forever being classy, Doris did not throw the technie under the bus.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reviews the book, “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World of ESPN.”

David M. Shribman of Bloomberg also provides a review.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN is using its upcoming fall shows as a vehicle for marketing and advertising.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry tells sports editors that they should not be afraid to link to other sites.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com says NASCAR’s attendance is getting hit by the economy like many businesses across the nation.

Dr. Patrick Rishe writes in Forbes that there are many reasons to doubt Lance Armstrong’s contentions that he didn’t take performance enhancing drugs.

Bill King of Sports Business Journal writes about UFC positioning itself closer to the mainstream as it begins talks with Spike and possibly other networks to be the home of the mixed martial arts organization.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite his world crumbling around him, accused PED-user Lance Armstrong continues to rake in the endorsements.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post decides that he’ll throw darts at MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the Preakness Stakes received its lowest overnight rating in a little more than a decade.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg tries to give a synopsis on Ted Leonsis’ mad diatribes on radio, blogs and Twitter.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that TNT just fell shy in setting another ratings record for Game 3 of the NBA Conference Finals.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that TNT will move its Inside The NBA postgame inside AmericanAirlines Arena after encountering some rowdy Miami Heat fans last night.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune notes that Game 3 of the Bulls-Miami Heat series is expected to do really well in the ratings when the final numbers come out.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that Dick Ebersol’s resignation from NBC certainly ends an era in broadcast television.

Mike Klis of the Post reports that the Broncos are about to change flagship television stations.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times writes that Time Warner Cable has hired a veteran sports executive to lead its sports programming wing.

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

Matthew Fleischer of Fishbowl L.A. notes that ESPN Deportes has launched a SoCal-centric website.

Raju Mudhar in the Toronto Star looks at the tome chronicling at the history of ESPN.

Sports Media Watch has a couple of MLS-related ratings notes.

SMW says the NBA Draft Lottery failed to catch on with viewers this year.

Last week, my Twitter friend Stefanie Gordon at Not Your Typical Girl, took the picture of the Space Shuttle Endeavor that got picked up by every news outlet. She writes about her experiences and the whirlwind media tour that followed.

Noted public relations expert Gail Sideman at Publiside has some suggestions in case you’re ever caught in a similar situation as Stefanie.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead looks at why some college football teams play in ESPN-owned or ESPN-televised bowl games that end up costing them money.

The Big Lead also has an interview with James Andrew Miller, the co-author of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World at ESPN.”

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media notes that the NHL Conference Finals are trending downward on NBC.

And that’s going to do it.

Cranking Out Some Saturday Links

Let’s do some linkage. I couldn’t get to them yesterday as I was racing in between two offices and by the time I got home, I wasn’t in the mood to sift through media links. I’ll do some now and include some Friday stories.

First, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the old ABC’s Wide World of Sports getting some attention from ESPN next week.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal explores the battle over the Los Angeles Dodgers’ media rights between two big media giants.

Ronald Grover and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg News says the Dodgers’ agreement with Fox for the team’s rights must be approved by MLB.

Stu Hackel of Sports Illustrated says the NHL deal with NBC Sports Group is a win-win for both parties and for fans.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says MSG Network is seeing high ratings for the New York Rangers.

Mike notes that Comcast SportsNet Chicago garnered record ratings for both the Bulls and Blackhawks on Thursday.

Mike says the soon-to-be renamed Versus will really be known as the Home of the NHL under the new NBC Sports Group contract with the league.

Mike reports that on Monday, an FCC Administrative Law Judge will hear the case of Tennis Channel’s carriage complaint against Comcast.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred remembers a Virginia sportswriter who gave it all for his paper and his love of Duke basketball.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser notes that the agent of former New York Football Giants running back Tiki Barber knew his media career was doomed from almost the beginning.

Dashiell Bennett at the Business Insider Sports Page has Josh Elliot’s emotional farewell to SportsCenter. Josh heads to become the news reader on Good Morning America.

Cork Gaines of the Business Insider explains why MLB won’t repeal its silly and archaic blackout rules.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with Ticketmaster’s CEO about bringing dynamic pricing into ticket sales.

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe speaks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio of MSG Network and Chad also reviews the ratings of the two local sports radio stations.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wonders if the NHL should have taken less money to get on ESPN.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com takes a look at the Baltimore Orioles’ TV ratings as well as other Baltimore-DC sports media news.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner writes that there will be plenty of coverage for Rangers-Caps today.

Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times says Navy jumped at the chance to air its spring football game on CBS Sports Network today.

Dave Poe of the Parkersburg (WV) News and Sentinel notes that ESPN will pick up the annual “Coal Bowl” matchup.

Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte Observer says the college football game formerly known as the “Meineke Car Care Bowl” will get a new sponsor this year.

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald says ESPN is streamlining its NFL Draft coverage next week.

Creg Stephenson of the Mississippi Press says local Atlanta Braves fans after being able to watch TBS for years, are now scrambling for ways to watch games.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has some sports media news and notes.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says a local sports radio host is leaving the area for a new opportunity elsewhere.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that former Reds shortstop and current ESPN analyst Barry Larkin could make his way into the team’s broadcast booth in the future.

John also talks with Barry who jumped ship from MLB Network to ESPN’s Baseball Tonight this season.

Rob Oller at the Columbus Dispatch says TV has changed the spring college football game into big business.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Bucks’ TV ratings fell this season.

Bob says giving Bill Parcells his own pre-NFL Draft show on ESPN could lead to some good television.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says despite having throat ailment, Joe Buck continues to call MLB games for Fox.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says it appears likely that Cox Cable won’t be airing Padres games after this season.

John Maffei of the North County Times reports that Fox Sports Net appears to have won the Padres’ TV rights although nothing is official.

John says the NFL lockout has put the Draft into an bigger spotlight.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star is not a fan of the NFL Draft.

Jim talks about the NHL landing big money in its new TV contract.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times looks at Fox and Time Warner Cable fighting over the Dodgers’ media rights.

Diane Pucin of the Times goes into detail on Fox’s personal $30 million loan to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt that led MLB to take control of the team.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says ESPN’s Jon Gruden is showing himself to be a deft developer of young quarterbacks.

Tom goes over the week in sports media.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that those bidding for the US rights to the NHL took losing Phoenix into account.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore has the most watched NHL Playoff games on Versus through the first week of play.

And that’s going to do it for links today. I might be back with some press release posts throughout the day.

Patriots Day Monday Linkage

With this being Patriots Day in Massachusetts and Maine, it’s time to give some links. It’s a day off for some in Massachusetts and Boston has the Marathon plus the 11 a.m. Red Sox game. Both of which are traditions I have come to enjoy.

Some interesting links today. We start with John Ourand and Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal who report that ESPN and the Big East Conference are talking contract extension a year before renewal talks were to begin.

John and David Broughton of the Sports Business Journal note that the Pittsburgh Penguins are on top of the local NHL TV ratings heap.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy crunches the NHL’s local TV numbers.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King in his Monday Morning Quarterback column has some interesting sports media notes. One, he talks with NFL Films President Steve Sabol about his treatment for a brain tumor. Steve is touched by the outreach of support from you.

Next, Peter talks with ESPN’s Jon Gruden about several quarterback prospects and yes, there’s even a “this guy” quote.

Also, Peter takes NFL Network to task for making Bob Papa audition for the job he currently has.

And if you would rather see the entire MMQB column on one page instead of clicking through five pages, you can go here.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today speaks with TNT’s Reggie Miller about his former broadcast partner Doug Collins and his own front office aspirations.

Hiestands notes the very good overnight ratings for six of the eight NBA playoff games over the weekend.

Tom Weir of USA Today says Michael Strahan will get his first opportunity to guest host for Regis Philbin tomorrow on “Live with Regis & Kelly”.

USA Today and Tennis Channel have announced a new online feature that will run exclusively on USAToday.com.

ESPN has published the list of announcers and analysts who have endorsement deals. A couple of names noticeably absent are Chris Berman who has deals with Applebees and Nutrisystem and Chris Fowler who has one with Nike.

ESPN Executive Vice President for Production, Norby Williamson wrote the new endorsement guidelines and they were posted on ESPN’s Front Row.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter says the NBA Playoffs took ratings away from primetime on Sunday.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable advises you to enjoy the NBA while you can before the inevitable lockout occurs in the summer.

Tom Conroy of Media Life Magazine reviews the new “Sports Show with Norm Macdonald”.

Marc Watts of the new Sports PR Blog which is headed by Pro Sports Communications lists the top five NBA television analysts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gives us his observations about purposely staying away from Twitter for just under a week.

Darren has estimates of fan attendance at various spring college football games.

Craig Calcaterra from Hardball Talk has a picture of ESPN’s Wendi Nix trying to get some answers from Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington.

At Deadline, the mysterious Nikki Finke wonders if it’s time to end live sports TV coverage to prevent occasional swear words from slipping through the cracks. It doesn’t happen all of the time and sports fans won’t stand for delays.

Glen Johnson of the Boston Globe says Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown visited the NESN booth today and said other members of Congress are jealous of the Bay State’s sports teams.

From Claire Atkinson of the New York Post, there’s a power struggle between NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol and NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke over the bid for the 2014/2016 Olympics and don’t forget bids are due in a month in a half.

Also from the Post, Phil Mushnick is amazed that an MLB team used common sense.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that Capitals coach used a radio appearance to insult the venerable Madison Square Garden.

Dan says the Capitals’ TV ratings are far outpacing the Wizards’.

Doug Miles of the Tampa Bay Examiner wants to know why NBC dumped coverage of golf on Sunday in favor of the NHL.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend that was on sports television.

The Tennessean notes that ESPN has set the date and time for this year’s Music City Bowl.

In the Houston Chronicle, David Barron says he’s going to be away for a couple of weeks.

Tom Brew of the Indianapolis Star says Chris Denari, the TV voice of the Indiana Pacers, will finally get to call his first NBA Playoff game this week.

At Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman talks with ESPN’s Michael Wilbon about making a move back to the Windy City.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post loved the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News has the Southern California sports calendar for this week.

Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star does not like Canada’s public funding for CBC when Don Cherry makes fun of concussions.

Raju Mudhar of the Star talks with the new head of CBC Sports.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if TSN had not paid close scrutiny to an uncalled penalty, would a suspension have followed?

To the Canadian Sports Media Blog where it also tackles the controversial concussion comments by Don Cherry on Saturday.

Over to Steve Lepore at Puck The Media who says NBC did not get the job done by not producing a clear-cut replay during yesterday’s Washington Capitals-New York Rangers game during a goal review.

Steve also looks at the local ratings for this weekend’s NHL on NBC double dip.

Mocksession, headed up by the great Timothy Burke a.k.a. @bubbaprog, has a comparison of Bobby Valentine’s and Marv Albert’s very similar hairstyles. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Sports Media Watch says TNT’s NBA tripleheader really did well on Sunday.

And this is where we’ll end it for now.