Fang's Bites

Some Wednesday Night Linkage

I’ll do some more linkage for you this evening. You’re owed it. Why not?

Thomas O’Toole from USA Today reports that Laurie Fine, the wife of ex-Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, is suing ESPN for libel saying a report ruined her reputation.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin goes inside the lawsuit and notes that Fine is accusing ESPN of circling the wagons against her.

John Koblin from Deadspin says Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson will replace the outgoing Michelle Beadle on ESPN2′s SportsNation.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with ESPN’s Prince of Darkness John Skipper who fires some shots at NBC Sports Network.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today has NBC’s response to Skipper.

Tom Weir of USA Today says ESPN’s Adam Schefter threw a G*d D*mned reference at Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio and ESPN2. That’s a lot of ESPN references in one sentence.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Pat O’Brien is back on the Olympic stage.

Mike Ozanian from Forbes says while sports TV advertising spending is up, the return of investment is not necessarily that good.

Andy Fixmer and Edmund Lee of Bloomberg Businessweek report that the networks are putting more sports programming in primetime to avoid DVR timeshifting.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable looks at NBCUniversal announcing Olympic coverage plans for three cable networks.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reports that NBC Sports Network will air a cable TV record amount of Olympic coverage this summer.

Mike notes that ESPN is hoping to double its subscriber numbers for its WatchESPN app.

Meanwhile, Josh Lowensohn of CNET says hold the WatchESPN to Apple TV talk.

Billy Steele of Engadget reviews the new ESPN Radio iPad app.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid notes that Fox Sports West had an interesting “Key to the Game”.

Jim Williams of the Bleacher Report talks with Fox Soccer analysts on this Saturday’s Champions League Final.

Clare Atkinson from the New York Post reports that the networks are jacking up ad rates for the NFL including CBS for Super Bowl XLVII.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that NBC Sports Network will cover the Indy 500 Time Trials this weekend.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at the amount of Olympic coverage on three NBCUniversal cable networks.

Pete says NBC Sports golf reporter Dottie Pepper has co-authored a series of books bringing golf to kids.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says a local cable TV sports reporter is fast becoming a regular on the high school scene.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says a sports radio producer put Icy Hot on his manjunk.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald writes that TNT’s Charles Barkley is not a fan of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch can’t believe Mike Francesa’s anti-Twitter stance.

Kent Youngblood at the Minneapolis Star Tribune says the new TV voice of the Minnesota Wild comes with some controversy.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News says the national media is beginning to take notice of the Kings’ playoff run.

Bud Withers of the Seattle Times writes that ESPN has moved the coaching debut of Mike Leach with Washington State to a Thursday night primetime game.

Jeff Morrow of the Tri-City (WA) Herald notes that ESPN Radio has returned to the local area.

Annie Fowler of the Herald says NHL Network will air the Memorial Cup in its entirety.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing is still buzzing over Mike Francesa’s anti-Twitter rant from this week.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC could be moved on Saturday if Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final goes into triple overtime.

Steve says the ratings Game 2 of the NHL Western Conference Final were down from last year.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth looks at various local radio ratings for baseball.

And that will be do it for tonight.

ESPN2 Announces New Afternoon Talk Lineup

With “Jim Rome is Burning” leaving the ESPN2 lineup on January 27, the network has announced a revamped lineup with shows sliding over a half-hour to fill the hole left by Rome’s departure for CBS Sports.

Shows like “Numbers Never Lie” hosted by Charissa Thompson and “Dan LeBatard is Extremely Crazy Highly Questionable” move from their original timeslots to 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET respectively.

The “Best of Mike and Mike” expands from its original half-hour to an hour at 2 p.m. ET and the renamed “Best of First Take” (neé 1st and 10) will air at 3:30 p.m.

You got all that? It’s all listed below in the following press release.

ESPN2’s Best of Mike & Mike Expands to One Hour

Numbers Never Lie & Dan Le Batard Change Times

The Best of Mike & Mike, a daily compilation of highlights from the television simulcast of ESPN Audio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, will expand to a full hour on ESPN2 beginning Monday, Jan. 30. Previously a 30-minute show, Best of will now air 2-3 p.m. ET and will kick off a newly configured block of weekday afternoon programming.

Existing ESPN2 weekday shows will see their times shift with Best of First Take (rebranded from 1^st and 10) airing at 3:30 p.m.; Numbers Never Lie (4 p.m.) and Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable (4:30 p.m.). SportsNation remains in its 5 p.m. slot. NOTE: For the week of January 30, due to SportsCenter’s Super Bowl coverage on ESPN, Outside the Lines will air at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.  The week of February 6 will see Best of First Take in the 3-4 p.m. block before the February 13 return of the half-hour NASCAR Now at 3 p.m.

ESPN Audio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m. M-F) is seen or heard by more than 13 million people each week. Mike & Mike airs on 350 stations nationwide, and is aired on both Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. All four hours of the show are simulcast on ESPN2, reaching more than 99 million homes (the TV show saw a 17% rating increase in 2011). Mike & Mike can be heard live on ESPNRadio.com and The Best of Mike & Mike podcast, which averages 1.8 million downloads per month, is available on iTunes.

Numbers Never Lie is a roundtable discussion offering lively debate with an emphasis on sports analytics co-hosted by Michael Smith and Charissa Thompson. Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable is formatted to showcase Le Batard’s “questionable” approach to sports commentary, highlighting his thoughtful, humorous, and sometimes thoroughly misguided perspective on the world of professional sports with his dad. Each debuted September 12, 2011.

The changes were precipitated by the end of Jim Rome is Burning, which will have its final episode air on Friday, Jan. 27.

New ESPN2 Lineup, begins Jan. 30, 2012 (Times ET)

2-3 p.m. — Best of Mike and Mike (expands by 30 minutes)

3-3:30 p.m. – Nascar Now (returns Monday, Feb. 13)

3:30-4 p.m. – Best of First Take

4-4:30 p.m. – Numbers Never Lie

4:30-5 p.m. – Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable

And that’s all.

ESPN2 Officially Unveils Charissa Thompson As Co-Host of “Numbers Never Lie”

Fans of SportsNation may have caught Charissa Thompson‘s ESPN2 debut last Friday. If they did, they should count themselves very lucky. And it’ll the first of many opportunities to see Charissa as she will co-host a new ESPN2 studio show, “Numbers Never Lie” which come from the same people who created SportsNation for ESPN2. In fact, SportsNation will move from its customary 4 p.m. ET slot to 5 p.m. in the fall. “Numbers Never Lie” will premiere on Monday, September 12 at 3:30 p.m. ET. The show is supposed to be an irreverent look at statistics and feature a roundtable debate between old school and new school on the numbers.

Charissa will co-host with Michael Smith who has been a regular panelist on ESPN’s Around The Horn. He now gets his own show. And I hope that the show lives a long life because Fang’s Bites has been on the Charissa Thompson bandwagon dating back to 2007.

Anyway, here’s the press release from ESPN.

ESPN2’s Numbers Never Lie Co-Hosts Announced

Expanded Role for ESPN’s Michael Smith; Charissa Thompson Joins ESPN

Michael Smith, in an expanded role with the network, and new hire Charissa Thompson will co-host ESPN2’s Numbers Never Lie, the weekday show which will debut Monday, Sept. 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Smith and Thompson will first appear together as substitute co-hosts of SportsNation on Thursday and Friday, Aug. 11-12, at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.

Numbers Never Lie will feature lively roundtable debate pitting the wisdom of former professional athletes against the pragmatism of statisticians. “Old school” fans will enjoy the unique expertise that comes from those who have played the game, while fantasy fanatics will appreciate the quantitative look at the biggest stories in the sports world.

Michael Smith
Smith joined ESPN in 2004 – having already appeared regularly as a panelist on ESPN’s Around the Horn beginning in 2003 – originally as an NFL senior writer for ESPN.com. During his tenure at ESPN, Smith has provided both breaking NFL news and insight for the network as well as analysis on all sports for a wide variety of shows including SportsCenter, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption, ESPN2’s First Take, Jim Rome is Burning, ESPN2’s SportsNation, Sports Reporters and ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning (simulcast on ESPN2).

Smith has also hosted NFL Live, College Football Live, SportsCenter segments, ESPN2’s First Take and Outside the Lines.  In 2007, ESPN launched its prime-time news magazine show, E:60, with Smith as one of its core correspondents.

Prior to joining ESPN, Smith was a reporter for the Boston Globe from 2001-04, primarily covering the NFL and New England Patriots. He was the lead reporter on the Patriots beat during their second Super Bowl winning season in 2003.

Smith, a native of New Orleans, began his journalism career as a student at hometown Loyola University, where he also worked as a sports reporter and copy editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He graduated from Loyola with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications.

Charissa Thompson
Thompson covered the NHL for Versus from 2010-11, including the 2010 All-Star Game and Stanley Cup Finals. In 2010, Thompson reported on the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, FIFA World Cup, BCS National Championship Game, Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game for Yahoo! Sports. She has also appeared on NFL Network and co-hosted programming on the Speed Network.  In 2009, Thompson was a sideline reporter for ABC’s Shaq Vs. show.

Thompson began her career at Fox Sports Network (FSN) Los Angeles in the human resources department. She then became a production assistant with FSN Rocky Mountain (Denver), which led to her first on-air role covering the Colorado Rockies for the network’s Rockies All Access program. She eventually relocated back to Los Angeles to co-host FSN’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period. Her responsibilities expanded to include NFL sideline reporting on Fox, along with the Big Ten Network’s game of the week. She also covered college basketball for the Big Ten Network.

Thompson, a native of Seattle, was graduated from UC-Santa Barbara with a degree in law and society.

And that does it.

People You Should Follow On Twitter, Part 7

I continue with my mini-series, People You Should Follow On Twitter. You have all types of accounts in sports business and sports media, college basketball and football, MLB, NFL, NHL, Golf, Olympics and Soccer. And you can find the previous installments here, here, here, here, here and here. Through the first six installments, we have 107 accounts for you to follow.

Tonight, I’ll give you Sports TV & Radio. Tomorrow, it will be Sports TV PR and Tennis. Then on Wednesday to close out everything, I’ll provide the Best of the Rest in and out of sports. I’ve got to finish this sometime.

SPORTS RADIO AND TV

dpshow — The official Twitter account of the best national sports talk show in the country, the Dan Patrick Show. This account provides you with the daily guest list, behind-the-scenes pictures, show quotes plus retweets from fans and the other Dan Patrick Show accounts. DP himself does not tweet, but this is as close as you can get to him on Twitter. The Dan Patrick Show account has 69,860 followers, but I feel that should be higher.

paulpabst — A member of the Dan Patrick “Danettes”, Paul Pabst is the Executive Producer of the DP Show. He also contributes on-air thoughts and if you watch the show on DirecTV, he’ll go into “The Box” to provide background insight on the show. Off air, Paul tweets alerts on potential no-hitters, retweet accounts he follows and general show info. Paulie has 17,141 followers.

HiMyNameIsSeton — The Director of Operations for the DP Show (are you sensing a theme yet?), Seton O’Connor runs the board for the show and is the one who interacts with the fans the most through his Twitter account. Seton is very funny and also provides insights on news stories as well. Seton has 18,938 tweeps.

twoadayz –Known just as “Two-A-Days”, Dan Overlock has gone from intern to backup board operator for the Dan Patrick Show. He’s mostly been one of Dan’s whipping boys and been relegated to an off-camera area of Dan’s Mancave. But every once in a while, he’s seen and heard, but mostly to receive Dan’s wrath when something goes wrong. Two-A-Days interacts with listeners and sometimes, one of Dan’s regular guests. This account has 3,091 tweeps.

JTTheBrick — The official account of popular Fox Sports Radio night time host, JT The Brick. JT brings it on his Twitter page reacting to news of the day and also providing some good show insight. He also follows people and a retweet from him can be as good as any endorsement as it can add as many as 20 tweeps to an account. I speak from experience. JT has parlayed winning The Smackoff on the Jim Rome Show to a very successful sports radio career and one of the best radio hosts in the country. JT The Brick has 15,677 followers.

SBRadio — This is for Sports Business Radio, a nationally syndicated radio show focusing on Sports Business. Hosted by Brian Berger, the show has great guests from all over the sports business and sports media lexicon. This account not only talks about its show, but also comments on sports news of the day. It’s a very good account to follow. The show is heard across the nation on stations across the country Saturdays at noon ET/9 a.m. PT and there’s a local version heard on Sundays in Portland, OR. The show’s site also provides archived podcasts. SBRadio has 3,817 followers.

TheDAShow — This is for Damon Amendolara, the nighttime host of 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. This account interacts with fans plus DA tweets quite often. One of the better local hosts, he keeps up with blogs, mainstream reporters and other radio personalities. A good account to follow. It has 7,097 followers as of this post.

GreshandZo — Of course, if I mention The DA Show, then I have to put The Sports Hub’s midday show, Gresh & Zo here or I’ll never hear the end of it. Hosted by former Sirius XM Mad Dog Radio host Andy Gresh and former Patriots backup quarterback Scott Zolak, this account is mostly maintained by Gresh as Zo has his own account. This account has show details and some random tweets from Greshie. It has 7,487 followers.

ldrabick — This is for the lovely Liz Drabick, sports update anchor extraordinaire of 106.7 The Fan in Washington, DC. Liz reacts to sports news on her account as well as interacts with her tweeps. She’s really a delight to tweet with and very funny as well. I’m a fan as you can tell. Liz has 1,479 tweeps, but do your part to increase that, ok?

TomCaron — Tom is the studio host of Red Sox baseball on NESN. A native of Maine, Tom does a great job hosting on NESN. He also engages with followers on his Twitter account during the game, and sometimes in between breaks during the postgame show. During the game, Tom will provide statistical updates to those following along. A very good person to follow, Tom has 6,402 tweeps to date.

HeidiWatney — This is the account of Heidi Watney, the on-field reporter for Red Sox baseball on NESN. You may not know that Heidi’s cousin is PGA Tour golfer Nick Watney. I admit, I’m a fanboy. I like Heidi’s work, but there are times like when she was sampling food at ballparks made you cringe. One thing I do like is when Heidi gets feisty with someone criticizing her work. She’s not afraid to mix it up. Heidi tweets during games and uses Twitter quite often. She’s using the medium very well. She has 21,653 followers.

NaokoFunayama — Naoko is the on-ice reporter for Boston Bruins broadcasts on NESN and like Heidi, provides updates throughout the season on the team she follows. And she will also tweet during games. Another person who interacts with her followers, Naoko is another delightful person with whom to exchange tweets. Naoko gained notoriety during Daisuke Matsuzaka’s introductory press conference with the Boston Red Sox and she translated his Japanese better than the official translator hired by the team. Naoko has 5,472 followers. That should be higher.

AndrewCatalon — Andrew is the sports anchor for WNYT-TV in Albany, NY. You may be familiar with his work nationally as he has freelanced for NBC for the Olympics in both 2008 and 2010, and also worked for CBS on the U.S. Open and The Masters secondary broadcasts. And he tweets as he’s watching events or giving alerts of when he’s about to hit air. Andrew has 673 followers, but you can make that go up.

BillVoth — Sports anchor for WSOC-TV in Charlotte, NC, Bill Voth is a definite power Tweeter having accepted the medium to talk with fans and also branch out to other reporters and even yours truly. Bill has 2,673 loyal followers.

ThatSportsGirl — This is the account of sports anchor Gina Miller of KTVT/KTXA in Dallas-Fort Worth. Gina has done yeoman’s work in the Metroplex, hosting both the Texas Rangers and Dallas Mavericks on the CBS duopoly. And in addition, she’s expecting her first child. One of the first TV sports reporters to follow your humble blogger, she’ll react to games she’s watching, previews her postgame shows and also interacts with viewers. And Gina maintains her own blog. A very good tweeter, she has a following of 9,935.

karlravechespn — A recent addition to Twitter, Karl Ravech, the host of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, has embraced the medium by giving updates of MLB action before he goes on the air. He also interacts with fans making them feel closer to the games and program. One of the best studio hosts, Karl does a very good job in updating the tweets on nights he’s working. He has 16,119 tweeps.

AndrewSiciliano –The host of the original NFL Red Zone Channel on DirecTV, Andrew Siciliano is a definite Power Tweeter. I’ve seen him tweet during his shifts in between updates on DirecTV. He also provides non-sports tweets and links to news stories. A guy who knows every NFL player on the screen, he’s also America’s radio guest host as he has subbed for Dan Patrick and Tony Kornheiser. Follow Andrew if you haven’t already. He’s at 16,397 followers.

LindaCohn — The extremely lovely Linda Cohn of ESPN is a social media maven. Not only did she have her own social media network before the infamous ESPN Twitter crackdown two years ago, but she was an early member of Twitter. She answers questions from followers. She also tweets about her beloved Mets and NHL. Linda is a great follow. She has a solid following of 43,839 tweeps.

KennyAlbert — The MSG/Versus/Fox Sports announcer is one of the busiest men in sports, rivaling his dad, Marv in his prime. Kenny is a person who will tweet pictures of his location whether it be for Fox Saturday Baseball or his MSG assignments. Kenny tweeted his excitement when the NFL lockout ended on Monday. Follow Kenny and become one of the almost 3,200 people in his group.

LenBermanSports — The former sports anchor at WNBC-TV in New York has found a second career online through his site, That Sports and on Twitter. Len tweets his sports observations and is very accessible to followers. He responds to anyone talking to him online and that’s what makes his account a very good follow. And Len is back on TV doing guest spots on the Today Show doing his “Spanning The World” feature and assuring us that no one got hurt. Len has 2,874 followers.

CharissaT — If you’ve followed this blog dating back to 2007, then you know Fang’s Bites was one of the first sites to tout Charissa Thompson, the former Big Ten Network, Fox Sports and Versus sideline reporter and Yahoo host. She’s now heading to ESPN2 where she’ll co-host a new show, Numbers Don’t Lie, with Michael Smith this fall. Charissa is good at interacting with tweeps, but I’m not impressed with the color scheme on her Twitter page. Anyway, she has 9,013 followers. You can be one too.

So with an additional 21 accounts here, you have a total of 128 Twitter accounts you should follow. We’re not done. We have two more installments. You should have over 150 to follow when all is said and done.

Jenn Sterger Takes Shots At ESPN For Hiring Hot Blonds

Ever since this whole Brett Favre sexting incident, Jenn Sterger has been trying to find her niche. Her show at Versus was canceled. Then she’s been doing various freelance gigs plus an interview with Good Morning, America, but really hasn’t found that signature role that she call her own.

Then I happen to find through Twitter that she presented a video on BroBible and in the process, fired shots at ESPN for hiring hot blond chicks. And Jenn Sterger then takes a shot at Jenn Brown. Do you find it ironic that hot chick Jenn Sterger is taking shots at ESPN for hiring hot chicks? Is this the pot calling the kettle black? As they used to say on the old Batman show, “What do we have here?” Watch the video and see what you think.

And Jenn Sterger’s delivery is so bad that you have to turn up your speakers to understand the jokes. In this type of feature, you have to have a voice to carry the jokes and she speaks so softly that any humor is lost. I originally had no problem with Jenn Sterger when people took shots at her for getting gigs at Sports Illustrated and I want to like her, but it’s tough. This video doesn’t help. It makes her look petty.

Charissa Thompson Moves To ESPN

I like to think that Fang’s Bites was one of the first blogs to jump on the Charissa Thompson bandwagon back in 2007 when she started getting national exposure on Fox Sports Net and Big Ten Network.

Since then, she’s worked on Fox Sports’ NFL coverage on the sidelines, been a co-host on the Best Damn Sports Show Period  as well as Versus’ NHL coverage until NBC Sports took over the cable network this year.

Now SportsbyBrooks is reporting that Charissa has been hired by ESPN to host a new show, Numbers Don’t Lie that will premiere in the fall. This show along with a new Dan LeBatard-led program are part of ESPN2′s new fall afternoon lineup. Based on the description of Numbers Don’t Lie, I thought sometimes SportsNation substitute co-host Sara Walsh would be perfect for the show, but instead, the producers went with Charissa, not that I’m complaining.

I’m sure Charissa will do a great job as host. And I’m sure the fanboys will love watching her show.

Versus Making Wholesale Changes To NHL Broadcasts

This has been a busy Saturday. Unfortunately, I’ve been dealing with a lot of family stuff today. Nothing major, but it’s kept me from blogging. Anyway, I have to discuss another story that’s been burning up Twitter and the blogosphere today, however, I want to discuss this first.

It was first reported in the Montreal Gazette on Friday that Versus NHL rinkside reporter Bob Harwood was informed that he would no longer be used during game broadcasts, but perhaps be used during the playoffs. In addition, other rinkside reporters, Lindsay Soto and Charissa Thompson could also be used during the postseason. There were rumors that 29 people at Versus’ NHL coverage, mostly on-air would be losing their jobs.

However, there are denials from the new management team at NBC Sports/Versus about this. The really bad thing  is the fact that NBC has decided to utilize ex-players rinkside/on the ice/inside the glass. This means we’ll see Pierre McGuire on Versus. If you follow me on Twitter or have read my NHL TV Awards, you’ll know how much I dislike him.

Greg Wyshynski of Versus broke the news regarding this change.

As much as NBC does a good job on the NHL, one of the worst decisions was to make Pierre McGuire an on-ice analyst and a game host. He rarely adds anything substantial to what analyst Ed Olczyk says. I do hope that McGuire won’t be made a host on Versus, because less of Pierre goes a long way. And because of his work on TSN, he’s overexposed to NHL fans who have access to the Center Ice package.

The first decision by NBC Sports as it takes over Versus is not a good one as far as I’m concerned. I’ll continue to monitor the changes at Versus for you.

Versus To Offer Seven Hours of Programming During NHL All-Star Weekend

Versus is really going all out, trying to show the NHL that it can really dedicate itself to the sport. I wish they had done this earlier in its contract, but better late than never, and hopefully, the league will keep the main contract with the NBC/Versus (soon to be called SNBC?).

Versus will unveil a new slow motion system which can show the rotation of the puck as it’s shot. That should give High Def viewers an added perspective. Not being sarcastic there. Also, lots of stuff that will lead to the All-Star Game on Sunday.

Here’s the press release from Versus in regards to the programming surrounding NHL All-Star Weekend which comes next week. 

VERSUS SUPER-SERVES HOCKEY FANS WITH MORE THAN SEVEN HOURS OF PROGRAMMING DURING THE 2011 NHL ALL-STAR WEEKEND

 

Coverage Begins Jan. 28 with All-Star Player Fantasy Draft (8 p.m. ET), Followed by NHL SuperSkills on Jan. 29 (7 p.m. ET) and NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 30 (4 p.m. ET)

 

NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 20, 2011) - VERSUS today announced details of its extensive coverage of the 2011 NHL® All-Star Weekend, beginning with the first ever NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™ on Friday, January 28, at 8 p.m. ET, during which players will participate in the ultimate game of pick-up hockey when two captains select the NHL All-Star squads. The network will then air the 2011 NHL SuperSkills® competition on Saturday, January 29, at 7 p.m. ET, as these elite athletes display their skating, puck-handling and shooting skills. VERSUS will culminate its weekend coverage with the 58th annual NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, January 30, at 4 p.m. ET, live from the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

 

This year VERSUS will air the debut of the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft, which will replace the traditional conference-vs.-conference format, and allow two captains chosen by the players, Carolina Hurricanes center Eric Staal and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, to choose their own teams from among the remaining All-Stars. Each All-Star team will be comprised of three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards.

 

Coverage of the NHL All-Star Game and NHL SuperSkills competition will be hosted by VERSUS’ Mike “Doc” Emrick and analyst Eddie Olczyk with reporters Charissa Thompson and Bob Harwood providing rink-side updates from the RBC Center. The Hockey Central crew of Bill Patrick, Keith Jones and Brian Engblom will also be on location to report on all the NHL All-Star weekend festivities and host intermissions during the 58th annual NHL All-Star Game.

 

During the weekend’s telecast, VERSUS will also institute production elements to enhance the presentation, including the national network debut of the Imovix replay system that slows down action to an amazing 500 frames/second, offering viewers outstanding replays that can even show the rotation of the puck during a shot. VERSUS will also have in-net goal cameras which offers an amazing look at the on-ice action, extra reporters to add perspective from on the ice and in the locker rooms as well as microphones and earpieces on the players during the 2011 NHL All-Star Game and the NHL SuperSkills competition.

 

VERSUS.com will offer NHL fans extensive information covering the weekend’s events. The site will feature live chats, photo galleries, polls and exclusive videos that include key highlights and interviews from the both the All-Star Game and NHL SuperSkills competition. 

There you go.

Some Snowy Wednesday Links

On this day of massive snow here in the Northeast, I’ll provide you with some linkage. Crazy day as local meteorologists first predicted 4-8 inches, then as the storm organized, the totals were revised upward and upward. Now, it appears we have more on the ground here. Not quite the perfect storm, but damn close. And who would have thought 49 states of the Union have snow on the ground? Including Hawaii? Insane.

Let’s do some linkage today to get our minds off the snow.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today gives us a reality check on ESPN’s ratings for the BCS.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today talks with the head of powerful sports agency IMG about a whole slew of topics including gambling.

Sean Leahy at USA Today’s The Huddle notes Jon Gruden’s announcement that he’ll return to ESPN next season.

Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal looks at Brent Musburger giving Tostitos free advertising this week.

Ben Klayman from Reuters writes about General Motors signing a huge advertising deal with NBC for the 2012 London Olympics.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse doesn’t like how golf allows viewers to call in to report violations on PGA Tour players.

Fanhouse’s Viv Bernstein finds that former college basketball analyst Billy Packer is not being docile in his retirement from broadcasting. 

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that GolTV will air a Central America soccer tournament.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek looks at ESPN’s record ratings for the BCS National Championship Game.

Anthony writes in Adweek that ESPN will be a big sponsor target this year. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine also writes about ESPN’s ratings for Auburn-Oregon.

The great Darren Rovell of CNBC has his Golden Rules of Twitter.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser looks at LeBron James’ tweeting at the expense of his old Cleveland Cavs team.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid reviews the premiere episode of Onion SportsDome.

Across the pond, David Evans of Autosport notes that ESPN UK has obtained the rights to the popular World Rally Championship, keeping the sport away from free TV in England. 

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes a Boston connection to Onion SportsDome. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wasn’t too thrilled with Brent Musburger’s call of the BCS National Championship Game.

Richard talks about Yahoo! Sports launching an all-new online magazine.

Speaking of the new Yahoo! Sports online magazine, called The PostGame, it has a feature on Fang’s Bites fave, Charissa Thompson. 

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the love-hate, mostly hate relationship between the New York Jets and WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Time Warner Cable will produce several AHL games.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says ESPN’s Dick Vitale will remain in the fold for a while.

Jason Reid of the Washington Post recaps the DC Sports Owner summit.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the BCS’ ratings on cable are down considerably from when the games were on broadcast TV.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Dish and DirecTV subscribers will be able to see tonight’s Cincinnati Bearcats game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Packers-Eagles is the most watched TV show of the season.

Bob says CBS’ Bill Cowher gives praise to the Packers’ defensive plan to contain the Eagles’ Michael Vick.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune talks about Brent Musburger’s Tostitos plug late in the BCS National Championship Game.

The Chicago Sun-Times picks up a story that local NBC affiliate sports anchor Mike Adamle has been arrested on DUI charges.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune wonders if ESPN can objectively report on college football and the BCS.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail handicaps the upcoming changes in Canadian sports radio.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media breaks news that NBC will have six hours of coverage for Hockey Day in America next month.

Steve also compares Tuesday’s editions of NHL Overtime and NHL on the Fly.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch notes that the BCS National Championship on ESPN finished lower in the ratings than the game on ABC last year.

Joe Favorito says the Indianapolis Colts may have lost Saturday, but won with its social networking approach to its FanCam.

Awful Announcing has Twitter reaction to Onion SportsDome.

And that will do it for today. I’ll be digging out the rest of the day.

The 4th Annual Fang’s Bites College Football TV Awards

With another college football regular season over and we get ready for the Bowls, it’s time to judge the best and worst on TV in 2010. Some stellar work this season. There’s also been some bad work. Let’s do this. For comparison, you can take a look at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition of the awards.

Now let’s get started.

The College Gameday Award For Best Pregame Show - Yeah, College Gameday. The show has been totally on heading to Oregon, Washington, Los Angeles and other locales. This season, ESPN expanded the show by an hour and it did not miss a beat. My only complaint is less of Todd McShay. But overall, College Gameday has become a cultural phenomenon. Chris Fowler remains one of the best studio hosts on TV. Kirk Herbstreit gives strong opinions. Desmond Howard is growing as a decent analysts. Lee Corso also brought back gunplay on the show this year. And having Erin Andrews on-site every week is a very nice addition. College Gameday may be over 20 years old, but it’s not showing its age.

The Keith Jackson Award for Best Play-by-Play - Brad Nessler, ESPN/ABC. Brad is mostly assigned to the primetime game on ESPN. Here’s a guy who should be the successor to Brent Musberger as the main college football announcer. He’s usually on top of trends and is right on top of the action as evidenced by “Little Giants,” the fake field goal by Michigan State to win the game over Notre Dame. Great call by Mike Dantonio to win and great call by Brad as it happened.

Brad just did a great job this season. Here’s hoping ESPN will name him as the number one announcer for college football down the road.

Honorable Mentions – Tom Hammond (NBC), Sean McDonough (ESPN/ABC), Ron Franklin (ESPN/ABC)

The Frank Broyles Award for Best Color Analyst - Mike Mayock, NBC. I forgot how good Mike Mayock was as an analyst. When he did Notre Dame football this season succeeding Pat Haden who became Athletic Director of USC, I listened and found myself learning about formations, running passing routes and quarterback play. Mayock was an analyst for CBS and ESPN/ABC before becoming NFL Network’s draft guru, a role he fulfills extremely well. He and Tom Hammond jelled very well becoming one of the best announcing teams this season. Here’s hoping NFL Network will name Mayock as the analyst for Thursday Night Football next season.

Honorable Mentions – Todd Blackledge (ESPN/ABC), Gary Danielson (CBS), Dave Lapham (Fox Sports Net)

Best Overall Announcing Team - Tom Hammond and Mike Mayock, NBC. With Notre Dame trying to regain its luster, ratings for NBC were mostly up this season. Hammond and Mayock formed a very good announcing team. Excellent nuts and bolts team. I just wish they could call other games.

Honorable Mentions – Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson (CBS), Joel Myers/Dave Lapham (Fox Sports Net), Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge (ESPN/ABC)

The Jim Lampley Award for Best Studio Host - Rece Davis, ESPN. Rece needs hazard pay for putting up with the constant arguing of Mark May and Lou Holtz. But Rece holds the show together and does a tremendous job doing the College Football Scoreboard shows. He’s an Alabama alum and has a love for the sport. It shows. Does a great job in the studio.

Honorable Mentions – Chris Fowler (ESPN), Tim Brando (CBS), Darren Horton (Fox Sports Net)

Best Studio Analyst - Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN). When he’s not doing games, Kirk is a very good studio analyst. He’s very good in the booth as well, but he’s stronger on College Gameday. I know there are many fans who feel he’s against their school, but I dismiss that. He knows his stuff, does his homework and is a very strong analyst on College Gameday.

Honorable Mentions – Spencer Tillman (CBS), Mark May (ESPN)

The Jack Arute Award for Sideline Reporting – Alex Flanagan (NBC). Alex does a very good job on the sidelines for Notre Dame football. She gathers the information, reports it as soon as she receives it and doesn’t get suckered in asking inane questions. And she does such a good job that she is now on Thursday Night Football on NFL Network.

Honorable Mentions – Holly Rowe (ESPN/ABC), Charissa Thompson (Big Ten Network)

Most Valuable Network – CBS for its SEC package that is the most viewed and highest rated in college football. It’s coverage of the conference is first-rate and Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson have the games down pat. They work well off each other. CBS is on the case and gets the award once again.

Best Overall Coverage - ESPN. We can rag on how the network controls college football and has too much power, but college football is a sport it does well. This dates back to when the network began in 1979. It’s been doing games that long. Pictures are done well. I have some argument on some announcers as you’ll see, but as far as producing the games, ESPN gets the job done.

Honorable Mentions – CBS, Big Ten Network, Fox Sports Net

The Pam Ward Award For Worst Play-by-Play – We’ve finally named the award for Pam Ward of ESPN who continues to miscall games. Beth Mowins who does Tuesday games has now surpassed Pam. Ms. Ward was demoted to calling games on ESPNU where she can’t do as much damage as in past seasons.

Worst Analyst - Rod Gilmore, ESPN. Teamed with Joe Tessitore on Friday night games, Rod makes head-scratching statements and off the wall analysis. Some of his stuff comes from left field and I couldn’t understand where he was coming from. Joe deserves a better partner.

Dishonorable Mentions – Petros Papadakis (Fox Sports Net)

Worst Sideline Reporter – None this year.

Most Bizarre Moment - We almost didn’t have one this season, but leave it to the Cammy Cam Juice, CBS. This has become a sports blogosphere sensation as sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson took a swig of the concoction mixed by Auburn quarterback Cam Newton during the SEC Championship. Hilarity ensues.

The 2nd Annual Fang’s Bites NHL TV Awards

Now that the NHL season is over, time for the 2nd version of the NHL TV Awards. We did our first last year and got attacked by readers when it was posted over at Puck Daddy on Yahoo, but you can’t please everybody. This not only includes the 2009-10 season, but also the Olympic hockey tournament. Both the American and Canadian national partners are eligible as well as various local regional sports networks. Without further delay, let’s get to the awards.

The Dan Kelly Award for Best Play by Play: Mike “Doc” Emrick – NBC/Versus. He won it last year and there’s no reason to give it to anyone else. Doc was tremendous during the Olympics. Got down the pronunciation of players from each country that participated in the tournament and also expertly called the women’s games. I went into my reasons why he won last year and they can apply again this year. Doc knows the game very well. Best hockey play-by-play man of his generation without a doubt.

A very close second is Chris Cuthbert of CTV/TSN. His call of Sidney Crosby’s winning score in the gold medal game at the Olympics was perfect, “It’s the golden goal!” Unceremoniously dropped by CBC in 2005, Cuthbert landed at TSN and quickly became one of the network’s best announcers doing the CFL Grey Cup and the NHL. He deservedly received the plum assignment of calling hockey at the Olympics and the gold medal game in Vancouver. CBC’s loss was TSN’s gain.

Conference Finals: Jim Hughson and Bob Cole, CBC
Honorable Mentions: Pat Foley, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Sam Rosen, MSG Network

The John Davidson Award for Best Game Analyst: Eddie “Edzo” Olcyzk, NBC/Versus. I put Olcyzk in the Conference Finals category last year and I’m wondering why. He did a fantastic job during the Olympic hockey tournament. He’s always on top of trends. He also can predict how a review will go. Does a tremendous job on Blackhawks games for Comcast SportsNet Chicago as well. He’s not quite at J.D. level, but he’s getting there. His excellent work in the Olympics and during the Stanley Cup Final solidified this award.

Conference Finals: Daryl Reaugh, Fox Sports Southwest and Ray Ferraro, TSN
Honorable Mentions: Craig Simpson, CBC and Andy Brickley, NESN

Best Studio Show: NHL On The Fly, NHL Network. This has taken the concept of the old NHL2Night on ESPN2 and gone three steps better. It has the ability to do live cut ins to games. The one hour wrap up that’s seen throughout the mornings is so thorough, that there’s no need to read recaps on sports news websites. Brian Duff does a tremendous job in doing the highlights and introducing live action. Gary Green, Dennis Potvin, Kevin Weekes or whomever sits in the analyst chair does a bang up job. Just has MLB Tonight on MLB Network has become the destination for baseball news and highlights, the same can be said for NHL On The Fly.

Conference Finals: Scotiabank Hockey Tonight, CBC

Best Studio Host: Bill Patrick, NBC Olympics and Versus. Despite the fact that he’s stuck on the most boring studio show ever to be produced, Bill Patrick shines. He also did a bang up job for NBC during the Olympics as hockey intermission host. He does a very good nuts and bolts job at the Versus desk and he does so having to carry weak studio analysts Keith Jones and Brian Engblom. Versus has greatly improved its game presentation, the next thing is to improve the studio.

Conference Finals: Ron MacLean, CBC and Brian Duff, NHL Network
Honorable Mentions: Kathryn Tappen, NESN and James Duthie, TSN

Best Studio Analyst: Mike Milbury, NBC/CBC/NESN. Controversial pick. Yes, he’s said some head scratching things (i.e., pansification), but if you look beyond that, Milbury is not just a Don Cherry-wannabe, he actually makes sense. During the Olympics, he and Jeremy Roenick made for some very good TV. On CBC, he bullies Pierre LeBrun too much for my taste, but when you go beyond the head scratching, headline-making comments, he can be an actual analyst who can break down plays and look for upcoming trends. Does he go out of his way to make controversial comments? In my mind yes, but he’s also being genuine and not trying to be outrageous.

Conference Finals: Kelly Hrudey, CBC and Gary Green, NHL Network
Honorable Mentions: Gord Kluzak, NESN and Darren Pang, TSN

Best Rinkside Reporter: Elliote Friedman, CBC. The man is constantly working hard for scoops and uses Twitter to provide background information on stories. He’s a very good listen during games. Plus, he’s never intrusive.

Conference Finals: Charissa Thompson, Versus and Scott Oake, CBC
Honorable Mention: Bob Harwood, Versus

Best Game Coverage: TSN. I give this to TSN which has jumped over CBC this year. And while CBC usually gives you no-nonsense coverage without silly cutaways, the presentation looked old to me this season. TSN’s pictures were clearer, sharper and the production was usually spot on. Listening to Pierre McGuire aside, TSN’s games were done very well.

Conference Finals: NBC and Versus
Honorable Mentions: CBC and NESN

Most Improved Game Coverage: Giving this to Versus. Much better this year. Replays were crisper and from the right angle. Versus did a very good job improving the production of its games. And it leads us to:

Most Valuable Network: Versus. It started the season poorly getting into a dispute with DirecTV causing it to lose access to millions of potential viewers. But after six months of not having access, the two parties got together and finally, fans of the NHL were able to see the games. It also lead to higher ratings which continued throughout the playoffs and set records for both the network and the league. In addition, the NHL was happy with the treatment it was receiving from Versus. And with the momentum, Versus seems to finally have developed its signature show with The Daily Line.

Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Roenick, NBC. Started his work during the Olympics, JR has the potential to be an excellent analyst. After Game 6, JR broke down, getting emotional knowing what the Blackhawks win meant to the city of Chicago. He also loved saying, “VIKINGSTAD” during the Olympics despite mispronouncing it. My hope is that NBC makes Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick a regular occurrence during NHL games next season.

Conference Finals: Kevin Weekes, CBC and Charissa Thompson, Versus

Worst Play by Play: I’m giving Jack Edwards of NESN a break this year and giving this to Joe Beninati of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. I’m not doing this based on my opinion, this is based on the number of complaints from fans whenever he appears on Versus. Bruins fans don’t like him. Flyers fans don’t like him. Rangers fans don’t like him. The fans who like him are Capitals and Alex Ovechkin fans. I personally don’t have a problem with him, but I’ve received comments like, “I hate when Joe Buttafuoco is on Versus.” “I can’t stand him especially when he praises Ovechkin (he calls Ovechkin’s games, he’s going to praise him).” “Beninati is a screamer.” They really don’t hold up for me, I think Joe is fine, but based on the high number of fan complaints, I put him here this year.

Worst Host/Analyst/Rinkside Reporter: Pierre McGuire, NBC/TSN. This man is on too much for my tastes. He adds nothing. He says nothing. He does nothing. All McGuire does is take up space. Very rarely does he add insight from ice level. Instead, he’ll say something like, “No goal, Edzo” to which Olcyzk will reply, “We know, Pierre.” That’s stellar analysis. And when he does on-ice interviews, the subjects whether it be a coach or player will not give anything we don’t already know. McGuire needs to be removed from broadcasts next season. Maybe that elusive GM job will pop up and we the viewers will be spared from his claptrap.

Worst Studio Show: Hockey Central, Versus. Despite having an excellent host in Bill Patrick, the show is dragged down by the worst format and extremely boring analysts in Keith Jones and Brian Engblom. There have been times when Versus brings in guest analysts, but they fall victim to the same format that causes viewers to change the channel to soft core pornography to wake up. I give Versus credit for doing Hockey Central throughout the Stanley Cup Final, but the coverage has to improve. The show is killing viewers.

Most Bizarre Moment: Jack Edwards’ speech when the Boston Bruins clinched a playoff spot. This season, Jack did not cackle like a vampire or compare a Bruins win to the Revolutionary War, but there were times when Jack made you scratch your head like this moment when the Bruins finally solidified a postseason berth during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was classic Jack.

Jack waxed poetic after a Bruins playoff win by quoting “The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald“, but I don’t have video so I can’t post it. Needless to say, only Jack Edwards would attempt and actually get away with it.

And that concludes our 2nd Annual NHL TV Awards.

Various Sports Press Releases For Your Reading Pleasure

Have a few press releases for you to read and these having nothing to do with one particular subject. Let’s give you what I have right now.

First, Fox Sports will be covering the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Las Vegas tomorrow.

FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES

FOX Sports Hits the Jackpot with

NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Las Vegas

DW & Hammond:  RCR is Back on Track

FOXSports.com’s Marvez Looks at Who’s Under the Microscope at the NFL Combine

IS THE NO. 48 POISED TO CONTINUE DOMINATION? – On Sunday, Feb. 28 (2:00 PM ET), FOX Sports rides into the desert for NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing from Las Vegas Presented by Pennzoil. Following an up-and-down SpeedWeeks in Daytona, four-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was back in the winner’s circle last week at Fontana. Championship contenders Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin headline a stacked field looking to move up the points standings in Sin City. Coverage starts with FOX NASCAR SUNDAY host Chris Myers, along with analysts Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond from the Hollywood Hotel, FOX Sports’ traveling prerace set providing up-to-the-minute reports and live interviews with drivers, crewmen and officials shaping the day’s action. Once the green flag drops, race announcer Mike Joy will be alongside analysts Waltrip and Larry McReynolds to call all the twists and turns on the track while Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum patrol the pits for up-to-the-second news and notes.

SUNDAY, FEB. 28 – NASCAR SPRINT CUP RACING, 2:00 PM ET

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING IS LEAPS AND BOUNDS FROM A YEAR AGO – FOX Sports prerace analysts Darrell Waltrip & Jeff Hammond are pleased to see that Richard Childress Racing teams are running up front where both analysts believe they belong. It’s an astonishing turnaround when you consider that no RCR driver made it to the Chase last year. “In Fontana, Richard Childress Racing continued their amazing turnaround from last year and they’ll be looking to keep that momentum going this weekend in Vegas. Childress had all three cars finishing in the top 10 and all three cars could have won that race! As a car owner, that’s about as good as it gets,” said Waltrip. Hammond added, “The changes with their crew chiefs from last year, is starting to produce results.”

For more from Darrell Waltrip click here: http://tinyurl.com/yk4t7fy

For Hammond’s take: http://tinyurl.com/ykvgbwu

 

SPEED INTRODUCES FAST TRACK TO FAME – What would you get if you mixed a grassroots American talent search with a dash of the gregarious personality of Michael Waltrip and spread it liberally over NASCAR Nation? Answer: SPEED’s super new talent show, FAST TRACK TO FAME. Set to premiere Monday, March 1 at 8:00 PM ET, FAST TRACK TO FAME is a wild, new talent show produced exclusively for SPEED and hosted by renowned NASCAR owner/driver Michael Waltrip, one of NASCAR’s most out-going and popular personalities and younger brother of NASCAR on FOX lead race analyst Darrell Waltrip. Charissa Thompson, well known for her work on FOX Sports and FSN, serves as co-host. “With a massive SPEED presence at every NASCAR race all season long, FAST TRACK TO FAME gives fans and viewers a whole new level of entertainment,” said SPEED President Hunter Nickell.

ESPN2 will have four Top 25 women’s college basketball teams in action over the next two days.

Women’s College Basketball: Four of Top 25 teams in Action, including No. 1 Connecticut

Judgment Week continues as ESPN2’s upcoming women’s college basketball schedule will include four games featuring five Top 25 teams, including four of the top 10 and one game with two Top 25 teams: Big Monday features No. 1 Connecticut squares off with No. 8 Notre Dame on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Commentators	Networks
Sun, Feb 28	3 p.m.	No. 9 FSU at Maryland	Pam Ward & Rebeca Lobo	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	5 p.m.	Kansas at No. 17 Baylor	Beth Mowins, LaChina Robinson	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	6 p.m.	Mississippi at No. 4 Tennessee	Sam Gore & Abby Waner	ESPNU
Mon, Mar 1	7 p.m.	Big Monday: No. 1 UConn at No. 8 Notre Dame	Bob Wischusen, Carolyn Peck & Rebecca Lobo	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com

ESPN also has plenty of men’s college basketball action starting on Monday.

Men’s College Basketball: Top 10 Teams in Action

ESPN’s men’s college basketball schedule for early next week will include several telecasts featuring ranked teams. Highlights:

• ESPN’s Big Monday BIG EAST telecast March 1 will pit No. 13 Georgetown at No. 7 West Virginia at 7 p.m.
• Three Super Tuesday telecasts, March 2, will include a ranked team, highlighted by two in the top 10: No. 8 Villanova at Cincinnati at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and No. 9 Ohio State against Illinois at 9 p.m. on ESPN. In addition, ESPN will televise No. 20 Vanderbilt at Florida at 7 p.m.
• On Wednesday, March 3, ESPN will showcase No. 5 Duke at Maryland in an ACC contest at 9 p.m.

Date	Time	Matchup	Commentators	Network
Mon, March 1	7 p.m.	No. 13 Georgetown at No. 7 West Virginia	Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas & Bill Raftery	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Jackson State	Anthony Calhoun & Stan Lewter	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Oklahoma at No. 21 Texas	Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	9 p.m.	North Carolina A&T at Morgan State	Charlie Neal & Dennis Felton	ESPNU
Tue, March 2	7 p.m.	No. 20 Vanderbilt at Florida	Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	No. 8 Villanova at Cincinnati	John Saunders & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	7:30 p.m.	South Florida at DePaul	Jim Barbar & Brooke Weisbrod	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Illinois at No. 9 Ohio State	Dave O’Brien, Steve Lavin & Erin Andrews	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	9:30 p.m.	Louisville at Marquette	Lou Canellis & Mike Kelley	ESPNU
Wed, March 3	7 p.m.	Connecticut at Notre Dame	TBD & Digger Phelps	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Wake Forest at Florida State	Mike Patrick & Len Elmore	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Alabama at South Carolina	Carter Blackburn & Litterial Green	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 5 Duke at Maryland	Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas & Erin Andrews	ESPN / ESPN360.com
	9 p.m.	Oklahoma State at No. 23 Texas A&M	Ron Franklin & Stephen Bardo	ESPN2 / ESPN360.com
	9 p.m.	Virginia at Boston College	Dan McLaughlin, Tim Welsh & Andy Katz	ESPNU

One more press release post for you coming up.

Monday’s Linkage

I’ll do some linkage for you. Been busy all day, but I have a nice window here and I’ll get to links after I discuss last night’s hockey action.

I’m still coming down from the USA win over Canada last night in men’s hockey. Now, there are many things that could be said about NBC not airing the game, and I’ve said plenty on Twitter last night. I even got into a debate over it. I’m a bit torn. I’m grateful that MSNBC aired the game in its entirety. During the week, CNBC would join a game that started at 7:30 p.m. Eastern in progress at 8 p.m. or sometimes later depending if a curling match was going late. As much as I have come to enjoy watching curling during these Olympics, I would appreciate someone saying that curling was running late and if one wanted to watch the game from the beginning, go to NBCOlympics.com. But there was none of that in the early portion of the games. So the fact that the game was shown in its entirety on MSNBC was appreciated. In addition, by putting the game on MSNBC, it meant the entire country could watch without a dreaded delay for the Rocky Mountain region and the West Coast. So in a sense, it was a win-win for NBC. Fans who wanted to watch the game all over the country could do so without commercial interruption (another plus).

However, many fans could not see the game in 21st Century, sparkling crystal-clear high definition. This was due to NBC Universal not making the proper arrangements with cable and satellite providers (DirecTV for me) ahead of time. NBC Universal did try to entice providers with USA-Canada to get them to pick up MSNBC HD, but no dice. But that was a small problem for me. Once the game got going, it was a minor nuisance, not a major one.

Part of me wishes the game was aired on NBC. But if that occurred, we would have run into West Coast ire from those who wanted to see the game live. I raise the argument that if ABC had taken the same tact with the USA men’s hockey team in 1980, it never would have been able to build the Miracle on Ice story as well as it did. For those born after 1980, you don’t know that ABC actually showed a majority of USA men’s hockey games live on its network. The only ones shown on tape delay were the USA-Sweden game which was the first game for the Americans in that Olympics and the USA-USSR semifinal game which ran at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 22 in Lake Placid. Again, 1980 was a different TV landscape than today and NBC certainly has more options to air hockey. But if you want to build a story, what better way than to show USA-Canada.

I get the fact that NBC is using the Olympics to appeal to a mass audience, not sports fans, and not everyone likes hockey, but one way to build a story is to show the rivalry between USA-Canada and then if there’s a rematch in the gold medal game, you have last night’s game to reference.

Yes, NBC is gearing the Olympics more towards casual fans so it packages skiing, makes figure skating like American Idol and shows more silly Mary Carillo features to make you hurl, but there is a way it can cater to hardcore sports fans. Sports fans like myself get infuriated at NBC for delaying events, but the network knows we’ll watch. It’s trying to build an audience so yes, NBC will delay skiing and other glamor events so it can add features, replays and cut a 2 hour event to 45 minutes so the casual viewer can get hooked. Based on this thinking, hockey is going to get pushed to CNBC or MSNBC, however, from what I could tell from Twitter, people were watching USA-Canada over tape delayed skiing.

But the ratings will tell us how the hockey game fared and we’re expecting that later today. Once I receive notice, you’ll see it here on the blog.

Ok, I’m done with discussing USA-Canada, let’s get to some links.

Jason Fry, writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center talks about the reporting of Olympic results and how some journalists can provide them without spoiling some of their audience.

Linda Holmes from National Public Radio writes that NBC’s Olympic coverage manages to annoy just about everyone.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the delayed coverage on NBC is frustrating many fans.

Over to Sports Business Journal where Tripp Mickle and John Ourand report that the US TV networks aren’t showing much of a response for the rights to the 2014/2016 Olympics.

SBJ’s Olympic site says NBC’s ratings for the Olympics are up 21% from Turin.

Tripp Mickle writes that the NHL was highly visible in Vancouver for “Super Sunday”.

Back to the SBJ, Bill King has a feature asking the question, how do sports leagues handle wireless rights and how much do they commit?

Jon Show in Sports Business Daily says Tiger Woods’ negative numbers are now very high. 

Eric Fisher in Sports Business Daily writes that Sporting News Today will be going to a pay model in April, but that does not affect Sportingnews.com.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has your Olympic viewing guide.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says perhaps Canada’s Own The Podium program could be to blame for the country’s poor performance to date at the Winter Olympics. 

Darren talks with Al Michaels about his Miracle on Ice call 30 years later.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times discusses Al Michaels’ first foray into the Olympic studio.

Marc Berman of the New York Post says that former Knicks announcer Marv Albert was not invited to tonight’s 40th anniversary celebration of the team’s first NBA Championship. Albert called it on radio and was considered part of the team by fans.

Jerry Barmash of the New York Examiner tells us that two WCBS-AM sports reporters were honored recently.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says MSNBC with the USA-Canada hockey game actually beat NBC in the ratings in Western New York. Thanks to good friend, Steve Lepore of Puck The Media for the link.

Tim Lemke looks at which Olympic athletes will cash in on their success or failure.

Jim Williams talks with NBC Olympics late night host Mary Carillo.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times liked the NBC and ESPN features on the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business writes a long diatribe on how Tiger Woods does not an apology to anyone.

Ed explains why the White Sox decided to participate in an MLB Network reality show.

Ed says NBC made the right call to jettison the USA-Canada hockey game to MSNBC.

Chicago Blackhawks historian Bob Verdi looks back at the Miracle on Ice. 

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says the Nuggets are making national news for the wrong reasons.

The Los Angeles Times’ Diane Pucin looks at how social networking is helping West Coast Olympic fans cope with the NBC tape delays.

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

Tom says MLB Network’s Prime 9 show will list the best baseball broadcasters of all time.

Tom wasn’t pleased with how NBC shuttled USA-Canada to MSNBC.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star feels some of CTV’s announcers have become unabashed cheerleaders for Canada.

William Houston in Truth & Rumours writes about the USA-Canada game and various CTV issues.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson will co-host a new reality show on Speed.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says CBS College Sports has picked up a carriage deal with AT&T U-Verse.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek says a large group of NBC affiliates are happy with the Olympics primetime performance.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the Olympics have lifted NBC to third place in the 18-49 demographic.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life writes that Tiger Woods’ statement is not being well received by the media

The Sports Media Watch notes that the Tiger Woods apology did well for Golf Channel and ESPN.

SMW says NBC won Sunday night’s ratings thanks to the Olympics, but it was the lowest rated night since the Games began.

SMW tells us that NBC’s daytime and late night Olympic coverage is also outperforming Turin’s ratings.

And SMW has some various Olympics ratings news.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff writes that NBC did the right thing in sending USA-Canada hockey to MSNBC last night.

Phil Swann in TV Predictions explains why NBC chose not to air USA-Canada.

Chris Byrne at Eye on Sports Media says Olympic curling is performing well for CNBC.

And Len Berman is back after a week off with his Top 5 stories of the day.

Those are your links. Tonight, I’ll be at a screening of the upcoming HBO Sports documentary, Magic & Bird. I’ll give you a scenesetter report on Tuesday and a review as we get closer to the airdate.

A Rainy Friday Megalinks

It’s raining here in Southern New England and with a washout expected for the entire weekend, why not give you the megalinks so you can peruse any time while you look for something to keep you busy.

You can check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for the major sporting events of the weekend and it contains the College Football Viewing Picks, NFL Viewing Picks and primetime viewing picks as well. In addition, you can check the ALCS/NLCS schedule for games over spanning over the next few days.

Let’s do the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that the networks are going high-tech for their MLB Postseason coverage.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable writes that HBO Sports is expanding its 24/7 brand to NASCAR.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the League Championship Series is filled with big market teams.

Mike adds that the Chicago Blackhawks set a ratings records on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that out-of-home viewing of the League Division Series for TBS spiked last week.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered to talk about the scheduling of MLB Postseason games.

Sports Business Daily has the final sports ratings for the week ending October 11.

Robert Seidman from TV by the Numbers says no matter who’s in this year’s World Series, it’ll draw a much better rating for Fox than last year’s.

Josh Alper from Pro Football Talk says Jacksonville will be blacked out again this week as the Jaguars failed to sell out in time.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the new Richmond minor league baseball team did not choose his network’s name submission.

Vanessa Voltolina of FolioMag.com says ESPN The Magazine’s Body issue has boosted ESPN.com Insider subscriptions.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says the most viewed MLB games on Fox involved either the Red Sox or Yankees.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media tries to explain the NFL Broadcast Rules.

The Sports Media Watch says Game 1 of the NLCS got off to a good start on TBS.

Joe Favorito talks how the military is an excellent brand for sports.

TV Technology looks at ESPN’s new Innovation Lab.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with CBS’ Phil Simms who tells Patriots fans to be patient.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette praises MLB and Fox for pushing back the start times of the ALCS.

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant discusses ESPNU covering Midnight Madness at 9 schools including UConn tonight.

Neil Best of Newsday talks with Fox’s Tim McCarver about how catchers make for good managers.

Neil has a few more sports media tidbits.

Neil has a classic moment from Celebrity Jeopardy where Kareem Abdul-Jabbar forgets his great line from “Airplane!”

Neil reviews ESPN’s upcoming “30 for 30″ documentary, “Who Killed The USFL?”

Neil has the video of 30 Rock’s “Tennis Night in America”.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post gets on the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for seeing racism where they see fit.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News seems to take glee in the bad weather expected for the first two games of Yankees-Angels ALCS.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says a media basketball practice at the University of Albany earlier this week looked rather ugly.

Pete points out that Chip Caray is overmatched calling the NLCS on TBS.

Pete writes that the 1989 Bay Area Earthquake during the World Series helped to establish ESPN’s journalism reputation.

Rick Scarcella of the Reading (PA) Eagle writes that ESPN/ABC football analyst Matt Millen gets a homecoming to Penn State this weekend.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Orioles actually outrate the Nationals in the DC market.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN college basketball analyst Adrian Branch about tonight’s Midnight Madness coverage.

West

Scott D. Pierce from the Deseret (UT) News says the Mountain West’s efforts to bolster its schedule are hurt by its TV contracts with the mtn. and Versus.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune talks with ESPN’s Jon Gruden who will always have a soft spot for the Stadium formerly known as San Diego Jack Murphy.

John Maffei in the North County Times says Gruden has become a good addition to ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

The Los Angeles Times’ Diane Pucin critiqued TBS’ presentation of NLCS Game 1.

In her regular Friday column, Diane asks baseball announcers to avoid using cliches.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News gets the particulars on what TBS is using to air the NLCS.

Tom reports that the Dodgers will have billboards with the updated NLCS score placed throughout SoCal.

Tom looks at the ESPN documentary on the USFL that airs on Tuesday.

Tom has more on the documentary in his extensive media notes.

Tom has Dennis Eckersley’s comments on TBS regarding Randy Wolf not being ready to pinch run during last night’s NLCS Game 1.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says Miami’s (OH) hockey team gets some games aired on local cable TV this season.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says a local minor league hockey team gets a boost by picking up an FM all-sports station.

Fang’s Bites fave Trenni Kusnierek of MLB Network writes a blog post for OnMilwaukee about life on the road.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwuakee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers got lower ratings this season.

Tim Cary from the ChicagoNow blog talks with another Fang’s Bites fave, Charissa Thompson of Big Ten Network and Fox Sports about the injury that is keeping her off the sidelines.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Dish Network subscribers in the Gateway City won’t be able to watch almost half of the Blues’ remaining games due to dispute with Fox Sports Midwest.

Dan adds that Joe Buck is grateful over Peyton Manning’s mention of him on NBC last Sunday.

South

Dallas Morning News NHL beat writer Michael Heika says Dish Network is also in a dispute with Fox Sports Southwest over 20 Stars games.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle points out that ESPN has replaced its Big 12 Big Monday announcing crew.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN’s Lee Corso has for the most part, come back from the stroke that debilitated him earlier this year.

Mel writes about ESPN putting Bob Knight on Big Monday.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail goes inside the CFL on TSN booth.

Chris Zelkovich’s blog at the Toronto Star is misbehaving for me, but the two top stories on the blog are the ones I want you to read.

And that will do it for the megalinks.

NHL on Versus Returns Thursday with Charissa Thompson!!!!

With or without DirecTV and it appears it will be without DirecTV on Thursday, the NHL on Versus returns for its fifth season. And there will be a new addition to the network, Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson who has been quite busy over the last few months having been on “Shaq Vs.” as well as the Big Ten Network. Now, we get the announcement that she’ll be the rinkside reporter for Versus. In fact, Charissa hinted earlier this month that she would be working for Versus in her blog on her website.

i was in new york this past week doing a bunch of media stuff for the nhl. i will be covering hockey this year. really looking forward to it. fox doesnt have a hockey package at the network level so i have never covered it before and looking forward to the challenge of a new sport.

We look forward to seeing Charissa when and if DirecTV gets its act in gear and brings Versus back to its lineup. In the meantime, I give you the Versus press release touting its opening week coverage. I’ve put the most important part of the release in bold and italics.

NHL ACTION RETURNS TO VERSUS ON THURSDAY WITH OPENING NIGHT DOUBLE-HEADER

VERSUS Launches Season with Additional Online Offerings, Hockey Central Enhancements and New Rinkside Reporter

NEW YORK, N.Y. (September 29, 2009)-VERSUS, the exclusive cable television home of the National Hockey League (NHL), kicks off its fifth year of NHL coverage on Thurs., Oct. 1, with a must-see night of hockey featuring three of the best teams during last year's regular season. Opening night will also showcase NHL superstar Alexander Ovechkin's season debut and the Colorado Avalanche honoring 20-year NHL veteran Joe Sakic by retiring his jersey. The double-header begins with a clash between Eastern Conference titans when the Washington Capitals visit the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the Avalanche hosting the San Jose Sharks at 10 p.m. ET.

As the fastest growing cable sports network in the country and on the heels of the most-watched September in network history, VERSUS continues its first week of NHL coverage on Friday, Oct. 2, with an overseas double-header featuring the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks at 12 p.m. ET from Helsinki, Finland, followed by a Central Division battle between the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings at 3 p.m. ET from Stockholm, Sweden. 

Joe Beninati, Andy Brickley and new rinkside reporter Charissa Thompson will serve as the in-arena team in Boston, while Mike "Doc" Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Bob Harwood will be on-site in Colorado for opening night. On Oct. 2, Dave Strader and Billy Jaffe will call the action for the Helsinki game and Rick Peckham and Darren Eliot will provide commentary for the contest in Stockholm.  

VERSUS.com, which saw video views grow more than 140 percent during the 2008-09 NHL season, has been revamped to increase its comprehensive offerings to viewers. This season, team pages will include up-to-date statistical information for all NHL teams, a blog called "The Daily Drop" which will provide a daily update on what is happening in and around the NHL, interactive games and a new video feature titled "Rookie Diaries" which will spotlight the league's top draft picks for this year's regular season. The site will continue to include editorial coverage from some of the most knowledgeable hockey sources in the industry, exclusive videos and interviews as well as game highlights.

This season, VERSUS' dedicated studio show Hockey Central, hosted by Bill Patrick with analysts Brian Engblom and Keith Jones, will feature high-profile guest analysts on select game telecasts for the first time. Details about guests will be announced when information becomes available, but may include former players and/or coaches. Hockey Central provides extensive insight and commentary of the sport and features regular segments, including highlights from games around the league; Plays of the Week; a telestrator segment in which Engblom breaks down and discusses the night's top plays; Parting Shots, where Engblom and Jones debate hockey's hottest topics in rapid fire fashion; Live-Look-Ins wherever possible, bringing viewers live action from games being played concurrently during VERSUS' telecast; and features on NHL players away from the ice.  

In addition to the VERSUS.com and Hockey Central enhancements, the network has added Charissa Thompson to the NHL on VERSUS talent roster. Thompson will serve as a rinkside reporter, providing in-game updates and on-the-bench interviews. Most recently, Thompson was a correspondent for the Best Damn Sport Show Period and served as the sideline reporter for the Big Ten Network's Saturday game of the week.   Coming off the highest-rated regular season in network history and the most-watched playoffs on cable since 2002, VERSUS is heading into its coverage of 2009/10 NHL regular season with tremendous momentum. Last year VERSUS saw regular season viewership jump more than 20 percent and viewership for the playoffs increase 27 percent as compared to the year prior. Games 3 and 4 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final were the most-watched Final round on cable since 2002 and VERSUS' coverage of the Conference Semifinal and Conference Final rounds were the highest-rated on cable in more than a decade.   VERSUS' regular season schedule highlights some of the most exciting games this year with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings appearing nine times on VERSUS and the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins all making eight appearances. The Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild will each appear seven times this season. In total VERSUS will televise 54 regular season games, wall-to-wall Stanley Cup Playoff action and Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. All of the network's regular-season games are exclusive and VERSUS' regular-season schedule features a Game of the Week wherein VERSUS will be the only place on television to watch an NHL game in the U.S. at that time. Due to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, an All-Star Game will not take place this season.  Every NHL game on VERSUS is available in HD and the network's complete schedule is available at VERSUS.com.  

I’ll have to find a way to watch Versus’ coverage this week as Comcast and DirecTV have yet to come to a carriage agreement.

The 2009 College Football Season Kicks Off Thursday

Thursday is a big day for college football fans. It’s the official start of the season with plenty of games and you know ESPN will be all over it. I have a bunch of college football press releases so let’s bunch them together in this post.

Check out ESPN is saying about Thursday’s start of the season. Announcing assignments are included.

2009 College Football Season Kicks Off Thursday

First Week of Season to Include 28 Games in Five Days and College GameDay from Atlanta as Part of Kickoff Week

ESPN will kick off the 2009 college football season with the second annual Kickoff Week (Thursday, Sept. 3 to Monday, Sept. 7), featuring extensive studio programming and 28 games over Labor Day weekend, including Labor Day, across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPNEWS, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN Classic, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN International, ESPN The Magazine and SportsCenter.

As part of Kickoff Week, ESPN will provide extensive studio coverage, including College GameDay originating from Atlanta – site of the ABC Saturday Night Football telecast pitting #5 Alabama vs. #7 Virginia Tech in the College Kickoff Game Sept. 5 at 8 p.m.

• College GameDay, entering its 23rd season, will air every Saturday at 10 a.m. on ESPN during the college football season beginning Sept. 5. This year will mark the 16th consecutive year College GameDay will consistently originate from the site of one of the day’s best games or most compelling storylines. Chris Fowler will return as host for his 20th season with analysts Lee Corso, who has been affiliated with the show since the first year, Kirk Herbstreit, who joined in 1996, and Desmond Howard, entering his fourth season.

The first week of game coverage will feature 28 telecasts in five days across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic, ESPN Radio and ESPN Mobile TV. In addition to #5 Alabama vs. #7 Virginia Tech, highlights include:

• The Pac-10’s #16 Oregon will look to avenge a 37-32 loss last year against defending WAC champion #14 Boise State, which finished the regular-season undefeated, Thursday, Sept. 3, at 10:15 p.m. on ESPN.

• ESPN will televise the first college football game from Dallas’ new Cowboys Stadium pitting #20 BYU against #3 Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m. BYU won the only meeting between the perennial powers 31-6 in the 1994 Copper Bowl.

• An ABC telecast Saturday, Sept. 5, at 3:30 p.m. will feature a #13 Georgia at #9 Oklahoma State. Georgia, 34-3 against non-conference opponents with head coach Mark Richt, will open against a top-10 ranked team for the first time since 1967. Oklahoma State has won 15 straight non-conference games at Boone Pickens Stadium.

• The fifth annual The MEAC/SWAC Challenge from Orlando will pit MEAC defending champion South Carolina State against 2008 SWAC title winner Grambling State for the first time since 1994 on Sunday, Sept. 6, at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.

• A special Monday night college football telecast (one week before ESPN’s Monday Night Football kickoff) will feature Miami at #18 Florida State on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. on ESPN. It will mark the first time the intrastate ACC rivals have played on Labor Day since 2006, which was ESPN’s most-viewed college football game ever – regular and postseason – with 6,330,000 households (based on a 6.9 rating).

• Other ranked teams in action include:

• #6 Ohio State against Navy Saturday, Sept. 5, at noon on ESPN;
• #8 Mississippi at Memphis Sunday, Sept. 6, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN;
• #11 LSU at Washington Saturday, Sept. 5, at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN;
• #12 California against Maryland Saturday, Sept. 5, at 10 p.m. on ESPN2;
• #15 Georgia Tech against Jacksonville State Saturday, Sept. 5, at 1 p.m. on ESPN360.com;
• #21 North Carolina against The Citadel Saturday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. on ESPN360.com.

Date	Time (ET)	Game / Commentators	Network
Thu, Sep 3	7 p.m.	South Carolina at N.C. State Sean McDonough, Craig James, Jesse Palmer and Erin Andrews	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
	7:30 p.m.	North Texas at Ball State Charlie Neal and Jay Walker	ESPNU
	10:15 p.m.	#16 Oregon at #14 Boise State Mark Jones, Bob Davie and Heather Cox	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
Fri, Sep 4	8 p.m.	Tulsa at Tulane Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
Sat, Sep 5	noon	Navy at #6 Ohio State Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman and Bob Griese	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
	noon	Minnesota at Syracuse Pam Ward and Ray Bentley	ESPN2/ESPN360.com
	noon	Kentucky vs. Miami (Ohio) [From Cincinnati] Clay Matvick and David Diaz-Infante	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Jacksonville State at #15 Georgia Tech Frank Giardina and Doug Chapman	ESPN360.com
	2 p.m.	Northeastern at Boston College Dave Popkin and Jon Ritchie	ESPN360.com
	3:30 p.m.	#13 Georgia at #9 Oklahoma State * Sean McDonough, Matt Millen and Holly Rowe	ABC/ESPN360.com
		Western Michigan at Michigan * Mike Patrick, Craig James and Quint Kessenich	ABC/ESPN360.com
		Baylor at Wake Forest Dave Lamont and JC Pearson	ABC/ESPN360.com
	3:30 p.m.	Reverse Mirror of ABC *	ESPN2/ESPN360.com
	3:30 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State Todd Harris and Charles Arbuckle	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Missouri vs. Illinois Ron Franklin and Ed Cunningham	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
	6 p.m.	Middle Tennessee at Clemson Ryan Rose and Danny Kanell	ESPN360.com
	6 p.m.	William & Mary at Virginia Jim Barbar and Sonny Randle	ESPN360.com
	6 p.m.	The Citadel at #21 North Carolina Bob Picozzi and Paul Maguire	ESPN360.com
	7 p.m.	Cowboys Classic : #20 BYU vs. #3 Oklahoma (From Cowboys Stadium) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Heather Cox	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Radio/ESPN Mobile TV
	7 p.m.	Louisiana Tech at Auburn Eric Collins, Brock Huard and Beth Mowins	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Connecticut at Ohio Michael Reghi and Jerod Cherry	ESPN360.com
	8 p.m.	Kickoff Game: #5 Alabama vs. #7 Virginia Tech (from Atlanta) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters	ABC/ESPN Radio
	10 p.m.	Maryland at #12 California Terry Gannon and David Norrie	ESPN2/ESPN360.com
	10:30 p.m.	#11 LSU at Washington Mark Jones and Bob Davie	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
	10:30 p.m.	Prairie View A&M at Texas Southern Carter Blackburn and Eddie Robinson, Jr.	ESPNU
Sun, Sep 6	2 p.m.	Grambling State vs. South Carolina St. (from Orlando, The MEAC•SWAC Challenge) Charlie Neal and Jay Walker	ESPN2/ESPN360.com
	3:30 p.m.	#8 Mississippi at Memphis Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
Mon, Sep 7	4 p.m.	Cincinnati at Rutgers Bob Wischusen and Brian Griese	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV
	8 p.m.	Miami at #18 Florida State Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Erin Andrews	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Mobile TV

* Reverse mirror in which ESPN or ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets no receiving the telecast

^ Same-day delay

ESPN’s syndication arm, ESPN Regional Television, kicks off its SEC season with a new studio show on the SEC Network.

ESPN Regional Television Kicks off College Football Season with New SEC Network Studio Show

ESPN Regional Television, the new over-the-air syndication home for Southeastern Conference programming, will debut its weekly live show from the SEC Network Studio on Saturday, Sept. 5, at noon ET, before the Western Kentucky at Tennessee matchup, as part of the SEC Network regionally syndicated college sports package that will air in more than 75 television markets and 66 million households (58 percent of the U.S.) – a result of the landmark 15-year agreement between ESPN, Inc., and the SEC.

In the noon to 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday window, the SEC Network will be ESPN’s third-largest network, behind only ESPN and ESPN2. The live pregame show from the SEC Network Studio, with host Rob Stone and analyst Matt Stinchcomb, is produced by ESPN Regional Television at its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., also the home of ESPNU.

“The studio show is something this package has not had in the past,” said Mike Moore, ESPN Regional Television senior coordinating producer. “We’ll have a completely separate production team working on content that is more about the SEC overall. The guys here will talk about what else is going on around the league, and once the game starts they’ll bring highlights and scores from other SEC games and national games, during the game and at halftime.”

Along with analysis of the SEC East and SEC West and a look at the three new coaches in the conference, Stone and Stinchcomb will discuss the following on the premiere from the SEC Network Studio:

* Can anyone knock off top-ranked Florida?
* Head coach Lane Kiffin’s impact at Tennessee
* Is Mississippi’s Jevan Snead the best QB in the SEC? The country?
* Who has the “craziest” fans in the SEC?

Also, ESPN analyst and former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware will join Stinchcomb for “Quick Hits,” a discussion of the hottest topics of the day.

The show will also feature student reporters, all seniors, from Kentucky (Nick Stacy), Vanderbilt (Jacquie Berger), Arkansas (John Gossett), Auburn (Kristen Keller) and Mississippi State (Lace Stewart).

The SEC Network features an SEC football Game of the Week regionally for 13 consecutive Saturdays. Telecasts will kick off at noon ET/11 a.m. CT with the live show from the SEC Network Studio, followed by the matchup, generally determined 12 to six days in advance.

SEC Network coverage will feature extensive football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball telecasts, produced by ESPN Regional Television.

Within the nine-state SEC footprint, the SEC Network will be delivered in markets by the local over-the-air carrier of SEC events. In markets outside the SEC footprint, the syndicated programming will air on either local, over-the-air television stations or regional sports cable networks.

About Rob Stone
Stone joined ESPN in 1997 as the host of ESPN2’s Worldwide Soccer, and has since covered a variety of events. He is a sideline reporter for select MLS and U.S. Soccer telecasts, and has covered the last three FIFA World Cups and hosted the last 11 MLS Cups. He has been a college football sideline reporter since 1999. Rob’s complete bio, here.

About Matt Stinchcomb
Stinchcomb started his television career in 2007 with Comcast Sports Southeast as an analyst and host. He has been a commentator and college football expert on SportsNite and is a color announcer for the Georgia Bulldogs. He also is a host and analyst for SEC College Football Today on Atlanta radio AM 680 The Fan. Matt’s complete bio, here.

NBC is hoping to go nowhere but up after last season’s horrible Notre Dame showing. With 8 home games this season, NBC is feeling a Notre Dame ratings resurgence.

NOTRE DAME OPENS ITS SEASON AGAINST NEVADA SATURDAY ON NBC

"Better, more talented, more confident" - NBC's Haden on Notre Dame

NEW YORK - Sept. 2, 2009 - Notre Dame opens its 2009 season hosting Nevada, the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports. Tom Hammond (play-by-play) and Pat Haden (analyst) and Alex Flanagan (sideline reporter) call the action.

"I anticipate this to be a much different Irish team than we have seen the past two years -- better, more talented, more confident," said Haden. "The Irish have not had the depth that they possess this year in any year I have covered them for NBC.

"While this is a veteran team with 18 starters returning, some freshmen will make their mark early. Linebacker Manti Te'o is the most talked about freshman, as he should be, but receiver Shaquelle Evans will have an immediate impact on offense. With Clausen at QB and two very talented returning receivers in Michael Floyd and Golden Tate, ND should find the end zone a lot through the air. But to be a BCS team they will have to run the ball much better than they have the past two seasons."

Nevada returns 15 starters from a team that went 7-6 last season and played in a bowl game for the fourth consecutive year.

NOTRE DAME FACTS & FIGURES: This game will mark the start of the 121st football season at the University of Notre Dame dating back to 1887 (the Irish did not field teams in 1890 or 1891). Notre Dame enters the 2009 season with an all-time record of 831-284-42 (.736 winning percentage) and return 18 starters from last year's squad. The Irish are 70-8-3 (.883) in season openers inside Notre Dame Stadium.

NOTRE DAME ON NBCSPORTS.COM: To complement NBC's broadcast coverage, NBCSports.com will offer a live post-game webcast, which will originate from Notre Dame Stadium and extend the NBC television broadcasts by providing an unprecedented depth of Notre Dame coverage including live coverage of Coach Charlie Weis' press conference.

NOTRE DAME ON NBC: In June of 2008, the University of Notre Dame and NBC Sports announced a new five-year agreement under which NBC will televise Irish home football games through 2015, which will mark the 25th year of the partnership. The extension provides NBC rights to eight Notre Dame home games from 2011-15, seven games at Notre Dame Stadium and an additional eighth off-site home game airing in primetime each year. The landmark relationship began in 1991.

NOTRE DAME ON NBC SCHEDULE (ALL GAMES BROADCAST IN HD):Sept. 5 - Nevada, 3:30 p.m. ETSept. 19 - Michigan State, 3:30 p.m. ETOct. 3 - Washington, 3:30 p.m. ETOct. 17 - USC, 3:30 p.m. ETOct. 24 - Boston College, 3:30 p.m. ETOct. 31 - Washington State*, 7:30 p.m. ETNov. 7 - Navy, 2:30 p.m. ETNov. 21 - Connecticut, 2:30 p.m. ET

*From the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

And I save the best for last. The Big Ten Network premieres a new show this Friday with Fang’s Bites all-time fave, Charissa Thompson!!!!

‘Big Ten’s Best’ to Spotlight Conference’s Legends, Tradition

Series debuts Friday with ‘Dynamic Football Duo’s of 80’s and 90’s’

CHICAGO – As the oldest Division I athletic conference, the Big Ten Conference has long been known for its excellent players, coaches, teams, tradition and history. The Big Ten Network will honor the conference’s outstanding legacy with the new series, “The Big Ten’s Best.”

Hosted by Charissa Thompson, the series premieres at 8 PM ET on Friday, with “Best Dynamic Football Duos of the 80’s and 90’s.” New episodes will air at 8 PM ET each Friday.

“One of the things that makes the Big Ten special is its unique sense of history and tradition. ‘Big Ten’s Best’ will spotlight the players, coaches and teams that have made the conference what it is today,” said Mark Hulsey, Big Ten Network Executive Producer and VP, Production. “These shows will undoubtedly spark some debates between fan bases, whose rivalries help characterize the conference.”

Each program will rank the conference’s top 10 performers or performances in a particular category and include interviews with players, coaches and media.

Upcoming shows this fall will include “Best Big Ten Running Backs of the 90’s,” “Best Big Ten Quarterbacks of the 80’s,” “Best Football Finishes of the 80’s,” “Best Football Finishes of the 90’s,” “Best Big Ten Basketball Players of the 80’s,” “Best Big Ten Basketball Players of the 90’s,” “Best Dynamic Duos in Big Ten Basketball,” “Best Basketball Finishes of the 80’s,” and “Best Basketball Finishes of the 90’s.”

And I’ll pass along this tidbit from MovieTickets.com listing the Top Five College Football movies of all-time among respondents. I vehemently disagree with the top choice.

With the kickoff to College Football set for this Thursday, MovieTickets.com asked moviegoers to pick the greatest college football movie of all-time. Of the almost 25,000 moviegoers polled, more than half backed “Rudy.” Feel free to use in any upcoming blog posts or stories.

MovieTickets.com Poll: What is the best college football movie of all-time?

1. Rudy (54%)

2. We Are Marshall (24%)

3. Other (13%)

4. The Program (6%)

5. Knute Rockne: All-American (3%)

Total votes at MovieTickets.com: 24,566

That’s it.

Follow Friday V

This is another edition of Follow Friday, originally started on Twitter. If you’re a regular reader, you know how it works. If not, you can find out how it began at Mashable.

Anyway, I don’t feel like explaining it right now so I’m just going to go into the feature. Here are several blogs and sites you should visit more than once.

He has become a giant on Twitter and he’s already a giant in blogging. Robert Littal’s Black Sports Online is a very fascinating site and he has a very good take on hoops, boxing and all things sports business. And when the BET Awards were on the air, his take on the entire affair was laugh out loud funny.

I’ve linked to Wrap Around Curl when she’s written a post for Steve Lepore’s NHL-centric Puck The Media site. Wrap has her own blog which is naturally called Wrap Around Curl. Wrap follows hockey, hockey fashion and she’s quite snarky. I find her blog quite funny and her Tweets are even snarkier, if that’s possible. But she knows her hockey which is more I can say about Carrie Milbank, who is a host for NHL.com.

If you’ve ever watched the daily morning editions of SportsCenter, you’ll know of a feature called “BlogBuzz” which measures what are the hot topics on sports blogs. The company that provides the information for ESPN is Sports Media Challenge which is a consulting firm for athletes, coaches and executives. Among their clients are Shaquille O’Neal, Derek Jeter, Geno Auriemma as well as various college programs, professional sports teams and sports leagues. According to its website, the firm helps its clients “maximize public exposure while minimizing its risks”. It was one of the first firms to suggest to its clients to use Twitter to reach a new audience and it’s working.

Ian Bethune runs Sox & Dawgs, a New England sports blog. Not only does it follow the Red Sox, but also UConn sports, the Patriots and the Celtics. Ian was one of the first blogs to follow Fang’s Bites regularly and he was a traveling companion to the Blogs With Balls conference in New York last month. Ian shows that a good New England sports blog doesn’t have to based in Boston to keep track of the area sports teams. Ian does a great job on Sox & Dawgs and I can safely say he’s become a very good friend.

I’ll run the next three sites in quick succession. All are TV reporters and all are Fang’s Bites faves. First, is former NESN Red Sox on-field reporter Tina Cervasio, currently of MSG Network in New York. She also Tweets as well.

Next is ESPN’s Bonnie Bernstein who made an appearance on IFC’s Z Rock series last month.

Last but not least is Charissa Thompson who is a rising star on Fox Sports and was a co-host on Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Bonnie and Charissa both have blogs at their sites.

As usual, two non-sports sites. For the latest and greatest in TV and Entertainment news, there’s The Ausiello Files headed by Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello.

And to keep up with the latest on Reality TV including Survivor, The Amazing Race and Big Brother, head on over to Reality Fan Forum. Headed up by Rob and my sweetheart, puddin, this is the best site to find out the latest on the above mentioned shows. Plus, the site also discusses other reality shows. The site has the best information on The Amazing Race and over the last three seasons, has been able to determine the actual route of the show. The TAR Detectives as they’re known are a very smart bunch and nothing get past them. So if you’re a fan of The Amazing Race, head on over to RFF and sign up.

That is it for this edition of Follow Friday.

Did You Know It’s The End of BDSSP?

If you’re a regular viewer of the show, you know what BDSSP stands for. If not, then you haven’t seen Best Damn Sports Show Period.

It’s hard to believe it’s been on for 8 years, but it’s been a regular staple of your Fox Sports Net affiliate. It began with a group of guys talking about a myriad of subjects. Every once in a while, you had eye candy such as Lisa Guerrero, Leeann Tweeden, Amanda Beard to Fang’s Bites fav Charissa Thompson.

The cast started with Chris Rose, Tom Arnold, John Kruk, Reggie Theus and Deacon Jones. DeMarco Farr replaced Jones and John Salley joined to replace Theus. From there, the cast went through many incarnations including the ousting of Arnold in 2005.

When it ends tonight, Rose, Charissa and Salley will say goodbye to a program that has held the late night timeslot for FSN since 2001.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the local FSN affiliates no longer need a national program to anchor their lineup.

The Big Lead also says goodbye.

Deadspin’s A.J. Daulerio has some fond memories of the show.

Charissa tweeted that she was sad the show was ending.

Overall, Best Damn Sports Show gave FSN some national attention and some buzz. It had a very loyal following in its early years, but as it rolled into the latter part of this decade, BDSSP lost viewers as FSN affiliates moved the show’s timeslot either due to local programming, games or not running it altogether. While it did not move mountains, BSSDP did give John Kruk, Michael Irvin, and Steven A. Smith their television debuts and all made the move to ESPN based on their appearances on the show.

I admit not having watched the show in a very long time, but there’s no doubting the impact it had for FSN when it tried to compete with ESPN as a national network.

Some Monday Links

Just to let you know, blogging will be at a minimum over the next couple of weeks as I have to send my Acer notebook computer out to get fixed (something wrong with the power connection) so I’ll try to blog whenever I can from other computers. So annoying when this happens.

I’m blogging from a slow work computer and probably will have to double up on posts when I can. So annoying.

Here we go.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that CBS’ Bill Cowher is enjoying being on TV. USA Today picks up a story from the Associated Press which says several Pennsylvania cable systems are going to pick up the Arizona-Eagles game this Thursday night.

Now some links from the Sports Business Journal.

Michael Smith and John Ourand write a story on how ESPN blew away the Bowl Championship Series with its bid.

John Ourand says sports executives across the country are impressed by the ESPN/BCS deal.

John writes that ESPN is using “Outside the Lines” and “E:60″ to expand its long-form journalism stories.

Back to Michael Smith, he writes that ESPN and Fox are looking for ways to cut costs in their NASCAR broadcasts next season.

Tripp Mickle says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and the Washington Capitals are combining for the team’s first original TV show.

Jay Weiner and Liz Mullen say companies are scaling back plans for parties at the Super Bowl.

And you can check out the results of the SBJ’s 4th annual reader survey on various issues including media and sponsorship.

Thanks to the Sports Business Journal for providing the links today.

From Neil Best, we have a bunch of blog posts that expand on his Sunday column with WFAN’s Mike Francesa. In this first post, Francesa says he realizes his weight makes him fair game for many of his critics. Next, Francesa talks about his reunion with former partner, Chris Russo at a charity event. Mikey says the fall of Don Imus’ morning show on WFAN might have indirectly led to the end of Mike & the Mad Dog. Mike says going on remotes was definitely a source of tension between and Russo. Mike says Russo laughing at David Letterman’s jokes about him was not a problem for Francesa. Francesa tells Neil that the Shaquille O’Neal trade from Miami to Phoenix led to a huge fight between and Mad Dog. Michael admits he can be a giant pain in the ass to work with. I can remember during their 10th annivesary show, Francesa said he would not work with another partner if he and Russo ever split up. Well, ten years later, Francesa has changed his tune and says he does not want to be a one man show. And Mike admits he and Russo were late to embrace new technology. You want more Mike Francesa interview links? Sure, why not. Mike tells Neil that he still has enormous passion for his job. Late in the Francesa interview, WFAN operations manager Mark Chernoff joined in and he tells Neil that he never thought Mike & the Mad Dog would break up. Francesa says he and Don Imus would talk every day. Neil writes that MSG Network had big things planned for Francesa had it won the bid from YES to simulcast his radio show.

To Phil Mushnick of the New York Post. He writes ESPN’s Pam Ward and Ray Bentley ignored Purdue coach Joe Tiller running up the score on Indiana in his last game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is back from vacation and he wonders if Citigroup’s deal to name the Mets new stadium will hold.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Tom Jones has his take on Fox’s production of the Bucs=Lions game and gives praise to Fang’s Bites fav Charissa Thompson.

The Sports Media Watch has a look at NASCAR’s ratings this season.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks about the Fox production of the 49ers-Cowboys game yesterday. And Barry says ESPN is rooting for an upset on Thursday night.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News feels HBO/NBC/NFL Network analyst Cris Collinsworth is a step above all other analysts.

That’s going to do it because this computer is so slow and it’s taking me so long to gather them. I hope Acer fixes my computer quickly because I cannot stand this.

The Friday Megalinks, Part II

Now that we have the first part of the Friday megalinks out of the way, let’s give you the rest.

First, I have some leftovers from the National links, then the East and Mid-Atlantic region and then I’ll do the Midwest, West and Canada from there.

National (cont.)

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable writes that the NFL Network wants to avoid going to an administrative law judge to settle its dispute with Comcast.

Larry Barrett from Multichannel News says former NBA star Mike Glenn will be the studio analyst for Atlanta Hawks games on Fox Sports South and SportSouth.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has an excerpt of his interview with Oklahoma State University athletic booster T. Boone Pickens that airs tonight.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Baseball says last night’s ALCS Game 5 has livened up an otherwise drab MLB Postseason.

East and Mid-Atlantic (cont.)

The lovely Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald writes that Entercom employees are wondering why WEEI.com got spared while several employees on the radio side got laid off.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has compiled a preliminary TV schedule of college football games for next weekend.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette explains why fans of Union hockey will hear the opposing team’s announcers call the game against Omaha this weekend. Ken writes that a local station has hired a new weekend sports anchor. Ken links to a podcast in which he speaks with the Director of officiating for the ECAC, Paul Stewart.

Will Leitch and Joe DeLessio of New York Magazine’s Daily Intel blog discuss the sports media going political.

Jim Williams from the DC Examiner says there will be plenty of college basketball programming on TV as the season officially starts tonight.

Midwest

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News says TV stations in town are trying to find a proper balance between the University of Dayton and Wright State men’s basketball teams.

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says Versus’ new sports comedy show mirrors sister network’s E!’s “The Soup”.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley talks with CBS’ Phil Simms about the Indy-Green Bay game this Sunday.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald talks about the sports radio format being healthy in the Windy City.

Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune talks with Fang’s Bites fav Charissa Thompson of the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports.

Over to Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin who discusses John Madden’s long streak of doing games coming to an end.

The Kansas City Star’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes that an Entercom employee at the local sports radio station has been let go.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about a local resident who will have plenty of face time on ESPN’s World Series of Poker.

West

The Deseret (UT) News’ Scott D. Pierce tries to answer questions about the mtn.

Jim Gintonio from the Arizona Republic talks with Cardinals radio voice Dave Pasch.

Over to the San Diego Union-Tribune where Jay Posner writes that Fox would prefer Red Sox-Phillies in the World Series. Jay has the ratings from last weekend in San Diego.

John Maffei in today’s North County Times writes about John Madden taking this week off.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star talks about Cris Collinsworth giving Madden a blow this weekend.

Steve Springer from the Los Angeles Times says Fox Trax and Pitchtrax are showing viewers the strike zone and whether umpires are right on ball/strike calls.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Bob Costas about his role in promoting “The Express”. In his Friday column, Tom discusses MLB and John Madden. In the first part of his extensive media notes, Tom talks about Midnight Madness and a bunch of other stuff. And here’s the second part of Tom’s media notes.

To the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where Gary Washburn talks with the Voice of the Washington Huskies, Bob Rondeau who tries to find a silver lining in an 0-5 season.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s William Houston writes that a movie on Don Cherry’s life could begin production in the summer.

John Terauds from the Toronto Star talks about the reorchestration of the Hockey Theme for TSN.

Jonathan Huntington of the Edmonton Sun praises CFL clubs for allowing TSN more access to postgame celebrations.

Crash Cameron of the Winnepeg Sun says when Rogers Sportsnet hit the scene 10 years ago, Canadian hockey was able to get a new life on TV.

That concludes the Megalinks.

NFL Viewing Picks for Week 6, 10/12/08

NFL Gameday Morning – NFL Network, 10 a.m.
Fox NFL Sunday – Fox, noon

1 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
Baltimore at Indianapolis – Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
Cincinnati at New York Jets – Dick Enberg/Randy Cross/Dan Fouts
Miami at Houston – Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcotts
Oakland at New Orleans – Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon

Fox Coverage Map
Carolina at Tampa Bay – Matt Vasgergian/Brian Baldinger/Laura Okmin
Chicago at Atlanta – Thom Brennamen/Brian Billick/Buck Lanford (who?)
Detroit at Minnesota – Ron Pitts/Tony Boselli/Charissa Thompson!!!
St. Louis at Washington – Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa

4:05 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
Jacksonville at Denver – Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf

4:15 p.m.
Fox Coverage Map
Dallas at Arizona – Dick Stockton/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver
Green Bay at Seattle – Chris Rose/JC Pearson/Nischelle Turner
Philadelphia at San Francisco – Sam Rosen/Tim Ryan

7 p.m.
Football Night in America – NBC

8:15 p.m.
New England at San Diego – NBC, Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer

11:30 p.m.
NFL Gameday Final – NFL Network

DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket Channel Assignments
Sirius Satellite Radio Channel Assignments
XM Satellite Radio Channel Assignments

Saturday Links

As I’m getting ready to watch College Gameday on ESPN, I have the NFL Network on and for the second straight week, I happen to catch a new program called “Starting 11″ which combines NFL Films footage with segments hosted by the extremely lovely Michelle Beisner who is an early candidate for Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping the Remote – 2009. She’s quite good at the segments. The show usually runs Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. then again on Saturday morning at 9:30. If you don’t have NFL Network, here’s a sample of Michelle’s work.

And she also did some work for ESPN on the Champ Car Series.

Ok, now that you’ve seen Michelle, let’s do some links.

Jerry Garcia from the San Antonio Express-News says it may be lights out for “Friday Night Lights” after this season.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News has former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson crowing over Marion Barber. In his blog, Barry previews an E:60 story on a Hawaii graduate assistant football coach with cerebral palsy who lost his job after his original employers left for SMU.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says the next installment of America’s Game: The Missing Rings may hit a bit too close to home for Bills fans.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says this is a strange season for the Yankees as they are out of the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says SNY’s Keith Hernandez has become a character in the broadcast booth.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that SNY will celebrate the final weekend of Shea Stadium.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says MLB needs to get more of its games on TV in the last week of the regular season.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager has one brief snippet on the NFL Today for this Sunday and has Cal Ripken, Jr.’s comments on the MLB postseason.

The Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes including an all-time season low for MLB on Fox. The SMW also looks at the NFL ratings from last week.

Mike Reynolds …. we interrupt this blog for a Charissa Thompson alert on the Big Ten Network wearing her Catwoman glasses … this is a good thing… ok, we continue … of Multichannel News returns with a story that six Comcast SportsNet regional channels will pick up a Sunday NFL pregame show aimed at gamblers.

We have some posts from Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog on ESPN College Gameday’s visit to the University of Georgia campus today. First, Chris looks at the brand of pencil Lee Corso constantly holds on the show. Yes, it’s a certain brand. Chris highlights a meeting between ESPN’s Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Georgia coach Mark Richt. Chris says fans start showing up at the College Gameday set on Friday. Christopher has a picture of the steadi-cam operator who has to carry 70 pounds of equipment to get thos roving shots of the crowd. And Chris says contrary to popular belief, the College Gameday crew doesn’t always want to set up at the stadium. Great stuff from Christopher and I hope we have more behind the scenes pictures from today’s show and when ESPN strikes the set.

Cosby Woodruff of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says a songwriter hopes a second playing of his composition on ESPN will be the charm.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN’s white space test at the stadium formerly known as Jack Kent Cooke was not encouraging.

That’s going to do it for now.

NFL Viewing Picks for Week 4, 09/28/08

NFL Gameday Morning – NFL Network, 10 a.m.
Fox NFL Sunday – Fox, noon

1 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
Cincinnati at Cleveland – Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon
Denver at Kansas City – Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf
Houston at Jacksonville – Dick Enberg/Randy Cross

Fox Coverage Map
Arizona at New York Jets – Dick Stockton/Brian Baldinger/Brian Billick/Laura Okmin
Atlanta at Carolina – Ron Pitts/Tony Boselli/Charissa Thompson!!!!
Green Bay at Tampa Bay – Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa
Minnesota at Tennessee – Chris Myers/JC Pearson/Nischelle Turner

4:05 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
Buffalo at St. Louis – Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcots
San Diego at Oakland – Jim Nantz/Phil Simms

4:15 p.m.
Fox Coverage Map
Washington at Dallas – Joe Buck/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver

7 p.m.
Football Night in America – NBC

8:15 p.m.
Philadelphia at Chicago – NBC, Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer

11:30 p.m.
NFL Gameday Final – NFL Network

DirecTV Channel Assignments
Sirius Satellite Radio Channel Assignments

Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote – 2008

Last year, I had an entry, Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote. Every once in a while, I notice people doing a Google search for the women on that list will stop on that page and look at what I came up with. If you don’t want to click on the link above, the list from last year is as follows:

1. Giada De Laurentiis – Food Network
2. Erin Andrews – ESPN
3. Tina Cervasio – formerly of NESN, now of MSG Network
4. Nigella Lawson – Food Network
5. Stacey Dales – ESPN/ABC

A very strong list. But I figured it was time to revise the list after watching some college football and the Food Network today. It’s a completely new list so there are no carryovers from last year. As I did in 2007, I go in reverse order.

5. Trenni Kusnierek – FSN Wisconsin

Trenni is looking like she’s smirking here. I don’t know the circumstances behind the pic, but it’s what I could find because she’s not listed at the FSN Wisconsin website. She’s the sideline reporter for the Milwaukee Brewers games and also does freelance work for the Big Ten Network. Her work is quite strong and she’s well liked by BTN to possibly do some work during college basketball season. We certainly hope we see more of her.

4. Aida Mollenkamp – Food Network

Who can resist that smile? The host of Ask Aida on Food Network answers questions on recipes, ingredients, food, you name it. Get rid of her tool tech guru on the show and it would be perfect. The show is great to watch and she can certainly whip up Pasta Bolognese in no time. And I’m getting hooked on the show every Saturday. And it’s just before Everyday Italian with last year’s number one Woman Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote, Giada!

3. Robin Meade – CNN Headline News

Host of Morning Express with Robin Meade, mornings on CNN Headline News, this is the show I turn on every morning before I go to work. She just doesn’t make me stop the remote, she’s the first face I see as I get ready to leave my house. And it’s not a bad thing at all. The news is presented very well on Morning Express and whenever Robin is on vacation or is on assignment, the very capable Christi Paul substitutes for her so the show doesn’t miss a beat. In my opinion, Morning Express is the best morning news program on TV.

2. Heidi Watney – NESN

Sideline reporter on NESN for Red Sox games, Heidi replaced the lovely Tina Cervasio this year after the Jersey girl decided to return home. While Heidi hasn’t made Red Sox Nation forget about Tina yet, she is very lovely and when she’s on with Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe on the NESN multi-sponsored pregame show, ratings for their segment go up (ok, I have nothing to base this on, I’m just saying). There are rumors that NESN will cut her loose after this season, but I certainly hope she’s given at least another year.

1. Charissa Thompson – Big Ten Network/Fox Sports/FSN

I keep using this picture for Charissa, we really need a new one, but that’s ok, it will suffice. Charissa’s star is rising at Fox. Last year, she hosted the FSN Baseball Report and did the sidelines for the Big Ten Network. I still maintain that Fang’s Bites was one of the first blogs to sing her praises before she began to get notices. And this year, Fox made her as one of the hosts on Best Damn Sports Show Period and added NFL sideline duties to her resume. She’s getting more notice and for good reason, being compared to Erin Andrews. I’ll be honest, I think she’s better than Erin and I feel that by the end of next year, she’ll surpass Erin in popularity. You heard it here first.

And that’s the list for this year.

A Lazy Friday Megalink Session

I have to be honest with you. I’m a bit slow in getting the megalinks up to you today because of various issues. Yes work is one of them, but another is just being slow to get to the blog. Another issue was piecing together the premiere episode of The Amazing Race Asia 3 of which I plan to do a recap this weekend. Since my usual source of getting episodes appears to have dried up, I had to find a creative way beyond finding my usual creative manner of finding episodes. But it’s been done and you can expect a recap coming either Saturday or Sunday. And the earlier posts of College Football Viewing Picks and NFL Viewing Picks were completed last night (yes, I can publish things ahead of time). Let’s get going with the Megalinks and we’ll start with our Weekend Viewing Picks.

Lots of football action this weekend and on Saturday, the action will be highlighted with Ohio State taking on USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum in primetime. ESPN on ABC’s Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews will all be on hand to call the action starting at 8 p.m. Other games on TV can be seen in the College Football Viewing Picks.

In the NFL, some of the more interesting matchups include the Colts at Minnesota, Pats at Jets, Bears at Carolina and San Diego at Denver. The full Sunday lineup along with coverage maps, DirecTV and Sirius Satellite Radio channel assignments and announcing teams can be seen in the NFL Viewing Picks.

Turning to baseball, Fox has coverage of three games with some very funky announcing assignments. It’s September, you have some important games, but with Fox putting precedence on the NFL, people like Joe Buck, Thom Brennaman, Dick Stockton and Josh Lewin are all away while Fox has to depend on Best Damn Sports Show Period host Chris Rose and two local announcers to get by. Anyway, the action starts at 3:55 p.m. on Saturday.

On Sunday, TBS will carry the Blue Jays at Boston at 1:30 p.m., WGN has the Cubs at Houston at 2 p.m., weather permitting and ESPN’s Sunday night game pits Detroit at the White Sox.

The first installment of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup starts in Loudon, NH on Sunday with the Sylvania 300. ABC hopes to light up your TV when it starts its coverage at 2 p.m.

The Formula 1 circuit is in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Speed has it Sunday morning at 7:30.

Both HBO Pay Per View and Showtime have boxing on Saturday both at 9 p.m. Showtime has Nate Campell and Joan Guzman fighting in the squared circle for the IBO/WBA/WBO/ABCDEFG Lightweight Championship.

HBO PPV has Joel Casamayor taking on Juan Manuel Marquez for Ring Magazine’s Lightweight Championship plus one other bout.

Turning to golf, the PGA Tour is taking the week off as it gets ready for next week’s Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Louisville. The women are in Mobile, AL for the Bell Micro Classic which the Golf Channel covers throughout the weekend at 3:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

And if you care about the WNBA, ESPN2 has the Seattle Shock taking on the Los Angeles Spark, Sunday at 4:30 p.m. so bag those plans to watch the NFL and switch to ESPN2.

Let’s do your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has ESPN/ABC’s Kirk Herbstreit putting his Ohio State allegiance aside in order to be objective for Saturday’s Buckeyes-USC game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says tennis hottie Ana Ivanovic could sign a lucrative lifetime shoe contract when her current deal with addidas expires next year. Darren talks with one company that has signed an autograph deal with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. Darren writes that Forbes magazine may have overvalued some NFL franchises.

ESPN has a preview of its features on Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown.

Multichannel News says TBS will be using Bon Jovi once again to promote its coverage of the MLB postseason.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says tickets for the last game at Yankee Stadium are reselling as high as $18,000.

Deadspin’s AJ Daulerio goes out on a date (not that kind of a date) with ESPN’s Linda Cohn.

West

I’ll go from West to East today. Starting with Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News, he feels FSN went over the top in crying over the strange unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the BYU-Washington game last week. Scott even says FSN is biased towards the Pac 10, but Scott is sounding a lot like a BYU apologist.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the general manager of the local CBS affiliate is still trying to defend himself for not carrying the US Open men’s final on Monday. In fact, several CBS affiliates across the country chose to shuffle the final to their other channels, either co-owned CW or Fox affiliates or even their digital channels in order not to blow away their lucrative local programming. Jay also has a look at last week’s sports TV ratings in San Diego.

John Maffei of the North County Times says ESPN/ABC’s Kirk Herbstreit won’t wear his Ohio State ties on his sleeve during the school’s game against USC tomorrow.

The Ventura County Star’s Jim Carlisle also has quotes from Herbstreit about the game.

Steve Springer of the Los Angeles Times talks with the 80 year old Keith Jackson who has no intention of attending the Ohio State-USC game.

Here’s another story on ESPN/ABC’s Kirk Herbstreit. Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News says Ohio State fans don’t like it when Kirk doesn’t go all out for the Buckeyes either on College Gameday or during his game broadcasts. Tom has more from Kirk in the first part of his media notes. And here are some more of Tom’s media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News is appealing to the Bay Area to vote for the late Oakland A’s announcer Bill King for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer discusses the new book written by the lovely Linda Cohn of ESPN.

Midwest

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says Ohio State has some things to prove on national TV against USC.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press’ Michael Zuidema talks with Fang’s Bites fav Charissa Thompson who’s been quite busy these days.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that despite the hype, not everyone watched Brett Favre’s Jets debut last Sunday.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald is appealing to fans to vote for a Cubs and a White Sox announcer for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin talks with ESPN’s Cris Carter and Keyshawn Johnson about Ohio State-USC.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Rams had their lowest rated game ever last Sunday.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that the Chiefs expect their home opener to be sold out in time to lift the TV blackout for this Sunday.

South

Doug Nye of The State says Time Warner Cable subscribers get ESPNU in HD as of today.

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson analyzes the NFL analysts’ performances from Week 1.

Dave Darling from the Orlando Sentinel is happy to hear one local sports radio talk show host back on the air after a two year hiatus.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram catches up with a former Dallas TV sports anchor who has made it to ESPNews.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says former Alabama and Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione is enjoying his gig with ESPN Radio this season.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht talks about Michael Phelps hosting Saturday Night Live. Mel says officiating should be a hot topic on Saturday’s College Gameday program on ESPN. Here are Mel’s news and notes for this week. And Mel has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch plugs his own appearance on CN8 tonight.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe has several NFL TV analysts feeling all is not lost for the Patriots even though QB Tom Brady is out for the season.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the YES Network will not come down on Michael Kay for his harsh statements about the Yankees this week. In his blog, Neil has more from Kay who says he’s free to say whatever he wants on the Al-Yankzeera network (one good name that Bob Raissman came up with). Neil also has more from his discussion with ESPN’s Linda Cohn that didn’t make it into his Friday column.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir writes about Allianz dropping its bid to purchase naming rights for the Giants-Jets stadium after a controversy arose about its ties to Nazi Germany.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News wonders why it took so long for Michael Kay to criticize the Yankees on YES. Nothing is ever good enough for Raissman.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wonders when fans will say enough and not pay such exorbitant prices for tickets.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with CBS’ Rich Gannon about Pats-Jets. Justin has five questions for ESPN’s Lee Corso.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record lists the college football games on national and local TV on Saturday.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager likes CBS’ Kevin Harlan.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times lists his five viewing best bets and five worst stadium naming rights deals.

And that will do it for today. I’ll be back later with Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks and other stuff. Keep your RSS feeds updated.

NFL Viewing Picks for Week 2, 09/14/08

NFL Gameday Morning – NFL Network, 10 a.m.
Fox NFL Sunday – Fox, noon

1 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
Buffalo at Jacksonville – Screamin’ Gus Johnson/Steve Tasker
Indianapolis at Minnesota – Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf
Oakland at Kansas City – Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon
Tennessee at Cincinnati – Don Criqui/Dan Fouts

Fox Coverage Map
Chicago at Carolina – Sam Rosen/Tim Ryan/Chris Myers
Green Bay at Detroit – Matt Vasgersian/Jayice Pearson/Charissa Thompson
New Orleans at Washington – Dick Stockton/Brian Baldinger/Laura Okmin
New York Giants at St. Louis – Joe Buck/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver

4:05 p.m.
Fox Coverage Map
Atlanta at Tampa Bay – Ron Pitts/Tony Boselli/Nishelle Turner
San Francisco at Seattle – Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa

4:15 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
Miami at Arizona – Bill Macatee/Steve Beuerlein
New England at New York Jets – Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
San Diego at Denver – Dick Enberg/Randy Cross

7 p.m.
Football Night in America – NBC

8:15 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Cleveland – NBC, Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer

11:30 p.m.
NFL Gameday Final – NFL Network

DirecTV Channel Assignments
Sirius Satellite Radio Channel Assignments

NFL Viewing Picks for Week 1, 09/07/08

Time to give you the NFL Viewing Picks. This season, I’ll give you the network announcing assignments as well as the coverage maps, DirecTV channel assignments, Sirius Satellite Radio channel assignments and anything else I feel is worthy. Here we go.

Fox NFL Sunday – noon

1:00 p.m.
CBS Coverage Map
New York Jets at Miami – Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
Kansas City at New England – Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf
Cincinnati at Baltimore – Kevin Harlan/Rich Gannon
Houston at Pittsburgh – Screamin’ Gus Johnson/Randy Cross
Jacksonville at Tennessee – Ian Eagle/Solomon Wilcots

Fox Coverage Map
St. Louis at Philadelphia – Kenny Albert/Moose Johnston/Tony Siragusa
Tampa Bay at New Orleans – Thom Brennaman/Brian Billick
Seattle at Buffalo – Ron Pitts/Tony Boselli/Charissa Thompson!!!
Detroit at Atlanta – Matt Vasgergian/Jayice Pearson/Nishelle Turner

4:15 p.m.
Fox Coverage Map
Dallas at Cleveland – Joe Buck/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver
Arizona at San Francisco – Sam Rosen/Tim Ryan/Chris Myers
Carolina at San Diego – Dick Stockton/Brian Baldinger/Laura Okmin

7 p.m.
Football Night in America – NBC

8:15 p.m.
Chicago at Indianapolis – NBC, Al Michaels/John Madden/Andrea Kremer

11:30 p.m.
NFL Gameday Final – NFL Network

DirecTV Channel Assignments
Sirius Satellite Radio Channel Assignments

Fox Sports’ Announcing Teams for the NFL

Got the latest press release from Fox Sports officially announcing the announcing teams for the NFL on Fox.

Nice to see Charissa Thompson graduating from the Big Ten Network going to do sideline work on the NFL. By the way, not to pat myself on the back, but I was one of the first blogs to champion Charissa’s work.

Anyway, here’s the release:

FOX SPORTS ANNOUNCES 2008 NFL ON FOX BROADCAST TEAMS

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver Return as Top Crew for 7^th Season

Super Bowl Champion Michael Strahan joins Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson for the 15^th Season of FOX NFL SUNDAY, America’s Most-Watched Pregame Show

Former Baltimore Ravens Head Coach Brian Billick and New Sideline Reporters Laura Okmin, Nischelle Turner and Charissa Thompson Join the NFL on FOX

New York— FOX Sports officially announced today its broadcast teams for the upcoming NFL season. Leading the group again are six-time Emmy-Award winning play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman and reporter Pam Oliver, who return as the NFL on FOX’s lead broadcast team for the seventh straight season. The announcement was made today by FOX Sports president and executive producer Ed Goren. This season marks Buck’s 15^th with FOX Sports and Aikman’s eighth while sideline reporter Pam Oliver returns for her 14^th NFL on FOX season. The group calls their first game from Cleveland on Sept. 7 as the Browns play host to the defending NFC East Champion Dallas Cowboys. For the second consecutive year, former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston teams with play-by-play announcer Kenny Albert and sideline analyst Tony Siragusa to comprise the NFL on FOX’s solid No. 2 broadcast team. They are in Philadelphia Week 1 as Steven Jackson and the St. Louis Rams take on Donovan McNabb and the Eagles.

Each week, the NFL on FOX broadcast day begins with the one-hour FOX NFL SUNDAY (12:00 PM ET), America’s most-watched NFL pregame show. FOX NFL SUNDAY, recipient of four Outstanding Studio Show Emmy Awards, adds reigning Super Bowl champ and future Hall-of-Famer Michael Strahan as a studio analyst. Strahan, the NFL’s all-time single-season sack leader makes his debut on Sunday, Sept. 7 joining co-hosts Terry Bradshaw and Curt Menefee, analysts Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson, weathercaster Jillian Reynolds, and comic prognosticator Frank Caliendo. Strahan’s addition raises the number of Super Bowl rings on set each week to nine. Former NCAA & Super Bowl winning head coach Barry Switzer & Johnson team together each week for FOX NFL SUNDAY’s “Grumpy Old Coaches” segment.

FOX Sports also announced the hiring of former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick as a game analyst. Billick, who in only his second season at the helm led the Ravens to victory in Super Bowl XXXV, coincidentally over Strahan’s Giants. He teams in a two-man booth with Thom Brennaman on the eight Sundays the NFL on FOX carries at least seven games, making his debut in Week 1 calling the Tampa Bay at New Orleans matchup. Billick also joins Dick Stockton and Brian Baldinger on select Sundays to form a three-man booth.

In addition, FOX Sports adds three fresh faces to provide reports from the field as Laura Okmin, Nischelle Turner and Charissa Thompson join the NFL on FOX as sideline reporters. Okmin, who will join Dick Stockton and Brian Baldinger, has been a BCS sideline reporter for the past two seasons, the host of FSN’s “Totally Football” and a feature reporter for FSN’s “Pro Football Preview” the past two years. Nischelle Turner, formerly of KTTV, a FOX affiliate in Los Angeles will join Matt Vasgersian and JC Pearson while “Best Damn Sports Show Period” co-host and sideline reporter for the BIG TEN NETWORK’s lead broadcast team Charissa Thompson will join Ron Pitts and Tony Boselli.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing our new additions on camera,” said Goren. “Strahan’s chemistry with Terry, Howie, Jimmy and Curt throughout the summer has been tremendous and I’m excited to see it play out on set. With Billick we’ve added an analyst who I believe has as much potential as any I’ve seen in my career while the addition of Okmin, Turner and Thompson provide each of our game crews sideline access. In all, these additions will help continue FOX Sports’ reign as the No.1 NFL Network.”

The 2008 NFL on FOX campaign kicks off Sunday, Sept. 7 (12:00 PM ET) with doubleheader coverage of seven games, highlighted by the Cleveland Browns hosting Terrell Owens and the defending NFC East Champion Dallas Cowboys. Week 1 action on FOX also features an NFC South rivalry when the Buccaneers head to New Orleans to battle the Saints as well as the NFL’s leading rusher LaDainian Tomlinson and the Chargers playing host to the Carolina Panthers.

Following are the NFL on FOX announcer pairings for 2008:

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver

Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa

Dick Stockton, Brian Baldinger, Laura Okmin

Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick

Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan, Chris Myers

Matt Vasgersian, JC Pearson, Nischelle Turner

Ron Pitts, Tony Boselli, Charissa Thompson

Stockton, Pitts and Albert have the distinction of being the only members of the group to work NFL on FOX games full-time since FOX Sports’ inception in 1994. Oliver is in her 14^th season, followed by Rosen (13), Baldinger and Buck (11), Aikman and Johnston (8), Ryan (7), Glazer and Siragusa (5), Myers and Pearson (4), Vasgersian (3), Boselli (2), Billick, Brennaman, Okmin, Turner and Thompson (1).

Nice to see Fox increase its sideline reporters for this season. And Fox which at one time paled in comparison to CBS’ lineup has a stronger lineup for the 2008 season.

Monday Morning Stuffage

Let’s give you the links for this back to work Monday.

By the way, I’ve added two new sites to my blogroll. One is called “Lina in Lancaster” and the other is “The Traveling Food Critic“. Both are run by my cousin so I ask that you click on the links, visit both sites and tell her you like her blogs. Neither have anything to do with sports, but because she’s family, I ask that you give her a few clicks to run up her hit count. I thank you and my cousin thanks you. And tell her you came over from Fang’s Bites

Our first media-related link is from David Scott from Boston Sports Media Watch. He has the winners and losers from the whole John Tomase/Spygate affair.

Michael McCarthy of USA Today says he’s sick of Spygate, but he wouldn’t mind seeing Patriots coach Bill Belichick testify in front of Congress. And Mike mentions that Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson of FSN gets more face time on Best Damn Sports Show Period, plus she’s going to be a sideline reporter for the NFL on Fox. More of Charissa is good for the public. And let me say that I was one of the first blogs to jump on the Charissa bandwagon.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says fans who went to the rained Mets-Yankees game on Friday got soaked, literally and figuratively.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that after working for TSN at the World Hockey Championships, Pierre McGuire will return to NBC for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union wonders why networks don’t disclose that they’re showing taped coverage of golf. And Pete says umpires blew a home run call in last night’s Mets-Yankees game and so did ESPN’s Joe Morgan.

From WCBS radio, apparently Sports Director Jared Max noticed that ESPN showed stock footage of the Manhattan skyline during last night’s Mets-Yankees game.

Ray Frager from the Baltimore Sun reviews NBC’s coverage of the Preakness Stakes. And Ray has some more thoughts in his blog.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says NBC rebounded in the Preakness after dropping the ball in the Kentucky Derby. And Jim ‘ in his Watch This! blog.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times also says NBC did well on Saturday in his weekly Shooting From the Lip post in his blog.

From the Eye on Sports Media blog, Christopher Byrne says a horse breeder he talked to won’t watch competitive horse racing.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if the owners of Big Brown didn’t leave some money on the table for the horse’s breeding rights.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Maury Brown, writes in the Biz of Hockey blog that the International Ice Hockey Federation has voted the 1980 Miracle on Ice as the top hockey story in the last 100 years. That’s really a no brainer. In his Biz of Baseball blog, Maury has the comments made by TBS’ Skip Carey and Ron Darling in Sunday’s Brewers-Red Sox game.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says a local sports radio station is ending a simulcast that will leave listeners outside of Denver without access.

Jack Bogacyzk from the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail says the West Virginia-Pittsburgh game will get some national exposure on ABC this Thanksgiving weekend.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says CBS College Sports will be on Cablevision systems come this July.

Crain’s Business Detroit says FSN garnered slightly higher ratings for the Red Wings from last year.

Lots of good stuff on this Monday. I’ll be back later with an update.

The 1st Annual Fang’s Bites College Football TV Awards

Every year, sports media columnist Rudy Martzke of USA Today would hand out his silly “Rudys” to announcers and sports show he felt were the most deserving. I will not call my awards the “Fangies” or something stupid like that. I’m just going to say “Best”, “Worst” or create a category and that’s it. I forgot to do them for MLB after this past season, but I’ll have to remember to do them after next season. I’ll also do this for NFL, NHL and College Basketball, the other sports I follow closely. NBA? I don’t care, but you can do one on your own.

Let’s get started.

The College Gameday Best Pregame Show Award goes to: College Gameday – ESPN. Who else? This has set the standard for pregame shows, both college and pro. I’m a critic of ESPN, but I’m also willing to give it praise when the network does something right and College Gameday is done right. Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit are a well oiled machine. I like the addition of Desmond Howard in small doses and of course, the atmosphere from the college campuses is a bonus. Fox NFL Sunday tried to copy the formula last season when it took its show on the road, but it was a dismal failure. College Gameday basically wins this until it goes off the air. Honorable mention: College Football Today – CBS. Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman do a bang-up job on their show and aren’t afraid to be critical of the BCS.

The Keith Jackson Award for Best Play-by-Play Announcer goes to: Sean McDonough -ESPN. Sean has basically been the announcer-in-exile ever since the Boston Red Sox took him off play-by-play for its broadcasts and for some strange reason, ESPN put him on Friday night games. He deserves to be doing the main games for either ESPN or ABC. I know Sean can’t go back to CBS because President of Sports and News, Sean McManus unceremoniously dumped him after the network hired Dick Enberg in 2000, but really, the guy should be on the main announcing team. Honorable mentions: Ron Franklin – ESPN and Verne Lundquist – CBS.

The Frank Broyles Award for Best Color Analyst: Named after Frank Broyles who did a great job for ABC in the 1980′s, we give this to Gary Danielson – CBS. He’s been one of the best college football analysts ever since ESPN teamed him with Brad Nessler in the 1990′s. Then he was pitted with Brent Musberger, but in 2006, he went to CBS to be teamed with Verne Lundquist on SEC games and this team has clicked very well. Gary has done very well on the SEC and has had the opportunity to call some big games this year including LSU-Arkansas and Georgia-Florida. In both instances, he was on top of trends and did a fantastic job. If CBS ever gets the BCS or the NCAA football tournament if it’s ever created, Danielson would be excellent on the lead team. Honorable mentions: Todd Blackledge – ESPN, Pat Haden – NBC and Charles Davis – Big Ten Network.

Best Overall Announcing Team goes to: Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis – Big Ten Network. They worked together for the first time last season on two NFL games, then the Fiesta Bowl featuring the Boise State upset of Oklahoma, then the BCS Championship Game so their chemistry wasn’t down. But they had a chance to really work together this season and have become a very good team. This season, they didn’t have to be saddled with a third wheel in Barry Alvarez, so they’ll work in an easier and more enjoyable two man booth. They did a fantastic job all season long. Now if the Big Ten Network can sign some more agreements for next season, Thom and Charles will get some more exposure. Honorable mention: Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson – CBS.

The Jim Lampley Award for Best Studio Host goes to: Rece Davis – ESPN. He’s in his element hosting the studio show and handing off to Mark May and Lou Holtz. ESPN does miss Trev Alberts, but Lou isn’t bad. But I digress. Rece also hosts College Football Live for ESPN. He does a tremendous job, especially starting in the morning and being in the Bristol campus sometimes staying until 2 a.m. on College Gameday Final. If Fowler ever leaves College Gameday, Rece could step in quite seamlessly. And for those of you who don’t know, yes, Lamps hosted the College Football studio for ABC in the 1980′s and probably is the best ever. Honorable mentions: Tim Brando – CBS & John Saunders – ESPN/ABC.

Best Studio Analyst: We don’t have anyone to name this after, but we give this award to Mark May of ESPN, by default. Spencer Tillman of CBS isn’t bad and Lou Holtz is ok, but I’ll give this to Mark May.

The Jack Arute Award for Best Sideline Reporter goes to: not Jack this year because he was doing NASCAR duties, but Bonnie Bernstein. Assigned to Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Paul McGuire, Bonnie has sometimes had to fight for airtime, but whenever she’s on, she has solid information and can banter especially with Paul. Happy Hanukkah, Bonnie. Honorable mentions: Erin Andrews – ESPN & Charissa Thompson – Big Ten Network.

Most Valuable Network Award goes to: CBS for its SEC package. The games got consistent ratings every weekend often beating ABC’s 3:30 p.m. regional coverage. The games were certainly more compelling than the others in the same timeslot. Plus, CBS’ production of the games was top-notch. It’s no wonder why the SEC plans to renew its contract with CBS after next season.

Best Overall Coverage Award goes to: Yes, ESPN. The Worldwide Leader has this sport covered from beginning to end starting with College Gameday in the mornings all the way until College Gameday Final late at night. CBS and NBC sign off when their games are done with hardly any time for a postgame show. ESPN goes from 10 a.m. ET Saturday until 2 a.m. Sunday and it works. And the addition of College Football Live during the week has only solidified its position. If you’re a college football fan, ESPN has it covered.

Best Debut of a Network goes to: The Big Ten Network for having the biggest upset in college football history, Appalachian State over Michigan in the Big House. Unfortunately, its dispute with the major cable providers, Comcast, Time Warner, Mediacom and Charter has prevented many across the Midwest from seeing it. But I give you the final moments of the game here.

And the interview of Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore leads me to the following award.

Best Ingénue goes to: Charissa Thompson – Big Ten Network. She did a great job on the sidelines for BTN. The lovely Charissa will be seen on Fox’s BCS coverage during the Sugar Bowl and the BCS Championship Game. She’s been given a bigger role on FSN so expect to see a lot of her in the coming months.

The Phil Stone Award for Worst Play-by-Play: Named after Phil Stone who did a few NFL regional games for NBC back in the 1980′s, Phil was horrible. He yelled and screamed, but never could quite get the feel for the games. He was just plain awful. Phil was a sports anchor for the San Diego NBC affiliate in the 1980′s. Some sports anchors are not suitable for play-by-play and Phil certainly wasn’t. So I give this award to, in a tie Pam Ward – ESPN and Brent Musberger – ABC. I’ve tried to give Pam the benefit of the doubt over the last two years, but I don’t think she’s good at calling a game. I have no problem with women doing play-by-play, but I don’t think Pam’s voice is good enough.

As for Brent, he’s slipped a lot over the years. He’s getting close to Phil Stone in yelling. Brent was very good at one time, but right now, he’s past his prime. Plus he has to travel to NASCAR locations right after games so his concentration has been off. Brent and Pammy share the award.

Worst Sideline Reporter goes to: Lisa Salters – ESPN/ABC. Not impressed by her work at all. Lisa is usually a solid journalist, but sideline reporter is not a role that suits her well.

Most Bizarre Moment goes to: ESPN’s Mike Patrick asking Todd Blackledge about Britney Spears right before Georgia beat Alabama in overtime. Todd was incredulous and asked, “Is she here?” I still shake my head.

Dishonorable mention: Last weekend’s Les Miles controversy when ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit announced on College Gameway announced Miles would leave LSU for Michigan. Then Miles had to call a press conference right before the SEC Championship Game to announce he was staying put at LSU. CBS’ Tracy Wolfson interviewed Miles about his plans and finally, Tim Brando throwing a shot at ESPN. Great stuff.

The Network Disappearing Act Award goes to: NBC for its Notre Dame games. Because Notre Dame had a 3-9 season, the ratings for Notre Dame home games fell into the toilet. Not even the win by Navy, the first in 43 years could save the ratings. But it wasn’t the fault of Pat Haden, one of the better college football analysts and he’s not afraid to be critical of Notre Dame.

Worst Studio Show Award goes to: ABC’s pre-game show. Surprising because it’s produced by ESPN and John Saunders is a very solid host. However, Craig James and Doug Flutie don’t mesh very well. There’s hardly any chemistry between the two. James was very good as the original co-analyst with Lee Corso on College Gameday, but he’s ill-suited in this studio. And it seems disconnected from the Worldwide Leader because the show is produced at ABC’s studios in New York instead of the ESPN headquarters. Plus, the show isn’t even in HD! What’s up with that?

Worst Debut by a Network Award goes to: Versus. It signed a contract with FSN to pick up ten Big 12 and Pac 10 games from TBS. However, like the Big Ten Network, it suffers from a lack of carriage. It had the big upset of Stanford over USC, but most of the country only saw the highlights and that’s too bad. And its coverage of the games was next to horrible. And Rod Thulin of Versus even got the game winning touchdown wrong. Listen as he calls the touchdown for USC.

And there you have it. Let me know what you think, if you agree, if you disagree. I certainly would like to hear from you.