Fang's Bites

A Quiet Wednesday Linkfest

Was out of the office again earlier today so I’m getting to these rather late. Let’s look at what we have today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says the new CBS Sports/Showtime documentary on this year’s Army-Navy football game will have touches of reality TV.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today notes that TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal and ESPN bloviator Skippy Bayless are throwing insults at each other.

At the Hollywood Reporter, Carolyn Giardina and Adrian Pennington report that at least 10 Olympic venues in London are expected to get the 3-D TV treatment. About 16 people in the US will be able to watch that.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN will make its news feeds available to the Pulse mobile app.

Gregg Rosenthal at Pro Football Talk cites a Phil Mushnick report that the man who helped ruin the Cleveland Browns, Eric Manmoron Mangini will be an ESPN NFL analyst this season.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggan of the St. Petersburg Times previews the ESPN Films documentary on the real-life Rocky Balboa who got his shot at the championship.

Lauren Indvik of Mashable looks at how Sports Illustrated is on top of digital technology by publishing a tablet edition of its magazine.

In SportsNewser, Marcus Vanderberg talks with Bomani Jones about the end of his morning show at The Score on Sirius Satellite Radio in Canada.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser tells us to get ready for the NASCAR-themed drama “Tits in the Pits”. You can’t make this shit up.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Merril Hoge took to Twitter to say that Tim Tebow isn’t going to be a good NFL quarterback.

Former Boston Sports Media Watch blogger David Scott writes in ESPN’s Front Row about the Alleged Worldwide Leader breaking ground on a new building and pledging to create an additional 200-800 new jobs in Connecticut over the next five years.

Kristi Dosh, the SportsBizMiss, of the Business of College Sports tries to predict the future and creates four potential BCS “Superconferences” out of the remains of the Big 12 and the Big East.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that video game manufacturer EA Sports could stand to lose one billion dollars if a lawsuit by college athletes goes against it.

Darren talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about the league’s upcoming regional sports networks.

And Darren looks at a new venture that could bring fans closer to their favorite athletes by consolidating social media and personal websites into one site.

John Talty of the International Business Times writes that the NBA lockout won’t be much of a drain on the economy, only to the league’s fans.

Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal writes about the Big East Conference looking forward to a potential huge media rights payday in two years.

Kevin says Big East Commissioner John Marinatto is denying reports that the conference may have to drop a few schools in order to get big TV money.

Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant says the next TV negotiations for the Big East will be the league’s most important in its history.

Mara Lee of the Courant talks about ESPN’s planned expansion in Connecticut.

JC Reindl of the Day of New London (CT) writes that Connecticut came up with plenty of tax breaks so ESPN could expand its Bristol headquarters.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times writes that despite conventional wisdom, the Big East is a big player in college sports.

Lenn Robbins of the New York Post says a lucrative TV contract will ensure the Big East’s success in the long term.

Sean Daly of the Post says NBC is really going after ESPN with its rebranding of Versus.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the winner of SNY’s Kidcaster contest got to call a Mets home run last night.

Neil says ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit is now downplaying reports that overzealous Ohio State fans forced him to move from his native Columbus to Tennessee.

Neil writes that there appears to be a cease fire between WFAN’s Mike Francesa and the New York Jets.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says two local radio stations will pick up Compass Media’s NFL schedule this fall.

Ken says this month’s US Open tennis coverage will be divided among three networks again.

And Ken has the preliminary Westwood One Radio NFL schedule for the first six weeks of the season.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner says the NFL and the league’s Players Association may not be done negotiating yet.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog where Dan Steinberg notes previews from Sports Illustrated’s Peter King and ESPN Radio Hack Colin Cowherd on the DC NFL Team.

Bridget Cary of the Miami Herald says ESPN Deportes Radio is changing stations to get a better signal in South Florida.

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

Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman says the Longhorn Network has made Texas untouchable to other BCS conferences.

Jim Thomas of the Canton (OH) Repository profiles local native Dan Dierdorf on his second career as an NFL analyst.

Shane Hoover of the Repository notes that the NFL continues to find new fans via social and new media.

Steve Ballard of the Indianapolis Star notes that Sunday’s Brickyard 400 scored for ESPN.

David Brauer of MinnPost says the Twin Cities’ ESPN Radio affiliate is pulling Colin Cowherd and inserting a local talk show in his place.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says it’s not known if the NHL’s marriage to Versus will pay off in the long run.

To the Biz of Baseball and Maury Brown who reports that one section of Ohio that was hit with blackouts of the Cleveland Indians and the Pittsburgh Pirates won’t be blacked out anymore.

Larry Brown Sports has former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach sticking up for suspended ESPN.com writer Bruce Feldman on Fox Sports Radio last night.

The Days of Y’Orr Boston Bruins blog notes the creation of a new Jack Edwards soundboard. It’s tremendous.

Kissing Suzy Kolber notes that ESPN’s sponsored segments are getting a bit out of hand.

Melina Travis of Pro Sports Communications talks about the power of sports documentaries.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead wonders if the Big East has any juice with fans.

Awful Announcing kicks around some ideas for the next batch of ESPN Films documentaries.

We have a lot of links today. That’s good for you. I’ll be back later tonight.

Compass Media Announces Talent For NFL and College Football Games

The national networks airing NFL games on radio is like the Wild, Wild West. It seems like anyone can air NFL games on radio as long as they can get a contract with a team. Westwood One, Compass Media and Sports USA carry games on Sunday afternoons. Westwood One has the main NFL Radio contract carrying games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights along with the playoffs going all the way to the postseason.

We have Compass Media’s press release which discusses the announcers who will call the games for Compass, formerly Jones Radio Network. Former Fox Sports NFL analyst Brian Baldinger will be the analyst on selected NFL and college games for Compass. Matt “Money” Smith of Fox Sports Radio’s “Petros & Money” will do play-by-play. And Compass will also be the exclusive national radio distributor for the Dallas Cowboys, airing their games nationally with its own announcing team. Check out the press release.

COMPASS MEDIA NETWORKS ANNOUNCES BROADCAST TALENT FOR 2011 FOOTBALL SEASON

NFL DOUBLEHEADERS & COLLEGE FOOTBALL COVERAGE WILL FEATURE CBS COLLEGE TV’S JON ROTHSTEIN, NFL NETWORKS’ BRIAN BALDINGER, FORMER ALL-PRO CURTIS CONWAY, FORMER COWBOYS’ DALE HELLESTRAE & TONY HILL, FOX SPORTS RADIO’S TIM CATES, KLAC’S MATT “MONEY” SMITH, NJ NETS’ VOICE CHRIS CARRINO
GREG PAPA & TOM FLORES RETURN FOR 15TH SEASON AS VOICES OF OAKLAND RAIDERS RADIO NETWORK
INAUGURAL COVERAGE OF COMPASS MEDIA NETWORKS’ PRESENTATION OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS WILL FEATURE FORMER QUARTERBACK DANNY WHITE, SNY’S KEVIN BURKHARDT & WFAN’S JERRY RECCO

Compass Media Networks announces an expanded roster of play-by-play announcers, game analysts, and studio hosts for the upcoming NFL and College football seasons.

“These upcoming College and NFL schedules are tremendous,” said Brian Baldinger, NFL Network analyst, former NFL player, radio host on THE FANTACTIC on WPEN-AM/FM in Philadelphia. “I am thrilled to return for another season of football and cannot wait for the games to begin.”

Added Danny White, former quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, “I look forward to sharing the broadcast booth with Kevin Burkhardt and making radio history on the inaugural broadcast of the America’s Team Radio Network on Compass Media Networks.”

This season Compass Media Networks will broadcast over 80 football games, including 60 NFL broadcasts, exclusive coverage of both international NFL games from London and Toronto, exclusive coverage of the Oakland Raiders Radio Network, inaugural coverage of the America’s Team Radio Network, and exclusive national coverage of the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game.

“We have all-pros at every position!” said Peter Kosann, CEO of Compass Media Networks. “We are thrilled with our team and look forward to delivering our affiliates and listeners tremendous programming.”

Dial Global is the exclusive advertising sales agent for Compass Media Networks. Visit CompassMediaNetworks.com for additional details.

Here’s the schedule for Compass Media’s NFL doubleheaders.

2011 – 2012 Compass Media Networks NFL Preseason Schedule

And I’ll post info from Sports USA coming up next.