Fang's Bites

More Sunday Links

Let’s give you some more links today.

First, Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes in his Packers blog that the NFL Network will replay the 2003 Seattle-Green Bay overtime playoff game in which Matt Hasselbeck boldly predicted the Seahawks would get the ball and score during the coin toss only to promptly throw a pick 6 shortly afterwards.

Eric Stark of the Lancaster (PA) Newspapers says once you watch sports in HD, there’s no going back. Like this is a new concept?

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron writes in his Four DVRs, no waiting blog that the Roger Clemens interview on 60 Minutes tonight will be shown last.

Newsday’s John Jeansonne wonders who’s telling the truth, Roger Clemens or Yankees trainer Brian McNamee?

Andrew Ratner of the Baltimore Sun asks if everything on the Internet is up for grabs, especially in the wake of Fox Sports nabbing a picture of a dog from someone’s private blog. By the way, here’s the blog entry that has been brought into Fox Sports’ attention. And here’s her latest entry on the matter which apparently the Washington Post has latched onto. I have to say having had my blog stolen from someone from Friendster, I support her in this matter. It’s not fun to have something on your blog stolen and put on national TV without credit. And the person who stole my Amazing Race Asia 2 episode recaps has taken them down after I requested him to do so. I hope Fox learns a lesson from this.

Rusty Hall of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviews the year in tennis including more viewers for the US Open Series.

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team are missing on area TV’s thanks to the Big Ten Network-cable dispute. Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch says Ohio State fans are experiencing a disconnect as the Buckeyes’ next three games are on the Big Ten Network.

ESPN.com has hired yet another writer. This one is Pat Yasinskas of the Charlotte Observer and he writes his farewell column to his readers.

John Drescher of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer rails against the use of anonymous sources in stories and cites a few examples where ESPN was steered wrong.

Roger Diez of the Nevada Appeal says ESPN Classic will show six past Daytona 500 races over the next six Mondays leading up to this year’s race.

And that will do it for the links for today.

College Basketball Viewing Picks (All Times Eastern)

Saturday, January 5
College Gameday, live from South Bend, IN – ESPN, 11 a.m.
Kansas at Boston College – ESPN, noon
Maryland at Charlotte – ESPNU, noon
Iowa at Wisconsin – Big Ten Network, noon
Penn State at Michigan State (women’s) – CBS, noon

Michigan at Purdue – ESPN, 2 p.m.
Tennessee at Notre Dame (women’s) – CBS, 2 p.m.
Oregon at Arizona – FSN, 2 p.m.
UTEP at Texas Tech – ESPNU, 2 p.m.

Louisville at Kentucky – CBS, 4 p.m.
Oregon State at Arizona State – FSN, 4 p.m.
Robert Morris at Quinnipiac – ESPNU, 4 p.m.

UCLA at Cal – FSN, 6 p.m.
Cincinnati at St. John’s – ESPN Classic, 6 p.m.
New Mexico at Wyoming – CSTV, 6 p.m.

College Gameday, live from South Bend, IN – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Providence at Depaul – ESPN Classic, 8 p.m.
LSU at Texas A&M – ESPNU, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Michigan State – Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.

UConn at Notre Dame – ESPN, 9 p.m.

Sunday, January 6
Northwestern at Ohio State – Big Ten Network, noon
UConn at Purdue (women’s) – CBS, 1:30 p.m.
Penn State at Illinois – Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
Tulane at Houston (women’s) – ESPN2, 4 p.m.
Cornell at Duke – FSN, 5:30 p.m.
North Carolina at Clemson – FSN, 7:30 p.m.

Our Saturday Morning Links

I’m watching the latest episode of The Amazing Race Asia 2 again so I can give you a good recap. Expect it to be up later tonight.

First, it’s time for some links this morning.

Starting with our weekly Saturday columns and Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He writes that last week’s Kansas-Missouri game garnered knock-out ratings in the Gateway City and it’s expected tonight’s Big 12 Championship will do the same.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News writes that Thursday’s Green Bay-Dallas game brought out the NFL’s copyright rules into play.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News opines that the Cowboys are quite popular with the NFL Network.

Despite saying last night he would not blog this weekend, Neil Best blogged today. He just can’t stay away. Anyway, Neil notes that ESPN Classic will show Evel Knievel-related programming today between 1 and 6 p.m. ET. And Neil chastises some members of the media for jumping to conclusions in the Sean Taylor story. I agree.

And here is the ESPN announcement on the Evel Knievel programming.

Awful Announcing notes that the NFL Network ran the wrong promo during Thursday’s Packers-Cowboys game and it has the video proof.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive in anticipation of today’s SEC Championship and one of the subjects includes its upcoming TV contract.

Matt Higgins of the Mitchell (SD) Daily Republic writes that fans are losing out with the new sports networks.

Bill Benner in the Indianapolis Business Journal says the cable dispute with the Big Ten and NFL Networks has made radio relevant again.

Woodrow Wilkins of the Delta (MS) Democrat Times officially hates the NFL Network.

The Wausau (WI) Daily Herald in an editorial criticizes both the NFL Network and Charter Communications for not coming to an agreement in time for Thursday’s game.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail talks with ESPN’s Mike Patrick (and West Virginia native) calling tonight’s 100th Backyard Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

We’ve been following this story behind the scenes. Dave Meltzer writes for Yahoo! Sports that both CBS and NBC are considering airing Mixed Martial Arts programming in the wake of an extended Hollywood Writers Strike.

And that will do it for now. Coming up later, NFL Picks for Week 12 and the Amazing Race Asia 2 Episode 2 recap.

A Friday Night Update

We have enough for an update tonight. Let’s get to it.

A few things from Neil Best of Newsday in his blog. First, Neil says for all of the Knicks games that Marv Albert has called, he’s never had to endure an effort in futility as the one on Thursday against the Celtics. Neil also looks at Verizon Online’s features from the NFL for Green Bay-Dallas. Finally, Neil says the CBS public relations department was creative on promoting the network’s post-NFL programming for this Sunday.

From the Sports Media Watch, we get the weekend ratings predictions. And we get the final ratings for Notre Dame football on NBC. Needless to say, they were awful.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that ESPN Classic will have programming focusing on daredevil Evel Knievel who passed away today. Here’s Evel’s official website.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated gives us his Media Power Rankings for November. And Deitsch talks with the outstanding Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski about his new blog.

Darren Rovell of CNBC asks readers if perception is reality over who runs MLB and the NFL.

Maury Brown over at the Biz of Baseball website reports that subscribers to MLB.com’s Offseason Package will be able to watch its coverage from the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville next week.

Bill Jordan of the sister website, Biz of Football, writes that Fox is selling Super Bowl XLII spots for $3 million per 30 second spot.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes in his Four DVRs, no waiting blog about his visit to the ever-growing ESPN campus in Bristol, CT.

Multichannel News gives us a Versus’ press release about the Comcast sports channel airing a live extreme cagefighting event next week.

That’s it until the Saturday morning links. I’ll be working on the Amazing Race Asia Episode 2 recap so check for it later.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 12/01 & 12/02/2007 (All Times Eastern)

Saturday, December 1
Duke vs. Davidson at Charlotte, NC – ESPNU, noon
UC-Riverside at Minnesota – Big Ten Network, 1 p.m.
North Carolina at Kentucky – ESPN2, 2 p.m.
Indiana State at Purdue – Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
UConn vs. Gonzaga at Boston, MA – ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Weber State at Illinois – Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
Washington at Oklahoma State – ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Michigan at Harvard – ESPNU, 5:30 p.m.
Boston College vs. Providence at Boston, MA – ESPN Classic, 6 p.m.
Cincinnati at UAB – CSTV, 6 p.m.
Jacksonville at Michigan State – Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Ohio State at Butler – ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.
Indiana at Southern Illinois – ESPNU, 9:30 p.m.
UC-Santa Barbara at Loyola Marymount – CSTV, 10 p.m.
Missouri at California – FSN, 11 p.m.

Sunday, December 2
Kansas at USC – FSN, 2 p.m.
Arizona State at Nebraska – ESPNU, 2 p.m.
St. John’s at Miami (FL) – FSN, 4 p.m.
Stanford at Colorado – ESPNU, 4 p.m.
Texas A&M at Arizona – FSN, 6 p.m.
Oklahoma at TCU – CSTV, 7 p.m.
Texas at UCLA – FSN, 8 p.m.

More Thanksgiving Eve Links

I did the Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks early because I thought I didn’t have enough links to warrant an update, but apparently I do.

First, Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog the football viewing menu for this weekend, plus he has a tidbit that Versus will have a one hour documentary on the 20th anniversary of “The Play”, the multi-lateral kickoff return in the 1982 Cal-Stanford game. Last night marked that anniversary and apparently, ESPN Classic aired it last night without much fanfare. I really think ESPN is going to relaunch that channel because there hasn’t been much promotion for the programming asides the Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini documentary last week.

From the 38Cliches blog, LC talks about an interview that Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione did with Sports Media Guide.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Baseball reports that MLB owners are being rewarded for their investment in MLB Advanced Media, the online arm of Major League Baseball and the most successful of the four major leagues internet operations.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says it’s just a matter of time before New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas will be fired.

In a follow-up to our link on Monday over the halftime entertainment at Gate D at Giants Stadium during Jets games, David Picker of the New York Times reports that a New Jersey state senator vows to clean up the behavior displayed at halftime. By the way, the videos that were up on YouTube have now been taken down.

From the Albert Lea (MN) Tribune, Jeff Budlong talks with a representative from Charter Communications about why the company is not providing the Big Ten Network. And Jeff is part of a long line of newspapermen who are mistaken that DirecTV is owned by Rupert Murdoch. For the umpteenth time, he has sold it to Liberty Media.

Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times says the NFL Network offering cable companies an equity stake in the channel might be the carrot that brings them to the table.

Eric Kraushar of the Hutchinson (MN) Leader has details of FSN North’s Hockey Day in Minnesota broadcast coming up in February.

Coming up later, NFL Picks for Thanksgiving Day, College Football Viewing Picks for Thursday and Friday and I still have to do Videos of the Week. Keep it here.

Some Monday Night Links

Time for some links on this Monday night.

Neil Best of Newsday blogs that Yankees manager Joe Girardi will indeed join WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog every week during the baseball season. And Best reports on the argument that entailed between Mike & the Mad Dog and NFL Director of Officiating Mike Pereira.

The Sports Media Watch blog tells us that Ohio State-Michigan this past Saturday did very well in the ratings for ABC. And from the “What the Hell?” Department, we find that ESPN Radio morning co-host Mike Greenberg will lead a game show this December on ABC. I don’t even know what to make of that.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star blogs that in advance of the Fernando Vargas-Ricardo Mayorga PPV boxing fight this Friday, ESPN Classic shows a bunch of Vargas’ past fights this week.

CBS Sports has the notable quotes from The NFL Today on Sunday.

Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel blogs that the Conference USA Championship Game will be seen on ESPN at noon on December 1.

This is all over the blogosphere and might as well be here too. From last Saturday’s Missouri-Kansas State game on FSN, sideline reporter Jim Knox takes a tumble.

Hilarious.

And from Tuesday’s New York Times, David Picker exposes, well that’s a bad word for it, investigates the alternative halftime show taking place at Jets games in the pedestrian ramps at Giants Stadium. Jets fans have all the reason to be proud of themselves (I’m being sarcastic here). The Times also has a slideshow of the story. But if you want to see what actually goes on, you can go to YouTube and go here. Warning, NSFW.

That’s it for tonight. See you tomorrow.

College Football Viewing Picks for 11/17/07 (All Times Eastern)

College Gameday live at Ann Arbor, MI – ESPN, 10 a.m.
Ohio State at Michigan – ABC, noon
Northwestern at Illinois – ESPN, noon
Syracuse at Connecticut – ESPN2, noon
Tulsa at Army – ESPN Classic, noon
UMass at Hofstra – ESPNU, noon
The Citadel at VMI – CSTV, noon

Missouri at Kansas State – FSN, 12:30 p.m.
Harvard at Yale – WGN/CW56 (Boston)/HDNet, 12:30 p.m.

Duke at Notre Dame – NBC, 2:30 p.m. (I dare you to watch this)
Florida A&M vs. Bethune Cookman at Orlando – ESPN Classic, 3 p.m.

ABC Coverage Map
Penn State at Michigan State – ABC/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Miami at Virginia Tech – ABC/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Iowa State at Kansas – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Cal at Washington – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Big Ten Network Coverage Map – Satellite and Cable channel assignments on map
Purdue at Illinois – Big Ten Network, 3:30 p.m.
Wisconsin at Minnesota – Big Ten Network, 3:30 p.m.
Western Michigan at Iowa – Big Ten Network, 3:30 p.m.

LSU at Mississippi – CBS, 3:30 p.m.
Northern Illinois at Navy – CSTV, 3:30 p.m.
NC State at Wake Forest – ESPNU, 4 p.m.

Oklahoma State at Baylor – FSN, 7 p.m.
Southern Mississippi at UTEP – CSTV, 7:30 p.m.
West Virginia at Cincinnati – ESPN, 7:45 p.m.
Boston College at Clemson – ESPN2, 7:45 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas Tech – ABC, 8 p.m.
Louisville at South Florida – ESPNU, 8 p.m.

Some Tuesday Late Links

We have some links for you on this Tuesday.

First, from Awful Announcing via Sports by Brooks, we get the call from Bob Lamey of the Colts Radio Network totally blowing the call of the missed FG attempt by Adam Vinitieri during Sunday night’s Colts-Chargers game. Oops. Thanks to Boston Sports Media Watch for the link.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today gives us the overnight ratings from selected events over the weekend.

Neil Best of Newsday wonders what the Mets’ David Wright was wearing on SNY last night. And Neil points out that it was 35 years ago last Thursday that HBO carried its first sporting event, a Rangers hockey game! Finally, this has been reported by other sources, but Neil gives his take on the NFL Network’s/HBO’s Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth not taking sides in the dispute between the NFL and Time Warner Cable.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Darren Rovell of CNBC, wonders how long sponsors and fans will stay with NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt, Jr. if he continues his losing streak.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News blogs in Farther Off the Wall about the HBO documentary on Ohio State-Michigan and about FSN’s double coverage of the Kings-Ducks game. Tim Cronin of the Chicago Daily Southtown has his take on the HBO documentary which airs tonight.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that ESPN finished ahead of sister network, the Disney Channel in the cable primetime ratings for the week ending November 11. Reynolds also writes about the NFL Network holding Fan Appreciation Day this weekend at several stadia across the country.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post profiles Kelli Johnson of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, who covers the Redskins for the channel.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News in his Talking Points blog points out several errors made by Ron Jaworski during last night’s Monday Night Football broadcast of the Seattle-San Francisco game. Also from the Mercury News, John Ryan blogs sarcastically about NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman doing a weekly show on XM Satellite Radio.

From the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator, we get a story about Ray Mancini wanting to tell his side of the story in regards to his tragic fight with Deuk-Koo Kim that not only ended in his death, but his mother and the referee. A documentary on the fight airs tonight on ESPN Classic. Joe Amarante of the New Haven (CT) Register talks to the producer of tonight’s documentary.

Mike Lewis of the Bedford (IN) Times-Mail writes that Indiana University fans aren’t happy about not being able to see half the school’s basketball games because of Insight’s refusal to carry the Big Ten Network. Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times reports that a Madison assisted living center that bought the Dish Network to get the Big Ten Network only to find that it couldn’t get BTN, will get the channel after all.

In Tuesday Morning Quarterback, ESPN.com’s Gregg Easterbrook looks at the State of High School Nation, or some trends in High School Football. And ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber has her monthly column and she gives praise to E:60.

The Minnesota Wild has picked up a TV affiliate in the northeast part of the state.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says this Saturday’s Lehigh-Lafayette game, the nation’s oldest college football rivalry, will have plenty of TV coverage.

Brent Hunsberger of The Oregonian writes the Portland Trail Blazers’ fast start has also helped the ratings on the new Comcast SportsNet channel there.

That’s it for today. I will be watching the ESPN Classic documentary as well as HBO’s The Rivalry documentary. I should have reviews of both in tomorrow’s links.

Tuesday Links Plus a New Look

Back to work for many of you and there’s a new look on the blog as well. I’m trying a new layout just to experiment. This may not stay and I might even change it back, but I’m just checking this out for now. I kind of like it. For regular visitors, you’ll notice the blogroll, tags and archives are now on the left instead of the right. Let me know what you think by either commenting below or e-mailing me.

To the links.

Neil Best is officially back from vacation with a column and some blog entries. His Newsday column focuses on Bryant Gumbel assessing his performance on the NFL Network last season and how the New York Giants might be rethinking putting players on WFAN. And in his Watchdog blog, Best goes in-depth to the WFAN/Giants issue with Craig Carton’s painful interviews with the Jets’ Thomas Jones.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News wonders why Tiki Barber is gunshy on Football Night in America.

Richard Sandomir in today’s New York Times reviews two documentaries that will premiere tonight. Also from the New York Times’ Fifth Down blog, there’s an entry about Gumbel as well.

Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News previews tonight’s ESPN Classic documentary on the Ray Mancini-Deuk-Koo Kim fight.

Two things from the Sports Media Watch blog. First is a look into the NFL ratings which were very good for Fox, especially for the Cowboys-Giants game. And then, we have a look into the ratings for NASCAR which are sinking by the minute.

From the Orbitcast blog on satellite radio, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Eric Byrnes will have a show on XM’s Home Plate channel. And NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will have an weekly show on XM.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes that the ratings from the Blackhawks home debut on Comcast SportsNet did not garner the ratings the channel had hoped for.

Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles ESPN Monday Night Football sideline reportes Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber.

From Editor & Publisher, we find that ESPN has hired one of the two reporters that broke the BALCO story for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Press-Register’s Evan Woodbury reports that ESPN will pick up the Auburn-Alabama clash on November 24 in primetime. Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News writes that ESPN got the Iron Bowl after CBS passed on it.

In the Spartanburg (SC) Herald Journal, we find that ESPN2 will get the Clemson-South Carolina game on the same date. The Roanoke (VA) Times says on November 24, the Virginia-Virginia Tech game will be on at noon either on ESPN or ESPN2.

Antoine Pitts of the Ann Arbor News says ESPN’s College Gameday will be on the Michigan campus this Saturday (scroll down).

Ryan Wood of the Ball State Daily News talks about the school getting some national exposure on ESPN2 tonight.

Carl DiOrio of the Hollywood Reporter says the Directors Guild of America is negotiating a new contract with the networks for sports and news.

Michael Malone in Broadcasting & Cable writes that the YES Network has signed a new contract with WWOR-TV to broadcast a number of Yankees games.

RADAR Online wonders if Friday Night Lights will move from NBC to ESPN.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has TSN’s James Duthie suggesting a slight change to NHL All Star Weekend.

That will do us for now.

College Football Viewing Picks for 11/10/07 (All Times Eastern)

College Gameday Live from Williams College, Williamstown, MA – ESPN, 10 a.m.

Big Ten Coverage Map – Channel assignments for cable and satellite TV providers on the map
Michigan State at Purdue – Big Ten Network, noon
Minnesota at Iowa – Big Ten Network, noon

Michigan at Wisconsin – ESPN, noon
Wake Forest at Clemson – ESPN2, noon
Indiana at Northwestern – ESPN Classic, noon
Penn State at Temple – ESPNU, noon

Texas A&M at Missouri – FSN, 12:30 p.m.
Kansas State at Nebraska – Versus, 12:30 p.m.

Air Force at Notre Dame – NBC, 2:30 p.m.

ABC/ESPN Coverage Map for 3:30 p.m.
Illinois at Ohio State – ABC/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Florida State at Virginia Tech – ABC/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Arizona State at UCLA – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Texas – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Auburn at Georgia – CBS, 3:30 p.m.
Wyoming at Utah – CSTV, 3:30 p.m.
UConn at Cincinnati – ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.

Baylor at Oklahoma – FSN, 6:30 p.m.
Virginia at Miami (FL) – ESPN2, 7:15 p.m.
Central Florida at UAB – CSTV, 7:30 p.m.
Florida at South Carolina – ESPN, 7:45 p.m.

ABC Coverage Map for 8 p.m.
Kansas at Oklahoma State – ABC, 8 p.m.
USC at Cal – ABC, 8 p.m.
Boston College at Maryland – ABC, 8 p.m.

Washington at Oregon State – FSN, 10 p.m.
Fresno State at Hawaii – ESPN2, 11 p.m.
San Diego State at UNLV – CSTV, 11 p.m.

Wednesday Update

As I’m watching the WTA Sony Ericsson Championships from Madrid, Span online (since I don’t want to have the website shut down, I won’t link to it, but if you really want to see them, you can e-mail me for the site), it’s time to give you some links. But before I get to them, let me say that since Versus is picking up the world feed for the WTA Championships, I suspect that Tim Ryan and Tracy Austin are not in Madrid, but calling this in a studio either in New York or Los Angeles. We have not seen either on camera. We know Pam Shriver is there because she’s conducting interviews courtside. I wish networks won’t do this, but it’s done to save costs. But can calling a game or match off a monitor be conducive to good TV? ESPN has done this with certain events and now it appears Versus is doing it now. CBC did it with certain events in the Winter Olympics last year. I wonder if NBC will try it with the 2008 Summer Olympics. Hmmm.

ESPN Classic will air a program next Tuesday marking the 25th anniversary of the Ray Mancini-Deuk-Koo Kim fight. For those of who don’t know, this was a fight that led to the death of Kim after he was knocked out in the 14th round. In addition, it led to the end of 15 round boxing matches. Mancini will be interviewed and highlights of the fateful 13th and 14th rounds will be shown. I remember CBS showing the fight with Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy on the call. Very sad outcome.

Matthew Sprague of the Berkshire (MA) Eagle says with ESPN’s College Gameday coming to town, it means that the Williams-Amherst rivalry has gone national.

Matt DeYoung of the Grand Haven (MI) Tribune says it was a mistake to allow ESPN to move the Central Michigan-Western Michigan game to a Tuesday night.

NBC Sports has some quotes attributed to John Madden regarding this Sunday Night’s Indianapolis at San Diego game.

The Washington Business Journal reports that MASN has released a 180 game college basketball schedule.

Gregg Easterbrook showcases readers’ e-mails in today’s edition of TMQ.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel suggests to Magic fans who have Bright House cable to listen to the radio and it’s free.

Just a few links this afternoon. Primetime Viewing Picks coming up.

College Football Viewing Picks for 10/27/07 (All Times Eastern)

College Gameday, Live from Penn State University, PA – ESPN, 10 a.m.

ABC Coverage Map for noon, ET
West Virginia at Rutgers – ABC, noon
Colorado at Texas Tech – ABC, noon

Big Ten Network Coverage Map – DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse and Wow channel assignments are on the map.
Ball State at Illinois – Big Ten Network, noon
Northwestern at Purdue – Big Ten Network, noon
Indiana at Wisconsin – Big Ten Network, noon

Michigan State at Iowa – ESPN2, noon

Delaware at Navy – CSTV, 1 p.m.
Howard at Norfolk State – ESPNU, 1 p.m.

USC at Oregon – FSN, 3 p.m.

ABC Coverage Map for 3:30 p.m. ET
Nebraska at Texas – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Clemson at Maryland – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
South Florida at UConn – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Georgia vs. Florida at Jacksonville, FL – CBS, 3:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Michigan – ESPN Classic, 3:30 p.m. (on ABC7 in Detroit)

Virginia at NC State – ESPNU, 4:30 p.m.
Rice at Marshall – CSTV, 4:30 p.m.

UCLA at Washington State – FSN, 6:30 p.m.
Kansas at Texas A&M – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
South Carolina at Tennessee – ESPN, 7:45 p.m.
Ohio State at Penn State – ABC, 8 p.m.
Duke at Florida State – ESPNU, 8 p.m.

Cal at Arizona State – FSN, 10 p.m.

College Football Viewing Picks for 10/20/07 (All Times Eastern)

College Gameday (live from Lexington, KY) – ESPN, 10 a.m.
Penn State at Indiana – ESPN, noon
Iowa at Purdue – ESPN2, noon
Central Michigan at Clemson – ESPNU, noon

Big Ten Network Coverage Map (DirecTV and Dish Network channel assignments on the map)
North Dakota State at Minnesota – Big Ten Network, noon
North Illinois at Wisconsin – Big Ten Network, noon

Oklahoma at Iowa State – FSN, 12:30 p.m.
Texas at Baylor – Versus, 12:30 p.m.
Wake Forest at Navy – CSTV, 1 p.m.
Grambling at Jackson State – ESPN Classic, 1 p.m.
USC at Notre Dame – NBC, 3:30 p.m. (with the NFL Network on at halftime)
Florida at Kentucky – CBS, 3:30 p.m.

ABC Coverage Map
Miami at Florida State – ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
Michigan State at Ohio State – ABC/ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
Cal at UCLA – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Missouri – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Buffalo at Syracuse – ESPNU, 4 p.m.
NC State at East Carolina – CSTV, 4:30 p.m.
Kansas at Colorado – ESPN, 5:45 p.m.
Michigan at Illinois – ABC, 8 p.m.
Virginia at Maryland – ESPN2, 8 p.m.
New Mexico at San Diego State – CSTV, 8:30 p.m.
Auburn at LSU – ESPN, 9 p.m.

Tuesday is Linkage Day

Time to give you some links. With the Rockies sweep finishing late on the East Coast, there won’t be any final critiques of TBS’ coverage from the newspapers until tomorrow, but I’m sure there will be reviews of the NFL pregame shows from the weekend. Let’s check out the links.

First, John Molori of Boston Sports Media Watch is not a fan of either ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson or Fox’s Terry Bradshaw.

The Sports Media Watch blog has a look at the League Championship Series ratings on both TBS and Fox and they’re aren’t pretty. And Paulsen looks at the weekend overnight ratings, but at the time of the post, the ALCS numbers weren’t available. And Michael Hiestand of USA Today analyzes the ratings of selected sporting events.

The Multichannel News says TBS isn’t doing well with the National League Championship Series. The State newspaper in Columbia, SC has a blurb on TBS’ low ratings. Jon Lafayette of TV Week says the short series in both the League Division and Championship Series have hurt TBS in both the ratings and in revenue.

Barry Horn on the Dallas Morning News writes that the Patriots-Cowboys game did well in the ratings for CBS.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner profiles Fox Sports Radio talk show host and DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel (from NFL Sunday Ticket) anchor Andrew Siciliano, a DC area native.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has his choice for Best Sports Halloween Costume.

Patrick Kampert of the Chicago Tribune writes that the playoff chase helped midwest powerhouse radio station WGN Radio in the most recent ratings period. And the Trib’s Ed Sherman says this is the best time to be a Boston sports reporter or fan (isn’t that the truth?).

I hope you’re noticing that I’m making a conscious effort not to lead with New York papers as in the past. They seem to have their media columns every Tuesday like clockwork and Newsday’s Neil Best is no exception. Today, he writes about ESPN’s new E:60 newsmagazine which premieres tonight and about Versus getting two big Pac 10 upsets in the past two weeks.

Mike Battaglino of the New York Post talks with Jeremy Schaap who will be part of E:60. April Bethea of the Charlotte Observer previews one story on E:60 about the former University of North Carolina mascot who gave the gift of life in death.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News criticizes MLB and TBS for playing Game 3 of the NLCS on Sunday in horrible weather conditions.

The LA Times reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers have returned to KABC as its flagship station after being on KFWB for the last five seasons. Announcers Vin Scully and Charley Steiner have also signed contract extensions through 2009. Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News also has a story on the change in stations for the Dodgers. And the Ventura County Star picks up wire copy for the story.

With baseball over for Turner Sports, it now focuses on the NBA, its other signature sport and the Multichannel News writes that TBS/TNT wants to purchase NBA.com and get the rights to NBA League Pass, the PPV cable/satellite package.

Jim Carlisle of the Star writes in his regular Tuesday column that with all the ESPN hype surrounding the Patriots-Cowboys, you would think the Alleged Worldwide Leader was airing the game.

I’ll give you three press releases from ESPN. Former Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has found a job for next season, as part of the lead broadcast team for the NBA on ESPN. Second, here are the features that will on tonight’s premiere of E:60. And ESPN will pick up three Pac 10 regular season games for its upcoming college basketball season.

Chris Pursell of TV has a story on the Pac 10 on ESPN.

Mekeisha Madden Toby of the Detroit News says the Frank TV promos on TBS during the MLB Postseason went beyond overkill.

George M. Thomas in today’s Akron Beacon Journal prefers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver of Fox on the ALCS over Chip Carey, Tony Gwynn and Bob Brenly for the ALDS. He might be the only one.

The Michigan-Minnesota game on October 27 will be picked up by ESPN Classic. Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the annual Georgia-Florida game will be in its traditional 3:30 p.m. ET spot on CBS.

Rick Maese of the Baltimore Sun spent Sunday at ESPN looking at what goes on with the Sunday NFL Countdown studio analysts off camera.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot laments the late starts for baseball playoff games. Unfortunately, it’s a reality. Live with it.

Rene Hurtado, part of Time Warner Cable’s public relations team, writes an op-ed piece in the Newspaper Tree of El Paso against picking up the NFL Network.

Bob Young in the Arizona Republic talks with FSN college football analyst Petros Papadakis.

This is like a Friday megalink update. Coming up, I’ll have Saturday Night Live’s spoof of those horrible Dane Cook/MLB Postseason ads.

Wednesday Night Links

I figured I would give you an update before closing the blog for the night.

First, Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star came over to inform me that he’s fixed his link to the video of Versus’ Rod Thulin making the wrong call in the Stanford-USC upset last Saturday. You can actually head over to Versus’ website and listen to Thulin mess it up. And give credit to Versus for actually putting the video up. Thanks, Jim.

In my afternoon update, I had a link to CNBC’s Darren Rovell’s blog entry doubting agent Scott Boras’ contention that his client, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was worth $30 million to the YES Network. Following that story, Boras called Rovell and explained his rationale.

Neil Best of Newsday laments that ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber is better at critiquing her own network than he is.

I wanted to thank Sports Business Daily for linking to my Tuesday Morning Links in its Blog Hound section today. The Blog Hound was looking at comments about TBS’ coverage of the League Division Series. I would give you the link, but SBD requires a subscription. You can sign up for a trial 2 week subscription if you so choose.

Two stories from Chris Pursell of TV Week. First is on ESPN snatching the US rights to air the first two rounds of The Masters next year. And from his Pressbox blog, Chris writes that Fox and CBS will have the featured games this weekend while NBC and ESPN will have to make due with disappointing matchups.

As I mentioned, Fox and CBS have the featured NFL matchups this week. CBS has the 5-0 Dallas Cowboys hosting the 5-0 New England Patriots at 4:15 p.m. ET and Jim Nantz will have a feature on the NFL Today with Cowboys QB Tony Romo. And CBS Sports gives us some quotes for this week from Phil Simms and Steve Tasker, plus a look at the announcing team assignments for Weeks 6-8.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes in his Morning Buzz blog that Comcast has added the NHL Network to its sports tier.

Let’s go back to the Masters to ESPN story. Stan Awtrey of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a short blurb on Augusta National signing with ESPN. John Dempsey of Variety writes that ESPN will show three hours of coverage each in the first and second rounds of the tournament.

In a story which I don’t quite understand, ESPN’s new TV magazine, E:60 was on hand when the body of the late George Gipp (yes, the same one of legendary Notre Dame “win one for the Gipper” fame) was exhumed. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. And we have a version of the story from the Associated Press. ‘

John Consoli of Mediaweek reports that ESPN Classic and ESPN will air a live night of boxing on October 16 featuring three boxers who took part in “The Contender” reality series. And Consoli writes that FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show Period has signed Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard to cover various sporting events for the program.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press has the Big Ten Network releasing its ratings, but warns that the numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

By the way, if you have a chance to watch Inside the NFL on HBO this week, there was a good story on two NFL scab players who helped the Washington Redskins to a 3-0 record during the 1987 NFL players strike. But the reaction by Dan Marino, Cris Collinsworth and Chris Carter who all were on the picket lines back then was amazing. Marino says the two players did nothing and took away game checks from the men who were on strike. You can still see bitterness on Marino’s part to this day. If you have HBO, watch the program and you’ll see it. Very interesting.

That’s it for now. Good night.

College Football Viewing Picks for Saturday, 9/22/07 (all times Eastern)

College Gameday (live from Tuscaloosa, AL) – ESPN, 10 a.m.
East Carolina at West Virginia – ESPN2, noon
Georgia Tech at Virginia – ESPNU, noon
Illinois at Indiana – Big Ten Network, noon (national coverage)
Army at Boston College – ESPN Classic, 1 p.m.
Duke at Navy – CSTV, 1 p.m.
Michigan State at Notre Dame – NBC, 3:30 p.m.
South Carolina at LSU – CBS, 3:30 p.m.
Michigan at Penn State – ABC/ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Northwestern at Ohio State – ESPN/ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Oklahoma State – FSN, 3:30 p.m.
Maryland at Wake Forest – ESPNU, 3:30 p.m.
Colorado State at Houston – CSTV, 4:30 p.m.
Kentucky at Arkansas – ESPN2, 6 p.m.
Arizona at Cal – Versus, 6 p.m.
Rice at Texas – FSN, 7 p.m.
UConn at Pittsburgh – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Georgia at Alabama – ESPN, 7:45 p.m.
Iowa at Wisconsin – ABC, 8 p.m. (coverage map)
Washington State at USC – ABC, 8 p.m. (coverage map)
SMU at TCU – CSTV, 8:30 p.m.
Purdue at Minnesota – ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Washington at UCLA – FSN, 10:15 p.m.

Friday Update Time

Let’s give you some links before the weekend officially arrives.

Randell Mell of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Big Ten Network chose the right year to launch.

Scott Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says TV is a major reason for a conference to expand and it’s not a good enough reason for the Mountain West Conference to add Boise State as has been rumored recently.

Michael Zuidema of the Grands Rapids Press looks at Mike Tirico who did his first two shows for ESPN Radio this week.

I keep forgetting to link to Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin. This week, Christian writes that Packer fans in the local area won’t be able to watch their team this Sunday because the Vikings are on opposite them and Rochester is a Vikings secondary market.

David Goetzl of the Media Daily News writes that ESPN will hold a town meeting on Michael Vick next Tuesday.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press writes that ESPN officials are happy that a busy street that intersects its campus has been shut down to traffic.

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that SEC fans aren’t happy about CBS Sports’ scheduling perks that allows the network to choose a game, on occasion, six days in advance.

Mike Kays of the Muskogee (OK) Phoenix says the only reason why Tulsa is playing Oklahoma tonight on what usually is a high school football night is money.

TV Week’s Chris Pursell has a new entry in his Pressbox blog and it’s concerning Sugar Ray Leonard talking about boxing and Mixed Martial Arts on TV. One is gaining popularity while the other is not.

The Buffalo Business First newspaper reports that the Sabres will have 71 games on MSG and seven on Versus.

Christine Daniels of the LA Times has her first Sound & Vision column after Larry Stewart left the media beat last week.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes in his Sports Business blog about Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic starting a new overflow channel.

The Sports Media Watch blog gives the weekend rating predictions. And Paulsen notes that college football on ESPN/ESPN Classic and ABC all did well last weekend. Thank you for the links, Paulsen.

Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News reports in his Farther Off the Wall blog that DeMarco Farr has left his radio job in an attempt at an NFL comeback. Farr was last played in the NFL in 2000.

That’s it for now. Coming up for tonight are Primetime Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks, College Football Viewing Picks, NFL Viewing Picks, NFL Picks for Week 3 and even more links for Saturday morning. Keep it here.

It’s Thursday. I’m Here and it’s Time for Some Links

Finished my work over at the jobsite so it’s time to provide you with some links.

Over to the SOX & Dawgs site which has a petition seeking to have Glenn Geffner removed from the Red Sox Radio booth.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has a story on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who yesterday announced his new number for next year’s NASCAR Nextel Cup season and his new sponsor.

Neil Best of Newsday blogs about that MSG Network has not covered the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment trial. Best also mentions that Fox’ Troy Aikman doing a Giants game usually means a loss for the New York team (Best also works in a shot of Jessica Alba posing with Aikman).

Bill Doyle of the Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette writes about the NFL TV analysts taking their shots at Bill Belichick and FSN New England changing over to Comcast SportsNet New England a week from this Monday. And here’s a press release from Comcast about the FSN New England takeover in time for Celtics season.

Jim Williams in his Examiner blog breaks news that the Washington Nationals have decided to drop Bob Carpenter from the TV booth. Bad move in my opinion. Carpenter is a very good announcer and should be able to pick up a job for next season. Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times has more on the story.

Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post writes about the end of RFK Stadium.

ESPN announces that Scott Van Pelt will be Mike Tirico’s replacement host and be a regular contributor along with Kirk Herbstreit and the lovely Michelle Tafoya. The Tirico show premieres on ESPN Radio today. Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune talks about Minnesota native Tafoya joining the Tirico show.

Mike McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald talks with Big Ten Network anchor Mike Hall. And McGraw has six questions for the Antichrist.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News advises readers not to blame the media when negative stories about sports surface.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that last Saturday’s Louisville-Kentucky game was the highest rated program ever on ESPN Classic.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News talks with the new Program Director of ESPN Radio New York.

Shawn Gauby of the Drexel University school newspaper, the Triangle, talks with Drexel alumnus Chris McKendry of ESPN.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfey notes it’s been 25 years since the Packers, Wisconsin and the Brewers have all had winning seasons at the same time plus he talks about Donovan McNabb’s comments on Real Sports.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star has a story on former “Bachelor” star Jesse Palmer who’s doing TV analysis work with TSN, ESPN and CTV.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star talks with ESPN’s Suzy Kolber about sideline reporting and her role on NASCAR broadcasts.

Dave Weekley of the Charleston (WV) Gazette says the West Virginia-Maryland game on ESPN last Saturday did well in the ratings.

Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blogs about the return of Chip Carey to the Atlanta Braves booth. And here’s Rogers’ story on Carey.

AT&T cellular customers can see the College Gameday guys, Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit on their phones.

Tim Povtak of the Orlando Sentinel writes that Bright House cable customers may not be able to see 35 Magic games on FSN. Some 42 games will remain on Sun Sports.

Dana Pennett O’Neil of the Philadelphia Daily News says she can relate to Donovan McNabb’s comments on Real Sports.

Erik Boland of Newsday talks with WFAN’s Ann Liguori who starts a new golf interview show on WLIU Radio this Saturday.

Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee says 74 Kings games will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet and KXTV.

That’s it for now. Check back for an update later.

College Football Viewing Picks for Saturday, 9/8/07 (all times Eastern)

Big shout out to Matt’s College Sports on TV Website for the info.

West Virginia at Marshall – ESPN2, 11 a.m.
Miami (FL) at Oklahoma – ABC, noon
Nebraska at Wake Forest, ESPN, noon
Bowling Green at Michigan State – Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 218)
Nevada at Northwestern – Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 219)
Akron at Ohio State – Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 220)
Miami (OH) at Minnesota – Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 221)
E. Illinois at Purdue – Big Ten Network, noon (DirecTV channel 223)
URI (my Rams get national exposure!!!!) at Army – ESPN Classic, 1 p.m.
Cal at Colorado State – CSTV, 2 p.m.
NC State at Boston College – ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Oregon at Michigan – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
Fresno State at Texas A & M – FSN, 3:30 p.m.
South Carolina at Georgia – ESPN2, 5:45 p.m.
Notre Dame at Penn State – ESPN, 6 p.m.
BYU at UCLA – Versus (good luck finding this in So. Cal.), 6:30 p.m. (DirecTV channel 603 as of tonight, why it moved from 608 is beyond me)
TCU at Texas – FSN, 7 p.m.
W. Illinois at Illinois – Big Ten Network, 7 p.m. (DirecTV channel 218)
Syracuse at Iowa – Big Ten Network, 8 p.m. (DirecTV channel 220)
USF at Auburn – ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Va. Tech at LSU – ESPN, 9:15 p.m. (Game of the Day)
Wisconsin at UNLV – Versus, 10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona State – FSN, 10:15 p.m.

The Thursday Afternoon Update

Here are some more links for you.

Jim Williams in his Watch This! blog at Examiner.com has highlights of a conference call conducted by the NBC Sunday Night Football crew.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Football website has an interview with CNBC’s Darren Rovell.

Darren has a story on the NFL’s two most marketable players, Peyton Manning and Reggie Bush.

MASN has announced its college football lineup for the fall.

In his blog, Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has an entry on the defending Stanley Cup champs Anaheim Ducks having all of their games televised for the first time.

Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News in his Farther Off the Wall blog talks about ESPN Classic and NBA TV showing the Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this Frdiay which will include former Chicago Bull and current Laker head coach Phil Jackson in the Class of 2007.

CBS Sports will have coverage of the women’s semifinals of the US Open tomorrow along with its usual Championship weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

NBC Sports announces its coverage plans for the PGA’s BMW Championship this weekend.

The Boston Radio Watch site looks at the plans of three stations in the market for football season.

The Big Ten Network has the coverage map for its games this weekend plus channel assignments on DirecTV. Matt’s College Sports on TV site has the listing of what games can be seen where this weekend.

ESPN talks about its NFL coverage for all of its platforms.

That’s it for now. Check back for a possible update tonight. Primetime viewing picks coming up.

Thursday Afternoon Update

Let’s give you a few things on this Thursday afternoon.

First, Dan Patrick has launched a website that includes a couple of videos of him around the house and a blog. Dan says he will let his fans know when and where he will be (Content Factory sometime in September). I will blog Dan’s final hour tomorrow. I thank Neil Best of Newsday for the link to the website.

Neil recaps his attendance at a Fox Sports gathering on Wednesday which unveiled its announcing lineups and plans for the NFL season. Tim McCarver was there and what he was doing at the gathering is beyond me. And Best gives the Fox lineup here.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch talks to the Program Director of Boston classical music station WCRB which was the subject of speculative stories that Dennis & Callahan of WEEI would land there to start up a regional sports network. Naturally, the staffers at ‘CRB were quite surprised to read the news. Owner Nassau Broadcasting would not outright deny the reports to Scott.

CBS Sports in association with GolfDigest.com will air an interactive golf quiz show this Saturday.

NBC Sports tells us that it will have primetime taped coverage of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this weekend. And that Tiki Barber makes his debut on NBC for Sunday Night Football during halftime of the New York Giants-Baltimore Ravens game.

USA Basketball has announced that ESPN2, ESPN Classic, NBA-TV and FSN will show the FIBA Americas Championship with Fox Sports Net showing the gold and bronze medal games. ESPN2 and ESPN Classic will show all games involving Team USA. NBA-TV will show 40 games of the tournament and FSN will have 12 games. Interesting setup.

Let’s give you a couple of links regarding the Big Ten Network. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the University of Iowa sent out a mass e-mail to fans urging them to call Mediacom cable and demand the Big Ten Network. Randy Petersen of the Des Moines Register says talks between Mediacom and BTN are still ongoing.

Joanne C. Gerstner has a profile on ESPN’s Mike Tirico who remains very busy doing Monday Night Football, college football, the NBA and a bunch of other stuff for the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

William Houston in the Toronto Globe and Mail says Canadians will be able to watch every CBC Hockey Night in Canada game online.

Speaking of online, Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says more sporting events are being made available online.

Subscribers to Sirius Satellite Radio will be able to listen to New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush every week on Sirius NFL Radio. Orbitcast which covers satellite radio news has the story.

Primetime and Late Night Viewing Choices coming up.

Sunday Night Linkage

Late with the links tonight, but I’ll give you some before giving you Videos of the Week.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post goes after a hair replacement ad on the YES Network.

In his Sunday column, Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News feels USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale may have used some dirty tricks to get quotes from Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the sports menu from this same week 35 years ago.

David Mayo in the Grand Rapids Press says the Big Ten Network and Comcast really need to get on the same page.

In the Fresno Bee, Rick Bentley says both ESPN and NBC made some lineup shuffles in their NFL studio shows.

Larry Ott of the Buffalo News says ESPN has returned to NASCAR with a big bang.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star writes about the ESPN Classic documentary on Barry Bonds.

From the Daly Planet blog, Motorsports TV critic John Daly (no, not the golfer) says the ESPN production for the Watkins Glen race was much improved over its last effort.

There’s a rumor in radioland that WRKO isn’t happy with Glenn Geffner’s work on the Shaw’s Red Sox Radio Network and wants to get rid of him. Right now. My friend, LC, in the 38 Cliches blog is all over it. I hope it’s true.

The Sports Media Watch blog says there’s a dangerous blurring of news and entertainment with ABC News doing a five week series this month on NASCAR. Of course, ABC’s parent company, Disney, signed a huge deal with NASCAR for ESPN so this synergy is a bit dangerous in my mind.

Phil Swann in his TVPredictions.com website says there’s no sign that Time Warner Cable will add the NFL Network in HD to its lineup. And the article from the Corpus Christi (TX) Caller Times that Swanni refers to in his latest entry is here.

I’ll have Videos of the Week coming up.

Friday is Finally Here!

Nice to have Friday come along. Long week for me, hope it was a good week for you. Plenty of stuff to link to today. Let’s get to it.

First, the Boston Globe’s Susan Bickelhaupt has a look at the new NBA TV deal, but she also has a blurb on a sexual harassment suit filed by a make-up artist. The suit alleges that Jay Crawford and Woody Paige made lewd comments and made unwanted advances to her when she worked for the ESPN2 show, Cold Pizza. The show has since become First Take. This could become a major story. But if Harold Reynolds was fired for sexual harassment without any recourse, why haven’t Crawford and Paige? I wonder.

USA Today has more on that story. In the nation’s newspaper, Michael Hiestand has a sarcastic look at the future of the NBA on TV. He also has a story on the college football announcing teams for ESPN.

In this morning’s New York Daily News, Bob Raissman wonders as the New York Yankees go down in flames, will the ratings for YES follow suit? And if they do, what will YES do?

Richard Sandomir in the New York Times was in the audience for a screening of the upcoming HBO documentary on the Brooklyn Dodgers and its departure from the New York borough for Los Angeles.

As I’ve said in the past, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has made me laugh for some of his off-the-wall opinions. But lately, I’ve been agreeing with him. I know that he can now sleep at night knowing that I agree with him, but I find this week’s column on the media finally waking up on the WWE right on.

Laura Nachman from the Bucks County Courier Times has her weekly Sports TV column and she talks about Jimmy Kimmel hosting the ESPY Awards.

Last week, Nachman wrote about the documentary on the fabled Palestra arena that debuts on ESPN Classic next month. This week, Bob Cooney of the Philly Daily News follows suit.

I enjoy reading Ray Frager in the Baltimore Sun. Today, he does a bunch of bullet points and his first and foremost point is on the ESPN sexual harassment suit mentioned earlier in this entry.

In the Baltimore/DC Examiner, Jim Williams talks to former Oriole Cal Ripken about his ex-team. Cal works for TBS this Sunday on the All-Star Game Selection Show and during the postseason.

Dave Darling in the Orlando Sentinel marks the 20th anniversary of Sports Radio with the beginning of WFAN and he talks to Chris “Mad Dog” Russo who got his start in Jacksonville and Orlando.

In the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson talks about changes coming to sports radio in that market.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says ESPN was all over the Bucks picking Chinese Yi Jian-lian in last night’s NBA Draft.

This had been rumored for a while, the NFL has decided to fold NFL Europa.

Judd Zulgad in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune says the media got it wrong when trying to gauge Kevin Garnett trade rumors.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says there’s been some drama going on over at WMVP in regards to host Dan McNeil.

Over to the Houston Chronicle, David Barron says former Rocket Calvin Murphy returns to the area airwaves.

John Maffei of the North County times says the San Diego college sports radio announcing picture is finally coming into focus as we approach football season.

In the LA Daily News, Tom Hoffarth also marks the 20th anniversary of WFAN in New York by talking to former KNBC-TV anchor and current nighttime host, Steve Somers.

Some late news from Neil Best in his Newsday blog (he’s writing while on vacation!), all roads are pointing to a possible Don Imus return to CBS Radio and WFAN. He’s definitely coming back for the 20th reunion to be held this weekend.

That’s it for now. I’ve got the Top 20 Moments on WFAN in the next entry.