NBA Finals Begin Tuesday on ABC

The last games of the 2010-11 NBA season will be played on ABC as the Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat begin on Tuesday. And it marks the earliest the Finals will have begun since 1986 as the Conference Finals ended early. So we have the games starting on Tuesday, May 31. ABC will air its pregame at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time with the tipoffs after 9 p.m. East.

Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy call their 5th NBA Finals. Rhode Island’s own Doris Burke will work the sidelines. Stuart Scott will host the pregame show with Magic Johnson, Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon as the analysts. That studio show can certainly challenge TNT’s juggernaut from Inside the NBA couldn’t it? I hope you know I’m being sarcastic there. Anyway, we have the details of the coverage for ABC and how ESPN’s platforms will be involved.

Oh and the Finals will also be produced in 3-D which means about 25 people will be able to watch.

NBA Finals Begin Tuesday Exclusively on ABC

ESPN Radio Exclusive Game Broadcasts; Finals Available on ESPN 3D for First Time

The 2011 NBA Finals – the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki facing the Miami Heat and LeBron James – will tip off Tuesday, May 31, at 9 p.m. ET exclusively on ABC. Mike Breen will be the voice of The Finals on ABC, joined by analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Doris Burke. This will be the fifth consecutive year the commentator team of Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy has called The Finals.  ABC’s Buick Regal NBA Countdown pregame show will preview the action, with host Stuart Scott, Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and analysts Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon, at 8:30 p.m.

ESPN Radio’s exclusive coverage of The Finals – the 16^th year of The Finals on ESPN Radio – will be anchored by play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico, Hall of Famers Dr. Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown and reporter Ric Bucher. Marc Kestecher will serve as ESPN Radio studio host with analyst Will Perdue. Additionally, for the first time, The Finals will be presented in 3D on ESPN 3D.  Mark Jones will provide play-by-play commentary with analysts Bruce Bowen (Games 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7) and Tim Legler (Games 3 and 4).

ESPN’s multiplatform presentation of The Finals will include coverage across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN 3D, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN International, ESPN.com., ESPNDeportes.com, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV, espnW, ESPN Classic and ESPN The Magazine.

On game nights, ABC’s primetime lineup will include:

• the NBA Countdown pregame show 30 minutes prior to every broadcast;
• Games 1 (May 31), 2 (June 2), 4 (June 7), 5 (June 9, if necessary) and 7 (June 14, if nec.) at 9 p.m.;
• Games 3 (June 5) and 6 (June 12, if nec.), both on Sundays, at 8 p.m.;
• a special 30-minute edition of The Jimmy Kimmel Show immediately before the NBA Countdown pregame show.

All ABC broadcasts will include the following production elements:

• the Emmy Award-winning “Hall of Fame” open;
• in-game interviews with coaches, along with each coach being “wired” for sound;
• pregame and halftime locker room access;
• 32 high definition video sources;
• “SkyCam” providing aerial views of the action;
• utilization of six Super Slo Mo cameras;
• “ESPN Axis” creating virtual replays, with video from live action processed via computers to create virtual freeze frames from multiple angles;
• Orad graphics technology allowing for 3D lines and arrows, hi-res snap zoom capabilities, player and pass tracking and an enhanced graphic interface;
• Spanish-language SAP commentary.

The Finals on ABC Schedule (Best of 7)
All Times ET

Date	Time	Game	Networks
Tue, May 31	9 p.m.	Game 1: Dallas at Miami	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio
Thu, June 2	9 p.m.	Game 2: Dallas at Miami	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio
Sun, June 5	8 p.m.	Game 3: Miami at Dallas	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio
Tue, June 7	9 p.m.	Game 4: Miami at Dallas	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio
Thu, June 9	9 p.m.	Game 5: * Miami at Dallas	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio
Sun, June 12	8 p.m.	Game 6: * Dallas at Miami	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio
Tue, June 14	9 p.m.	Game 7: * Dallas at Miami	ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPN Radio

* if necessary

Additional Finals content:

SportsCenter and Studio Programming
ESPN’s SportsCenter will provide news and information, analysis, and highlights throughout The Finals. Host Stuart Scott and analysts Magic Johnson, Jon Barry and Mike Wilbon will provide pre- and postgame segments, while Hannah Storm will host the 6 p.m. edition’s NBA segments.  Bruce Bowen, Tim Legler, Hall of Famer Chris Mullin and Jalen Rose will provide analysis during The Finals.

Additionally, ESPN’s NBA Tonight postgame shows, along with Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn and ESPN2’s First Take, will include Finals content.

ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS will provide live pre- and postgame news conferences, along with daily news and information.

ESPN.com
Coverage will include:

• NBA Finals Daily Dime – a daily multimedia notebook capturing The Finals games and scene;
• NBA Finals Daily Dime Live – in-game chat with ESPN reporters, analysts, bloggers and experts;
• NBA Finals Daily Digital Video – comments from ESPN reporters on Finals news and trends;
• NBA Finals Series Page – special section dedicated to Finals content;
• Greatest Playoff Series Rankings – ESPN.com’s John Hollinger ranks the greatest playoff series since the merger;
• Championship Rings – NBA legends share their championship ring stories;
• Moment in Time – revisiting the moment (Kendrick Perkins’ injury) which turned last year’s Finals;
• NBA Legends Chat – some of the biggest names in the game answer fan questions;
• ESPNRadio.com – live stream of every Finals game;
• ESPN3.com – replays of every Finals game.

ESPNDallas.com and the Heat Index will also provide comprehensive coverage throughout The Finals.

ESPN Radio’s 16^th Season of The Finals
The NBA on ESPN Radio’s 16^th season of exclusive, live, national play-by-play broadcast of the NBA’s post-season will culminate with The Finals.

ESPN Deportes
Alvaro Martin and Carlos Morales will provide NBA Finals updates on ESPN’s Spanish-language edition of SportsCenter (aired in the U.S. and Latin America). In addition, ESPN Deportes Radio, the only 24/7 Spanish-language radio network in the country, will feature pre/post-game special reports. ESPNDeportes.com will provide comprehensive coverage with previews, qualifying, photo galleries, videos and special ESPiaNdo la NBA webisodes with analysis by Martin and Morales.

ESPN International
ESPN International will broadcast The Finals via ESPN UK (United Kingdom), ESS (Asia), TSN (Canada), ESPN Pac-Rim (Australia and New Zealand), ESPN Atlantic (sub-Saharan Africa), ESPN Caribbean, ESPN Latin Brazil, ESPN DOS, ESPN Latin South and available in HD throughout Latin America, Brazil and Australia.

ESPN Mobile Properties
ESPN Mobile will offer up-to-the-second coverage of the entire 2011 NBA Finals, providing fans with play-by-play GameCasts along with full highlights on the Mobile Web and ScoreCenter app. Fans will have the opportunity to interact with ESPN NBA experts during games with live chats and blogs. Opt-in ESPN text alerts will notify fans across carriers of game start times, scores and notable performances throughout The Finals.

ESPN3.com
ESPN3.com will offer replays of each Finals game, available at 2:30 a.m. each night through 12 p.m. the following afternoon.

espnW
Sarah Spain and additional contributors will provide espnW’s take on The Finals, including an informative glossary of basketball terms.  espnW will also feature predictions and perspective from WNBA players.

ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic’s NBA Finals marathon will include content leading up to Game 1 on Tuesday, May 31:

• 1 a.m. – SportsCentury: Bill Russell
• 2 a.m. – SportsCentury: Larry Bird
• 3 a.m. – SportsCentury: Magic Johnson
• 4 a.m. – Homecoming: Magic Johnson
• 5 a.m. – SportsCentury: Karl Malone
• 7 a.m. – SportsCentury: Bill Russell
• 8 a.m. – Jim Rome Classics: Dennis Rodman
• 8:30 a.m. – Jim Rome Classics: Karl Malone
• 9 a.m. — Up Close Special: Kobe Bryant & Chris Webber
• 10 a.m. – 1970 NBA Finals, Game 7: Los Angeles vs. New York – Walt Frazier leads the Knicks to a 113-99 victory; Willis Reed makes the dramatic halftime return
• 12 p.m. – 1996 NBA Finals, Game 6: Seattle vs. Chicago – Michael Jordan collapses in the locker room after winning the title on Father’s Day, the first championship since his Father passed away
• 2 p.m. – 2006 NBA Finals, Game 3: Dallas vs. Miami – Dwyane Wade scores 42 points as the Heat rally from 13 down in the fourth quarter to win 98-96
• 4 p.m. – 2006 NBA Finals, Game 5: Dallas vs. Miami – Heat nudge the Mavs 101-100 behind a stellar performance by Dwyane Wade, who finished with 43 points
• 6 p.m. – 2006 NBA Finals, Game 6: Miami vs. Dallas – Miami wins 95-92 behind Dywane Wade’s 43 points

That’s all.

Doing Some Monday Links

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

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

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

To the links now.

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

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

David M. Shribman of Bloomberg also provides a review.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that’s going to do it.

Cranking Out Some Mid-Week Links

As the rain continues to fall in the Northeast and the sun remains behind the clouds for one more day, I’ll provide some links for you. Trying to finish work before doing links and I’d like to provide these earlier, but sometimes, it can’t be helped. Anyway, here are the sports business and media stories that have been written today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand isn’t too excited about ESPN’s fall lineup.

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports says the networks are a bit nervous not certain about the NFL season.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says Tony Kornheiser’s comments about a former Washington Post colleague Sally Jenkins could get him in hot water with his bosses again.

However, Dan Steinberg of the Post’s DC Sports Bog says Jenkins is not even offended by the comments and even goes to bat for Mr. Tony. So there’s no war here.

Your turn, Mike?

Rob Brunner at Entertainment Weekly has apparently broken the embargo by the publisher of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World at ESPN” and revealed some juicy bits that weren’t in the first excerpt made public by GQ earlier this week.

Andrew Gauthier of TV Spy says a Buffalo TV station remembered Chicago sports anchor Daryl Hawks who died last week covering the Bulls in Atlanta. Hawks was a native of Buffalo.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes will be offering some new programming in the fall.

Emma Bazilian at Adweek says Disney is prepared to step up in its bid to wrest Olympic TV rights away from NBC.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life recaps the ESPN Upfront presentation from Tuesday.

At ESPN Front Row, producer Jason Romano talks with Bob Ley about how he came up with the “ESPN Car Wash” moniker.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finds that Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is well liked by marketers.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says Game 2 of the Bruins-Lightning NHL Eastern Conference Final set a huge local rating for Versus last night.

Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston paid a visit to NFL Films.

Newsday’s Neil Best asks ESPN’s Vice President of Content John Skipper about the new book written by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.

Greg Bishop from the New York Times talks with a classy Gus Johnson who’s looking forward to working with Fox and doesn’t close the door on returning to CBS down the road.

Howard Beck at the Times talks with a sports media consultant to athletes about how LeBron James and Dwayne Wade handle their pre and postgame interviews.

Also from the Times, Melissa Hoppert looks at the NBC Sports Group’s coverage of this weekend’s Preakness Stakes from Pimlico.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union compiles the French Open TV schedule for you.

Scott Levin of Buffalo’s WGRZ-TV says Matthew Barnaby’s domestic violence case has been delayed

At the Washington Post, Mike Wise talks with TNT’s Charles Barkley who says it’s no big deal having gay teammates because he’s played with gay teammates.

Dustin Long at the Virginian-Pilot reports on the ESPN split screen that will be employed during commercial breaks on NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase races.

Scott Rabalais of the Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate says ESPN’s College GameDay will be in town for LSU’s season opener about Oregon in September.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN’s NBA analysts had high praise for Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business has some sports media news.

Ed says the Bulls’ introduction during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals took TNT’s Marv Albert and Steve Kerr back to the team’s glory days with Michael Jordan.

Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago says WMAQ-TV plans to replace the late Daryl Hawks, but does not have a timetable at this point.

NBC Chicago says the Bulls will give the Hawks family an autographed game ball from Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, the same game he was supposed to cover the night of his death.

Jeff Wolf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says Cleveland still carries a torch for LeBron James judging from the TV ratings.

Steve Carp of the Review-Journal writes that a Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez is getting closer to reality as it needs a TV partner now.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times writes that the networks are telling advertisers that they’re confident that the NFL season will be played, but behind closed doors, they’re saying something different.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has Dan Patrick expressing regret about the backstabbing at ESPN.

Jack Humphreville from City Watch LA writes that bankruptcy may be the best option for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt as he awaits approval of his huge TV rights megadeal with Fox Sports.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Blue Jays announcer Alan Ashby can work well on TV and on radio, a rarity among broadcasters.

Deadspin notes that not only did CBS pass on the Colon Cowhack sitcom, but also the Mark Schlereth one as well.

A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin says the new ESPN book certainly won’t mend any fences between Michelle Beadle and Erin Andrews.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN is seeing a ratings uptick for MLB.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the final viewership numbers for Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference Final for Versus.

Joe Favorito says maybe it’s time baseball teams look to market rain delays.

Ok. I’m still absorbing what Michelle Beadle said about Erin Andrews. I’m not judging. Just absorbing. That is all.

ESPN2′s 2011 French Open Schedule & Coverage Plans

The French Open begins on Sunday. ESPN2 is the secondary rightsholder, subleasing coverage from Tennis Channel. For the other three Grand Slam tennis tournaments, it’s the other way around, but for Roland Garros, Tennis Channel holds the rights. For most of the two week tournament, ESPN2′s coverage will begin at noon Eastern time, after Tennis Channel’s coverage which will begin at 5 a.m. ESPN2 does have the rights to the women’s semifinals at 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 2. So I’ll post the schedules for ESPN2, ESPN3.com and ESPN Deportes. Then after after a jump break, you can read the press release which is very long.

2011 French Open on ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD

2011 French Open on ESPN3.com

2011 French Open on ESPN Deportes

And the ESPN2 press release is after the jump.

(continue reading…)

ESPN Crowing About A Combined 52 Sports Emmy Nominations

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

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

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

ESPN, Inc. – Industry Leading 52 Sports Emmy Nominations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other notable nominees:

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

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

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

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

Live Series
College Football
Monday Night Football

Live Event Turnaround
World Series of Poker Final Table

Outstanding Playoff Coverage
2010 FIFA World Cup

Edited Special
I Scored a Goal (ABC)

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

Edited Series
E:60 (ESPN2)

Studio Show/weekly
College GameDay

Studio Show/daily
Pardon the Interruption
SportsCenter

Journalism
E:60 – Children of Bhopal (ESPN2)

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

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

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

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

Studio Host
Chris Berman
Scott Van Pelt

Studio Analyst
Kirk Herbstreit
Tom Jackson

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

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

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

Camerawork
2010 FIFA World Cup (ESPN/ABC)

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

Writing
2010 FIFA World Cup (ESPN/ABC)

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

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

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

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

Promo – Institutional
“Is it Monday Yet”

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

That’s it.

2011 Sports Emmy Award Nominations

The Sports Emmy Nominations are out. Just released by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The awards will be handed on May 2 at Lincoln Center in New York. Our list of nominees is below.

Best Play-by-play has the usual suspects, last year’s winner Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, Joe Buck, even Bob Costas, but it’s nice to see Verne Lundquist nominated. Jon Gruden is an addition to the Game Analyst category. And you’ll see the usual suspects in the Studio Analyst category.

Breakdown of nominations will follow in a separate post.

The Nominations

Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL

2010 FIFA World Cup: Final Match – Spain vs Netherlands – ABC
2010 Tour de France – Versus
Golf on CBS: The MastersCBS
NBA Finals on ABC – ABC
The Breeders’ Cup World Championship: The 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic – ESPN
The Ryder Cup – NBC/USA

Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SERIES

ESPN College Football – ESPN
ESPN Monday Night Football – ESPN
NASCAR on FOX and SPEED – FOX/SPEED
NBC Sunday Night Football – NBC
NFL on FOX – FOX

Outstanding LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND

Inside the Headsets:The 26th All?Star Challenge – SPEED/NASCAR Media Group
Sound FX: Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets – NFL Network/NFL Films
The 2010 World Series of Poker Final Table – ESPN
Tour de France on CBS – CBS
XXI Olympic Winter Games - NBC

Outstanding PLAYOFF COVERAGE

2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN
MLB Postseason on TBS – TBS
NBA Playoffs on TNT – TNT
NCAA Basketball on CBS: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – CBS
NFL on FOX: NFC Championship Game – FOX

Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL

24/7: Mayweather?Mosley – HBO
24/7: Penguins?Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic – HBO Bill Parcells: Reflections on a Life in Football – NFL Network/NFL Films
I Scored a Goal – ABC
Red Bull Young Jaws – Fuel/Red Bull Media House

Outstanding SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

June 17th, 1994 – ESPN
Lombardi – HBO
Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals – HBO
Robben Island: A Greater Goal – ESPN2
The Two Escobars – ESPN Deportes

Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology

Big Ten Basketball 2010: The Journey – Big Ten Network
E:60 – ESPN2
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets -HBO/NFL Films
NCAA on CBS: Championships of the NCAA – CBS
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – HBO

Outstanding STUDIO SHOW ? WEEKLY

College Gameday – ESPN
Football Night in America – NBC
Inside the NBA on TNT – TNT
MLB Network’s Studio 42 with Bob Costas – MLB Network
NFL GameDay Morning – NFL Network

Outstanding STUDIO SHOW ? DAILY

Inside the NBA on TNT – TNT
MLB Postseason on TBS – TBS
MLB Tonight – MLB Network
Pardon the Interruption – ESPN/Rydholm Projects
SportsCenter – ESPN

Outstanding SPORTS JOURNALISM

E:60: Children of Bhopal – ESPN2
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel:Fallen Star – HBO
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: The Missing Link – HBO
Vanguard: Soccer’s Lost Boys – Current TV

Outstanding SHORT FEATURE

E:60: A League of Her Own – ABC
Inside the NFL: The Drew Swank Story – Showtime
NFL on CBS: Honoring Flight 93 – CBS
NFL on CBS ? Super Bowl XLIV: Wynton Marsalis ? ’43 Years’ – CBS
Outside the Lines: Santa Anita: A Dark History – ESPN

Outstanding LONG FEATURE

E:60: Josiah’s Time – ESPN2
E:60: Survival 1 – ESPN2
E:60: Unbreakable – ESPN2
Outside the Lines:Asian Carp – ESPN
Outside the Lines: The Power of Dylan – ESPN
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: Leading Man – HBO

Outstanding OPEN / TEASE

2010 FIFA World Cup – ABC
2010 NBA Draft – ESPN
Lombardi – HBO
NBA Playoffs on TNT: Jamie vs Justin – TNT
XXI Olympic Winter Games:Discovery – NBC

Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE

CBS NCAA March Madness On Demand IPhone App – CBS Interactive
MLB.com At Bat 2010 -MLBAM
NFL Sunday Ticket Experience on DIRECTV – DIRECTV
NFL.com Live: 2010 Scouting Combine – NFL.com
XXI Olympic Winter Games: Beyond the Broadcast – NBCOlympics.com

Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING

24/7:Mayweather?Mosley Face Off with Max Kellerman – HBO
Sunday Night Football Extra – NBCSports.com
The Science of Sports – NBCSports.com

Outstanding NEW APPROACHES ? SPORTS PROGRAMMING ? SHORT FORMAT

Sport Science – ESPN.com
The NFL Season: A Biography – NFL.com/NFL Network
XXI Olympic Winter Games – NBCOlympics.com

Outstanding Sports Personality ? STUDIO HOST

Chris Berman – ESPN
James Brown – CBS/Showtime
Bob Costas – NBC/MLB Network
Ernie Johnson – TNT
Dan Patrick – NBC /DirecTV
Scott Van Pelt – ESPN

Outstanding Sports Personality ? PLAY?BY?PLAY

Joe Buck – FOX
Bob Costas – MLB Network
Mike Emrick – NBC
Verne Lundquist – CBS
Al Michaels – NBC
Jim Nantz – CBS

Outstanding Sports Personality ? STUDIO ANALYST

Charles Barkley – TNT
Kirk Herbstreit – ESPN
Tom Jackson – ESPN
Howie Long – FOX
Harold Reynolds – MLB Network

Outstanding Sports Personality ? SPORTS EVENT ANALYST

Cris Collinsworth – NBC
Jon Gruden – ESPN
Orel Hershiser – ESPN
Phil Simms – CBS
Jeff Van Gundy – ABC

Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE

Golf on CBS – CBS
NASCAR on FOX – FOX
NFL on CBS ? Super Bowl XLIV – CBS
Winter X Games 14 – ESPN / ESPN2

Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO

2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN/ABC
MLB Tonight – MLB Network
XXI Olympic Winter Games – NBC

Outstanding CAMERA WORK

2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN/ABC
24/7: Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona – HBO
First Ascent: Fly or Die – Travel Channel/Sender Films
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – HBO/NFL Films
NFL Films Presents: Shots of the Year - NFL Network/NFL Films
XXI Olympic Winter Games: Discovery -NBC

Outstanding EDITING

2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee – ABC
24/7: Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona – HBO
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – HBO/NFL Films
Inside the NFL: Sounds of the Year – Showtime/NFL Films
June 17th, 1994 – ESPN

The Dick Schaap WRITING AWARD

2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN/ABC
24/7: Mayweather?Mosley – HBO
24/7: Penguins?Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic – HBO
Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals – HBO
XXI Olympic Winter Games: Discovery – NBC

Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION / DIRECTION / LYRICS

2010 FIFA World Cup: Day One Tease – ESPN/ABC
2010 FIFA World Cup: U2 & Soweto Gospel Choir – ESPN/ESPN2/ABC
Lombardi – HBO
Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals – HBO
NFL on CBS ? Super Bowl XLIV: Run This Town – CBS
NFL on CBS ? Super Bowl XLIV: Wynton Marsalis ? ’43 Years’ – CBS

Outstanding Live Event AUDIO / SOUND

MLB on FOX – FOX
NASCAR on FOX – FOX
NFL on FOX – FOX

Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO / SOUND

24/7: Penguins?Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic – HBO
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – HBO
Inside the NFL: Sounds of the Year – Showtime/NFL Films
NFL on CBS ? Super Bowl XLIV: Run This Town – CBS
XXI Olympic Winter Games: Remember the Titans – NBC

Outstanding GRAPHIC DESIGN

2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN
ESPNU College Football Whiparound – ESPNU
MLB Network Studio Graphics – MLB Network
NBC Sunday Night Football – NBC
Sport Science – ESPN/Base Productions
XXI Olympic Winter Games – NBC

Outstanding PRODUCTION DESIGN / ART DIRECTION

2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN/ESPN2/ABC
2010 NBA Draft – ESPN
ESPN NFL Unmasked – ESPN
NFL on CBS ? Super Bowl XLIV: Run This Town – CBS

The George Wensel TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Ballpark Cam – MLB Network
Enhanced Visual Accompaniment – ESPN
ESPN3D – ESPN
US Open Tennis Championships: 3D at US Open Tennis Championships – CBS

Outstanding SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT? INSTITUTIONAL

Is It Monday Yet?: Monday Action, An Exit Away, Stone’s Throw – ESPN/Wieden & Kennedy
MLB All?Star Game: Sand – FOX/The Mill
NBC Sports Championship Season – NBC
NHL Winter Classic: Classic Rivalry; Classic Spectacle – NBC
XXI Olympic Winter Games: One Day; Dream It, Win it; One Dream – NBC

Outstanding SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT ? EPISODIC

ESPN Films ? 30 for 30 ‘What if I told You…?’: Winning Time, The Two Escobars, Pony Express – ESPN
NFL ‘It’s Good to Have a Ring’: Booth; Airport; Pool Party – FOX/SMuggler
The Open Championship: Perception – ESPN
XXI Olympic Winter Games: One Day; Olympic Showdown; Dancing Stars – NBC

And those are your nominations for the 32nd Annual Sports Emmy Awards. More stuff on this coming up throughout the day.

ESPN & ESPN Radio’s Live Schedule From Fort Worth For Wednesday

For Day 3 from Fort Worth for Super Bowl Week, ESPN and ESPN Radio will provide the following programming.

ESPN and ESPN Radio Super Bowl XLV Programs Originating Live from Sundance Square in Fort Worth – Wednesday, Feb. 2

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLV will continue Wednesday from North Texas with scheduled appearances by Dallas Cowboys Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith (Mike and Mike in the Morning), the Gronkowski brothers – Dan, a Broncos tight end; Rob, Patriots tight end; and Chris, Cowboys fullback, (First Take), and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith (SportsCenter Special). Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb also returns for the second day as a guest analyst, this time on the evening edition of SportsCenter.

All TV and radio shows will originate live from Sundance Square (195 West 3^rd Street) in Fort Worth throughout the week and fans are encouraged to attend. Wednesday’s schedule (all times CT):

5 a.m.         Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
Guests: ESPN sr. NFL writer John Clayton (5:45 a.m., by phone), Hall of Fame Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann (6:15 a.m.), Monday Night Football analyst Ron Jaworski (6:30 a.m.), Emmitt Smith (7:45 a.m.), seven-time Pro Bowler and NFL Network analyst Marshall Faulk (8 a.m.), Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (8:15 a.m.), Texas Rangers CEO Chuck Greenberg (8:30 a.m.), Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (8:45 a.m.) and Fort Worth chef Tim Love.

9 a.m.         First Take / 1^st and 10 (ESPN2) **
On-site (in order of appearance): Suh, the Gronkowski brothers – Dan, Rob and Chris; and Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

9 a.m.         The Herd (ESPN Radio/ESPNU)
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guest: Fitzgerald (taping 8:30 a.m.), R. Gronkowski (9:45 a.m.), Hall of Fame Raiders defensive end and Fox NFL studio analyst Howie Long (10:15 p.m., phone), and Jones-Drew (10:45 p.m.)

11 a.m.       SportsCenter
Host: Hannah Storm

1 p.m.        Scott Van Pelt Show (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo
Guests: Jones-Drew (1:30 p.m.), Cleveland Browns and former University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy (2:15 p.m.), Cowboys Pro Bowl wide receiver Miles Austin (2:30 p.m.), R. Gronkowski (taped) and Oregon linebacker and NFL Draft hopeful Casey Matthews, brother of Packers linebacker Clay Matthews.

2 p.m.        SportsCenter Special / NFL Live (ESPN)
Host: Mike Tirico/Trey Wingo. Analysts: Merril Hoge, Trent Dilfer, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski
Guests: Jones-Drew (2:10 p.m.), DeMaurice Smith (2:30 p.m.), and Packers tight end Jermichael Finley (3:10 p.m.).

3 p.m.        SportsNation (ESPN2)
Hosts: Michelle Beadle and Cowherd
Guests: Austin and Finley. Also, an opossum from the Fort Worth Zoo will be on-set to pick the Super Bowl winner.

3:30 p.m.    Rome is Burning (ESPN)
Host: Jim Rome
Guests: Three-time Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jay Ratliff and two-time Redskins Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Orakpo

5 p.m.        SportsCenter (ESPN)
Host: Storm. Analysts: Mike Ditka and Tom Jackson

7 p.m.        SportsCenter (ESPN Deportes)
Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre and Alvaro Martin.

8 p.m.        SportsCenter (ESPN) … to air at 10 p.m.
Host: Steve Levy. Analysts: Cris Carter. Guest Analyst: McNabb.

Note: Commentator and guest schedules subject to change
** Select interviews/segments originating from North Texas

I want to take a night off from blogging, but it appears I may not be able to. We’ll see what develops.

ESPN & ESPN Radio Live Schedule From Fort Worth For Tuesday

Day 2 of Super Bowl Week for ESPN begins once again with Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN2 and ESPN Radio. And you have a whole slew of live programming from Sundance Square in Fort Worth. Hannah Storm also joins the fray hosting Media Day from Cowboys Stadium with Darren Woodson. Check out what’s in store for you on Tuesday.

ESPN and ESPN Radio Super Bowl XLV Programs Originating Live from Sundance Square in Fort Worth – Tuesday, Feb. 1

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLV continues Tuesday from North Texas with Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb scheduled to make a special guest analyst appearance on SportsCenter Special and NFL Live (2-3:30 p.m. CT). Hannah Storm and three-time Cowboys Super Bowl champion and ESPN analyst Darren Woodson will also provide live reports from Super Bowl Media Day at Cowboys Stadium on SportsCenter (9 -11 a.m.). ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio will also provide reports.

All ESPN TV and radio shows are originating live from Sundance Square (195 West 3^rd Street) in Fort Worth throughout the week and fans are encouraged to attend. Tuesday’s schedule highlights (all times CT):

5 a.m.         Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
Guests: ESPN sr. NFL writer John Clayton (5:30 a.m., by phone), ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale (6:15 a.m., phone), Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs (6:30 a.m., phone), NFL analyst Cris Carter (7:15 a.m.) and former Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown (9 a.m.),

9 a.m.         First Take/1^st and 10 (ESPN2)**
On-site (in order of appearance): Brown (8:30 a.m.).

9 a.m.         The Herd (ESPN Radio/ESPNU)
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guest: Brown (11:15 a.m.) and Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King (12:15 p.m.)

8 a.m.         SportsCenter (ESPN)
Host: Storm. Analyst: Tom Jackson and Woodson
Note: Storm and Woodson will report live from Media Day (9-11 a.m.) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington

Noon          Around the Horn (ESPN) … to air at 4 p.m.**
On-site: Bill Plaschke (Los Angeles Times)

1 p.m.        Scott Van Pelt Show (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo
Guests: Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (3:15 p.m.) and former Titans running back Eddie George (3:30 p.m.)

2 p.m.        SportsCenter Special / NFL Live (ESPN)
Host: Mike Tirico/Trey Wingo. Analysts: Tom Jackson, Ron Jaworski and Mark Schlereth.
Guests: Packers running back Ryan Grant, George and McNabb.

3 p.m.        SportsNation (ESPN2)
Hosts: Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd
Guests: Grant and Chargers wide receiver Patrick Crayton

3:30 p.m.    Rome is Burning (ESPN)
Host: Jim Rome
Guests: ESPN.com sr. writer Jeffri Chadiha

3 p.m.        Pardon the Interruption (ESPN) … to air at 4:30 p.m. **
On-site: Michael Wilbon

5 p.m.        SportsCenter (ESPN)
Host:  Greenberg. Analysts: Golic and Woodson.

7 p.m.        SportsCenter (ESPN Deportes)
Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre and Alvaro Martin

8 p.m.        SportsCenter (ESPN) (to air at 10 p.m.)
Host: Steve Levy. Analysts: Cris Carter and Trent Dilfer

All times CT

Note: Commentator and guest schedules subject to change
** Select interviews/segments originating from North Texas

And I have one more release coming up.

ESPN’s Plans for Super Bowl XLV

ESPN will set up shop in Sundance Square in Fort Worth, TX and that will be its headquarters for Super Bowl XLV. Its headquarters will be the command post for some 18 platforms on TV, radio, print and the internet. I can’t believe how ESPN’s coverage has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. We’re talking live shows, chats, special coverage, features, you get the idea.

Here’s the release. It’s quite long. We will need a jump break.

ESPN at Super Bowl XLV in North Texas

ESPN kicks off its week-long comprehensive coverage of Super Bowl XLV between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers in North Texas Monday, Jan. 31, at 6 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. CT. ESPN’s on-site multiplatform coverage will originate from Sundance Square in Fort Worth, Texas, through Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 6). Highlights:

• Super Bowl-related content across 18 ESPN platforms: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Classic, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPNEWS HD, ESPNU HD, ESPN International, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNdeportes.com, ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Mobile properties;
• More than 90 hours of Super Bowl-related programming on domestic television and more than 55 hours of Super Bowl-related programming on ESPN Radio from North Texas;
• ESPN International will air Super Bowl XLV live throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Israel, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Pacific Rim, and much of Europe.  In total, ESPN International will deliver live Super Bowl coverage to more than 53 million households in 159 countries and territories. Commentary and analysis will be provided in English, French-Canadian and Spanish;
• More than 30 on-air commentators (hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors) will be in North Texas;
• ESPN’s production operations for Super Bowl week will be based at Sundance Square (195 West 3^rd Street) in Fort Worth. The location will include: a main set (62 x 40 ft.) overlooking the historic Chisolm Trail mural, a radio set/stage (28 x 48 ft.), two pod camera locations, and a demo field (20 x 20 ft.). ESPN will also utilize a “Flycam” suspended 42 ft. in the air that will travel the length of a football field and provide aerial views of the set.

What’s New:

• ESPN’s main set at Sundance Square will include an enclosed indoor studio developed by ESPN’s Creative Services team that will utilize virtual elements for the first time, including player cards, statistics, and touchscreen technology;
• Live morning editions of SportsCenter will air from the Super Bowl for the first time with Hannah Storm anchoring from Sundance Square;
• SportsNation (M,W-F, 4 p.m. and Tuesday, 5 p.m., ESPN2) will originate from Super Bowl for the first time with hosts Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd. A special two-hour SportsNation is also planned for Super Bowl Sunday, live from Sundance Square (noon, ESPN2).
• New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, who led the franchise to its first Super Bowl championship a year ago, will join ESPN for three days of analysis in North Texas. Payton will appear on SportsCenter Special (Thurs., Feb. 3, at 3 p.m.), SportsCenter Special: The Champions (Fri., Feb. 4, at 3 p.m.), as well as SportsCenter (9 a.m.) and Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m.) on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6.

Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 6): ESPN’s weeklong coverage will peak with more than 16 hours of TV and radio coverage on Super Bowl Sunday, beginning with a special edition of Mike & Mike in the Morning at 6 a.m. (ESPN Radio/ESPN2); Chris Berman, covering his 29th Super Bowl, will host the special four-hour Super Bowl edition of Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.) from Sundance Square with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Mortensen and Insider Adam Schefter. Tedy Bruschi, Trent Dilfer, and Steve Young – all Super Bowl champions – will also contribute to the show from Fort Worth, while the Monday Night Football team of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden will be joined by Saints head coach Sean Payton at a Cowboys Stadium set in Arlington. In all, ESPN’s Super Bowl Sunday analyst team will feature former players and coaches with a combined 13 Super Bowl rings in 23 appearances in the NFL’s biggest game. Reporters Suzy Kolber (covering Steelers) and Ed Werder (Packers) will provide team updates. Postgame coverage on ESPN will begin immediately following the game with Berman, Jackson and Young on the field at Cowboys Stadium for NFL Primetime, followed by a 90-minute SportsCenter; ESPN Radio’s “Super Sunday” program lineup will include Mike & Mike in the Morning for the fourth straight year (6-10 a.m./simulcast on ESPN2). Brian Kenny will anchor ESPN Radio’s post-game coverage from 103.3 ESPN Radio in Dallas until 1 a.m.

ESPN – ESPN2 – ESPNEWS – ESPNU – ESPN Classic

ESPN’s primary host location throughout Super Bowl week will be an outdoor set – open for public viewing – at Sundance Square in Fort Worth.  Planned highlights:

• SportsCenter (Monday, Jan. 31 – Sunday, Feb. 6) – daily editions of ESPN’s flagship news, information and highlights show with anchors Mike Greenberg, Steve Levy, Stuart Scott, and Storm, joined by Mortensen, Schefter, reporters Kolber and Werder, and analysts Ditka, Jackson, Johnson, Young, etc.; Additionally, Storm and three-time Super Bowl Champion Darren Woodson will report from NFL media day, Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. – noon on ESPN;
• SportsCenter Special: The Champions (Friday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m., ESPN) – Tirico hosts this special with all of ESPN’s NFL analysts in North Texas who have won Super Bowl rings (Bruschi, Dilfer, Ditka, Gruden, Johnson, Mark Schlereth, Woodson and Young), and Saints Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton. In all, members of The Champions panel – with a combined 19 rings in 25 Super Bowl appearances – will discuss their personal experiences of playing in the NFL title game and what they expect for Super Bowl XLV;
• NFL Quarterbacks Field Pass (Monday, Jan. 31 at 10 p.m., ESPN2) – Part of ESPN’s “Year of the Quarterback” initiative, this one-hour NFL Films all-access special includes footage and audio from the 2010-11 NFL season, featuring quarterbacks Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Super Bowl starters Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow, and Michael Vick. Super Bowl legends Troy Aikman, John Elway and Steve Young will also be highlighted;
• “I Am a World Champion,”, is a feature series offering first-person narratives from the quarterbacks who have led their team to victory and walked off the field World Champions.  The original content, which showcases the quarterback’s travails and triumphs, will run during NFL Live and afternoon editions of SportsCenter and will also be available online;
• SportsCenter Special and NFL Live (Monday, Jan. 31 – Thursday, Feb. 4, 3-4:30 p.m.) – Trey Wingo and Tirico will host these back-to-back daily shows throughout Super Bowl week;
• SportsNation (M-F, 4 p.m., ESPN2) will originate live from Sundance Square all week beginning Monday, Jan. 31. Hosts Cowherd and Beadle will be joined by special guests all week. Shows will include Super Bowl-themed polls and games, and animals from a local zoo will make Super Bowl picks.  A special two-hour SportsNation is also planned for Super Bowl Sunday, at noon ET live from Sundance Square on ESPN2.
• NFL Matchup (Sunday, Feb. 6, 3 and 6:30 a.m., ESPN and 5:30 a.m., ESPN2) – the popular 30-minute X’s and O’s analysis show hosted by Sal Paolantonio with Merril Hoge and Jaworski will preview the Super Bowl from North Texas;
• Rome is Burning (M-F, 4:30 p.m., ESPN) – current and former NFL players will join host Jim Rome live from Sundance Square each day to discuss the Super Bowl;
• Around the Horn (M-F, 5 p.m., ESPN) – daily panelists will opine from North Texas;
• Pardon the Interruption (M-F, 5:30 p.m., ESPN) – co-host Michael Wilbon and ‘Five Good Minutes’ guests will participate from North Texas;
• Sports Reporters (Sunday, Feb. 6, at 8:30 a.m., ESPN) – John Saunders will host the popular Sunday morning sports journalism and discussion program from Fort Worth with panelists Mike Lupica (New York Daily News), William C. Rhoden (New York Times) and Bob Ryan (Boston Globe). The show’s traditional “Parting Shots” segment will feature each reporter’s most memorable moment from the 2010 NFL season.
• Mike & Mike in the Morning (M-F, 6-10 a.m./simulcast on ESPN2) – Co-hosts Mike Golic and Greenberg will kick off ESPN Radio’s on-site coverage live from Sundance Square in Fort Worth on Monday, Jan. 31, followed by The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m. – 1 p.m./ESPNU), and co-hosts Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo on The Scott Van Pelt Show (1-4 p.m./ 2-3 p.m. on M, W-F, ESPN2). Each program will feature NFL guests and experts on-set with the hosts throughout the week;
• First Take (M-F, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., ESPN2) – will include Super Bowl-related interviews and previews all week;
• ESPNEWS will offer all the news each day leading up to Super Bowl XLV, including the Hall of Fame announcement live on Saturday and extensive pre and postgame reporting on Super Bowl Sunday, including interviews, news conferences, highlights and analysis;
• Starting Tuesday, Feb. 1, ESPN Classic will air a variety of ESPN Super Bowl-themed programming from the SportsCentury, 30 for 30, Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame and Who’s #1 series, along with interview shows hosted by Dick Schaap, Roy Firestone, Jim Rome and Rick Reilly in Homecoming.  The week will culminate with 39 consecutive hours of NFL-related programming starting Friday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.

ESPN Radio– ESPNRadio.com

ESPN Radio’s weekday Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m. ), The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) and The Scott Van Pelt Show (1-4 p.m.) will all originate from  Sundance Square in Fort Worth during Super Bowl week. Guests visiting the sets will include current and former NFL players and coaches, celebrities, and newsmakers from the sports world.

103.3 ESPN Radio in Dallas

Locally, ESPN Radio’s owned-and-operated 103.3 ESPN Radio in Dallas will broadcast its weekday Ben and Skin Show (9 a.m.-noon CT), Coop and Nate Show (2-3 p.m.) and Galloway and Company (3-7 p.m.) from the “103.3 Stage” in Sundance Square. The station will also host an interactive area featuring NASCAR simulators, a football-toss game, PS3’s to play “Madden 11” and a podcast center to sample ESPNDallas.com’s new apps for the iPad, iPhones and other devices.

Additionally, 1540 AM ESPN Deportes programming will originate from its stage throughout Super Bowl week: Al Despertar (4-7 a.m.); Frecuencia Deportiva with Xavier Olalde (7-8 a.m.); Charla Deportiva with Luis Fernando Perez (11 a.m.-noon); Zona ESPN with Renato Bermudez (noon-2 p.m.); Jorge Ramos y Su Banda (Friday 3-6 p.m.).

For the fourth straight year, Mike & Mike in the Morning will kick off the special “Super Sunday” lineup (6-10 a.m./simulcast on ESPN2 from 6-8 a.m.). Kenny will anchor ESPN Radio’s post-game coverage from Dallas until 1 a.m.

ESPNRadio.com will provide live audio and video streaming of ESPN Radio programs throughout Super Bowl week, as well as on-demand highlights of every show and every interview.

(continue reading…)

ESPN Family of Networks Churning Out Soccer Games This Week

Starting on Wednesday and lasting through Sunday, ESPN’s various platforms will be all over soccer games from all over the globe. There will be a couple of international friendies including one involving the United States on ESPN2. Then there’s the regular ESPN2 English Premier League game on Saturday morning and to round it out, there’s the MLS Cup on Sunday.

Here’s the schedule for you.

Big Soccer Week on ESPN Platforms: MLS Cup on ESPN HD and ESPN3.com Sunday; Doubleheader of International “Friendlies” Wednesday

ESPN’s platforms will combine to provide coverage of key soccer matches this week, including the MLS Cup live from Toronto on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN HD and ESPN3.com.  Highlights:

• Back-to-back doubleheader international friendly matches Wednesday, Nov. 17: Brazil vs. Argentina at 11:55 a.m. and USA vs. South Africa at 2 p.m.
• ESPN3.com and ESPN Deportes will combine to present 2010 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008 champions Spain vs. Portugal on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m.
• MLS Cup, between FC Dallas and Colorado Rapids, on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN HD and ESPN3.com. 

I think I’ll have more stuff later.

Back To The Sunday Linkage

After a couple of days without linkage, it’s time to give bring it back and do what you have come to expect from Fang’s Bites.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Bright House and Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to ESPN Deportes’ syndicated coverage of Dominican League baseball games starting today.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel writes that HBO will go to social media and buy ads on NFL games to promote the Manny Pacquaio-Antonio Margarito fight on pay per view.

Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com, the man who broke the Texas not going to the Pac 10/12, now breaks the story that Texas will sign with ESPN to form its own sports television network. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser for the link.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News proclaims New York as the center of the TV ratings universe.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wishes more baseball players would serve in the military and baseball games be shot in black and white.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union notes that Siena College has signed with Time Warner Cable to air a series of basketball games this season.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has taken over the signage at one Washington Metro stop.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN NASCAR analyst Rusty Wallace about the last three races in the Sprint Cup season.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Cowboys are still primetime darlings despite having a 1-6 record.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has a viewing guide for the Monday Night Football game in the Queen City tomorrow.

The lovely Amanda Bruno of Batter-up with Bruno recaps her appearance speaking to a Boston University journalism class last week.

Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions.

SMW notes that the NFL on Fox saw a ratings decline in Week 8.

SMW says CBS is seeing higher numbers for its NFL coverage.

Awful Announcing is fed up with ESPN Radio hack Colon Cowherd.

I have a recap of yesterday’s Boston Sports Blogapalooza II event at my Boston Sports Media Watch page.

I’m going to end it there for now. I’ve been interrupted too many times since I started this at 9 this morning.

Telemundo To Air Its First Ever NFL Game "En Vivo!"

This Sunday, NBC-owned Telemundo will its first NFL game in five cities. It’s part of Hispanic Heritage Month and Telemundo gets to use its own announcers for the event. NBC Sports will produce the game. In addition, ESPN Deportes will team up with the Mothership for the Monday night game between Green Bay and Minnesota. We have the details from the National Football League.

TELEMUNDO TO AIR ITS FIRST NFL REGULAR-SEASON GAME IN 5 U.S. CITIES

The NFL, Telemundo and NBC Sports will broadcast the Sunday Night Football contest between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins (8:20 PM ET, NBC) in both English and Spanish, with Telemundo airing its first-ever Sunday Night Football game on its New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Miami stations. NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football production team will partner with Deportes Telemundo to broadcast the game from Miami in two languages. Deportes Telemundo will provide its own Spanish-speaking award-winning commentators, Jessi Losada, Rene Giraldo and Edgar Lopez.

NFL teams will host community events and gameday celebrations throughout Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15- October 15). This week, 15 clubs – Arizona, Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans, New York Giants, St. Louis and Tampa Bay – will participate. 

The NFL’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month will feature a series of special events surrounding the two primetime games in Week 3. 

The festivities will continue with Monday Night Football as the NFL, ESPN and ESPN Deportes will team to show the game featuring the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears (8:30 PM ET, ESPN and ESPN Deportes). The game telecast on ESPN will feature special graphic integrations and features, as well as Hank Williams Jr. singing some lyrics in Spanish during the show’s opening video. The commentator team for ESPN Deportes, the official Spanish-language television home for all MNF games, will feature Spanish-language Emmy-nominated play-by-play voice Álvaro Martín, analyst and former NFL kicker Raúl Allegre, and sideline reporter John Sutcliffe.

The 2009 NFL regular season averaged 1.1 million Hispanic viewers per game, more than any other U.S. sport, and up 31 percent from the 2008 season.  

Were you thinking like I was that Andres Cantor needs to be somehow involved in this? He would be perfect and would replace Touchdown for “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!”

I’ll be back later with more.

ESPN Sublicenses English Premier League Rights From Fox For Three Years

In what is good news for soccer fans, ESPN has locked in with Fox Soccer Channel for three years which prevents the last minute machinations of last year when negotiations between the two parties went to the very last minute. We now have a three year deal which allows for ESPN2 to air early Saturday morning games and for ESPN3.com to show games on broadband. It also allows for ESPN to show games on Deportes and Mobile TV.

Here’s the press release.

ESPN Licenses Multimedia Rights to Select Barclays Premier League Matches in the U.S. from Fox Sports International for Three Seasons Through 2012-13

Saturday Morning and Weekday Afternoon Matches on Two TV Networks, Broadband and Mobile Platforms

Weekday Matches on ESPN3.com, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mobile TV

ESPN has reached an agreement with Fox Sports International for multimedia rights to select England’s Barclays Premier League (BPL) matches in the United States for the next three seasons, 2010-11 through 2012-13. The three-year sublicense includes up to 74 live matches each season on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com, and ESPN Mobile TV.

ESPN’s multimedia coverage will kick off Saturday, Aug. 14, at 7:30 a.m. ET with the opening match of the 2010-11 season: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City, teams that finished fourth and fifth, respectively, last season. Most of ESPN’s coverage of Premier League matches will be available in high definition.

Highlights:

• More than 220 live matches in three seasons across ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com, and ESPN Mobile TV;
• Match windows: Saturday mornings at 7:30 a.m. (or 10 a.m. when there are no matches at 7:30 a.m.), and weekday afternoon (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) at 2:45 p.m.;
• For the first time, Premier League matches will be featured regularly on ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network; ESPN3.com, ESPN’s broadband network, currently available in more than 53 million homes; and ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN’s 24-7 mobile sports television network;
• Select midweek matches will be available exclusively on ESPN3.com, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Mobile TV.

“We remain committed to serving soccer fans in the United States by offering coverage of the best leagues in the world, and we are pleased to work with Fox Sports International to expand our rights of the Barclays Premier League in this country,” said Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of programming, ESPN.

The addition of digital and Spanish-language rights and a regular schedule of weekday matches in the U.S. reflect ESPN’s increasing commitment to the Premier League and other top-tier professional soccer leagues. Last season, ESPN2 televised some 46 league matches, the network’s return to Premier League football since the 1996–97 and 1997-98 season when the then nascent network was the English-language television home for the league’s Monday night matches in the U.S. 

ESPN also currently televises the Premier League in dozens of countries around the world via ESPN in the UK, ESPN Latin America South, ESPN Brazil, ESPN Caribbean and ESPN Star Sports (in India and across many parts of southern and southeast Asia). ESPN also has exclusive rights in the UK to mobile highlights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches, for each of the next three seasons.

ESPN’s Barclays Premier League schedule for August 2010 (subject to change):

Date	Time (ET)	Network	Fixture
Sat., Aug. 14	7:30 a.m.	ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Deportes/ESPN Mobile TV	Tottenham Hotspur  vs. Manchester City
Mon., Aug. 16	3 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Deportes/ESPN Mobile TV	Manchester United  vs. Newcastle United
Sat., Aug. 21	10 a.m.	ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Deportes/ESPN Mobile TV	Arsenal  vs. Blackpool
Mon., Aug. 23	3 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Deportes/ESPN Mobile TV	Manchester City  vs. Liverpool
Sat., Aug. 28	7:30 a.m.	ESPN2/ESPN3.com/ ESPN Deportes/ESPN Mobile TV	Blackburn vs. Arsenal

That’s good stuff.

Some Additional Wednesday Links

Ok, let me provide you with some additional linkage here. I got interrupted and posted my original links rather hastily. Then I had to tape this week’s Sports Media Weekly Podcast with Keith Thibault and our guest, Susan Shan so let’s bring you the rest of the linkage now.

We’re getting word that ESPN spiked an article that was posted by writer Arash Markazi. In it, Markazi follows LeBron James in Las Vegas and chronicles his night at the Venetian hotel. For whatever reason, ESPN took it down, but credit Will Leitch of New York Magazine for putting it on Google Docs where it stands right now. According to CNBC’s Darren Rovell, James’ management team denies having anything to do with pulling the story. Whatever the reason, ESPN again looks bad for apparently having a cozy relationship with James. And after the ill-advised “The Decision”, ESPN doesn’t need more black eyes. We’ll monitor this story to see if it has any legs.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today notes that next year’s MLB season will begin earlier and end earlier. 

Whitney Matheson of USA Today’s Pop Candy blog looks at the latest ESPN 30 for 30 doc on BMX.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with Pac 10/12 Commissioner Larry Scott. 

Forbes’ Great Speculations blog notes that ESPN is crucial to Disney’s success or failure.

Portada Online says ESPN Deportes Radio has found a Philadelphia affiliate.

Jessica Heslam & Thomas Grillo from the Boston Herald look into why the Red Sox ratings on NESN are way down from last year. 

D.C. Denison and Alexandra McMahon of the Boston Globe also try to figure out the Red Sox ratings slide.

Jim Shea of the Hartford Courant feels it might be NESN’s presentation that might be turning off viewers.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes MLB Network will have expanded coverage of the trading deadline this Saturday. 

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that a baby recliner designed by Leslie Gudel of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is being recalled after the death of a four month old.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner discusses the MLS All-Star Game which is being carried by ESPN2 tonight.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Tuesday’s Oakland-Texas Rangers game was the highest rated baseball game of the year for Fox Sports Southwest.

Mike Colias of Crain’s Chicago Business says the Cubs struggles on the field are translating into lower TV ratings.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about the possible successors to Pat Haden on NBC’s Notre Dame football telecasts.

Tom writes that Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn is now screening his media requests after being fined by the NBA.

SportsbyBrooks gets confirmation from Jay Glazer that he’s going to work at NFL Network while keeping his current position at Fox NFL Sunday.

SbyB also discovers that NFL Network was also targeting Sports Illustrated’s and NBC’s Peter King but was turned down.

The Sports Media Watch has the Weekend Overnight Ratings. 

SMW also has some ratings news and notes.

Digital Journal has the NFL anticipating its highest rated season yet.

TVbytheNumbers notes that TNT plans to produce the PGA Championship next month in 3-D.

Boston Sports Radio Watch explores the war of words and ratings between WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Rock Mamota in Chicago Now claims MLB is in need of a ratings transfusion.

That will do it for now.

ESPN Presents The Home Run Derby

On Monday, ESPN presents annual coverage of the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby live from Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Unfortunately, Chris Berman will once again call and do his overblown, “Back, back, back, back, back, back, back!” call. Plus, he’ll try to endear himself by mentioning local communities (“That ball was hit to Orange County!”). To make things worse, Joe Morgan will be one of the analysts. He can make an exciting moment sound as if it’s extremely boring. Bobby Valentine rounds out ESPN’s team.

In addition, ESPN will air the event in 3-D which about 21 people can watch.

Anyway, here’s the press release.

ESPN to Present 2010 Home Run Derby

Derby Available on ESPN 3D; 81^st MLB All-Star Game Live on ESPN Radio

ESPN’s extensive Major League Baseball All-Star coverage from Angel Stadium – home of the Los Angeles Angels on Anaheim – will be highlighted by the 2010 Home Run Derby on Monday, July 12, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ESPN HD. The Home Run Derby will be ESPN 3D’s first fully-produced telecast. The Derby will also be available via ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN International.

Chris Berman will host ESPN’s Home Run Derby coverage, joined on the field by analysts Joe Morgan and Bobby Valentine. ESPN will utilize 20 cameras to capture the excitement of the Derby, including the use of “Ultra Mo,” a replay device recapping action at 1,000 frames per second. This is ESPN’s 13^th consecutive year of live Derby coverage and 18^th straight year overall. The Derby is traditionally one of ESPN’s highest-rated summer programs.

ESPN 3D’s telecast will be hosted by Dan Shulman with analysts Aaron Boone and Nomar Garciaparra. ESPN Radio’s Home Run Derby broadcast will include commentary from Jon Sciambi and analyst Dave Campbell. The pair will be joined by Peter Pascarelli, who will conduct interviews with participants and All-Stars during the Derby.

Ernesto Jerez will call the Derby for ESPN Deportes with analyst Luis Alfredo Alvarez and on-field reporter Guillermo Celis. ESPN Deportes’ Beisbol Esta Noche, with host Carolina Guillen, former Major Leaguer Candy Maldonado and Fernando Alvarez – plus on-site reports by Alvarez and Celis – will preview the event at 7:30 p.m.

A special edition of Baseball Tonight, with host Karl Ravech, analysts Nomar Garciaparra, John Kruk, Bobby Valentine and Dave Winfield, and reporter Tim Kurkjian, will be televised the evening of the Derby at 7 p.m. Baseball Tonight will also be live from Dodger Stadium, with Ravech, Garciaparra and Valentine, on Sunday, July 11, at 7 p.m., prior to ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs, 8 p.m.) telecast.

81^st MLB All-Star Game on ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes Radio

ESPN Radio (7:45 p.m.) and ESPN Deportes Radio (8 p.m.) will exclusively broadcast the 81^st All-Star Game Tuesday, July 13. ESPN Radio’s Jon Sciambi will call the game with analyst Dave Campbell, with Marc Kestecher serving as on-site host. Peter Pascarelli and John Rooney, the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, will serve as on-field reporters. ESPN Deportes Radio, the only Spanish-language sports radio network in the U.S., will offer a radio broadcast of the All-Star Game. Commentary will be provided by Renato Bermudez and Eduardo Ortega with analysis from Guillermo Celis and Jose Francisco Rivera.  

2010 All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game

Immediately following the Home Run Derby on Monday, July 12, ESPN and ESPN HD will present the 2010 All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game. Gary Thorne will call the game, along with commentary from analyst/player John Kruk. Legends will include Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Gary Carter, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Ozzie Smith and Dave Winfield (ESPN analyst). Celebrities scheduled to participate include Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), Billy Bob Thornton (actor), James Denton (Desperate Housewives), Jennie Finch (USA gold medal softball player), Mario Lopez (Extra host) and Maria Menounos (Access Hollywood host). 

2010 All-Star Futures Game

The networks’ All-Star coverage will begin with the 2010 All-Star Futures Game Sunday, July 11, at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 HD and ESPN3.com. Gary Thorne will call the game with analysts Rick Sutcliffe and J.P. Ricciardi. 

ESPN 3D

ESPN 3D will produce its inaugural telecast for the new network with the Home Run Derby telecast. Prior to the Home Run Derby, ESPN 3D televised 25 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches which were produced by FIFA. ESPN was the first to announce an exclusive 3D network in January 2010 which was the culmination of more than three years of testing 3D television. ESPN has produced several 3D telecasts, including The Masters in April 2010, a Harlem Globetrotters game in February 2010 and the USC vs. Ohio State college football game in 2009. ESPN 3D is available nationwide in approximately 45 million households and has carriage agreements with DirecTV, Comcast and AT&T. Sony was named the first official sponsor of the network in January 2010.

ESPN International

ESPN International will offer live coverage of the All-Star Game and Futures Game on its networks serving Latin America (South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean), Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. Coverage of the Derby on Monday at 8 p.m. will be available in these regions, plus Australia. ESPN AMERICA, the only European network dedicated to North American sports, will broadcast the All-Star Game, Futures Game and Home Run Derby to 43 countries throughout Europe.

SportsCenter & Baseball Tonight All-Star Coverage

The 6 p.m. SportsCenter on Monday and Tuesday will present live batting practice reports and previews from the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, respectively, while the late-night SportsCenters will provide live post-Derby and post-game analysis and interviews. Chris Berman will anchor the post All-Star game SportsCenter, with Karl Ravech anchoring all other SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight coverage. On-site analysts will include Nomar Garciaparra, John Kruk, Tim Kurkjian, Bobby Valentine and Dave Winfield. Baseball Tonight will provide highlights, news and information related to the Derby Monday, July 12, at midnight (9 p.m. PT) and following the All-Star Game Tuesday, July 13.

ESPNEWS

ESPNEWS will provide live coverage of Monday’s All-Star Game press conference and Home Run DerbyDerby press conference. On Tuesday, ESPNEWS will cover the pre- and post-game press conferences. press conference, along with the post-

ESPN.com & ESPN Mobile Web

ESPN.com will feature extensive coverage from Anaheim, including news and analysis and scouting reports, real-time coverage via a live All-Star blog and Twitter feed with contributions from ESPN writers and editors on site, a Live GameCast during the All-Star Game, SportsNation polls, the Baseball Today podcast, Baseball Tonight Minute video and the “SweetSpot” blog by Rob Neyer. Writers on site will include Jayson Stark, Jerry Crasnick, Jim Caple, Keith Law, Jason Grey, Jorge Arangure, Jr. and Enrique Rojas. ESPNLosAngeles.com will also offer comprehensive All-Star coverage.

All-Star coverage across the ESPN Mobile Web and MVP application will allow users to follow the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game live directly on their mobile device via GameCast. An All-Star Hot Corner feature will provide interactive chats and polls. ESPN Alerts will provide subscribers with in-progress and final result updates from the Futures Game, Home Run Derby and All-Star Game.

ESPNDeportes.com, ESPN The Magazine and ESPNTheMag.com will also provide All-Star coverage.

That’s it.

ESPN Announces Its 2010 MLS Schedule

Here we go, the entire 2010 Major League Soccer schedule for ESPN2 and the other platforms in the ESPN family of networks. JP Dellacamera will call most of the matches along with John Harkes. Here is the schedule which includes three postseason games and the MLS Cup.

ESPN’s 2010 Major League Soccer Schedule

ESPN coverage of Major League Soccer’s 15^th season will begin Thursday, March 25 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN360.com, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Deportes Radio with a live telecast of the Philadelphia Union at Seattle Sounders FC from Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash. The ESPN MLS Game of the Week will be the inaugural MLS match for Philadelphia as it faces the breakout expansion franchise from a year ago that opened the 2009 season on ESPN. The Union-Sounders FC match will be part of MLS First Kick, a series of eight season-opening weekend matches March 25-27. 

 

MLS First Kick will continue Saturday, March 27 at 7 p.m., on ESPN, ESPN360.com, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio, with the first league match at the new, state-of-the-art Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., when the New York Red Bulls host Chicago Fire. 

In all, ESPN networks will combine to televise 26 regular season matches, the MLS All-Star Game, three playoff matches, and the 2010 MLS Cup. ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN’s 24/7 mobile sports television network, will provide live coverage of select MLS matches during the season. MLS season highlights: 

• All 26 regular season matches will be available in high definition, simulcast on ESPN360.com and aired on ESPN Deportes. In addition, ESPN Deportes Radio will broadcast regular season matches and the 2010 MLS All-Star Game; 
• Opening night will feature Seattle Sounders FC, one of the biggest stories from 2009. The Sounders set a league attendance record in its inaugural MLS season (2009); 
• ESPN will televise two matches – first league match at the Red Bull Arena, Saturday, March 27 at 7 p.m. ET (Chicago Fire at NY Red Bulls); and the 2010 MLS Cup, Sunday, Nov. 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET; 
• D.C. United visits Seattle Sounders FC (Thursday, June 10 at 10 p.m.ET ) in the last match before the league’s first two-week, in-season break for the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa; 
• The SuperClásico, Major League Soccer’s only intra-city rivalry (derby) matches in 2010, exclusively on ESPN2, ESPN360.com and ESPN Deportes (Thursday, April 1 and Sunday, Oct. 3); 
• A special MLS Game of the Week primetime doubleheader on Thursday, April 1 on ESPN2, ESPN360.com, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN Deportes Radio: 2009 MLS Cup champion Real Salt Lake at Houston Dynamo (9 p.m. ET) and this season’s first SuperClásico – Chivas USA at Los Angeles Galaxy (11 p.m. ET); 
• ESPN2 will televise the grand opening of the ninth soccer stadium built for an MLS team – PPL Park in Chester, Pa., when Philadelphia Union host Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday, June 27 at 5 p.m. ET. 

JP Dellacamera (play-by-play) and John Harkes (analyst) return as the lead commentator team for MLS matches on the ESPN networks. Glenn Davis and Kyle Martino will also be featured as match commentators. Alexi Lalas, former U.S. Men’s National team defender and a pioneer MLS player who became a team general manager/president in the league, will anchor ESPN’s studio coverage of the MLS as an analyst. Former Fox Soccer Channel studio host and play-by-play commentator Max Bretos, who joined ESPN as an ESPNEWS anchor in February, will make his ESPN soccer debut Sunday, March 27 (Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls, 7 p.m.). Rob Stone, who was named this month as an ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup reporter, will continue to host MLS events and serve as a reporter on select matches. Allen Hopkins, also an ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup reporter, will continue in his role as the primary sideline reporter for MLS matches.

The ESPN Deportes Spanish-language commentator team will include Richard Mendez (play-by-play) and former MetroStars forward Giovanni Savarese (analyst).  The ESPN Deportes Radio teams will include Jorge Ramos (play-by-play) and Hernan Pereyra (analyst); Jairo Moncada (play-by-play) and analysts Jorge Ottati and Alvaro Riet; and Marcelo Masanti (play-by-play) and analysts Manuel Kun and Giovanni Scavia.  

ESPN’s MLS Game of the Week, the network’s season-long presentation of the top professional soccer league in the United States, returns with most matches on Thursday nights. 

2010 “ESPN MLS GAME OF THE WEEK” SCHEDULE

 All Times Eastern; Schedule Subject To Change 

Date	Time (ET)	Networks	Match
Thu 3/25	9:30 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Philadelphia Union at Seattle Sounders FC
Sat 3/27	7 p.m.	ESPN/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls
Thu 4/1	9 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Real Salt Lake at Houston Dynamo
Thu 4/1	11 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Chivas USA at Los Angeles Galaxy
Thu 4/15	7 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Philadelphia Union at Toronto FC
Thu 4/22	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Seattle Sounders FC at FC Dallas
Wed 5/5	7 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Kansas City Wizards at D.C. United
Thu 5/13	9 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Houston Dynamo at Real Salt Lake
Thu 5/20	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Columbus Crew at New York Red Bulls
Thu 5/27	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	FC Dallas at Chicago Fire
Thu 6/10	10 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	D.C. United at Seattle Sounders FC
Sun 6/27	5 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Seattle Sounders FC at Philadelphia Union
Thu 7/1	7 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Houston Dynamo at Toronto FC
Thu 7/8	9:30 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Real Salt Lake at Chicago Fire
Thu 7/15	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Seattle Sounders FC at D.C. United
Thu 7/22	10:30 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	San Jose Earthquakes at Los Angeles Galaxy
Thu 8/5	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Columbus Crew at Philadelphia Union
Sun 8/8	9 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	New York Red Bulls at Chicago Fire
Sun 8/29	10 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	D.C. United at Chivas USA
Thu 9/9	11 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Real Salt Lake at Seattle Sounders FC
Fri 9/24	11 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	New York Red Bulls at Los Angeles Galaxy
Wed 9/29	11 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Chicago Fire at San Jose Earthquakes
Sun 10/3	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Los Angeles Galaxy at Chivas USA
Thu 10/7	8 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Los Angeles Galaxy at Philadelphia Union
Fri 10/15	11 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	Chivas USA at Seattle Sounders FC
Thu 10/21	7:30 p.m.	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	New England Revolution at N Red Bulls
Thu 10/26	TBD	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	MLS Playoffs
Thu 11/4	TBD	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	MLS Playoffs
Thu 11/11	TBD	ESPN2/ESPN360.com/ESPN Deportes	MLS Playoffs

* ESPN Deportes Radio will broadcast all regular season matches listed and the 2010 MLS All Star Game  

That’s it.

ESPN Crows About Its Sports Emmy Nominations

ESPN is really happy over its Sports Emmy nominations including those for ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN.com and ESPN Deportes. Overall, the nods total over 50 which is quite impressive. Here’s the release.

ESPN, Inc. – Industry-Leading 54 Sports Emmy Nominations

 

E:60, Outside the Lines & Motorsports Lead the Way; First Nomination for ESPN Deportes

 

New Programming Honored:  Three Each for “30 for 30” Films and SportsNation

ESPN, Inc., earned 54 Sports Emmy Award nominations, the most of any submitting company for the ninth time in 10 years, it was announced today by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.  The total matches the company’s record, set last year.  The winners will be announced Monday, April 26.  

 

ESPN’s nominations encompassed the entire scope of the company’s efforts – studio and event production, including editorial/creative and technical categories for both; original programming from ESPN Content Development; three each for ESPN.com and promotional spots; as well as the first nomination for Spanish-language ESPN Deportes (for The Lost Son of Havana about former baseball pitcher Luis Tiant in the Sports Documentary category).  In addition, numerous individual commentators received nominations:  Mike Breen, Chris Fowler, Jon Gruden (for his first year on Monday Night Football), Kirk Herbstreit, Mike Tirico and Jeff Van Gundy.

 

ESPN2’s newsmagazine, E:60, topped all competitors with seven nominations, including Best Edited Series and four nominees between the Short and Long Features categories.  Five motorsports submissions were nominated, including the Indy 500 on ABC for Best Live Special and three for NASCAR.  Outside the Lines – winner of 11 Sports Emmy Awards in its history – received four nominations (Best Daily Studio Show, and three in the Long Feature category).

 

Other notes:

• Four nominations in studio show categories (SportsCenter, Outside the Lines First Report and Pardon the Interruption for Daily Shows; College GameDay for Weekly Shows, which it won in 2008)
• Three nominations or NFL (Monday Night Football for Production Design/Art Direction and Tech Team Remote, NFL Draft for Tech Team Studio)
• Three nominations for Grand Slam tennis programming (Live Series, Production Design/Art Direction and Writing)
• Three nominations for the “30 for 30” film series (for Best Edited Series, and The Legend of Jimmy the Greek and Without Bias in Sports Documentary)
• Three nominations for ESPN2’s new weekday SportsNation (Production Design/Art Direction, Tech Team Studio and Graphic Design).
• Three nominations for ESPN.com – which has won six Sports Emmys in four years of eligibility (“Super Bowl MVPs” and “Unspeakable” in Sports Programming, and “Sincerely, Lou” in Short Format)
• Three nominations for promo spots, in the Institutional category, for NASCAR, This is SportsCenter and One Game Changes Everything.

 

Overall, ESPN has won 128 Sports Emmy Awards in 22 years of eligibility.  ABC Sports won 160 from 1980 – 2008.

 

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

 

Live Special     

Breeders Cup World Championship

Indianapolis 500 (ABC) 

 

Live Series      

Grand Slam Tennis (ESPN2)

 

Live Event Turnaround    

Bassmaster Classic (ESPN2)

World Series of Poker Final Table

 

Sports Documentary      

The Legend of Jimmy the Greek

The Lost Son of Havana (ESPN Deportes)

Without Bias

 

Edited Series    

30 for 30

E:60 (ESPN2)

 

Studio Show/weekly       

College GameDay

 

Studio Show/daily        

Outside the Lines First Report

Pardon the Interruption

SportsCenter

 

Journalism       

E:60 – Wanted: Fugitive (ESPN2)

 

Short Feature    

E:60 – Glory Days (ESPN2)

E:60 – Seeing is Believing (ESPN2)

 

Long Feature     

E:60 – Catfish Hunters (ESPN2)

E:60 – Coach (ESPN2)

Outside the Lines – Andy Murray

Outside the Lines – Carry On

Outside the Lines – Pushing the Limits

 

New Approaches – Sports Programming    

Super Bowl MVPs (ESPN.com) 

Unspeakable (ESPN.com)

 

New Approaches –  Short Format   

Sincerely, Lou (ESPN.com)

 

Studio Host      

Chris Fowler

 

Play-by-Play     

Mike Breen (ABC)

Mike Tirico

 

Studio Analyst   

Kirk Herbstreit

 

Event Analyst   

Jon Gruden

Jeff Van Gundy (ABC)

 

Technical Team Remote    

Monday Night Football

NASCAR (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

 

Technical Team Studio    

NFL Draft

NASCAR Pit Studio & Tech Garage (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2)

SportsNation (ESPN2)

 

Editing  

NASCAR Cup Season in Review (ESPN2)

 

Writing 

2009 Open Championship (ABC)

Grand Slam Tennis (ESPN2)

Horse Racing

 

Music   

The Masters

 

Graphic Design   

E:60 (ESPN2)

Red Bull – New Year.  No Limits

SportsNation (ESPN2)

Winter X Games 13

 

Prod.Design/Art Direction       

Monday Night Football

Grand Slam Tennis (ESPN2)

SportsNation (ESPN2)

Indianapolis 500 (ABC)

USA vs. Costa Rica Soccer

 

Technical Achievement    

Virtual Playbook Remote (NBA/College GameDay)

 

Promo – Institutional   NASCAR

One Game Changes Everything

This is SportsCenter

If more releases arrive in the Fang’s Bites inbox, I’ll post them here.

Doing the Sunday Links

While I’m working on an engineering specification from home, I’ll provide the links this Sunday morning.

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples says ESPN/ABC forced him to go to Justin.tv to watch last night’s Oregon-Arizona game.

Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams who flipped the double bird during last week’s game against the Buffalo Bills, has taken out a full page ad in the Buffalo News wishing the Bills luck today.

Michael David Smith writing in Pro Football Talk notes that NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci ripped the firing of Dick Jauron this morning.

Michael quotes ESPN’s Chris Mortensen in saying that the Patriots security chief will be reprimanded for knocking an NBC cameraman to the ground after the team’s game against the Colts.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that the lowly Knicks and Nets are leading to low TV ratings for MSG Network and YES respectively. Thanks to the Sports Media Watch for the link.

Phil Mushick of the New York Post makes it clear that he hates Personal Seat Licenses. Calm down, Phil. Nothing is that bad.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News praises Cablevision boss James Dolan for not going after Allen Iverson for his hapless Knicks team.

Nancy Dillon of the Daily News says Erin Andrews’ alleged stalker was apparently following a second woman.

Barbara De Lollis of USA Today’s Hotel Check-In blog also looks at this revelation.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union provides the college football TV schedule for this week.

Neil Rudel of the Williamsport (PA) Sun-Gazette says Penn State QB Daryll Clark overlooked ESPN’s Todd McShay’s dis and played well against Michigan State yesterday.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Dave Sims about calling Sunday Night Football on radio and the UFL on Versus.

Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville (FL) Sun says College Gameday will be on-site of the Florida State-Florida game on Saturday.

Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel goes behind the scenes with ESPN’s NASCAR production crew.

Ken Suguira of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the Hawks are happy to be playing the Magic on TNT this Thanksgiving night.

John McMullen of the Sports Network gives his two cents on Fox Sports Net’s suspension of Clippers announcers Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth also weighs in on the suspension of Clippers announcers Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Las Vegas sports books are feeling the effects of the sluggish economy.

The Arizona Daily Star looks at some of the more creative signs during ESPN College Gameday’s visit to Tucson yesterday.

Jeff Smith of The Oregonian says ESPN’s Chris Fowler looks forward to calling Thursday’s Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State which will be for the Pac 10′s slot in the Rose Bowl.

Chris Hamilton of The Maui (HI) News says the upcoming Maui Invitational, aired on the ESPN family of networks, has a huge impact on the local economy.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes will be all over the Dominican Baseball League this winter.

Mike says ESPN is riding increased ratings momentum for MLS into tonight’s MLS Cup.

And Mike writes that the mtn. is adding 6 TCU women’s college basketball games to its schedule.

Sports Media Watch has news on various sports media personalities.

SMW also has its weekend ratings predictions.

SMW says TNT’s Marv Albert is denying the Los Angeles Times story by Diane Pucin that he got into an altercation with 50 Cent’s entourage backstage at Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media disagrees with me that Bill Simmons’ Twitter suspension is a non-story.

Joe Favorito says two members of the Harlem Globetrotters (Flight Time and Big Easy) are using The Amazing Race to help expand their team’s brand.

We’re done with the links for now. Coming up later, the quotage from the NFL pregame shows.

Our Monday Links

Doing the Monday links as we return to work after the weekend. Weekends are never long enough for me.

To start, we have a few links from the Sports Business Journal.

John Ourand writes that the season ending MLS Cup will be moving to primetime and scheduled opposite Sunday Night Football. Don’t see the ratings going up this year.

John says ESPN’s new local sites are forcing local regional sports networks to upgrade their websites to compete.

Liz Mullen says NFL clubs are asking some of their employees to take pay cuts or even face termination if there’s a work stoppage in 2011.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says CBS is going to ride the Jets train next Sunday.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the new Cowboys Stadium had a carnival atmosphere last night.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick finds more silly things to complain about today.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says CBS had a good rating for the Tennessee-Florida game.

Pete says in a rare convergence, both the Giants and Jets are playing in the 1 p.m. slot in Week 3.

And Pete has the college football TV schedule for this week.

Mike Stribi of the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman profiles local native Charles Davis who was tabbed to do the NFL for Fox this season.

The Philadelphia Daily News notes that ESPN’s College Gameday visits Penn State this Saturday.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Frank Gifford about 40 years of Monday Night Football.

David Neal in the Miami Herald says Monday Night Football still has that special feel for the Dolphins.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times feels Kevin Kennedy should be a full-time analyst for Rays games.

The Baltimore Sun previews what’s coming this week in sports on TV.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reviews last night’s Sunday Night Football broadcast on NBC.

Barry says the Giants-Cowboys scored well in the ratings.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle likes the NFL Network’s RedZone, not to be confused with DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone Channel. Perhaps the NFL should have renamed it so as not to confuse it with DirecTV’s version.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business reviews the good and bad of the Tribune Company’s ownership of the Cubs.

Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune feels stale interview rooms lead to impersonal and stale interviews with athletes.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says CBS’ Rich Gannon had trouble finding praise for the Packers in their loss to Cincinnati yesterday.

Dusty Saunders in the Denver Post says broadcasting from the Cowboys Stadium made for good television on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

Bruce Kauffmann in the Arizona Daily Star says Monday Night Football has become an iconic institution.

Diane Pucin from the Los Angeles Times says CBS made a messy transition from to the late game in SoCal.

Diane adds that Warren Sapp stands out in NFL Network’s Gameday Morning pregame show.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CTV’s Winter Olympics special should have included some near-misses, not just triumphs.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Roger Mayweather’s win on Saturday could lead to a big payday with Manny Pacquaio.

Mike says the Jets are firmly entrenched with SNY.

In the Biz of Football, Maury Brown wonders if the NFL’s broadcast partners make or lose money on their media rights deals.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media says Georgia Tech’s radio network got some crap for long delays as compared to the live action on the field.

Chris shows us where Monday Night Football is aired through ESPN Deportes.

Christy Hammond from the Sports PR Blog talks with noted sports public relations man Joe Favorito.

This next link comes courtesy of Daryn Kagan. A 15 year old high school student with Down’s Syndrome got to score a touchdown during a live game in St. Joseph, MO.

Kristine Leahy has the latest edition of The Five at WEEI.com.

That’s going to do it for now.

Bringing You Tuesday Links

Here are some links for you today. Time to give you linkage. I was busy earlier compiling the list of NFL flagship TV stations for exhibition season. I’ll do a list of NFL radio networks as we get closer to the regular season. Right now, it’s the links so let’s get to them.

Bob Kimball of USA Today looks at the ratings of various events from the weekend.

ESPN.com offers a preview of tonight’s E:60 in which Cleveland Browns WR Donte Stallworth talks about his DUI arrest.

Lou Kesten of the Associated Press says EA Sports is teaming up with ESPN to promote the release of the Madden NFL 10 video game.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the Patriots’ Tom Brady acquitted himself well during an appearance on HBO’s Entourage on Sunday.

Neil reviews a new book on baseball icon “Moonlight” (Doc) Graham. If you saw Field of Dreams, then you know why Doc Graham is an icon.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at a series of Tank McNamara comic strips regarding Michael Vick and NFL Commish Roger Goodell that caused the Washington Post to drop two installments this week.

Richard writes an appreciation of Eunice Shriver who died today at the age of 88.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News wonders where was the overboard coverage from ESPN on David Ortiz?

CNBC’s Darren Rovell feels Michael Vick is taking the wrong approach to the media.

Darren writes that the owners of a $16 million horse are still hoping to make money from their investment.

Evan Weiner writing for MCN Sports warns that hockey could be falling in popularity in Toronto of all places.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks about Donte Stallworth and Michael Vick starting their media apology tours this week.

Pete has the TV schedule for this week’s PGA Championship.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says the Terrell Owens VH-1 reality show is distorting present day reality.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call liked NBC’s halftime tribute to John Madden.

If you didn’t see it, this is the tribute that ran during the Hall of Fame game:

Ed McGranahan of the Greenville (SC) News looks at the new media restrictions imposed by the SEC.

Tommy Hicks of the Mississippi News writes that thanks to the new SEC media contracts, Mississippi and Mississippi State will be on TV a lot more.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at a rare NFL double-dip coming up this week.

Mike Pryson of the Jackson (MI) Citizen Patriot says NASCAR nor Michigan International Speedway are worried about the TV ratings for this season’s races.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business pays tribute to the editor of Chicagoland Golf who passed away Monday.

Ed also looks at the commercial and media fallout from the arrest of Chicago Blackhawk star Patrick Kane.

Kevin Druley from the Dekalb (IL) Daily Chronicle profiles Golf Channel analyst Dottie Pepper.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says an ESPN publication has rated Packer Charles Woodson in the top 5 of all cornerbacks in the NFL.

Gieson Cacho of the San Jose Mercury News tells us that Monday Night Football will be all over the release of Madden NFL 10.

Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee says a former sports radio talk show host has landed on his feet with a hot girlfriend and a high profile gig on Comcast SportsNet California.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes gets its first “SportsCenter” ad campaign.

Mike writes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is broadening its programming with its new media rights agreement with the Washington Redskins.

Tristan O’Connor of Media Week UK talks with the woman in charge of putting ESPN on the air in time for the English Premier League season this week.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend ratings.

The Slashgear blog notes that the Roku media player has added MLB.TV to its TV offerings.

Steve Donohue from Contentinople talks about Turner Sports’ multiplatform coverage of this week’s PGA Championship.

Kristine Leahy of WEEI.com has the latest version of The Five.

Ok, that’s it. I’m going to be watching the Red Sox and listening to WBCN’s final farewell tonight.

A Thursday Link Thing

Let’s do some links for the day.

We start with some stories about yesterday’s announcement about the U.S. Olympic Network.

Meg James of the Los Angeles Times looks at the new U.S. Olympic Network that is scheduled to launch next year.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that the U.S. Olympic Committee felt it had to keep pace with other league-owned channels.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has the USOC feeling that the new channel’s time has come.

Former LA Times writer, Alan Abrahamson, writing for Universal Sports says there are a lot of questions surrounding USON.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says USON could be a potential rival for Universal Sports.

Matthew Futterman from the Wall Street Journal says NBC Sports has to be looking over its shoulder at USON.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes that NBC Sports isn’t commenting about USON.

Steve Donahue of the Contentinople blog has USON partner Comcast saying the new channel will not hurt NBC directly.

Philip Hersh and Kathy Bergen of the Chicago Tribune write that the International Olympic Committee’s disapproval of USON might hurt the US’ bid to have the 2016 Summer Games in Chicago.

Eddie Pells of the Associated Press says the USOC is surprised at the IOC’s complaints about USON.

Brian Gomez from the Colorado Springs Gazette that the USOC is not concerned about the IOC’s disapproval.

Now to other stories

CNBC’s Darren Rovell previews what you’ll see on his latest special, “Inside Track: Refueling The Business of NASCAR”. It airs tonight on CNBC at 9.

Darren wonders if the tape of Jordan Crawford dunking on LeBron James will ever be released.

Darren says Kazakhstan is getting a boost from a company that is sponsoring Lance Armstrong’s team in the Tour de France.

Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Daily says Versus.com saw a huge traffic boost thanks to its streaming of the Tour de France.

Kristina Petersen of the Wall Street Journal reports that the Mountain West Conference has signed the Bowl Championship Series agreement with ESPN.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake City Tribune feels the MWC should not have signed off.

Glen Dickston of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN will unveil “Ball Track” for the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday.

Sports Illustrated picks up an AP story about the 20th anniversary of the Celebrity Golf Championship on NBC.

Mark Newman of MLB.com writes that the debut of the in-market streaming of the Yankees was a big success.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says a local sports talk show will be taking the day off tomorrow and replaced with national programming.

Patrick Cloohan of the McKeesport (PA) Daily News reports that Stan Savran, a fixture on FSN Pittsburgh for 18 years, will be leaving the channel on Monday.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has the preliminary lineup when news/talk radio station WJFK flips to sports later this month.

In the Chicago Tribune, radio personality Steve Dahl remembers his role behind the infamous Disco Demolition Night at the old Comiskey Park some 30 years ago.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times says ESPN Deportes Radio is looking for a Windy City outlet (scroll down).

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business feels sorry for Cleveland.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN is ranking the Brewers as fourth best odds to land Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says ESPN is bored this summer.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Tom Hoffarth talks about ESPN picking up English Premier League rights in the Irish Republic.

EPL Talk has surmised which English Premier Games will be seen on US television starting in August.

The Sports Media Watch says the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR race on the 4th of July did not do TNT any favors. And the SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

The Big Lead has a review of last night’s E! True Hollywood Stories on Baseball Wives.

Joe Favorito says sports and entertainment entities must use the right mix in targeting the youngest audience.

The Sports Media Journal’s latest podcast has Southeastern New England media mogul Keith Thibeault talking with a TV sports anchor from one of the smallest markets in the country.

I think that’s going to do it for now. Back later.

A Mid-Week Linkfest

Let’s do some linkage today. Then I’ll do a massive press release post or two.

Starting with Jon Show of the Sports Business Daily, he writes that DirecTV will have three dedicated channels to the U.S. Open complimenting the ESPN and NBC coverage for all four rounds.

Austin Karp of the SBD says five of the top six rated network TV programs this year to date are sporting events.

Tripp Mickle of the SBD reviews what happened in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix regarding the possible Coyotes move to Southern Ontario and the setting of a relocation fee to the NHL.

The Sporting News picks up a Sports Business Journal story from Daniel Kaplan stating that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol is countering company claims that the network lost money on the Super Bowl.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says MLB Network will begin its own reality series this Saturday (I’ll have more on this series coming up later).

The USA Today Game On! blog says Selena Roberts’ book on Alex Rodriguez is not selling well after initially debuting on the Best Sellers List in its first week of publication.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that last night’s Super Tuesday of Sports certainly lived up to the hype. Neil says Game 3 of the NBA Finals beat out baseball and hockey in the New York ratings last night.

The New York Post says ESPN’s Rick Sutcliffe has cleared the air with Yankees Mark Texeira and Alex Rodriguez after he said A-Rod was tipping pitches for Texeira.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes over some of the more marketable names from last night’s MLB Draft. Darren says the Bodog sportsbook stands to lose a lot of money if the Lakers win the NBA Finals.

Keith O’Brien of the Boston Globe says the New York Times is looking to sell the Globe.

From the “What the Hell?” Department, Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch has a headscratcher of a press release from NESN stating that a morning personality from a Boston urban radio station will join the network’s Red Sox postgame show to read comments and e-mails. What? Couldn’t host Tom Caron do this? Talk about a waste of money.

On the other hand, NESN is actually airing something that might do some good. Frederick Ellis Dashiell, Jr. of the Bay State Banner says NESN will pick up a series of episodes from Northeastern University’s Sports in Society center.

Laura Nachman says there’s cause for concern over the health of a popular Philadelphia sports TV anchor.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post wants to institute some new rules in sports broadcasting.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has part two of his series on how the Lakers went Hollywood.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says ACC football fans will overdose on a lot of games on TV during the first three weeks of the season.

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wonders how ESPN can keep getting the Brett Favre story wrong.

Jeff Woods of the Nashville Scene feels ESPN is engaging in “Gotcha” journalism with Lane Kiffin and the University of Tennessee.

Evan Grant from “D” Magazine writes that Texas Ranger radio voice Eric Nadel has been given the go ahead to return to work after having retinal surgery. Thanks to Barry Horn for the link.

Barry has the overnight ratings from the Metroplex for the sports action.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business talks to the President of the MLS Fire who went to a game incognito as a fan to learn what the paying customer has to endure. Mad props to him.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the video of the Angels’ Ervin Santana telling Fox Sports West, “Fuck it! Let’s pitch!”

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that TSN hopes to add some color to its CFL studio show.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour has signed rights deals with Comcast and Universal Sports.

The Radio Business Report reports that the MLS’ FC Dallas soccer team will have its games broadcast on the local ESPN Deportes radio affiliate.

Radio Online says CBS Radio plans to flip WJFK-FM in Washington from talk to all-sports in July.

The BBC reports that Setanta Sports has stopped taking subscriptions.

The Sports Media Watch says Game 3 of the NBA Finals drew strong numbers last night, but are still off from last year. SMW says Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew its high overnight ratings of the series, but are still down from last year.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew decent numbers against Game 3 of the NBA Finals last night.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog says despite the good numbers, NBC is blaming the NHL for bringing down Conan O’Brien’s ratings against David Letterman last night.

Bob Mantz from the great Bob’s Blitz blog writes that the NHL.com store jumped the gun by declaring the Detroit Red Wings the winners of the Stanley Cup.

That’s going to do it for now. Lost of good linkage for you today.

Some More Thursday Links

Let’s give you some more links before they become out of date.

Laura Petrecca of USA Today tells workers to watch the NCAA Tournament online in moderation.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell can’t believe there’s an official ladder of the Final Four.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a breakdown of where the NCAA Tournament games are going to.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the breakdown of who chose whom in ESPN.com’s Tournament Challenge. Pete says a large percentage of the nation will get Ohio State-Siena on Friday.

Jim Williams of the DC Examiner says CBS Sports staffers have a long day ahead of themselves today and tomorrow.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes that the NCAA Tournament is one of the few sporting events that has been exclusively linked with one network for more than two decades. The Masters on CBS is another I think of off the top of my head.

Mark Washburn of the Charlotte Observer says we started watching the NCAA Tournament 30 years ago and we haven’t stopped.

David Scott of the Observer catches up with Billy Packer.

CBS’ Tim Brando writing in the Shreveport (LA) Times says the NCAA Tournament is a great American event.

Rick Kretzschmar of the Longview (TX) News-Journal is not a fan of Screamin’ Gus Johnson or Billy Packer.

Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman says subscribers to Dish Network in the Potato State will have to scramble to watch the NCAA Tournament as the satellite provider is locked in a dispute with the Boise CBS affiliate.

Matt Youmans of the Las Vegas Journal-Review talks about Bob Knight joining Billy Packer for his FSN NCAA Tournament studio show.

The Sports Media Watch says the ratings for the ACC Tournament on ESPN were down from last year. But SMW says ratings for the Big East Tournament were up.

And Wrap Around Curl at Puck The Media is not a fan of March Madness. In fact, it makes her stabby.

Now to some non-NCAA Tournament-related links.

Dave Kane of the State Journal Register (IL) says the LPGA State Farm Classic will air in June on NBC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News feels USC football voice Pete Arbogast really embarassed himself during an appearance on an online show.

The Gaffer at the EPL Talk blog reports that ESPN has lost the US TV rights to air the UEFA Champions League to Fox Soccer Channel.

Fox Soccer Channel has announced its announcing team for Women’s Professional Soccer games.

Laura Martinez of Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes is taking its shows to the people.

That’s all for now.

ESPN’s Plans for the Super Bowl

I told you earlier today that ESPN would announce its plans for Super Bowl Week programming. I guess the fine people in ESPN PR’s department read my mind or blog and put out a release outlining its plans for next week in Tampa for its multiple platforms on TV, the internet and in print. It’s a long release and can certainly stand on its own.

ESPN at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa

ESPN will provide week-long comprehensive coverage of Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Fla., across its multimedia platforms Monday, Jan. 26 – Monday, Feb. 2, including:

• Super Bowl-related content across 16 ESPN platforms: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, ESPN International, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNRadio.com, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPNdeportes.com, ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Mobile properties;
• More than 90 hours of Super Bowl-related programming on domestic television from Tampa;
• More than 65 hours of Super Bowl-related programming on ESPN Radio from Tampa;
• ESPN International will bring the Super Bowl to some 40 million households in 117 countries/territories;
• More than 25 on-air commentators (hosts, analysts, reporters and contributors) covering on-site;
• Live programming from Tampa kicks off Monday, Jan. 26 at 6 a.m. ET with Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio (simulcast on ESPN2). ESPN’s coverage will peak with more than 21 hours of TV and radio coverage on Super Bowl Sunday.
• ESPN’s weeklong coverage will originate from the main set location at Cotanchobee Park in Tampa (across from the St. Pete Times Forum). Select ESPN Radio programs will also originate from nearby Channelside Bay Plaza.

Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 1):

• Covering his 27^th Super Bowl, Chris Berman will host the four-hour Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.) with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson, Tom Jackson and Chris Mortensen. Monday Night Football play-by-play voice Mike Tirico and ESPN’s triumvirate of Super Bowl quarterbacks – Trent Dilfer, Ron Jaworski and Steve Young – will also appear on Countdown from a set at Raymond James Stadium. Post-game coverage will include two hours of SportsCenter and NFL Primetime beginning at 10 p.m. Reporters Suzy Kolber (Cardinals) and Ed Werder (Steelers) will also provide updates on the teams.
• ESPN Radio’s “Super Sunday” program lineup will feature popular weekday shows Mike & Mike in the Morning (6 a.m./simulcast on ESPN2 at 6:30 a.m.) and The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m./simulcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU), as well as a five-hour “Countdown to Kickoff” pre-game show (1-6 p.m.) hosted by Ryen Russillo and Freddie Coleman, all originating from Bristol, Conn. Tirico will host a two-hour post-game show from Tampa.

ESPN INTERNATIONAL
ESPN will deliver Super Bowl XLIII to some 40 million households in 117 countries and territories outside the U.S.
ESPN International will provide exclusive live coverage of Super Bowl XLIII throughout Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, Israel, Europe and the Pacific Rim, while RDS will provide non-exclusive coverage in Canada. Commentary and analysis will be provided in English, French-Canadian, Portuguese and Spanish.

New in 2009:

• ESPN will be the exclusive cable/satellite home of Super Bowl XLIII throughout Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Israel, and the Pacific Rim (38 million homes in 116 countries and territories).
• ESPN’s first live sports network in Europe, NASN, will be re-branded ESPN America on Super Bowl Sunday.
• ESPN HD (Australia) will feature the first high definition Super Bowl broadcast in that country.
• ESPN’s International SportsCenter production team will provide reports throughout the week to Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and throughout the Pacific Rim;
• Live coverage on Super Bowl Sunday in Latin America begins at 3:30 p.m. with Cronometro Super Sunday Special, followed by a one-hour edition of SportsCenter: Super Bowl Special and NFL Esta Noche Super Bowl Special.

Spanish-language coverage in the U.S. and Latin America will feature Spanish-language Emmy nominee Álvaro Martín (play-by-play), analyst and former New York Giants Super Bowl-winning kicker Raul Allegre, and reporters John Sutcliffe and Ciro Procuna, who will offer daily reports from Tampa on Spanish-language editions of SportsCenter and Radio Formula programs throughout Super Bowl week. Live coverage on Super Bowl Sunday in Latin America begins at 3:30 p.m. with Cronometro Super Bowl Special and continues throughout the day through the exclusive telecast of Super Bowl XLIII featuring the Arizona Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at 6 p.m. Everaldo Marques, Paulo Antunes and sideline reporter Andre Kfouri will offer Portuguese-language commentary of the game for ESPN Brasil.

ESPN – ESPN2 – ESPNEWS
ESPN’s primary host location throughout Super Bowl week in Tampa will be an outdoor set — open for public viewing — at Cotanchobee Park (located on St. Pete Times Forum Drive). Planned highlights:

• SportsCenter (Monday, Jan. 26 – Sunday, Feb. 1) with anchors Greenberg, Steve Levy and Stuart Scott, joined by reporters Mortensen, Kolber and Werder;
• Berman, joined by analysts Carter, Dikta, Jackson, Johnson and Mortensen, will host a special four-hour Super Bowl XLIII preview edition of Sunday NFL Countdown, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. Tirico, Dilfer, Jaworski and Young will also report live from Raymond James Stadium, while Kolber and Werder will cover the teams;
• Each weekday on ESPN, Trey Wingo will host a daily 30-minute SportsCenter Special at 3:30 p.m. followed by a 30-minute NFL Live at 4 p.m.;
• State Farm NFL Matchup, hosted by Sal Paolantonio with Merril Hoge and Jaworski (Sunday, Feb. 1, at 3 and 6:30 a.m., ESPN);
• Sports Reporters hosted by John Saunders (Sunday, Feb. 1, at 8:30 a.m., ESPN);
• Rome is Burning (M-F, 4:30 p.m., ESPN) will air live from Tampa as current and former NFL players join host Jim Rome to discuss the Super Bowl;
• Around the Horn (M-F, 5 p.m., ESPN) will feature host Tony Reali with some of the show’s daily panelists opining from Tampa;
• Pardon the Interruption (M-F, 5:30 p.m., ESPN) will feature co-host Michael Wilbon and guests for the ‘Five Good Minutes’ segment in Tampa, as well as Kornheiser in the Washington, D.C., studio;
• ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, will be simulcast live on ESPN2 (M-F, 6-10 a.m.). Greenberg and Golic will host from Cotanchobee Park in Tampa with in-person guests and entertaining discussions of the day’s top sports events;
• First Take (M-F, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., ESPN2) will include NFL-related interviews and previews segments from Tampa all week;
• ESPNEWS will offer expanded live coverage of Super Bowl week, including every minute of the team media availability sessions – 20 hours of live news conferences. Coverage begins Sunday, Jan. 25 when the teams arrive in Tampa and continues Tuesday, Jan. 27 with four hours of live Media Day coverage from Raymond James Stadium, including the media sessions – 10-11 a.m. (Cardinals) and 12-1 p.m. (Steelers). On Friday, Jan. 30, head coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Tomlin will make their final comments preceding NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s State of the NFL address. ESPNEWS will once again be the destination for post-game press conferences, including every podium and locker room interview available. NFL analysts Qadry Ismail, Eric Allen and Floyd Reese will share their insights and expertise on ESPNEWS throughout the week.

ESPN CLASSIC
ESPN Classic’s Super Bowl Marathon line-up will feature 23 consecutive hours of NFL-related programming (Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7 a.m. – Sunday, Feb. 1 at 6 a.m.) that will get fans ready for the biggest game of the year by celebrating the top players, teams and moments in Super Bowl history. NFL sports legends Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Al Davis, Dick Butkus, Peyton Manning, Terrell Owens and Tom Brady are among those who will be featured. The lineup will kickoff with eight consecutive episodes of SportsCentury, followed by episodes of Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame …, Who’s #1?: Biggest NFL Draft Busts and Best NFL Post-Season Performances, additional SportsCentury episodes, a primetime showing of The Greatest Game Ever Played (8 p.m.) and finally three back-to-back episodes of Who’s #1 culminating with Who’s #1: Best Teams to Never Win a Title (5 a.m.).

ESPN RADIO – ESPNRADIO.COM
ESPN Radio’s “Super Week” 2009 will offer on-site broadcasts of regularly scheduled weekday programs, special shows and reports from team headquarters and Media Day, and comprehensive analysis and post-game interviews.

Beginning Monday, Jan. 26, Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m., M-F/simulcast on ESPN2) with co-hosts Golic and Greenberg will kick off ESPN Radio’s on-site coverage from Cotanchobee Park in Tampa. The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m. – 1 p.m., M-F) and Tirico & Van Pelt (1-4 p.m. M-F) hosted by Tirico and Scott Van Pelt will originate from the ESPN Radio set at Channelside Plaza Courtyard in Tampa all week.

“Super Sunday” will include a special lineup featuring Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m./simulcast on ESPN2 starting at 6:30 a.m.), followed by The Herd (10 a.m. – 1 p.m./simulcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU (10 a.m. – noon)) and a special five-hour “Countdown to Kickoff” pre-game show (1 – 6 p.m.) hosted by Russillo and Coleman from Bristol, Conn. Tirico will anchor ESPN Radio’s post-game coverage from Tampa beginning at 10 p.m.

ESPNRadio.com will provide live audio and video streaming of ESPN Radio programs throughout Super Bowl week, as well as on-demand highlights of every show and every interview.

ESPN.COM
ESPN.com is providing complete coverage and analysis of the game, teams, players, coaches and the entire Super Bowl scene from Tampa on both the redesigned NFL homepage (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/index) and the 2009 edition of Super Bowl Central (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/superbowl). The site features interactivity through daily chats with writers and other personalities on SportsNation, video reports on Countdown Daily and live blogging throughout the week, including Tuesday’s Media Day and Game Day.

ESPN’s award-winning roster of contributors will be part of Super Bowl coverage, including NFL Hall of Famers John Clayton and Len Pasquarelli, as well as Mortensen, Wright Thompson, Gene Wojciechowski, Jeffri Chadiha, Greg Garber, Elizabeth Merrill, Pat Yasinskas, James Walker, Mike Sando, Michael Weinreb and Scouts Inc., who will provide insight, commentary, breaking news and analysis of all facets of the Super Bowl XLIII match-up. Other coverage highlights include:

• Behind-the-hero stories highlighting one player from each of the 42 teams that have earned Super Bowl rings;
• Video, essays and pictorials from 10 Super Bowl MVPs, including Arizona’s Kurt Warner and Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward, who tell stories about pivotal moments in their path to being named MVPs;
• In-depth analysis, scouting reports and rankings of all 106 players on the Cardinals and Steelers’ Super Bowl rosters from Scouts Inc.;
• Additional video features, interviews, news and analysis on the ESPN Video hub (http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/).

Jeremy Green will host the ESPN Football Today podcast live from Tampa. He will be joined by some of the biggest names in football, including Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks, Dennis Green and more. Play Ball with Amanda and Melissa will offer a female perspective of the big game as the podcast debuts on Thursday, January 29 with a special guest, New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.

ESPN DEPORTES – ESPN DEPORTES RADIO – ESPNDEPORTES.COM
ESPN Deportes will offer the most comprehensive coverage of Super Bowl XLIII on Spanish-language television in the U.S. The network will have a team in Tampa all week, providing nightly segments for its edition of SportsCenter. NFL Semanal, ESPN’s signature Spanish-language NFL news and analysis program, hosted by Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega will be produced from Bristol, Conn., Fri., Jan. 30 (6 p.m.) with on-site contributions from Allegre, Martín and Sutcliffe in Tampa.

ESPN Deportes Radio, the only around-the-clock national Spanish-language sports radio network in the U.S., will feature NFL commentary throughout Super Bowl week. ESPNdeportes.com, the company’s Spanish-language Web site, will provide complete coverage all week, including chats with ESPN Deportes experts, daily blogs and ESPN Motion video.

ESPN MOBILE PRODUCTS
ESPN Mobile products will provide fans with up-to-date information via its mobile web and MVP applications. Super Bowl week highlights will include game updates, news, analysis, team and player profiles, chats and more.

ESPN THE MAGAZINE
ESPN The Magazine is hosting its fifth annual NEXT Big Weekend Presented by Ford F-150 during Super Bowl weekend in downtown Tampa to celebrate its annual NEXT issue, featuring who and what to watch in 2009. The Magazine will convert the parking lot located at 202 South Morgan St. into the hottest Super Bowl party under a one-of-a-kind 22,000 square foot quad-saddle tent. Multi-Platinum, Grammy Award-winning musician/producer Wyclef Jean will headline The Magazine’s fifth annual NEXT party Fri., Jan. 30 at 9 p.m. This private, VIP party will showcase what’s NEXT in sports, technology, lifestyle, and, of course, what’s NEXT from ESPN. The NEXT party will also feature celebrity DJ Samantha Ronson and guest DJ/ESPN NFL analyst Marcellus Wiley. The Magazine’s NEXT Big Weekend Presented by Ford F-150 will continue Sat., Jan. 31 (noon-5 p.m.) with ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT Day Tailgate – a free fan event at the same location – featuring a live performance by Sean Kingston, the University of South Florida Marching Band and Tampa-based reggae band Impulse.

Samantha Ronson? Does that mean Lindsay Lohan is far behind? Oh wait, I believe they broke up. Anyway, I’m getting distracted from the release. I told you this was a long release. Compare this with the plans for NFL Network and you have overkill coverage.

Wednesday Night Links

I wasn’t planning on an evening update, but I think I’ll give you some linkage as I stare at the very lovely Kate Walsh on “Private Practice”. I may no longer endorse “Grey’s Anatomy”, but I can support its spinoff. And for those who watched “Private Practice” last season, you’ll know that this season is a whole lot better. One complaint, don’t play Belinda Carlisle’s “Mad About You” in a key scene. But you don’t want my review of “Private Practice”, you want linkage.

Some late breaking news from Multichannel News. Ted Hearn reports that an FCC Administrative Law Judge has thrown the NFL Network for a loss saying he cannot meet a deadline on the NFL Network-Comcast dispute. This means that Comast can keep the NFL Network on a sports tier for the rest of this season.

In the meantime, R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel writes that the MLB Network is looking forward to 2013 when MLB’s current cable deals with ESPN and TBS expire and when it could possibly air more than the 26 games it will show starting next season.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel reports that thanks to college and pro football, ESPN topped the cable primetime ratings last week.

Multichannel says Versus received its highest college football ratings ever last Saturday.

One more from Multichannel, Kent Gibbons writes that Setanta Sports is getting a pickup on Comcast cable systems in Boston.

Neil Best of Newsday says Warren Sapp’s mother thought the big boy came across too harsh on last week’s Inside the NFL and he has apologized to Keyshawn Johnson. And Neil says Warren found out that the Ravens played the wrong defense against the Giants last Sunday.

George Vescey of the New York Times appeals to President-elect Barack Obama not to get involved in the college football postseason debate.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ great columnist Rick Telander writes that ESPN is so big and powerful that no one is around to criticize the network unless it pays someone (Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber) to do it. Thanks to Deadspin for the link.

ESPN’s Erin Andrews tells The Sporting News’ Chris Littman that she’s not going to be an entertainment reporter.

CNBC sports producer Tom Rotunno, guest blogging for Darren Rovell tells a Red Sox fan to drop her lawsuit against Jordan’s Furniture over a promotion that did not even reach its climax. Tom says despite the sagging economy, Lexus plans to continue with its golf and tennis sponsorships next year. And one more guest blogger for Darren, Kathy Connors, Sports & Entertainment Publicity Consultant tells athletes not to worry about branding, become an identity instead.

Maury Brown of the great Biz of Baseball blog says team owners hope to hash out MLB’s silly territorial blackout rules. Maury points to Las Vegas which is claimed by six, count ‘em, six different teams.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has an update on this weekend’s college football TV schedule. And Pete has a look at next week’s college football TV schedule.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that ESPN’s Outside the Lines will look at the 50th anniversary of the University of Buffalo’s football team’s refusal to play in the Tangerine Bowl after it was told not to bring two African American players.

Michael C. Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Mountain West Conference and The Mtn. plan to use the Utah-BYU game as a tool to help market the channel.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says former Tampa Bay Lightning coach Barry Melrose should have named names during his Hockey Night in Canada interview last Saturday.

Steve Lepore’s Puck the Media blog continues his NHL Tournament of Announcers.

Christopher Perez of TV Week says the NHL Network will have a 20 part series on team captains.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a local sports radio station has premiered a show hosted by a sports psychologist.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times has highlights of a Dick Vitale media conference call. By the way, if Diane is the new sports media reporter for the Times, then it’s welcomed at this end because she’s been doing a bang-up job over the last few weeks. The Times has been a bit of flux over the position ever since Larry Stewart left the beat last year.

Lance Pugmire of the LA Times tells us that mixed martial arts is coming to ESPN Deportes.

The LA Times picks up a Bloomberg story that ESPN is facing allegations that its international X Games logo is similar to a clothing trademark. Oops.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that CBS College Sports has received pickups in major markets over the last week.

That’s going to do it for tonight. I’ll see you on Thursday.

More Monday Links

Against my better judgment, I’m going to give you some more links on this Monday.

Here are some more stories from the Sports Business Journal.

First, Tripp Mickle and John Ourand team up on a story which focuses on the United States Olympic Committee’s attempts to launch a 24/7 all-Olympic sports channel and trying to find a partner.

Jon Show says NBC has reupped home security company, ADT to sponsor its Sports Update segments and a golf event.

Tripp Mickle writes that Major League Soccer is seeing increased attendance, but it’s not translating to TV ratings.

Back to Jon Show, he tells us that the TV networks are still interested in mixed martial arts despite having Elite XC falling by the wayside. And Jon says despite three MMA companies failing this year, those still standing are quite bullish on the sport.

Terry Lefton and Eric Fisher have a wrap up on the World Series.

Our last link from the SBJ, Liz Mullen writes that the Breeders’ Cup plans to reduce ticket prices for next year’s event.

From the Sox & Dawgs blog, we find out that the UConn-Syracuse game on November 15 will be televised at noon on the Big East TV Network.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty says Michael Kay has signed a contract extension with the YES Network.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has more on Baltimore’s first FM sports radio station.

Jim Williams from the DC Examiner also has more on the new station.

Ryan Sharrow in the Baltimore Business Journal says the new sports station will have an all-local show lineup.

John Kieseswetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says WLW’s Reds Hot Stove League Show premieres tomorrow night.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News has a quick look at the ratings for several events involving local teams. And Barry says the Cowboys’ ratings are slowly declining.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News tells us that the Spanish language edition of ESPN’s Around the Horn premieres on ESPN Deportes today.

Linda Moss of Multichannel News writes that Disney has signed a major carriage deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative for six HDTV channels including ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNews.

Ed Meza from Variety says 39 different companies including ESPN and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. are interested in 37 different media packages from the German Bundesliga soccer league.

Jon Lafayette from TV Week says Turner is measuring out-of-home viewing for the MLB Postseason. And Jon writes that starting this week, the NFL Network is preparing to air its slate of 8 live games.

Richard Tedesco of Promo Magazine says NFL Network games can be seen live on cell phones running the Sprint Now Network.

Steve Lepore’s Puck the Media blog praises Versus for putting together a Top Shelf broadcast team for tonight’s New Jersey-Buffalo NHL game, but slaps the network for not showing a game on Tuesday.

I want to congratulate Providence sports anchor Frank Carpano who will be inducted into the Silver Circle of the New England Chapter of the Television Academy. I interned for Frank at WJAR-TV and he could not have been any nicer to me.

That’s going to do it. Expect Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks later. I should have one more post before then.

Some Sunday Links

Well, I’m off to a slow start and I haven’t even started writing the Episode 2 recap for the Amazing Race Asia. And I think I’m supposed to go to the office today which is going to suck big time. Anyway, here are some links today.

Starting with Neil Best of Newsday, he discusses how the New York Jets have one thing the Giants don’t have. Cheerleaders. And Neil got melancholy at the end of yesterday’s Yankees telecast on YES.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News goes after ESPN for putting tonight’s Yankee Stadium farewell in primetime. It really should get a national showcase considering how much history has been made there so Raissman who’s thinking about the small picture is off.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says ESPN Deportes will air a three part interview with former Red Sox and Tigers closer Urgeth Urbina who’s currently serving a 14 year prison sentence in Venezuela. And Maury says goodbye to Yankee Stadium.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels the ESPN Monday Night Football crew talks too much.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has started his own media blog and I’ll welcome him to our world. Today, he goes over the NFL TV schedule in the Metroplex and gives his picks.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has the announcers for today’s Browns-Ravens game and some NFL notes.

Joe Favorito talks about how the Miami Heat are making some marketing waves just before they get ready for their exhibition games.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News writes that the Spurs are producing more of their games in HD.

Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that ESPN is considering taking its College Gameday pregame show to the University of Georgia this weekend.

Dave Reardon of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin tells us that ESPN has plenty of Hawaii natives working at SportsCenter.

That’s going to do it now. I have to go to work now and I won’t have internet access there. I’ll be back later.

Wednesday Night Update or Why Joe Buck Needs to Stop Doing Baseball

Well, I leave my office for several hours and then all hell breaks loose.

We start off with Awful Announcing which goes off on Fox Sports’ Joe Buck. Buck was on the Colin Cowherd show on ESPN Radio this morning and said he doesn’t watch sports during the week and no longer enjoys doing baseball games.

I’ve contended since last year that since Buck doesn’t want to do the entire baseball season, get someone else to be the main voice of baseball. Even last year, Buck in an interview with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times said he would rather spend time with his family than do sports. Interviews like these don’t help. Imagine Mike Breen being interviewed on Cowherd and saying he doesn’t like doing the NBA. How fast would commish David Stern seek the removal of Breen from ESPN/ABC? Bud Selig should be doing the same with Fox, demanding that Buck be removed from the network’s broadcasts.

Awful Announcing can’t believe it and neither can I, but Skip Bayless on ESPN2′s First Take was actually a Voice of Reason on this and even before I watched the video clip on the AA site, Bayless says the same thing as me in the last paragraph, that Bud Selig should demand Fox take Buck off the games.

Deadspin has its take on Buck’s comments.

The Sports Media Watch also feels that Fox should replace Buck if he doesn’t want to do the games.

Keith Thibault of the Sports Media Journal says Buck should take a little more interest in the sports he covers.

Newsday’s Neil Best agrees with many of Buck’s takes on the length of baseball games. That’s fine, but Buck would rather watch “The Bachelorette” than the Red Sox-Rays series? I don’t think Joe likes doing sports anymore.

Buck is taking a beating in the blogosphere and deservedly so. If you want to spend more time with your family than cover sports, then by all means, get out of the sports business and do what you want. Don’t complain that you’d rather be doing something else and that the sport that gave you your start no longer interests you. Get out and change your focus. It’s complaining like this that make people who love sports angry. The world has turned upside down. Skip Bayless is the Voice of Reason.

Ok, moving on to other subjects, Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes in his TV Barn blog that FSN’s Frank White does a great job on Royals broadcasts.

Dan Lamonthe of the Red Sox Monster blog has the video of Red Sox fans flipping the bird at Tropicana Field during Tuesday’s loss to the Rays.

LC over at the 38Cliches blog says Jon Rish is doing a very good job in the Red Sox radio booth as he subs for Dave O’Brien tonight.

Chris Pursell of TV Week writes in his Pressbox blog that Tuesday’s Red Sox-Rays game was the most watched show in the Tampa market.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that the Tampa Bay Rays are seeing higher TV ratings this season. Maury also has highlights of a TBS conference call involving Harold Reynolds, Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken, Jr., and Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Over to the Biz of Football blog, Maury has a story on XM Satellite Radio picking up all of the SEC’s football schedule this fall.

Alan Schmadtke of the Orlando Sentinel wonders now that the Big Ten Network and Notre Dame have their TV deals settled, will the SEC be next? Tim Stephens of the Sentinel looks at what could be next for the major BCS conferences as far as TV and the economy are concerned.

The Detroit News has the Big Ten Conference TV schedule for the first four weeks of the college football season.

Angelique Chengelis of the Detroit News writes that the popular 33 year old “Michigan Replay” will not be on the air this fall.

The Des Moines Register reports that this year’s Iowa State-Iowa game will be on the Big Ten Network which is not available in most of the Hawkeye State.

But Jenni Glenn of the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette reports that Verizon Fios will pick up the Big Ten Network in the local area.

Here’s the Big Ten Network’s schedule for the first four weeks of the college football season.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says it’s amazing that the media is just figuring out that Communist China wants to control news during the Olympics.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says he would rather watch the real action of the U.S. Olympic Trials than the canned action on American Gladiators or WWE RAW.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News writes that ESPN Deportes scored with its Euro 2008 games.

The Gaffer over at EPL Talk has some suggestions for Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta Sports and GolTV on how to attract viewers in the Premier League’s offseason.

Dave George of the Palm Beach Post writes that longtime local sportscaster Jim Gallagher has died of cancer.

Newsday’s Steven Marcus profiles Fox Sports’ Brian Baldinger who remembers his days at Nassau Community College.

And before I wrap things up, congratulations to Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch whose wife gave birth to a healthy 7 lb., 8 oz. baby boy on Monday. Best wishes, Bruce.

That’s going to do it for tonight.

Some Wednesday Links

I’m back from running errands so it’s time for some links on this Wednesday.

First, I’m seeing increased traffic the last two days. It’s all for my post last year on Hot Chicks, formerly in Sports Broadcasting, who should be back in Sports Broadcasting. It’s mainly for this picture of Jillian Reynolds.

If anyone knows why people are searching for this picture, please let me know.

On to the links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the vacant New York Knicks coaching and GM positions could throw a monkey wrench in the NBA TV analyst world.

Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy spares his usual venom and pays tribute to WBZ-TV sports anchor Bob Lobel who signed off for the last time on Tuesday night.

Adam Leetch of the Portsmouth (NH) Times Herald profiles local resident Dave O’Brien who has his dream job as secondary radio voice of the Red Sox.

Doug Doughty of the Roanoke (VA) Times says the Voice of the Virginia Cavaliers has resigned.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that the Voice of the Chiefs is not leaving the booth and nor is he moving to TV.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Basketball blog says TNT is still seeing double digit ratings increases for the NBA Playoffs.

Langston Wertz, Jr. of the Charlotte Observer likes Inside the NBA on TNT (scroll down).

From CNN Money, Time Warner is selling off its cable unit which includes CNN, TNT, TBS and HBO.

Greg Augman of the St. Petersburg Times writes that says organizers from the city, ESPN, the Big East and Conference USA are making a presentation to the NCAA for yet another college football bowl game.

The Chattanoogan of Tennessee tells us that FSN’s Amazing Sports Stories will feature a 17 year old girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931.

Chris Dufrense of the Los Angeles Times writes that Fox Sports is not standing in the way of the BCS changing format.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN Deportes Radio is coming into town.

Len Ziehm of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Blackhawks apparently will move to WGN-AM next season.

That’s going to be it for now.

Late Thursday Links

I wasn’t planning on giving more links today, but there are enough stories for me to give you an update.

Two things from Darren Rovell’s Sports Business blog at CNBC.com. First, Darren looks into who bought the David Ortiz Red Sox jersey that had been buried in the new Yankee Stadium foundation. Next, Darren is amused by EA Sports’ decision to put recently retired Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre on the cover of Madden ’09.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times writes in his Two Cents blog that having Favre on the cover ensures that the Madden Injury Jinx won’t continue this year.

Linda Moss of Multichanel News writes that Nielsen will measure the ratings for ESPN Deportes starting next week.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that during tonight’s Coach’s Corner segment on CBC, Don Cherry denounced the violence in Montreal on Monday following the Canadiens’ win over the Boston Bruins.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says ratings for Versus in the first round of the NHL playoffs are up 33% from last season.

Two things from the Sports Media Watch today. First, Paul Sen says the Washington Capitals’ first round playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers paid off in good ratings for Versus. Next, ratings for the NBA playoffs are scoring for ESPN and TNT.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says through nine NBA playoff games, TNT’s ratings are up from last season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the latest Time magazine cover looks a lot like the new NBA playoff ads. Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says Time outright stole the NBA ads for its split cover of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch talks about the passing of legendary Boston sports anchor Don Gillis who called play-by-play for every team in the city. Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Gillis was the first sports anchor on Boston TV. The Boston Globe has an obituary.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says CBS Sports Executive Producer Tony Petitti was formally introduced as President and CEO of the MLB Network on Thursday.

Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter says the NFL is still committed to the NFL Network despite limited distribution.

CBS Sports continues its coverage of the PGA Tour this weekend with the Byron Nelson Championship.

ESPN has the rundown for the latest edition of E:60 which will air next Tuesday.

NBC Sports will air the U.S. Olympic Women’s Marathon trials (run last weekend in Boston) on MSNBC this Sunday.

Be here sometime around midday Friday for the megalinks. Good night.