Fang's Bites

Latest 30 for 30 Short on 1972 US Olympics Men’s Basketball Team Debuts

It’s only 12 minutes, but the subject really requires two hours at minimum. A very good 30 for 30 short on the 1972 US Olympic basketball team’s refusal to accept the silver medal has debuted today at Grantland. Director Rory Karpf got all of the members from that team for a meeting to look at the game footage as it aired on ABC and discuss what happened in the chaotic final seconds in which FIBA Director Dr. Robert Jones interfered and meddled so the Soviet Union could win a controversial gold medal final, 50-49 over the United States.

The film is very good and I wish it was longer. It’s now available for viewing at Grantland.

30 for 30 Shorts: 1972 USA Men’s Olympic Basketball Team Come Together for Silver Reunion

The next installment of ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Shorts series, Silver Reunion, debuted today on Grantland.com. Forty years after the USA Men’s Olympic Basketball team declined their silver medals after controversially losing the gold to the Soviet Union, the 12 team members gathered together to ultimately either accept or refuse the medals for a game the players believe they never lost.

The short film, directed by 5-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker Rory Karpf, features the complete team together for the first time since the 1972 Olympics discussing the controversial calls surrounding the Soviet Union’s win and if they will ever accept the silver medal as a team.

Previous films from the ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Shorts series include Arnold’s Blueprint, Ali: The Mission, and Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner, among others. All can be viewed on Grantland.com.

That will do it.

ESPN Films Offers “30 for 30″ Spinoff: “Nine for IX”

I believe this is the first time that a successful documentary has ever had a spinoff. ESPN Films is creating a whole new series for storytelling, this time told by women about women called “Nine for IX” as in nine films for Title IX, the groundbreaking law that allowed equality for women in collegiate sports.

The profiles will focus on a few familiar names, Venus Williams, Pat Summit, Anna Kournikova as well as the 1999 World Cup-winning US Women’s Soccer team, and some names you might remember, Lisa Olson, Sheryl Swoopes, Mary Decker and Katarina Witt.

The documentaries will be aired in the summer starting on July 2 over a period of 9 weeks. Some familiar names like Robin Roberts and Hannah Storm have produced films for the series.

We have details about the series and the films that will be part of “Nine for IX” from ESPN Films and espnW.

ESPN Films and espnW Announce Nine for IX

Documentary series from the producers of “30 for 30” is executive produced by Robin Roberts and Jane Rosenthal

ESPN Films and espnW have announced the film slate for Nine for IX, a documentary series focused on captivating stories of women in sports told through the lens of female filmmakers.  Nine for IX film topics include an intimate look at Pat Summitt, college sports’ most successful coach ever, the largely unknown history of Katarina Witt and her link with East Germany’s secret police, and the focus of sex in the marketing of female athletes. The series is scheduled to premiere on July 2 on ESPN and the films will air over consecutive Tuesday evenings at 8pm ET.

“ESPN Films is always looking to advance sports storytelling by working with the most dynamic voices and Nine for IX gives us a terrific opportunity to highlight women’s sports stories through the eyes of an incredible collection of directors,” said Connor Schell, vice president of ESPN Films. “We are confident that fans of 30 for 30 will enjoy these creative, story-driven documentaries from an impressive roster of Oscar-nominated, and Emmy/Peabody-Award winning female filmmakers.”

“espnW is a voice for the woman who loves sports and, as we continue to grow, we are developing new and powerful ways to engage women with compelling stories that live across ESPN’s multimedia platforms,” said Laura Gentile, vice president of espnW. “Through Nine for IX and the expanded content on espnW.com, we are spotlighting the athletes, coaches and teams that have defined women’s sports for a generation.”

Films scheduled to air as part of Nine for IX include:

Venus Vs. (Ava DuVernay)
Everyone knows about the swing. Everyone knows about the swagger. But what most Americans don’t know about Venus Williams is how she changed the course of her sport. In a stunning case that captured the attention of the European public beginning in 2005, Williams challenged the long-held practice of paying women tennis players less money than their male counterparts at the French Open and Wimbledon. With a deep sense of obligation to the legacy of Billie Jean King, Williams lobbied Parliament, UNESCO and Fleet Street for financial parity. Indeed, it was her poignant op-ed piece in The London Times that convinced many people that the tournament organizers at Wimbledon were “on the wrong side of history.” The boys clubs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon finally relented in 2007. In fact, it was at Wimbledon that year that Venus became the first women’s champion to earn as much as the men’s (Roger Federer).  So to her seven major championships, another victory can be added.

Pat XO (Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern/Produced by Robin Roberts)
On April 18, 2012, Pat Summit, the winningest coach in the history of the NCAA basketball, did the unimaginable and announced her resignation from the University of Tennessee.  On the very same day, her son Tyler was named assistant coach of the Marquette’s women’s basketball team, his first job out of college.  While the sports world reeled from the news of Pat’s early on-set Alzheimer’s, the coach and her son quietly set out to beat this challenge just as they had every other – with grace, humor and most of all, each other. Pat XO tells the remarkable story of Pat Summit as it’s never been told before. This raw, authentic portrait takes the camera from the filmmaker’s hands and places it into those who know her best. With Tyler as the lead storyteller, moving recollections are shared by assistant coaches, players like Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Michelle Marciniak, fellow coach Geno Auriemma, and such admirers as Peyton Manning and Kenny Chesney. The archival footage and statistical records woven into the film provide their own insights into a woman who cared about winning, but also about elevating her players and her university. If it’s possible to do justice to Pat Summitt, Pat XO does it. 

The Diplomat (Jennifer Arnold and Senain Khesghi)
At the height of the Cold War, Katarina Witt became one of East Germany’s most famous athletes. Trained in an ice rink that gave rise to socialist heroes, Witt dominated her field by winning six European skating titles, five world championships and back-to-back Olympic gold medals to become arguably the world’s best figure skater. Known as “the most beautiful face of socialism” her success gave her a unique status in East Germany. It also triggered constant surveillance by the Stasi, East Germany’s notorious secret police force. This film chronicles how Witt, one of the greatest skaters of all time, fought for her future in socialist East Germany, how she faced the great changes that occurred after the fall of The Berlin Wall and, ultimately, how she ended up both a beneficiary and victim of the East German regime. 

Runner (Shola Lynch)
Mary Decker obliterated opponents and records with blazing speed and a starving hunger to win. She dominated her sport, holding U.S. records in every distance from 800 to 10,000 meters, and she did it all without the Olympics. She was too young in ’72, hurt in ’76 and shut out by the U.S. boycott in ’80. As Sports Illustrated’s cover “Sportswoman of the Year” in 1983, she was ready: 1984 was the target, with the Olympics in Los Angeles and her skills at their 25 year-old peak. But the story leads to a single shocking moment in the 1984 Games, with Mary writhing on the ground in physical pain and emotional heartbreak, with the whole world watching.

No Limits (Alison Ellwood)
As a teenager, Audrey Mestre suffered from scoliosis, but in those formative years, she discovered a passion for the ocean. It offered her a sense of freedom, and the burdens she faced on dry land soon dissipated as she slipped below the surface. In the final stages of her PH.D., Mestre was drawn to Cabo San Lucas where she became infatuated with free-diver Pipin Ferreras, a Cuban defector whose dives had put him at the forefront of the sport.  The two became a couple and Mestre followed the elusive, often raucous Pipin on his almost spiritual quest to push his limits underwater.  Soon enough, Mestre moved from support team member to ardent free-diver and then to a world-class competitor who outshone her husband. In 2002, after news arrived that a rival female diver named Tanya Streeter had successfully gone to a record-breaking 525 feet, Pipin began preparations for Mestre to make a 561-foot dive off the coast of the Canary Island. Having completed practice dives even deeper in the weeks leading up to the record attempt, Mestre was prepared. But because of a fateful decision before the dive, Mestre never resurfaced alive.

Branded (Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady)
Anna Kournikova was never the greatest tennis player in the world.  In fact, she never rose higher than No. 8 on the WTA world singles rankings.  But her looks and willingness to capitalize on them made her the most famous tennis player on the planet and ultimately, a pioneer for fellow women athletes who understand that sometimes, sex sells.  Sports is supposed to be the ultimate level playing field, but in the media and on Madison Avenue sometimes looks matter more than accomplishments.  This film explores the double standard placed on women athletes to be the best players on the field and the sexiest off them.  Branded explores the question: can women’s sports ever gain an equal footing with their male counterparts or will sex always override achievement? 

Let Them Wear Towels (Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern)
Lisa Olson was just trying to do her job as a reporter for the Boston Herald in 1990 when a group of New England Patriot players sexually harassed her in their locker room by exposing their genitals and making lewd and vulgar comments.  Even though a subsequent NFL investigation concluded that Olson had been “degraded and humiliated,” the 25-year-old continued to be tormented by Patriot fans—so much so that she temporarily moved to Australia to resume her career.  In the meantime, the story touched off a national debate about the presence of female journalists in the male sanctum of the clubhouse.  That debate should have been settled 12 years earlier, when Melissa Ludtke of Sports Illustrated successfully challenged Major League Baseball after she was kept out of the New York Yankees locker room.  Why had equal access for women reporters remained such a hot-button issue?  That question is asked in Let Them Wear Towels, a history and examination of females working in the man’s world of the locker room.  Through interviews with such pioneer women as Ludtke, Claire Smith, Lesley Visser and Jane Gross, you’ll hear stories of raw behavior and humorous retaliation, angry lawsuits and remarkable resolve. 

Swoopes (Hannah Storm)
Sheryl Swoopes has famously been labeled as the female Michael Jordan.  Actually, she’s far more interesting.   On the court, she was nearly as dominant as Michael: a national championship with Texas Tech, three Olympic gold medals, three MVP awards and four consecutive championships with the Houston Comets of the WNBA, the league she helped start.  She even had a Nike shoe named after her, the Air Swoopes.  Off the court, she gave birth in the middle of her first WNBA championship season, divorced her high school sweetheart, and became the highest-profile athlete in her sport to declare she was gay.  She has struggled with love, family, money and lack of recognition, but she has never lost her spirit.  In this portrait, viewers will meet someone who’s not the everyday superstar, a woman who has defied a multitude of labels, including “old” – in August 2011, Swoopes, at 40, hit a buzzer-beater to end the Tulsa Shock’s 20-game losing streak. 

The ‘99ers (Erin Leyden / Produced by Julie Foudy)
The world of women’s sports was kicked upside down on July 10, 1999.  Before a sold-out crowd of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl and an estimated 40 million Americans watching on television, the women’s soccer team reached a cultural and athletic pinnacle with its penalty-kick shoot-out victory over China to win the Women’s World Cup.  These players were more than the ponytailed poster girls celebrated by mainstream media.  As told through the voice of longtime team captain, Julie Foudy, viewers get an inside look at the strong team ethic and rare “do for each other” mentality that propelled them to victory that day and turned the team into a cultural touchstone.  With unprecedented access, the film uses candid, behind-the-scenes footage shot by the players themselves during the tournament to present a unique portrait of the women who irrevocably changed the face of women’s athletics.  Reuniting key players from the 1999 squad and talking with current U.S. players as well, the film examines how women’s soccer – and women’s sports as a whole – has changed since that epic day at the Rose Bowl.

More information and a trailer for Nine for IX can be viewed at espnW.com.

That will do it.

“30 for 30″ Returns With “You Don’t Know Bo”

ESPN’s critically acclaimed “30 for 30″ documentary series returns Saturday with a look at none other than Vincent “Bo” Jackson, the two-sport star who was not only good in baseball and football, but he was a marketing machine.

“You Don’t Know Bo” will premiere this Saturday at approximately 9 p.m. ET following the Heisman Trophy Presentation on ESPN.

It’s going to be a fascinating documentary that look at his college career at Auburn and then to his days in both MLB and in the NFL.

We have a preview from ESPN.

30 for 30 Fall Slate Concludes with You Don’t Know Bo December 8 on ESPN

Documentary chronicles the life and career of sports legend Bo Jackson

ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 will premiere You Don’t Know Bo on Saturday, December 8 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPNHD, immediately following the conclusion of the Heisman Trophy Presentation. The film explores the feats of the former Heisman trophy winner from his childhood to his early days at Auburn University and through his career as a professional baseball and football star.  The trailer for the film can be viewed at espn.com/30for30.

“With each 30 for 30 film, we aim to tell a story that resonates with sports fans and few, if any, athletes in professional sports have captured the nation’s attention the way that Bo Jackson did in his prime,” said Connor Schell ESPN Films vice president and executive producer. “From his college career to his professional baseball and football careers, and even his mainstream appeal with Nike’s “Bo Knows” marketing campaign, Bo Jackson’s achievements help him remain one of the most captivating and revered athletes of all time, nearly two decades after his retirement.

You Don’t Know Bo, directed by Michael Bonfiglio and produced by @radical.media, takes a close look at two-sport athlete Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson and the creation of a legend. As the only athlete ever selected to play in the NFL Pro Bowl and the MLB All-Star Game, Jackson will forever be known as a cultural icon who looms larger than life as one of the most famous athletes of all time. This film examines the truths and tall tales that surround Jackson, and how his seemingly impossible deeds captured the country’s collective imagination for an all-too-brief period in time.

“Bo Jackson is like a superhero straight out of a comic book,” Bonfiglio said. “If we had scripted this story it would feel like a cliché, but what’s so incredible is that for the most part, the legend of Bo Jackson is actually true. And the parts that aren’t true have been cemented into the minds of fans to somehow become the truth.”

All of the 30 for 30 films from this past slate are available on iTunes and Amazon.com. The 30 for 30 Film Favorites Collection, a new gift set including the most popular titles from ESPN Films, is also available on DVD. Fans can get additional information at www.facebook.com/espn30for30 and .

That will do it.

The Latest Installment of 30 for 30, “9.79*” Premieres Tonight on ESPN

The second film in the fall series of ESPN’s critically-acclaimed 30 for 30 series premieres tonight. “9.79*” looks at the iconic men’s 100 meters race in track and field at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Director Daniel Gordon manages to get all eight of the men who ran the race including disgraced winner Ben Johnson of Canada to talk about the impact of the race. Carl Lewis who finished second, but was eventually declared the winner by the International Olympic Committee plays a large role in the film.

Johnson who rarely talks to the media is featured prominently and he talks about taking steroids to overtake Lewis between 1984 when Lewis won four gold medals in the Los Angeles Olympics and 1988 in Seoul.

This is very good and the film uses historical footage from both Olympics and various races throughout the 1980′s. Quite impressed with this installment of the 30 for 30 series.

Here’s the press release from ESPN Films.

ESPN Films’ 9.79* to Premiere October 9 on ESPN

Latest 30 for 30 documentary examines the infamous Ben Johnson/Carl Lewis 100m final at the 1988 Seoul Games

ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 will premiere 9.79* on ESPN/ESPN HD on Tuesday, October 9, at 8 p.m. ET.  A selection at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, 9.79* is directed by Daniel Gordon and examines the unforgettable showdown between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in the men’s 100m final at the 1988 Olympic games as well as the steroids scandal that followed. Grantland.com will debut two features related to 9.79* including a Bill Simmons’ “The B.S. Report” podcast with Malcolm Gladwell, and a first-hand account of the event by Grantland writer Charlie Pierce who attended the race in Seoul. 9.79* can be viewed at the newly redesigned 30 for 30 site (espn.com/30for30/).

On September 24, 1988, Johnson beat Lewis in the 100m final at the Seoul games, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds in what was perhaps the most thrilling sprint in Olympic history. Within 48 hours, however, Johnson had tested positive for an anabolic steroid and was stripped of the gold medal. In the ensuing years, it has been revealed that five other competitors in that race had either tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs or were implicated in a drug scandal. All eight sprinters in that 100m final were interviewed for 9.79* as it explores what is often considered the most infamous race in history.

The remaining films for this slate of 30 for 30 documentaries will air as follows:

• Tuesday, Oct. 9, 8 p.m. – 9.79* (Daniel Gordon)
• Tuesday, Oct. 16, 8 p.m. – There’s No Place Like Home (Maura Mandt and Josh Swade)
• Tuesday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. – Benji (Coodie and Chike)
• Tuesday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m. – Ghosts of Ole Miss (Fritz Mitchell)
• Saturday, Dec. 8, 9 p.m. – You Don’t Know Bo (Michael Bonfiglio)

Newsday’s Neil Best also has a review. There you have it.

ESPN’s 30 for 30, Volume 2 Begins in October

ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 documentary series returns next month with six films shown over a period of six weeks beginning on Tuesday, October 2. The first in the series is “Broke” which focuses on athletes who begin to lose their money after playing days through bad investments, deficit spending, hangers on and medical issues.

The film was directed by Billy Corben and was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. Among the former athletes to be showcased in the film will be former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, former NFL wide receiver Andre Rison and many others discussing how they lost fortunes after being paid big money during their playing careers.

“Broke” will be the first of 30 documentaries that will be part of what ESPN Films is calling “Volume 2″ of the 30 for 30 series.

Here’s the press release from ESPN Films.

ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Series Returns with Broke to Premiere October 2 on ESPN

Documentary by Billy Corben Examines Financial Challenges Facing Pro Athletes

ESPN Films announces the return of the Emmy-nominated and Peabody award-winning film series with Broke, a 30 for 30 documentary from The U director Billy Corben. Broke, a 2012 Tribeca Film Festival selection, will premiere on ESPN/ESPN HD on Tuesday, October 2, at 8 p.m. ET. The film will be accompanied by an essay on Grantland.com and a podcast by Bill Simmons. The trailer for Broke can be viewed at the newly redesigned 30 for 30 site (http://espn.go.com/30for30/).

Broke explores the roads to fortune in American sports and eventually, the many detours to bankruptcy. Curt Schilling, Bernie Kosar, Andre Rison and Cliff Floyd are among the athletes who talk openly about the challenges of managing their money. In an era when big contracts don’t necessarily support bigger lifestyles, athletes are often sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders and saddled with medical problems. Eventually, many pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. A story of the dark side of success, Broke is an allegory for the financial woes haunting economies and individuals all over the world.

“There are often catchy headlines and sensationalized stories about professional athletes and their roads to financial ruin that give sports fans only one point of view of a much larger issue,” said Connor Schell, vice president of ESPN Films. “With Broke, Billy is expanding the understanding of this problem with a detailed exploration of the financial challenges that some athletes face, hopefully bringing greater insight to the issue for both fans and aspiring athletes.”

The upcoming slate of 30 for 30 documentaries will air as follows:

• Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8 p.m. – Broke (Billy Corben)
• Tuesday, Oct. 9, 8 p.m. – 9.79* (Daniel Gordon)
• Tuesday, Oct. 16, 8 pm. – There’s No Place Like Home (Maura Mandt and Josh Swade)
• Tuesday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. – Benji (Coodie and Chike)
• Tuesday, Oct. 30, 8 p.m. – Ghosts of Ole Miss (Fritz Mitchell)
• Saturday, Dec. 8, 9 p.m. – You Don’t Know Bo (Michael Bonfiglio)

Each 30 for 30 film will be available on iTunes and Amazon.com the day after its television premiere. 30 for 30 Film Favorites Collection, a new gift set including the most popular titles from ESPN Films, will be available on DVD on September 25, 2012.

30 for 30-related updates are available at www.facebook.com/espn30for30 and www.twitter.com/30for30.

More later.

ESPN Announces The Return of “30 for 30″

Today is the ESPN Upfront presentation, its unveiling of its programming to advertisers. The presentation is streaming live and I’ve been able to watch what is transpiring at New York’s Best Buy Theater. You can catch it as well and it will be archived starting at 2 p.m. ET today.

We have some press releases coming from the Upfronts and I’ll be posting those this morning. Our first announcement is the return of the ESPN Films brand “30 for 30″.

The 30 for 30 documentaries were unveiled for the 30th anniversary of ESPN and once the films were completed, the network put the brand away, but continued to churn out documentaries under the ESPN Films banner. However, people kept using “30 for 30″ and today, ESPN announced that it will bring the brand back this fall.

The new batch of documentaries will be called “30 for 30, Vol. II” and will have an additional 30 documentaries. Included will be a movie on Bo Jackson. Also, there will be “30 for 30 Shorts” which will be separate and allow filmmakers to provide stories in a reduced format.

Here is the ESPN Films press release.

ESPN Films Announces the Return of the Acclaimed Series 30 for 30

Second Season Includes the Launch of 30 Additional Short Films to Debut on Grantland.com

ESPN Films has announced the return of the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning 30 for 30 film series. As with the first series, which included collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers such as Peter Berg (Kings Ransom), Barry Levinson (The Band That Wouldn’t Die), Ice Cube (Straight Outta L.A.) and Academy Award-winner Barbara Koppel (The House of Steinbrenner), ESPN Films will once again partner with a wide array of filmmakers to tell incredible stories that capture the core of how sports inspire and entertain. 30 for 30 Vol. II is scheduled to premiere in October.

“30 for 30 was conceived as a finite collection and when the original series ended in December of 2010 with Pony Excess, we had underestimated the strength of the connection fans had made between sports documentaries and the 30 for 30 brand,” said Connor Schell, vice president of ESPN Films. “We’re proud to have created a brand that has become synonymous with quality sports storytelling and we see value in bringing back a second collection of 30 films.”

In addition to a second slate of 30 feature-length documentaries, ESPN Films will broaden its scope to support a whole new crop of stories with the creation of 30 for 30 Shorts – a 30-part digital short film series. 30 for 30 Shorts will be similar to the feature-length films in that each piece will represent a specific point of view of the filmmaker and will be a reflection of how they blend the narrative with their own visual style. Beginning in September, a new short film will debut monthly on Bill Simmons’ Grantland.com. A 30 for 30 Short entitled “Here Now” about Pete Rose is currently online as preview of the series.

Schell continued: “Launching the new 30 for 30 Shorts brand will give us the chance to widen the array of talented storytellers we can work with who are passionate about sports and have something to say.  The short film genre frees the filmmaker from some of the constraints common with long-form projects.”

The new season of 30 for 30 will have a much more defined multimedia component through closer integration with Grantland.com by featuring filmmaker podcasts with Bill Simmons, topical oral histories, in-depth features and more.  Each of the feature-length films and digital shorts will be complemented with a long-form written piece on Grantland.com that will deepen the experience for the viewer by providing them with additional context.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we created 30 for 30, but the response wildly exceeded our expectations,” said Grantland.com editor-in-chief Bill Simmons, who is a co-creator of the series. “We learned through social media and word of mouth, that each film seemed to provoke a broader conversation about the topic, so with these digital extensions on Grantland, we’re giving fans the opportunity to dive deeper into each film subject. It’s the logical next step for the 30 for 30 series – to make it the most ambitious multi-media storytelling project that we could imagine while continuing to innovate the genre with each new film.”

Films scheduled to air as part of 30 for 30 Vol. II include:

Benji (Coodie and Chike)
In 1984, 17-year-old Ben Wilson was a symbol of everything promising about Chicago: a sweet-natured youngster from the city’s fabled South Side, and America’s top high school basketball prospect. Nicknamed “Magic Johnson with a jump shot,” Wilson’s natural talents and drive assured his best years were yet to come. Then, in November of his senior year, the life of this exceptional youngster was abruptly and tragically cut short. Wilson’s grim fate sent ripples of horror through the city and the country.

Broke (Billy Corben)
Sucked into bad investments, stalked by freeloaders, saddled with medical problems, and naturally prone to showing off, most pro athletes get shocked by harsh economic realities after years of living the high life. Drawing surprisingly vulnerable confessions from retired stars like Keith McCants, Bernie Kosar, Leon Searcy and Andre Rison, as well as commentary from Marvin Miller, the former executive director of the MLB Players Association, Bart Scott of the New York Jets and many other informed voices, this fascinating documentary digs into the psychology of men whose competitive nature carries them to victory on the field and ruin off it.

Bo Knows (Mike Bonfiglio)
A close look at the legendary sports figure Bo Jackson and the marketing campaign that shaped his legacy and redefined the role of the athlete in the pop cultural conversation. Even without winning a Super Bowl or World Series, Bo will forever be known as one of the most famous athletes of all time. This film will look at the marketing of athletes, impossible expectations and the legend of Bo Jackson.

The Season of Their Lives (Jonathan Hock)
When the 1982-83 college basketball season began, Jim Valvano and his North Carolina State Wolfpack faced high expectations with equally high aspirations. But with ten losses for the season, the Wolfpack’s only hope of making the NCAA Tournament was to win the ACC Tournament and earn the conference’s automatic berth. Nine straight improbable tournament wins later over the likes of Sampson, Jordan, Olajuwon and Drexler, N.C. State had “survived and advanced” its way to a national championship. In The Season of Their Lives, director Jonathan Hock takes a poignant look through the eyes of senior captain Dereck Whittenburg at a dream fulfilled and explores what at times has been a tragic and heartbreaking aftermath in the 30 years since.

Previews of the 30 for 30 Vol. II trailer and the 30 for 30 Short “Here Now” can be viewed at ESPN.com/30for30.

More stuff from ESPN Upfronts coming up throughout the day. I’ll have to read through the press release to make sure I’m not giving you unadulterated spin.

ESPN Films Premieres “SEC Storied: Lolo” on May 21

One of the more popular Olympic athletes on Twitter, Lolo Jones will be profiled on the next edition of ESPN Films’ “SEC Storied” series. You may remember back in 2008 as the heavy favorite for the women’s 100 meter hurdles, Lolo was on her way to win the gold medal when she hit hurdle 9 and stumbled to the ground losing her chance at glory.

Since then, Jones has battled injuries in her attempts to return to the Olympics in London.

But the documentary doesn’t just focus on her athletic struggles, it looks at some of the life struggles she’s had to endure including growing up homeless. We have the press release and a video preview of the documentary.

ESPN Films’ Lolo Jones documentary to Premiere on ESPNU on May 21

SEC “Storied” Film, Lolo, Chronicles the Track and Field Athlete’s Victories and Struggles

Olympic athlete Lori “Lolo” Jones is an expert at overcoming hurdles—both on the track and in life. ESPN Films’ Lolo, the latest installment in the new SEC “Storied” documentary series, will explore Jones’ trying journey thus far; rising from poverty and homelessness to be catapulted into world stardom, including a spot on the USA Olympic Track and Field team and celebrity status. Lolo will premiere on May 21 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

About Lolo

Lolo Jones began chasing her dream in high school. After years of living in poverty and an unstable home life she was determined to be the first in her family to go to college. Constantly looking to improve, Lolo earned a scholarship from the famed Louisiana State University Track and Field program and fought to become the best, among the best.

With the help of coach Dennis Shaver, Lolo became one of the most dominant athletes in the history of the LSU Women’s Track and Field dynasty, winning three NCAA Titles and 11 All-American honors, most notably in the hurdles. After failing to qualifying for the 2004 Olympics, Lolo turned again to Shaver for inspiration to continue fighting for her dream.

After four years of intense training, Lolo found herself right where she wanted to be—on the 2008 US Olympic team and favored to win gold in the 100 Meter Hurdles. But on the verge of reaching that dream, she suffered a heartbreaking stumble at the final hurdle, costing her the biggest race of her life.

Still determined to win an Olympic gold medal, Lolo went through with a risky spinal surgery and another four years of training to prepare for what is now her next hurdle – making the 2012 Olympic team and winning gold this time.

Directed by Rory Karpf with NASCAR Media Group, Lolo features personal interviews from Lolo Jones, her parents, siblings, coaches, teammates and Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, along with never-before-seen footage of Lolo in high school and during her 2011 surgery.

Quotes from Lolo

Lolo’s mother, Lori Counter-Jones, on being homeless: “You end up staying with family or friends. At one time we even stayed at the Salvation Army shelter because I was riding around in the car with all 5 of my kids with nowhere to go and they thought we were just going to the park and just taking a ride… because I didn’t tell them that we really didn’t have anywhere to go.”

Lolo on how she started running: “I was running with my dad because we didn’t have a car. As my mom would shift from place to place or dad would be in and out of my life, running was like the friend that never left. It was just always there. I’d say it was the only constant thing in my life.”

Lolo’s sister, Angelia Jefferson, on how Lolo was after 2008 Olympics: “She looked as if she did not just lose the biggest race of her life. I knew that she maybe had 30 minutes of sleep but she looked as if she was OK. But I knew in her heart that she was broken, that her heart was broken and the defeat that she felt and the failure that she felt… I was like, ‘Oh gosh, another knock’.”

Lolo on her outlook for the future: “I feel as if I have so much that is in me and I need to just finally close this chapter. I have gone through so many battles to get there. I’m focused I’m ready to do the work… Really making a conscious effort to focus on every detail to perfection.”

Here’s the video preview.

ESPN Films’ “SEC Storied: Lolo” airs next Monday, May 21 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

ESPN To Mark The 40th Anniversary of Title IX with “The Power of IX”

Starting this month and running through June, ESPN will mark the 40th anniversary of the landmark Title IX law that gave women equal opportunity in college sports. When the legislation was introduced in Congress, sports was hardly mentioned, but when the bill became law in 1972, colleges applied it to athletic programs and 40 years later, the impact on women’s sports has been enormous.

ESPN will mark the anniversary with “The Power of IX”, a company-wide initiative to show the influence of Title IX throughout the last 40 years. There will be nine ESPN Films documentaries that will be produced with Title IX as the theme. espnW, the site devoted to women will kick off the initiative on March 26 with a Title IX microsite. ESPN the Magazine will have articles pertaining to the 40th anniversary and there will be other content that will be announced in the coming days and weeks.

Here’s the ESPN announcement.

ESPN to Spotlight 40th Anniversary of Title IX with Multiple Initiatives

That will do it.

Some Quick Monday Night Linkage

Since we did our linkage this morning, there have been several stories worthy of links and they really should not wait until Tuesday. So I’ll do a set of links right now.

We start with Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead who reports on a fake tweet about ESPN’s Erin Andrews leaving the network (her contract is expiring) and the personalities at the Alleged Worldwide Leader who are negotiating new deals.

MediaRantz recaps how this tweet got circulated and had to be quickly debunked by ESPN.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing goes over an interesting Twitter feud between comedian Norm Macdonald and ESPN’s Rick Reilly.

Matt says Digger Phelps wasn’t on his “A” game during Sunday night’s Bracketology show on ESPN.

John Ourand and Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal has CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus talking about the new authentication and pay system for the March Madness mobile app.

Daniel B. Wood of the Christian Science Monitor notes that the ESPN Films documentary on Magic Johnson’s HIV-positive announcement 20 years ago shows how far we have come in our attitude on the disease.

Conor Nagle at Wei Under Par writes that NBC went into bizzaro world in attempting to cover Tiger Woods’ leg injury at the WGC Cadillac Championships.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that the NHL on NBC hit a season low overnight rating on Sunday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes inside the numbers with March Madness.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that fans hoping to watch this weekend’s ECAC Hockey Championships will have to do so online (scroll down).

Katie Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard has ESPN’s Joe Lunardi saying that local fans give him the hardest time when it comes to his brackets.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams has CBS/Turner’s Jim Nantz and Marv Albert both talking about the NCAA Tournament.

Dave Walker at the New Orleans Times-Picayune says social media has helped to popularize March Madness.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the departure of Texans’ offensive lineman Eric Winston will leave a big hole at a local sports radio station.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the networks, announcing assignments and tip times for games of local interest from the NCAA Tournament.

Writing in OnMilwaukee, departing local sports radio host Doug Russell has one wish for the market as he leaves town.

Aaron Morton of the Deseret (UT) News explains to BYU fans where they can find truTV.

Sports Media Watch says the NCAA Tournament Selection Show had its lowest overnight ratings since 1989!!!!

Carol Einarssen at Race Journal Online has Cheers and Jeers for Fox’s NASCAR coverage.

Sox & Dawgs has video of Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine speaking with former ESPN colleagues Karl Ravech and John Kruk during Monday’s exhibition game against Miami.

And that will complete the posts for Monday

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks Again

Linkage has been scarce around the site this week, but I should be able to get a good set of megalinks in today as we head into NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday. You deserve the links and I thank you for your patience around some server problems this week.

As usual, you can check the Weekend Viewing Picks for all weekend sports and entertainment recommendations.

Let’s get to the linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today profiles ESPN’s bracketologist Joe Lunardi who got a big endorsement from Louisville’s Rick Pitino this week.

Erik Spanberg at Sports Business Journal looks at Major League Soccer hoping for big returns from its new contract with NBC Sports.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch explores NBC’s new approach to airing soccer and reviews ESPN’s new documentary on Magic Johnson.

Karen Hogan at Sports Video Group looks at ESPN’s innovative plans for MLS games this season.

Lindsay Flans of the Hollywood Reporter says A-List celebrities have caught Linsanity fever.

And the Reporter provides a seating chart of where celebrities sit at Madison Square Garden to get a glimpse of Jeremy Lin.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley feels the mid-major conferences sacrifice regular season integrity in exchange for TV exposure with their post-season tournaments.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is recovering after his alma mater, Northwestern, played its way out of the NCAA Tournament this week.

Joe Favorito says even in this day and age, the little guy can make a splash in sports marketing.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

SMW notes that NBC Sports will replace the departed Wimbledon with the Tour de France this summer.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says ESPN Films is suffering from an identity crisis.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC’s innovation in hockey production is now extending to the soccer pitch.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth isn’t a fan of speculation.

At Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog, Dan Devine says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made a gay joke at Bill Simmons’ expense with him present.

Erik Malinowski of Deadspin says Cuban has apologized for making that remark.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn looks at CBS/Turner’s plans for the NCAA Tournament.

Chad notes that a prodigal son is returning to WEEI this weekend.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen at SB Nation Boston says the Boston Herald will miss Patriots beat reporter Ian Rapoport as he departs for NFL Network.

George Cain at Sports of Boston compares and contrasts the two sports radio stations ratings.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says different generations watch sports differently.

Paul Devlin of the New Canaan (CT) Patch talks with ESPN High Grand Poobah of News Vince Doria.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Magic Johnson about ESPN’s documentary on his HIV announcement 20 years ago.

Neil notes the opening of a new Broadway play on the rivalry between Magic and former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird.

Neil says it’s time for our annual search to find truTV for the NCAA Tournament.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the “gang mentality” in football.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that MSG Network is about to unveil a new baseball-centric show.

Chris Boyle at the Merrick (NY) Patch says two alumna of a local high school, now ESPN personalities, made a visit to their old stomping grounds.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that Buffalo Sabres games are back on MSG after a technical glitch prevented fans from seeing their games for two weeks.

Pete talks with Uncle Verne Lundquist of CBS who’s going into his 49th year of broadcasting.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times-Herald Record says a local man has been chosen to take part in this year’s MLB Fan Cave.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks with ESPN’s Mike Tirico who says he’ll miss working with Ron Jaworski every Monday Night.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with tennis Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Chris Evert.

South

Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer says for the first time, viewers in the ACC footprint can see ESPN’s coverage of the ACC Tournament.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald likes watching the ESPN/ABC NBA studio show.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Comcast SportsNet Houston is getting ready for its fall launch.

And David expands on his column on CSN Houston in his blog.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has a few Sooner State sports media news and notes.

Midwest

Jeff Moss at Detroit Sports Rag has a field of 64 to decide the Worst Detroit Sports Media Personality.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says CBS and Turner are enjoying their NCAA Tournament partnership.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviews the one week experiment of Joe Buck and Tim McKernan co-hosting a radio show that could turn into something bigger down the road.

Dan says don’t expect too many changes for this year’s NCAA Tournament coverage on CBS and Turner Sports.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times writes that if NCAA Tournament coverage ain’t broke, then CBS and Turner aren’t going to fix it.

John says Fox Sports San Diego is set to launch any day now, provided MLB approves the Padres’ deal to air games on the network.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the success of the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament consortium surprised officials at both companies.

Jim says Peyton Manning’s former coach, Tony Dungy now of NBC, feels San Francisco would be a good fit for him.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Magic Johnson’s life-changing announcement, 20 years later.

Tom explores how Time Warner Cable will present LA Galaxy games while it’s still in the process of launching its new SoCal regional sports network.

Tom has a few items that didn’t make his weekly media column.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times notes that ESPN will air next year’s Pac-12 Basketball Championship Game.

Canada

Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star says CBC’s Don Cherry and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke are acting like a couple of spoiled divas in their public spat.

And that’s going to do it for today. Enjoy your sports weekend.

A Friday Evening Megalink Thing

Let’s give you some linkage on this Friday. Been a busy day. You deserve some links

The Weekend Viewing Picks provide your sports and entertainment TV watching. And now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate whether networks should hire ex-coaches knowing full well they could make news and leave for another job.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute takes the Alleged Worldwide Leader to task for its failure to press the Bernie Fine/Syracuse story and holding a tape for eight years.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser writes that ESPN has hired Bloomberg News sports business reporter Michele Steele.

Over to Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk who has Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid angry at NFL Network for its portrayal of wide receiver DeSean Jackson after last night’s game with Seattle.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News discusses the viewership increase for Thursday Night Football.

Mike writes about the quintet of games that will open the NBA season on Christmas Day.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has an advance clip of a CNN Sunday interview with ESPN Vice President of News Vince Doria speaking about the handling of the Bernie Fine/Syracuse story.

Dan has a very strong promo for the return of the NBA.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that on the Dan Patrick Show, TNT’s Charles Barkley had some fighting words for notorious sports self-promoter Skip Bayless.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that mobile truck operators are happy to have the NBA back in action.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says while the NBA Lockout has been settled, there’s still a battle that will continue for several years.

Sports Media Watch looks at the NFL ratings for Week 12 for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing looks at the machinations behind a longer Thursday Night Football schedule.

East and Mid-Atlantic

At the Boston Globe, Chad Finn looks at how Twitter broke the Bobby Valentine-to-Boston story and he handicaps the race to replace Heidi Watney as NESN Red Sox reporter.

Howard Beck at the New York Times notes that current NBA players are returning slowly but surely to NBA TV which has been stuck showing games from the 1980′s and early 1990′s.

The New York Post’s Claire Atkinson reports that the NFL is looking for big bucks from NBC to renew the rights to Sunday Night Football.

The Post’s Phil Mushnick wants the networks to stop showing touchdown celebrations.

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post has five questions for ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler.

Newsday’s Neil Best bids adieu to WFAN’s Tracy Burgess who left the Boomer and Carton show today.

Neil looks at ESPN being a stepping stone for coaches who are looking for their next job.

Neil has a quickie review of the ESPN Films documentary on former quarterback Todd Marinovich.

And Neil notes that local football players aren’t making news on social networks, but the old fashioned way… on radio.

Bob’s Blitz has pictures of Tracy Burgess’ last day at WFAN.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says Fox is trying to get the word out that it’s back in the college football business.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Chris Herren, the subject of ESPN Films’ Unguarded documentary, will be in town to talk about his battle with addiction.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has the latest Baltimore/Washington DC sports media news in this week’s Press Box.

In the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg tells us what happened to local sports radio host John Riggins who’s been missing as of late.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ Gus Johnson and Charles Davis about calling back-to-back conference championship games on successive nights.

South

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle talks with NFL on Fox sideline analyst Tony Siragusa who will be part of the crew calling the Atlanta-Texans game on Sunday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge who will call the annual Bedlam game.

Mel says Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster are pulling double duty this weekend.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Time Warner Cable will be busy with local high school football this weekend.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that the Detroit Lions have received more national media attention whether it’s deserved or not.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley has Fox’s Charles Davis talking about Wisconsin running Montee Ball’s Heisman Trophy chances.

Bob says NASCAR races will be airing on a different Milwaukee radio station next year.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman has his weekly winners and losers.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says it’s going to be a busy weekend for Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster on Fox.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says St. Louis University may be a rising college basketball program, but it hasn’t translated to more national exposure.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says local Cox subscribers will be able to see Time Warner Cable’s coverage of the state high school football championships this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the Pac-12 Championship won’t be the showcase that Fox had in mind.

Jim says the SEC Championship will have BCS National Championship Game implications like it always does.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Fox is doing its best to sell a less than stellar Pac-12 Championship Game matchup.

Tom has what didn’t make his column in his blog.

Tom says the new Los Angeles Dodgers radio flagship will hire former manager Kevin Kennedy as a postgame host.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail gleefully points out that Don Cherry’s Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada is drawing lower ratings than in the past.

And that’s going to do it for our linkage tonight.

Churning Out The Tuesday Links

Early evening again. Let’s do some linkage here.

The Poynter Institute’s Jason Fry writes an article as the ESPN Ombudsman on how whiskey maker Jameson’s got stuck sponsoring the ESPN Films “Unguarded” documentary on addict Chris Herren.

Michael Bradley writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center looks at a new e-book from Dallas Mavericks owner and social media maven Mark Cuban.

Tony Barnhart, a.k.a. “Mr. College Football”, writes a tribute to the late voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Larry Munson at CBSSports.com.

Peter Schrager at Esquire talks with Baltimore sportscaster Gerry Sandusky, who’s often confused with the accused Penn State child molester.

At the Hollywood Reporter, Georg Szalai writes that the NBA lockout really didn’t effect the cable networks’ in the third quarter of this year.

Lacey Rose from the Reporter talks with Captain Blowhard about his Grantland site and a few other things that people really don’t care about.

One more from the Reporter, Gary Baum says Hollywood is taking sides for this weekend’s USC-UCLA game. Whatever.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age tells us how the ads for Super Bowl XLVI on NBC are shaping up.

Dan Hirschhorn of Ad Age says the networks are now hoping to poach NBA advertisers in the wake of the lockout.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable notes the plan of succession for ESPN Dictator George Bodenheimer is now in place and will take in effect on New Year’s Day.

John Eggerton at B&C says NBC Sports Network gets into boxing next year.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that NASCAR’s season finale got a big rating for ESPN.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes about NBC Sports and the NHL teaming up for a new event hoping that it will be as successful as the Winter Classic.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes a new poll which shows that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s reputation has been ruined most likely for good.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the NFL is not as dependent on New York for ratings as the other sports leagues.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the NFL Week 12 TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air local high school football championships this weekend.

Ken says MSG Network airs some college hockey on Saturday.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks about NBA TV’s new show that premieres tonight.

Jim says the Big East could become a coast-to-coast conference.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes about the ESPN chain of succession.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says as expected, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State drew big local ratings over the weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says try not to get too excited over Fox’s Galloping Gobbler Award.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business talks with an NBA agent who’s making due during the lockout.

Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that BYU’s TV contract is the main holdup for the school’s entry to the Big East.

Helene Elliot from the Los Angeles Times looks at the potential aftermath of the Dodgers ownership sale.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN’s NASCAR ratings went up this year.

Christopher Byrne of Eye on Sports Media has some thoughts on the passing of Georgia football announcer Larry Munson.

That’s going to be it.

It’s Time For Mid-Week Linkage

It’s Wednesday. It’s mid-week and it’s time for some sports media links. Let’s get to them without further delay.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about the “get” of accused child molester Jerry Sandusky for “Rock Center with Brian Williams”.

While NBC and Bob Costas are being praised for the Sandusky interview, Sofia M. Fernandez of the Hollywood Reporter writes CBS is being mocked for heavily promoting a disappointing “get” of Penn State assistant coach Mike McQuery.

If you didn’t see the :24 second interview, the Big Lead has the video.

Back to Michael Hiestand, he writes that two Penn State alums will be on the call for ESPN/ABC for the next two Nittany Lions games.

Patrick Rishe at Forbes says Golf Channel should see a ratings spike for the Presidents Cup for Tiger Woods and his ex-caddie Steve Williams.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says despite losing UFC to Fox, Spike TV will launch a mixed martial arts newsmagazine.

George Winslow of B&C notes that HBO and Sports Illustrated will use social and digital media to promote their new documentary series premiering in 2013.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News advises NBA Communist Sympathizer David Stern to cut the “nuclear winter” rhetoric.

Mike says the Minnesota-Green Bay Monday Night Football game despite being a blowout, drew over 14 million viewers for ESPN.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says even though Fox’s UFC debut had a very brief fight, it still came out a winner.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that mobile production companies are being hit hard by the lack of NBA games.

SVG notes that CBS Sports Network will be airing National Lacrosse League games in primetime next year.

Dave Miller at the National Football Post says ESPN analyst Bob Davies will be the new head football coach at New Mexico.

Tim Malloy and Daniel Frankel of The Wrap take a look at how the NBA’s TV partners are coping with a lack of live games this season.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NBA Players are taking a $3.3 billion gamble.

At the Boston Herald, Michael Silverman reports that Don Orsillo of NESN will stay on as Red Sox voice while reporter Heidi Watney is apparently heading back to her native California.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe confirms Heidi’s departure.

Sean McAdam of Comcast SportsNet New England also has the story.

Sean notes that former Red Sox manager Terry Francona will take 2012 off and possibly pursue broadcasting opportunities for next season.

CSNNE’s Boston Bruins beat reporter Joe Haggerty says B’s forward Brad Marchand isn’t happy over a nickname created by a local sports radio talk show.

Greg Sullivan at the Fall River (MA) Herald says former NBA player Chris Herren has become a high demand speaker after the airing of his ESPN Films documentary “Unguarded”.

Amy Chozick of the New York Times says the NBA’s TV partners are trying to fill programming holes left behind by the lockout.

Claire Atkinson at the New York Post says NFL Network will put a full court press on Time Warner Cable during tomorrow’s Jets-Broncos game.

To Jerry Barmash and Fishbowl NY, he tells us that ESPN Radio New York broadcaster Jared Max will be honored by a gay publication.

At the Albany Times Union, Pete Dougherty has the Week 12 college football TV schedule.

Peter Van Allen at the Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Monday Night Football analyst Ron Jaworski will be the local spokesman for a national tire chain.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog where Dan Steinberg has CBS News’ Armen Keteyian defending his piss poor interview with Mike McQuery.

Dan says the local CBS affiliate has yet to replace sports anchor Brett Haber who left station three months ago.

Maggie Fazelli Fard of the Post looks at the ESPN Zone auction in DC.

Bob Molinaro at the Virginian-Pilot is not a fan of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman has the local ratings of the weekend sports action.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable will air a couple of high school football championship games this weekend.

Scott Suttell of Crain’s Cleveland Business says ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt will host an awards show next year.

Bill Zavestoski of the LaJolla (CA) Patch says the local ESPN Radio affiliate will pick up Cal-San Diego basketball games.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Dodgers are suing Fox Sports for interfering in the sale of the team.

Chris Erskine of the Times reviews the new book on the late ABC Sports broadcaster Howard Cosell.

Also from the Times, Kevin Baxter and Joe Flint  report that the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS are the latest team to join Time Warner Cable’s SoCal regional sports network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News also looks at the Galaxy’s move to TWC from Fox Sports.

Tom has the football TV schedules in both college and the NFL for SoCal.

From the Toronto Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin feels Bob Costas missed an opportunity to get real answers from Jerry Sandusky. What interview was Dowbiggin watching?

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media wonders why the Chicago Blackhawks-Vancouver Canucks rivalry hasn’t been aired nationally in either Canada or the U.S.

Sports Media Watch has the NFL overnight ratings for Fox, NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Kelsey Smith at Transworld Business says NBC Sports Network will be the home of Pro Motorcross Championship in 2012.

And that’s going to do it.

Let’s Get Back To The Linkage

I owe you some links having not been able to do them either Monday or Tuesday.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about the ratings for LSU-Alabama not being as high as the previous #1 vs. #2 college football Game of the Century.

The great Richard Deitsch at Sports Illustrated has his Media Power List for this month.

Richard talks with the Executive Producer of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption. The show is celebrating ten years on the air. Has it been THAT long?

Alex Sherman at Bloomberg News says Time Warner might be interested in bidding for the media rights for the Los Angeles Dodgers possibly going battle with Fox.

Michael Smith at Sports Business Journal says the Pac-12 Conference is buying back third tier TV rights from its member institutions to fill out Pac-12 Network programming.

Bill King of SBJ says Fox is throwing its promotional muscle at its first UFC broadcast.

Terry Lefton and Michael Smith from SBJ write that insurance company, The Hartford, will no longer sponsor the NCAA Tournament on CBS/Turner.

Greg Doyel of CBSSports.com introduces us to Penn State football coach (for now) Joe Paterno’s son, Scott, who has become the ultimate media whore since the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke.

SportsGrid notes that Fox Business News anchor Chris Cotter will be going back to his sports roots with ESPN.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN pulled big numbers for Monday Night Football this week.

Mike writes about Bob Costas’ new show on NBC Sports Network premiering next year.

Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group writes that CBS saw a record number of video streams for LSU-Alabama last Saturday night.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Penn State University gets a big FAIL for its handling of the sex scandal crisis.

Darren writes an open letter to Penn State coach Paterno.

Marcus Henry at Newsday writes that HBO will pay tribute to the late Joe Frazier this week by re-airing its great documentary, “Thrilla in Manila”.

Marcus writes that former Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl has picked up a broadcasting gig.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash talks with some former Big Apple sportscasters on covering the late Joe Frazier.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Week 11 college football TV schedule.

And Pete provides us with the Week 10 NFL TV schedule for the Capital Region of New York.

Keith Groller from the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that Chris Herren, the subject of ESPN Films’ “Unguarded” documentary, will be speaking in the local area next month.

Zach Wilt of the Baltimore Sports Report says a Pittsburgh TV station failed to pay up on a bet made with a local TV channel in regards to Sunday’s Ravens-Steelers game.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg writes that Wizards TV voices Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier will be calling some college basketball games during the NBA Lockout.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle talks about the big ratings for LSU-Alabama for CBS.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says Oklahoma outrated Oklahoma State in the local TV ratings last weekend.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports big ratings for the local CBS affiliate thanks to the Bengals.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says today is a big day for the NBA Lockout.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune enjoyed Ian Darke’s call of the MLS playoffs over the weekend.

Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times says a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is promising Fox Sports a fair shake at the hearing to determine the new owners of the Dodgers.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says big ratings drops for the CFL on TSN have to be a concern for both parties.

Sports Media Watch looks at the NFL overnight ratings for Week 9 on Fox, NBC, CBS and ESPN.

SMW notes that Colts-Patriots in Week 13 has been flexed out of NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says San Jose-New York Rangers failed to draw well for Versus with the country’s biggest market blacked out.

Joe Favorito says don’t discount the power of the gaming market.

And I’ll end the linkage there for today.

Doing The Wednesday Links

Let’s provide some mid-week linkage for you.

Sports Business Daily recaps how ESPN’s SportsCenter handled NBA highlights on what should have been the Opening Night of the regular season.

SBD also looks at Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s agreement to sell the team at auction.

Paul Thomasch with Reuters says MLB is looking to hit the motherlode in a new round of negotiations for network TV partners.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today talks with SEC on CBS analyst Gary Danielson on LSU-Alabama.

Steve Wieberg and Steve Berkowitz of USA Today explore ESPN’s role in the realignment in college sports.

Tom Weir of USA Today says ESPN’s Jenn Brown tweeted about her experience being locked in a hotel bathroom today.

In Outkick The Coverage, Clay Travis looks into the conflicts regarding CBS’ Tony Barnhart’s reporting of Missouri to the Southeastern Conference.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch delved into ESPN’s coverage of Tim Tebow and found it bordering on the excessive.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says singer Cee Lo “Eff You” Green will be performing on the NHL float during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. Of course, the NHL and NBC are partners as well. Green also is a judge on NBC’s “The Voice” so there’s synergy all around here.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter has Comcast’s CEO saying Telemundo’s reported $600 million deal for the World Cup will be profitable for the company.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that an appeals court has again thrown out the FCC fine against CBS for airing Janet Jackson’s nipple during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine says cable had a ratings downturn in October led by ESPN’s Monday Night Football and TBS’ MLB Postseason coverage.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin notes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews had a little problem with a math concept with LSU coach Les Miles.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says ESPN.com’s comment section went haywire thanks to those writing about Tim Tebow.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if Fox will buy the Dodgers again.

Darren tells us that secondary ticket prices for Saturday’s LSU-Alabama game are reaching astronomical levels.

In the Boston Globe, Bruins beat reporter Fluto Shinzawa writes about being a foodie when he travels on the road with the team.

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times looks at the Third Circuit Appeals court throwing out the FCC fine against CBS.

Mike Tanier of the Times says NFL TV analysts now have to find ways to stand out above the crowd even if it means being confrontational.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette looks at NBC Sports Network’s college hockey schedule.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Week 10 College Football TV schedule.

Pete also has the Week 9 NFL TV schedule.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that Seton Hall basketball will air on ESPN Radio New York this season.

Laura Nachman says Sunday Night Football featuring the Philadelphia Eagles won primetime for NBC.

David Salter in the Patriot-News (PA) writes about the progression and in some cases, regression of women covering sports.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Rob Dibble can’t let his 2010 firing from MASN go without firing another shot.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that the first part of the Big East’s expansion is complete. Now comes the next step.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News says the ESPN Films documentary on the Alabama-Auburn rivalry is top notch.

Dennis Pillion of Al.com notes that ESPN will go inside the Alabama football program leading up to its big game against LSU on Saturday.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that DirecTV has come to terms with another local station group.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable will air four local high school football games.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL is about to release the Green Bay Packers championship DVD package.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business writes that Comcast SportsNet is trying to survive without the Bulls.

Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes that Air Force is happy to be playing on “an easy to find” TV channel this week and possibly be moving to the Big East where games are also easily found.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the Week 10 NFL TV schedule for SoCal.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times wonders if media rivals Fox and Time Warner would put forth a bid to buy the Dodgers.

Sports Media Watch has a look at the Week 8 NFL overnight ratings. First, CBS. Then Fox. To Sunday Night Football. And finally, Monday Night Football.

And SMW notes that ESPN is filling programming holes left by the NBA lockout.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the national college hockey TV schedule.

Joe Favorito says the baseball season may be over, but the sport continues to keep its brand active in the offseason.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing feels ESPN’s presentation of the MLB Gold Glove Awards did not need to be watched.

And that will do us for now.

Doing A Few Sunday Links

Let’s some linkage on this Sunday.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that the NBA lockout has forced the cancellation of the rest of its November games forcing ESPN, TNT, NBA TV and regional sports networks to fill huge programming holes.

Michael Malone at Multichannel notes that some Hawaiian viewers lost part of Thursday’s Game 6 of the World Series due to a transmission error with Oceanic Time Warner Cable.

Zak Keefer at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center recaps a lecture given to students by ESPN Sr. VP for Print and Digital Media Rob King.

Dan Fogarty from SportsGrid notes that the ESPN Sign Police failed to do their job during yesterday’s College GameDay.

The Dan Patrick Show has some more signs that slipped through the Sign Police that referred to the show’s #occupygameday effort.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has video of some possibly drunk Steelers fans bombing Albert Breer’s live shot on NFL Network today.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions looks at DirecTV’s FCC complaint over Fox’s ads regarding their carriage dispute which is fast approaching Tuesday’s drop dead date.

And Phil says now DirecTV has been caught lying.

SportsFans.org have a column in the Business Insider Sports Page criticizing the DirecTV/Fox dispute.

Dave Wedge of the Boston Herald interviews former NBA star Chris Herren, the subject of ESPN Films’ latest documentary.

Alexander Soule at the Fairfield County (CT) Business Journal writes about NBC Sports’ move to Stamford, CT.

Martin B. Cassidy of the Stamford (CT) Advocate says NBC Sports coming to town will be beneficial for neighboring businesses.

Stuart Elliot of the New York Times notes that a new scripted series on ESPN Deportes will have many  products woven into the storyline making for a lot of product placement.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with former New York Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer taking on his second career as a broadcaster.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post gets on Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News reports that the Yankees have signed a new deal to remain on WCBS for another season.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has late, breaking news from CBS’ Bill Cowher.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner feels the Big East has some options even as other conferences are picking on its bones.

Gary Smits of the Florida Times-Union says golf’s ratings are up across the board this fall.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times speaks with former Florida State QB and current ESPNU analyst Danny Kanell.

David Knox from the Birmingham (AL) News talks with CBS Sports Network analyst Rich Rodriguez.

The Daily Oklahoman reports that the long-time voice of the Oklahoma Sooners, Bob Barry has passed away.

Jim Benson at the Bloomington (IN) Pantagraph feels Lee Corso adds laughs to ESPN’s College GameDay.

Robert Feder at TimeOut Chicago says popular local sportscaster Paula Faris is leaving at the end of the year to become an anchor with ABC News.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Game 7 of the World Series drew big ratings for Fox both nationally and locally.

Dan also has a ratings chart for the entire World Series for this year.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that Lee Corso did a tree dance on College GameDay.

Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times looks at a new genre of sports movies which includes ESPN’s “Unguarded” that premieres on Tuesday.

Sports Media Watch notes that the ratings for the World Series ended being up from last year.

SMW looks at the World Series Game 7′s ratings from Friday.

Joe Favorito says two events, Pro Bull Riding and the New York City Marathon need to tap into their fanbases who can’t attend live in person.

And we’ll end the linkage there.

Doing Some Quick Wednesday Linkage

Lots of stuff going on here and it’s prevented me from providing links. I’ll do some now while I can.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek reports that the NFL has put the kybosh on a new Thursday Night Football package until next season.

Michael Smith and John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal report that with Pittsburgh and Syracuse joining the ACC, ESPN and the conference are reopening negotiations on the TV contract that took effect just this month.

In Media Bistro, Marcus Vanderberg has part one of his interview with embattled writer Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

And Marcus has part two of his talk with Jay The Rat in Fishbowl LA.

Over to Michael Hiestand of USA Today who writes that a family medical emergency is preventing Ernie Johnson, Jr. from participating in this year’s MLB Postseason for TBS.

Michael looks at the ratings from some of this past weekend’s events.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today tells us about the athletes who will pose nude for ESPN The Magazine’s Body issue.

Erik Malinowski of Wired magazine profiles the great Timothy Burke of the Mocksession site and SportsGrid.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown is now a paid endorser for GNC products.

Deadspin’s A.J. Daulerio is amazed at how Steve Bartman has managed to remain anonymous since his fateful failed attempt to catch a foul ball during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has video of a Dallas TV sports anchor creating the word “shart” on live TV.

The aforementioned Timothy Burke in SportsGrid has video from Germany of a reporter inadvertently trying to out Chelsea soccer star Didier Drogba.

At espnW, Sarah Spain writes about attending this week’s espnW: Women + Sports Summit which had a plethora of superstars from both media and sports.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football hit its biggest audience of the season in NFL Week 3.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell (and now officially a Friend of Fang’s Bites) writes that the toning shoe market could take a substantial hit after the Feds settled a case with Reebok on one its shoe claims.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders if this is the last season for the Yankees on WCBS-AM.

Neil says SNY’s Mets announcers were critical of the team for taking out shortstop Jose Reyes after the first inning of today’s game against the Reds.

Neil says Ron Darling closed out a TBS media conference call with a line that only he picked up.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says the Capital Region’s NFL fans should all be happy with the TV schedule this week.

Pete has this week’s college football TV schedule.

Crossing Broad has a new Philadelphia media feud for us to follow.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon weren’t too enthused by London Fletcher’s pregame speech before the Washington-Dallas Monday Night Football game.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans did well in the local ratings again.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman writes that Oklahoma State has decided against going for pay per view for one of its games next month.

Mel notes that college football topped the local ratings last weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TBS and MLB have yet to announce a time for the Brewers League Division Series game on Saturday.

Bob says Brewers voice Brian Anderson will call the Yankees LDS series for TBS starting on Friday.

Bill Novak of the Capital (WI) Times writes that ESPN’s College GameDay has chosen its location on the Wisconsin to broadcast for this Saturday’s show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at TBS’ announcers for the League Division Series and manages to misspell “Orsillo”

Sports Media Watch says last Sunday’s NASCAR race had better ratings than last year, but not up as it should be.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the number of games each NHL team will have televised locally.

Joe Favorito talks about how sports can be a uniter, not a divider.

Over to Yahoo’s Big League Stew where Duk has some thoughts on the ESPN Films Steve Bartman doc.

From Obsessed with Sports, we have a pic thanks to Sarah Spain of Friend of Fang’s Bites Michelle Beadle sucking rattlesnake venom from Linda Cohn at the aforementioned espnW summit. I believe this really happened.

And that will do it for today.

Quick Tuesday Linkage

I’ll provide a few links now, then as I’m watching Catching Hell on ESPN, I’ll attempt a few more links to complete the set.

Earlier today, I wrote a recap of Blogs with Balls 4. Check it out.

One of the stars of BWB4 was Bomani Jones of BomaniJones.com. He wrote why he feels there’s a lack of black representation in the sports blogosphere.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson, Jr. will miss the MLB Postseason due to a pressing medical emergency with his son.

To Sports Business Journal and Fred Dreier who speaks with a few NHL players to get their takes on the league’s marketing and new TV contract.

John Lombardo of SBJ writes that the Phoenix Suns will hire a social media sideline reporter to track what’s trending among fans during the game.

Daniel Kaplan from SBJ reports that the NFL plans to keep its London regular season game on its schedule for the next few years.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says that the concept for DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel and NFL RedZone was based on a soccer channel in Italy.

Midwest Sports Fans has the video of NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes practically sexually harassing host Lindsay Soto live on NFL Total Access.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that MillerCoors is suing the New England Patriots alleging the team reneged on an exclusive deal.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says an FCC judge has thrown out a supplemental filing by Comcast in response to Tennis Channel’s complaint against the cable provider.

John writes that Time Warner Cable wants the FCC to allow a rule to lapse that calls for regional sports network programming as “must-carry” on cable systems.

Newsday’s Neil Best has the local Super Bowl logo for when the Big Game is played at the New Meadowlands in 2014.

Neil reviews the ESPN Films documentary on Steve Bartman that airs tonight.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY talks with the new New Jersey Devils voice Steve Cangialosi.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Barry Melrose will be joining NHL Network.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record looks at TBS’ MLB Postseason announcing teams that won’t include Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and CBS’ Boomer Esiason are on Maryland football’s placards. Both are Maryland alums. How about Tina Cervasio and Bonnie Bernstein too?

This will disappoint many fanboys. Busted Coverage has discovered that ESPN’s Jenn Brown is engaged.

I’ll leave it there for now. More linkage tonight.

Back For Some Sunday Linkage

Ok, back from New York after attending “Blogs with Balls 4″ at the Bloomberg world headquarters on Lexington Avenue. I’ll have a recap of the event later today. But I’ll give you some links since I was unable to blog yesterday.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says MLB Network has signed several cable providers for its new Video on Demand service.

Mike writes that Univision has signed former NBC Sports Executive Producer David Neal as its head of sports production.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the St. Petersburg Times writes that Fox made a huge mistake by making up Chicago Tribune headlines and portraying them as real.

SportsGrid has Fox Sports’ official apology made during Fox NFL Sunday.

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com says College GameDay heads to Wisconsin this Saturday.

A couple of screengrabs from Timothy Burke at his Mocksession site. First, here’s Erin Andrews wearing a coonskin cap on the set of ESPN’s College GameDay.

And we have a look at the monsoon in Charlotte that caused the Bank of America Stadium field to become a quagmire during the Jacksonville-Carolina game.

At Sporting Madness, Andrew Bucholz recaps one of the Blogs with Balls 4 panels during which ABC’s Josh Elliot did not have some nice things to say about his former employer, ESPN.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group looks at Raycom’s new HD production truck.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post decries the personal seat license.

Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News notes that the Big East’s rejection of a huge ESPN offer for TV rights paved the way for Pittsburgh and Syracuse to leave the conference.

Jim Wiliams of the Washington Examiner writes that this isn’t the first time the SEC was thinking expansion of the conference.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman rates the top 5 Sooner State announcing teams.

Nina Metz of the Chicago Tribune reviews the ESPN Films documentary on the Steve Bartman incident from 2003.

David Haugh of the Tribune has Fox’s Joe Buck denying that Bears QB Jay Cutler is being singled out by the networks for criticism.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says a noted Toronto Globe and Mail columnist may be leaving for a TV career.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW has a few more news and notes.

And that’s where I’ll end it for now.

Friday Megalinks Or The Return of Linkage

Due to being at jobsites for the last few days, I haven’t been able post links like I’ve wanted to. I apologize for that. I have tried to be diligent in updating as much as I can.

I have quite a bit to catch up with. I may be a blogging machine as I have to post a lot of things today. Plus, I to get ready to head to New York tomorrow for Blogs with Balls 4 so I’m going to be quite busy. Let’s get to the linkage.

But first, there’s always the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment planning.

National

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal writes that ESPN will do everything it can to head off NBC/Versus at the pass.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch asks if sports broadcasting and politics should mix?

Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press says the Big 12′s TV contracts helped to keep the conference together for now.

The Nielsen Ratings Wire blog notes that among various TV programming, sports in primetime continues to do well.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy talks with CBS/WFAN/Westwood One’s Boomer Esiason on how the NFL should investigate the Dallas Cowboys’ medical staff for clearing Tony Romo to play last Sunday.

Mike says ESPN is denying any responsibility for the recent college football chaos and says the Longhorn Network doesn’t have anything to do with it. I think Texas A&M, Missouri and other Big 12 schools would beg to differ.

Bob Velin of USA Today writes that CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery program will investigate the mysterious and unsettling death of boxer Arturo Gatti.

Mike McCarthy and Michael Hiestand of USA Today debate whether schools or TV wield the power in college sports.

John Taylor of College Football Talk writes that Brett Favre gets his first taste of being an analyst next week for CSS.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the FCC has ruled that Cablevision-owned MSG Network cannot withhold its HD signal to other cable providers violating program-access rules.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that YES received its second highest rating ever for the American League East Division clinching game this week.

Mike says Golf Channel and NBC Sports are teaming up for a promotion to give a lucky viewer of “The Big Break” a chance to win a trip to see Notre Dame play in Ireland next year.

Tim Nudd of Adweek says the NFL has pulled an ad for its fantasy football product which used a picture of Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles after he was injured last week.

David Lieberman of Deadline reports that Time Warner Cable is planning to offer a low cost tier that will not include ESPN in the lineup.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown calling Cincinnati football coach Butch Jones something else.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has the sixth and perhaps final installment of New Era’s Yankees-Red Sox Alec Baldwin-John Kraskinski ads. They have been quite good. This latest one may have taken it a bit too far.

Also from SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty reviews the ESPN Films documentary “Catching Hell”, on Steve Bartman and the 2003 Chicago Cubs.

Sports Media Watch talks with the crew of ESPN’s College GameDay.

SMW says despite being on tape delay, Fox drew a decent audience for its first English Premier League game on Sunday.

SMW notes that the ratings for CBS’ 2nd game of its NFL doubleheader dropped from last year.

SMW says the NBA lockout has forced the cancellation of the start of training camp and over 40 preseason games.

And SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito looks at one imaginative marketing campaign that helped Eye Black this week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reviews “Moneyball.”

Darren has some interesting facts on sports participation in America.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group looks at how CBS Sports Network was able to bring the Tim Brando Show into a TV simulcast from his base in Shreveport, LA.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has this week’s network TV on-screen typos.

Ben Koo from AA says tomorrow is when Gus Johnson and FX get their real grand opening in college football.

At The Stir, Maressa Brown feels ESPN’s Erin Andrews is unqualified to demonstrate CrossFit.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that WEEI’s Glenn Ordway has suffered a rather severe pay cut due to lower ratings for his afternoon drive show.

At SBNation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at a busy week in local sports media news.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes that Dale Arnold is pleased to be back with NESN after leaving in 2007.

Lang Whitaker and Ian Lovett of the New York Times give us an inside look at DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel and NFL Network’s RedZone.

John Jeansonne of Newsday reviews ESPN Films’ documentary on transgendered tennis player Renee Richards.

Newsday’s Neil Best says fans seem to be buying into the New York Islanders’ future.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post has news that some Time Warner Cable subscribers have been waiting for, that the company appears to be close to a carriage agreement with NFL Network.

Phil Mushnick at the Post can’t stand ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Justin Terranova of the Post says last month’s Russian plane crash that killed 44 members of the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl really hit home for MSG Network analyst Joe Micheletti.

And Justin has five questions for Joe.

Lou Lumenick of the Post says “Moneyball” is one of the best baseball movies of all-time.

I’ll break my self-imposed embargo on the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman for a week for this story on the Yankees’ radio rights which are in flux and so are the fates of broadcasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that MSG Network has named Steve Cangialosi to replace Mike “Doc” Emrick on New Jersey Devils games.

And Pete talks with Steve about his new gig.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette is not a fan of a new local sports talk show host.

Ken notes that NBC Sports is extending its “Summer at Saratoga” series for at least two more years.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has announced its Capitals and Wizards schedules.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the college football conference merry-go-round could have some legal ramifications.

Jim says the ratings for the NFL in both Baltimore and Washington were very strong.

South

In the Miami Herald, Joseph Goodman notes the irony of ESPN possibly saving college football from massive chaos.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel catches up with ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer.

Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham (AL) News says ESPN is not ponying up to air high school games from the region.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that an Astros broadcaster is celebrating 25 years with the club.

David asks readers if they find the idea of the Longhorn Network offensive.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says an Oklahoma State wide receiver will be profiled on ESPN’s College GameDay.

Midwest

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says Cleveland MLB team radio voice Mike Hegan is leaving he broadcast after this season.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Reds voice Marty Brennaman can’t campaign on-air for his former partner Joe Nuxhall for the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award.

Micahel Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press wonders why the DirecTV/NBC series “Friday Night Lights” didn’t do better in the ratings.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says actor Brad Pitt saw “Moneyball” as a compelling story.

Bob says the Green Bay Packers will be showcased aplenty in the late afternoon window on both CBS and Fox this season.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship failed to draw viewers away from the NFL on Sunday.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with WMAQ-TV sports anchor Paula Ferris.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders why Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin has been missing of late.

Kevin Haskin of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal writes that CBS Sports Network was in town to air an NCAA Division II football game this week.

West

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Big Ten Network won’t allow the local Cox system to pick up Saturday’s San Diego State-Michigan game on a one-time only basis.

The North County Times’ John Maffei writes that unless fans can find a sports bar, they’ll have to listen to San Diego State on the radio.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says it’s too bad Southern California couldn’t see the end of the exciting Oakland-Buffalo game due to silly NFL rules.

Jim says HBO will replay last Saturday’s controversial Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a bankruptcy court has given the Dodgers permission to change their flagship radio station for next season.

Tom says the NFL secondary market rule needs to be changed.

Tom also has a few notes that he couldn’t get into his Friday column.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News looks at the Pac-12′s decision to stand pat, TV’s role in the whole thing and where BYU may be headed.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC’s P.J. Stock is regretting his initial comments on Wade Belak’s death.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog is not so fast to forgive P.J.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that CBC has made some additions to its Hockey Night in Canada crew.

And there you have it for your links today.

Doing Some Thursday Linkage

Let’s provide links while I can. Trying not to make this a week where links are scarce. Let’s get this done.

First, Jessica E. Vascellaro and Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal look at how infusions of TV rights money has changed college sports not necessarily for the better.

John Ourand at Sports Business Daily notes that Longhorn Network has picked up its first major cable provider just ahead of Friday’s launch.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable also writes about Longhorn Network’s carriage deal.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at Fox Soccer signing a multiyear deal for the UEFA Europa League.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek says the Bleacher Report has raised $22 million in capital for future expansion of the site.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine explores the rich naming rights deal involving MetLife and the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says there are not that many differences between “New School” and “Old School” writers.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says the operator of an illegal sports video streaming site was arrested by the Feds yesterday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell feels Danica Patrick’s popularity has hit the wall.

Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page notes that ESPN put up a controversial rendering (now since taken down) of Michael Vick as a white man.

Robert Littal of Black Sports Online has a problem with ESPN’s premise of making Vick a white man.

At ESPN Front Row, PR maven Mike Soltys informs us that the Alleged Worldwide Leader has revised its social networking policy.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post says any talk of the NFL and Time Warner Cable being close on a deal for NFL Network is just that. Talk.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that TBS has made a change for its Sunday MLB game due to Hurricane Irene.

Ken Schott says a local radio station will have a unique baseball-horse racing on-air schedule this Saturday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the MSG Networks will be airing plenty of college football in the fall.

Ken adds that MSG Network will air a prospects hockey tournament next month.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says an area native is doing overnight sports reports on WFAN.

Justin Fenton and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun report that police have confirmed that former Orioles pitcher and broadcaster Mike Flanagan took his own life outside his home on Wednesday.

Peter Schmuck of the Sun says now is not the time to speculate why Flanagan chose to end his life.

The Sun’s Kevin Cowherd writes that Flanagan made people laugh as a player and as a broadcaster.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes says Flanagan’s death is still a mystery.

Matt Brooks in the Washington Post’s Early Lead blog says Flanagan’s death has hit the Orioles very hard.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that Danica Patrick’s move to NASCAR makes the Baltimore Grand Prix one of her last IndyCar races of her career.

Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte (NC) Observer says thanks to its new ESPN contract, ACC basketball will get plenty of TV exposure.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a primer on the Longhorn Network.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus feeling the SEC will be standing pat for the foreseeable future.

Jimmy says Verizon FiOS will be distributing the Longhorn Network across the country.

The Houston Chronicle says a local TV station will begin airing Thursday night high school football games.

David Barron of the Chronicle writes that the Longhorn Network is ready to launch, but won’t be seen widely in Houston.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says Notre Dame has renewed a radio rights deal with WLS-AM.

Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times looks at a big reveal from ESPN Films’ documentary on the Steve Bartman 2003 NLCS inc

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has Sports Illustrated saying the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot earlier this year sealed the fate of the franchise.

Mason Kelly of the Seattle Times says a local high school gym got a facelift thanks to an ESPN program.

Only Deadspin. It has a spy inside ESPN’s State of the Union meeting with higher ups.

Sox & Dawgs looks at SNY’s UConn football coverage.

The Toronto Sports Media blog notes that long-time Maple Leafs voice Dennis Beyak is apparently heading to Winnipeg.

Sports Media Watch has some various football programming notes.

That is going to finish the links for today.

ESPN Films Announces Fall Slate of Documentaries

Doing a little bit of housecleaning from press releases that have piled up in the Fang’s Bites inbox over the last few weeks. We have this post on the documentaries ESPN will air this fall from the ESPN Films brand. Call it another slate of “30 for 30″ films, but it doesn’t fall under the “30 for 30″ brand. Also, we finally get the long-awaited film on Steve Bartman, the documentary that was originally supposed to air last year, but due to various issues, did not. Starting on September 27 and running through November 8, ESPN will air a total of 7 new documentaries and subject matters are all very interesting including the ones on tennis transgender Renée Richards, Fall River, MA’s own basketball legend Chris Herren and boxer Chuck Wepner. I look forward to all of these and hope to give you reviews before each of them airs.

ESPN Films Announces Schedule for New Documentaries

Alex Gibney, Morgan Spurlock and Mike Tollin among the filmmakers; seven new films announced

ESPN Films, creators of the Emmy-nominated and Peabody award-winning 30 for 30 film series, has announced the schedule for a slate of new films. The film series will begin airing Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN HD, and will be aired Tuesday nights throughout the fall. Films include Catching Hell, Renée, The Dotted Line, Unguarded, The Real Rocky, Charismatic and Roll Tide/War Eagle.

The new slate will air as follows:

• Tuesday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m. – Catching Hell (Alex Gibney/Gary Cohen) *120 minutes
• Tuesday, Oct. 4, 8 p.m. –  Renée (Eric Drath) *90 minutes
• Tuesday, Oct. 11, 8 pm. – The Dotted Line (Morgan Spurlock/Jeremy Chilnick)
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, 8 p.m. – Unguarded (Jonathan Hock/Philip Aromando)
• Tuesday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. –The Real Rocky (Jeff Feuerzeig/Mike Tollin)
• Tuesday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m. –  Charismatic (Steve Michaels/Jonathan Koch)
• Tuesday, Nov. 8, 8 p.m. – Roll Tide/War Eagle (Martin Khodabakhshian)

“We know that 30 for 30 truly resonated with our viewers and the recent Emmy nomination for the series proved to us that there is great interest and appreciation for sports documentaries from both fans and critics,” said ESPN’s SVP of Content Development and Enterprises Keith Clinkscales. “This new film series features both amazing filmmakers and incredible stories that capture the glory and the heartbreak of what sports mean to so many people.”

Film summaries:

Catching Hell (Alex Gibney)
With five outs remaining in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, a foul ball descended from the cold Chicago sky, seemingly destined for the glove of Cubs left fielder Moises Alou. But a flurry of hands reached up and one hand, belonging to Cubs fan Steve Bartman, fatefully tipped the ball away from a frustrated Alou. Most long-suffering Cubs fans, including a chorus of hostile ones in Wrigley Field, quickly became convinced that Bartman had swatted away Chicago’s chance of advancing to the World Series for the first time 58 years. The mild-mannered Bartman released a sincere public apology, but his fate was already sealed by the Cubs fans’ need for a scapegoat to explain a near-century of losing. Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney relates the scapegoat compulsion to his own frustration as a Red Sox fan when Bill Buckner was similarly singled out for letting a fateful ground ball go through his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Gibney engages Buckner and his story as a means of exploring what has kept Bartman so silent despite highly lucrative offers to tell his side of the story.

Renée (Eric Drath)
The film tells the story of Renée Richard’s battle to enter the 1977 U.S. Open as the first transgender tennis player. Simultaneously, it follows her today as she struggles to cope with a life of contradictions and personal conflict. Through interviews with tennis legends, family, friends and experts from the transgender field; a story of perseverance, breakthrough and hardship unfolds.

The Dotted Line (Morgan Spurlock)
The Dotted Line is an in-depth look at what it takes to be a big-time agent in the fiercely competitive world of major league sports. Agents Peter Greenberg and Eugene Lee are profiled along with their clients New York Mets’ pitcher Johan Santana (Greenberg’s) and NFL hopefuls Jacquian Williams and Robert Hughes (Lee’s).

Unguarded (Jonathan Hock)
Chris Herren, Fall River, Massachusetts’ high school basketball superstar, played for Boston University, for Jerry Tarkanian’s Fresno State team, bounced around the NBA (once playing for his beloved Celtics) and around the globe. Chris failed drug tests wherever he played. Ultimately, Chris – the youngest and most talented of three generations of local heroes – has found redemption and personal fulfillment through the game, but only after it led him down a path of alcohol and drug addiction that nearly killed him.

The Real Rocky (Jeff Feuerzeig)
Chuck Wepner is a liquor salesman from Bayonne, NJ who drives a Cadillac with “Champ” vanity plates. A former New Jersey State Heavyweight Boxing Champion, he took abuse from Sonny Liston, got his nose broken by Muhammad Ali, and inspired Sylvester Stallone to write “Rocky” which won three Academy Awards. Wepner was left out of the “Rocky” glory, and his career took turn after strange turn as he worked to stay in the spotlight: he went on to fight Andre the Giant as “The Assassin” and boxed a 900 pound bear.  Twice.

Charismatic (Steve Michaels)
In June of 1999 an unlikely colt named Charismatic, with down and out jockey Chris Antley aboard, headed down the stretch at the Belmont Stakes, just seconds away from becoming the first Triple Crown winner in nearly 21 years. Thoroughbred racing was desperate for this story of deliverance as track attendance was in steep decline. Into this void stepped Charismatic and Antley, both thought to be lost causes. Together, they became the biggest long shots in 59 years to win the Kentucky Derby, and then followed up with another underdog win at the Preakness, before tragedy struck.

Roll Tide/War Eagle (Martin Khodabakhshian)
With two Heisman trophies, two national championships and one crazed fan, the biggest rivalry in college sports, Auburn vs. Alabama, has reached new heights in the last two years. This is the story of the history between the two programs, the bad blood between its fans and how this intense rivalry came to a pinnacle, just when they ended up needing each other most.

ESPN Films’ new slate of documentaries will be available on iTunes and Amazon.com the day after each film’s broadcast premiere and will be available on DVD shortly thereafter at major retailers. A compilation of films from the series will be available in a collectible DVD Gift Set this holiday season.

That will do it. I’ll have more posts throughout the day. Trying to catch up on posts as I was busy throughout the weekend and unable to blog for the most part.

A Quiet Wednesday Linkfest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trying To Do A Friday Megalink Session

I’m hoping to get this entire Megalink session finished in one sitting. It’s been a crazy day thus far. Of course, all of your weekend sport and entertainment programming are featured in the Weekend Viewing Picks.

Let’s get to the linkage now.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today speaks with noted baseball announcing author Curt Smith who has written another book about the subject.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy has ESPN’s Desmond Howard criticizing the current college athletics system which does not allow for students to get paid.

Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about the details of the conference’s new TV networks.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Golf Channel and CBS will have the honors of airing Tiger Woods’ return to golf next weekend.

Michael Malone at Broadcasting & Cable criticizes WPRI-TV in Providence for recreating golf highlights and passing it off as it actually happened.

Thomas Umstead from Multichannel News says boxing is still a big part of HBO Sports.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel says ESPN will redesign its live streaming site for Xbox 360 users.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of Dan Patrick joining old SportsCenter partner Keith Olbermann on Current’s Countdown program to talk about casting the potential ESPN Movie.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that ESPN’s John Clayton still hasn’t grasped this Twitter thing yet.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that Rory McIlroy called out a BBC golf commentator and had quite the Twitter battle.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Knicks and Rangers fans will have the opportunity to see their team’s players go from the court/ice to the locker room and vice versa.

The Big Lead speaks with actor Dan Lauria about bringing his Broadway role of coach Vince Lombardi “home” to Green Bay this weekend.

Sports Media Watch says viewership declined for the last week of Copa América on Univision as glamor teams Brazil and Argentina lost before the semifinal round.

SMW notes that the ratings jumped for the WNBA All-Star Game on ABC last weekend.

Joe Favorito says Baseball’s governing body is now using social media to its advantage.

Bob’s Blitz has an interesting story of a former cameraman and ESPN director who got a lucky cell phone and has been living the life of a celebrity.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing notes that the Pac-12 Networks will further fragment sports on cable.

Overseas, this is big news. John Plunkett of the London Guardian says BBC Sport is letting go of most of its Formula 1 contract and satellite provider Sky Sports will pick up a lion’s share of races starting next year. That would be as if Fox decided to allow DirecTV to take over most of the NASCAR contract.

Ben Gallop of BBC’s motorsports division explains why the decision was made.

East & Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe feels melancholy over the loss of HBO’s Hard Knocks, a victim of the NFL lockout this season.

At SB Nation, Kat Hasenauer Cornetta says women are still trying to get a foothold in the Boston sports media.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Derek Jeter finally opened up a bit in the HBO documentary that premiered this week.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick warns to be careful what you wish for in wanting replay review in baseball.

Mike Battaglino of the Post notes that there will be no edition of Hard Knocks this season.

Justin Terranova writes that the NFL TV’s partners were never worried about losing games to the lockout.

A couple of more stories from the Post. Tim Bontemps from the Post says Derek Jeter agreed to do the HBO documentary on his quest for 3,000 hits so his future children could see him at work.

Justin has five questions for the producer of the HBO Jeter documentary.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that the premiere of NBC’s Summer at Saratoga series did quite well.

On Thursday, Pete, the lovely Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press and your humble blogger were invited to ESPN to talk to several of the network’s production staff and then interview Norby Williamson, the network’s Vice President of Studio and Event Production. Pete has a story on that visit.

Pete Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News writes about the contentious relationship between NFL Network and NFL Films.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog and Dan Steinberg who notes that local talk show host John Riggins isn’t optimistic about DC NFL team coach Mike Shanahan’s chances this year.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says MLB Network will be all over the Trading Deadline this weekend.

South

Jared Hunt from the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail profiles CBS golf producer Lance Barrow as he helms the network’s broadcasts of the Greenbrier Classic this weekend.

Cindy Watts of The Tennessean talks about country star Kenny Chesney writing and performing the theme song for a new ESPN series.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says NFL Films founder Ed Sabol is deservedly getting the NFL Films treatment in a new documentary celebrating his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

David talks about the lack of a Hard Knocks series this season.

Rick Cantu and Kirk Bohis of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman says ESPN approached several high schools about putting their games on the Longhorn Network.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit about the upcoming season.

Mel finds the real reason why Herbstreit chose to move his family away from his native Columbus, OH to Tennessee.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with former NFL’er and current TV analyst Ray Bentley about the 1987 NFL strike.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finds some interesting Brewers anecdotes in the new Curt Smith book.

Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune interviews ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.

Over to the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin where Paul Christian notes that ex-Minnesota Golden Gopher coaches keep finding their way to television.

West

Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune says former Utah Jazz player Matt Harpring has made the successful transition to the TV booth.

John Maffei of the North County Times understands why Mexican government ads must be played on a local sports radio station, but it doesn’t mean he has to like them.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the new batch of ESPN Films documentaries that will be released later this year.

Tom has Fox Sports/MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal still being wary of Twitter.

Tom talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about his whirlwind tenure that has left the league with a pocketful of riches.

Tom has more on the Pac-12 Network announcement aftermath.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the father of new Blue Jay Colby Ramus is using the local media to blast St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.

And that will do it for today.

Cranking Out The Sunday Links

Let’s give you some linkage on this Sunday morning. I’m at work again. No rest for the weary here.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that Sports Illustrated’s Peter King broke news this weekend about HBO’s Hard Knocks.

David Whitley of the Sporting News says there’s some hypocrisy in the Big 12′s criticism of the Longhorn Network.

John Taylor at College Football Talk says ESPN.com’s Joe Schad reported a story on a potential LSU violation without giving credit to its original source.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid has video of NESN’s Jerry Remy trashing Mike Lowell during a commercial break, but knowing Remy during commercial breaks and him knowing that the monitors at Fenway Park can be heard, I’m 100% positive he was joking.

Awful Announcing gathered tweets from people watching Fox Saturday Baseball as Dick Stockton and Thom Brennaman were calling separate games. Let’s just say the reaction wasn’t pretty.

Joe Favorito has some tips for anyone using social media.

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe says the Celtics will have a lot of green thanks to its deal with Comcast SportsNet New England.

I’ll break my boycott of Dr. Gloom & Doom, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News for a week. Today, Gloom & Doom has a story filled with backhanded compliments and vitriol on the successful return of Stephen A. “A is for Angry” Smith to ESPN Radio New York. No quotes from Smith though.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes about college hockey games possibly being aired on Versus.

On this Baseball Hall of Fame Day, Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom states that the HOF is barren without two people who made a huge impact on the game.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes that ESPN’s Nicole Briscoe gets a bigger role in the network’s NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage starting next weekend.

Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes about Florida Marlins broadcaster Dave Van Horne being inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.

Andrew Carter of the Sun Sentinel says the director of the ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentary on Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams plans to film a follow-up.

Berry Tremel of the Daily Oklahoman has former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer weighing in on the Fox Sports/Big 12 alliance.

John Klein of the Tulsa World feels the Longhorn Network controversy is much ado about nothing.

Jeff Korbelik of the Lincoln (NE) Journal-Star writes that the sports radio format is finding its niche in town with a second station launching this week.

Warren Gerds of the Green Bay (WI) Gazette talks about a local reading of “Lombardi” which recently finished its Broadway run, featuring most of the original actors who performed in the play.

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

In the Los Angeles Times, college football writer Chris Dufrense looks at the SEC Media Days event that has become larger-than-life.

Sports Media Watch notes the end of ESPN The Weekend at Walt Disney World.

And that will end the linkage for today.

The Complete Friday Megalinks

Friday’s have become maddening. I was out of the office earlier today and expect to be out again later, but I’m doing the Megalinks early so I can be done with them and be free for other stuff tonight.

As always, check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for the sports and entertaining programming.

National

We’ll begin with Andy Staples from Sports Illustrated who writes that the Longhorn Network has suddenly created a big problem for Big 12 Conference schools not named “Texas.”

Gavin J. Blair of the Hollywood Reporter says one of Japan’s networks will begin airing women’s soccer in the wake of the country’s win in the Women’s World Cup last week.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says MSG Network will celebrate Baseball Hall of Fame Weekend with a marathon of Halls of Fame specials.

Jessica Shambora of Fortune says ESPN succeeds where other cable channels don’t.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid notes that NFL Players Association Executive DeMaurice Smith snuck up on ESPN reporters George Smith and Chris Mortensen during a live shot on Thursday.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser has former Howard Stern Show castmember Artie Lange confirming that he’s in talks to do a Fox Sports Radio show.

Karen Hogan of the Sports Video Group mentions that ESPN Films will premiere a new documentary on famed Georgia running back Herschel Walker in September.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tells us that he’s going to sing the national anthem before a selected MLB game next month.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media waxes poetic about Mike Emrick’s departure as Voice of the New Jersey Devils.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the site’s next matchup in its Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament, Joe Buck vs. Jim Gray. That’s a tough choice.

Ryan Yoder from AA says ESPN is taking a chance on airing live poker.

Joe Favorito asks who really benefits from the World Cup?

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs has a review of the week in sports media.

Dom Cosentino of Deadspin notes that San Francisco Giants announcer Jon Miller is still bitter about his firing by ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Sunday Night Baseball analyst Bobby Valentine about his first year in the broadcast booth.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with Mike Emrick about his decision to leave the New Jersey Devils.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that the Derek Jeter 3,000 hit chase has put a famous memorabilia company into the spotlight one again.

Neil talks about New Jersey announcers departing their teams after long runs.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post admits that he loves to hate WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Justin Terranova of the Post writes about Hall of Fame announcer Mike Emrick leaving the New Jersey Devils after 21 seasons.

Justin has five questions for ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with an NBC Sports executive about how its summer horse racing series from Saratoga came to fruition.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that one Baltimore TV station is cutting back on its sports coverage.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg revels in an on-air argument on one of the local sports radio stations in the DC Sports Bog.

South

At the Houston Chronicle, Brent Zwerneman writes that Texas A&M officials are very concerned about the Longhorn Network and what it means for the future of the Big 12 Conference.

The Chronicle’s David Barron has statements from Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe and Longhorn Network owner ESPN about the conference’s temporary cease-and-desist order on airing high school football games and a Texas conference game.

David says the Longhorn Network saga could make for good reality TV.

David says while Longhorn Network is prevented from airing high school football for now, Fox Sports Southwest will have an NFL Red Zone Channel-like high school football block on Friday nights.

Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin Statesman-American says Longhorn Network programming is currently in limbo.

From the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht writes that ESPN will document the Oklahoma football program as it prepares for the 2011 campaign.

Midwest

John Erardi of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that ESPN’s Barry Larkin is coming back to the Queen’s City this Sunday.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that a local TV sports director is back on the job after corrective neck surgery.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business has this week’s winners and losers.

Roman Augustoviz says WNBA star Maya Moore will give viewers an inside look at the WNBA All-Star Game tomorrow.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times says there’s too much money being left on the table for an extended NFL lockout.

Bill Shakin of the Los Angeles Times writes that court documents show MLB was very skeptical of how Fox’s money for an extended rights deal could have helped the Dodgers remain competitive.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Minnesota Twins analyst Bert Blyeven credits Dodgers voice Vin Scully for helping him to become a Hall of Fame pitcher.

Jeff Faraudo of the San Jose Mercury Times reports that ESPN Deportes now has an affiliate in the Bay Area.

Jon Wilner of the Mercury Times tries to handicap what will happen next with the Pac-12 Network.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at Bryant Gumbel’s closing comments on the US Women’s soccer team on HBO’s Real Sports.

And that’s going to do it. Stay cool on this scorcher of a day.

Let’s Do Some Wednesday Linkage

On this rainy Wednesday in Southern New England, let me do some links. I hope the weather where you are is dry and sunny.

I’ll start today off with John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal who says Comcast may have appeared to have overbid for the Olympics, but it may pay off in the long run.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Dick Enberg who’s calling his final Wimbledon this year.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has video of Dick Enberg discussing “bloody blue balls” at Wimbledon and his on-air partner, Chris Evert making the perfect response.

SportsGrid also has the HBO Real Sports segment with Tiki Barber that was quite compelling TV.

Patrick Rishe of Forbes says Mark Cuban owning the Los Angeles Dodgers needs to happen soon.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the St. Petersburg Times writes that Barber is on a media redemption tour while David Feherty is learning the ropes in another manner.

Kirk Honeycutt of Reuters reviews the ESPN Films documentary on transsexual tennis player Renee Richards. The film was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival and will premiere on ESPN in the fall.

Lacey Rose at the Hollywood Reporter writes that HBO has assembled some All-Star production talent to develop a new drama based on the early life of Mike Tyson.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable says CBS Sports Network has signed a multiyear deal with the Patriot League for various sports.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the NFL’s TV partners are hopeful after hearing negotiations to end the league’s lockout are making substantial progress.

One thing to come out of the talks between the NFL and the Players Association is a full 16 week Thursday Night Football schedule that could begin in 2012. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains what that means for the players and fans.

Jeff Fedotin at the National Football Post claims this guy, Jon Gruden of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, has the potential to be this generation’s John Madden. That remains to be seen.

Eric Spanberg of the Christian Science Monitor reviews the ESPN book.

The Lost Letterman blog has video of ESPN’s Erin Andrews confronting a fan at last year’s College World Series. I like Erin’s spirit in this and the guy was being an asshole.

Congratulations to ESPN.com baseball writer Jonah Keri who will be writing the quintessential history of the Montreal Expos.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times says there are plenty of marketing opportunities surrounding the 3,000th hit of Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

Jack Bell of the Times talks about legendary women’s soccer star Mia Hamm joining espnW to provide analysis on the Women’s World Cup.

At the New York Observer, Kat Stoeffel talks with ESPN Radio New York’s Jared Max about his decision to come out.

Matthew Margolis from the East Hampton (NY) Patch writes that a young actor got to do some voiceover work for ESPN’s Little League World Series coverage.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that Jimmer Fredette’s YouTube channel has a big following.

Mark Wogenrich at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call explores the new deal between CBS Sports Network and the Patriot League for four sports.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail feels it was smart of the Big East to turn down ESPN’s $1 billion offer to get a feel for the marketplace.

The Naples (FL) Daily News reports that locally, the U.S. Open scored well in the ratings.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that a local sports radio morning drive host has been let go.

Doug Moe at the Wisconsin State Journal speaks with Randall Mell of the Golf Channel.

Sandra Guy in the Chicago Sun-Times looks at the new street-level studios for ESPN Radio Chicago.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about Dick Enberg’s final fortnight at Wimbledon.

Matthew Fleischer of Fishbowl LA writes that ESPN WNBA analyst Rebecca Lobo tweeted about her plane’s emergency landing while heading to SoCal this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that Americans will get a nice dose of the CFL on the NFL Network.

George Dickie of zap2it talks with David Feherty about his new Golf Channel show.

Sports Media Watch says the CONCACAF Gold Cup has been a ratings hit for Univision and its sister network, Galavision.

SMW says the NHL Winter Classic goes back to primetime on January 2.

The Big Lead says Friend of Friend’s Bites Michelle Beadle is single once again. Sorry, Michelle, I had to put this one in.

The Sports Tube has an appreciation of Dick Enberg who’s making his final rounds at Wimbledon and the US Open this year.

That will do it.

ESPN Films Has A Home On ESPN Classic

Thanks to the success of the “30 for 30″ series, ESPN Films will make ESPN Classic its home. I think this is a good move. So every weekend, 50 hours of films will be aired on ESPN Classic starting Friday night at 10 ET and lasting until Sunday at midnight. That’s a lot of films. And it’s your chance to catch up on any documentaries you might have missed.

Here are the details.

ESPN ANNOUNCES “ESPN FILMS ON CLASSIC”

ESPN Classic Expands to Showcase the Power of Sports Films

On the heels of the Peabody Award-winning 30 for 30 documentary series, ESPN Films is set to build on the critical acclaim and viewer interest by creating a consistent destination for sports documentaries on ESPN Classic.  “ESPN Films on Classic” will feature an expanded focus on the channel’s unique ability to reach sports fans through films and is designed to target the fans whose interests are broader than news and analysis, and more focused on entertainment.

“One of the things that makes sports storytelling so captivating is that when a pivotal moment happens, it is almost instantly considered ‘classic’, said Keith Clinkscales, SVP, Content Development and Enterprises. “With 30 for 30, we were able to prove that classic sports stories resonate with a large and diverse audience so our intent with “ESPN Films on Classic” is to create a permanent destination for this genre.  We feel this is a natural brand extension for ESPN Classic, which already features documentary and historical programming.”

The current programming plan for “ESPN Films on Classic” is to showcase films for 50 hours each weekend starting at 10 p.m. ET every Friday through midnight every Sunday.  ESPN Films currently owns an extensive catalog of titles and additional documentaries are being produced annually.  ESPN Films will also look to make tactical acquisitions of sports films to complement existing programming.

Additionally, ESPN Films is creating an annual documentary film series, to debut on ESPN in the Fall, following the same general parameters as 30 for 30.  This will give the company an ongoing relationship with some of today’s most talented filmmakers, while at the same time, delivering inspirational sports stories that connect with both avid and casual fans.

“We feel that 30 for 30 represented an evolution in how we tell sports history at ESPN,” said Connor Schell, executive producer, ESPN Films.  “We’ve learned that we can provide a window into American culture through detailed sports storytelling as it can serve as a very effective time capsule of people, places and events that often shape our lives.”

The upcoming programming schedule includes two featured films from the 30 for 30 series.  As the weekend starts on June 17^th, the first film will be Oscar-nominated director Brett Morgen’s June 17^th 1994, a documentary that showcases a day like no other in the sports world.  That will be followed by Game 5 of the1994 NBA Finals between the Rockets and the Knicks, which was taking place during the O.J. Simpson car chase and is featured prominently in the film.  This weekend also marks the 25th anniversary of Len Bias’ death so the second featured film will be Kirk Fraser’s Without Bias.  That film will be followed by one of Bias’ most notable games, the 1986 matchup between Maryland and UNC.   Additional programming will include a mix of content produced by ESPN Films along with acquired content.

Schell continued: “Acquisitions will play a key role in our programming plan for “ESPN Films on Classic” as we know that some of the most creative storytelling in this genre comes from independent filmmakers and this new approach allows us to create an on-air film festival for our own documentaries as well as others in the field.”

That’s it.

Working On Your Tuesday Links

It’s been a busy day for me as I’ve been working on the story on NBC approving plans for a Stanley Cup Final Viewing Party at TD Garden in Boston. Amazing how things fall into place on a story like that. But still working to confirm on the Bruins and Garden end of the story. Once that happens, the story will be complete.

Let’s do links while I can.

Sports Business Daily notes that the NBA Finals finished as the 2nd most watched NBA Finals since 2004, but still finished below last year’s Celtics-Lakers series.

The Sporting News picks up a story from the Sports Business Journal’s Tripp Mickle about Fox’s increased ratings for NASCAR this season.

Sarah Kuta of the Associated Press Sports Editors page notes that economic realities have hit newspaper sports coverage quite hard.

Ken Campbell of the Hockey News gives us this item that hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire is being offered a full-time position at NBC/Versus (scroll down).

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy has the overnight ratings from Monday night’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry shares his thoughts on the launch of Grantland.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says the Miami Heat’s crash and burn in the NBA Finals is not what the script doctor ordered.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter writes that ESPN Classic will become home to ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 documentaries and all future projects.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek says ABC scored with the NBA Finals.

And Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life also writes about the NBA Finals’ ratings.

Matt Hegerty of the Daily Racing Form says this year’s Belmont Stakes received higher ratings on NBC than last year’s race on ABC.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser notes that ESPN NFL analyst Tedi Bruschi unveiled Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s media rules.

Ben Axelrod of SportsGrid notes that today is the “24th Anniversary” of the Keith Hernandez spitting incident made famous on Seinfeld.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says the NFL Network is tapping the podcast for actual programming.

ESPN.com’s David Ubben talks with Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe about the new revenue distribution and the TV appearance formula for member schools.

Richard Lawler from Engadget HD looks at the expansion in programming at ESPN 3D.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says tickets for Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final are a hot commodity due to the lack of a secondary ticket market in Vancouver.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes that NBA Finals Game 6 brought in the viewers as compared with last year.

Richard says a LeBron James critic writing a book on the Miami Heat star got the happy ending he was hoping for.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Wimbledon TV schedule.

Pete says Fox NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip will be inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame later this year.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says LeBron James’ attack of his critics shows us what’s wrong with sports.

Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says a recent reairing of Super Bowl XIV gave him an appreciation of Pat Summerall as a play-by-play man.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that DC United’s TV ratings are way, way up this season.

Del Milligan of the Lakeland (FL) Ledger says get ready for plenty of TV coverage from the U.S. Open.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Game 6 of the NBA Finals brought in record ratings locally.

Fox Sports Southwest will air the Dallas Mavericks victory parade this week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes that the local ABC affiliate saw a ratings record for the NBA Finals.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the local minor league hockey team returns to radio next season.

Mark Snyder at the Detroit Free Press says former Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez heads to the broadcast booth for the upcoming season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the NBA Finals did not do as well locally as compared to last year.

Bob says Packers coach Mike McCarthy revealed in a radio interview that he had his players sized for Super Bowl rings the night before the game!

Robert Feder from Time Out Chicago says the Tribune is losing its media critic (and a good resource for Fang’s Bites as well).

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business continues his talk with White Sox analyst Steve Stone.

Mark Faller of the Arizona Republic isn’t a fan of the Longhorn Network ads.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that one website recognizes Pac-12 Commish Larry Scott as a pretty powerful guy.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes that CBC Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek is quite in demand now that his contract is up.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reviews the first two weeks of Canadian sports television.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that an estimated 12 million people watched Stanley Cup Final Game 6 across the US and Canada.

Sports Media Watch says Gold Cup Soccer is gathering a strong audience for Univision’s networks.

TV Technology notes that NBC/Versus tapped a Swiss company for its telestrator graphics on the Stanley Cup Final.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk has the video of a new Golf boy band that debuted on Golf Channel.

Emma Carmichael of Deadspin talks about her time working for the NBC Olympics unit.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead reviews “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”

And that will end the links.

Quick Sunday Linkage

The last couple of days have killed me going to New York on Friday for business then having to go to work on Saturday preventing me from really reacting to the Dick Ebersol resignation. I will do a Sunday thoughts column today and also start answering the mailbag. Good questions from all of you. If you want to squeeze question in, you can send it to kzf1@fangsbites.com and I do have some swag for you.

But let’s do some linkage first.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks about Tennis Channel and ESPN2 beginning their two weeks of French Open coverage today.

Mike says thanks to free previews, Tennis Channel’s audience will expand for the French Open.

Jessica E. Vascellero and Sam Schechner of the Wall Street Journal write that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol clashed with Comcast corporate officials over money.

Marisa Guthrie at the Hollywood Reporter explains why Dick Ebersol chose to resign.

Brent Lang at The Wrap wonders what Ebersol’s next move will be.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says NBC local affiliates really appreciated Dick Ebersol’s support of the broadcast stations.

Jon Lafayette of B&C notes that upfront ads have been selling fast and furious for the NFL despite the uncertainty over its season.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that automakers are buying up the available Super Bowl XLVI spots making NBC quite happy.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy reports that ESPN has reupped analyst Cris Carter for Sunday NFL Countdown.

Steve Jones of USA Today reviews the 2nd volume of the ESPN Films 30 for 30 DVD gift set.

Rick Chandler of NBCSports.com reviews the whole Chris Berman “You’re with me, Leather” incident that the Swami tried to deny in the new ESPN book.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the new ESPN book and recounts some of his experiences at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Chris Ariens of SportsNewser notes that CNN’s John King (a URI alumnus and a guy with whom I attended journalism classes) caught David Ortiz’s 300th career home run at Fenway Park.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe previews tonight’s MLB Network airing of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

William S. Paxton of the Stamford (CT) Advocate catches up with Chris Berman to talk about the NFL.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Dick Ebersol won’t have a chance to redeem himself from the heavy financial losses from the 2010 Olympics.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick says taped Olympics and XFL brought down Ebersol’s legacy. Leave it to the Gloomster to find something negative.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the new book on ESPN has definitely struck a chord.

Greg Connors at the Buffalo News talks with Tennis Channel’s Mary Carillo.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer, John Gonzalez speaks with ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi about replacing Josh Elliot on the daily morning SportsCenters. You’ll have to mute the autoplay video that starts as soon as the page loads. Just a warning.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com talks about the spike in TV ratings for the Baltimore Orioles.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with Mary Carillo about her move to Tennis Channel.

Jodi Belgard at the Alexandria (LA) Town Talk profiles a local student who got an internship with ESPN.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes that ESPN’s NBA analysts were critical of the Oklahoma City Thunder last night.

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune has Dick Ebersol saying that he expects NBC/Comcast to put forth a very strong bid for the 2014/16 Olympics.

Bryce Miller in the Des Moines (IA) Register talks with ESPN/ABC NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty.

Bryce also profiles the technician from Iowa who’s working ESPN on ABC’s production of today’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Trevor Hughes of The Coloradoan recaps Denver News columnist Woody Paige’s honoring by Colorado State University about his piece last year about the suicide of a Broncos player and his brush with killing himself.

Dick Harmon from the Deseret (UT) News writes about BYUtv preparing to add more sports coverage to its agenda.

John Maffei at the North County Times reports that the San Diego Padres and Fox Sports are about to come together on a two decade, nine figure deal.

Michael Oliveira of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC is no longer bullish on 3-D TV.

EPL Talk says ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel have improved their English Premier League coverage, but still have a ways to go.

Sports Media Watch says the ratings Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals on ESPN were up from last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference Final on Versus.

Ian Bethune of Sox & Dawgs has the video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy cracking up on the air again.

And that will do it.