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Doing Our Friday Megalinks

Haven’t been able to provide the Friday megalinks in a while. Let’s do an edition today.

Normally I include a link to the Weekend Viewing Picks, but I’ll be doing that tonight so you can find it on my site when it’s posted. If you follow me on Twitter or have an RSS feed, you’ll be updated as soon as it posts. If not, you can find it later.

Let’s do the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand wonders what effect the gold medal win by the US Women’s Soccer National Team will have on the sport in the long run.

Michael also live blogged Thursday’s Olympic Primetime on NBC.

Jeffrey Martin of USA Today looks at the grand experiment that’s known as the Pac-12 Networks.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the NBCUniversal’s handling of the 2012 Olympics.

At the Sports on Earth blog, Joe Posnanski chronicles his day in covering the Olympics.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily says with NFL preseason games airing in many local markets on Thursday, NBC Olympic overnight ratings took a hit.

Bill King of SBD says CBS Sports is forging ahead with a show featuring the professional debut of several US Olympic boxers despite their poor performance in London.

Ryan Baucom of SBD writes that several Olympic athletes are getting a boost in Twitter followers after their success in the London Games.

Tripp Mickle of SBD says Universal Sports broke out an ad on NBC Thursday trying to promote its Olympic sports programming. Good luck with that.

Eric Fisher of SBD says Yahoo is declaring victory over NBCOlympics.com for unique pageviews.

Sohrab Amari of the Wall Street Journal reviews an NBC News documentary fronted by Tom Brokaw which will air on NBC’s Olympic coverage on Saturday.

Sarah Kwak of Sports Illustrated talks with Lolo Jones about the media firestorm that swelled just before she ran her 100 meters hurdles race.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with outgoing Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan about his first job. Ryan will be missed in the pages of the Globe.

Sports Media Journal’s Keith Thibault and I have an Olympic-themed podcast with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times and Bruce Beck of WNBC-TV.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Today Show host Matt Lauer had an icy reunion with former co-host Ann Curry on NBC’s London Olympics set.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the FCC has already denied a Comcast request to stay its decision requiring the cable provider to give space to the Tennis Channel.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says Olympic marketers have failed to medal in their social media campaigns.

But Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age looks at the Olympic sponsors that managed to get a boost through social media.

Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age says NBC and the International Olympic Committee have to fix the Olympic business model before it breaks down.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life notes that NBC’s ratings for Wednesday Olympic Primetime show drew better viewership numbers than Atlanta in 1996.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS Sports is preparing for all type of weather conditions for this weekend’s PGA Championship.

Karen Hogan of SVG looks at NBC New York Olympic operations.

Ken Kerschbaumer at SVG says Denmark TV has a floating barge studio for the London Olympics. Now that’s pretty cool.

And Birgit Heidsiek of SVG says Eurosport TV is producing the Olympics in 3-D.

Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute and writing as the ESPN Ombudsman investigates a plagiarism incident at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that the Pac-12 Conference is readying an aggressive digital strategy that will go along with its television distribution.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead goes after former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol for being out of touch in defending the tape delayed Olympics.

The Big Lead looks at the Pac-12 being in the forefront of digital distribution after being marred for years of being behind the curve.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the Miami Dolphins will take advantage of the NFL’s relaxed TV blackout policy this weekend.

Emmett Jones of Sports Business Digest notes that Buffalo Wild Wings has purchased naming rights for a college bowl game. Looks like it will be going to overtime every year.

Sports Media Watch says with NBC committed to the Olympics this year, the NFL Hall of Fame preseason game was aired on NFL Network and naturally suffered a big viewer dropoff.

SMW reports that NBC got another ratings increase for the Olympics.

TVNewsCheck says Gannett is declaring victory saying three of its stations are the top-rated local NBC affiliates in key demographics.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser looks at NBC’s Today Show operations in London.

At TVSpy, Alex tours NBC’s operation center for its local affiliates in London.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who’s been calling Olympic handball off a monitor for NBC.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen discusses Golf Channel’s meteoric rise and its plans to cover the PGA Championship this weekend.

Jane L. Levere of the New York Times writes about ESPN’s new ad campaign for Monday Night Football.

Verne Gay at Newsday notes that a long-time NBC Sports director is retiring after the Olympics.

Newsday’s Chris Serico wonders if NBC’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera will be a bit more subdued during the Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday than their talkative performance during the Opening Ceremony two Fridays ago.

Neil Best of Newsday catches up with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski who’s filling a new role at the network after being in the Monday Night Football both.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in another one of his moods today.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes a local radio station’s high school football schedule.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Pac-12 Networks will be seen on Time Warner Cable locally.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says despite a lost season, the Philadelphia Phillies TV crew still has plenty to talk about during games.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the business of fantasy football as leagues get ready to hold their drafts soon, if not already.

Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that more people were watching the DC NFL Team in area sports bars last night as compared to the Nationals.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says the Nationals radio team tried to explain the term “ball bag”.

South

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald reviews HBO’s Hard Knocks on the Dolphins.

Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Dolphins have announced their TV blackout policy today.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says a local high school sports TV show expands to a new market.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer says ESPN’s College GameDay could be visiting the Queen City in February.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Dick Ebersol’s latest comments on tape delaying Olympic events.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with a local sports radio host who’s perturbed at a former employer.

Dan notes that the Olympics and the St. Louis Cardinals ratings have been hurt by each other.

West

Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-12 Networks are ready to launch next week, but without a few major cable and satellite providers.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with a former NBC Olympics analyst who was fired on the spot after calling a race.

To the Ventura County Star where Jim Carlisle talks about the increased spotlight on the Pac-12 through its new TV networks.

Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the Irish radio call of boxer Katie Taylor’s victory giving the country its first gold medal of the Olympics.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says this is a critical time for beach volleyball as the sport is in transition now.

Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.

And those are your supersized megalinks for today.

Checking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Let’s provide some mid-week linkage before I get too busy later on.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily writes that NBC’s overnight rating for Tuesday’s Olympic primetime was up from the comparable night four years ago.

Tripp Mickle of SBJ says NBC is about to set up a set of exhibition beach volleyball matches between the US and China later this year.

In an SBJ podcast, Tripp meets with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch to talk about the media coverage of the 2012 Olympics.

Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter will not complain about NBC’s Olympic coverage.

Daniel Miller of the Reporter says swimmer Ryan Lochte is in discussions to star in his own reality TV show.

Also from the Reporter, Marisa Guthrie has five lessons NBC should learn from the 2012 Games.

Another from the Reporter, a majority of those polled think Ryan Seacrest is doing a good job at the Olympics? Who is being polled?

And finally from the Reporter, Eriq Gardner reports that the NCAA has been ordered to hand over TV licensing revenue documents in a case involving video game manufacturer Electronic Arts which is using likenesses of student-athletes without permission from the athletes themselves.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead has video of Lolo Jones breaking down on the Today Show this morning.

Meanwhile, Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has video of medal winners Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells being rather candid about their opinions on Lolo with Michelle Beadle this morning.

Jen Floyd Engel at FoxSports.com says despite what the media says, this is not the Olympics of the Woman as the media is stating.

Graeme McMillan of Time asks if NBC should offer the Olympics as reality TV or just straight sports?

Joe Posnanski talks with former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol about working his last Olympics for American television, the 2012 London Games.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On has a look at the upcoming slate of 30 for 30 documentaries.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated profiles ESPN’s Joe Tessitore who is getting a high profile college football assignment after years of taking on crazy schedules.

SI’s Richard Deitsch has a college football roundtable featuring writers Stewart Mandel, Andy Staples and Holly Anderson on what they expect from the TV side of the sport this season.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says NBC Sports Network is setting viewership records with Olympic programming.

Tim writes that AT&T U-Verse has signed a new agreement to carry NFL Network and RedZone.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the 2012 Olympics are on pace to become the most-watched TV event in US history.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that online sports viewers can tolerate the bombardment of ads seen during the Olympics.

Thomas Pardee of Advertising Age says the Olympics are topping social TV sites like GetGlue, but HBO’s True Blood is showing its reach.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life looks at the winners and losers from broadcasting the Olympics.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says DirecTV may be adding five new channels including one sports network run by Al Jazeera.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report notes that a former Boston Globe college sports columnist is now on his own and got a big scoop this week.

Ed has a couple of NBC Sports-related announcements that have nothing to do with the Olympics.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at NBC’s operations at Olympic Stadium.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell notes that it’s better for sponsors that Michael Phelps remain retired instead of him being an active Olympian.

CBS Radio has officially announced that Scott Zolak will be the radio analyst for New England Patriots games starting this Thursday. He replaces Gino Cappeletti who retired last month.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that NBC is getting a mixed ratings bag for the Olympics from the last few days.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union tells readers where they can find this week’s New York Giants preseason opener.

Pete has ESPN’s schedule of MLB games for most of this month.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that former Jets and Giants coach Bill Parcells will appear on ESPN Radio NY opposite his buddy, WFAN’s Mike Francesa during NFL season.

Ken says NBC Sports Network will have Olympic reruns throughout August.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that ESPN Radio Hack Colin Cowherd is up to his old tricks again.

Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times wonders if the Olympic promos for the NBC’s “Go On” might actually hurt the show in the long run.

Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald looks at last night’s Hard Knock premiere on HBO.

Izzy Gould at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that the Miami Dolphins put the team up for display on Hard Knocks.

Gould says Hard Knocks did not explore the Dolphins’ injuries.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says the local NBC affiliate’s ratings are down from 4 years ago.

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times talks with Vin Scully about calling Sandy Koufax’s perfect game back in 1965.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Scully made a great argument for using instant replay in baseball during an argument on the field Monday night.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says while viewers in the Great White North are complaining about Olympic coverage, the ratings are saying otherwise.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing goes in-depth into the Turner Sports purchase of the Bleacher Report.

Matt Yoder of AA defends Lolo Jones against the very strange media backlash that began over the weekend in the New York Times.

John Koblin of Deadspin writes that even our troops stationed abroad are victims to NBC’s tape delays and can’t watch the Olympics live!

Sports Media Watch says UFC on Fox set yet another record low for mixed martial arts on network TV.

The Big Lead, in a sponsored post, speaks with CBS’ Clark Kellogg.

That is going to do it for today.

Doing Some Tuesday Linkage

I was expecting to be out of the office today, but with the temperatures over 90 in Southern New England, being inside with air conditioning is probably the way to go today. I hope wherever you are, you’re staying cool and away from the sun.

I have some links.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says the BBC is defending the size of its staff devoted to covering the London Olympics pointing out that NBC is bringing almost four times BBC’s number.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN has hired an internationally-known soccer journalist to bolster its website.

Tim says Golf Channel has made a couple of hires.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the Pac-12 Networks have selected Cisco to distribute video throughout its systems.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says a US-based martial arts network is attempting to gain a foothold in Europe.

Gabriel Belton of Adweek looks at a new Olympics-themed ad from GlaxoSmithKline.

Rupal Parekh at Advertising Age says Ralph Lauren is taking a huge PR hit over its “Made in Communist China” US Olympic Opening Ceremony uniforms.

Michelle Smith of espnW profiles Lydia Murphy-Stephens who’s helping to launch the Pac-12 Networks.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin notes that NBC’s Today Show ran video of the wrong man during an interview with Philadelphia Eagles’  quarterback Michael Vick.

John Koblin of Deadspin says Sports Illustrated will not run an excerpt of Joe Posnanski’s upcoming book on Joe Paterno.

Ed Sherman in The Sherman Report says a promotional video for Posnanski’s book seems to be seriously outdated in the wake of the Freeh Report released last week.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing explores whether Baseball Night in America was a ratings success for Fox.

Matt Yoder of AA talks with ESPN tome author James Andrew Miller in a podcast.

And Matt speaks with Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel about Penn State and the BCS in a new podcast.

How about one more podcast? Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina interviews Fox’s Erin Andrews on why she left ESPN.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explores whether the NHL’s new TV deals with NBC and HBO could prevent a prolonged lockout unlike the last one which wiped out an entire season.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says the Freeh Report shows that journalists cannot take a college football program at face value.

Also at the National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley blasts ESPN and Big Ten Network for their coverage of the Freeh Report.

Sports Video Group looks at a company that is streaming the Olympics to 70 countries worldwide.

Cork Gaines of the Business Insider Sports Page says ESPN actually censored its own Body Issue cover of New England  Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski this morning.

Newsday’s Neil Best ventures into NBC’s “Billion Dollar Lab” for the 2012 Olympics.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY notes that WFAN’s Mike Francesa tops the Talkers Magazine Heavy Hundred Sports Radio Talk Show Hosts.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty discusses Golf Channel’s new hires.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says the NFL is pricing out the regular fan.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning News says a former Eagles and Steelers offensive lineman is now working for NFL Films.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun is telling readers that Taylor Teagarden’s inadvertent “S” bomb after the Orioles win over Detroit on Fox Saturday is not a big deal.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog looks at where the local sports radio talkers rank on Talkers Heavy Hundred List.

Dan has video of a new Robert Griffin III commercial.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner explores the Nationals’ TV and radio ratings.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that native Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers will be profiled on HBO’s Real Sports tonight.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has video of Charlie Sheen appearing with Joe Morgan (?) on Jay Leno’s Show of Hacks.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue included a local Olympic volleyballer.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Chris Scott says the site’s own online TV service will be live from the Del Mar Racetrack this week for Opening Day.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the White House had trouble transcribing ESPN’s Mark Jones’ interview of President Obama during last night’s USA vs. Brazil pre-Olympic basketball exhibition game.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says NHL fans may not see hockey until at least Thanksgiving at the earliest.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

That’s going to end the links for today.

Some Quick Monday Sports Media Thoughts

Time for some quick sports media thoughts. As always, they come in bullet form.

• The free agent frenzy at ESPN is over. Overall, ESPN lost two out of three major free agents, Erin Andrews and Michelle Beadle while keeping Scott Van Pelt. Beadle and Van Pelt were not surprises, but Andrews’ departure can be classified as a mild one. The fact that Erin decided to leave and part ways after ESPN aggressively tried to keep her shows me that the network still valued her, however, Fox stepped up wupith a role she felt comfortable with.

  As Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reported on Sunday, one of Erin’s goals was to work on the NFL, an opportunity that she was passed over at ESPN. She’ll now have that chance at Fox plus some postseason MLB work as well.

  ESPN tome co-author James Andrew Miller tweeted that one could consider that both Erin and Micelle came out winners.

• Nice to see that NBC pulled tape delayed shenanigans for the U.S. Olympic Trials. The West Coast had to wait three hours to watch the gymnastics, swimming, and track & field trials over the last week. NBC will argue that the trials were available live across the country online, but that’s not good enough in this age.
• Great job by ESPN’s soccer unit on EURO 2012. Great coverage. World Cup 2014 in Rio is next.
• Starting today and going through Wednesday, ESPN and ESPN2 will have simultaneous coverage of Wimbledon with the Mothership focusing on Centre Court and the Deuce airing outer court action. It will be a tennis smorgasbord.
• Is there a more overblown event than The ESPY’s? Who votes on the awards? Does anyone think they make any sense?
• A couple of non-sports media thoughts: Ann Curry got screwed by NBC over the Today show and I like “The Newsroom” on HBO.
• Lastly, can we get Bonnie Bernstein a role on the Olympics? Or at least have her host a major network NFL studio show? Please?

Enjoy your Monday or least try to enjoy it.

A Few Tuesday Sports Media Thoughts

Time for some sports media thoughts. These have been percolating in my head all day Monday. It’s fine time to pour them out and have you peruse through them. As always, they’re in bullet form.

• Monday’s announcement from NFL Network regarding its new morning show could be a game changer for sports television. If “NFL AM” is successful, it could lead other sports networks to follow NFL Network’s lead. But if the show fails to catch on, then it will be back to the status quo with repeats of the previous night’s highlights program. With “NFL AM” set to launch on July 30 from 6-10 a.m. ET, one wonders if there will be enough content to fill the time, but as a director once told me when I was working at a Providence TV station, “Have no fear. We’ll find a way to fill the show. I’ve never had a half-hour of black,” meaning he never had to show a blank screen. That will have to be the philosophy of NFL Network for “NFL AM”. Plus with people going to work and school, not everyone will see the entire four hours.

  If the show works, I can see other league-owned channels attempting similar ventures. MLB Network’s Quick Pitch airs on a loop on most days from 1 a.m. – noon ET. That’s too long. An MLB Network morning show could work as would a morning NBA program.

  But before we get to the point of multiple live morning sports programs, “NFL AM” has to get off the ground successfully. By this time next year, we’ll have an idea whether NFL Network’s “NFL AM” is a success or a failure.

• When I began this site five years ago, Erin Andrews was the darling of the sports blogosphere. Any picture or even a slight mention of her would increase a site’s traffic. There was a reason why she was nicknamed “Erin Pageviews”. Before she re-signed with ESPN in 2010, Erin seemed to be in demand. Her star never shone brighter and it appeared that she could have the pick of any job.

  Now cut to 2012 and it appears Erin is no longer the darling of sports bloggers. Others like Michelle Beadle, Jenn Brown, Charissa Thompson and Molly Qerim et.al. have become favorites as well. This isn’t to say that the Internet is ignoring her, TMZ still pays attention even speculating that she had a boob job. And she was referenced twice in the premiere of the new HBO series, “The Newsroom”.

  Deadspin which once championed her (and was the first to link to the infamous hotel room video in 2009) came out with an article this month pointing out that Ms. Andrews seemingly has no place to go other than ESPN.

  Deadspin reported that Erin is no longer working for Good Morning America and she’s removed the reference to GMA from her Twitter bio.

  Does this necessarily mean that Erin has no other place to go than ESPN? If you believe the speculation from Deadspin and The Big Lead, the answer is yes. But does it mean that she hasn’t had any other offers or couldn’t get work if she decided to walk away from Bristol, CT?

  She can still attract viewers and page views. The NHL thought Erin had enough star power to invite her to its annual awards show last week and present two trophies. Could a league-owned channel like NHL Network find room for Erin? I’m sure it could if the opportunity was presented. But we have not heard of any offers asides from her present employer.

  Overall, I still think Erin can move the meter on the Internet and she’ll continue to so for a while. Just for how long she’ll be at ESPN is anyone’s guess.

• Without any EURO 2012 action until Wednesday’s semifinal game between Spain and Portugal, I went into soccer withdrawals. International soccer is a sport that ESPN continues to excel. Understated coverage with Bob Ley heading the studio and Ian Darke the main play-by-play man, I can easily say this is a Golden Age for soccer on American television. Couple this with having Martin Tyler calling English Premier League games on Fox Soccer and fans have been hearing some of the best announcing of the sport.

  Granted, we get hiccups like Fox’s silly dumbing down of the Champions League Final last year, but overall, the coverage on ESPN, Fox Soccer and Gol TV has been good.

  With ESPN having just the FIFA World Cup in Brazil left to broadcast, it is setting the bar very high. Fox will have a long ways to go to match ESPN’s coverage and while this year’s Champions League Final was an improvement over 2010, the network will have a big hill to climb to equal or surpass the Alleged Worldwide Leader on soccer.

• Count me as one who loved the premiere of “The Newsroom” on Sunday. I enjoyed Jeff Daniels as the erascible anchor Will McAvoy and Emily Mortimer as his idealistic Executive Producer MacKenzie McHale. Yes, in typical Aaron Sorkin fashion, some of the dialogue was overwritten, but I enjoyed the show and I hope it has a long life on HBO. As long as Sorkin doesn’t go overboard on preaching, I think the show will do just fine.

I went longer than I expected on the thoughts. That’s to your benefit.

Finally Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do some Friday megalinks. You’ve been owed some and I haven’t been able to do links for most of the week.

Of course, you have the Weekend Viewing Picks which provide plenty of college sports, soccer, baseball and the NBA and NHL postseason action.

Now let’s do your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today explores Jason La Canfora’s decision to leave NFL Network and bolt to CBS.

Media Rantz looks into the potential departure of Michelle Beadle from ESPN to NBC.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says E! will produce a special on New York Jets QB Tim Tebow.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report hears from a Fox Soccer executive on why the Fox Sports Media Group chose to air so many English Premier League games on the final day of the season.

Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk writes that despite reports to the contrary, it appears that the New York Jets won’t make another appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.

Eriq Gardner at the Hollywood Reporter says a group of fans have filed a class action lawsuit against MLB and its TV partners on the antiquated and silly blackout policy.

Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel says while the Minnesota Vikings will finally get their long-awaited stadium, one state legislator attempted to sneak a bill ending all local NFL blackouts. I think that was a great idea.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable writes the long-anticipated Time Warner Cable Los Angeles Lakers-centric regional sports network will launch in October.

At Adweek, Anthony Crupi writes that Fox has sold out its ad inventory for the UEFA Champions League Final.

Thomas Pardee of Advertising Age says social media is changing the way we watch sports.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says there are times when the N-word should to be published in full.

Eric Goldschein at SportsGrid says CBC Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean stretched his analogy too far in comparing the 9/11 First Responders to NHL players this week.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at NBC/Golf Channel’s joint production of this week’s Players Championship.

Brandon Costa of SVG explores ESPN’s expanded multiplatform rights for NCAA Championships.

And SVG tells us about the Big East Conference’s in-house production of the league’s Baseball Tournament.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com looks into the dollars and cents of the major college sports TV rights contracts.

Patrick Rishe at Forbes says while the ACC signed a rich contract with ESPN, it still doesn’t compare to the Pac-12′s huge megadeal.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff chronicles her day spent at the MLB Fan Cave for espnW.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch crunches the numbers behind the ratings rise for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and the lower for the NBA Playoffs.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing also looks into the ratings for the NBA and NHL Postseasons.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead notes the disturbing arrest of the PA Announcer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth looks at some of the sports media stories that are irking him this week.

East and Mid-Atlantic

I haven’t been able to address the death of Carl Beane, the Red Sox public address announcer. Carl was a radio reporter in Western Massachusetts and also free-lanced for ESPN Radio, CBS Radio, Fox Sports Radio to report on various NFL and college games. He died this week when he suffered a heart attack and crashed his car. He was 59. It seemed everyone in New England had some connection to Beane. I’ll give you some of the stories that have been written about him this week.

David Scott at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog gets reaction from people at the network who knew him.

Gordon Edes at ESPN Boston says Beane felt he was born to be the Fenway Park public address announcer.

WEEI’s Mike Petraglia writes about his personal connection to Beane.

Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox paid tribute to Beane at last night’s game by not having anyone do the PA.

Amanda Bruno of the Springfield Republican writes that Beane was a role model and mentor to her.

To other stories now, heading back to the Globe, Chad Finn says the ACC got its huge deal and it will affect member school Boston College in many ways.

Chad says former Red Sox voice Jerry Trupiano is getting some familial help in trying to get the Houston Astros radio gig.

Desmond Connor of the Hartford Courant says the Big East’s interim commissioner is hopeful his conference can cash in on the recent big spending by ESPN and other networks.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with the legendary Vin Scully.

Richard profiles the person behind a fake Walt Frazier Twitter account.

Jack Bell of the Times interviews Fox Sports President Eric Shanks about Sunday’s unprecedented English Premier League coverage.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times rails over player unions defending their membership for the wrong reasons.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with NBC’s Pierre McGuire.

Justin has five questions for TNT’s Kenny Smith.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says a former local sports reporter is returning to her roots with Time Warner Cable’s Southern California network.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says technical difficulties plagued a local radio broadcast of the Yankees.

Pete says many of NBC/Golf Channel’s cameras will be focused squarely on one hole at the Players Championship this week.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record explores the new SNY deal to air UConn women’s basketball games.

At the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner asks if high school football is doomed.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call watched the train wreck of former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens appearing on Dr. Phil this week and being confronted by his multiple baby mommas.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post says MLB Network compared the swings of the late Mickey Mantle and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says a new local sports radio morning host comes with some baggage from his old job.

David says Comcast and ESPN cut a deal this week for subscribers to watch the network online.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that Fox Sports Oklahoma will air specials next week on the state’s two major college football programs.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds TV and Radio ratings are up this season.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch explores the Cubs’ Kerry Wood blowing up at the local media this week.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin looks at NBC’s coverage of The Players Championship.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that a local sports anchor gets to talk news on the radio.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says the local media plans to cover Junior Seau’s public memorial today.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star notes that outgoing flagship TV station KCAL gave another farewell to the Los Angeles Lakers this week.

Jim looks at the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass which will get plenty of attention on NBC/Golf Channel at the Players Championship.

Jim provides his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Time Warner Cable’s new sports channels.

Tom tries to give Kings fans missing their local TV voices a silver lining.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News goes over the latest developments at the Pac-12 Networks.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC’s Ron MacLean had to clarify his 9/11 remarks before Game 6 of the New York Rangers-Washington Capitals series.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the announcing assignments for both CBC and TSN in the NHL Conference Final round.

And we are done. Enjoy your sports weekend.

Grinding Out The Monday Linkage

Let’s go for some linkage now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN and NFL Network have agreed not to show prospects on the phone spoiling the suspense of the NFL Draft.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN and NFL Network as they prepare for their NFL Draft coverage later this week.

Congrats to Jimmy Traina at SI for 10 years of Hot Clicks. The site has been very good to Fang’s Bites since first linking here in 2008.

Patrick Stiegman of ESPN.com writes a guest editorial in Sports Business Journal responding to another guest editorial from last month criticizing the network’s journalism ethics.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says the Big Ten Conference will have a lot of say at the next BCS meetings thanks to its TV network.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with NBC Sports Network programming chief Jon Miller about the channel’s lowly ratings at its outset.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos gives praise to MLB’s social media efforts.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Time Warner Cable has added ESPN and several other sports networks to its mobile and tablet apps.

Sam Laird at Mashable says ESPN is launching a social campaign to determine where the next College GameDay promo will be shot.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the NHL’s TV ratings are red hot.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing says it appears that the Atlanta Falcons have turned down HBO to go on Hard Knocks this season.

At Pro Sports Communications, Martine Charles stresses that in a crisis, hiding from the media is the worst thing to do.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy wonders if parity in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs could hurt the TV ratings in the long run.

The Connecticut Post says ESPN SportsCenter anchor Sara Walsh will host a business breakfast meeting next month.

Tanzina Vega at the New York Times notes that Jeep has become a USA Basketball sponsor in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post labels Yankees radio voice John Sterling a fraud. Wow.

The New York Post points out that Tennis Channel’s Mayleen Ramey is the new host of SNY’s Beer Money quiz show.

Dr. Doom & Gloom at the New York Daily News says the growing feud between the Giants and Jets is the main reason why Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning was pulled from ESPN Radio NY which is the Jets flagship radio station.

Richard Huff at the Daily News speaks with MLB Network’s Sam Ryan.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union feels Fox’s coverage of Philip Humber’s perfect game on Saturday was flawed.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says be prepared for an online Olympic smorgasboard.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that MASN’s Kristina Akra has been doused with Gatorade by the victorious Nationals again. This is three times by my count. In fact, here’s the video of Kristina getting doused with the bucket by Rick Ankiel and Chad Tracy. Good angle from behind the Nats dugout.

Guyism notes the first two Gatorade baths.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN NFL Draft analyst Bill Polian about former Baylor QB Robert Griffin III.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times looks back at the weekend in sports TV.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says a local sports anchor who’s been taking heat for his reporting of the Magic’s Dwight Howard story this season responded to criticisms.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle links us to his appearance on NPR over the weekend.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says a new BCS Championship system will be bandied about this week and get a lot of interest from the networks.

Dan Whitney of the Cherokee (IA) Chronicle Times says thanks to NBC’s blanket coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s a fan of hockey again.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post notes the increasing coverage of the NFL Draft.

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

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says the ratings show that Blue Jays fans are being patient with the team.

Sports Media Watch says NBA TV will produce its own playoff telecasts which is a departure from the last few years.

SMW says Fox garnered good overnight numbers for its Saturday Baseball broadcast thanks to Philip Humber’s perfect game and the Yankees stunning comeback against the Red Sox.

And SMW says the NHL on NBC drew very good ratings over the weekend.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says a Western Conference Semifinal featuring Nashville and Phoenix may not be as disastrous as some observers think.

Joe Favorito has his weekly sports business roundup.

A.T. Faust III at AppAdvice says ESPN’s iPad website fails to take advantage of the tablet’s strengths.

Bike World News says Fox Sports Net will pick up the Tour of Utah cycling race again this year.

And that’s going to do us for today.

Back For Some Linkage

Yesterday, I focused on several press releases before heading out for errands. Today, it’s back to the links.

Daniel Kaplan at Sports Business Journal writes that the NFL wants to set up local zones in Super Bowl host cities similar to what Indianapolis did with a village and zip line this year.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes explores the sale of the San Diego Padres and how it contrasts greatly from the Dodgers sale.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch explores NBC’s plans for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and I liked what I saw during the first night of coverage on Wednesday.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News feels NBC’s multiplatform coverage of the NHL postseason should increase ratings and open ad sale opportunities.

John Koblin at Deadspin looks at ESPN’s free agents and handicaps who stays and who goes.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable notes that one company will provide multiscreen coverage of the Olympics to computers.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing writes that HBO is interested in the Atlanta Falcons for the next season of Hard Knocks.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life explores how the NHL is expanding its brand by marketing a 21 foot tall replica of the Stanley Cup in New York’s Times Square.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley says no media outlet is safe from the budget ax.

Karen Hogan at Sports Video Group looks at SNY’s studio renovations.

SVG’s Ken Kerschbaumer tells us how ESPN’s 3D production of The Masters^® has grown over the years.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Masters champion Bubba Watson is bound to be a marketing champion as well.

Ira Kantor at the Boston Herald writes that the Red Sox have chosen Comcast to provide computer networking services at their ballparks.

To Fishbowl NY and Jerry Barmash who says MSG Network saw excellent ratings for the New York Rangers this season.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says MLB Network is looking to gain “exclusive content” for the channel.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says CBS Sports Network airs a special on the Army Spring Football game this weekend.

Laura Nachman says a legendary Philadelphia sportscaster passed away over the weekend.

John F. Morrison of the Philadelphia has the obituary for late sports talk show host Steve Fredericks.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic plans to expand its Baltimore Ravens offseason coverage.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner has a couple of NHL on NBC analysts handicap the Capitals chances against the defending Stanley Cup Champions Boston Bruins.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that embattled Miami sports radio host Sid Rosenberg has been fired after his latest brush with the law.

And Radio-Info says another embattled sports talk show host takes Rosenberg’s place on his former station.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says a new sports talk show will debut in the market on Monday.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says ESPN’s Skippy Bayless had to backtrack from claims about his high school basketball career on First Take this week.

Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star says new royals TV analyst Rex “The Wonder Dog” Hudler is hoping to win over fans in his new gig.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that NHL fans will see more postseason games on TV than ever before.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Broadway play on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times misses Dodgers voice Vin Scully as he’s had to miss broadcasts due to a cold.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a local sports talk show host who late last year acknowledged he has Parkinson’s Disease now finds himself without a job.

The Chronicle gets the host’s reaction to his firing.

Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News says the firing came as a surprise.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC Sports Network’s NHL ratings are down from last year’s record ratings on Versus.

Martin Charles writes in the Sports PR blog says it’s important for athletes to get media training to understand how to properly handle reporters’ questions.

The Big Lead talks with multi-faceted Julie Alexandria.

And that’s going to do it for now.

Wringing Out Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do your media megalinks since last week you did not get any.

Hard to believe that college baseball, college lacrosse and NASCAR seasons are starting up, but they are and they’re included in the Weekend Viewing Picks along with the regular Golf, NBA, NHL, Skiing, Soccer, Tennis and Entertainment recommendations.

To your links now.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jeremy Lin will make his nationwide broadcast network debut this weekend.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable notes that Floyd Mayweather’s next pay per view fight has been set by HBO for the spring.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Jeremy Lin continues to drive the MSG Network ratings engine.

Mike Shields of Adweek looks at CBS/Turner Sports’ plans to charge to view the NCAA Tournament online.

Ted Johnson of Variety talks with Ken Solomon of Tennis Channel on his ongoing battle to get a better footing with Comcast.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says the Jeremy Lin media coverage is over the top.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased viewership for the NHL on NBC Sports Network.

SMW says Pardon the Interruption’s Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have lent their voices to a Disney XD cartoon series.

Andy Hall at ESPN Front Row PR blog celebrates the 5th anniversary of NASCAR’s return to the network.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with Jeremy Lin’s agent.

Andrew Bucholtz writing his first article for Awful Announcing looks at the reaction to Jeremy Lin in Canada.

Mat Yoder at AA says the ratings for last weekend’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am show fans are still interested in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Joe Favorito explores the steady growth of college lacrosse.

Mark J. Miller of Brandchannel says NASCAR fans don’t like it when drivers juggle sponsor logos throughout the Sprint Cup season.

The Big Lead has ESPN’s Erin Andrews out and about during New York’s Fashion Week.

Chris Chase at Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner notes that ESPN has been coaching Jon Gruden to use his words judiciously.

Harrison Mooney of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy says Jeremy Lin’s drawing power might indirectly benefit the New York Rangers, Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils which have been missing from Time Warner Cable systems in addition to the Knicks.

David B. Wilkerson at MarketWatch wonders if the MSG/Time Warner Cable feud will eventually push sports into a premium tier.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn gets some advice for new NESN Red Sox field reporter Jenny Dell from MSG’s Tina Cervasio.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch pays tribute to Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan who announced he’s retiring after the London Olympics.

Surviving Grady has a podcast with Jen Royle.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the new charge for viewing the NCAA Tournament online.

Richard writes about the increased ratings for Knicks games since Jeremy Lin arrived on the scene.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post is in rare form today even for him.

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post has five questions for CBS college basketball analyst Bill Raftery.

The Post’s David Seifman reports that the New York City Council is pressuring MSG Network and Time Warner Cable to work out a deal.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News writes that ESPN bumped tonight’s Hornets-Knicks game not realizing it would be another opportunity to showcase Jeremy Lin.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl NY has reaction from various NYC sports anchors to the death of former Mets catcher Gary Carter.

Mike Silva at the Sports Media Watchdog feels hockey coverage in New York is woefully inadequate.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports TV reporter received a New York Emmy nomination.

Pete lists his top studio analysts.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes has the latest in Baltimore-Washington DC sports media news in Press Box.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has a clip of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon as cartoon characters.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says talks with sports business writer Evan Weiner about the NFL’s antiquated blackout rules.

South

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald has some thoughts on Shaquille O’Neal’s rookie season at TNT and ESPN’s decision to remove Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Astros plan to bring in former players to their radio booth to celebrate the team’s 50th season.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes the first network appearance of Jeremy Lin is this Sunday.

Midwest

The Detroit Free Press notes that all of the Tigers games will be on TV this season.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Dick Enberg told a captive audience at Marquette University about the art of the pause and when to use it in broadcasting.

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

To the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin where Paul Christian writes that Fox Sports North will be all over the Minnesota Twins this season.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals have mostly put the kybosh on late afternoon games at Busch Stadium this season.

Dan says a local sports radio host is recovering after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the new Fox Sports San Diego is set to launch next month.

Jay writes the San Diego Padres stand to double their rights fees from Fox as compared to Cox a year ago.

John Maffei at the North County Times says the official announcement between Fox Sports San Diego carrying the Padres is due any time now.

At the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle says NBC and the NHL have become very good partners.

Jim feels ESPN should not have jettisoned Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times notes that ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham is up for a Best Documentary Oscar.

Bill Shakin of the Times says Frank McCourt’s legal problems are holding up Fox’s announcement with the Padres.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News recaps a lecture from three noted network broadcasters discussing TV coverage of the Olympics.

And that’s going to conclude the megalinks for today.

Bringing Out Friday Megalinks

The last few Fridays, I haven’t been able to provide you with the megalinks. I have to do some today otherwise you’ll stop visiting me.

We begin as always with the Weekend Viewing Picks and there are quite a few for this snowy weekend in Southern New England.

Now to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw about Tim Tebow and the upcoming NFC Championship.

Jason Fry, part of the ESPN Poynter Review Project hears sideline reporter Holly Rowe’s side of the story regarding about her now-infamous incident where she shoved a Sugar Bowl staffer away to get an interview with Michigan coach Brady Hoke.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter looks at HBO’s new unscripted series on boxing trainer Freddie Roach.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans has a review of the Freddie Roach series in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has written a letter to the FCC asking the agency to get involved in the Sunbeam-DirecTV dispute which could affect how viewers in Boston see the Super Bowl.

John says Comcast is seeking a reversal of a Federal decision that ruled in favor of Tennis Channel in their dispute.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says DirecTV has signed a rights deal to distribute Big Sky football and basketball games.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says History Channel has purchased a longer ad to promote its series, “Swamp People” during Super Bowl XLVI.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age tells us who’s buying what in Super Bowl XLVI.

AdAge looks at the 12 ads that changed Super Bowl marketing forever. Three guesses on number one and the first two don’t count.

Brian says marketers are going longer with their Super Bowl ads this year in an attempt to stand out.

Finally, Brian writes that even though we’re not thinking about next year’s Super Bowl XLVII, CBS already is and has been working on getting an early start on ad sales for that Big Game.

Inside Radio says all of Cumulus’ Bay Area radio stations will simulcast Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

From across the pond, Amy Lawrence of The Guardian in the UK says Fox airing an English Premier League game live over the air is a big deal.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo looks into NBC Sports Network’s first foray into boxing.

Dan Levy at the Bleacher Report wonders which network can muster enough former NFL talent to drum up a flag football game.

Mac Nwulu of ESPN’s Front Row PR blog has an inside look at the preparation of Sunday NFL Countdown.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing chronicles this week’s Twitter feud between Sports Illusrated’s Richard Deitsch and CNBC’s Darren Rovell.

Speaking of feuds, The Big Lead looks at an internal ESPN squabble between college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and insider Andy Katz.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN is making a major scheduling change for the WNBA this year.

SMW has a look at some local NBA and NHL ratings.

Tennis Channel laments not being picked up by Cablevision.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group takes a look at CBS’ and Fox’s preparation for the NFL Conference Championship Games.

Sports TV Jobs has an interesting graphic of sample camera positions at various stadia and arenas.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe talks with a former Baltimore Raven who now works in Boston as a weekend sports talk show host.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette interviews legendary Patriots radio voice Gil Santos.

Newsday’s Neil Best says local TV is gearing up for the NFC Championship.

Neil talks with former New York Giants running back and NBC analyst Tiki Barber who makes his return to TV this weekend.

George Vescey at the New York Times looks forward to seeing Sunday’s English Premier League game live on Fox.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is not a fan of the NFL replay review process.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for CBS Sports’ and WFAN’s Boomer Esiason.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has some NFL TV analysts break down the four quarterbacks still playing for a shot in the Super Bowl.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Fox’s Troy Aikman talking about the NFC Championship.

Ken has more from Troy in his blog.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes in Press Box that last week’s Texans-Ravens game set a local ratings record.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun attempts to get answers from CBS on having Subway endorser Ndamukong Suh on last week’s NFL Today postgame show.

And David has former Ravens QB and current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer opining on Ed Reed’s comments on current QB Joe Flacco.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals are hoping to get more money from MASN as the sides negotiate a new contract.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with the radio voice of the Wizards about his busy schedule.

South

Keith Jarrett at the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times says the Big South may have to move its Conference Championship Game venue which could effect ESPN’s scheduling.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News says SEC partners CBS and ESPN want better scheduling for next football season.

Jerry Tipton of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader writes that the SEC’s basketball coaches aren’t happy over the scheduling-for-TV moves this season.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans’ flagship radio station hopes to build on the team’s momentum when their new contract kicks in next season.

David has some news and notes that didn’t make his column.

Nancy Sarnoff of the Chronicle says NBC Sports Group is looking for a new facility to house the Comcast SportsNet Houston regional sports network which launches later this year.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Texas Rangers will have multiple appearances on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says HBO continues its string of acclaimed sports documentaries.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says don’t expect NFL Conference Championship Sunday to change its format for the foreseeable future.

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

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune feels Fox Sports North just cheerleads for Minnesota teams and won’t criticize them.

Paul Christian from the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin looks at Fox Sports North’s Hockey Day in Minnesota schedule.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has CBS Sports President Sean McManus wanting to keep the status quo for NFL Conference Championship Sunday.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times looks at MLB Network’s first-ever game show which premieres next week.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says CBS was hoping to get Tim Tebow for its NFL Today pregame show on Sunday, but he declined.

At the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth profiles Fox Sports West host Patrick O’Neal and has his list of best and worst local sports anchors.

Tom has a bit more on O’Neal.

Canada

Bob Weeks in the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC has gotten out of the curling business, a sport it has televised since 1962.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail says the Raptors may be suffering on the court, but not on TV.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at the International Olympic Committee throwing out CTV/CBC’s joint bid to air the 2014/2016 Games.

And that is it. Glad to be able to provide the Megalinkage for you.

“On Freddie Roach” Premieres on HBO on January 20

HBO will start airing the unscripted series “On Freddie Roach” focusing on the famed boxing trainer who is now dealing with Parkinson’s Disease. The show premieres January 20 at 9:30 p.m. and will run for six weeks.

The series is directed by filmmaker Peter Berg who also directed the movie, “Friday Night Lights” and helped to adapt it for an NBC series.

We have synopses of the first two episodes and also have an overview of the series in this press release from HBO.

NEW HBO SERIES ON FREDDIE ROACH, FROM RENOWNED FILMMAKER PETER BERG, DEBUTS FRIDAY, JAN. 20
Peter Berg, Jim Lampley, Sarah Aubrey And Michael Price Executive Produce

ON FREDDIE ROACH, the all-new cinéma-vérité series from renowned filmmaker and Emmy^® nominee Peter Berg, launches its six-episode season FRIDAY, JAN. 20 (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), followed by other episodes on subsequent Fridays at the same time, exclusively on HBO. Executive produced by Berg (“Friday Night Lights”), the HBO Original Programming presentation is a co-production of Film 44 and Atticus Entertainment.

The unscripted show focuses on Freddie Roach, who owns and operates the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, where he has produced a host of world champions. This intensely personal look at the world-famous boxing trainer chronicles his life and career against the backdrop of Parkinson’s disease, an ailment very likely linked to his own boxing past.

A native of Dedham, Mass., Freddie Roach has an extensive amateur boxing background. He fought as a professional under the tutelage of legendary Hall of Fame trainer Eddie Futch, ending his professional boxing career in 1987 with a record of 41 wins and 13 losses. Upon retiring, Roach became Futch’s apprentice.

In 1992, Mickey Rourke financed Roach’s first gym, the Outlaw Boxing Club. He has gone on to train more than 20 world champions, including Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, Oscar de la Hoya and Mike Tyson. Roach has been honored five times as Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America and has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame. On Dec. 6, 2011, he was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced a unique partnership with Roach in an effort to ensure that America’s top amateur fighters have access to the finest training in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This partnership will create a program allowing up to ten Olympic hopefuls to train at the Wild Card Gym, which has become synonymous with world-class performance.

The 51-year-old bachelor lives next door to his mother, just a few miles from Wild Card.

January’s episodes:

Episode #1:  “Body Blow”
Debut:  FRIDAY, JAN. 20 (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)

Other HBO playdates:  Jan. 21 (10:30 a.m., midnight), 22 (10:00 a.m.), 23 (7:30 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 25 (6:00 p.m.) and 26 (10:45 a.m., 9:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates:  Jan. 22 (11:50 p.m.) and 24 (9:30 p.m.)

Introduction to the life of Freddie Roach, boxing trainer and Parkinson’s patient.

Episode #2:  “The Wild Card”
Debut:  FRIDAY, JAN. 27 (9:30-10:00 p.m.)

Other HBO playdates:  Jan 28 (11:30 a.m., 12:30 a.m.), 29 (11:30 a.m.) and 30 (7:30 p.m., 11:50 p.m.), and Feb. 1 (7:30 p.m.) and 2 (9:30 a.m., 8:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates:  Jan. 29 (11:00 p.m.) and 31 (9:30 p.m.)

A routine day at the Wild Card Gym is suddenly thrown into chaos.

On Freddie Roach is a Film 44 and Atticus Entertainment production; executive produced by Peter Berg, Sarah Aubrey, Jim Lampley and Michael Price; co-executive produced by Brendan Malloy and Emmett Malloy; produced by Matthew Goldberg and Christopher G. Cowen; editors, Brian Johnson and Stephen Strout; director of photography, Niles Harrison; camera operator, Brandon Carroll; music by The Antlers; original music by Rogue Wave.

That is all.

Time For Some Thursday Links

Let’s give you some linkage on this Thursday.

We begin with Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira who doesn’t mince words on ESPN’s Jon Gruden.

Bob’s Blitz reacts to Pereira’s strong post.

Jill Goldsmith of Variety says the clock is ticking for MSG Network and Time Warner Cable to hash out a new carriage agreement.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football experienced close to a double digit percentage ratings drop this season.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says nothing delivers the ratings like football whether it be college or the NFL.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos says coaches and leagues regulating how their players use Twitter is still up for debate.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that ABC 20/20 anchor Chris Cuomo is a fan of ESPN Monday Night Countdown’s “C’mon, Man” segment.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes says the Seattle Mariners could see a huge media rights increase in the very near future.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with the venerable TV play-by-play man of the Boston Celtics, Mike Gorman.

Chad notes that the Boston sports radio wars are getting a bit tighter in the ratings.

Johnny Diaz of the Globe writes that local businesses including Celtics rightsholder Comcast SportsNet New England are glad to have the team back in action.

Richard Huff of the New York Daily News looks at ESPN’s New Year’s Eve programming featuring two daredevil death-defying and record-breaking jump attempts.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette gives us his top 5 sports media stories of the year.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes about Mike Pereira’s column on Jon Gruden.

John Hopkins of the Towanda (NY) News offers to take a vow of abstinence from ESPN for a year.

Tim Pinaccio of CSNPhilly.com talks with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about HBO’s 24/7 series.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald says a local sports radio station is juggling its on-air lineup.

Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel says CBS Sports Network will be all-Tim Tebow from Saturday night into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser notes that Auburn coach Gene Chizik will be returning to the BCS Championship Game this season, as an ESPN analyst.

At the Detroit News, Angelique S. Chegelis looks at the new partnership between the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences that would pit the conference’s football teams in interconference matchups in the first three weeks of the season. Games would benefit both conferences’ TV networks.

Tom Couzens at the Sacramento Bee gives a primer to Kings fans looking for the team’s games on satellite providers.

Susan Krashinsky of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if CBC can remain in the sports business.

Tommy Craggs of Deadspin looks into the Skip Baylessification of ESPN.

Kevin McCauley of SB Nation says now that charges against him have been dropped, Mike Milbury will return to NBC for the NHL Winter Classic.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Versus will utilize its NHL top analyst Eddie Olcyzk to help call its inaugural college hockey telecast this week.

Sports Media Watch continues its countdown of the Top 20 Sports Media stories of the year. Here are #5 — 2. And you have the #1 story of the year.

And that will conclude the links for now. I figured I would get them done early for a change.

Some Quick Thursday Links

I’ve been all over the place. I think I’m busier on unemployment than when I was working. It’s cut into my blogging time. Thanks for your patience during this time.

I’ll provide a few links for you.

With the Bill Conlin story continuing to explode, let’s get some links there first.

If you’re not familiar, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin hastily retired after Philadelphia Inquirer investigative reporter Nancy Phillips wrote a story about four people accusing the Baseball Hall of Fame writer of molesting them as children in the 1970′s.

Daily News editor Larry Platt writes how hard it is to report on one of your own.

Gail Shister from the Philly Post talks with Phillips on how she broke the Conlin story.

Mike Silva’s Sports Media Watchdog was angry over the initial reaction from the Baseball Writers Association of America to Conlin.

Andy Martino of the New York Daily News says the BBWAA doesn’t speak for him.

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin chronicles a strange e-mail conversation he had with Conlin the day before the story broke.

To other stories now, Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that new media is putting teams in competition with traditional media to break stories.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age has details on NBC’s plans to stream Super Bowl XLVI online and to give online viewers access to the TV ads that are a big part of the game.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for NESN National, firing a big shot at MSG Network.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost’s Media Daily News says the NBA is offering its League Pass out-of-market package free to cable and satellite customers at no cost for the first two weeks of the season.

Yesterday, there was a minor Twitter scuffle that started when Deadspin creator Will Leitch (now of New York Magazine) tweeted his morning run. CNBC’s Darren Rovell got irritated with it and called him out. It then led to Late Show with David Letterman staff writer Justin Stangel to get involved. Stangel was unfollowed by Rovell a couple of weeks ago over a tweet and he’s been bitter about it ever since.

Leitch wrote this post in Deadspin about his tweeting and Darren today. To their credit, Leitch and Rovell made up so all’s good apparently. Stangel and Rovell are a different story. Darren does have a sense of humor about being called the Twitter Police and this is his Twitter profile pic.

Speaking of Darren, he has this report on CNBC looking at the increase in broadcast rights fees for sports.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing has part one of his Sports Media Wishlist for 2012. He also has part two of this wishlist.

Joe Gill at Boston Sports Then and Now looks at how the Boston Red Sox used Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s likeness without permission.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that the premiere of HBO’s 24/7 Flyers/Rangers garnered over one million viewers over a week’s worth of airings.

Obsessed With Sports looks at how ESPN makes money on the non-BCS bowls.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that come Saturday, the Bengals will be blacked out again in Cincinnati.

I’ll leave it there. Wanted to give you some links.

Some Black Friday Sports Media Links

I hope you survived the Black Friday experience if you went out today. If you decided to shop online, better to do that than wait outside in the cold especially in the Northeast where the temperatures dropped below freezing overnight. No fun.

Anyway, I’ll provide the links. The Weekend Viewing Picks are here.

To the linkage.

National

At USA Today, Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate whether it’s appropriate to mention religion and faith in sports television.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that HBO will give viewers a 12 minute sneak peek on its new NHL-themed 24/7 series tonight.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the picture of Thanksgiving Day in which a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader got the start of her 15 minutes.

Tom Lorenzo at SportsGrid has a funny vidcap of a kid fast asleep during the Miami-Dallas game. Too much turkey, I guess.

Joe Favorito says hockey hopes to fill a void left by the NBA.

Sports Media Watch has the ratings for all NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season.

SMW notes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football saw a ratings increase for Chiefs-Pats.

SMW says NBC’s Sunday Night Football suffered a rare ratings and viewership drop in Week 11.

And SMW writes that last week’s Thursday Night Football gave NFL Network some early Thanksgiving treats.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada to date.

The Awful Announcing staff lists the announcers it’s thankful for.

Overseas, BBC Sport, once a UK powerhouse, is now cutting back and it’s only doing half a schedule of one of its signature sports, Formula 1. It explains how it’s covering Formula 1 in 2012.

Owen Gibson of the London (UK) Guardian says BBC has won back the rights to the IAAF World Athletic Championships, an event it lost for the first time this year.

Jackie Pepper writes about a Kansas City Royals MLB.com beat reporter who received a life-saving transplant and then went to cover every single game this past season.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that NBC is looking to carve out a Thanksgiving niche for the NHL with a new Black Friday game.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post actually gives praise today! Stop the presses!

Justin Terranova of the Post has 5 questions for Sirius XM college football analyst Eddie George.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says ex-coaches don’t always make for the best broadcasters.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun thoroughly enjoyed NFL Network’s coverage of last night’s 49ers-Ravens game.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with an NHL official about its new “Thanksgiving Showdown”.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle waxes poetic about losing the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.

Chris Baldwin at CultureMap Houston says ESPN reminded Texas A&M fans why the school’s rivalry with Texas is ending when it promoted the Longhorn Network.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Ndamukong Suh’s stomp on Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith got plenty of play on Fox yesterday.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post (MN) Bulletin also writes about the TV reaction to Suh’s stomp.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says embattled Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin might be returning next season after all despite two arrests for DWI.

West

The Salt Lake Tribune’s Brian T. Smith says the Utah Jazz’s glory days can be seen on TV as fill for the NBA Lockout.

John Maffei at the North County Times reports that the San Diego Padres still have yet to sign a TV deal for next season.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star notes that LSU is playing another big game today on CBS.

Bill Shaikin from the Los Angeles Times says Fox is asking a judge for the Dodgers to throw in the parking lots in the team’s sale price rather than try to boost it and block its bid for the team’s media rights.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at some of the most dubious moments in sports media this year.

Joshua Myers of the Seattle Times notes that NBC is tapping Sounders voice Arlo White to be its MLS announcer.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says a new TSN documentary on the 20th anniversary of the Argonauts winning the CFL Grey Cup shows how far the team has sunk.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog goes inside the numbers of TSN’s coverage of this Sunday’s Grey Cup.

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.

Some Quickie Tuesday Links

I had surgery to remove a sebaceous cyst today so the blogging was minimal today. Trying to catch up now.

Here are some links.

Big buzz today regarding Bob Costas’ interview of Jerry Sandusky on Rock Center with Brian Williams last night.

Let’s get some links on that first.

Bob went on The Dan Patrick Show to discuss what was said, what wasn’t said and what you didn’t see on last night’s Sandusky interview.

Bill Carter of the New York Times has the story on how Costas got Jerry Sandusky on the phone.

Alan Sepinwall of HitFlix says Costas got the job done in his Sandusky interview.

Rebecca Ford of the Hollywood Reporter says Costas is being universally praised for last night’s interview.

At the Atlantic Wire, Dashiell Bennett wants to know why Sandusky agreed to do the interview.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports recaps the interview and tells us what it all means.

Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald says the Costas interview was the best one this year to date.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun writes that Costas gave Rock Center its signature moment.

Richard Roeper at the Chicago Sun-Times says Sandusky really didn’t help himself and might have made things worse.

While the interview got a lot of buzz, Ann Oldenberg of USA Today notes that it still lost in the ratings to ABC’s heavily promoted Gabby Giffords interview.

Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly says CBS got the last laugh over all of the networks when all was said and done.

Brian Lowry at Fox Sports reviews ESPN’s production of Saturday’s Nebraska-Penn State game.

Philadelphia sports radio talk show host Michael Bradley writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the Penn State story proves the need for in-depth reporting.

Now to other stories.

Lucia Moses at Adweek notes that corporate cousins HBO and Sports Illustrated will team up for a new TV series to air in 2013.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life talks with the CEO of a sports and entertainment agency on the impact of the NBA lockout on fans and the league’s TV partners.

Carolyn Braff of Sports Video Group profiles former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol as he’s about to be inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says UFC is suing New York to open up the state for mixed martial arts. Currently, UFC and other MMA events are banned in New York.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at NFL Network’s new announcing team for Thursday Night Football.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Presidents Cup TV schedule on Golf Channel and NBC.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that one local radio station has released its high school basketball schedule.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron has the overnight ratings for some of the weekend’s sporting  events.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Steelers-Bengals game on Sunday drew big ratings locally.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal writes that the Green Bay blowout of the Vikings hurt ESPN’s ratings for Monday Night Football.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman tells Bulls fans there’s still hope for an NBA season.

Michael Martinez of the Reno Gazette Journal says TV station KTVN resumed newscasts Monday with tributes to the late sportscaster, JK Metzker.

Gazette-Journal columnist Dan Hinxman has some advice for Metzker’s three young sons.

Joe Favorito says “Movember” is gaining momentum.

Bob’s Blitz has the great video of Al Michaels and his son trashing CBS’ Boomer Esiason on the Howard Stern show yesterday.

And I’ll end it there for now.

HBO To Re-Air “Thrilla in Manila” This Week

As a tribute to the late Joe Frazier, HBO will air its award-winning documentary on what is simply known as “Thrilla in Manila.” It was the third fight between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier that took place in a hot, humid and exhausting Manila in 1975. The documentary chronicles the events leading up to the fight plus it delves into the relationship between Ali and Frazier, one that began as a friendship, but as the film depicts, one that collapsed into name calling and race baiting.

I reviewed this when it originally aired back in 2009, but unfortunately during the transition from Blogger to this site, I lost that post. Suffice to say it’s one of the best documentaries HBO put out.

“Thrilla in Manila” airs on HBO Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. ET and again on Sunday at 5;30 p.m. ET. There will an additional airing on HBO Signature as well.

Here’s the HBO press release.

HBO REMEMBERS LEGENDARY HEAVYWEIGHT JOE FRAZIER THURSDAY, NOV. 10 WITH ENCORE PRESENTATION OF PEABODY WINNER THRILLA IN MANILA, CHRONICLING THE GREATEST RIVALRY IN BOXING HISTORY

HBO will pay tribute to the legacy of heavyweight great Joe Frazier, who passed away Nov. 7, with a special encore play of THRILLA IN MANILA, the compelling 2009 documentary chronicling the competition between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, widely considered the greatest rivalry in boxing history.  The 90-minute film will be seen THURSDAY, NOV. 10 (6:30-8:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Other HBO playdate:  Sunday, Nov. 13 (5:30 p.m.)

HBO Signature playdate:  Friday, Nov. 11 (4:30 p.m.)

THRILLA IN MANILA tells the story of the final Ali-Frazier fight in the searing heat of the Philippines through the eyes of Frazier – the “other man” in the ring.  The film is also available to subscribers at HBO On Demand^® through Nov. 27.

An official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and a Peabody Award winner, THRILLA IN MANILA chronicles one of the bitterest sports face-offs ever, recounting a tale of personal betrayal stoked by the racial politics of 1970s America.  Featuring archival footage and exclusive interviews with boxing insiders, including Ferdie Pacheco, Butch Lewis and Dave Wolf, as well as Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, the documentary tells the story of two great fighters forever linked by three epic bouts, and looks at their final fight, considered the most brutal, from Frazier’s perspective for the first time.

Directed by John Dower (“Once in a Lifetime:  The Extraordinary Story of The New York Cosmos”), THRILLA IN MANILA deftly tracks an extraordinary personal battle between two friends, and captures the poignant moment in the socio-cultural history of the country when they became American sports icons and legends. While Ali was a symbol of the civil rights struggle and the anti-Vietnam War movement, Frazier was cast (some would say unfairly) as the symbol of the pro-war, conservative segment of American society.

In 1967, Ali was stripped of his heavyweight crown after refusing induction into the armed forces. THRILLA IN MANILA shows how Frazier subsequently befriended Ali and supported the renewal of his boxing license and status, revealing the intense feelings of betrayal he felt after Ali returned to the ring in 1970 and subjected him to race-baiting attacks.

HBO Documentary Films and HBO Sports present A Darlow Smithson/IMG Media Company Production; narrated by Liev Schreiber; produced and directed by John Dower; executive producers, John Smithson and Elinor Day; executive producer for British Channel 4, Andrew Mackenzie; director of photography, Stephen Standen; editors, Nicholas Packer and Kate Spankie.

If you have the opportunity to see this documentary, by all means do so. It’s done very well.

A Monday Linkage Post

Let’s do you some links on this Monday, a get back to work day for many of you.

Starting with John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, he writes that ESPN is now shooting back at critics who say the network will pass its huge Monday Night Football deal down to cable subscribers.

Sports Business Journal hears from various sports and marketing executives discussing the viability of stadium naming rights deals.

In a sidebar story, David Broughton of SBJ writes that Target has renewed its deal for the rights to the Minneapolis arena for another three years.

Sports Business Daily looks at Sunday Night Football’s overnight ratings and has a roundup of media opinion on Sunday’s NFL coverage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox NFL insider Jay Glazer grabbed another exclusive for Fox NFL Sunday.

Steve Gardner of USA Today reviews MLB Network’s documentary on statistics.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has some of the best signs seen at College GameDay in Tallahassee on Saturday.

Dan asks us if the Sunday Night Football open featuring singer Faith Hill is the worst in TV history.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine looks at the ambush marketers trying to make a name for themselves on the Olympics.

Stephanie DeVito at ESPN’s Front Row blog gives us a funny video explaining the TV ratings system and how the video was made.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that SNF beat the Emmys in the ratings last night.

Neil waxes poetic about the return of “Giants Online.”

Neil is amused over the Floyd Mayweather-Larry Merchant squabble on Saturday.

Neil wonders if Kyle Chandler’s Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama for “Friday Night Lights” is the first Emmy win for a TV series set in a football locale.

This feels like the early days of the blog when I used to link to Neil as many as six or seven times in a link dump. I feel complete!

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post tries to make a point about ESPN airing football and attempting to note concussions.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette notes that HBO will re-air the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight this Saturday.

Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says ESPN’s College GameDay will make its first visit to Morgantown and the West Virginia University campus this weekend.

Edward Lee of the Baltimore Sun says NBC’s Football Night in America crew said they were surprised over the Ravens performance in Tennessee on Sunday.

David Zurawik of the Sun writes that CBS and the NFL poured on the promotion during yesterday’s Ravens-Titans game.

Dan Steinberg and Scott Clement of the Washington Post write about a new poll that is not good news for DC NFL team owner Daniel Snyder.

Dan has a bit more on the poll in the DC Sports Bog.

Chris Baysden of the Triangle Business Journal says ESPN will air both North Carolina and NC State separately in action this week.

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

Jeff Washburn of the Lafayette (IN) Journal & Courier says ESPN’s Bob Knight was in town for an appearance.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel liked Jim Mora’s work on Fox during the Panthers-Packers game.

Bob delves into Prince Fielder’s comments to TBS about his speculation on leaving the Brewers after the season.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that the debate over which quarterback, Kyle Orton or Tim Tebow, should start for the Broncos continues on local sports radio.

Tom Hoffarh in the Los Angeles Daily News feels SoCal got screwed when CBS cut away from the exciting Oakland Raiders-Buffalo Bills game to give them the start of Chargers-Pats.

Tom has the sports calendar for this week.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star looks at the NHL’s new social media policy and wonders what took the league so long?

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Canadian college football may finally get some attention on the nation’s airwaves.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some Monday thoughts including some news that will get the attention of Hazel Mae fans.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says Versus’ NHL Overtime will air just three nights a week at first.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing notes that San Diego Chargers voice Josh Lewin of the Lisping Lewins made fun of portly Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork as he intercepted Philip Rivers. Who had the last laugh, Josh?

And that’s going to do it.

Bringing Out Some Saturday Linkage

A beautiful fall-like Saturday in Southern New England. Already been out today and it’s so nice outside. I hope you enjoy your weekend if you don’t have to work.

Some linkage for you.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable writes that the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick scored very well for NFL Network.

Timothy Burke at his Mocksession site has a great screengrab of a “Fire Craig James”that made the air on ESPN’s College GameDay this morning. Needless to say, that sign was taken away by ESPN’s Sign Gestapo.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans writes at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that coverage of the alleged tryst between Sarah Palin and Michigan’s Glen Rice back in the 1980′s has led to newsroom debates.

Brandon Costa of the Sports Video Group the placement of permanent goal line cameras on SEC on CBS games could impact official reviews.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group discusses ESPN going with non-stop coverage of NASCAR starting Sunday.

All Access says the fans of the band Switchfoot will hear the debut of five songs from its new album tonight during the ESPN on ABC presentation of Oklahoma-Florida State.

Newsday’s Neil Best discusses actor Brad Pitt taking the role of Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane in the upcoming “Moneyball” movie.

Neil notes that Fox’s Jay Glazer will be profiled on HBO’s Real Sports this month.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty writes that the local Fox affiliate gets the Tampa Bay-Red Sox game today over the Mets game that would normally be assigned to the station.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record speaks with one of the men who will be in the broadcast booth calling today’s Northwestern-Army game.

CBS Philadelphia notes that long-time KYW-AM  sports reporter Jack O’Rourke who worked for the NBC Radio Network in the 1970′s passed away this morning while covering a game.

Jim Williams loves that Fox is offering an NFL/English Premier League doubleheader on Sunday.

Jim says baseball fans get to see the Rays and Red Sox battle it out for a Wild Card spot both today and tomorrow.

Jim looks at CBS debuting both SEC football and a new web series following the game.

Ira Schoffel of the Tallahassee (FL) Democrat was on site during today’s College GameDay remote at Florida State.

David Knox of the Birmingham (AL) News says fans can interact online with CBS’ Gary Danielson after today’s Tennessee-Florida game.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks with Fox’s Brian Billick about calling tomorrow’s Cowboys-49ers game.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit previewing tonight’s Oklahoma-Florida State game.

Baxter Holmes of the Los Angeles Times has USC’s basketball TV schedule.

Ben Bolch of the Times has UCLA’s basketball TV schedule.

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times has pictures and a story on a statue of the late Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus being unveiled Friday at Safeco Field.

And that’s it.

The Tuesday Evening Linkage

Because I was a jobsite for most of the morning and into the early afternoon, I wasn’t able to supply links today. I’ll get to them now.

Austin Karp leads the Sports Business Daily team in looking at the overnight ratings for the Monday Night Football doubleheader on ESPN.

Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal writes that ticket broker StubHub has signed ESPN’s Erin Andrews for an ad campaign to appeal to women.

Eric looks at HBO’s corporate parent Time Warner pulling out all of the stops to promote this Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight on pay per view.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand provides his take on some of the weekend TV ratings.

I wondered where Brian Lowry of FoxSports.com has been. He had not written a column since August, but returns this week to talk about the NFL’s TV partners handling of the 9/11 tributes on Sunday.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable writes that HBO will carve out a six hour block of programming on its HBO Zone channel leading up to this Saturday’s Mayweather-Ortiz fight.

Andrea Morabito of B&C says CBS saw a ratings jump for the U.S. Open Men’s Final in the late Monday afternoon timeslot.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek tells us that a shift of several sports events to cable hurt broadcast ad sales in the first half of this year.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life says the ratings proved that NFL fans don’t remember the lockout.

You’ve probably seen it by now, but here’s Ron Jaworski saying, “Shit” on Monday Night Football as provided by Timothy Burke from SportsGrid. And here’s the subsequent apology. For the most part, Jaws said it on cable. It’s no big deal, but it was still funny.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has excerpts of Chris Russo’s appearance on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM, discussing former ESPN’er Steve Phillips’ past problems.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says U.S. Open men’s champion Novak Djokovic’s sponsor has failed to properly promote its client while paying him a lot of money.

Darren says the 10th anniversary of 9/11 led to a boom in oversized U.S. flag rentals.

Ken Belson and Richard Sandomir of the New York Times delve into why MLB rejected the New York Mets’ plans to wear caps honoring the first responders for their game on 9/11/11.

Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday reports that a New York radio personality is defending his father who used an illegal taser during a fight with a Dallas Cowboys fan during the Jets game on Sunday night.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the Cowboys-Jets game set a Sunday Night Football viewing record for NBC.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks about the ratings for Monday Night Football and the U.S. Open.

From the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg says the local ratings for the New York Giants-DC NFL Team were very good.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says he’s not surprised over the record ratings for Sunday Night Football.

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald isn’t a fan of former CNN anchorman Rick Sanchez in the Florida International football radio booth.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle has a look at the local college football TV ratings.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman lists the local weekend sports TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals scored on local TV.

John says Fox Sports Ohio airs a documentary on Pete Rose’s hit record.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez did well in the Entourage series finale on Sunday.

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Rams’ ratings for their season opener were down from a year ago.

The Los Angeles Times reports that former ESPN’er and ex-Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay “The Rat” Mariotti pleaded no contest to charges stemming from an assault and stalking case involving his former girlfriend.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that Universal Sports is testing how much you want the Olympic sports channel on your cable system.

TSN host Michael Landsberg feels guilty he didn’t see the signs for Wade Belak’s suicide.

Puck The Media’s Steve Lepore talks with Hall of Fame hockey voice Mike Emrick in a two part interview. Part one is here. Part two is here.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing wonders if ESPN is heading towards premium cable channel land.

And that is it for the linkage.

Some Late Thursday Afternoon Linkage

Came home a bit early from work so let me provide you with some linkage today.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that Marcus Allen will join Fox Sports Media Group’s coverage of college football.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk discusses the new 9 year deal signed between the PGA Tour and its TV partners.

Philiana Ng of the Hollywood Reporter also looks at the PGA Tour’s deal with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says NFL RedZone has been picked up by a small cable provider.

Emma Bazilian reviews a new Burger King ad featuring UFC’s Anderson Silva lip syncing Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin’ You” to shill a heart attack-waiting-to-happen.

Alex Weprin writes the final farewell for SportsNewser as it shut down for good on Wednesday.

Jason Dachman of the Sports Video Group notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and Philadelphia will have a decent schedule of college and high school football.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has video of UK Channel 4 host Otis Deley having trouble hosting the IAAF World Athletics Championships. This is why the BBC usually airs these events.

NESN says the always screaming Kevin Millar will be wired on the network during tonight’s Yankees-Red Sox game.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the sports cameos will be hot and heavy on HBO’s Entourage this Sunday.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the college football TV schedule for this weekend.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette notes that Time Warner Cable is back with high school football this weekend.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes about Versus getting some new original programming starting next week.

Ken writes that an Army hockey game has been selected by CBS Sports Network.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun writes about radio reporter Jen Royle dropping her lawsuit against a local radio station.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the new PGA Tour rights deal with its TV partners.

Jim takes a look at the beginning of the college football season tonight.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals will be blacked out on NFL Network tonight, but they will be seen live locally.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about the PGA Tour keeping the status quo with its TV partners.

Bob says Big Ten Network sees Wisconsin doing well in the conference this football season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders what’s up with ESPN’s “Jim Rome is Burning” show.

Ed Tait from the Winnipeg Free Press says the Jets have signed a new 10 year deal with TSN for TV rights.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog reviews the Toronto media coverage of former Maple Leafs enforcer Wade Belak’s death.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some mid-week thoughts on what’s going on.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth doesn’t like Universities throwing their weight around on school newspapers.

Sports Media Watch says the NFL Preseason Week 3 didn’t bring as strong ratings as the last two weeks.

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

Awful Announcing has a new podcast with the great Timothy Burke from SportsGrid and Mocksession.

And I’ll end it there for now.

With the college football season kicking off, the College Football Viewing Picks return on Friday. And next week, we’ll have the NFL Viewing Picks so the schedule for viewing picks on Friday will be:

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks — 8 a.m.
College Football Viewing Picks — 9 a.m.
NFL Viewing Picks — 10 a.m.
Weekend Viewing Picks — 11 a.m.

You can look for that throughout the fall months.

Some Really Quick Wednesday Links

I’m going to try to do some Wednesday linkage here. Also have a lot of end of the month/beginning of the month crap to do at work some I’m balancing the two off.

Here are the links that I have for now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at NBC’s plans to provide live online coverage of the 2012 London Olympics.

At MediaPost, Erik Sass looks at the New York Giants integrating Twitter into its NFL preseason broadcasts.

David Goetzl at MediaPost notes that Fox has had a 51% majority stake in Big Ten Network since last year.

The Associated Press reports that Versus is adding a whole host of original programming to its weeknight lineup.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter also writes about Versus’ new original programming.

Lacey Rose and Lesley Goldberg at the Reporter report that HBO has given the green light for a drama based on boxer Mike Tyson.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable writes that Turner Sports is expanding the exclusive content offerings at NCAA.com.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says CBS Sports Network will air a documentary on the first black college football game played in New York.

To Adweek where Anthony Crupi chronicles how NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus lured former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol back to the company just mere months after he left.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life Magazine discusses how NBC is going to provide everything from track & field to archery live at 2012 London Olympics.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid looks at the sad tenure of Fred Hickman’s days at ESPN.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the video preview of NFL Films’ documentary on Patriots coach  Bill Belichick.

On this final day for SportsNewser, let me link to a few stories. Marcus Vanderberg writes that former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand will be joining the school’s football broadcasts on radio. You may recall LeGrand was paralyzed last year and hopes to make a full recovery.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says fans will vote on the next nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Broadcaster Award.

Back to Marcus, he writes that Southwest Airlines will stream live MLB games to its passengers thanks to its in-flight internet provider. Now back to me.

Now back to SportsNewser where Marcus looks at Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl picks.

Ok, that’s it for the SportsNewer links. The site will be missed.

Nat Ives of Advertising Age notes that a month-long sponsorship starting tomorrow, will allow the New York Times to open up five sections (including sports) in its iPad app from behind the dreaded paywall.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell couldn’t be more thrilled to be getting his own weekly show on Versus.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette talks about ESPN releasing its Big East and Big Monday basketball schedules.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog talks with former Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic original Russ Thaler about his new gig with Versus/NBC Sports Network.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that the U.S. Open will be well covered on TV and online.

Josh Robbins from the Orlando Sentinel says the Magic’s Gilbert Arenas has shut down his Twitter account.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes that a pair of Eastern transplants top the local sports radio ratings.

Mel says NFL preseason again led the local TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer has a preview of tonight’s HBO/NFL Films 10 year retrospective on Hard Knocks.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN’s Jon Gruden isn’t a fan of the new NFL replay rule.

Bob says the digital Sporting News Today has ceased publication.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the city’s high school football and basketball championships are moving to a new TV home.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says all of the Dodgers’ announcers are coming back for 2012.

Ed Tait and John White of the Winnipeg Free Press says the new Jets have signed a 10 year deal with TSN for both TV and radio.

Sports Media Watch says Hurricane Irene coverage on many local ABC stations cut into NASCAR’s ratings on Saturday.

Deadspin shows a picture of HBO’s Bryant Gumbel being “beaten up” by UFC’s Chuck Liddell and Fox’s Jay Glazer.

Joe Favorito says the hiring of former Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl by a grocery company is a good marketing move.

And we’ll end it there for today.

A Pre-Hurricane Friday Megalinks Edition

As the Northeast battens down the hatches for the impending hit of Hurricane Irene this weekend and it’s not a matter of if it’s coming, but when, I’ll probably won’t be blogging much over the next few days. I’ll do my best as long as I have power, but disaster preparation will be high on the priorities the next two days.

For those of you looking for a diversion from Hurricane Irene coverage either on the Weather Channel or local news, I do have the sports and entertainment listings in the Weekend Viewing Picks. If you’re in the projected path or far from it, this will help you find the program you’re looking for.

Let’s get to the links.

National

Bob Velin of USA Today says Floyd “Money” Mayweather is ready for his HBO close-up again as he takes part in another edition of 24/7.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy says ESPN golf analyst Paul Azinger took a jab at President Obama for playing golf on his vacation while people are out of work.

Mike McCarthy and Michael Hiestand debate the validity of the Longhorn Network.

Sean Gregory of Time says ESPN The Magazine’s story making Michael Vick a white man was wrong on several accounts.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has secured the rights to ACC sports including football and basketball.

Multichannel News says soccer-centric Gol TV will air the start of Spain’s La Liga following the resolution of a player’s strike this week.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that MSG Varsity will produce local editions of its High School SportsDesk program.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid reports that sports media site SportsNewser will be closing up shop at the end of this month. Sad to see. The site was a very good resource for Fang’s Bites. Marcus Vanderberg and Cam Martin from SportsNewser have become good friends and I hope they land on their feet soon.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost says the New York Jets have become an innovator in their use of social media.

Joe Favorito looks at how sports marketing powerhouse IMG redefined itself into a marketer for college sports.

John Daly in his Daly Planet blog says Hurricane Irene coverage on several local ABC stations may put a crimp for fans who want to watch NASCAR on Saturday.

EPL Talk reports that Fox will air some English Premier League matches including the Chelsea-Manchester United rivalry game live on Super Bowl Sunday.

Sports Business Daily looks at the probability of EPL games airing on Fox.

The Big Lead takes a look at ESPN’s plans for its annual all-day and all-night College Basketball Marathon coming in November.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing notes that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis did a stab at play-by-play in last night’s game against the DC NFL team.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that fantasy sports can no longer be ignored by the mainstream media and he adds that Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle is a candidate to fill one of three potential vacancies at NESN.

At SBNation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch wonders which reporter is apologizing for Patriots defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Entourage tapped New York Giants owner Steve Tisch for an appearance on the HBO show.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is back from a brief vacation to hate everything in his path.

Justin Terranova of the Post speaks with CBS’ Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason on what they expect from New York’s NFL quarterbacks this season.

Justin has five questions for ESPN2 tennis analyst Brad Gilbert on the U.S. Open.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says due to Hurricane Irene, the Jets and Giants have moved the starting time of their NFL exhibition game to Saturday afternoon.

Pete says Marv Albert is happy to be calling NFL games on television once again.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Capital Region fans will have two opportunities to see the Jets-Giants on Saturday.

Ken talks with Versus horse racing host Laffit Pincay, Jr.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes about a former area high school athlete who’s doing overnight updates for WFAN in New York.

Richard Rys of Philadelphia Magazine blasts ESPN for airing every game ofthe Little League World Series.

Childs Walker, Jeff Zrebiec and Justin Fenton of the Baltimore Sun says Mike Flanagan’s friends including MASN’s Gary Thorne are still coming to grips with his death.

David Zurawik of the Sun writes that WBAL-TV is standing by its report as to why Flanagan took his own life.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that an original Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic personality said goodbye last night.

Dan has the debut Geico spot featuring DC NFL Team linebacker Brian Orakpo.

Dan says last night’s Washington-Baltimore NFL preseason game set a ratings record in the nation’s capital.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will split its feed to air pregame shows of both the Baltimore Ravens and DC NFL Team during weeks when they’re programmed simultaneously.

South

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that while Verizon FiOS signed to carry the Longhorn Network, it won’t have tonight’s launch on its system.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Longhorn Network is having less than an auspicious launch.

David says despite the low viewership numbers at the start, the Longhorn Network’s staff remains upbeat about its future.

Gary Dinges of the Austin American-Statesman says most Texas fans will probably miss tonight’s Longhorn Network launch barring some miracle cable and satellite pickups.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman also writes about the Longhorn Network’s launch.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable will air a slate of high school football games this fall.

Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star notes that ESPN is in town to air a couple of high school football games this weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says NBC is going all out for the NFL regular season opener between the Saints and the Packers.

Ed Sherman has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Paul Christan at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says don’t confuse NFL Network with DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Paul says the Minnesota Vikings without Brett Favre this season won’t be primetime darlings this season.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says don’t confuse BYUtv with the Longhorn Network.

John Maffei of the North County Times says if the NFL wants a Los Angeles franchise, it shouldn’t poach the Chargers.

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times tells fans to stay home and watch the games on TV.

T.J. can’t believe the Dodgers are asking fans to evaluate Vin Scully’s performance as a broadcaster.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that Fox Sports West will air one high school football game a week and stream a whole host of them online.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says buyer beware when it comes to Twitter.

That will do it for today. Be safe wherever you are this weekend.

The Friday Night Megalinks

I’ve been to Newton, MA and back, South Kingstown, RI and back and all over my hometown of North Kingstown, RI and all of this today. It’s time to do the megalinks and get them all done in one sitting.

There’s the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment programming.

National

Sports Business Daily goes over the UFC/Fox agreement that will put four live MMA events on network TV and plenty of ancillary programming on Fox’s cable networks.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox Sports Media Group El Presidente Por Vida David Hill has done an about face on airing Mixed Martial Arts.

Sergio Non of USA Today writes that UFC will revamp its shows when they move from Spike and Versus to Fox’s networks.

Sergio has those who will take part in the first UFC on Fox card in November.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the success of the UFC on Fox all depends on whether the sport can have a breakout star.

Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! says UFC President Dana White couldn’t be happier in making this deal with Fox.

Also from Yahoo!, Kevin Iole says it will be the fighters who will benefit the most from the new UFC on Fox contract.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has Spike announcing that the new season of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter will be the last on its airwaves, naturally.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek looks into the particulars of the UFC on Fox deal.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the Fox contract gives UFC some instant mainstream credibility.

There will be more UFC on Fox stories sprinkled throughout the megalinks. Let’s move on to other stories now.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman wonders if Showtime’s “The Franchise” is bringing down the San Francisco Giants this season.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter reports that Comcast has withdrawn a lawsuit against DirecTV over an ad campaign for NFL Sunday Ticket.

David Goetzl of MediaPost notes that DirecTV plans to expand its fantasy offerings for NFL Sunday Ticket.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at Versus/NBC Sports Network’s new exclusive NHL night in the first year of its new 10 year contract with the league.

Andrew McMains of Adweek looks at a new inspiring web video produced for the US Olympic Committee.

All Access says the ESPN Radio affiliate in Minnesota’s Twin Cities has chosen the hosts for its midday show.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explores which teams won and lost in the new NHL TV schedules.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that former voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Woody Durham, will be honored for his contributions to college football.

The Big Lead wonders if Jay Bilas is the most respected voice at ESPN.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid investigates how former 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell managed to appear to appear on the Dan Patrick Show and the Colin Cowherd Show at the same time.

And Tim presents the Atlanta Braves’ Shake Cam and how it can make fans a bit too excited.

Sports Media Watch says the U-20 World Cup is scoring for Galavision.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has a look at some interesting sports media typos.

Matt shows us how the Baseball Tonight crew had trouble demonstrating its new touchscreen.

Joe Favorito looks at what’s new with professional lacrosse.

Patrick Stafford of Smart Company in Australia speaks with the owner of Footytips.com about how he sold his site to ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the limited classic programming on NBA TV during the current league lockout can only take the channel so far.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy wearing chicken hats in the booth.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on how regional sports networks have increasing power and money to be a game changer for some professional teams.

Richard looks at the UFC on Fox deal that puts Mixed Martial Arts into the mainstream.

Dan Levin from the Times has a good story on how some athletes in Communist China are trying to buck their archaic system.

Mark DeCambre of the New York Post notes that the new Meadowlands Stadium now will have a sponsor when the new NFL season begins.

Justin Terranova in the Post looks at how Fordham University was a training ground for several NYC announcers.

Justin has five questions for SNY Jets analyst Anthony Becht.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes about Fox signing UFC for seven years.

Pete says local sports anchor Andrew Catalon’s call of tonight’s Browns-Lions game will be seen on NFL Network this weekend.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says a local radio station will air a full high school football schedule.

Ken says the NBC Sports Group is increasing its commitment to horse racing this fall.

And Ken writes that a new local sports radio talk show will be debuting soon.

To Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record who says the New York Rangers will be featured extensively on the national NHL TV schedules.

Crossing Broad has the audio of Philadelphia’s sports radio station WIP announcement that it’s taking over WYSP’s FM frequency killing off a heritage rock station.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News says ‘YSP staffers were melancholy about CBS Radio’s announcement killing off the station.

Jeff Wolfe of the Delaware County Times writes about WIP’s displacement of WYSP just as the rocker’s ratings were increasing.

Mike White in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says two local high school games hit the ESPN family of networks this fall.

Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette says the Penguins TV announcing crew will return for another season.

In the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik explains where Ravens fans can find the team on TV and radio.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Ravens did extremely well in the ratings in both Baltimore and Washington, DC in their NFL preseason opener.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with DC NFL Team radio voice Larry Michael.

And Jim writes that the Washington Capitals will have plenty of appearances on NBC/Versus (NBC Sports Network).

Mike Madden in the Washington City Paper says the local sports anchor is becoming a thing of the past.

Keith Loria of the Fairfax (VA) Times says native Lindsay Czarniak is about to make her debut on ESPN.

South

The Charleston (WV) Gazette notes that Root Sports Pittsburgh will carry some West Virginia and Marshall programming.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Bob Griese will be joining the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team replacing the late Jim Mandich.

Andy Kent of the Miami Dolphins website has Griese’s thoughts about joining the broadcast team and also sharing thoughts about Mandich.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some thoughts on the UFC/Fox deal, the Little League World Series on TV and CBS’ production of the PGA Championship.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says Yahoo! Sports does a better job of investigating college sports than the NCAA.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that Saturday’s US National Gymnastics championships get a network primetime slot.

Mike Finger and Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network hasn’t given up on airing high school football games in one form or another.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht looks at UFC getting a big payday from Fox.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with NBC’s Cris Collinsworth who’s going into his third season as Sunday Night Football analyst.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal now knows why DirecTV was so willing to give him a free subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket after learning that the service will be offered to Sony Playstation 3 owners.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press’ Michael Zuidema notes that a Big Ten Network analyst feels Nebraska is a perfect fit for the conference.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is amazed at ESPN’s ever-expanding army of NFL analysts and mountain of NFL programming.

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

Scott Dochterman in the Iowa City Gazette says NFL Network has picked up Mediacom for cable subscribers in the Hawkeye State.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says it’s not known which network will air the October 15th contest between BYU and Oregon State.

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) News speaks with BYUtv’s Executive Director in a lengthy interview. Part I of which is here. Read Part II here.

Larry Bohannan at the Desert (CA) Sun says there’s evidence of not much live golf shown in a PGA Tour telecast.

John Maffei of the North County Times weighs the pros and cons of airing the Little League World Series.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle looks at the contrasting opinions that John and Patrick McEnroe had on the state of American tennis on HBO’s Real Sports this week.

Jim explores the UFC on Fox deal.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times says Fox paid a pretty penny to get UFC into the fold.

Meg James of the Times also writes about the UFC on Fox deal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says when it came down to it, Fox didn’t have much of a choice but to sign UFC.

Tom says one sidebar to the UFC on Fox deal is the fact that Fox Sports Radio will also air MMA events.

Tom writes that former Dodgers radio voice Ross Porter has found his latest gig, calling high school sports online.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin feels TSN Radio isn’t getting the job done.

The Winnipeg Free Press notes that the Jets will get 22 games aired on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

And the number of links today are hearken back to the first two years of this blog. Lots of links. That’s it.

Let’s Do Some Thursday Linkage

Today is going to be a busy day with the UFC on Fox press conference and the NHL TV schedule announcement. I figure now would be a good time to linkage and I hope I don’t get interrupted here at work.

The big news that broke late yesterday was DirecTV announcing that it would offer its NFL Sunday Ticket package to Sony Playstation 3 platforms. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that the package will be offered to both non and current DirecTV subscribers.

In Sony’s official Playstation 3 blog, Philip Rosenberg explains what Playstation fans will see with the NFL Sunday Ticket offering.

Kari Lipschutz of Adweek tells us what this move means for Playstation owners.

CBS Radio continues to kill off its heritage rock stations and flip them to FM sports. It killed off rock stations in Boston and Cleveland in favor of new FM sports stations. Today’s it’s Philadelphia’s turn as long-time rocker WYSP will go by the wayside for a simulcast of WIP which was the 2nd station in the country after WFAN to go all-sports. All Access says the flip to sports will occur after Labor Day.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News has the full details of the format change.

The Crossing Broad blog provides its reaction to the move.

The 700 Level analyzes what this all means for the Philly sports fan.

Back to Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds writes that the University of Hawaii will launch its own regional sports network on Friday, beating the Longhorn Network’s launch by a week.

Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com says a big payday for the Big East’s TV contract could lead to major changes in the conference.

The LPGA has announced that it’s hired long-time Golf Channel anchor Kraig Kann as its chief communications officer.

Bob Cook at Forbes.com detests ESPN’s coverage of the Little League World Series.

Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group says the New York Jets will add a 1st and 10 line to its in-house game productions.

At SportsGrid, Timothy Burke has the audio of USA Today’s Danny Sheridan backing off a promise to name the money provider in the Cam Newton scandal and then he attacked bloggers. Not a good way to go, Danny.

To CNBC’s Darren Rovell who wonders why the NFL Players Association settled for as little as it did with the NFL.

At the Business of College Sports, the SportsBizMiss, Kristi Dosh goes over why the SEC did not formally invite Texas A&M to join its conference.

Tim Walker of the Independent in the UK explores the launch of ESPN.com’s Grantland and praises the site.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says former WEEI personality Pete Sheppard resumes his duties at Patriots.com next month.

Joe Drape at the New York Times says NBC Sports will air horse racing from the Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky in October.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a look at the ACC Network schedule.

Laura Nachman notes that Vince Papale won’t be hosting Eagles Confidential this season.

Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that Root Sports will change its night for high school football programming where it can show most of it live.

Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wants to know who should be added to the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that the Grizzlies will be changing radio stations when the NBA returns from lockout.

B.J. Bethel of the Dayton Daily News says ESPN is part of the problem with college football.

James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press says Lions fans won’t be heckling Matt Millen as he’s been taken off ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown show.

The Holland (MI) Sentinel reports that Fox Sports Detroit will increase its high school football coverage this fall.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that NFL Network will air the 2010 Packers edition of America’s Game the night before the NFL regular season opener.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that a new book on the late Walter Payton will be published in October.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reviews an HBO Real Sports segment comparing and contrasting the Brothers McEnroe’s opinions on how to revive American tennis.

Tom talks with two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion Danielle Kang.

Gary Lycan of the Orange County Register writes about the New York Jets being heard on Southern California radio this season.

Sports Media Watch notes that the first preseason Monday Night Football game received lower ratings from last year’s opener.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito wonders if the NBA’s D-League can benefit from the NBA lockout.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing looks at ESPN’s reluctance to cover the Miami payment scandal that was uncovered by Yahoo! Sports this week.

Scott Christ at Bad Left Hook takes a look at boxing’s TV ratings this year to date.

I’m going to end the links there. It’s going to be a busy day here. Keep your RSS and Twitter feeds updated. The posts could get fast and furious this afternoon.

Doing Some Sunday Links

I haven’t been able to provide a Sunday link dump for you in a while so it’s time to provide some while I can. I do have to do a Sunday thoughts column and again, haven’t done one in a while so I hope to get that done for you later today. Too many thoughts in my head and I have to release them!

I apologize for not being able to do links since Wednesday. I’ve been at jobsites in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and that has taken my days to the point when I get home, it’s tough to do anything. I hope this upcoming week won’t be as busy.

To the links.

Richard Deitsch from Sports Illustrated has his latest Media Power List. Some good names on the list I should say.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that the NFL preseason opener on ESPN took down MTV’s Jersey Shore on Thursday. Maybe there is hope for us all.

EJ Schultz of Advertising Age says Anheuser-Busch is taking a big $50 million gamble by having Bud Light become the official beer of the NFL replacing Coors Light.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the media still has some lessons to learn from the public fallout between Tiger Woods and his former caddie, Steve Williams.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finally finds an Under Armour running shoe he likes.

Speaking of Darren, SportsNewser’s Marcus Vanderberg writes that Darren and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio will be getting their own shows on the soon-to-be rebranded Versus in the new year.

Marcus tells us that ESPN Radio Los Angeles will be picking up New York Jets games this season. Ok.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group looks at Fox tackling college football in a big way through its Game of the Week series on FX.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times explores the anarchy that reigns college football.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a partial transcript from HBO’s Real Sports interview with Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post proclaims to be looking out for the little guy. Whatever.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes one TV station in New York’s Capital Region will be busy with sports.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record lists the local affiliates for the Jets and Giants radio networks.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN NASCAR voice Allen Bestwick about calling a race at the Watkins Glen road course as opposed to traditional oval tracks.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says former Braves broadcaster, the late Ernie Johnson, Sr. is being remembered fondly. Johnson died Friday at the age of 87.

Mark Bradley of the AJC says Johnson was the kindest of men.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle provides some thoughts on the NCAA’s ban of college networks airing high school games.

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that NFL Network has finally been picked up by Charter Communications.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has an extensive interview with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN’s NFL preseason opener drew better ratings than last year’s game.

Joe Favorito writes that Northwestern University is conducting a highly original marketing campaign for a Heisman Trophy candidate.

The Toronto Sports Media blog notes some changes at TSN Sports Radio.

And TSM talks about some wholesale changes at the Toronto Star that will effect its sports section.

And that’s it for now. I hope to add some more links later.

Back With Monday Links

This past weekend was spent preparing for my sister’s baby shower and then grilling for those in attendance so I was very busy after posting last Friday’s megalinks. My apologies for not being able to blog as I wanted this past weekend, but I do appreciate your patience. Let’s get to the linkage as we have quite a few stories to provide today.

First, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reports that Fox Sports will unveil their NFL announcing lineup today with a few revamps and reboots, but nothing new in their top three teams.

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal notes that talks with potential suitors are heating up on the new Thursday Night Football package.

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com writes that boxer Manny Pacquaio’s next fight will be heading back to HBO after a one bout hiatus to Showtime.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that while the NFL lockout was ongoing, advertisers still continued to buy commercials on the networks showing their confidence that there would be a season.

Over to Kristi Dosh, the SportsBizMiss, in the Business of College Sports who looks at ESPN’s contract for the Longhorn Network.

Dan Fogarty of SportGrid notes that Stephen A. “A is for Anguish” Smith increased his vocal volume over Tiger Woods’ former caddie, Steve Williams jumping for joy over helping Adam Scott win over the weekend.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid has video of yesterday’s NASCAR Countdown pre-race show which was a complete mess.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell feels college football coaches who ban their team from tweeting are missing the point.

Jim Romanesko at the Poynter Institute has former Los Angeles Times NBA beat writer Mark Heisler writing about how he was laid off from the paper and how he was not too unhappy about it.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser notes that ESPN saw its best overnight ratings of the season for Sunday Night Baseball thanks to another Yankees-Red Sox matchup.

Richard Lawler at Engadget says ESPN 3D is doubling its college football schedule from last year.

The Radio & TV Business Report has Westwood One Radio’s NFL announcing crews for this season.

Brian Straight of the Hartford Business Journal writes about the long-standing relationship between ESPN and Bristol, CT.

Joe Brescia from the New York Times speaks with new NFL Hall of Famer and NFL Network analyst Marshall Faulk.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is not a fan of YES’ Michael Kay.

Phil wants TNT to spill the beans on the Tiger Woods-Charles Barkley split. Like that will ever happen and who really cares?

The New York Daily News’ Gatecrasher tells us that Lifetime (a.k.a. The Network That Hates Men) has pulled the plug on a Serena Williams reality TV project.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette has the transcript and video of caddie Steve Williams’ interview with CBS’ David Feherty following Adam Scott’s win in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner looks at CBS/Showtime’s new reality show on the Army-Navy rivalry.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times feels ESPN’s Merril Hoge may have an agenda against Denver quarterback Tim Tebow.

Stephen F. Holder and Rick Stroud of the Times write that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may fall victim to more local blackouts this season.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business wishes the Bears would take care of their turf.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with Colorado Rockies analyst George Frazier.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s sports calendar.

Tom reviews the incendiary comments Fox Sports Radio’s Tony Bruno made on his Twitter account Friday night as the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies had a full-scale brawl.

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle has Giants manager Bruce Bochy irate over Bruno’s tweet.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at the Canadian sports media battle between giants Rogers and Bell.

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star previews Rogers’ entry into the sports magazine market.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says the NFL pregame shows are inundated with Hall of Famers.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

And SMW has more ratings news here.

Joe Favorito has a primer on keeping notes and how they could save you in the long run.

And that is all for today.

Bringing You Some Friday Megalink Love

Ok, seeing some good stories on this Friday and it appears that I’m staying in the office today so I can give you a full set and not have to leave for another site. Let’s git ‘er done!

We start as always with the Weekend Viewing Picks which are getting busier with each passing weekend as we get closer to football. And in September, you’ll have College Football Viewing Picks and the NFL Viewing Picks to go along with the weekend picks so you can expect to see those every Friday from September through the end of both football seasons.

Let’s do the linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy of USA Today debate whether networks really need to use ex-jocks to be analysts.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News reports that HBO PPV will air the Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez fight with replays of the 24/7 documentary series airing on CNN. Interesting.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel says Comcast is going after DirecTV for what it says is a deceptive ad campaign by the satellite provider for offering “free” NFL games.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine looks at how Kraft used its Macaroni & Cheese brand to help warm up football fans tailgating in cold weather cities.

Jason Fry in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center gives some tips on starting up a digital sports journalism program.

At NFL.com, Adam Rank gives his top six favorite features from NFL Films as founder Ed Sabol goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid is giddy over Stephen Colbert taking over MLB’s Twitter account for all day today.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has the latest New Era Red Sox-Yankees ad featuring notorious Yankees fan Alec Baldwin and Red Sox fan John Krasinski. This ad called “One Hitter” is the best of the series thus far.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group says NASCAR.com is expanding its online RaceView program from Sprint Cup only to three Nationwide Series races.

Sports Media Watch notes that the ratings for the MLS All-Star Game on ESPN2 went up slightly from last year.

Joe Favorito talks about motorsports trying to tap into the New York market.

Barry Janoff of The Big Lead notes that Pepsi is returning to advertise in the Super Bowl by using the winner of Fox’s X Factor contest into NBC’s broadcast.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing reports a story that we’ve been following closely here, that Versus may make a big commitment to college hockey.

AA also introduces its Fan Forum where you get a voice on the blog.

In Sports TV Jobs, ESPN’s Clay Matvick talks about what it takes to be a play-by-play announcer.

Kristi Dosh, the SportsBizMiss, notes how big a business college sports is in the Business of College Sports.

Law professor Roger Groves writes in Forbes that the Pac-12 deal while lucrative, may end up costing college sports in the long run.

East and Mid-Atlantic

To the Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal and Randy Whitehouse who writes that the Maine Sports Network has carved a niche for itself by broadcasting local high school sports and talk shows to a hungry audience.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks about the rebranding of Versus to fit the NBC Sports Group.

At Boston Sports Media Watch, Ryan Hadfield has some local media musings.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the ailing NFL Films team of Ed and Steve Sabol who are holding on to see Ed finally make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry hasn’t lost any of its luster to ESPN or Fox.

Neil says MSG Network has finalized a deal with Spero Dedes for him to call New York Knicks games on radio.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is filled with hatred for the entire world today.

Marc Berman at the Post says MSG is overlooking a recent DWI arrest in hiring Dedes.

Justin Terranova in the Post has five questions for CBS/TNT golf analyst Ian Baker-Finch.

In the Albany Times Union, Pete Dougherty would like YES to stop airing a certain smoking cessation ad.

Pete says NFL Network has confirmed talks with Time Warner Cable to possibly get carriage for this season.

Pete talks with player agent J.R. Rickert about having to squash inaccurate media reports about his clients.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says NFL Network will have up to six live preseason on its air this month.

Laura Nachman says a Philly sports reporter is teaming up on a new book on the hapless 1972 Phillies.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has hired a new Capitals insider for TV and online appearances.

At the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams says the rebrand from Versus to NBC Sports Network is more than just a name change.

South

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle talks Texans with NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Cox has released its local high school football schedule.

Mel says Tulsa native Bob Carpenter may be looking for a new gig after MASN did not pick up his option to call Washington Nationals games.

Midwest

Josh Weir in the Canton (OH) Repository profiles NFL Films founder Ed Sabol as he enters the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

Josh writes that Ed’s relationship with the late NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle changed the fate of the league and NFL Films.

Josh says Ed’s hiring of the late John Facenda as the voice of NFL Films added a mystique to the NFL.

Josh says Ed’s successor at NFL Films, his son Steve, has been ailing almost as much as Ed has.

And Josh writes that before Ed was a filmmaker, he was a very good swimmer at Ohio State.

Over to the Akron Beacon Journal, Jason Lloyd goes behind the scenes with CBS Sports as it airs this weekend’s coverage of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a former Bengals radio pregame host is returning to his position this season.

John has a little more on the story in his blog.

John says Fox Sports Ohio picks up an additional Cincinnati Reds game later this month.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press says ESPN will make next month’s Michigan-Notre Dame game into a big primetime affair.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says Versus will air a documentary on MLB’s first openly gay player next week.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Green Bay Packers’ weekend scrimmage will be picked up on TV both locally and nationally.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin says eight years after its creation, NFL Network finally gets picked up by Charter Communications.

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar writes the NFL Network-Charter agreement was a compromise on where the channel would be placed.

Dan says the St. Louis Cardinals were kicked off Fox’s national MLB schedule to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a rare spotlight.

West

John Maffei in the North County Times says the NFL’s TV partners are hopeful viewers will watch preseason football.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Ed Sabol is worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tom wonders if Ed was actually a candidate to succeed the late Pete Rozelle as NFL Commish.

Ed looks at the sports media’s connection to this year’s class of 2011 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tom says ESPN has invented a quarterback rating statistic and wants everyone to know about it.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about a new reality series in which a former CFL’er is trying to make Canada’s bobsledding team.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at CBC and Rogers Sportsnet teaming up to air two tennis tournaments this month.

And the Canadian Sports Media Blog lists the Gemini Award nominees in the sports categories. The Geminis are Canada’s version of the Emmys.

That will conclude the links today.

Quick Saturday Links

I keep getting interrupted at work. I wrote a post earlier today on Brent Musburger’s night in Las Vegas, but I kept being recruited to the leave the office and something that should have taken 20 minutes to write ended up being three hours. And now I’m trying to do some linkage and keep getting interrupted as well. Who said Saturday’s are easy? Who said weekends are for relaxing? Who said you’re not supposed to work on weekends?

Anyway, you don’t want to read my complaints. Let’s do some linkage.

This won’t be as big as the recent news of the deaths in Norway or the just reported death of Amy Winehouse, but legendary boxing promoter Butch Lewis passed away today at the age of 65. He was a prolific promoter of fights in the 1980′s and had his signature tux with no shirt look. Lewis also produced movies and TV shows. He will be missed.

Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy of USA Today debate whether US coverage of global sporting events should be neutral or American-centric.

Rebeca Ford of the Hollywood Reporter says comedian Artie Lange is getting closer to co-hosting a Fox Sports Radio show with fellow comic Nick DiPaolo.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the NBA released its national TV schedules this week to a lot of fanfare, but little buzz.

Andy Lewis at the Hollywood Reporter reports that Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has been ordered to negotiate a new bankrupcty loan with MLB after a judge ruled voided one negotiated with another party.

To Sports Grid where Dan Fogarty notes that Jim Rome decided to dredge up some old street slang that people thought was dead for several years.

Glen Davis at SportsGrid says Fox Sports Detroit MLB analyst Rod Allen tried to make a joke about the Tigers’ large Latino contingent, but it came out very wrong.

James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press had Allen trying to clarify that remark.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that legendary announcer Dick Enberg will be honored by the Rhode Island-based International Tennis Hall of Fame for 50 years in broadcasting.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at NBC/Versus getting into summer horse racing at Saratoga starting today.

Neil says athletes will miss getting their 15 minutes on HBO’s Entourage as the last season airs starting tomorrow.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspapers could lose special access to the London 2012 Olympics due to the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

To Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette who reports that Versus may be interested in airing college hockey games to supplement its NHL schedule.

Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that Fox has selected the Pirates for its Saturday Baseball package for the first time since last decade.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that MASN gives Mid-Atlantic baseball fans a show to watch.

Jeff Weiner in the Orlando Sentinel says ESPN is pulling out its ESPN the Weekend event out of Walt Disney World.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News writes that the SEC Media Days event has outgrown Birmingham.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at some of the developments that occurred in sports media over the week.

Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star Telegram notes that TCU is now keeping a watchful eye the Longhorn Network.

Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World says the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes are looking forward to increased TV exposure this football season.

To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch where Dan Caesar writes that you need a scorecard to keep up with the Cardinals’ TV and radio broadcast teams.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports a local TV station will air selected University of Utah football games starting this season.

Richard Ruelas of the Arizona Republic chronicles how the Fiesta Bowl made it to TV.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at the announcers CTV could employ for the London 2012 Olympics.

The CSM also looks back at the week in Canadian sports media.

Sports Media Watch says Fox got off to a fast start of the second half of the MLB season last Saturday.

The Business Insider Sports Page lists the 10 worst sportscasters on the planet.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing has audio of Yankees voice John Sterling singing crazily about “The Grandy Man.”

That’s going to do it for today. Lots of links for a Saturday.

Cranking Out Some Mid-Week Linkage

Time for some Wednesday links. Let’s get to them.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his reaction to the ESPN Ombudsman column on the Bruce Feldman suspension or non-suspension depending on whom you choose to believe.

Sports Business Daily looks at the media reaction to the death of Myra Kraft, the wife of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Mrs. Kraft had cancer and died this morning at the age of 68.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at why the NBA an entire regular season TV schedule in the wake of its lockout.

Gavin J. Blair of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the Women’s World Cup Final got huge ratings in Japan even with the game starting at 3:45 a.m. in Tokyo.

At Broadcasting & Cable, R. Thomas Umstead writes that HBO has set a premiere date for its new documentary on Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

R. Thomas Umstead has an article in Multichannel News talking about the NBA going all in with full TV schedules for ESPN and TNT despite an ongoing lockout.

In Radio Ink, Chadd Scott speaks with Atlanta sports radio duo Chuck and Chernoff about moving to a new timeslot.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine looks at the drop in viewership for the ESPY’s.

Over to Timothy Burke at SportsGrid who notes that while ESPN is now embracing Twitter, it still doesn’t understand the service.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says MLB isn’t happy over the use of the Giants logo in an alternative weekly newspaper ad.

Cam Martin of SportsNewer notes that CBS’ Lesley Visser will be marrying for the second time this weekend. Her previous marriage to Dick Stockton ended in divorce last year following 28 years together.

To Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing who tries to determine when ESPN lost its journalistic integrity.

Stuart Elliot of the New York Times writes that McDonald’s will be walking a fine line with its sponsorship of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union breaks news that the Versus brand will be retired by the end of the year.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that NBC begins airing its horse racing series, “Summer at Saratoga” this weekend.

At the Allentown (PA) Morning Call, Keith Groller agrees with HBO’s Bryant Gumbel commentary on the US Women’s Soccer team.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog where Dan Steinberg has video of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Chick Hernandez losing it on the air after co-anchor Julie Donaldson made a funny.

Dan says the Washington Wizards’ JaVale McGee is having a Twitter fashion feud with ESPN’s Michael Wilbon.

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel writes that the Magic’s Dwight Howard must feel slighted as the NBA’s TV networks fawn over Florida’s other team.

Don Kausler, Jr. of the Birmingham (AL) News says the University of Alabama is part of Fox Sports Net’s early SEC football schedule.

The University of Texas’ official sports site interviewed ESPN’s Stephanie Druley who’s in charge of getting the Longhorn Network off the ground.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Women’s World Cup Final on Sunday topped the local ratings on Sunday.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says it’s a good thing the Bulls’ schedule is backloaded with marquee games in case the NBA lockout is settled midway through the 2011-12 season.

From the Arizona Republic, Jim Gintonio writes that Phoenix Coyotes TV voice Dave Strader is leaving to take a full-time position with NBC/Versus. Thanks to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media for the link.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wasn’t sure exactly when Lesley Visser divorced ex-husband Dick Stockton. If you were with me in March, you’ll remember this story from Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post in which Lesley mentions her divorce.

The Los Angeles Times’ TJ Simers talks with Angels analyst Mark Gubicza about his daughter who’s 2 years removed from having brain surgery to end seizures.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says a local sports talk morning drive host understands why he’s losing his show as his station undergoes a format change.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes that the format change means one reporter is leaving for TSN Radio.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some suggestions for CTV as it counts down to one year until the 2012 Olympics in London.

Andrew Bucholtz at The Good Point looks at ESPN’s struggle with ethics in the wake of the Bruce Feldman suspension or non-suspension. I have some quotes in the story.

To The Daly Planet where John Daly leaves clues on a potential new TV partner for NASCAR.

Wendy Parker at Extracurriculars says it’s time to take off the kid gloves when it comes to women’s sports.

Sox & Dawgs looks at a new movie focusing on former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee.

That is where we’ll end the linkage for today.