Fang's Bites

2012 College Basketball Invitational Tournament Schedule

You may not know or care that there is a third college basketball postseason tournament. This one is called the College Basketball Invitational Tournament or CBI for short. It has a 16 team field and is normally aired on Mark Cuban’s HDNet.

HDNet will air four of the eight first round games between Tuesday and Wednesday. The quarterfinals will be held on March 19 with the semifinals on March 21 and then a best two out of three finals that will held from March 26 through March 30. All games will be at home sites.

Here’s the schedule if you’re interested in taking a look. The CBI brackets are here.

2012 COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

First Round
3/13/12 — Princeton @ Evansville, Evansville, Ind., 8 pm ET — HDNet
3/13/12 — Washington State @ San Francisco,  San Francisco, Calif., 10 pm ET — HDNet
3/13/12 — Milwaukee @ TCU, Fort Worth, Texas, 8 pm ET
3/14/12 — Delaware @ Butler, Indianapolis, Ind., 8 pm ET — HDNet
3/14/12 — Western Illinois @ Oregon State, Corvallis, Ore., 10 pm ET — HDNet
3/14/12 — Wofford @ Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., 7 pm ET
3/14/12 — Quinnipiac @ Penn, Philadelphia, Pa., 7:30 pm ET
3/14/12 — North Dakota State @ Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo., 9 pm ET

Quarterfinals
3/19/12 — Game 1, TBD
3/19/12 — Game 2, TBD
3/19/12 — Game 3, TBD
3/19/12 — Game 4, TBD

Semifinals
3/21/12 — Game 1, TBD — HDNet
3/21/12 — Game 2, TBD — HDNet

Championship Series
3/26/12 — Game 1, TBD — HDNet
3/28/12 — Game 2, TBD — HDNet
3/30/12 — Game 3 (if necessary), TBD  — HDNet

That’s it.

Back For Monday’s Linkage

After not being able to provide linkage for a few days, let’s get back to it. I probably won’t be able to do the links as I have to undergo a medical procedure. Nothing serious. I should be back on Wednesday.

Let’s do your links.

Sports Business Daily looks over the reviews of ESPN’s handling of Penn State’s first game since the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke.

Tripp Mickle and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal say YouTube is now entering the sports media rights landscape.

Tripp says Versus will air over 30 hours of action sports programming as NBC Sports retakes ownership of the Dew Tour

Jason Belzer and Darren Heitner of Collegiate Sports Advisors write in Sports Business Journal that colleges and universities should not force a social media blackout on their student-athletes.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy says the NFL pregame show analysts either praised or criticized Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson depending on their former positions.

Mike writes Saturday’s Nebraska-Penn State game got higher ratings for ESPN.

Ben Grossman at Broadcasting & Cable says a quick knockout in Fox’s airing of its first UFC bout wasn’t as bad as originally thought.

At Yahoo! Sports, Maggie Hendricks reviews Fox’s first production of a UFC card.

Dave Meltzer of Yahoo says UFC on Fox delivered a ratings punch.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski tells us what the NHL’s hiring of Ross Greenburg, formerly of HBO Sports, will mean for the league.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Saturday’s Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez might have set up a big payday for the Pacman to fight Floyd Mayweather on pay per view next year.

Mike says NFL Network received the most viewers ever for a Thursday Night Football season opener.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter says Sunday Night Football won the ratings for NBC.

The Reporter notes that several advertisers have pulled their ads from upcoming Penn State football games on ESPN’s networks.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says sports continues to draw viewers on what normally are dead Saturday nights.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says Gus Johnson was being Gus when USC pulled off a fake punt during its game against Washington on Saturday.

Sports Video Group says NBC will air the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials later this year.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has what former Penn State coach Joe Paterno should have said last week.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at UFC on Fox’s preliminary ratings.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post feels it’s hard to love college football.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 11 NFL TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Pete says Time Warner Cable will carry all local high school football regional playoff games.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that Versus and HDNet will combine for a Thanksgiving holiday college basketball tournament.

Deborah Ann Tripoldi of the Nutley (NJ) Sun writes that Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio was inducted into a local Hall of Fame.

Laura Nachman says a Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia reporter is now engaged.

The Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News has the remarks of ESPN’s Jon Ritchie about accused child molester Jerry Sandusky. Ritchie grew up near Penn State.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun is still not a fan of CBS’ Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf especially when they call Ravens games.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with an official with NCAA.com about the streaming of over 20 championships.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says ESPN got the job done for Nebraska-Penn State on Saturday.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says Texans fans wanting to watch yesterday’s game against the Bucs in the Rio Grande Valley of the Lone Star State were SOL.

Fang’s Bites welcomes back Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News as we have not linked to him in a very long time. Jerry reports on a sudden switch on the local CBS affiliate that left Cowboys fans angry.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that the ESPN on ABC crew assigned to Texas Tech-Oklahoma State had plenty of time to fill.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football open for tonight’s Packers-Vikings game will honor the military.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the Big Ten Conference has removed Joe Paterno’s name from its championship trophy.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a lengthy conversation with embattled Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin about his two drunken driving arrests.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with a local news anchor who would like to return to his old sports roots.

Sad story out of Reno, NV as KTVN sports anchor JK Metzker died Sunday after being hit by a car. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.

Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal rememebers Metzker as a friend outside of the newsroom.

Lenita Powers of the Gazette-Journal says Metzker was loved in the local market.

Powers writes that KTVN canceled its newscasts on Sunday to grieve over Metzker’s death.

KTVN meteorologist Mike Alger says Metzker was a true friend.

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

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says UFC isn’t leaving the sports landscape anytime soon.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says it’s time for the NHL to have a Red Zone Channel. I agree.

Sports Media Watch says NBA TV will premiere a new roundtable discussion program as the 2011-12 season looks more in doubt.

SMW says ABC’s Saturday Night Football received a record ratings low opposite LSU-Alabama on CBS.

The Big Lead has NBC’s Al Michaels talking the Penn State story with Sirius XM’s Howard Stern.

And we’ll leave it there. Lots of links for you to digest today.

UFL Unveils Its Announcers for 2010 Season

The United Football League has announced the announcing crews on its three cable television partners for the 2010 season. One notable change, Dave Sims who called the inaugural season on Versus is gone and is replaced by Craig Minervini. Dave said scheduling conflicts were the reason for the change. In any event, let’s take a look at who will be calling the UFL on Versus, HDNet and NESN.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 2010 SEASON BROADCAST TALENT ON VERSUS, HDNET AND NEW ENGLAND SPORTS NETWORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JACKSONVILLE, FL – Tuesday, September 14, 2010 – The United Football League today announced the broadcast teams who will bring football fans all the action from the 2010 UFL season on VERSUS, HDNet and the New England Sports Network.

On VERSUS, Craig Minervini will handle play-by-play duties, while former Boston College and NFL and CFL quarterback Doug Flutie returns for his second UFL season as color analyst. Roaming the sidelines will be former NFL linebacker Ryan Nece and Sports Illustrated senior writer Damon Hack.

All returning for a second season of UFL broadcasts on HDNet are Kenny Rice handling play-by-play, veteran broadcaster Paul Maguire as analyst and sideline reporter Ron Kruck. Joining Kruck on the sidelines will be Paul Crane, for his first season of UFL coverage.

For the New England Sports Network (NESN), Mike Logan and Brett Haber will handle play-by-play duties. Logan will call the Saturday, September 18 UFL season opener between the Hartford Colonials and Sacramento Mountain Lions at Rentschler Field, while Haber will call the October 16 visit of the Omaha Nighthawks to Connecticut.

Former NFL quarterback Scott Zolak, who spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots, will provide color analysis for the two NESN telecasts.  John Chandler and Tony Terzi will bring viewers closer to the action from the sidelines for both games.

“We are delighted to welcome back the talented and informative play-callers, analysts and sideline reporters who helped to establish the UFL as an exciting and innovative television spectacle in our first season,” said UFL Commissioner MICHAEL HUYGHUE.  “I look forward to watching the established UFL talent and their new colleagues take our broadcasts forward to a wider audience this coming season.”

The full UFL 2010 broadcast schedule is available at www.UFL-Football.com.

UFL Broadcast talent bios

VERSUS:

CRAIG MINERVINI – An experienced play-by-play announcer and sports host, Minervini’s football experience includes NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts, the XFL and the University of Miami (Fla.) He also has done play-by-play at Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports for the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League, and has covered south Florida sports and news for more than a decade. Prior to joining Fox Sports Florida, Minervini worked at WTVJ-TV, Miami’s NBC affiliate, as a sports anchor, and hosted multiple football highlight shows. While at WTVJ, Minervini covered the Marlins from their inception, and was nominated for a regional Emmy Award for a feature story on the team. Minervini is a graduate of Syracuse University, and earned a degree in broadcast journalism.

DOUG FLUTIE – Flutie returns for his second season as a UFL analyst on VERSUS, and brings a wealth of playing experience in three professional football leagues to the table. Following a stellar career at Boston College with culminated with winning the Heisman Trophy in 1984, Flutie began his pro journey with the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals in 1985. After the USFL folded in August of 1986, Flutie played with the Chicago Bears (1986-87), then was traded to the New England Patriots, where he spent three seasons from 1987 to 1989. He then began a career in the Canadian Football League in which he won three Grey Cup championships. Flutie played for the British Columbia Lions (1990-91), the Calgary Stampeders (1992-95) and the Toronto Argonauts (1996-97). He then returned to the United States to finish his pro career, playing with the Buffalo Bills (1998-2000), San Diego Chargers (2001-04) and, finally, back with the Patriots (2005). Flutie is a member of both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

RYAN NECE – Nece begins his professional broadcasting career after a seven-year NFL career as a linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-07) and the Detroit Lions (2008). Nece was part of the Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII. His interest in a broadcasting career led him to the NFL Films Broadcaster Boot Camp, from which he comes highly recommended. Nece worked for seven seasons both on the football field and in the community, and he also honed his business acumen. As a co-founder of DERY Realty, Nece’s primary focus has been buying, renovating and selling single-family homes. Nece also co-founded the Solidarity Fund with his NFL colleagues. Nece, who played football and received a Bachelor’s Degree in business economics from UCLA, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott.

DAMON HACK - Hack is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering golf and the NFL. He also covered golf and the NFL for The New York Times, in addition to covering golf and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association for Newsday. Hack also covered the San Francisco 49ers for the Sacramento Bee. He was born in Los Angeles, and graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in history and from Cal-Berkeley with a master’s degree in journalism.

HDNet:

KENNY RICE – An award-winning sportscaster, Rice hosts the popular HDNet program, Inside MMA. In addition to working UFL broadcasts last season, Rice has called play-by-play for Harvard-Yale football games, the Wooden Classic and Wooden Tradition college basketball tournaments, the College Basketball Invitational, boxing and MMA for HDNet. For NBC, Rice covers the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and has covered the 2004 (boxing) and 2008 (equestrian) Summer Olympics, as well as the United States Olympic Trials in both the triathlon and equestrian. He also has reported on the NFL for NBC’s Football Night in America, and has called track and field, rugby and basketball for the 2008 Paralympics Games. Rice’s varied broadcasting background also includes calling the Pro Bull Riders World Finals, in addition to hosting horse racing for ESPN from 1997 to 2006. He also was a co-host of college basketball’s Midnight Madness for the debut of ESPNU, ESPN’s college programming-based network.

PAUL MAGUIRE – Maguire is a veteran broadcaster who was turned in nearly 40 years in television, including covering four Super Bowls (XXIII, XXX, XXII and XXVII), and serving as a member of NBC’s lead NFL broadcast team with Dick Enberg. He also provided his candor and insight to ESPN’s NFL Sunday Night Football, and worked as an analyst for college football on ABC. Maguire also stood out during an 11-year professional football career as a punter and linebacker for the San Diego Chargers (1960-63) and Buffalo Bills (1964-70), during which time he played in six American Football League championship games. He was a member of three AFL championship teams (1963-65), and was named to the Bills’ Silver Anniversary All-Time Team as a punter in 1984. Maguire is one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire 10-season existence. Maguire is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

RON KRUCK – Ron Kruck has worked for Mark Cuban’s high-definition network HDNet since 2003 and is an integral member of its ground breaking MMA coverage. In addition to interviewing the sports biggest stars, Kruck is the lead reporter / news anchor for the popular program Inside MMA and produces the weekly segment Kruck’s Korner. He has also handled play-by-play duties for HDNet Fights, the International Fighting League and has covered boxing and college football for the network. The multi-talented broadcaster will return to his mainstream sports roots and, for the second consecutive year, work the sidelines for the United Football League. Prior to joining HDNet, Kruck’s sports broadcasting career began as a producer and reporter for Prime Sports Network, TBS Super Station, KUSA-TV and KWHD-TV. Kruck has reported on the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the Major League Baseball playoffs, the NBA playoffs, as well as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, US Olympic Trials and the Fiesta and Orange Bowls. In addition, Kruck has covered University of Colorado football and basketball.

 

PAUL CRANE – Crane, a veteran sports broadcaster, joins the UFL coverage on HDNet this fall. He also serves as a host for all New Orleans Saints programming on Cox Sports Television, the regional home for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Crane also has done play-by-play work for both Cox and Comcast regional networks. Crane spent nearly 10 years at CNN Sports and CNN/SI, covering college football and basketball, hosting a weekly college football preview show and hosting the weekly College Coaches Corner, the program on which the weekly CNN/USA Today college football coaches’ poll was announced. He also spent nearly 10 years as a sports anchor/reporter at KDFW-TV in Dallas, primarily covering the Dallas Cowboys, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, MLB’s Texas Rangers, the then-Southwest Conference, the then-Big Eight Conference, the Cotton Bowl, the Oklahoma-Texas football game and PGA Tour events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

NESN:

MIKE LOGAN – Mike is an experienced play-by-play announcer as he is the television and radio voice for the Providence College men’s hockey team, a position he has held for the past 16 seasons.  He has also served as a play-by-play announcer for the Pawtucket Red Sox and broadcast football and basketball for both Harvard and Northeastern Universities.

BRETT HABER – For almost 15 years, Brett has become established as a fixture of sports news broadcasting.  He has previously served as an anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter. During his career, he has received 17 Emmy Awards, including a remarkable four-year run as the Washington D.C. area’s most outstanding sports anchor beginning in 2007 and continuing through this year.  Brett joined WUSA9 in November 2004 and is currently the station’s sports director and primary sports anchor.

SCOTT ZOLAK – Zolak will be the color analyst for UFL games on the New England Sports Network. He has worked both pregame and postgame analysis of New England Patriots games on radio and television. Zolak co-hosts the “Gresh and Zolak” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub in Boston, Massachusetts. A former quarterback in the National Football League, Zolak spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots (1991-98) and one with the Miami Dolphins (1999). In 55 career games, Zolak threw for 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns. He originally was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 1991. Zolak played college football at Maryland.

TONY TERZI – Tony has more than 20 years of experience in the broadcast industry. He has worked as a Sports Anchor/Reporter at WTIC, Sports Anchor/Reporter at WVIT (NBC 30), and Air Personality at KC-101. Currently, Terzi is a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN Radio.

JOHN CHANDLER – John is no stranger to NESN viewers, having served as both an anchor and reporter for NESN’s sports news programming. In 2009, he worked as the play-by-play voice for the Springfield Armor of the NBA D-League. He also worked as a sports reporter/anchor at WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio and WVII in Bangor, Maine. His work has earned several Emmy nominations and has been recognized by the Associated Press and the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

That’s it for this post.

UFL Announces Its 2010 Broadcast Schedule Including Two Games on NESN

The United Football League has announced its broadcast schedule for the upcoming season. Once again, HDNet and Versus will air games nationally, but in a first, NESN will air two games involving the Hartford Colonials. As it did last season, Versus will air the UFL Championship Game. Here’s the press release with the broadcast schedule.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES BROADCAST
SCHEDULE AND KICKOFF TIMES FOR 2010 SEASON

VERSUS and HDNet return as broadcast partners for second UFL season;
New England Sports Network to air two Hartford Colonials home games

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JACKSONVILLE, FL – Monday, July 26 – The United Football League announced today its 10-week, 20-game 2010 regular season broadcast schedule and kickoff times.

Returning broadcasters VERSUS and HDNet are joined in 2010 by the New England Sports Network (NESN), which will broadcast two of the Hartford Colonials’ home games during the upcoming fall season. Games will also be streamed live on www.UFL-Football.com. 

“We continue to make progress in bringing our games to a wider television audience through three established and innovative broadcaster partners,” said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue. “VERSUS and HDNet were pioneers in introducing our quality product to the nation’s sports fans in 2009 and we are delighted to partner with them again and to also welcome another strong broadcasting ally in NESN.”

VERSUS will feature eight regular season UFL games on Saturdays and one Thursday evening, beginning with the Sacramento Mountain Lions’ first home game against the Florida Tuskers at Hornet Stadium in Week 2 on Saturday, September 25 at 8pm PST/11pm EST. VERSUS will also broadcast the UFL Championship Game on the Thanksgiving holiday Friday, November 26 at 3pm between the top two teams in the final regular season standings at a venue to be determined. 

“We look forward to the second year of the UFL on VERSUS,” said Jeff Goldberg, Vice President of Programming for the network.  “Through our telecasts, these five teams will have national exposure on the fastest growing sports cable network in the country.”

HDNet, whose Chairman Mark Cuban became a UFL investor in 2010, will broadcast ten regular season games, including the 2009 UFL Championship Game rematch between the Las Vegas Locos and Florida Tuskers at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, September 18 at 8pm PST / 11pm EST.  The much-anticipated clash moves back 24 hours from the original UFL schedule.

“The game is fun, it’s exciting and the talent level is off the charts and we want to be a part of it,” said HDNet Chairman Mark Cuban.  “We believe last year was just the beginning and the best is yet to come from the UFL.  We are going to broadcast games in the highest quality nationwide and our priority is to grow viewership, grow the fan base and really help the UFL succeed.”

The HDNet cameras will also televise the debut of the expansion franchise Omaha Nighthawks at Rosenblatt Stadium against the Hartford Colonials at 7pm on Friday, September 24 at 7pm CST / 8pm EST.

HDNet is the independent network with unique and thought provoking content that is delivered in true high definition and is available on AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DIRECTV, Dish Network, Insight, and Verizon FiOs. 

The UFL 2010 season-opening game will now be played in Hartford, CT, when the New England Sports Network (NESN) cameras capture the hometown Colonials at home to the Sacramento Mountain Lions at 2.30pm EST on Saturday, September 18. 

NESN is delivered to more than four million homes throughout the six-state New England region and nationally via DirecTV and Dish Network.  The definitive home for New England sports programming; NESN has been the top rated regional sports network in the country for six consecutive years.

“We are excited for this opportunity to help showcase the UFL,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president and executive producer.  “We feel that the UFL is a television property that offers us great upside and is poised to grow in the coming years once fans see the entertaining and competitive football action that the league offers.”

For season ticket information, fans may visit www.UFL-Football.com/tickets.

Wk.   Date                    Game                                  Kickoff       Kickoff          Network

          Fri., Nov 26        Championship Game                tbc                3:00pm      VERSUS

We’re done here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Night Update

I’ll give you a few links on this early evening.

First, the NFL has relaunched its website and it has a much cleaner look. It’s easier to access videos and the NFL Network has an improved homepage. It’s much much better.

The NHL has released the TV schedules for its network partners. The first two games are in London and in a tremendous move (sarcasm added), the season opener between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings will be aired in the US by HDNet, a channel that is run by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and has just a few subscribers on DirecTV and various cable systems. Thank you, Gary Bettman. CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada will have the game so it can be seen across the Great White North on over the air TV. The following day’s game will be on Versus which is seen by 100 people, but that’s an improvement over HDNet. I just wonder what Bettman is thinking. Anyway, here’s the schedule for Versus. Versus also informs us that Bill Patrick will be the host for its “Hockey Central” studio show meaning that Bill Clement loses his hosting job at both Versus and NBC. Harsh.

Here’s the schedule for NBC which will have one national game, but have a choice from two to three games each week. CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada schedule is here. And the CBC says it will coverage of 85 games including the All Star Game, Hockey Day in Canada and the Stanley Cup Finals. Canada’s TSN schedule can be found at this link. TSN says it have coverage of 70 games this season including more games involving Canadian teams.

Neil Best of Newsday has more in his blog about the release of the NHL TV schedule including how it affects the Islanders.

The Sports Media Blog notes the ratings for the PGA Championship which were down from last year, but still good numbers for CBS.

John Dennis spoke to David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch and the co-host of WEEI’s morning show contends the lockout is not a ratings stunt. I’ll have to take Dennis at his word. In her Boston Herald blog, Jessica Heslam has the schedule for WEEI’s morning show for the rest of the week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders why Tiger Woods’ first U.S. golf course that he’s designing (he’s currently doing one in Dubai) is not going to have carts.

That’s it for now. I may be back later tonight. Check back often.