Fang's Bites

A Friday Night Megalink Thing

Let’s provide the Friday megalinks. Lots of things to get to.

We, of course, provide the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment weekend programming.

Now let’s get to the linkage from across the country.

National

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age reports that NBC is already seeking $3.5 million for a 30 second spot for Super Bowl XLVI.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today writes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews will be working the red carpet during the Oscars for ABC’s Good Morning America.

Mike and fellow USA Today sport media writer Michael Hiestand debate the pros and cons of airing the NFL Scouting Combine.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable writes that a tennis tournament has decided to use NeuLion’s platform to stream matches online in HD quality.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News discusses Versus’ good ratings for the NHL Heritage Classic.

Multichannel notes that Style Network will be turning a NASCAR wedding into a reality TV series.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has a video of Erin Andrews looking for that perfect dress for the Academy Awards red carpet.

Marcus Vanderberg from SportsNewser says Versus will air its next UFC MMA card in 3-D.

Sports Media Watch writes that MSG saw its highest ratings in 16 years for the New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony’s debut.

SMW says NASCAR’s Nationwide Series got off to a slower start in the ratings from last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on Versus continues to be red hot in the ratings

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says outsourcing has helped smaller teams stay in contention.

Awful Announcing notices the notorious “Schwab” making a cameo in the new Hooters ad featuring ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

SportsbyBrooks gives the legendary voice of Mississippi State football and basketball Jack Cristil a very nice tribute as he had to step down immediately due to health issues.

In Examiner.com, Evan Weiner looks at the NFL lockout and what it means to the league’s TV partners.

All Access says the embattled Charlie Sheen called into a Fox Sports Radio show to once again rant against CBS, Warner Brothers and Global Warming.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn reviews the week in Boston sports media news.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch notes that WEEI buried the news of the naming of its new midday show late Friday.

In SB Nation Boston, Bruce has a look at the WEEI shakeups and a tumultuous week for the once-dominant sports radio station.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks about a local part-time radio reporter who has been reporting on the Red Sox for almost two decades.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times writes about MSG’s boffo ratings for Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks debut.

Richard discusses how a panel takes over as the ESPN Ombudsman.

Richard and Pat Borzi team up for a story on the NFL Players Association trying to prevent the NFL from collecting its TV rights fee during a potential lockout.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Steven A. “A is for Amiable” Smith who’s happy to be back with ESPN.

Bob Glauber of Newsday says both New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and HBO will not be back on Hard Knocks at least this year.

It’s official. Phil Mushnick from the New York Post really hates Madison Square Garden and Cablevision Chairman James Dolan.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for MLB Network’s Al Leiter.

As of today, I’m am no longer linking to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News over his extreme hate. He went after Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio the other night and that was it. He’s persona non grata as far as I’m concerned.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has ESPN releasing its Big East football schedule.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says the local Fox affiliate will have an extra high school sports highlight show this weekend.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Nicole Pride talks with an ESPN producer who felt a story on paralyzed Rutgers football Eric LeGrand really hit home.

Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates have announced their spring training TV and radio schedule.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt ripping the students of his alma mater once again.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says NASCAR is back in full swing on TV.

South

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says there’s too much speculating in the sports media today.

Erin Barnett of WSLS-TV in Roanoke, VA reports on College GameDay’s visit to the Virginia Tech campus.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald says like them or not, the Miami Heat are among the top of the heap in the local and national NBA TV ratings.

Carlos Frias of the Palm Beach Post talks with Pam Tebow, mother of Tim, about life after the controversial Super Bowl ad she and her son did last year.

Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaking about how he felt Super Bowl XLV went.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with syndicated radio host Paul Finebaum about now infamous confession from the Alabama fan who said he poisoned the Auburn tree. That confession occurred on Finebaum’s show.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman talks with the new TV voice of the Texas Rangers.

In his media notebook, Mel says the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be featured nationally this weekend.

Midwest

Kevin Bull of the Detroit Free Press has highlights of an ESPN.com chat conducted by former Michigan Fab Five standout Jalen Rose regarding the new ESPN documentary on the 1992-93 team.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that a local radio host is making sure that high school sports gets its due.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has former Brewers manager Ken Macha responding on MLB Network Radio to one of his former player’s comments.

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

The Des Moines (IA) Register reports that Iowa State’s football game against UConn has been scheduled for a Friday night on ESPN2.

From Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals spring training games will be pre-empting Rush Limbaugh on KMOX.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune has CBS’ Clark Kellogg looking forward to seeing San Diego State and BYU square off tomorrow.

John Maffei of the North County Times says it’s BYU and Jimmer Fredette as to why San Diego State is on national TV on Saturday.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Poynter Institute panel that will play the role of ESPN Ombudsman.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times also looks at the new ESPN Ombudsmen.

Ben Bolch of the Times says Fox Sports Net will honor the late UCLA coach John Wooden during Pac 10 basketball games this weekend.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that TSN continues its TV rights shopping spree, this time at the expense of one of its competitors.

And that is going to do it for the megalinks. Enjoy your sports weekend

MTV2 To Add Bellator Fighting Championships To Its Schedule

MTV2 continues to add to its sports portfolio. It just completed airing the Lingerie Football League and will apparently do so again next season. Now we get word that the music channel will pick up some Mixed Martial Arts starting in March. The Bellator Fighting Championships will air Saturday nights over a 12 week period on MTV2. It’ll be full cards and involve all weight classes. We have the details from MTV2.

Bellator Fighting Championships to Air New Season Live Saturday Nights on MTV2

2011 Events Kick Off On March 5 At Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino

CHICAGO, Ill. and NEW YORK, NY (February 2, 2011) – Bellator Fighting Championships’ highly anticipated fourth season will premiere Saturday, March 5, at 9:00pm ET/PT and air weekly on MTV2 featuring live fights from venues around the country with many of the top mixed martial arts fighters in the world. This season will feature a welterweight, lightweight, light heavyweight and featherweight tournament with bouts airing live every Saturday night for 12 weeks on MTV2. The first Bellator event will originate from the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, CA on Saturday, March 5.  Tickets will be available at www.tachipalace.com and the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino box office as the date approaches.

“With our spectacular partnership with MTV2, MMA fans now have a place to watch Bellator live every Saturday night,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Our fourth season is absolutely loaded with talent, and I can’t wait to get the action started at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino when we return to California on March 5.”

Bellator showcases a unique format of world-class fighting with 12-week, eight-man tournaments featuring some of the most dynamic fighters in the world, including lightweight world champion Eddie Alvarez, middleweight champion Hector Lombard, featherweight champion Joe Warren, welterweight champion Ben Askren, bantamweight champion Zack Makovsky, heavyweight champion Cole Konrad and Women’s 115-pound champion Zoila Frausto. The Season 4 debut in Lemoore will mark Bellator’s 35^th televised event in less than two years.

The first Bellator light heavyweight champion will be decided during Season 4 live on MTV2. The first fighter made official for the Bellator Season 4 light heavyweight tournament is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and member of the legendary Gracie family, Daniel Gracie.

Bellator’s third welterweight tournament is one of the most talent-filled in mixed martial arts to date.  Fighters confirmed for the upcoming 170-pound tournament include former Bellator welterweight world champion Lyman Good; MMA veteran Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron; Season 2 finalist Dan “The Handler” Hornbuckle; undefeated Judo Olympian Rick Hawn; fast rising Brent Weedman, undefeated knockout artist Chris “The Assassin” Lozano; British standout “Judo” Jim Wallhead, and hard-hitting Iraq War veteran Steve Carl.  The tournament winner will challenge Olympian and Bellator world champion Ben Askren for the welterweight world championship later this year.

The featherweight tournament includes Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Eric Larkin, Georgi “Insane” Karakhanyan, Daniel Straus, Wilson Reis, Kenny “Tooth Fairy” Foster, and Zac George.

For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator.

That will do it.

Versus Expands Its Relationship With UFC

Last week, Versus announced it was solidifying its relationship with UFC and will air four live fights in 2011. This is good news for MMA fans who are extremely loyal to the sport. Here’s the Versus press release.

VERSUS EXPANDS PARTNERSHIP WITH UFC® TO AIR FOUR LIVE FIGHTS IN 2011

NEW YORK, N.Y. -VERSUS has announced it will expand its partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC) to feature four UFC events as part of its live programming in 2011, following the announcement that the UFC will be adding championship divisions at bantamweight and featherweight next year. VERSUS will air two remaining live WEC events this year, scheduled for November 11 and December 16, and the network’s 2011 schedule will include classic WEC fights and other taped programming.

“The WEC on VERSUS has been a hugely successful property since its launch on the network in 2007 and the addition of the two live UFC fights in 2010 really solidified VERSUS as a destination for some of the best MMA action on television,” said Jamie Davis, President of VERSUS. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the UFC and take our relationship to the next level.”

The UFC began its relationship with VERSUS in 2010, marking the first time that live UFC events aired on a national sports cable network. VERSUS’ two UFC fights this year, both featuring Pay-Per-View quality cards, averaged more than 1.1 million viewers and made VERSUS a top cable network in the country among key male demos.

“We have a great relationship with the VERSUS network, and we look forward to working with them to give UFC fans even more free fights in 2011,” said Dana White, President of UFC.

The WEC was founded in 2001 and in 2007, announced a television deal with VERSUS, which has since televised 23 live events. The WEC on VERSUS has seen viewership growth each year since 2007 and in 2010 alone, 3.7 million viewers have so far tuned in to the five live WEC events on the network. VERSUS’ two most notable WEC fights, which featured a Urijah Faber/Jens Pulver showdown in June 2008 and championship re-match between Urijah Faber and Mike Brown in June 2009, averaged more than 1.4 million viewers and made VERSUS the top cable network in the country among all key male demos for both telecasts.

VERSUS has also featured other WEC programming, including WEC WrekCAGE, a series featuring an explosive mix of VERSUS’ best live events and the top matches from WEC events never before seen on television, as well as Best-of-Year shows and Greatest Knockouts specials.

We’re done here.

The NFL Season Opening Links

Well, the morning of NFL regular season opener is like Christmas. You’ve been waiting all night to unwrap the presents and you’re high in anticipation. And when the kickoff occurs, it’s like getting that toy or game you’ve been wanting for months. It’s like that with the NFL. The Super Bowl ends, then there’s the anticipation for the season to begin. The waiting is over and the games begin for real tonight.

And the NFL has made the season opener a very good matchup involving the Super Bowl defending champions which is a very good thing. Tonight’s Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints game should do quite well in the ratings. So let’s go to the linkage which has a lot of NFL slants which is understandable.

The great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated provides all of the pregame and game announcing crews for all of the NFL TV partners.

Sports Business Daily’s John Ourand says NBC and DirecTV have teamed up to produce Sunday Night Football promos sponsored by NFL Sunday Ticket. 

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says new Fox Sports NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira will be on TV to help fans understand the league’s regulations.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL will provide a delayed webcast for markets where local games have been blacked out.

Mike says Dan Hampton who apologized for comments about Hurricane Katrina in last week’s Pro Football Weekly show will have to make another apology for another wild analogy in the same program.

The Nielsen Wire blog notes the Dallas Cowboys are still America’s most popular NFL team.

Georg Szalai in the Hollywood Reporter says while an NFL lockout looms next season, the league’s TV partners won’t lose much financially even though they’ll still be paying rights fees if games aren’t played.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse writes local blackouts blot the record of NFL Commish Roger Goodell.

Milton says Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Joe Montana told Dan Patrick that the movie Rudy was not very accurate. I’ve always doubted the validity of some of the events in that overrated movie.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser recaps a CBS Sports NFL Today conference call from Wednesday.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News says despite high interest from consumers, not many people are running out to buy 3-D TV sets. The price is too high and the glasses are a hindrance.

Todd says ESPN will showcase its 3-D programming next week to help sell more TV sets.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at Mr. America, Tim Tebow, creating his own social networking empire. I think we have a new glossary term, but Tim Tebow is not in the sports media.

Darren writes about a $300 pair of athletic shoes.

Andrea Kremer of NBC Sports writes for the Today show that women can get into football too.

Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo’s Cagewriter blog says Mixed Martial Arts fans have trouble seeing some events on TV.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that CBS’ NFL “A” announcing team spends plenty of time calling Patriots games.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says HBO’s Hard Knocks helped to transform the attitude surrounding the New York Jets.

John Martin of the Times wonders if 3-D TV can be used as a training tool for tennis players. 

Neil Best sighting! Neil Best sighting! Newsday’s Neil Best also looks at the season finale of Hard Knocks.

To Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says MSG+ has hired Butch Goring to replace Billy Jaffe on Islanders game broadcasts.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog writes that all regular season Capitals and Wizards games will be aired in HD on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times tells Tampa Bay Bucs fans how they can watch Sunday’s blacked out game.

The Tampa Tribune’s Ira Kaufman talks with Bucs’ cornerback Ronde Barber who remembers the last time the team was blacked out on TV locally.

Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel says a local man beat the Inside the NFL crew to win a visit to the show’s set and NFL Films headquarters in New Jersey.

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes that former Saints coach Jim Mora, Sr. will join a local NBC affiliate’s pregame show in anticipation of today’s season opener. 

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle has the weekly football shows and appearances on local radio for the season.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman recaps the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson’s appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bearcats’ home opener on Saturday will be seen on local over the air TV.

John talks with Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham who’s starting his 25th season in the broadcast booth.

John has more with Dave in his blog.

John says Fox Sports Ohio may not show the entire pregame ceremony honoring Pete Rose on Sunday. 

John Fay of the Enquirer says former Reds announcer George Grande will return to Fox Sports Ohio this month to call 7 games.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business talks with the editor of the latest SB Nation local site.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says Vikings-Saints is true primetime drama.

Over to Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who writes that NFL TV analysts like the progress of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the NFL games on TV in SoCal this week.

Tom says today is the 45th anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game for the Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs.

Sports Media Watch notes that the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship sank in the ratings from last year.

SMW says Labor Day Weekend didn’t bring viewers to the U.S. Open on CBS.

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

SMW says ESPN saw a slight increase for last Sunday’s NASCAR race.

For some reason, Chris Berman is sporting a porn mustache. 

Joe Favorito notes that Mercedes Benz is getting high brand activation in New York City.

Plenty of linkage on this Thursday. Enjoy the NFL season opener.

Doin’ The Monday Links

Let’s do some Monday links today. Here’s a note for you all. Starting from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday, I won’t be here. I’ll be attending a wedding in Boston. I will have some stuff for you that will publish on Thursday and Friday so you’ll see fresh content here, but I won’t be able to post press releases, breaking news or links. I’ll be back Sunday. I’ll post reminders from now until Wednesday just so you know.

In addition, I’m joining the great lineup of blogging talent that Dan Levy of On the DL has assembled at his new site, Press Coverage. I’ll be contributing one post a week, mostly on Mondays or Tuesdays. I’ll be writing about the sports media and I’m honored to be a part of the site. Dan has commitments from some of the greatest talent in the sports blogosphere including Matt Sebek of JoeSportsFan, Bethlehem Shoals from FreeDarko.com and Fanhouse, Dan Shanoff, Jamie Mottram of Yahoo! Sports, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and so many others. I’m not quite in that company, but I’m happy to be asked to be a part. I’ll be providing my thoughts on the sports media and review what happened in the previous week. And I’ll link to the posts from here so you’ll be able to read it if you forget to visit the site. Very happy to be part of the site.

Now to our links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about Fox hiring Jim Mora, Jr. and Kurt Warner for NFL coverage and reviews CBS’ coverage of the PGA Championship.

You can review ESPN’s Outside the Lines story on umpires’ missed calls here. 

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry talks with a blogger who has a full season NHL media credential.

Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN is about to give its high school sports brand a weekly series.

The Radio & TV Business Report notes that NBC’s coverage of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships finished second in primetime on Saturday. 

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk notes that two media members asked for Tim Tebow’s autograph after last night’s Denver-Cincinnati preseason NFL game. Not smart.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post actually gives praise today to CBS for coverage the PGA Championship controversy at the 18th hole when Dustin Johnson grounded his club in a bunker.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg reviews the double apology issued by MASN’s Rob Dibble.

Missy Frederick of the Washington Business Journal says the closing of the ESPN Zone in DC will mean the loss of over 150 jobs in the city. 

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks back at the sporting weekend on TV.

Richard Mullins of the Tampa Tribune says Bright House cable is dropping CBS College Sports, MLB Network, Versus and others from its older systems while keeping them on its digital cable tiers.

Mark Lorando of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says the city will have a Mardi Gras-type parade before the NFL opening night kickoff between the Vikings and the Saints.

Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune says ESPN ends its criss-crossing national NFL training camp tour with both Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter stopping at Saints camp today.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says Manchester United of the English Premier League now has a Windy City connection.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post feels a local sports TV anchorman should not yuk it up.

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

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star notes that mixed martial arts is heading to Ontario and Canadian TV will be all over it.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Blue Jays fans are up in arms over the launch of Rogers Sportsnet One which is leaving them in the dark for now.

And that will conclude our links for today.

ESPN2 To Continue Carrying MMA Live

Received a press release today from ESPN that ESPN2 will continue carrying the ESPN.com-produced “MMA Live” through August. The network started airing the series this month and judging from this release, feels comfortable taking more shows through the summer.

Here’s the release.

ESPN2 to Continue Televising ESPN.com’s MMA Live Show

After airing episodes for the first time this May, ESPN2 will continue to televise ESPN.com’s produced and distributed weekly MMA Live series dedicated to news, highlights and analysis from the sport of mixed martial arts through August, 2010. ESPN2 will continue to provide the first airing of the weekly MMA Live series Fridays at 1 a.m. ET (Thursday at 10 p.m. PT) with the ESPN.com version, featuring additional content, available shortly after the ESPN2 telecast.

As previously scheduled, ESPN2 will simulcast ESPN.com’s MMA Live at UFC 114 Sunday, May 30, at 1 a.m. (Saturday at 10 p.m. PT). Future simulcasts of MMA Live specials originating from event sites are to be determined. MMA Live host Jon Anik, analysts Kenny Florian and Randy Couture, ESPN.com MMA Insider Franklin McNeil, and correspondent Molly Qerim will work the telecasts. Couture is an analyst in place of Rashad Evans who will compete in the UFC 114 event.

MMA Live launched on ESPN.com in 2008 and ESPN2 first began televising the popular series in May 2010 with four episodes of the weekly news and highlights program, on-site pre- and post-event specials surrounding UFC 113 on May 8 and May 9, and the post-event show following UFC 114.

In addition to ESPN.com, ESPN has offered mixed martial arts news, interviews, highlights, stories, discussion and weigh-ins across multiple platforms, including ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN International, SportsCenter, E:60, SportsNation, First Take and more.

So MMA fans continue to have a weekly destination for the next few months.

Sunday’s Linkage

Let’s do some links for you on this Sunday. Lots of stuff to go over now.

Starting with Barry Wilner of the Associated Press writes that the NFL is helping to produce a Broadway play on the late Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi.

Dave Anderson of the New York Times writes about the NFL Draft going to primetime.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News feels this season’s Hard Knocks on HBO featuring the Jets will be quite colorful.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says MLB is doing Jackie Robinson Day for the wrong reasons.

Jackie Majerus at the Bristol (CT) Press looks at ESPN hiring its own security guards rather than outsourcing them as has been the case. 

Laura Nachman tells us to watch HBO’s documentary, Broad Street Bullies next month.

John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the national media is unfairly blaming the city for the now-infamous incident of a Phillies fan attempting to intentionally vomit on an off-duty policeman and his two daughters. 

Mike Prince from the Montgomery (PA) Newspapers speaks to an area native who is now calling the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league team on radio. 

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner speaks with TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley about the postseason.

Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviews Showtime’s Nick Charles about his battle with cancer. 

Scott Sloan of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader notes that Kentucky loves its basketball, even when the Winter Olympics are on.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News notes that TNT is not sending its top team to the Dallas-San Antonio NBA playoff series.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the NFL Draft is getting to roll out the red carpet as it goes primetime.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviews Jon Gruden’s ESPN quarterback special.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes today is the 60th anniversary of Vin Scully beginning his Dodgers broadcasting career.

Cecil Conley of the Vacaville (CA) Reporter speaks with the head of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area which recently celebrated its 2 year anniversary.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner says a primetime NFL Draft will make for Must See TV.

The Sports Media Watch notes that Fox got off to poor start for its MLB Game of the Week series.

SMW says the NHL on NBC ended the regular season last Sunday on a down note.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

SWM has its weekend ratings predictions.

The Big Lead has the video of a post-fight brawl that took place during CBS’ coverage of Strikeforce’s MMA card.

Sean Leahy of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog tells us why the Buffalo Sabres are able to show their playoff games on an outdoor screen at HSBC Arena when the Pittsburgh Penguins were not last year.

Joe Favorito feels the NHL is in the midst of its most critical playoff season.

Jesse Chula at EPL Talk notes that ESPN the Magazine and Sony are teaming up for a unique contest for a trip to the World Cup in South Africa.

Those are the links for today.

Tonight’s Strikeforce on CBS Open

Thanks to CBS, we have the open for tonight’s Strikeforce card. Gus Johnson voices it as he’ll call the action for CBS. The theme is “What are champions made of?”

The Strikeforce on CBS card airs tonight at 9 ET/PT.

Thursday’s Links

After a day in which I dealt with a flooded basement and buying filters for my wet vac, it’s time to bring back the linkage.

USA Today’s Game On blog looks at a new PBS documentary on legendary New Jersey high school basketball coach Bob Hurley.

Bob Velin of USA Today profiles an announcer who will call his 20,000th consecutive horse race over a span of almost 36 years.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says Univision will be airing all 64 World Cup games this summer over a variety of platforms.

Sports Business Daily compiles reaction to the MSG Network’s 3-D production. 

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable says Cablevision and MSG executives are declaring last night’s 3-D production of the New York Rangers-New York Islanders game a success.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Versus received its highest NHL audience of the season on Monday.

Dan Lamothe of the Red Sox Monster blog at the Springfield (MA) Republican looks at recent NESN hire Jade McCarthy quickly becoming a favorite on the channel by taking over the anchoring duties on SportsDesk.

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant says UConn’s women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma will be profiled on ESPN’s Outside the Lines this weekend. 

John Koblin of the New York Observer notes that the Wall Street Journal will launch its sports section next month.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reviews MSG Network’s first 3-D telecast.

Dan Martin of the New York Post says the 3-D production was popular with fans and players alike.

Peter Botte of the New York Daily News has a similar story on the fans who watched the Islanders-Rangers game in 3-D.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette has the NCAA Hockey Tournament TV schedule.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams says CBS is back with the NCAA Tournament tonight.

John Boyette of the Augusta (GA) Chronicle says Tiger Woods will be talking to reporters at The Masters on April 5.

Noell Barnidge of the Savannah (GA) Morning News says ESPN’s Outside the Lines is in town to do a story regarding an incident at Savannah State University. 

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at one person who has a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket.

Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram says TCU has chosen a new flagship radio station for football and basketball.

General John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans and the New York Jets want to be the Thanksgiving Night game on NFL Network.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman writes that TNT plans to go interactive tonight for the Miami-Chicago game.

Tyler James of the Columbus Dispatch says a local teenager tops ESPN.com’s NCAA Tournament bracket challenge. 

Anthony Schoette at the Indianapolis Business Journal feels Bob Knight is mellowing in his old age.

Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star writes that Good Morning America co-host and former ESPN anchor Robin Roberts will be driving the Indianapolis 500 pace car on May 30. There’s no corporate synergy in that decision as ESPN/ABC airs the Indy 500 that day.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman feels the NCAA should allow arena advertising during its games.

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times laments the potential end for a long-running WGN-AM sports show.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has ESPN’s Orel Hershiser and Rick Sutcliffe talking about various MLB issues.

Bob Mayhall of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat talks with CBS’ Verne Lundquist who will be calling the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional this weekend.

The Denver Post reports that the MLS’ Colorado Rapids are moving a majority of its games to free TV this season.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times interviews Fox Sports El Jefe del Mundo David Hill about bidding for the Olympics, the MLB All-Star Game in 3-D and trying to get a younger halftime act for the Super Bowl.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News previews his Friday column on Friend of Fang’s Bites Victor Rojas and his new social networking project, Yakcy.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo’s Cagewriter blog writes that an ESPN.com MMA show is moving to ESPN2.

The Sports Media Watch says MLB has eliminated the off day between Games 4 and 5 in the League Championship Series.

SMW has some various news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media feels that last night’s Pittsburgh-Washington game should have been on Versus and not NHL Network. Agreed.

The great Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says the MLB At Bat iPhone/iPod Touch app finally has live streaming video of Spring Training games as of today.

Phillip Badger of EPL Talk gives us an update on the latest with Fox Soccer Plus and Fox Soccer Channel HD.

We’ll end it there for now.

Some Sunday Links

Doing a Sunday linkage thing for you today. Let’s get to the links now.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the Versus-DirecTV dispute remains at an impasse, but talks could get jump started soon.

Mike reports that Setanta Sports US has signed for exclusive rights to several worldwide rugby tournaments.

Wayne Friedman of Mediapost says sales for the 2010 Winter Olympics got off to a slow start, but NBC could be seeing a change of momentum now.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News has a second straight column critical of MLB Network, this time for not using Bob Costas more.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post feels ESPN’s Sunday conversations are promos for upcoming programming. So what?

Pete Dougherty provides the college football TV schedule and adds that ESPN/ABC is cheating viewers.

Carl Kologie from the Indiana (PA) Gazette writes that a local native was instrumental in bringing Fox NFL Sunday to Afghanistan this week.

Terry Toohey of the Delaware County Daily Times says someone swore into an open microphone at the end of yesterday’s Richmond-Villanova game on Comcast SportsNet.

Here is the clip:

Michael Kruse and Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times write that the NFL is seeing an increasing number of Hispanics watching football.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News points out a stat that gives Cowboys fans hope.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla’s comments about Wisconsin’s chances.

Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman appeals to ESPN’s College Gameday to pay a visit to the Potato State.

The Statesman’s Chadd Cripe says ESPN is considering bringing Gameday to Boise State.

Brian Gomez from the Colorado Springs Gazette writes that Gameday’s visit to the Air Force Academy brought an electric atmosphere to the campus.

The San Francisco Examiner’s Artie Gigantino for the most part enjoyed Fox’s coverage of the World Series.

The Sports Media Watch has its usual Weekend Ratings Predictions.

And SMW has some news and notes.

Joe Favorito says Mixed Martial Arts is hoping to gain a foothold in the mainstream.

Steve Lepore has the video of last night’s Satellite Hotstove on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada which certainly made some waves due to a demonstration of a new helmet.

That’s going to do it for now.

Boxing and MMA Releases

Saturday night is a busy night for fight fans whether it be boxing or mixed martial arts.

Starting with HBO Sports and its World Championship Boxing card.

HBO SPORTS^® PRESENTS A LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT REMATCH WHEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING^®: CHAD DAWSON VS. GLEN JOHNSON II AND ALFREDO ANGULO VS. HARRY JOE YORGEY IS SEEN LIVE SATURDAY, NOV. 7 ON HBO^®

HBO Sports presents a highly anticipated rematch between two accomplished ring warriors when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: CHAD DAWSON VS. GLEN JOHNSON II AND ALFREDO ANGULO VS. HARRY JOE YORGEY is seen live SATURDAY, NOV. 7 (9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT) from the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Emanuel Steward will be ringside for the event, to be presented in HDTV and in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Hailing from New Haven, Conn., undefeated Chad Dawson (28-0, 17 KOs) first won a world title in 2007, dominating undefeated Tomasz Adamek and subsequently compiling an impressive list of victories that includes two unanimous decisions over former world champ Antonio Tarver and a controversial victory over Glen Johnson by unanimous decision in April 2008. Putting his perfect record on the line once again, the 27-year-old Dawson looks to silence any doubters and reaffirm his place at the top of the sport.

A former light heavyweight champion and Boxing Writers Association of America “Fighter of the Year” selection, 40-year-old Glen Johnson (49-12-2, 33 KOs) is one of the top competitors in this deep division. The Jamaican-born resident of Miami, Fla. captured a world light heavyweight title in 2004 and has lately experienced a career renaissance, winning seven of his last nine bouts, his only losses being close decisions to Clinton Woods and Dawson.

The opening bout is a potentially explosive battle, as rising star Alfredo Angulo (16-1, 13 KOs) of Coachella, Cal. meets Harry Joe Yorgey (22-0-1, 10 KOs) of Bridgeport, Pa. in a 12-round junior middleweight encounter. Angulo has been climbing the 154-pound ladder quickly; Yorgey is a crafty, all-action fighter seeking to slow down the power-hitting knockout artist.

The live doubleheader will be accompanied by the debut of the third episode of “24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto” at 9:00 p.m. (ET)/6:00 p.m. (PT). The new episode of “24/7” will also air immediately after the doubleheader on HBO.

All WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING events are broadcast in HDTV.

The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Thomas Odelfelt; director, Marc Payton.

Before the live boxing, HBO airs another installment of 24/7 Pacquaio/Cotto.

24/7 PACQUIAO/COTTO NOV. 7 EPISODE

Episode #3

Debut: SATURDAY, NOV. 7 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/6:00-6:30 p.m. PT)

Manny Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) focuses on his training regime amidst personality clashes in the camp, while Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) and his team prepare to move training camp to Las Vegas a week early to further prepare him for the Nov. 14 megafight.

Episode #3 of 24/7 PACQUIAO/COTTO debuts prior to the live presentation “World Championship Boxing: Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson II and Alfredo Angulo vs. Harry Joe Yorgey” at 9:30 p.m (ET)/6:30 p.m. (PT).

The finale of 24/7 PACQUIAO/COTTO debuts FRIDAY, NOV. 13 (9:30-10:00 p.m.), just one night before the fight. All four episodes have multiple replay dates on HBO, and the series is also available on HBO On Demand.

On Saturday, Nov. 14 at 9:00 p.m. (ET)/6:00 p.m. (PT), HBO Pay-Per-View presents “Pacquiao vs. Cotto,” live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The executive producers of 24/7 PACQUIAO/COTTO are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; coordinating producer, Dave Harmon; producers, Scott Boggins and Bentley Weiner; writer, Aaron Cohen. Liev Schreiber narrates.

CBS stations will air the Fight Camp 360 special that originally aired on Showtime previewing Saturday’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers card.

CBS STATIONS TO BROADCAST ENCORE PRESENTATION OF THE SHOWTIME SERIES “FIGHT CAMP 360°: FEDOR VS. ROGERS”

NEW YORK, Nov. 6 — As a preview to MMA’s return to broadcast television on CBS this Saturday, Nov. 7 with STRIKEFORCE/M-1 GLOBAL: FEDOR VS. ROGERS (9:00 PM, Live ET/delayed PT), CBS affiliates and owned stations will broadcast an encore presentation of the SHOWTIME series FIGHT CAMP 360°: FEDOR vs. ROGERS starting today (check local listings for times). The series offers fight fans an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into the lives of the world’s Number One ranked MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and his opponent, undefeated, American Brett Rogers, who will square off in Saturday night’s primetime main event.

FIGHT CAMP 360°: FEDOR VS. ROGERS originally premiered on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 9:30 PM ET/PT on SHOWTIME and is now being made available for broadcast on CBS affiliates nationwide.

CBS stations carrying the Showtime special include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver and Miami.

STRIKEFORCE/M-1 GLOBAL: FEDOR VS. ROGERS is being produced by SHOWTIME sports. The announce team for the four-fight event includes Gus Johnson, Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo.

More releases coming up.

CBS’ Open for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

Here’s the open that you will see tomorrow night for CBS’ re-entry into the Mixed Martial Arts arena. Gus Johnson voices it. I totally forgot Screamin’ Gus was doing the MMA card because when I saw the announcing schedule, I thought he might have been suspended for his comments during the Jacksonville-Tennessee game last week, but it turned out that was not case (Thanks to The Big Lead for setting me straight).

Speaking of The Big Lead, Cousins of Ron Mexico has a good breakdown of Saturday night’s card.

So here’s the open for Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers and it’s quite good.

Pretty good. Gets my blood flowing. Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers airs Saturday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

A Few More Releases

I saw a few more releases to post.

First from MLB, we have the announcement of who’s singing the national anthem before tonight’s World Series Game 2.

Five-time Grammy Award winner John Legend will sing the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium prior to Game Two of the 2009 World Series. The performance will coincide within the overall dedication of Game Two of the World Series to celebrating the legacy of Roberto Clemente and the spirit of community service.

Legend has sold more than five million albums world wide and garnered multiple hit singles, received countless awards and has been called one of the most compelling and important singer/songwriters of this generation. In 2007, Legend and his team launched the Show Me Campaign whose mission is to fight poverty through fostering sustainable development. Legend has recently been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2009 and has been honored with the 2008 Humanitarian Award from CARE and the 2008 Difference Award from OneXOne.

Legend will sing the National Anthem after New York natives Jay-Z and Alicia Keys perform of their hit single “Empire State of Mind” on FOX with coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Next, Florida coach Urban Meyer appears on CBS College Sports on Friday.

FLORIDA COACH URBAN MEYER SITS DOWN FOR SPECIAL EPISODE OF CBS COLLEGE SPORTS NETWORK’S “ONE2ONE” INTERVIEW SERIES

“ONE2ONE: URBAN MEYER” Airs Friday, Oct. 30 at 8:00 PM, ET

CBS College Sports Network airs a special edition of the network’s in-depth interview series ONE2ONE on Friday, Oct. 30 (8:00 PM, ET), featuring Florida football coach Urban Meyer. CBS College Sports Network contributor and USA Today columnist Christine Brennan sits down with Meyer in advance of Georgia taking on No. 1-ranked Florida this weekend on CBS Sports.

Meyer discusses a range of topics, including starting the season 7-0 (the first time Florida has done so since 1996), his special relationship with Tim Tebow, growing up in Ohio and his love for Ohio State, his place alongside college football coaching legends and why the Georgia game is special.

To see a clip of Meyer discussing Tim Tebow’s concussion and the emotional affect it had on him, click here.

Christine Brennan is an award-winning sports columnist for USA Today, an ABC News and NPR commentator, a best-selling author and a nationally-known speaker. Twice named one of the country’s top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors, she has covered 13 consecutive Olympic Games, summer and winter. Brennan, one of the nation’s most-read sports columnists, was the first woman sports writer at The Miami Herald in 1981 and the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins as a staff writer at The Washington Post in 1985.

ONE2ONE features personal sit-down interviews with the biggest names in sports. Since the show’s debut in December 2004, guests have included NFL Legend Dan Marino, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, NBA Commissioner David Stern, legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno and Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, among others.

CBS College Sports Network is available across the country through local cable operators and via satellite on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152. For more information on how to get CBS College Sports Network, go to www.cbscollegesports.com.

Here’s quotage from NFL Network’s Gameday Highlights and Gameday Final from Sunday.

Week 7 (Oct. 25, 2009) – Quotable from NFL GameDay Final & NFL GameDay Highlights on NFL Network

(Airs Sundays at 7:30 PM ET & 11:30 PM ET)

**NEXT WEEK: SPECIAL 2-HOUR NFL GAMEDAY FINAL AT 7:30 PM ET**

FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS & FULL POSTGAME COVERAGE OF BRETT FAVRE’S RETURN TO GREEN BAY

“Usually when a quarterback throws three picks he goes into a shell. Not Drew Brees.”

– Deion Sanders on Saints QB Drew Brees, who led New Orleans to victory after throwing three interceptions

“Ugly win in some regards. But a fantastic win in other regards”

– Steve Mariucci on Saints victory despite an 18-point deficit, five sacks allowed and three interceptions

“That’s an Earl Campbell move.”

– Deion Sanders on Vikings RB Adrian Peterson running over a Steelers defender on a 29-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter

“This combination of [Tony] Romo to Miles Austin…look out.”

– Steve Mariucci on Cowboys QB-WR duo, which has combined for 421 yards and four touchdowns in the last two games

“He can go deep, he can go short, and he can make the tough catches.”

– Deion Sanders on Cowboys WR Miles Austin, who had 171 receiving yards and two touchdowns vs. Falcons

“The wrong guy might have been benched. Patrick Crayton has been one of the most consistent Cowboy receivers in the last several years. He dropped one ball in the playoffs which he caught a lot of flak for. If I’m going to put my best 11 out there, Patrick Crayton should be one of those guys.”

– Deion Sanders on Cowboys WR Patrick Crayton

“He should be mentioned with the top tight ends in the game.”

– Deion Sanders on Texans TE Owen Daniels, who leads NFL tight ends with 497 receiving yards

“All-rookie team.”

– Steve Mariucci on Bills S Jairus Byrd, who had two interceptions vs. Panthers. He is tops among rookies and second in the NFL with five interceptions.

“This is a good defense. Look out for the Cincinnati Bengals.”

– Steve Mariucci on 5-2 Bengals

“This is Cedric the Entertainer now.”

– Rich Eisen on Bengals RB Cedric Benson, who leads the NFL with 720 rushing yards

“When this offense gets it together, you can see the makings of something special with Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree.”

– Michael Irvin on the San Francisco 49ers offense

“They do a great job of selecting running backs.”

– Deion Sanders on the Indianapolis Colts and RB Donald Brown

*** Additional exclusive video clips from Sunday’s NFL GameDay are available on NFL.com. Click on the video segments. These videos include:

- Cowboys QB Tony Romo’s 311-yard, 3 TD performance vs. Falcons

- http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d813b1018/WK-7-Tony-Romo-highlights

- Deion Sanders’ “Let’s Go Primetime”

- http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/09000d5d813b4903/Let-s-Go-Primetime

- And many more Week 7 game highlights and postgame video only on NFL.com.

**SPECIAL 2-HOUR NFL GAMEDAY FINAL AT 7:30 PM ET NEXT WEEK**

FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS & FULL POSTGAME COVERAGE OF BRETT FAVRE’S RETURN TO GREEN BAY

7:30 PM -8:30 PM ET: NFL GameDay Highlights

Host: Rich Eisen Analysts: Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin

Following the late afternoon games, NFL GameDay Highlights offers analysis of the events of the day. Includes highlights from all completed games, insider commentary, on-field interviews and post-game press conferences.

11:30 PM -1:00 AM ET: NFL GameDay Final

Host: Rich Eisen Analysts: Deion Sanders and Steve Mariucci

NFL GameDay Final is the definitive exclamation point on Sundays providing unlimited highlights of all the games, plus post-game press conferences, interviews from the field and locker room, audio captured throughout the day and expert analysis.

The NFL Network also gives us quotes from “The Head Coaches” on Monday.

Quotable from Week 7 Edition of The Coaches Show on NFL Network

(Airs Mondays at 6:30 PM ET with replays at 8:30 and 10:00 PM ET)

Quick Quotes:

“They have weapons galore and they are balanced on offense and defense…The Saints don’t run because they have to, they run it because they want to.” – Steve Mariucci on the New Orleans Saints and they’re balanced offense

“They were down 21 points and they didn’t blink.” – Steve Mariucci on the New Orleans Saints

“Embrace the job of being the head coach. Get excited about it, get this group motivated on both sides of the ball and get them rolling.” – Mike Martz on Redskins head coach Jim Zorn and the Washington Redskins

“They’re a real tough football team, but in the fourth quarter, they’re bending an awful lot in each game we’ve seen them play.” – Mike Martz on the Pittsburgh Steelers

“He’s really taken over this football team. His personality is imprinted on both sides of the ball.” – Mike Martz on Bengals QB Carson Palmer

“This is why they’re going to contend for this division championship.” – Steve Mariucci on Martz’ thoughts regarding Bengals QB Carson Palmer

“The guys that can do this are the guys that stay in the league the longest.” – Steve Mariucci on the importance of running backs who are successful executors in pass protection schemes (see first video link below)

*** Additional exclusive video clips from Monday’s The Coaches Show and highlights from Week 7 are available on NFL.com. These videos include:

- Steve Mariucci and Mike Martz break down how a running back is crucial to pass protection

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-the-coaches/09000d5d813ba4ec/The-Coaches-RB-pass-protection

- The coaches analyze the Cowboys big win against the Falcons

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-the-coaches/09000d5d813ba2fc/The-Coaches-Cowboys-big-win

- Selected video clips from the entire season of The Head Coaches

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-the-coaches

- And many more Week 7 game highlights and postgame video only on NFL.com.

6:30-7:00 & 8:30-9:00 PM ET Monday: The Head Coaches Show (HD)

Host: Charles Davis Analysts: Mike Martz and Steve Mariucci

The Head Coaches takes an inside look at the previous Sunday’s games, analyzing the big plays and tough decisions made by NFL head coaches on the sidelines in a 30-minute, roundtable program (Replays at 8:30 and 10:00 PM ET Mondays).

And Showtime will get us ready for next Saturday’s Strikeforce card with a new installment of its Fight Camp 360 series.

SHOWTIME SPORTS® SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS WITH NEW INSTALLMENT:

FIGHT CAMP 360°: Fedor vs. Rogers

Premieres Tuesday, Nov. 3, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®;

For The First Time Ever, Film Crew Captures The Athlete, The Family Man and The Mystique of MMA’s # 1 Fighter, Fedor, in Russian Training Camp

NEW YORK (Oct. 22, 2009)—In the wake of the critically acclaimed debut of FIGHT CAMP 360°: Inside The Super Six World Boxing Classic, SHOWTIME Sports® turns the spotlight to mixed martial arts with FIGHT CAMP 360°: Fedor vs. Rogers.

FIGHT CAMP 360°: Fedor vs. Rogers will feature unrestricted access to one of the most enigmatic professional athletes of today, Fedor Emelianenko and his next opponent, the undefeated Brett Rogers, as they prepare to headline “STRIKEFORCE/M-1 Global Saturday Night Fights” to be broadcast LIVE on Saturday, Nov. 7 (9:00 PM, ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.

FIGHT CAMP 360°: Fedor vs. Rogers will premiere on SHOWTIME® on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. The CBS Television Network will also make the show available to its 203 affiliated stations for broadcast in advance of the fight.

From director Ron Yassen, who is embedded in Fedor’s training camp in Stary Oskol, Russia: “Fedor is beyond captivating as a fighter, and more so, as a man. It’s a pure joy to film him so intimately as he strives for perfection in life and sport with grace and charm. While training for this most important match, he kindly opened up his life to us in and out of the ring, without the ego that often comes with being the very best at one’s craft.”

Produced in conjunction with Roadside Entertainment, FIGHT CAMP 360°: Fedor vs. Rogers will showcase both fighters as they prepare for this historic fight. Nov. 7 marks the first time Fedor, widely considered the sport’s No. 1 fighter, will appear in front of a national broadcast television audience. Despite his iconic status within the sport, Fedor (30-1) remains shrouded in mystery, living and training in seclusion in a remote mining village in Russia far away from the spotlight afforded the sports’ very best.

Rogers lives and trains in Minneapolis, and enters the fight with an impressive 10-0 record after most recently dismantling former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Rogers, a quiet, soft-spoken giant outside the cage, who earlier this year quite his job as a tire technician at Sam’s Club, has the opportunity of a lifetime to dethrone the sport’s greatest in front of a national television audience.

“The response to our inaugural episode of Fight Camp 360°: Inside The Super Six World Boxing Classic chronicling the boxing tournament has been overwhelming,” said SHOWTIME Sports General Manager Ken Hershman, who commissioned the project. “Because of the subjects involved—the mysterious world champion set to fight a man living the American dream—we had to turn our lens in this direction. Special thanks to M-1 Global and STRIKEFORCE for affording us a level of access to both men that has been unparalleled in their respective careers.”

Scott Coker, president of STRIKEFORCE, added, ”This is a one of a kind opportunity for fans to go behind the scenes and take a close look at the extraordinary, number one fighter in the world – Fedor – and his opponent who has become a symbol of The American Dream.”

Below are the air dates and times for FIGHT CAMP 360°: Fedor vs. Rogers on SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME 2®.

Tuesday, Nov. 3 9:30p (premiere) SHO

Tuesday, Nov. 3 10:00p SHO2

Wednesday, Nov. 4 11p SHO2

Thursday, Nov. 5 10p SHO2

Friday, Nov. 6 10p SHO2

Saturday, Nov. 7 4:30p SHO

Note: all times ET/PT

Versus tells us that Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall will be a guest host of “Sports Soup” on November 3.

PRO BOWL WIDE RECEIVER BRANDON MARSHALL TO CALL THE PLAYS ON NOV. 3 EPISODE OF SPORTS SOUP

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 28, 2009)-VERSUS, the fastest growing sports cable network in the country, today announced that Brandon Marshall, Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, will be guest hosting an episode of Sports Soup on Tuesday, November 3, at 10 p.m. ET. Marshall, one of the NFL's top wide receivers, will take the ball from Sports Soup starter, Matt Iseman, for one episode.   

Each week on Sports Soup Matt Iseman takes viewers around the entire world of sports to find the clips that are the most ridiculous, extreme and memorable for all the right and wrong reasons. Since the show launched on VERSUS in October 2008, it has gained a tremendous following among sports fans, celebrities and athletes alike. Shaquille O'Neal, Will Ferrell, Mike Tyson, Michael Irvin, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are just a few of the high-profile athletes and celebrities who have been interviewed on Sports Soup. With the NFL season well under way, the start of the NBA season having just tipped-off and the baseball playoffs in full swing, there will be no shortage of material for Marshall.    

"I'm excited to have Brandon Marshall guest host Sports Soup - it's not every day you get a Pro Bowl receiver filling in for you," said Matt Iseman. "Plus, he promised to return the favor and let me start the next time the Broncos play the Raiders. He thinks I should be good for at least a couple of touchdowns."

Marshall was selected by Denver in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft. After three impressive seasons, his career totals include 255 receptions for 3,231 yards and 19 touchdowns, including 29 receptions, 332 yards and four touchdowns so far this year. His unbelievable 2008 season earned him a starting spot in his first Pro Bowl with 104 catches, 1,265 receiving yards, 12.2 yards per reception and six touchdowns. In addition to his on-field contributions, last year Marshall also became involved with the "Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives" after-school program in Denver. His weekly visits on Tuesdays throughout the season have given him a chance to reach out to kids in need, provide encouragement and motivation, and help them with homework.

Finally, Fox Soccer Channel lists the UEFA Champions League games it’ll air next week.

TRIO OF UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REMATCHES FEATURED ON FOX SOCCER CHANNEL’S COVERAGE OF MATCHDAY 4

Los Angeles, CA (October 27, 2009) – Live UEFA Champions League Group Stage coverage continues on Fox Soccer Channel with Matchday 4, highlighted by three intriguing rematches of recently played contests.

The world’s most prestigious club soccer competition resumes Tuesday, Nov. 3 on Fox Soccer Channel with the live 30-minute UEFA Champions League Pregame at 2 p.m. ET, simulcast on FSN. Following a breakdown of all the day’s up-coming action from host Max Bretos and analysts Warren Barton and Bobby McMahon, Fox Soccer Channel viewers will enjoy the second Group D match-up in a two-week span between Atlético Madrid and Chelsea at 2:45 p.m. ET.

On Wednesday Nov. 4, Fox Soccer Channel will showcase a live UEFA Champions League doubleheader, beginning with the pregame show at a special time of 12 p.m. ET. Fresh off its improbable upset at the Nou Camp on Oct. 20, Rubin Kazan hosts FC Barcelona at 12:30 p.m. and looks to hand the defending champion a second straight loss. Immediately after, Lyon faces a Liverpool side eager to avenge a rare European defeat at Anfield.

Comprehensive coverage of every UEFA Champions League Group Stage match is available to U.S. viewers for the first time ever, thanks to a unique content-sharing agreement between Fox Soccer Channel, FSN, Fox Sports en Español, Setanta Sports and DirecTV. For a complete telecast schedule visit championsonfox.com, where links to live online video streaming of all UEFA Champions League contests are also accessible. Available on a subscription basis for $14.95 per month or $99.95 for a season pass, matches can also be purchased individually for $9.95 each.

WHAT: Live Coverage of UEFA Champions League Group Stage

Matchday 4 on Fox Soccer Channel

WHEN: Tuesday, November 3

Atletico Madrid (ESP) vs. Chelsea (ENG) 2:45 p.m. ET

(Coverage begins with UEFA Champions League Pregame at 2 p.m. ET)

Wednesday, November 4

Rubin Kazan (RUS) vs. FC Barcelona (ESP) 12:30 p.m. ET

Lyon (FRA) vs. Liverpool (ENG) 2:45 p.m. ET

(Coverage begins with UEFA Champions League Pregame at 12 p.m. ET)

*For a complete telecast schedule, visit championsonfox.com

WHERE: Fox Soccer Channel, America’s Soccer Network

I think we’re done for now. Linkage and perhaps a special feature coming up. Keep your feeds updated.

Doing the Friday Megalinks

Ok. After hardly doing links this week, it’s time to make up for it today. And I hope to finish this during the day. Let’s get to it.

First, the Weekend Viewing Picks.

College Football has good matchups this weekend including USC at Washington on ABC, Michiga State at Notre Dame on NBC, and Texas Tech at Texas in primetime on ABC. ESPN College Gameday is in Austin, TX to preview the Aggies-Longhorns game. The College Football Viewing Picks in full are right here.

To the NFL where we have some intriguing games in Week 2. CBS has the doubleheader this week and a good early game with the Patriots at the Jets especially in the wake of coach Rex Ryan’s trash talking. The showcase late game for CBS will be Pittsburgh at Chicago. For Fox, it’s regional coverage and New Orleans at the Eagles will be called by Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver. On Sunday night, it’s the regular season debut of the new Cowboys Stadium on NBC with the Giants and the Cowboys facing off. The entire Sunday schedule along with announcer assignments, DirecTV channels, satellite radio channels and anything else I wanted to add are in the NFL Viewing Picks.

For baseball, Cubs-Cards and Angels-Rangers will be featured on the national networks this weekend. You can see what’s being covered in Baseball Viewing This Weekend.

Other programming notes of interest include Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Miguel Marquez on HBO pay per view called by Jim Lampley, Emanuel Steward and boxing charlatan Max Kellerman and UFC 103 on pay per view.

NASCAR is in New Hampshire for the Sprint Cup Series on ABC at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The Weekend Viewing Picks in full not only have your sports picks, but primetime viewing as well.

Let’s get to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes about Fox Sports unveiling new programming online and from what I hear, some nudity in the weekly “Cubed” series.

Sports Business Daily looks into the beginning of Fox Sports’ online initiative and the nudity on “Cubed”.

Brian Helfrich of SBD writes about Fox Sports not only cutting out the nudity in “Cubed” but also cutting down the web show from 16 minutes to under 2.

Eric Fisher in Sports Business Daily writes that the NFL has brought increased traffic to various sports news websites.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reviews the Week 1 performances of several new NFL TV analysts.

The Nielsen ratings Wire blog says the early returns show ratings success for both college and pro football.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says ESPN, Fox and NBC all saw ratings jumps for their first offerings of the NFL regular season.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the Cubs are feeling the effects of the recession.

Darren looks at how MillerCoors is getting notice for its brand at the new Cowboys Stadium.

Nick Saint of the Silicon Valley Insider notes that CBS Sports will stream its entire 15 game SEC football schedule online.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog reports that DirecTV and Versus are talking to bring the sports channel back, but it appears it won’t be in time for the NHL season openers.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News also writes about the DirecTV/Versus negotiations.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says Spike is seeing excellent ratings for “The Ultimate Fighter” season premiere.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says Bright House Sports will be picking up a slate of SEC games thanks to a new deal with ESPN Regional Television.

Ben Grossman of B&C writes that CBS is back in the Mixed Martial Arts business signing a deal to air Strikeforce bouts starting in November.

Steve Schwankert of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the NFL is expanding its broadcasts into Communist China and in democratic Taiwan.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine writes about a successful opening to the NFL season on the league’s TV partners.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media notes that ESPN is already releasing the opener to next year’s college football season.

Chris has the video of former Detroit Tigers voice Ernie Harwell saying thanks to his fans. Ernie was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and there has been a huge outpouring of support from all over baseball for Ernie.

The Big Lead talks with ESPN.com college football reporter Joe Schad.

The Sports Media Watch looks at the ratings of the recently completed US Open.

SMW tells us that of the NFL TV partners, only CBS saw a decrease in ratings for Week 1.

Here’s the first edition of a podcast I did with Sports Media Journal’s Keith Thibeault.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes about some of the latest developments in new media in Boston.

Amanda Bruno of the Batter-up with Bruno blog notes that the Boston Globe has made a new hire to cover the Red Sox.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with Ron Jaworski of ESPN’s Monday Night Football about the Patriots’ performance against the Bills.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that YES is not producing a postgame for the entire Yankees schedule.

Neil writes a feature on Newsday’s owner, Cablevision, increasing its commitment to high school sports.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News writes that CBS’ Phil Simms seems to be the only one not jumping on the Jets’ bandwagon.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post rips the NFL replay rule.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with ESPN Radio’s Freddie Coleman who got his sports radio start in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete also has five questions with Freddie.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com talks with WNST’s Nestor “Nasty” Apricio.

South

To the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson says the Dolphins are excited about having their home opener on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Gary Smits in the Florida Times-Union says the DirecTV/Versus dispute is preventing Florida State fans from seeing Saturday’s game against BYU.

Jeff Caplan in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that NBC will be ready to cover the punts and the now-infamous video board at the new Cowboys Stadium.

Ray Buck of the Star-Telegram says NBC will showcase the new stadium this weekend.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Michael Irvin will be all over the place on Sunday and Monday.

Barry writes that a local sports radio station will talk with former President George W. Bush next week.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says College Gameday is back in Texas on Saturday.

In his blog, David looks at the football segments on local radio this weekend.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says a Fox Sports Net college football analyst can feel Oklahoma University QB Sam Bradford’s pain.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press feels there are too many retired NFL players on his television.

Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that you won’t be seeing the Packers on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Bob Wolfley in the Journal Sentinel says Milwaukee viewers will see up to 8 Minnesota Vikings games with former Packer Brett Favre this season.

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

In the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin, Paul Christian writes about the return of MMA to CBS.

Paul says a popular Twin Cities sports radio show makes a local appearance this weekend.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Joe Buck’s second HBO show has been retooled.

Dan writes that the ratings for the Rams’ season opener were up from last year.

Tom Timmerman of the Post-Dispatch reports that the Big 12 Conference is looking to expand its TV footprint similar to what the SEC did this year.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News feels ESPN’s Bob Griese is a BCS lackey.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the US Open fireworks helped to prepare CBS’ Dick Enberg for the new NFL season.

Jay says Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton returns to the local airwaves in October.

John Maffei of the North County Times pays tribute to a colleague who recently passed away.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star writes that football brings in the ratings.

Jim says the new Cowboys Stadium gets a real public Open House this Sunday.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says fans are truly ready for some football.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News says don’t count out newspapers yet.

As usual, Tom has his extensive media notes in his blog.

And that’s going to conclude this edition of the megalinks.

Even More Monday Links

We have a bunch of links this evening and let’s get to them before I start watching Weeds on Showtime.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe gives his impressions on NESN’s Jim Rice who finally got into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Neil Best of Newsday notes that Mets GM Omar Minaya called out a New York Daily News beat writer during a press conference to announce Tony Bernazard’s firing. Following that on Twitter, people were commenting on what a train wreck the press conference was. You can see video of Minaya calling out reporter Adam Rubin and Rubin’s reaction to SNY right here.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says backup Orlando Magic center won’t be wearing Reeboks next season after criticizing the company for not paying him enough.

Darren writes that Jack Nicklaus is not optimistic for golf course design next year.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette looks at MLB Network’s upcoming schedule of live games.

P.J. Harmer of the Oneota (NY) Daily Star says Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Tony Kubek totally winged it during his induction speech yesterday.

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes about the Bengals getting ready to be on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer. Thanks to Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News for the link.

Richie Witt of the Dallas Observer says popular sports personality Dale Hansen is dropping his radio show.

Baxter Holmes of the Los Angeles Times says fans can Tweet questions to the Pac 10′s football coaches during the conference media days.

Zennie Abraham of the San Francisco Chronicle cannot believe that Erin Andrews topped a media listing on Mediate.

Ryan Leong of the San Francisco Examiner raves about Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s SportsNet Central programs.

Evan Weiner warns that Jacksonville could be losing the Jaguars to Los Angeles down the line.

Mike Fleming of Variety reports that ESPN Films, NFL Films and a Hollywood production company are teaming up on a feature on the late Packer coach Vince Lombardi.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertisting Age says with newspapers reducing their motorsports coverage, NASCAR is handpicking 28 motorsports blogs and credentialing them to help cover races starting this month.

The Sports Media Watch has caught ESPN. A week after refusing to initially report the civil suit against Ben Roethlisberger saying it doesn’t report on civil suits, ESPN is now reporting the civil lawsuit against Indianapolis Colts WR Marvin Harrison.

SportsbyBrooks reports that Fox Sports Radio demotes J.T. the Brick and replaces him with Tony Bruno.

Jay Busbee of Yahoo! Sports wondered why Golf Channel did not air the entire rain-delayed final found of the Canadian Open today.

Mike Bailey of World Golf says the estranged son of former New York City Rudolph Giuliani will be on the next edition of Big Break.

Deadspin says USA Today’s Christine Brennan continues to make statements against Erin Andrews.

MLB Network’s Victor Rojas who has his own MLB.com blog called “The Spoils”, talks about his experience at the Baseball Hall of Fame over the weekend.

Joe Favorito talks about Affliction getting out of the event production business to do what it does best.

Christopher Byrne of Eye on Sports Media talks about legendary Georgia football voice Larry Munson writing about his days in the broadcast booth.

Rafat Ali of paidContent.org talks about Fox Sports buying a stake into OpenSports and furthering its commitment into fantasy sports.

A photographer is suing ESPN for using one of her images without her consent.

Amanda Bruno (linked twice in one day!) of the Batter-up with Bruno blog discovers the actual height of Red Sox All-Star and reigning American League MVP Dustin Pedroia.

This has nothing to do with sports media or my Browns, but I promised Steelergurl I would link to her training camp preview if she would put me back in her blogroll after she redesigned her site. She did and thus I give you the link.

I found more links than I thought. That’s it. See you back here tomorrow.

Some Thursday Night Links

I have a lot of work to do on the blog tonight and was delayed thanks to mom insisting I take her to the mall so she could find something for a memorial the entire family is attending on Friday. Suffice to say the plans I had for this evening have been pushed back to about 4 a.m. with all of the shit I have to do. I understand, mom doesn’t like dad driving at night and she’s not confident with her driving skills at this time so I have to drive to her place to pick her up and take her to the places she wants to go. I grit my teeth, but I do it. Gotta do it. She’s the only mom I have.

Anyway, let’s do some late night links then I have a slew of press releases for tonight, then some housekeeping for tomorrow since the megalinks will most likely be late again with all of the stuff I have to do at work and for the memorial.

Starting with Stephen Wilson of the Associated Press who has a scathing statement from the International Olympic Committee regarding the U.S. Olympic Network.

Seattle Times Olympics beat writer Ron Judd wonders if the USON announcement might undermine the U.S. bid for the 2016 Olympics.

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times says the U.S. Olympic Committee’s actions only stand to hurt Chicago’s chances to host the Games.

Meg James of the Times says USON is already causing headaches just mere days after the formal announcement.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch, he tells us that long time Voice of your New England Patriots, Gil Santos, will be inducted into the WBZ Hall of Fame. Gil was the morning drive sports anchor at News Radio 1030 WBZ for 38 years. It’s a well-deserved honor. Gil remains with the Patriots and is the longest tenured announcer in the NFL.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal says a Baltimore sports talk show has been told to fix things. Keith Thibeault of SMJ talks about ESPN’s Ball Track technology that will be unveiled at the Home Run Derby.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record feels Ball Track could be like Fox Sports’ glowing puck if not used correctly. Ken writes that Army football has a new home in the Hudson Valley.

Laura Nachman recaps the memorial for Philly sports anchor Gary Papa.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Darren Pang joins Fox Sports Midwest as an analyst for the Blues, moving current analyst Bernie Federko to ice-level.

Norm Sanders of the Belleville (IL) News-Democrat also writes about Panger coming from Phoenix to join the Blues.

Back to the L.A. Times, Mark Medina writes that Candace Parker lands her own SportsCenter promo later this month.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the local ESPN Radio affiliate is making some lineup changes as of Friday.

Fabio Pereira of the Hollywood Reporter says mixed martial arts is growing thanks to UFC and its Ultimate Fighter series on Spike.

The Big Lead gets ESPN’s official statement on Erin Andrews taking a ball to the chin during Wednesday’s Dodgers-Mets game.

Dan Levy of On the DL wonders in the Sporting News if ESPN hates the San Diego Padres.

Dave Kohl from the Major League Programs blog looks at classic offerings on CBS Sports as well as the decline of ESPN Classic.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball makes an announcement of a new content partnership.

That’s going to end our links for now. Stories that will be part of the Friday megalinks are already out so I’ll stop with the links and work on a bunch of press release posts.

Making the Friday Megalinks Count, Part I

Let’s get to the Friday megalinks. I want to get this done and leave my Friday free so I can rest up for the drive to NYC for the Blogs With Balls conference tomorrow. Don’t expect any blog posts, but I will be Tweeting from there so if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll get some impressions and perhaps a pic or two. I’ll be there with a few of the bloggers that have been linked here regularly so be on the lookout for that all day tomorrow.

As usual, let’s do the Weekend Viewing Picks.

The NHL Stanley Cup Finals will conclude tonight with Game 7 of Pittsburgh and Detroit at the Joe. CBC and NBC will have coverage starting at 8. NHL Network has a pregame at 6. CBC’s Scotiabank Hockey Tonight will start at 7:30. Following the game CBC.ca has a postgame show and NHL Network has theirs at 11 p.m. or immediately following the trophy ceremony.

Game 5 of the NBA Finals is on Sunday at 8. ABC has the game from Orlando as the Lakers try to close out the Magic.

Interleague baseball returns this weekend. Fox has three games on Saturday at 4 p.m. including Mets-Yankees. ESPN has Cleveland hosting St. Louis Sunday night at 8 and TBS also has Mets-Yankees on Sunday afternoon. For the Fox and ESPN schedules, click here. WGN will have the Cubs hosting Minnesota, Sunday at 2.

ESPN and ESPN2 have extensive and exclusive coverage of the College World Series this weekend from Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, NE. Four games over the weekend will be played starting Saturday at 2 on ESPN.

For NASCAR, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Michigan for the LifeLock 400. TNT has that Sunday at 2 p.m.

Golf is busy as well. Golf Channel and CBS combine for weekend coverage of the St. Jude Classic.

Golf Channel also has the LPGA Championship, the second major on the tour, Saturday and Sunday at 4.

Soccer fans will be particularly interested in the Confederations Cup which will be hosted by South Africa, the site of the 2010 World Cup. Two games kick off the event on Sunday, host South Africa vs. Iraq and New Zealand vs. Spain.

Mixed Martial Arts fans have UFC 99 to watch this Saturday on PPV at 3 p.m.

Check out the entire Weekend Viewing Picks here.

To the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Fox Sports’ NFL insder Jay Glazer about his love for mixed martial arts.

The Game On! blog from USA Today looks at the Rose Bowl moving from ABC to ESPN starting in 2011.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal says a three man booth at the NBA Finals is too much.

The Sports Media Watch wonders how high can the ratings for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals reach? SMW says Game 4 of the NBA Finals did well in the overnight ratings last night.

Jon Weisman of Variety says ABC has set the lineup for the new edition of The Superstars which premieres later this month.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine writes ABC scored in the ratings with the NBA Finals on Thursday.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that after a slow start, NESN’s ratings for Red Sox baseball are rising to their normal high levels.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Bill Doyle says NESN’s Don Orsillo has had to deal with an ever-changing analyst lineup due to Jerry Remy’s absence.

Newsday’s Neil Best gives his impressions of today’s WFAN morning show simulcast on SNY. Neil says WFAN made some personnel moves for football season. Neil talks about Showtime making famed MMA fighter Gina Carano a headliner for its upcoming Strikeforce card. Neil also talks with Joe Buck about his upcoming HBO show.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News writes that even the Mets and Yankees announcers are getting involved in the Subway City rivalry.

A week’s vacation has not softened Phil Mushnick’s hate in the New York Post today.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for ESPN’s Andy North about next weekend’s U.S. Open.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks to the person behind local sports talk show.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette has some baseball TV news and notes.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says the LPGA Championship’s new home will be the perfect place to hold that event starting next year.

Jim looks forward to watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight.

I’ll have the rest of the Megalinks tonight.

Friday Night Megalink Session

Time for the megalinks once again. As usual, before the linkage, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks.

The Masters is the dominant event on the sports calendar this weekend. CBS has the weekend coverage, three and a half hours on Saturday starting at 3:30 p.m., then 18 hole coverage on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. You can see coverage online at Masters.com or CBSSports.com throughout the weekend.

This is the first weekend of regular season baseball action. Fox has three games on Saturday at 4 p.m. including the Red Sox-Angels and Houston-St. Louis. MLB Network has the Dodgers-Diamondbacks Saturday night at 8. Then on Sunday, TBS has the Mets-Marlins at 1 p.m. and ESPN’s primetime game is the Cubs at Brewers at 8 p.m.

Saturday night, HBO will have boxing themed programming including the premiere of the documentary “Thrilla in Manila” at 8 focusing on the great 1975 fight betweeen Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier, then the premiere of another 24/7 series at 9:30 on Manny Pacquaio and Ricky Hatton, leading up to World Championship Boxing which will have the Winky Wright-Paul Williams middleweight bout at 10.

The NHL regular season comes to a close this weekend. NHL Network will carry the CBC Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader Saturday night. Pittsburgh-Montreal is the first game at 7 and Edmonton-Calgary is the nightcap at 10. NBC closes out its regular season on Sunday with a 2 p.m. contest between Detroit and Chicago.

ABC has an NBA doubleheader with Boston-Cleveland the feature game at 3:30 p.m.

ESPN has the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship game between Miami (OH) and Boston University Saturday night at 7.

For more sports viewing and primetime suggestions, check out my Weekend Viewing Picks.

To the links.

National

Bob Kimball does the Friday media column for USA Today and he looks at Steve Phillips joining ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast booth.

The Nielsen Wire blog says March Madness gave the big sports websites a traffic boost. Even Fang’s Bites saw a huge uptick in March thanks to the NCAA Tournament.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Ultimate Frisbee is growing in popularity. Darren says he’s found the best tearaway pants ever. Darren says the heart attack-in-waiting Fifth-Third Burger was a hit when it was unveiled last night.

The Sports Media Watch has a long thesis on why ESPN doesn’t show hockey highlights on SportsCenter. The SMW looks at MLB Opening Day ratings in various markets. SMW says the NBA on ABC suffered another ratings setback on Sunday. Paulsen noticed that ESPN’s new Bottom Line didn’t stick around very long. SMW notes that the first round of The Masters did well on ESPN. The SMW says while the NCAA Tournament ratings were up overall this year, they still were low compared to past years. And the Women’s NCAA Tournament finished lower this year compared to last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck the Media has reaction to his Jack Edwards interview from earlier this week. Steve says the NHL Network will air an NHL Playoffs Preview Show on Monday. Steve feels ESPN just doesn’t care about hockey even when it’s actually covering hockey.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter writes that NFL Network and Dish Network have settled their differences.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NFL Network is not talking after the settlement that keeps the channel on Dish’s second tier.

Mike writes that MSG Network saw increased ratings for the New York Rangers’ playoff clincher.

Justin Kroll of Variety says the NCAA Tournament attracted the big movie studios to promote their big spring blockbusters.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek says March Madness on Demand was a big hit.

I have a column at Digital Sports Daily on Why We Love The Masters.

Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog looks at various regional baseball TV and radio schedules.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn at the Boston Globe talks about the impending end of the NFL Network’s contract with Comcast.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the Mohegan Sun casino doesn’t want to be blamed for its sports bar at the new Yankee Stadium obstructing the view of two sections of outfield seats.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News tells us about Sirius XM’s Chris Russo being prevented from airing live at the Yankee Stadium and Citi Field openers by CBS Radio.

The perpetually grumpy Phil Mushnick of the New York Post blames Hip Hop artist Flo Rida for the Mets-Marlins game being pushed back to an earlier start time to where Mets fans won’t be able to watch the first hour of the game due to Fox Sports exclusivity with MLB on Saturdays.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with ESPN golf analyst Andy North about The Masters. Justin has five questions for ESPN’s MLB analyst and former Yankees manager Buck Showalter.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says the local Fox affiliate won a prestigious Murrow Award.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the MLB Commissioner’s Office has convinced the Marlins to start its game against the Mets 15 minutes later so SNY won’t miss too much of the action.

The great Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says First Class Jerk (my words, not Ray’s) Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio had his facts mixed up regarding the Orioles. I can write something really mean about First Class Jerk Cowherd, but I’ll refrain.

South

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald writes about The Masters and Mixed Martial Arts embracing the internet for online streaming.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel looks at HBO’s new documentary on the great Thrilla in Manila between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier. For those who have never seen the fight, watch the documentary to get a feel of how brutal the bout was.

Jerry Greene of the Sentinel counts down his final columns for the paper and gives us his favorite sporting venues.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looks at Fox Sports’ new MLB pregame show.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News feels the NFL regular season announcement has become a reality show. Barry is amazed that the ESPN family of networks will devote three hours in primetime to the NFL regular season release.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Astros announcer Milo Hamilton may be taking the middle innings of home broadcasts off, but he’s going to be using that time to schmooze with clients. Is that really a good thing?

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says Tiger Woods is golf’s main ratings draw. In his sports notebook, Mel looks at MLB Network adding a slate of Saturday night games to its existing Thursday night schedule. And Mel reviews HBO’s Thrilla in Manila doc.

Midwest

Michel Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press says Tiger Woods makes The Masters Must See TV.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says HBO’s Thrilla in Manila documentary does not sugarcoat things.

Don Walker from the Journal Sentinel has the final numbers on March Madness on Demand visitors.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald says he’ll take CBS’ referential coverage of The Masters for the low amount of commercials.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business profiles Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin has CBS’ Nick Faldo’s comments on Tiger Woods and The Masters.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Fox Sports Midwest is ready to do a juggling act with Blues playoff games and Cardinals regular season games. Dan writes that Albert Pujols’ ESPN “This is SportsCenter” ad will make its debut on Monday.

West

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says it was inevitable for a local sports radio show to die.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Tiger Woods, The Masters and CBS are a natural fit.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Times says Tiger’s return to golf comes just in time for The Masters and CBS.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes that we’re getting an embarrassment of video riches from The Masters. Diane looks at how Angels fans and announcers grieved over the death of Nick Adenhart.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the unfortunate tragedies that have befallen the Angels over the years. In his Friday column, Tom says ESPN’s new West Coast presence put it in good position to cover the Adenhart story. Tom has his usual extensive media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog. And Tom goes over the week in blogging.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says just like in the United States, the NCAA Tournament scored online in Canada.

That’s it for the megalinks.

A Few Thursday Links

I’m at the home office once again, but I’ll provide a few links for you.

Newsday’s Neil Best says he and fellow Newsday writer Bob Glauber got caught up in a debate over the controversial replay overturn in last Sunday’s Steelers-Ravens game and says Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth got into a similar argument on Inside the NFL. Thanks to Neil for linking to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article written by Randy Galloway who notices that Cowboys First Class Jerk Terrell Owens did some doubletalk in regards to ESPN’s Ed Werder. Neil writes that the MLB Network can be seen on some cable systems conducting a transmission test in advance of its January 1 launch.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable says MLB Network plans to throw its hat into the postseason ring when the current TV contracts expire in five years.

Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic talks with Phoenix Coyotes and TSN NHL analyst Darren Pang.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that the NHL seems to be under the radar in this recession.

Joe Favorito says UFC continues to expand its hold on the Mixed Martial Arts market.

The New York Post’s Keith J. Kelly writes that Lenny Dykstra’s Players Club magazine either owes money or is owed money, one of the two. You may remember the HBO Real Sports story on Lenny from earlier this year that profiled his winning ways in his second career in stocks and also talked about him launching the magazine.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says Versus will show Lance Armstrong’s cycling comeback in Australia next month. Ken also writes about the possibility of a CBS/TNT Olympics bid.

Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter also writes about CBS & Turner’s possible combined bid.

Laura Nachman notes that the Eagles-Cowboys game back in September was the highest rated show in cable TV history.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business tells the sports networks to drop the running ticker a la CNN. And Ed links to the transcript of Tiger Woods’ press conference at his tournament yesterday.

To Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News who writes that Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman is not bullish on his old Cowboys team. And Barry lists the TV and radio outlets for this Saturday’s Ravens-Cowboys game which will be on the NFL Network.

From the “Someone Had To Do It” Department, Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News transcribes a portion of Terrell Owens’ sitdown with ESPN’s Steven A. Smith.

Diane Pucin of the LA Times says the NFL rules the ratings on over the air TV and on cable.

The Sports Media Watch notes that the Browns-Eagles Monday Night game was not a winner for ESPN.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog has the broadcast info for the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl this Saturday.

A story I forgot to link to yesterday, Tony Tony Tony Kornheiser says he’s not doing his radio show until after his gig with Monday Night Football is finished.

Bruce Allen’s Boston Sports Media Watch says Comcast SportsNet New England plans a Christmas special on former Red Sox pariah Manny Ramirez.

I think that will do it for now.

Wednesday Night Links

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday Quick Links

I’ll give you a few quick links on this late Tuesday afternoon on the U.S. East Coast.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald Record feels tonight is the Worst Sports Night of the Year. Not far off, I’m telling you.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders if Elite XC’s days on TV are numbered. Neil transcribes Yankees GM Brian Cashman’s statements about coming back to the Yankees to show up newspaper reporters.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wants you to write his blog for a week. Hmmm. I might go for this.

Friend of Fang’s Bites and fellow puckhead Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette tells us what’s in store for Versus when the NHL season opener faces off on Thursday.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Cowboys are 6 for 6 in the number one network TV broadcast teams doing their games this season. Barry also wonders why the Sporting News ranked Dallas-Fort Worth 3rd in its annual “Best Sports City” rankings. Boston was first if you’re wondering.

To Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News who has the NFL TV schedule for Week 6 for SoCal. Tom says the Dodgers are doomed after being put on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. Tom adds that mixed martial arts on CBS is in jeopardy after Kimbo Slice got knocked out last Saturday. And Tom has the college football TV schedule.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball explores the 20% drop in ratings for the League Division Series on TBS.

The Sports Media Watch says Ohio State and USC helped out ABC’s college football ratings on Saturday.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media has the CBS College Sports Division II Basketball broadcast schedule for this season.

That’s all for now.

Your Monday Afternoon Linkage

I’m blogging from home as I await the DirecTV serviceman to arrive to fix my dish. In the meantime, I’ll provide some links as I catch up on last night’s Mad Men episode. The Red Sox have to learn to play games in a 3 hour window. Can you imagine if the Dodgers-Cubs series extended to four games? TNT would most likely have aired the entire Game 4 of that series as TBS stayed with Angels-Red Sox as it went well into the early morning hours. I’m not one who gets frustrated about games that go into the late night hours, but it was getting out of hand last night.

Let’s go into the linkage for today.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, he mentions that TBS needs a stronger personality in the studio for its MLB postseason coverage.

From the Sports Business Journal, we have a few stories for you today. John Ourand and John Lombardo team up for a story on the NBA starting a campaign to promote its digital properties.

John Ourand writes that Versus is looking to get younger.

Steve Bilafer says sports needs to catch up in the blogosphere.

Terry Lefton says the NHL has some new corporate sponsors to crow about this season.

And Jon Show writes the financial crunch is taking a bite out of golf endorsements.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell adds that sports teams are going to be a tough sell in today’s economic market. And Darren says Elite XC is on its last legs.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the all-imporant Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship will be aired on your local FSN affiliate tonight.

A few things from Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union. Pete feels TBS mistreated the National League in the Division Series. Next, Pete has the college football TV schedule for the New York Capital Region. Pete says no one should complain that the Bills aren’t on TV this week because they have the bye. And Pete says next week, all four regional NFL Teams will be on TV.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that College Gameday will be in Big D for the Texas-Oklahoma game. Barry says with the Cubs out of the MLB postseason, the next best thing for Fox would be a Red Sox-Dodgers World Series. Barry also has some thoughts from yesterday’s Bengals-Cowboys game.

From the Kansas City Star, Jeffrey Flanagan has quotes from the TV and radio calls of the Chiefs-Carolina game. Also from the KC Star, the great Aaron Barnhart writes that Metro Sports grabbed quite a few local Emmy Awards Saturday night.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TBS’ John Smoltz was mostly on target during yesterday’s Game 4 of the Phillies-Brewers League Division Series.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog looks at the dispute between LIN TV and Time Warner Cable that is leaving CBS TV affiliates off of several cable systems and NFL fans in the dark. And Chris says ESPN missed the memo on Lehigh University’s name change …. 13 years ago!!!!!!

Dusty Saunders in the Rocky Mountain News says despite losing the Cubs in a sweep, TBS’ coverage of the MLB postseason has been more than adequate.

Over to Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star who writes that Rogers Sportsnet has made a big dent in the Canadian TV landscape despite lots of skepticism when it launched 10 years ago.

We have two things from Maury Brown and the Biz of Baseball. First, Maury has a story on the MLB Network hiring five new executives. And Maury says MLB Advanced Media has signed a new licensing agreement for MLB-branded pictures.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the Raiders circus last week made the top of the Sunday NFL pregame shows.

A press release says Vin Scully and Curt Gowdy head the Class of 2008 for the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

That will do it for now.

Sunday Morning Links

If you’re on my main page, if you scroll below, you can take a look at the three part Videos of the Week which have videos from the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympic Games and also the promos for the 2008 Olympics which as we know from the promos are just five days away. They were a lot of work to do and I hope that you at least take a gander at each entry.

Here are some links for you on this Sunday.

Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant says NBC is putting together an Olympic effort to bring the games home to viewers.

The Los Angeles Times’ Robert Strauss talks about the digital side of NBC’s coverage.

Rick Bentley of the Fresno (CA) Bee also looks at NBC’s extensive coverage of the Olympics.

Charles Elmore of the Palm Beach Post says NBC’s coverage of the Games won’t be all live.

John Rash of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Olympics don’t have the viewing power that they once did.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News put together a day-by-day viewing guide of the Olympics.

Caitlin Heaney of the Evening Sun (PA) says sports including the Olympics have taken over her TV this summer.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Cablevision has not come to an agreement with NBC to carry the whopping internet portion of its Olympics coverage. Richard also writes about Mark Cuban’s bid to buy the Chicago Cubs.

Newsday’s Neil Best discusses NBC’s coverage of the Olympics in Communist China. In his blog, Neil mentions that SNY’s Keith Hernandez made a big save in the booth and prevented another potential visit by the PC police.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick makes it clear that he’s not a fan of YES’ Michael Kay.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner talks about the local media coverage of former Washington Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Green being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette talks about the Jets being on local TV for the NFL exhibition season.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record asks are you ready for some football?

Joe Favorito looks inside the media coverage of the Manny Ramirez trade from both the Boston and Los Angeles perspective.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News tells us TBS is getting ready for the MLB Postseason ad sale push.

Peter Larson of the Orlando Sentinel profiles ESPN.com’s college basketball guru Andy Katz.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press discusses ESPN’s expansion of SportsCenter into mornings.

In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jonah Goldberg says ESPN honored the 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute by John Carlos and Tommie Smith for the wrong reasons.

Multichannel News reports that FSN will air four Elite XC Mixed Martial Arts specials starting in September.

That’s going todo it fo now. I’ll have the Week Ahead coming up late tonight.

Monday Linkage

I’ve been a bit busy at work today, trying to get some paperwork finished before the end of the month. Time to do some linkage now while I can.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael McCarthy who writes that ESPN got a stinker of race for its season debut of NASCAR.

The Daly Planet motorsports blog feels ESPN covered the race as best as it could under the circumstances.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power Rankings for July.

From the Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Terry Lefton report that the Indy Racing League is getting a lesson in reality from potential TV partners. Michael Smith of SBJ tells us that the Ohio State University is considering bundling its media rights.

A couple of things from Newsday’s Neil Best. He first complains about ESPN’s graphics errors during Sunday Night Baseball. And Neil tells us that former New York Ranger Matthew Barnaby is being considered as the successor to Barry Melrose as ESPN’s NHL analyst.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if cross promotion in sports actually works.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Tom Jones criticizes CBS’ telecast of Elite XC and ESPN’s Outside the Lines for its story on the Penn State football program in his regular Monday review of the weekend in televised sport.

NBC Sports has the details of its planned streaming of Sunday Night Football. Here’s the story from NBCSports.com. And on the heels of the important announcement (sarcasm purely intended) that Hank Williams, Jr. returns to sing “All My Rowdy Friends” on Monday Night Football, NBC tells us that Faith Hill returns to sing “I’ve Been Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” for Sunday Night Football.

Mike Di Mauro of the Day of New London, CT writes about former DC sports anchor Wally Bruckner who has settled in Eastern Connecticut, running a popular bistro, and will be working for NBC Sports as part of its internet unit, producing reports and highlights during the Olympics.

Tom Dorsey of the Louisville Courier-Journal says Communist China will be watching NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell remembers the late Jocko Maxwell who died two weeks ago, saying Maxwell helped him immensely when Harwell was an up-and-coming sportscaster in Atlanta.

Sandy Penner of the Philadelphia Bulletin feels announcers make too much news these days.

I’ll have an update sometime tonight.

Our Sunday Night Links

I was out all day preventing me from looking for links, but I’m back now so let’s do some linkage.

Starting with David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch, he tells us that Gordon Edes is finally leaving the Boston Globe and heading over to Yahoo.

Broadcasting & Cable editor Ben Grossman

Hank Williams, Jr. returns for another season of singing the open for Monday Night Football.

Jim Seimas of the Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel writes that former NFL QB Trent Dilfer is looking forward to his new career as an analyst for ESPN.

The Sports Media Watch has its usual weekend ratings predictions. The SMW also says mixed martial arts did not do well on CBS last night as compared to its first telecast in May.

Neil Best of Newsday profiles SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt who has gone from selling used cars to becoming one of the network’s rising stars. In his blog, Neil clarifies one point that Kevin made in his column. Neil adds that WFAN beat rival 1050 ESPN Radio in the midday portion of the ratings.

From the New York Daily News, Bob Raissman writes that the media will and should hammer Personal Seat Licenses.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner talks with two men involved in the Nationals Spanish language radio network.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner is happy that the FCC lost in court to fine CBS for the Janet Jackson flash back in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Steve Wiseman of The State writes about NBC Sports flooding the net with the Olympics in 12 days.

Sam Ross, Jr. of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looks at ESPN’s Outside the Lines focusing on the travails of the Penn State football program. The Centre (PA) Daily Times asks readers to respond to the ESPN report.

Sean Keeler of the Des Moines Register says the Big Ten Network and Mediacom Cable are still talking about a carriage deal, a month before the season begins.

And Jason Lloyd of the Northeast Ohio News-Herald says BTN and Time Warner Cable are hopeful they can reach an agreement in August.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News looks at the future of the SEC including the next TV contract.

Faimon Roberts of the Bauregard (LA) Daily News is not enjoying ESPN the way he used to.

David Andriesen and John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer say that Mariners voice Dave Niehaus was having a great time at the Baseball Hall of Fame where he was inducted earlier today.

Lisa Swann and Jon Lewin of the New York Daily News would have like to have seen the induction ceremony on ESPN or ESPN2 instead of ESPN Classic which is not readily available.

Thomas Bonk of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN/ABC college basketball analyst Steve Lavin likes the job security.

Joe Favorito says the Arena Football League handled commissioner Dan Baker’s resignation as best as it could heading into today’s Arena Bowl. And Joe bids farewell to his former employer, the International Fight League.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog recalls his first break in TV at the Canadian Open, some 27 years ago.

I’ll have the Week Ahead coming up.

The Mid-Week Links

It’s Wednesday. The All-Star Game is over, thank goodness. I stayed up to watch every single pitch and out until 1:30 a.m. ET. What could have been another embarrassing tie ended up with the American League winning 4-3.

Now that the Mid-Summer Classic is over, we can now focus on the Open Championship which begins tomorrow. Later tonight, I’ll post the sites where you can watch live streaming coverage while at work.

And once the Open Championship is finished on Sunday, our next focus in the sporting world will be on the Summer Olympics in Communist China and that is a theme in today’s links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the NBC announcing assignments for the Olympics.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has the complete list of announcers and analysts for the Olympics.

In the Houston Chronicle, David Barron hails fellow Chronicle soccer columnist Glenn Davis who will be part of the NBC Olympics soccer announcing team.

From the Hollywood Reporter, Paul J. Gough says NBC went with experience and plenty of medal winners for its Olympic announcing team.

Chris Preimesberger of eWeek has a technical article on NBC’s ambitious plans to bring the Olympics online and to your cell phone.

Michael Learmonth of Silicon Valley Insider says while NBC is putting the Olympics online, it’s not sharing the Games with its Hulu video site.

Digital Home Canada laments the fact that NBC’s online coverage of the Olympics won’t be made available to Canadians.

However, Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter reports that CBC will offer 1,500 hours of online coverage of the Olympics.

CBC Sports announces that its entire 282 hours of TV coverage of the Olympics will be broadcast in HD. TSN says its 150 hours of coverage of the Beijing Olympics will also be in HD.

Rob Longley of the Vancouver Sun says CBC’s cameras will be able to take live shots of Tienamen Square.

Newsday’s Neil Best who seems to be grumpy now that his vacation is over says there won’t be any surprises when NBC formally announces the announcing assignments today. Neil also applauds the NFL Network decision to name New York Giants radio announcer Bob Papa as its announcer on Thursday and Saturday Night Football. And this is a first as far as I know. Neil will take part in a live chat today at 1 p.m. ET. In his special Wednesday column, Neil says Fox Sports had an up and down All-Star Game. In his blog, Neil takes Fox to task for waiting until the 11th inning to pay tribute to the late Bobby Murcer.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Mariano Rivera had the defining moments of the All-Star Game on Fox.

From the Chicago Tribune, Ameet Sachdev writes that a Cubs-only cable channel is a distinct possibility when the team’s rights with Comcast SportsNet expire in 2019.

MLB says Fox and TBS Sports are collaborating on a massive pitch for the playoffs.

Awful Announcing says Howard Stern Wack Packer High Pitch Eric solicited ESPN’s Erin Andrews to appear on the Stern show.

The Sports Media Watch says ESPN drew great ratings for the Home Run Derby.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says the Home Run Derby is the highest rated show of the year to date on cable.

Bob Smizik from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the local ESPN Radio affiliate dropped the All-Star Game in the bottom of the 10th inning and never went back.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recaps MLB Walking Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig’s appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday.

Surely by now, you’re aware of the New York Daily News taking Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon’s statements about finishing the All-Star Game out of context. The Sox & Dawgs blog takes the New York media to task for overblowing Papelbon’s comments. And Sox & Dawgs says the sensationalism put Papelbon’s wife at risk.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if Josh Hamilton will start getting endorsements. Darren also talks with MLB’s Executive Vice President of Business Operations on the launch of the MLB Network.

Joe Favorito says Vitamin Water hit a big marketing home run during All-Star Game weekend.

The 38Cliches blog links to an interview with former Red Sox announcing hack Glenn Geffner.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post writes that Billy Packer has had more than just “One Shining Moment”. And Michael Wilbon of the Post says Packer was a pro’s pro on TV.

In his Over the Top blog, Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes about Bob Papa taking the NFL Network play-by-play gig. Also from the Star, Aaron Barnhart says the NFL Network went with the safe route when it should have selected ESPN’s Pam Ward.

Bruce Allen from the Boston Sports Media Watch says WEEI has officially announced that former Boston Herald writers Rob Bradford and Michael Felger are joining the company to report for the radio station’s website.

Michael Buteau of Bloomberg writes that without Tiger Woods, the Open Championship will have lower ratings and a wide open field.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune looks forward to the next NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field on NBC.

The DC/Baltimore Examiner’s Jim Williams asks if Baltimore wants a minor league hockey team.

Tim Lemke from the Washington Times writes that two rival MMA pay per view events take place this Saturday.

Kevin Downey of Media Life Magazine says NASCAR has rebounded in the ratings, but not in ad revenue.

A lot of links today. I’ll have more stuff later.

Wednesday Morning Linkage

Time for some links this morning. My computer issues will be done by the end of this week so I’ll be back on a regular schedule soon.

By the way, I’ve added the Red Sox Monster blog by Dan Lamothe to the Friends of Fang’s Bites list to the left so please visit it as much as you can.

Speaking of the Red Sox Monster blog, Dan has the video of the lovely Erin Andrews being a guest of CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Blog Show.

As we’re one day away from the NBA Finals, the Boston Globe’s Nancy Marrapese-Burrell talks with Boston Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who’s bewildered by all the love for the Lakers.

The Boston Herald’s Inside Track girls says WEEI’s Cedric Maxwell is now the recipient of Kevin Garnett’s ritual of clapping rosin before games as the Celtics’ TV voices are not doing the NBA Finals. Laura Crimaldi and Jessica Heslam of the Herald write that parents are angry with the late starting times for the NBA Finals.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox Sports is happy that people are watching NASCAR again.

The Atlanta Business Journal reports that TNT will offer a new feature that will steer viewers to extra online features during its NASCAR telecasts.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that Showtime will pick up Inside the NFL. Neil has some overnight ratings for Stanley Cup Finals Game 5 from ten markets. And Neil has a link to a WFAN interview with grumpy NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that CBS Sports and NFL Films will co-produce the new version of Inside the NFL.

The Big Lead blog broke news yesterday about the ESPN SportsCenter anchor lineup including the new live morning block.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel lists the sports celebrities and broadcasters who made commencement speeches this year.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union profiles former LPGA golfer Dottie Pepper who has made a new career for herself by working on NBC’s golf telecasts. And in his blog, Pete has the schedule for some early college football games on ESPN.

Keith Jarrett of the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times says a meeting between the two Division I National Champions, Appalachian State and LSU on August 30 has been moved up three hours to accomodate ESPN.

Bob Carlton of the Birmingham News writes that Alabama coach Nick Saban’s TV show will move to a new home this fall.

The Sports Media Watch reports that the NBA Playoffs have been very good to ESPN. And the blog says the NHL got some big ratings for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press says Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew big ratings in town and nationally.

Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News writes that hockey is proving that it can be a ratings draw.

Over to Maury Brown’s Biz of Baseball site, we learn that MASN will debut a new field level panoramic camera for Nationals and Orioles broadcasts. Maury writes in the Biz of Hockey reports that the NHL and TSN have reached agreement on a six year broadcast deal that includes digital rights and a mid-week Canadian doubleheader.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that TSN will get more Maple Leafs games as part of its new TV contract.

Here’s TSN’s announcement of its new agreement with the National Hockey League.

Paul Wiecek of the Winnepeg Free Press writes that ESPN’s Chris Berman was in town to be a guest speaker at a local event.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says new owner of the Tribune Company, Sam Zell, wants to keep a minority stake of the Cubs.

Radio Ink magazine says ESPN is launching the ESPN HD Radio Network. About seven people across the country have HD Radio.

XM Satellite Radio will have extensive coverage of the US Open starting next week.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that CBS’ Mixed Martial Arts telecast on Saturday took a bite out of the primetime ratings.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says MMA garnered good ratings for CBS.

I would have gotten to this earlier, but due to my computer problems I was not able to link to it. I want to pass my sympathies to Christoper Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog who lost his mother last week. Chris is one of the good people on the internet and losing a parent is never easy. I’m very sorry for your loss, Chris.

That will do it for now.

This Spotty Blogging is Killing Me

After not blogging since Friday night (not by choice), I’m back with a vengeance today. My home computer is totally on the fritz. I looked at a nice notebook that I’ll be getting over the next few days. And because I was out Sunday helping my sister move into a new apartment and at a jobsite on Monday, I could not blog until today. But I’m here now and there are several stories that I need to get to.

Let’s start in my native New England where media types are talking about the decision by NESN to drop the lovely and popular Hazel Mae at the end of this month. After Tina Cervasio announced her departure from NESN in April, Hazel is now the latest to leave. Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch was among the first to break the news. The Sox & Dawgs blog noted that Hazel dropped the bombshell during a NESN.com chat (that is no longer archived). The word is that NESN lowballed Hazel during contract negotiations and that is the reason for her departure. Rumors say that this apparently happened with Tina Cervasio during her negotiations with NESN. Dan Lamothe of the Red Sox Monster blog says he never quite understood the Hazel love. And the Inside Track girls from the Boston Herald have background and details on Hazel’s departure.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power Rankings for May.

A few things from CNBC’s Darren Rovell. First, he pats himself on the back for his handicapping for the National Spelling Bee. Darren says the latest promotional fad in Minor League Baseball is the free funeral. And Darren has a fascinating interview with MLB.com CEO Bob Bowman.

Checking the Tuesday media columns, Newsday’s Neil Best says ABC could not have asked for a better NBA Final with the Celtics and Lakers. Neil has a personal tidbit stemming from his Tuesday columm in his blog. And Neil says many of his fellow sports journalists are resentful of Rick Reilly getting a big payday from ESPN.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times apparently did not enjoy Saturday’s MMA broadcast on CBS. Sandomir says the Elite XC telecast on CBS drew a 2.7 rating.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says a Sunday night game is rough on the Mets and their fans.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports anchor has been tapped to call Olympic handball for the networks of NBC Universal.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says ABC will have Breeder’s Cup coverage this October combining with ESPN for the first joint cable-network TV venture for the horse racing event. And Ken says ESPN Radio will have coverage of the Belmont Stakes this Saturday.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that former CNN executive Princell Hair will be a senior Vice President of news operations for all of Comcast SportsNet’s 10 regional sports networks.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that ESPN is taking its time to replace the embattled Mark Madden.

Ray Frager of the Baltmore Sun says the Elite XC event drew well locally.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that MMA didn’t do that great in Houston.

From Mel Bracht’s blog in the Oklahoman, he says ESPN/ABC’s NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy is predicting a Lakers dynasty.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week writes that the Celtics-Lakers is driving strong ad sales for ABC.

George M. Thomas from the Akron Beacon Journal says the NBA Finals are not appointment viewing for the younger generation.

Steven Zeitchik and Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter wonder if the Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals will be enough to draw ratings for ABC.

But Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine writes that the NBA Finals should be a big ratings draw.

The Sports Media Watch cautions about high ratings expectations for the NBA Finals. And the SMW reports last night’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals garnered the highest overnight ratings for an NHL game on NBC.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that Petr Sykora called his overtime winning goal to NBC’s Pierre McGuire during last night’s Stanley Cup Final game. Here is Sykora talking to McGuire about his called goal.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that TSN will get a Wednesday all-Canadian NHL doubleheader as part of a new six year deal with the league.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says the Brewers’ sweep of the Astros drew well this past weekend for FSN Wisconsin.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times writes in his blog that HBO will run some of its best sports documentaries every Tuesday night starting tonight.

Fox Sports NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip is sad that he won’t be calling any more races this year.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back tomorrow. But Primetime and Late Night viewing picks are coming up.

It’s Back! The Friday Megalinks are Here!

After a week’s absence and the start of my massive computer problems, I give you the Friday megalinks. I appreciate your patience during this tough stretch for me. About another week and I should be back on track.

Let’s go over the viewing weekend before we get into the megalinks.

Weekend Viewing Picks

There are plenty of sporting events to watch to avoid taking your significant other to “Sex and the City”.

As far as major events are concerned, the Stanley Cup Finals are in full swing. NBC and the CBC have Game 4 of the Detroit-Pittsburgh series Saturday at 8 p.m.

Tennis fans can watch the French Open on Tennis Channel and NBC this weekend. Tennis Channel has coverage starting at 5 a.m. with NBC starting up at 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

The NBA Playoffs potentially have the weekend off if the Celtics win at Detroit in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight. ESPN has tonight’s game at 8:30 p.m. If the Pistons win at home tonight, then Game 7 would be played Sunday night on ABC at 8:30.

Fox has its usual slate of three MLB games on Saturday with Joe Torre returning to New York as his Dodgers take on the Mets, Atlanta travels to Cincinnati and the Detroit Tigers travel out west to take on Seattle. All games begin at 3:55 p.m. On Sunday, TBS carries Florida at Phialdelphia (1 p.m.), WGN has the Cubs hosting Colorado (2:10 p.m.) and the ESPN Sunday night game will be the Dodgers at the Mets (8 p.m.).

NASCAR heads over to the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware and the Nationwide Series race, the Heluva Good! 200 will be on ESPN2 this Saturday at 3. Fox has its last race of the NASCAR season, the Sprint Cup Best Buy 400, Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The Indy Car Series is in Wisconsin on ABC, Sunday at 4.

The PGA Tour continues without Tiger Woods as the Memorial Tournament will be on both the Golf Channel and CBS throughout the weekend.

NBC has the LPGA’s Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika Sorenstam at 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re a softball fan, the Women’s College World Series is on the ESPN family of networks from Oklahoma City.

ESPN 2 will have the Reebok Grand Prix track & field meet Saturday night at 8.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the primetime network TV debut of Mixed Martial Arts as Screamin’ Gus Johnson will call the Elite XC Xtreme Combat bout which will include Kimbo Slice on CBS, Saturday at 8 p.m.

Now to our links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand profiles Mary Carillo who is doing the French Open for ESPN and NBC as well as working for HBO and CBS.

Now, I’ll start our links in the South, go up the East Coast, then move across the country and into Canada. It’ll make sense when all is done.

South

From The State in Columbia, SC, Doug Nye says baseball fans won’t be able to watch the University of South Carolina’s quest to go to the College World Series this weekend.

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald says CBS officials are having mixed emotions about showing Mixed Martial Arts.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel also writes about CBS’ first venture in the MMA arena.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says the local NBC affiliate will be pre-empting tennis and LPGA action on Sunday because of a telethon.

David Barron in today’s Houston Chronicle writes that FSN Houston is ready to move to new headquarters in the downtown area.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks about some announcing musical chairs in the Texas Rangers’ TV and Radio booths as analyst Tom Grieve leaves temporarily due to medical reasons.

Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman talks with ESPN’s John Kruk who is saying he lobbied for the assignment to call the Women’s College World Series. Mel writes that ESPN is bullish about softball’s ratings. In his notebook, Mel discusses MMA moving to CBS. And Mel has his weekend viewing picks.

East and Mid-Atlantic

In the Boston Globe, Nancy Marrapese-Burrell writes about the annual Hot Dog Safari hosted by long-time talk show host Eddie Andelman.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks with CBS’ Gus Johnson who will call Saturday’s Mixed Martial Arts event. And Sandomir says the NHL outrated the NBA in Detroit on Wednesday.

From the New York Post, Phil Mushnick says it took ESPN too long to fire Pittsburgh talk show host Mark Madden for his comments about Senator Ted Kennedy.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman did not like the Mets’ dog and pony show on Monday.

Newsday’s Neil Best also discusses the Mixed Martial Arts event on CBS. In his blog, Neil says the NBA’s ratings are soaring in this postseason. And Neil talks with Fox Sports’ Tim McCarver who’s enjoying doing a schedule of national MLB games.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager talks with Orioles’ radio voice Joe Angel.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News says CBS is wrong to pick up MMA.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres are not concerned that their TV ratings have slipped this season. And Jay has the ratings from last week in San Diego.

John Maffei of the North County Times also discusses the CBS/MMA telecast.

Over to the Ventura County Star where Jim Carlisle wonders what CBS was thinking when it signed to carry four MMA events.

In the Los Angeles Times, John Scheibe in the Sound and Vision column talks about TV covering Joe Torre’s return to New York with the Dodgers.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about CBS and MMA. Tom also has his extensive media news and notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog. And just to make you sick, Tom has pictures of various celebrities attending the Spurs-Lakers game on Thursday.

John Ryan in the San Jose Mercury News says the MMA event on CBS could get ugly.

Midwest

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal writes that Browns left tackle Joe Thomas will be co-hosting a fishing show on STO.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says MMA has hit the primetime.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that NBC is hoping for a star-studded French Open this year.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly is ready to hit ESPN with a big bang starting Sunday.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Judd Zulgad says the Timberwolves’ return to KFAN also means the return an adversarial relationship between the two parties.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Hockey Night in Canada’s dislike of Sidney Crosby is now bordering on the ridiculous.

Crash Cameron of the Edmonton Sun says legendary CBC NHL voice Bob Cole still has got game.

And Don Brennan of SLAM! Sports says despite his advanced age, Cole is not ready to leave the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast booth.

Blogs

From the Women’s Tennis Blog, there’s a great spread of Ana Ivanovic in Hello! Magazine.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Hockey blog says NBC saw a huge increase in the ratings for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals from last year.

In his sports marketing and public relations blog, Joe Favorito liked the way the Reebok Grand Prix track & field meet tried to get some pub.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if a meaningless last second shot in last night’s Spurs-Lakers game cost bettors some money.

The Sports Media Watch now with the Lakers in the NBA Finals, the league can be assured of good TV ratings.

That will do it.

The Return of Your Humble Blogger and Some Links Too

My apologies for not updating the blog on Tuesday. This computer thing is getting out of hand. Yes, I’ll be getting a new computer. Yes, it will be soon. Yes, once I have the computer, the blogging schedule will be back to normal. Just bear with me. I should be back and blogging regularly next week. Just know that when I’m away from this site, I feel rather strange. But I will say that I’ve been doing other things like watching TV or catching up on my DVD’s. And Hell’s Kitchen has been really good this season.

Time to give you some links while I can.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about CBS entering the Mixed Martial Arts forum this Saturday. Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune calls MMA, “human cockfighting”.

Also from the Tribune, Fred Mitchell talks with former Chicago White Sox and current FSN Dodger analyst Steve Lyons who’s still bitter over his firing by Fox Sports over a remark made in the ALCS two years ago.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says HBO is going to make a movie out of the book “Game of Shadows”, the tome that brought BALCO and its connection to Barry Bonds and other atheletes to light.

Newsday’s Neil Best transcribes some of the best (or worst depending on your opinion) of Yankees radio announcer John Sterling from the Memorial Day weekend. Neil tells his readers to not leave a movie theater when the credits start rolling.

Some ratings news from the Sports Media Watch. First, the ratings for the first two Stanley Cup Finals games on Versus were the highest for an NHL game on the network. Next, the Indy 500 outrated the Coca Cola 600 in the overnights, but NASCAR eventually overtook open wheel racing in the overall ratings. And the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals did well for ABC/ESPN over the weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says locally, the Indy 500 drew more viewers than the Coke 600.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the NBA has set the schedule for the Finals.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says the Pistons outrated the Red Wings in Detroit during the first two times the teams conflicted over the weekend. They will conflict again tonight.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager says Baseball Tonight’s John Kruk will become a game analyst for the Women’s College World Series. The Daily Oklahoman has more on Kruk and the other ESPN announcers who will call the WCWS.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell doesn’t think that hot tennis chick Ashley Harkleroad’s decision to pose nude in Playboy was a good one from a marketing point of view.

The Steel City is talking about sports radio talk show host Mark Madden who has been fired from his ESPN Radio 1250 show for remarks made about Senator Edward Kennedy. Ryan Wilson of the AOL Fanhouse blog says Madden’s remarks were dumber than usual for a guy who’s been living on borrowed time with ESPN.

Kevin Roderick of the LA Observed blog writes about an ESPN.com reporter who’s in hot water for writing a blog entry about Kobe Bryant’s wife.

Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times has some anecdotes from Jim Nantz’s book.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says the Tampa Bay Rays are finally garnering some national media attention.

Michael Futch of the Fayetteville (NC) Observer laments TBS not carrying the Braves this year.

Scott Rabalais of The Advocate (LA) says the Southeastern Conference has to decide whether to continue syndicating its football games with Raycom or start up a TV channel like the

Jon Show of the Sports Business Journal writes that the LPGA is in negotiations with potential TV partners to broadcast its tournaments for the next five years.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune talks with Bay Area natives Ted Robinson and Bob Fitzgerald who will work for NBC during the Olympics in Communist China. And Dave profiles a former TV reporter who has directed a documentary on Barry Bonds.

Good friend, LC over at the 38 Cliches blog wonders who will be with Joe Castiglione in the Red Sox radio booth in Seattle for tonight’s game.

It’s been a while since we’ve had an Erin Andrews story and Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune gives us one as Erin covers the National Spelling Bee for both ESPN and ABC this week.

That will do it for now. I’ll have the Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.