Fang's Bites

The Best in Sports Broadcasting in 2011

I’m not going to go too wild on this. Other sites are doing similar posts as well.

I’ll provide what I feel are the best calls in Sports Broadcasting this year. The only way to do this is to post videos and that’s what I’ll do. I know I said Best and Worst earlier, but the search is taking too long. We’ll provide the best calls in 2011.

We’ll go sport-by-sport and you can either agree or disagree.

Baseball

Dan Shulman, ESPN Radio — Game 6, World Series, David Freese Walk-off home run

Gary Thorne, MLB International — Same as above. Two great calls of the same moment.

Boxing

Larry Merchant vs. Floyd Mayweather, HBO Pay Per View — Floyd cursed out Larry and then Larry had the comeback of the year.

College Basketball

Gus Johnson, CBS Sports — Pac-10 Championship, Isiah Thomas hits the game-winning shot. “COLD BLOODED!”

College Football

Joe Tessitore, ESPN — “TOUCHDOWN! THEY DID IT!!” Iowa State upsets Oklahoma State knocking the Cowboys out of the BCS.

Joe Tessitore, ESPN on ABC — “Iowa State, USC and Baylor just made a mess of the BCS.” Baylor upsets Oklahoma less than 24 hours later and Joe Tessitore was there.

Golf

Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller and the Golf Channel on NBC crew — The 72nd hole for Rory McIlroy as he wins the US Open at Congressional. Great job by Dan and Johnny as they describe Rory McIlroy winning his first major championship.

Horse Racing

Larry Collmus, NBC — The 137th Kentucky Derby. It marked Larry’s first race for NBC as he replaced Tom Durkin who left in 2010. And he got a huge upset as Animal Kingdom won the race.

Jack Edwards Calls of the Year

Living in New England and having access to NESN and Jack Edwards is the gift that keeps on giving. He was in rare form in 2011. We begin with Jack mocking Chad LaRose of the Carolina Hurricanes with a “Yapping, yapping, yapping all the way to the box.” Classic Jack.

“GET UP!” In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Roman Hamrlik of the Montreal Canadiens went down and Jack decided to yell at him.

In Game 7, Hamrlik went down again, but the Bruins went on to score and Jack decided to rub it in.

And after the B’s closed out the Habs, Jack decided to make some puzzling final comments about royalty and having fun. Eight months later, I’m still trying to figure them out.

NFL

none

NHL

Mike Emrick, Versus — Tim Thomas makes a tremendous save in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Women’s World Cup

Ian Darke, ESPN — “ABBY WAMBACH HAS SAVED THE USA’S LIFE IN THIS WOMEN’S WORLD CUP!” Ian Darke had a tremendous call of the goal that tied Brazil in extra time in the quarterfinals.

And that will do it for us.

Going For The Tuesday Links

Let’s do some linkage on this Tuesday. News broke last evening about Gus Johnson leaving CBS and possibly going to Fox. We’ll be following this story today and anything else that breaks.

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk examines the move by CBS to allow Gus to walk away.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today bids adieu to Gus.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today takes a look at the ratings from the weekend including those of the Kentucky Derby.

Bruce Horovitz of USA Today notes that energy drink Red Bull is expanding into the lifestyle magazine market.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost examines the extensive rebranding of Comcast’s sports networks under the guidance of NBC Sports.

Also at MediaPost, Gavin O’Malley has a story on ESPN consolidating its print and digital media operations.

Jason Fry at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center tells aspiring journalists not to heed Rick Reilly’s advice and not be afraid to write for free.

Daniel Libit of the Columbia Journalism Review looks at the unique blogging arrangement between former Chicago Tribune NBA beat writer Sam Smith and the Chicago Bulls.

Todd Spangler from Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN has launched its Watch ESPN app for Android phones and tablets.

Anthony Crupi at AdWeek wonders if the Los Angeles Lakers’ exit from the NBA Playoffs will mean lower ratings for ESPN/ABC and TNT.

To Yahoo’s Puck Daddy and Greg Wyshynski who writes about a controversy brewing after an NHL player agent anti-gay marriage tweets on his business account following Sean Avery’s vocal support of the issue.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that the Kentucky Derby’s overnight ratings were down slightly from last year.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has an extensive look at the horse that sired Derby winner Animal Kingdom.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group writes about the new man who will head Turner Sports’ digital golf group.

To TV NewsCheck to look at a new urban TV network that hopes to serve the African American community with news, sports and other programming.

Richard Sandomir at the New York Times reveals that the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was an FBI informant on more than one occasion.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has your first look at the NBA Western Conference Finals schedule.

Dan Gross at the Philadelphia Daily News notes that the Comcast SportsNet regional networks will be rebranded under NBC Sports soon.

The Charlotte Observer says ESPN’s E:60 will profile a family who recently moved to the area to be closer to a minor league hockey team and better medical care.

Garry Smits with the Florida Times-Union recaps last night’s World Golf Hall of Fame ceremonies which posthumously inducted the late CBS producer Frank Chirkinian.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times notes that a popular local sports radio host could be leaving the #1 station in the market.

W. Scott Bailey of the San Antonio Business Times writes about a new reality show on Fox Sports Southwest that will focus on Texas-San Antonio’s effort to launch a new college football program.

Rob Hernandez of the Capital (WI) Times talks with a former local sports anchor will appear on Oprah to show off a huge transformation.

Chris Vetter of the Eau Claire (WI) Leader-Telegram wonders why there’s hardly any interest in the NBA in the local area.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says there should be no doubt about the legacy of Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

In the Daily Dunklin (MO) Democrat, ESPN video editor Dustin Sullivan gives some greetings to his hometown.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News gives TNT’s Charles Barkley the final say on the Lakers’ ignominious exit from the NBA Playoffs.

James Day in the Salem (OR) Statesman-Journal says Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott followed through on his promise to get a lucrative TV deal for the league.

At Awful Announcing, Ben Koo suggests that Gus Johnson may have had to make the move away from CBS now out of necessity.

Matt Sarzyniak of Matt’s College Sports and Matt’s College Sports Media Blog looks one more time at the Pac-12 media deals and a look ahead to this season.

Kat Hasenauer of SportsGirlKat says hockey agent firm Uptown Sports taking an anti-gay marriage stance is bad for business.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reviews the UEFA Champions League coverage in Canada.

Sports Media Watch says TNT saw good numbers for Monday night’s NBA Playoff doubleheader.

SMW notes ESPN/ABC scored well for the weekend NBA games.

And my good Twitter friend, Stephanie Gordon at Not Your Typical Girl says sports organizations forget that women are sports fans too.

We will end it there.

Isiah Thomas of Washington is “COLD! BLOODED!” As Per Gus Johnson

This Saturday has been a classic day for college basketball. Actually, the last three days have been classic for college basketball. Last second shots by Kemba Walker of UConn and Douglas Davis of Princeton along with comeback wins by North Carolina (twice) in the ACC Tournament, Memphis in the Conference USA Championship and Boston University in the America East Championship have given this college basketball fan something to look forward to when the NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday. But to really get us in the mood, we need Gus Johnson with a buzzer beater and we got that tonight in the Pac 10 Championship. Isiah Thomas of Washington hit a game winning shot after Arizona hit a three to tie 75-75 in overtime. Then Gus took over. Ha HAH!

My favorite part of the video? Someone from Washington asking, “Where’s my hat?” It’s all about the championship gear.

Thanks to Tweeter @Jose3030 for the video. I’m officially ready for March Madness.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 03/12 & 03/13/2011, All Times Eastern

Men’s schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, March 12

College GameDay – ESPN2, 11 a.m./ESPN, noon

men’s

America East Championship
Stony Brook at Boston University – ESPN2, noon

ACC Tournament, Greensboro, NC
Semifinals
North Carolina vs. Clemson  – ESPN/ACC Network, 1 p.m.
Duke vs. Virginia Tech – ESPN/ACC Network, 3:30 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Tournament, Atlantic City, NJ
Semifinals
Dayton vs. Duquense – CBS College Sports, 1 p.m.
Temple vs. Richmond – CBS College Sports, 3:30 p.m.

Big East Championship, New York, NY
UConn vs. Louisville – ESPN/ESPN 3D, 9 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament, Indianapolis, IN
Semifinals
Ohio State vs. Michigan – CBS, 1:30 p.m.
Penn State vs. Michigan State – CBS, 4 p.m.

Big 12 Championship, Kansas City, MO
Kansas vs. Texas – ESPN, 6 p.m.

Big West Championship, Anaheim, CA
Long Beach State vs. Cal-Santa Barbara – ESPNU, 8 p.m.

Conference USA Championship, El Paso, TX
UTEP vs. Memphis – CBS, 11:30 a.m.

MAC Championship, Cleveland, OH
Akron vs. Kent State  – ESPN2, 6 p.m.

MEAC Championship, Winston-Salem, NC
Morgan State vs. Hampton – ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Mountain West Championship, Las Vegas, NV
BYU vs. San Diego State – Versus, 7 p.m.

Pac 10 Championship, Los Angeles, CA
Arizona vs. Washington – CBS, 6 p.m.

SEC Tournament, Atlanta, GA
Semifinals
Alabama vs. Kentucky – ABC, 1 p.m.
Florida vs. Vanderbilt – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Southland Championship, Katy, TX
Texas-San Antonio vs. McNeese State – ESPN2, 4 p.m.

SWAC Championship, Garland, TX
Grambling State vs. Alabama State – ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.

WAC Championship, Las Vegas, NV
Utah State vs. Boise State – ESPN2, 10 p.m.

women’s

Big 12 Championship, Kansas City
Baylor vs. Texas A&M – Fox Sports Net, noon

Big Sky Championship, Portland, OR
Portland State vs. Montana – Altitude, 5 p.m.

CAA Tournament, Upper Marlboro, MD
Semifinals
James Madison vs. Virginia Commonwealth – Comcast SportsNet New England, noon
Delaware vs. UNC-Wilmington – Comcast SportsNet New England, 2:30 p.m.

Conference USA Championship, El Paso, TX
Central Florida vs. Tulane – CBS College Sports, 8 p.m.

Mountain West Championship, Las Vegas, NV
Utah vs. BYU – Versus, 4 p.m.

Pac 10 Championship, Los Angeles, CA
Stanford vs. UCLA – Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

Patriot League Championship
American at Navy – CBS College Sports, 6 p.m.

Sunday, March 13

College GameDay – ESPN, noon
Road to the Final Four – CBS, noon

men’s

ACC Championship, Greensboro, NC
North Carolina vs. Duke – ESPN/ACC Network, 1 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Championship, Atlantic City, NJ
Dayton vs. Richmond – CBS, 1 p.m.

Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis, IN
Ohio State vs. Penn State – CBS, 3:30 p.m.

SEC Championship, Atlanta, GA
Kentucky vs. Florida – ABC, 1 p.m.

NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show – CBS, 6 p.m.
Bracketology – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Crunch Time: Championship Week Special – ESPNU, 8 p.m.
NIT Selection Show – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

women’s

CAA Championship, Upper Marlboro, MD
James Madison vs. Delaware – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England, 1 p.m.

Horizon League Championship, Green Bay, WI
Wisconsin-Green Bay vs. Butler – ESPNU, 1 p.m.

MEAC Championship, Winston-Salem, NC
Hampton vs. South Carolina State – ESPNU, 11:30 a.m.

Missouri Valley Championship, St. Charles, MO
Northern Iowa vs. Missouri State – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 3 p.m.

Northeast Conference Championship
Monmouth at St. Francis (PA) – ESPNU, 3 p.m.

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

Some Thursday Linkage For You

Let’s provide the sports media links this morning. Lots of things to do today so I hope I can get this done and finish up the work I have to do later.

John Czarnecki at Fox Sports is amazed at how the NFL Scouting Combine has become a made-for-TV event.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable writes about ESPN 3D picking up coverage of The Masters in April.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says Carmelo Anthony’s introduction at Madison Square Garden last night was definitely made for TV.

Dan says a former New York Yankee who was part of an infamous wife swap in the 1970′s is now shocked that Academy Award winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck now want to do a movie about the story.

Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page is amused by Buzz Bissinger’s tweets.

At TVbytheNumbers, Bill Gorman notes that the NBA All-Star Game on TNT topped the cable primetime ratings for last week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the ultimate product placement in the NBA Slam Dunk competition is paying off in droves.

Awful Announcing has the video of the Big Ten Network’s Tom Hart calling a buzzer beater.

Ricardo A. Hazell from the Electronic Urban Report catches up with former NFL Today co-host Jayne Kennedy.

At Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen recaps Dale Arnold’s final show on WEEI.

Mark LaMonica at Newsday has the New York Post’s Peter Vescey’s comments about Steven A. Smith.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette reports that a local radio station will pick up Big East Tournament night games in early March.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning News says a local indoor football analyst has his eyes on the big leagues in Philadelphia.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post writes about the slashing of the staff at the local-run TBD.com which was hoped to be a DC news and sports online destination. While it did have get site hits, revenue was not where the owners had projected so last night came word that the site will focus on arts and entertainment.

Dan Steinberg of the Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt was very critical of Maryland students for failing to show up at last night’s game against Florida State.

To the Washington Examiner and Jim Williams who writes about the new look at Golf Channel and NBC Sports.

The Tampa Bay Newspapers have the Rays’ spring training schedule on Sun Sports.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN has hired a former Green Bay Packers executive to be an NFL business analyst.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business writes about Comcast SportsNet Chicago hiring former Bulls forward Scottie Pippen as a game analyst.

Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has a reader wanting more Minnesota Twins spring training games on TV.

Patrick Saunders in the Denver Post wants to institute a Sports Fans Bill of Rights.

Mike Sunnucks from the Phoenix Business Journal says the Suns will put all of their games on cable next season.

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star writes that the Pac 10/12 is hoping to get a better TV contract.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that a minor league hockey announcer suspended himself after he realized he was guilty of blatant homerism.

Pro Golf Talk’s Ryan Ballengee has the video of CBS golf analyst David Feherty getting hit in the groin.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has the 2011 Toronto Blue Jays schedule on Rogers Sportsnet

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media projects the NHL playoff matchups and TV network projections if the postseason started today.

Joe Favorito says companies with natural tie-ins are missing the boat on the NBA  and NHL Trading Deadlines.

And that’s where I’ll end it now.

Thursday’s Linkage

Let’s do some links for you on this Thursday. I hope to be able to do a bit more in the later part of the week unlike previous weeks where the links stop on Wednesday. Plenty of stuff to go over.

Michael Hiestand has a couple of articles on CBS/Turner changing the way we’ll watch the NCAA Tournament starting in March. First, he says times will be staggered and games will be spread out more so we can watch games from noon until midnight in the first three rounds of the tourney.

Mike says cable will change the way we’ll be viewing the tournament from now on.

Sports Illustrrated’s Richard Deitsch has the starting times and networks for the first week of the NCAA Tournament.

Sports Business Daily also goes over CBS/Turner’s plans for the NCAA Tournament.

This has nothing to do with sports, but more with the power of social media and establishing a brand. Douglas Alden Warshaw writes in Fortune about Conan O’Brien’s fast rise on Twitter and how he uses social media to engage with his audience.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable writes that the Chevy Camaro Super Bowl ad is now the most-watched TV commercial ever.

Mike Stern of Media Life Magazine says while the Super Bowl became the most watched TV program in US history, it may also be the most listened to program as well.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that ESPN is selling ads faster than any other network.

Jonathan Berr from Daily Finance notes that Comcast is not willing to allow its SportsNet Philadelphia to go on satellite without a huge fight.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tries to find out how much the Super Bowl flyover cost taxpayers.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says several fans are now suing the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL over not being able to see the games after local fire marshals deemed their seating unsafe.

Bobby Cassidy of Newsday says CBS will air portions of Showtime’s Fight Camp 360 series to promote the Manny Pacquaio-Shane Mosley fight.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that SNY is the crown jewel of the New York Mets owners’ empire.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette has the start times for the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record is happy that two 50,000 watt heritage radio stations have regained the rights to baseball teams in their respective local markets.

Matt Palmer at Press Box notes that Orioles radio announcers Joe Angel and Fred Manfra will be moving with the team to its new home at WBAL.

DCRTV‘s Dave Hughes writes in Press Box about the O’s decision to leave CBS Radio’s FM sports station to return to WBAL.

The lovely Jen Royle of MASN says while the Orioles have left CBS Radio, Baltimore where she works full-time, she’ll figure out her next move soon.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Capitals’ Vice President of Communication is leaving his post and will be missed in local circles.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says it’s time to get ready for NASCAR.

Gary Smits of the Florida Times-Union praises the PGA Tour and Golf Channel for getting behind some marquee groupings during the early rounds of golf tournaments to help ratings and on-site attendance.

Gary notes that former CBS Sports pioneering golf producer Frank Chirkinian will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.

Jeff Shain of the Orlando Sentinel says Chirkinian’s stamp on televised golf is still being felt today.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says there’s a future for 3-D TV, just not in sports. I totally agree.

Cheryl Hall of the Dallas Morning News says after a slow start due to the weather, area businesses did see an economic impact from the Super Bowl.

Mitchell Schnurman of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Metroplex failed to get the job done during Super Bowl Week.

John Fay at the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio will carry a handful of Reds exhibition games.

The Detroit News says all but one of the Tigers regular season games will be seen on local TV.

Jacob Newkirk of the Evansville (IN) Courier-Press isn’t happy that most of the St. Louis Cardinals schedule will be on cable.

The Milwaukee Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says Vince Lombardi, or Dan Lauria playing Vince Lombardi assisted David Letterman on a Top 10 list.

Sharon Roznik of the Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter says the son of the late ESPN reporter Adrian Karsten is telling high school students about his alcoholism and how he almost met the same fate as his father.

Carrie Muskrat of MLB.com has the Chicago Cubs releasing its 2011 TV schedule.

The White Sox have released their broadcast schedules as well.

To Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business who says the Cubs will have almost all of their Spring Training games aired on radio, TV or the the internet.

The Belleville (IL) News-Democrat talks about the Cardinals TV announcing team for this season.

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that Fox Sports Midwest will carry 152 regular season games.

The Phoenix Business Journal notes that the Suns’ TV ratings are up from last season while the Coyotes’ are down, the Cardinals beat them all.

Larry Bohannan of The Desert (CA) Sun reports that the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship will move to Golf Channel this year after being split between ESPN2 and CBS.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News wishes the Pac 10 would get rid of its current archaic TV contracts and begin anew. Right now.

Sports Media Watch talks about the ratings for the Super Bowl postgame shows on ESPN and NFL Network and other events.

SMW wonders with the NBC Sports takeover of Comcast’s sports properties, does it mean that viewers of Comcast SportsNet’s NBA properties in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, the Bay Area and Portland could hear the old NBA on NBC theme once again? As if you needed a reminder, here it is, the best theme in all of sports.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media speaks with Versus’ Brian Engblom about his new role as the on-ice analyst.

Mike Vitello of Awful Announcing explains how the NFL really dropped the ball regarding Super Bowl XLV and social interaction.

And that’s where we will end it for today.

Saturday Links

Let’s do some linkage on this Saturday. Trying to provide you with a full week of linkage for the first time in a while. And look for reviews of Pony Excess, the last ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, and Lombardi, HBO’s documentary on the late coach.

Here are the links.

Mike Demenchuk of Multichannel News reviews HBO’s Lombardi.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes about the new Golf Channel morning show that premieres in January.

Mike says Canadian donut chain Tim Horton’s will advertise during Versus’ coverage of the NHL Heritage Classic in February.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk has some thoughts on the Golf Channel morning show.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite polls showing LeBron James may have lost his marketing power, uniform sales prove the contrary.

Matthew Futterman and Jonathan Clegg of the Wall Street Journal report on the two fanbases of John W. Henry’s teams who are jealous of the spending on each other’s organizations.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says ESPN decided to tape an interview with Cam Newton in advance instead of asking him awkward questions about his father after the Heisman Trophy Presentation. 

Newsday offers the best of Neil Best’s blogging from the week.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record writes that Fox College Sports is in town for a national broadcast.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes about the Big Chill at the Big House, the outdoor hockey game between Michigan State and Michigan that will be available across the country today.

Jim says ESPN is ready for tonight’s Heisman Trophy presentation.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that four Miami-based athletes have made a Forbes magazine list.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn talks with NBC’s Tony Dungy about the Cowboys which is quite different than the team he saw playing against Green Bay earlier this season.

Barry previews Jerry Jones’ appearance on 60 Minutes. 

Mark Norris of the Morning News talks with the director of tonight’s 30 for 30 documentary on the SMU football program.

David Barron reviews 30 for 30′s “Pony Excess” which airs tonight.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune recaps the funeral services for the late Ron Santo.

Robert Gagliardi of the Wyoming Tribune looks at the Mountain West/WAC moves and what it means for fans.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes that the Pac 10/12′s media rights will be sorted out very soon.

Steve Johnson from the San Jose Mercury News says Dish Network subscribers are losing out on seeing Sharks games as Comcast SportsNet California has been off the satellite provider since Thanksgiving. 

Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports on the University of Hawaii’s decision to join the Mountain West for football and Big West Conference for other sports and what it means for its media rights revenue. 

The Toronto Sports Media Blog has a breakdown of the local sports radio ratings.

Over at CBC.ca, Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean discusses how he and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke cleared the air on a couple of issues and writes about tonight’s 3-D broadcast. 

SportsbyBrooks speculates on whether Jim Gray was paid a half million dollars for his role in “The Decision”.

And that will do it for today.

Let’s Do Some Sunday Linkage

With the NFL games underway, it’s time to bring you some linakge today.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says the NFL Network’s Thursday game between Houston and Philadelphia garnered just under 5.5 million viewers.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that the BBC is coming under fire for undermining Britain’s bid for the 2018 World Cup.

Ben Klayman from Reuters reports that MLB Network is aiming to be available in 70 million homes by next season.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes an open letter written to ESPN.com from Bruce Springsteen E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren about its coverage on Michael Vick.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir has an appreciation of the late Chicago Cubs radio analyst Ron Santo.

To Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News says the public feud between Derek Jeter and the Yankees (most likely over now) will hurt the shortstop and not the team.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post plays with the conspiracy theory that the NFL did not suspend Houston’s Andre Johnson because he would be playing in the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football game.

Mike Battaglino from the Post has a survey of the paper’s columnists and writers of best and worst NFL TV analysts. Thanks to Bob’s Blitz for the link.

Virginia Rohan from NorthJersey.com profiles former sportscaster and Entertainment Tonight reporter Chris Wragge who will become the co-host of CBS’ The Early Show in January.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says ESPN’s Outside the Lines failed to get the job done today on a story about Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.

The Baltimore Sun talks with NBC’s Al Michaels about calling primetime football for 25 years.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner is thrilled to see two tasty NFL primetime matchups for tonight and tomorrow.

Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News shares his thoughts on Outside the Lines look back at how Monday Night Football announced John Lennon’s death some 30 years ago. 

Mike Baldwin of the Daily Oklahoman has Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe talking about the conference’s future on TV and in several other issues.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that the late Vince Lombardi remains to be an intriguing subject so many years later.

The Chicago Tribune has Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes’ thoughts on the passing of his partner, Ron Santo.

Dave Van Dyck of the Tribune says Santo may finally make the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune writes that Santo may not have been the best broadcaster, but the fans identified with him.

The Chicago Sun-Times has an editorial remembering what Santo meant to Chicago.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News describes one of the more bizarre moments in the SEC Championship involving CBS’ Tracy Wolfson.

Tom notes that Fox Sports Net Pac 10 football analyst Petros Papadakis can’t please everyone when he’s in the broadcast booth.

Nancy Raskauskas from the Corvallis (OR) Gazette-Times looks at how College Gameday became a huge party for the Oregon-Oregon State Civil War game.

Bob Clark from the Eugene Register-Guard says former Oregon basketball coach Ernie Kent will be a Pac 10 basketball analyst for Fox Sports Net.

Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions.

Awful Announcing has Gus Johnson’s call of Kentucky’s half court buzzer beater attempt yesterday.

And we’ll end it here for now.

Versus Crows About Oregon-Cal Ratings

It was one of Versus’ biggest matchups since obtaining the secondary rights to Pac 10 football games from Fox Sports Net and as a result, the network saw its biggest college football ratings ever. Oregon-Cal brought in an average of just under two million viewers and very good ratings in their respective local markets.

Perhaps the marriage of NBC Sports and Comcast will lead Versus to bid for the Pac 10 rights. We’ll see down the road, but before we jump ahead, here’s the Versus press release.

SATURDAY’S #1 OREGON/CAL GAME ON VERSUS WAS MOST-WATCHED COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME IN NETWORK HISTORY

NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 16, 2010)— VERSUS averaged more than 1.9 million viewers for the November 13 telecast of top-ranked Oregon’s win over Cal (15-13), making it the most-watched college football game ever on the network and surpassing the previous college football high set by Oregon/Oregon State on November 29, 2008 (1.6 million viewers).

The telecast, which garnered a 1.7 HH rating, peaked at a 2.7 HH rating and more than three million viewers from 10:30 p.m.-10:45 p.m. ET. The game was also VERSUS’ most-watched college football game among all the key male demos.   

VERSUS.com also experienced its most trafficked day ever on November 13 for college football, leading to remarkable growth with unique visits and page views up triple digits compared to the month’s average.

The network fared extremely well in the team’s local markets as well. Portland received a 13.3 HH rating and the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose market delivered a 4.2 HH rating, making VERSUS the #1 rated network overall in both markets during the time period. 

And that is it.

Versus Goes 3-D For The First Time For The Pac 10

Versus enters the 3-D TV realm this Saturday by producing the Oregon-Cal game in the third dimension. The 3-D production will be different from the HD telecast that will air at the same time on the regular Versus. So there will be different announcers and production crews for the game. We have full details below.

VERSUS BREAKS 3D GROUND ON NOV. 13 WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL DOUBLE-HEADER FEATURING TWO OF TOP THREE TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY

#1 Oregon at Cal Will be First 3D Televised Game for the Network; San Diego State at #3 TCU Will Feature Innovative ‘VERSUS Vision’ Digital 3D-4U Technology

NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 8, 2010)-Saturday, November 13, marks an innovative and historic day for VERSUS as the network embarks on its first foray into the world of 3D during a college football double-header featuring two of the top three schools in the country. The opening contest, San Diego State at #3 TCU at 4 p.m. ET, will mark the first time a college football game will use VERSUS Vision, powered by 3D-4U’s iRL3D technology, which allows for that game’s highlights to be made available on www.VERSUS.com <http://www.versus.com/> in a 180-degree, user-controlled 3D experience. Following the Mountain West Conference game, VERSUS will produce and broadcast its first ever live 3D telecast when #1 Oregon visits Cal in Berkeley at 7:30 p.m. ET.

“We’re thrilled that our initial entry into 3D production will feature a Pac-10 match-up with the top-ranked college football team in the country, along with new technology in the first game of the day that transforms how fans interact with game footage,” said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for VERSUS. “We saw this double-header as the perfect opportunity to showcase new technology and create an unbelievable viewing experience for fans.”

The live 3D game telecast will feature a separate production crew and equipment from the traditional HD game production. The network will have multiple 3D cameras placed strategically around the field, giving viewers camera angles not usually seen during 2D telecasts, as well as a completely different on-air announce team. Wayne Larrivee, who currently calls games for the Green Bay Packers, will handle play-by-play duties for the 3D telecast. He will be joined by former NFL quarterback Erik Kramer in the booth along with Heidi Androl reporting from the sidelines. VERSUS will also produce an HD telecast of the game with Ron Thulin serving as the play-by-play announcer along with Glenn Parker providing color commentary and Lewis Johnson reporting from the sidelines.

The Oregon/Cal 3D telecast will be made available live to those with 3D-capable television sets through dedicated 3D channels on affiliates across the country, including Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, and Verizon FiOS TV, among others. Check TV provider listings for specific channel numbers. VERSUS will also have a viewing area on-site at Cal’s Memorial Stadium so fans/students can check out the 3D telecast firsthand.

For the San Diego State/TCU game, 3D-4U and VERSUS are teaming up to give fans VERSUS Vision, a ground-breaking online experience that allows them to take control of the highlights within a complete panoramic, 180-degree field of view. Viewers can choose camera angles and specific game highlights through the magic of iRL3D technology to control the movement and direction of the image by using their computer’s mouse. This technology can be viewed in 2D HD on standard computers or on systems with 3D capabilities. For those in attendance at TCU’s Arnon G. Carter Stadium, there will be an exclusive on-site demonstration providing fans with the opportunity to experience the technology live and speak with representatives from 3D-4U about VERSUS Vision.

In the booth for the HD telecast of the San Diego State/TCU contest will be Ted Robinson calling the game action alongside Kelly Stouffer serving as lead analyst and Lindsay Soto reporting from the sidelines.

That will do it for this post.

College Football Action on NBC Sports and Versus

I’ll throw in two college football press releases in one post and they just so happen to be from future sister networks, NBC Sports and Versus.

NBC will carry Notre Dame hosting Tulsa and Versus has an intriguing Pac 10 matchup so let’s take a look at the releases, first from NBC Sports.

NOTRE DAME & TULSA MEET FOR FIRST TIME EVER THIS SATURDAY ON NBC

“They are exciting to watch and will provide a real test for Notre Dame.” – NBC Sports’ Mike Mayock on Tulsa

“Football Night in America’s” Peter King and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio Discuss NFL News at Halftime

NEW YORK – October 27, 2010 – Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist, LB Manti Te’o and the rest of the Fighting Irish take on the Golden Hurricane of Tulsa for the first time ever this Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Mike Mayock (analyst) and Alex Flanagan (sideline) anchor NBC Sports’ coverage. Mayock is in his first season with NBC Sports as a Notre Dame game analyst. For additional information on Mayock, click here: http://tinyurl.com/2wdq2bo

NOTRE DAME-TULSA: The Notre Dame and Tulsa football programs will meet for the first time in the 122-year history of Fighting Irish football. The Golden Hurricane are the 138th different opponent in Notre Dame football history. The Irish have faced 68 of the other 120 teams currently competing at the FBS level.

MAYOCK ON NOTRE DAME: “The best matchup for Notre Dame is their wide receivers against Tulsa’s defensive backs. They should have a matchup advantage there.”

MAYOCK ON TULSA: “The Golden Hurricane have one of the most explosive offenses in the country. They are exciting to watch and will provide a real test for Notre Dame. What also strikes me is their balance. They give you a little taste of everything: run, pass, the option, reverses, trick plays.”

And here’s an NBC promo trying to hype this game.

And we have what Versus is saying about tomorrow’s matchup.

VERSUS’ COLLEGE FOOTBALL COVERAGE ON SATURDAY, OCT. 30, FEATURES A PAC-10 SHOWDOWN BETWEEN #13 STANFORD AND WASHINGTON

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 27, 2010)-VERSUS continues its NCAA gridiron action on Saturday, October 30, when the Washington Huskies host #13 Stanford in Seattle, Wash., at 7 p.m. ET. For the first time in 40 years, Stanford has achieved a 6-1 record after defeating Washington State (38-28) last week. The Huskies are looking to make a comeback against another top-25 ranked team this week after losing to #18 Arizona (44-14) on October 23.

Ron Thulin will call all the game action and will be joined in the booth by analysts Glenn Parker and Kelly Stouffer. Lewis Johnson will report from the sidelines. College Football Central, which provides pre- and post-game coverage as well as halftime reports, will feature Kevin Frazier as host along with Roland Williams and Jeremy Bloom as the in-studio analysts.

There you go.

Filling Out The Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some linkage. I had to catch up on paperwork in the morning and I’ll provide some links now. Lots of good stuff today.

We begin with Sports Business Daily and a story on ESPN starting a three part series on how the public views LeBron James? Does this require three days? The Alleged Worldwide Leader continues to provide fodder for its critics with stuff like this.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand notes how a less than stellar Monday Night Football game beat the ALCS in the ratings.

Sean Leahy at USA Today’s The Huddle blog has Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher clarifying statements that ESPN asked him to call timeouts to get its commercials run during Monday Night Football. 

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports says it’s time for baseball to bring fans closer to the action through technology.

Amir Efrati of the Wall Street Journal watches his San Francisco Giants on delay and chronicles the silly ways he prevents from finding out the score until he watches the games some 8 hours later. Thanks to Barry Pachesky of Deadspin for the link.

Jon Wertheim at Sports Illustrated says tennis needs to improve its TV coverage. 

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times says the NFL needs to relax its TV blackout policy.

At Pro Football Talk, NFL Security wants to speak with Deadspin’s AJ Daulerio. 

Alex Weprin at SportsNewser says the Rose Bowl has a new presenting sponsor.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL Players Association had no sense of humor and took a Twitter handle away from a group of fans. 

Darren notes that a shoe banned by the NBA is now bringing its manufacturer increased business.

Darren wonders what Magic Johnson’s intentions are after the former Lakers star sold his share in the team and also liquidated his Starbucks franchises.

John Eggerton and Mike Farrell of sister publications Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News say the Cablevision/Fox dispute rolls on.

In Multichannel News, John has the FCC Chairman unhappy over the Cablevision/Fox fight. 

John of B&C says Tennis Channel and Comcast are heading to arbitration.

John writes that MSG Network is willing to go to arbitration to settle its dispute with Dish Network.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek tells us that the NBA has a new social network app.

Anthony Crupi from Mediaweek says thanks to Monday Night Football, ESPN overtook TBS as the top network in the cable primetime ratings.

Mediaweek’s Katy Bachman has Massachusetts Senator John Kerry willing to step in to get the Cablevision/Fox dispute resolved.

Diego Vasquez at Media Life Magazine says nothing is new in the Cablevision/Fox dustup.

To gossip publication OK Magazine where ESPN.com and Comcast SportsNet Northwest personality Lindsay McCormick denies that she’s dating Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. 

In the New York Times, Brian Stelter and Bill Carter say Cablevision and Fox are intensifying their war of words.

Brian looks at how Fox extended this fight over TV carriage to Hulu.com.

Richard Sandomir in the Times says sports fans are a huge loser as the fight between the two parties drag on.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says TBS was on top of Bengie Molina’s home run power before he hit a huge bomb against the Yankees last night.

Newsday’s Bob Glauber notes that Jenn Sterger’s attorney has had contact with the NFL in regards to the Brett Favre sexting investigation.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the ratings for the ALCS have been very good despite the Yankees being beaten to a pulp in Games 2-4.

Brendan Prunty of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger finds the Yankees fan who was caught by TBS cameras flipping off Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz after the fan interfered with a fly ball that eventually became a home run. Thanks to Matt Sebek of Joe Sports Fan for the link.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner writes that the Ravens and DC NFL Team dominated the TV ratings in their respective local markets.

Jim says the NFL may use regional rivalries to help promote a new 18 game schedule.

Jeff Elliot of the Florida Times-Union spent time in the ESPN Monday Night Football production truck for the Tennessee-Jacksonville game.

Jim notes that the American League Championship Series is bringing in the ratings for TBS.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the NFL’s impressive TV ratings.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN/ABC made a mistake regarding a trivia question that should have included former Sooner running back Adrian Peterson.

Mel notes that an Oklahoma football game got beat by the NFL in the local TV ratings.

The Detroit Free Press is giddy over Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio ripping of ESPN analyst and former Lions GM Matt Millen. 

Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel speaks with ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen. 

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that the insufferable Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News was included in a book dedication by mystery author Elmore Leonard.

George Diaz in the Chicago Tribune writes that ESPN and NASCAR are searching for reasons why TV ratings are down significantly this year. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says ESPN is making the College Gameday appearance at Missouri a big event. 

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls (IA) Courier notes that ESPN Dictator George Bodenheimer will be making an appearance in the Hawkeye State this week.

Bob Young in the Arizona Republic talks with Dan Patrick about Fox Sports Net simulcasting his radio show.

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star previews tomorrow’s Pac 10 meetings which will also include talks on its TV contacts.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a look at the NFL ratings in SoCal.

From the Fairbanks (AK) Daily News-Miner, we learn that Fox Sports Northwest will be picking up 9 Great Northwest Athletic Conference NCAA Division II basketball games.

MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez speaks with the TBS cameraman who had a close call with a broken bat during the ALCS last night. 

Sports Media Watch has the Weekend Overnight Ratings.

SMW says while the media is harping on the ALCS being beat by Monday Night Football, Paulsen notes that MNF had its smallest audience since 2008.

SMW has the local ratings for the LCS.

Susan Shan asks just what is the truth in the Brett Favre/Jenn Sterger story.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that Christine Simpson joins the New Jersey Devils TV crew.

Yardbarker’s Pete Vlastelica writes an open letter to explain what the Fox purchase of the blogging network means.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs talks about some upcoming sports radio show TV simulcasts.

Mike Silva’s New York Baseball Digest has ESPN Radio New York’s Don LaGreca calling out WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton for being Yankee suckups.

And that will conclude our linkage for today.

Versus Previews Its College Football Doubleheader

On Saturday, Versus airs two games, one involving TCU and the other involving the Pac 10. Two decent matchups on one network. Versus has the press release for you.

VERSUS’ COLLEGE FOOTBALL DOUBLE-HEADER ON SATURDAY FEATURES TWO TOP-25 TEAMS WITH BYU AT #4 TCU AND #17 ARIZONA AT WASHINGTON STATE

Coverage Begins at 3:30 p.m. ET with College Football Central Pre-Game Show

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 13, 2010)-VERSUS continues its gridiron action on Saturday, October 16, with a double-header featuring two top-25 teams as the #4 TCU Horned Frogs host BYU in Fort Worth, Texas, at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the Washington State Cougars against #17 Arizona Wildcats in Pullman, Wash. at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Throughout the season, BYU has faced four top 25-ranked teams and now stands in the way of #4 TCU (6-0) continuing its unbeaten streak. Arizona (4-1) will try to recover after their loss against Oregon State last weekend, which dropped them from #9 to #17 in the national rankings.

Joe Beninati will call the game action in Fort Worth, with Kelly Stouffer as lead analyst and Lindsay Soto reporting from the sidelines. Ron Thulin will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the Washington State/Arizona contest and will be joined in the booth by analyst Glenn Parker. Lewis Johnson will be the in-game reporter. College Football Central, which provides pre- and post-game coverage as well as halftime reports, will feature Kevin Frazier as host along with Roland Williams and Jeremy Bloom as the in-studio analysts.

There will be another college football press release. Oh yes.

Friday Night Megalinks

After playing chauffeur all day today, it’s time to do some linkage for you.

As usual, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks. And now to our links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate the Jim Gray/Corey Pavin dispute.

Fanhouse’s John Walters was able to go inside ESPN’s college football meetings this week.

John writes that ESPN’s College Gameday is a rolling ambassador for college football.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel will be all over the English Premier League for the next three seasons.

Mike says this past Wednesday’s Yankees-Rangers game set a ratings record for Fox Sports Southwest.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek writes about ESPN the Gas Station continuing for a few more years. I actually wrote about this three years ago.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred goes after the Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard. Just a mere few weeks since going after the Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom.

Bill Krueger at the Poynter Institute feels Deadspin betrayed Jenn Sterger by not waiting for her to confirm the Brett Favre sexting story.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with Nike’s president about two of its most embattled clients.

Darren says Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is beginning to reap the benefits of being a star in New York.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says he’s no longer writing for the Sporting News. 

Mike says HBO’s Hard Knocks’ season premiere featuring the New York Jets had a higher viewership than last year’s premiere with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Florio says Green Day will perform at halftime of the opening Monday Night Football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium.

Joe Favorito notes that bloggers are writing better and gaining more notoriety.

Sports Media Watch notices that last Saturday’s Red Sox-Yankees game on Fox actually drew a lower rating than Braves-Reds the week before.

SMW says last weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductions received a huge ratings bump from last year thanks to some star power.

SMW says ratings dropped for ESPN’s NFL preseason opener.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media feels NHL Network should remember some of the league’s teams that no longer exist.

My Twitter trophy wife, Amanda Rykoff, a.k.a. The OCD Chick, has a roundup of reaction to sexist remarks made by MASN’s Rob Dibble earlier in the week.

The always awesome Rebecca Glass in This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes (well, except for the Pinstripes part, but she’s still awesome) tells Dibble to shut up. 

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog notes that baseball local radio ratings don’t often match the local TV numbers.

Emmitt Jones at the Sports Business Digest likes the idea of the University of Oregon soccer scarves doubling as season tickets.

Susan Shan covers a pick-up basketball game between two social media companies. 

Proud Canadian and unabashed Montreal Expos fan Jonah Keri asks us to watch MLB Network’s special on the 1994 Expos on Sunday.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe says there will be plenty of media outlets for new Celtics backup center Shaquille O’Neal to play with this upcoming season.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald writes that NESN is branching out from sports and will carry a program hosted by a former Massachusetts Lt. Governor.

Boston Sports Radio Watch says the local sports radio war is getting even tighter in the ratings.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on the return of Bob Uecker to the Milwaukee Brewers radio booth after heart surgery.

Neil Best sighting! Neil Best sighting! Neil Best of Newsday talks about seeing ads for New York Football Giants tickets, something he never thought would never happen in his lifetime.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News likes how SNY’s Bob Ojeda doesn’t mince words after another clubhouse incident involving the Mets.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post wonders if WFAN’s Craig Carton, a noted critic of MSG head James Dolan, will be willing to still criticize now that his radio show will be simulcast on MSG Network.

Mark Cannizzaro of the Post says the Jets give themselves high marks after seeing themselves on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for MLB Network’s Jim Kaat.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union catches up with New York Giants left tackle David Diehl who took part in the NFL Broadcasting Boot Camp earlier this summer.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the Orioles are beginning to make a ratings dent in the nation’s capital.

Dan recaps DC NFL team owner Dan Snyder’s appearance on Friday night’s preseason game telecast.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks about the DC NFL team’s broadcast teams ready and rarin’ to go for the season.

Dave McKenna of the Washington City Paper profiles sportscaster Grant Paulsen who had to restart his broadcast career after it stalled after high school.

South

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says a local TV station values carrying the DC NFL team, but still isn’t showing the games in HD.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes that Florida coach Urban Meyer has a Twitter coordinator.

Jeff Shain of the Sentinel says the Jim Gray/Corey Pavin tiff is another in a line of Golf Channel strife. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Ray Buck talks football and baseball with former Fox Sports NFL announcer Pat Summerall.

Mike Graham of the Dallas Morning News says Texas Tech is trying to reach more recruits by producing its own reality show and syndicating it to various cable systems in the South. 

To David Barron at the Houston Chronicle who talks with ESPN Radio hack (my words, not his) Colin Cowherd.

Richard Connelly of the Houston Press notes that ESPN Deportes Radio has arrived in town. 

This story is from last month, but I somehow missed it. From the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht talks with ESPN legendary play-by-play man Ron Franklin about his return to the Alleged Worldwide Leader after originally deciding to retire in February.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer isn’t too happy with the Fox Sports Radio hiring of Pat O’Brien when a perfectly good candidate is working in the local area.

Jeff Bell of Business First of Columbus (OH) says the dispute between Time Warner and Disney which could take ESPN off cable systems follows a familiar pattern. 

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus isn’t too concerned over Tiger Woods’ finish in the PGA Championship.

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel is puzzled over three local TV stations focusing on Tiger Woods’ personal life instead of golf.

Tim Cuprisin in OnMilwaukee looks at the off and on coverage of the Brett Favre sexting story.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has Fox’s Joe Buck still refusing to take responsibility for getting the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez hurt last Saturday.

Dan says the Gateway City’s top-rated sports radio station is forming a partnership with the market’s CBS affiliate to provide content and reports.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says when Utah heads to the Pac 10/12, finding their games could be just as big an issue as it is currently.

Dick Enberg answered readers’ e-mails for the Denver Post. 

John Maffei at the North County Times writes that even though Fox is picking up the San Diego Padres on Saturday, just the West Coast will see them.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about how Lakers owner Jerry Buss had the vision to realize how forming a cable channel would only help his team expand its fanbase.

Tom has his extensive sports news and notes in his blog (plus a link back to Fang’s Bites, thanks Tom).

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the whole Jim Gray/Corey Pavin story is a “he said, she said” affair.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich warns Blue Jays fans about another potential dispute over a new cable sports channel.

That will conclude the megalinks. We’re done.

Doing The Sunday Links

Well, my day has been planned for me, but I don’t want to leave you without links so I got up early to provide some until I return home sometime after 6 tonight.

Without further ado, here are the links.

Tom Van Riper at Forbes cautions fans who are caught up in the Pac 10/12 media hype.

John Walters at Fanhouse says the Pac 10/12 has many obstacles to overcome including its TV contracts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that fans are feeling their NFL game tickets are worth more this year than last.

Darren explains why IMG’s purchase of college sports syndicator ISP is good for the game.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Outdoor Channel gets picked up by Comcast in Houston.

Jesse Quinlan of the Stamford (CT) Advocate talks with ESPN’s Steve Young. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that there will be no disciplinary action against ESPN writer Arash Markazi on his story about LeBron James’ Boys Night Out in Las Vegas that was eventually spiked.

Phil “Dr. Doom and Gloom” Mushnick of the New York Post now goes after NFL Commish Roger Goodell on last week’s Town Meeting in Green Bay. In Mushnick’s World, nothing is ever good enough for him.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News notes that the Bills fans can follow their team through Twitter.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog notes that two local TV reporters attempted the same physical conditioning test that Albert Haynesworth failed twice for the DC NFL team. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that the DC NFL team will be well covered by the local media during the preseason.

David Walsh of the Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch talks with the Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner about his familiarity of The Greenbrier Resort, site of this weekend’s PGA Tour stop. 

Walsh adds that the TV exposure thanks to Golf Channel and CBS to The Greenbrier Resort is good for the local area.

The Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard says ESPN spiked the LeBron James story for the right reasons.  Don’t forget LeBatard appears regularly on ESPN either on Pardon The Interruption or the Sports Reporters.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a quick blurb on why Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would be interested in buying the Texas Rangers.

Barry talks with Fox Sports’ Daryl Johnston about picking up a new gig with NFL Network.

Mike Heika of the Morning News reports that News Corp., parent company of Fox Sports and Fox Sports Net, is a bidder for the NHL’s Stars. 

MLB Network’s Trenni Kusnierek (and a Friend of Fang’s Bites) suggests we take a break from Facebook and Twitter every once in a while.

Melissa Harris of the Chicago Tribune notes that despite having a championship season, record breaking attendance and TV ratings, the Blackhawks still lost money. 

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says Dish Network is taking shots at Comcast for keeping SportsNet Philadelphia off the satellite provider.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News loves a new website which alerts you to big things happening on TV.

Tom has more about the website in his blog.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the Blue Jays may be out of the pennant race, but continue to do well in the ratings. 

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun talks with Stacey Bieber who is one of the golfers taking part in this season’s Big Break Sandals Resort on Golf Channel.

Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

And SMW notes comments from ESPN’s John Skipper that I picked up in the Friday megalinks and bear watching that he feels ESPNews and ESPN Classic are not performing to par and could have an announcement on the two channels in the coming months.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of the Red Sox epic comeback against the Detroit Tigers yesterday.

And that will do it. Enjoy your Sunday.

Here Are Some Thursday Links

Trying to get ahead on some linkage before diving head first into some paperwork. Lots of stuff going on and let’s get busy, shall we?

Tom Weir of USA Today’s Game On blog has ESPN denying LeBron James put pressure on the network to pull a story from its website.

At Fanhouse, Milton Kent discusses ESPN spiking the Arash Markazi story on LeBron in Las Vegas.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center where Dave Kindred mourns the death of Vic Siegel of the New York Daily News.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that TNT will air the first two days of the PGA Championship in 3-D.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says Comcast is talking with DirecTV and Dish about placing its SportsNet Philadelphia regional sports network on both systems which would come as good news to subscribers. 

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes that former Cowboys QB and current Fox NFL analyst Troy Aikman will be participating in Dancing with the Stars this season.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about golfer Fred Couples on the forefront of a new shoe trend. 

Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of the New York Times has Pac 10/12 Commissioner Larry Scott talking about a TV channel similar to the Big Ten Network.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says MLB Network is cutting its trade deadline coverage in half as compared to last year.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says new Miami Heat star Chris Bosh has been making the rounds on national TV and in the local area.

Jay Weiner of MinnPost writes that a noted media critic and women’s sports advocate is joining ESPN to advise the network on increasing its coverage on women.

The Big Lead has video of an ESPN anchor saying what was on most Mets fans minds.

Sox & Dawgs says NESN’s Heidi Watney is getting her own bobblehead doll. There’s a joke there, but I’m not going to say it.

This is not the end of the links. Lunch is beckoning. More links coming up.

The Day Is Shot For Me Links

Having had to take Dad to the eye doctor then being told that I can’t go to the Massachusetts office because he’s taking a client to lunch is really killing me. Not having a car is killing me. Not having my own schedule is killing me. And after today, the blogging schedule will be light over the next few days due to end of the month/beginning of the month stuff will kill me as well. Not a happy day. And if I get that spam from someone telling me to move to New Mexico, that person will be getting my wrath.

So having said that, it’s time to do some linkage while I can.

In a big move, Michael Smith of Sports Business Daily reports that IMG College is purchasing ISP Sports which means a shift in the multimedia rights of 60 colleges and universities.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says Big Ten Network is going to use archival footage, some never aired before, to produce a new 13 week series.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk writes that Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer and Daryl Johnston will be joining NFL Network as analysts, but will also remain at Fox in their current capacities. 

Media analyst Larry Gerbrandt writes in the Hollywood Reporter that professionals and manufacturers want to push 3-D TV as fast as they can.

Lacey Rose of Forbes speaks with Sony Pictures Television head Andy Kaplan who’s bullish on 3-D.

Dennis Waszak, Jr. of the Associated Press says the NFL’s New York Jets are ready to be in the spotlight this summer thanks to HBO’s Hard Knocks. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell explores Tim Tebow’s new endorsement deal with Jockey undergarments.

Lisa Backus of the New Britain (CT) Herald reports an unsealed arrest warrant provides new details on the charges against former ESPN analyst Jeremy Green, son of former NFL coach Dennis Green. Jeremy was arrested earlier this month in a motel near the ESPN headquarters on child pornography charges.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union tries to piece together the NFL regular season TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Jenny Vrentas of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger explores how HBO lured the Jets to take part in Hard Knocks.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner writes that an East Coast media trip by Pac 10/12 football coaches is in reality, a ploy to increase TV rights fees for the conference.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams looks at the stronger TV ratings for the Nationals.

The Washington Post’s Reliable Source blog looks at Erin Andrews going to Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby for strong anti-stalking legislation.

Carol Vaughn of the Eastern Shore (VA) News writes that ESPN will be on Tangier Island to shoot an ad for ESPN3.com.

Dave Nicholson of the Tampa (FL) Tribune writes about a local girl who was featured on ESPN’s E:60 for her feat of throwing two perfect games in Little League.

In the St. Petersburg Times, Tom Jones says Sun Sports’ Dwayne Staats did not mention Matt Garza’s no-hitter for the Tampa Bay Rays until the final out.

Jeff Mosier of the Dallas Morning News cites an ESPN Outside the Lines report that mentioned the number of food safety violations at Cowboys Stadium.

An aside here. I saw that report on ESPN before heading out Sunday morning and it was an eyeopener. Very solid journalism from ESPN and Paula Lavigne. The story is still having an impact three days after it aired.

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle says Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe can only look forward after a tumultuous summer that almost led to the disbanding of the conference.  

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers’ TV ratings are down this year compared to the same period a year ago.

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes that a miscommunication between FSN Northwest and higher ups prevented the network from airing a confrontation in the Mariners dugout Saturday during a game against the Red Sox that NESN and Japanese network NHK had no problem in showing to viewers.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the noose may be tightening on cyclist Lance Armstrong over steroids.

More coming up. I’ll post these now.

Some Sunday Night Links

My plans to provide linkage this weekend went up in smoke when I had to run errands for my family, but I’ll do some this evening. My day has been planned for me on Monday so I don’t know when I can blog, but I’ll do my best.

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk has NBC’s Cris Collinsworth saying he would still choose football knowing the risks about concussions. Collinsworth says he also wants to call the next World Cup, but since it’ll be on ESPN in 2014, that’s unlikely unless Collinsworth moves to the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo’s From The Marbles blog says TNT chose not to mention an incident at the NASCAR Sprint Cup race during night’s coverage.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels Fox is talking about Stephen Strasburg in the All-Star Game out of self interest.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post can’t get excited over the LeBron James sweepstakes.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says not everyone can be right in reporting on where LeBron James will end up.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner speaks with Versus cycling voice Phil Liggett about the Tour de France.

Over to Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel who got ESPN’s Lee Corso’s comments on the Big 12 and the conference machinations last month.

Stu Durando in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has ESPN’s Lou Holtz declaring independence for Notre Dame.

Bruce Pascoe from the Arizona Daily Star says impending media deals for the University of Arizona through the Pac 10 and on its own could lead to some windfalls for the school

Jon Weinbach of the Los Angeles Times is not a fan of the LeBron James Watch.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner feels former NFL Supervisor of Officiating Mike Pereira going to Fox is a good move.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Blue Jays announcers are a portrait in contrast.

The Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions.

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito says there’s an opportunity for a sports organization to own the 4th of July.

We’ll end it there.

Some Wednesday Links

Let’s do a few links on this Hump Day.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he looks at former NFL Director of Officiating Mike Pereira joining Fox Sports this fall.

Sean Leahy at USA Today’s The Huddle blog notes that ESPN is bringing back NFL Matchup in the fall. 

The Sporting News picks up a story written by John Ourand of sister publication Sports Business Journal about the upcoming bidding war for the Pac 10 TV rights.

Brian Lowry of FoxSports.com isn’t feeling World Cup fever.

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports that ESPN will utilize announcer Martin Tyler for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. 

Milton Kent of Fanhouse is critical of George Wayne’s interview of Erin Andrews in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. I gave my take on this last night.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Hoffer remembers the old Home Run Derby TV show.

Elizabeth Guider of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the NFL and kids network Nickelodeon are teaming up on a new animated, short form series that will run during football season.

Andrew Stewart of Variety says the movie companies are mildly surprised that they haven’t taken as big a hit as expected during the World Cup.

Marisa Guthrie from Broadcasting & Cable talks about Versus’ multiplatform coverage of the upcoming Tour de France.

Radio-Info.com says an ESPN Radio program director is leaving his post and moving back to his native Ohio. 

Us Magazine reports that former CBS Sports/Access Hollywood/Insider host Pat O’Brien (NSFW) is writing an autobiography about his tumultuous life.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says this year’s World Cup is definitely a TV hit.

Also from the Times, Jere Longman looks at Brazilian journalists who are not happy with restrictions in South Africa which prevent from their normal access to the national soccer team.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has ESPN’s MLB schedule through next Wednesday.

Pete also talks with NBC’s Dottie Pepper who will be home more often under a new schedule worked out with the network. 

Jerry Milani of the New Jersey Newsroom talks with the head of CBS College Sports. 

Jane M. Von Bergen in the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Institute which is studying how people are accessing ESPN’s World Cup coverage. 

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with John Riggins about his return to DC radio and his MASN simulcast.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel looks at the economic impact Super Bowl XLIV had on Miami and the surrounding areas.

Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel says it’s TV that made the power plays with the college conferences. 

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reports that Ron Franklin, who had thought about retiring after last college basketball season, has signed a new deal with ESPN.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says local sports radio host Andy Furman gets another hosting opportunity with Fox Sports Radio.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business remembers former White Sox announcer Lorn Brown who passed away last week.

Doug Haller from the Arizona Republic says Arizona wants to host the Pac 10 football championship game and mentions that the conference’s football coaches will meet en masse with ESPN next month just before Media Day.

Jon Wilner in the San Jose Mercury News has the complete Pac 10 football TV schedule.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star writes that the NHL Draft on TSN made a run at the World Cup on CBC in the ratings.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Raptors have signed a TV and radio deal that puts the NBA franchise on the combined Rogers Sportsnet/FAN 590 combo.

Sports Media Watch notes that Fox saw some poor numbers for last Saturday’s MLB games in primetime.

SMW has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW has news on various network TV personalities.

And SMW has more ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NHL Network will be airing a whole slew of Stanley Cup clinching games this summer.

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog says BBC Radio’s 5 Live will air its first MLB game ever on July 4.

That will do it.

Let’s Do The Sunday Links

Went out last night for my friend’s 40th birthday party and let me say it was a rather raucous caucus. Singing, dancing, drinking, yelling, screaming and fighting, a good time was had by all. Well, maybe no fighting, but the other parts did occur.

Anyway, late start on the links today. Let’s get to them.

Later today, I’ll do a review on the first three days of the World Cup coverage on both ESPN and Univision. Expect that sometime tonight.

To the links and we start with Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News who writes that Univision had an excellent start to the World Cup more than doubling the ratings of ESPN on the opening day of the event.

Mike adds that NBC’s excellent ratings for the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Final paves the way for the rights renewal talks with the NHL.

Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press writes the NHL’s rise in the ratings comes at a good time for the league’s TV negotiations. 

TVbytheNumbers says more people watched the World Cup kickoff concert on Univision than on ESPN2. 

David Bauder of the Associated Press says ESPN did not attempt to dumb down its World Cup telecasts.

Yinka Adegoke of Reuters says both ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel hope to reap the ratings benefits after the World Cup.

The Nielsen Wire blog notes that Nike is not an official World Cup sponsor, but has managed to get some recognition thanks to some guerrilla marketing.

Overseas in the UK, ITV was airing the USA-England World Cup match yesterday and inexplicably, the HD feed suddenly went to commercial in the 4th minute. That was when Steven Garrard scored his goal putting England ahead. When ITV came back, it was just in time for Garrard’s celebration. You can imagine the ire of the viewers. Those watching the Standard Definition feed did not have any problems.

Matt Lawless of the London Daily Mail chronicles what happened.

The Sun says ITV really screwed up.

Anita Singh from the London Telegraph writes that about a million and a half viewers were affected by the glitch.

James Meikle of the London Guardian says an on-air apology was met with anger.

UK World Cup co-rightsholder BBC is a public broadcaster and does not run commercials so had the game aired on that network, there would not have been any commercial glitch.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says a holdout by Jets cornerback Darnell Revis is being played to the maximum for HBO/NFL Films which is airing Hard Knocks from the team’s training camp in August.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Steve Lepore at Puck The Media is writing the media column at SBNation’s New York site and he tells us five things YES Network does better than its counterpart, SNY.

Keith Gabriel in the Philadelphia Daily News writes that ESPN’s World Cup coverage is heavily slanted with a British accent.

Jeff Schuler of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says MLB is trying its hand at a televised draft. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN World Cup host Bob Ley about the network’s efforts to bring the event’s flavor to the United States.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tries to temper the excitement into Stephen Strasburg.

KCTV in Kansas City is reporting that the Big 12 is proposing a new Big 12/Pac 10 TV network in an attempt to keep the Pac 10 from poaching the remaining 10 members of the Big 12. 

John Henderson of the Denver Post says the conference shifts in the Pac 10 and Big 10 are all being done for television. 

Chad Cripe from the Idaho Statesman writes that the Mountain West is hoping to increase its rights fees by bringing in Boise State into the conference.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner enjoys ESPN/ABC’s NBA broadcasting crew.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says NBC affiliates are worried they will lose big tickets sports events if the Comcast purchase of the network goes through. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Abby Sunderland and her family are rays of shining light.

Tom scolds the second guessers in the Abby Sunderland story. 

Katie Baker at Deadspin looks into the media maelstrom that Abby Sunderland’s rescue has become.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

SMW notes that ABC got big numbers for USA-England yesterday.

We’re done for today.

Return of The Links

After a day in which it was difficult to get linkage in, I’ll do it today. So much is going on that it’s tough to ignore the stories that have surfaced in the last two days. Let’s get to the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand held a live chat on sports TV yesterday. I wish I had known.

Mike notes that the Stanley Cup Final’s ratings on Sunday beat both the Indianapolis 50 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600.

CNN’s Larry King talks with Sports Illustrated’s Maggie Gray about his interview with LeBron James that airs on Friday.

The Sports Business Daily says ESPN is looking at average 9.0 rating for the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. 

SBD’s Brian Helfrich talks with Cleveland Plain Dealer Cavaliers beat writer Brian Windhorst about covering the team and the LeBron James Watch.

The Sporting News picks up an article from sister publication Sports Business Journal and Michael Smith who looks at TNT taking over NASCAR from Fox this week.

The Sporting News also picks up Eric Fisher’s article in the Sports Business Journal about MLB Network trying to turn the MLB Draft into a TV event.

Also in the Sporting News, On The DL’s Dan Levy looks at what the purchase of The Big Lead means for sports blogs down the road.

Dan Shanoff says he’s excited about The Big Lead being purchased by Fantasy Sports Ventures.

The Nielsen Wire blog says more people watched the 2006 World Cup than you may have thought.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says its name might be mud, but BP is still sponsoring the Cubs-White Sox crosstown series.

Darren says Dale Earnhardt, Jr. may not win races, but he’s still a winner in marketing his name.

Jeff Pearlman calls Fox Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer “a joke” for his relationship with current players.

Everyone in sports and apparently in news is talking about last night’s blown call by first base umpire Jim Joyce that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game against Cleveland. Well, Twitter caught fire with “Things Jim Joyce ruined” which is laugh out loud funny. Some of my tweets on the subject are there. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann chimes in saying the call should be overturned and there is precedent in baseball for it.

Keith adds that there was a meeting at the MLB Commissioner’s office this morning on the Joyce call.

James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter says WWE wrestler Chris Jericho will host an ABC game show this summer.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable writes that MLS might be looking at Versus as a new TV partner as league officials come off impressed at how the network treats the NHL.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that former Versus CEO Gavin Harvey is taking a similar position at the Sportsman Channel.

Mike says ESPN2 will have 24 hours of World Cup programming leading up to the first game next Friday.

Anthony Crupi at Mediaweek says despite ratings declines for the NBA Western Conference Finals, TNT still won the cable primetime ratings last week. 

The Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam notes that while most of the city’s media outlets have sent reporters out west to cover the Celtics-Lakers, one station has not.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about a rather unusual doubleheader taking place this Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

Richard also writes how Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz is not his father’s son when it comes to managing the team.

Richard notes that this year’s French Open men’s semifinals should be live thanks to accommodations made by NBC preventing the tape delay shenanigans of last year. 

David Jones in the Patriot-News (PA) says with the success of the NHL on Versus this season, it’s time for the Big Ten to form a hockey conference so the Big Ten Network can air games. 

David Zurawik from the Baltimore Sun says a local news anchor will host a nationally syndicated weekly sports show.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post lists his Top 10 DC sports radio personalities of all time.

Monte Dutton of the Gaston (NC) Gazette waxes poetic about the old ABC’s Wide World of Sports. 

Walt Belcher in the Tampa Tribune says the local NBC station will move the French Open men’s final to another station as it airs a telethon all day Sunday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has comments from ESPN/ABC’s NBA Finals announcing crew on the start of the Celtics-Lakers series tonight.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer talks with ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy about the Cavaliers coaching vacancy for which he is allegedly a candidate. 

Doug Zaleski of the Muncie (IN) Star Press writes that a local native gets the call from ESPN to do play-by-play for a NASCAR Nationwide race this Saturday.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune tells us that the NHL Stanley Cup Final has never aired in its entirety on US network TV.

Phil adds last night’s Game 3 of this year’s series did monster ratings locally.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says this year’s World Cup should be US viewer-friendly.

Bob Mayhall in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat looks at the early Big 12 TV schedule on its various media partners.

Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star feels the Pac 10 conference would be better served by expanding its TV deal instead of its number of teams.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says both the Lakers and Celtics have had their share of movie roles in the past few years.

Diane Pucin over at the Los Angeles Times notes that ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy is more than just a basketball guy.

Diane says we all switched to MLB Network to watch the Armando Galarraga perfect game bid. 

Peter Yoon of the LA Times looks at pro beach volleyball’s new sponsorship deal and media rights partner in which the tour can finally turn a profit this year.

Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register’s Anaheim Ducks blog has three ways to improve Stanley Cup Final broadcasts.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin speaks with Florida Marlins voice Dave Van Horne who has called three perfect games.

Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy has the video of the annual 8 minute confrontation between CBC’s Ron MacLean and the diminutive NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

The Sports Media Watch looks at the Weekend Overnight Ratings.

SMW takes a real close look at the ratings for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final and notes they’re not as good as we originally thought.

But SMW notes that Game 2′s ratings were very good for the NHL.

SMW says the Indy 500 hit an all-time ratings low.

And SMW tells us that the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 is spiraling downward too.

We are done.

Our Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some links on this rainy Wednesday in the Northeast. By the way, last night I went to a great Japanese restaurant in Providence, Haruki East on Wayland Avenue. Highly recommend it. And on a rainy Tuesday night, there was a wait so that tells you it’s quite popular. Ate there with my parents and my cousin and his girlfriend. The food was definitely worth the wait. Sushi was great and so was the Tempura. Great food in a great city.

Ok, done with the restaurant review. To the links.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he has TNT’s Marv Albert not having the slightest idea as a young announcer that Phil Jackson would end up being a successful NBA coach.

Bruce Jenkins of Sports Illustrated says the world media including Tennis Channel failed to properly describe Roger Federer’s whiff during match point of the Madrid Open on Sunday. 

David Tanklefsky of Broadcasting & Cable comes out of ESPN upfront presentation with the impression that the network is totally embracing social media and becoming more interactive with viewers.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Versus brought in the highest ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs since Nielsen started measuring them in 1994.

Anthony Crupi at Mediaweek notes that TNT has won the cable primetime ratings for the third week in a row thanks to the NBA Playoffs. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the NHL is red hot in the TV ratings.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life writes that sports has helped to raise broadcast TV viewing levels to even with last year.

Subbing for CNBC’s Darren Rovell, Chad Walters says teams can save money by eliminating some waste.

Phillip Michaels of Macworld reviews the ESPN SportsCenter XL app for the iPad.

Jon Friedman of Marketwatch.com says reporters covering the LeBron Watch have the toughest beat in the media.

I should not do this because this will probably get shut down, but we have a Neil Best sighting. Newsday’s Neil Best writes that Fox is looking at expanding its MLB offerings into primetime on Saturdays.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Preakness Stakes saw a ratings downtick from last year.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says Nationals fans can listen to Stephen Strasburg’s next start tonight.

Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times says Peter Gammons had to correct a statement he made on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday.

Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News looks at what the new ESPN/ACC rights deal means for the Big 12.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that a local radio station is picking up high school football games for the fall.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press reports that former Fox NFL analyst Ray Bentley is joining a local radio station.

In the Indianapolis Business Journal, Anthony Schoettle says IndyCar is gaining more confidence in Versus. 

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune writes that viewers found Versus in droves for Game 2 of the Blackhawks-Sharks series last night.

Phil says Blackhawks fans have to make due without TV voice Pat Foley calling the NHL Western Conference Finals due to Versus and NBC having exclusivity.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Big Ten conference commish Jim Delaney isn’t revealing much about the league’s expansion plans.

Curtis Zupke from the Orange County (CA) Register says NHL TV ratings continue to increase. 

Jon Wilmer of the San Jose Mercury News looks at what the ESPN/ACC deal will mean for the Pac 10′s TV negotiations.

Will Reisman in the San Francisco Examiner writes that Versus cut off the end of the third stage of the Tour of California on Tuesday.

Jayda Evans of the Seattle Times says the WNBA’s Storm had several glitches with its inaugural in-house telecast on FSN Northwest. 

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explains why the NHL Conference Finals began on the same days for the first two games.

Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals did well for TNT, but not as well as last year’s ratings aberration.

And SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that Jeremy Roenick who did a great job for NBC during the Olympics, will join NBC’s studio for its coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Matthew Coller at the Biz of Hockey writes that an exciting NHL postseason is paying dividends for the league besides TV ratings.

SportsbyBrooks looks into the tight-lipped investigation into the death of LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg.

And we’ll end our links there for now. Back later with breaking news and the return of the Sports Media Weekly podcast following a week’s absence.

A Mid-Week Linkage Day

This being Wednesday, it means that we’re about to go past the mid-week mark and then the weekend will be getting closer. Time for some links.

paidContent’s Staci D. Kramer has Fox Sports El Presidente por Vida David Hill says sports leagues will cut off their noses in spite of their faces if they continue to keep certain rights for themselves.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says boxer Floyd Mayweather is a pay per view star.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says the Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight was the second highest grossing non-heavyweight pay per view fight.

The Wall Street Journal picks up a story from Durga Raghunath in India Real Time that YouTube’s India Premier League cricket channel is a big success. 

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Comcast will pick up ESPN 3D when it launches in June. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the NBA Playoffs have steered TNT to its third straight win in the cable primetime weekly ratings.

David Goetzl of Mediapost says ABC and ESPN are seeing increased upfront ad sales from last year, but the amount of money coming in still pales in comparison before the recession.

The Associated Press reports ESPN is teaming up with a New York-based writing organization on a new award.

David Whitford of CNNMoney talks with executive Steve Greenberg, son of Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, who ran Classic Sports Network and College Sports TV before selling them for big bucks.

Parade magazine’s Hollywood Wire blog says Erin Andrews broke down over Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s stalker joke on The View last week.

And Us adds that Erin never spoke to Hasselbeck despite reports to the contrary. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes the latest two media inductees into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Pete says PBS will air Ken Burns’ sequel to his extensive Baseball documentary that originally aired in 1994 and has been reaired on MLB Network over the last two years.

Pete adds that the Yankees and YES have pulled a switcheroo over today’s day-night doubleheader.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia will have a Phillies-Flyers doubleheader today.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post remembers Ernie Harwell.

Dan Steinberg in the Post’s Sporting Bog says MASN’s ratings for the Nationals are going up and fast. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the NHL needs another national TV partner.

Mitch Vingle of the Charleston (WV) Gazette says the Big East is exploring whether to launch its own television network. 

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times has Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Carl Crawford not appreciative of some Bobby Valentine criticism on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.

Stephen Nohlgren and Tom Jones of the Times says TV ratings for the Rays are up, but it’s Fox Sports Florida that’s reaping the benefits.

Andrew Carter at the Orlando Sentinel says the ACC hopes to finalize a new TV contract this week.

Joe Scalzo of the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator says rock group O.A.R.’s “This Town” has become a sports anthem for ESPN and Fox Sports.

Terry Foster of the Detroit News says Paul Carey says his former broadcast partner, Ernie Harwell, wasn’t appreciated across the country.

To Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business who says the Big Ten’s planned expansion has to make economic sense for the conference.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig scored reasonably well in an ESPN The Magazine players poll.

Michael Russo from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says Fox Sports North has signed an extension of its contract with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. 

Eric Young of the San Francisco Business Times says the Big 12 and Pac 10 Conferences are discussing an alliance for TV rights.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News looks inside the new ESPN/ESPN2/ABC Pac 10 football schedule.

Brue Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail previews a CBC investigation into the whereabouts of a disgraced hockey coach.

Ed DeRosa of the Thoroughbred Times says NBC has plenty of storylines to choose from for this Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.

Lauren Hatch at Business Insider writes that Fox Sports is increasing its online content in an attempt to fight ESPN.com.

Radio newsletter All Access reports that Peter Gammons will appear on various Sporting News Radio affiliates across the country.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media looks at when the NHL Conference Finals could begin.

Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says Lakers-Jazz on Saturday did very well on ABC.

The SMW says sweeps in the NBA Conference Semifinals aren’t helping the ratings.

And SMW has Fox seeing improvements in its NASCAR ratings.

That will do it for today.

Some Tuesday Links

Been busy once again today so I’m going to give you some linkage now and perhaps some linkage tonight.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at the ratings from selected events from the weekend.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Verizon FIOS will pick up two Yankees games produced in 3-D that will air on YES in July.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Comcast SportsNet California saw its highest San Jose Sharks ratings with the series clincher against Detroit on Saturday.

Mike writes that DirecTV will be the first provider to pick up GolTV in HD.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that more babies are being named Colt as a result of former Texas QB and soon-to-be Cleveland Browns QB Colt McCoy.

Darren says Pimlico Racetrack is using a bold all-you-can-drink promotion to lure people back to the Preakness Stakes.

Darren discovers that Phil Mickelson owns the rights to Five Guys Burgers restaurants in Southern California.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News would like to see more of Bob Ojeda on SNY Mets’ telecasts.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the NBA is taking a hit with three of the four NBA Conference Semifinals ending in sweeps.

Pete writes that the NHL is smartening up and staggering the start times of the two Eastern Conference semifinal games tomorrow.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call gives praise to ESPN’s Outside the Lines sports news magazine.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that Universal Sports carries the Giro D’Italia all week long.

Jim talks about the ESPN Family of Networks airing over 20 Pac 10 football games this fall.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says ESPN is about to sign a new sponsor for the Orange Bowl.

Dave Matter of the Columbia (MO) Tribune has a feature story on the Big Ten Network saying the channel holds the key towards the conference’s expansion plans.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News writes that a local sports radio host is doing a guest spot on a Metroplex station this week.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says ESPN’s E:60 explores one of the darkest stories tonight.

Crain’s Chicago Business’ Ed Sherman says the Blackhawks are winners at the box office and on TV even when they lose games.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News picks up an AP story in which a Falcon is quickly becoming a new star at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Tom notes that the Floyd Mayweather-Sugar Shane Mosley fight brought in the second highest gross for a pay per view bout.

Sports Media Watch says the Cavs blowout of the Celtics last Friday did not lead to good ratings for ESPN.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore is annoyed with Versus for cutting out of games too quickly.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN is now going after Erin Andrews’ Creepenstein for reimbursement for security and assisting in the Feds’ investigation.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says while MLB Network had the biggest launch of a channel in cable history, its ratings are still quite low.

We’ll end it there for now.

ESPN Has Selected Some Of Its Pac 10 Football Games For The Fall

ESPN has announced 16 games involving Pac 10 teams including 12 interconference games and 4 non-conference road games. A lot of them involve USC, Oregon, Washington, Stanford and UCLA as you will see from the press release below:

ESPN Announces Select 2010 Pac-10 College Football Telecasts

ESPN has announced 16 college football game selections involving Pacific-10 Conference teams for the 2010 season, including 12 conference-controlled games and four road contests. Overall, ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise 20 Pac-10 home games, with additional selections announced as the season progresses. To date, ESPN has selected 25 games involving teams from the Pac-10 for the 2010 season, including a minimum of three for Saturday Night Football on ABC, the only weekly prime-time series on broadcast television.

• The early selections include multiple games involving three teams ranked in an ESPN.com early preseason top 25 for 2010:

• Five featuring defending Pac-10 champion No. 10 Oregon, including one against No. 24 Stanford – the only Pac-10 team to defeat the Ducks last year – Saturday, Oct. 2, at 11:15 p.m. on ESPN.
• Eight involving perennial power No. 15 USC, led by new head coach Lane Kiffin and quarterback Matt Barkley, including one against rival Notre Dame on Saturday, Nov. 27, at 8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
• Four games involving No. 24 Stanford, led by sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck, projected by ESPN’s Todd McShay as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, should he enter.

• The schedule features three matchups between teams ranked in the ESPN.com early preseason top 25, including two Saturday Night Football on ABC broadcasts, both at 8 p.m.: No. 15 USC at No. 24 Stanford Saturday, Oct. 9, and No. 10 Oregon at No. 15 USC Saturday, Oct. 30. ESPN will televise No. 24 Stanford at No. 10 Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 11:15 p.m.

• A minimum of four Saturday late-night games, including two on Saturday, Sept. 18: No. 11 Iowa at Arizona at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN, and Wake Forest at No. 24 Stanford at 11:15 p.m. on ESPN2. An additional two games will pit No. 24 Stanford at UCLA on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN and No. 24 Stanford at No. 10 Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 11:15 p.m. on ESPN.

• ESPN’s popular Thursday night ESPN College Football Primetime series will feature four telecasts involving Pac-10 teams, including No. 15 USC at Hawaii (Sept. 2 at 11 p.m.), UCLA at No. 10 Oregon (Oct. 21 at 9 p.m.), UCLA at Washington (Nov. 18 at 8 p m.) and Arizona State at Arizona (Dec. 2 at 8 p.m.).

2010 Pac-10 Schedule as of May 11 (additional selections will be announced):

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Thu, Sep 2	11 p.m.	No. 15 USC at Hawaii *	ESPN
Fri, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Arizona at Toledo *	ESPN
Sat, Sep 4	3:30 p.m.	UCLA at Kansas State	ABC
	7:45 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: Oregon State vs. No. 6 TCU *	ESPN
Sat, Sep 11	7 p.m.	No. 10 Oregon at Tennessee	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	No. 24 Stanford at UCLA	ESPN
Fri, Sep 17	10 p.m.	California at Nevada *	ESPN2
Sat, Sep 18	3:30 p.m.	No. 7 Nebraska at Washington	ABC
		Arizona State at No. 9 Wisconsin	ABC and ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	No. 15 USC at Minnesota	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	No. 11 Iowa at Arizona	ESPN
	11:15 p.m.	Wake Forest at No. 24 Stanford	ESPN2
Sat, Sep 25	TBD	Oregon State at No. 2 Boise State *	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	UCLA at No. 4 Texas *	ABC
Sat, Oct 2	8 p.m.	Washington at No. 15 USC	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	11:15 p.m.	No. 24 Stanford at No. 10 Oregon	ESPN
Sat, Oct 9	8 p.m.	No. 15 USC at No. 24 Stanford	ABC
Thu, Oct 21	9 p.m.	UCLA at No. 10 Oregon *	ESPN
Sat, Oct 30	8 p.m.	No. 10 Oregon at No. 15 USC	ABC
Sat, Nov 13	8 p.m.	No. 15 USC at Arizona	ABC
Thu, Nov 18	8 p.m.	UCLA at Washington *	ESPN
Sat, Nov 20	8 p.m.	No. 15 USC at Oregon State	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Fri, Nov 26	7 p.m.	Arizona at No. 10 Oregon	ESPN
Sat, Nov 27	8 p.m.	Notre Dame at No. 15 USC	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Thu, Dec 2	8 p.m.	Arizona State at Arizona *	ESPN

When we get more selections, they’ll be posted on the blog.

Some Additional Tuesday Linkage

I’m finding some good linkage for you this evening so I’ll give them to you now before Lost comes on.

First, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch explores why ESPN and Golf Channel were so willing to accept Tiger Woods’ interview restrictions and why CBS did not.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com has the Pac-10 Conference looking into creating a football championship to maximize TV rights fees.

David Tanklefsky of Broadcasting & Cable says MSG and Coca-Cola are celebrating a 100 year partnership.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says a local TV and radio reporter is heading to New York to cover the Yankees for ESPN Radio.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s Sporting Bog has the video of Maryland coach Gary Williams getting choked up at the thought of losing Greivis Vasquez to graduation.

MASN announces it will launch in the Harrisburg, PA area on Comcast systems on March 31. 

The Atlanta Business Journal picks up a Sports Business Journal story from John Lombardo about TNT’s NBA studio team going on the road to call its first game on-site since 2006. 

Adam Mertz of the Capital (WI) Times looks at the perpetually angry Doug Gottlieb’s verbal beatdown of Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan.

The Sports Media Watch says ratings for the primetime sessions of the NCAA Tournament were down last week.

The Tennis-X blog has the TV schedule for the Miami Sony Ericsson Tournament.

That’s it for now

Our Back To The Work Week Links

Let’s do some linkage for you as many of us are back to work today.

Starting with the Sports Business Journal, we have the nominees for the publication’s 2010 Sports Business Awards.

On The DL’s Dan Levy breaks down CBS’ announcing teams and assignments in the Sporting Blog.

Greg Risling of the Associated Press says Erin Andrews’ stalker will be sentenced in court today.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says CBS turned in a yeoman’s effort for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes inside the financial numbers for the NCAA Tournament.

Darren wonders if Duke’s athletic department lost money in the previous academic year.

The great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated talks with CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus about what the return of Tiger Woods would mean for the network that covers it.

In her blog, Daryn Kagan tells us what she would ask Tiger Woods if she had the opportunity.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on Reggie Miller with a jaded eye towards the New York Knicks.

Phil Mushnick from the New York Post goes after the Big East Tournament.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has some quotage from ESPNU’s “The Experts” who weighed in on Siena’s chances in the NCAA Tournament.

Pete has the NIT schedule complete with tip times and TV network.

And Pete notes that the perpetually angry Doug Gottlieb is on the Siena bandwagon.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Times Herald-Record tries to figure out which NCAA Tournament games will be aired in the New York metropolitan area.

And Ken lists the 10 NIT games that will be aired on ESPN2 and ESPNU this week.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says Universal Sports will be all over the Paralympics in Vancouver starting today.

And Jim says MASN will air the Nationals-Braves game tonight.

Israel Gutierrez from the Miami Herald feels the NCAA Tournament should stay at 65 teams and not have ESPN get involved.

Monte Hale, Jr. of the Tennessean writes that ESPN’s cameras will be catching the reaction of Middle Tennessee State during its NCAA Women’s Tournament Selection Show tonight.

James Jahnke from the Detroit Free Press says former Michigan State star Mateen Cleeves will join Fox Sports Detroit as an analyst for select Pistons games.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Marquette got a nod from CBS/Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis. 

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post is impressed by Bob Knight’s work on ESPN. 

Greg Hansen in the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-10 Tournament on Fox Sports Net needs an infusion.

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

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says when Don Cherry denounces the NHL on head shots, it’s time to take notice.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says a beloved curling analyst has worked his last match.

Steve Lapore at Puck The Media says Don Cherry was clairvoyant in his Coach’s Corner segment on Sidney Crosby.

The great Midwest Sports Fans blog has a look some of the best Gus Johnson moments at the NCAA Tournament.

Rob Tornoe of Tornoe’s Cartoon News blog reports that former Rocky Mountain News sports cartoonist Drew Litton is now displaying his work at ESPN.com. You can see Drew’s first cartoon right here.

The Sports Media Watch says South Park will be the next to lampoon Tiger Woods.

That’s going to do it for the links today. 

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 03/13 & 03/14/09

men’s schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Saturday, March 13

College Gameday – ESPN, noon

men’s

America East Championship
Hartford at Vermont – ESPN2, noon

ACC Tournament – Greensboro, NC
Semifinals
Duke vs. Miami – ESPN/Raycom, 1:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech vs. NC State – ESPN/Raycom, 4 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Tournament – Atlantic City, NJ
Semifinals
Temple vs. URI – CBS College Sports, 1 p.m.
Xavier vs. Richmond – CBS College Sports, 3:30 p.m.

Big East Championship – New York, NY
Georgetown vs. West Virginia – ESPN, 9 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament – Indianapolis, IN
Semifinals
Ohio State vs. Illinois – CBS, 1:30 p.m.
Purdue vs. Minnesota – CBS, 4 p.m.

Big 12 Championship – Kansas City, MO
Kansas vs. Kansas State – ESPN, 6 p.m.

Big West Championship – Anaheim, CA
UC-Santa Barbara vs. Long Beach State – ESPN2, 8 p.m.

Conference USA Championship – Tulsa, OK
UTEP vs. Houston – CBS, 11:30 a.m.

Mid-America Conference Championship – Cleveland, OH
Akron vs. Ohio – ESPN2, 6 p.m.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship – Winston-Salem, NC
Morgan State vs. South Carolina State – ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Mountain West Championship – Las Vegas, NV
San Diego State vs. UNLV – Versus, 7 p.m.

Pac 10 Championship – Los Angeles, CA
Cal vs. Washington – CBS, 6 p.m.

SEC Tournament – Nashville, TN
Semifinals
Kentucky vs. Tennessee – ABC, 1 p.m.
Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Southland Championship – Katy, TX
Stephen F. Austin vs. Sam Houston State – ESPN2, 4 p.m.

SWAC Championship – Shreveport, LA
Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Texas Southern – ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.

WAC Championship – Reno, NV
Utah State vs. New Mexico State – ESPN2, 10 p.m.

women’s

America East Championship
Vermont at Hartford – Comcast SportsNet New England, 8 p.m.

Big 12 Tournament – Kansas City, MO
Semifinals
Nebraska vs. Texas A&M – Fox Sports Net, 1 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma – Fox Sports Net, 3:30 p.m.

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament – Harrisonburg, VA
Semifinals
Old Dominion vs. Delaware – Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS, noon
James Madison vs. Virginia Commonwealth – Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS, 2:30 p.m.

Mountain West Conference Championship – Las Vegas, NV
Utah vs. San Diego State – Versus, 4 p.m.

Pac 10 Tournament – Los Angeles, CA
Semifinals
Cal vs. Stanford – Fox Sports Net, 5:30 p.m.
USC vs. UCLA- Fox Sports Net, 8 p.m.

Patriot League Championship
American at Lehigh – CBS College Sports, 6 p.m.

SWAC Championship – Bossier City, LA
Southern vs. Alabama State – ESPNU, 6 p.m.

WAC Championship – Reno, NV
Fresno State vs. Louisiana Tech – ESPNU, 4 p.m.

Sunday, March 14

College Gameday – ESPN, noon
Road to the Final Four – CBS, noon

men’s

ACC Championship – Greensboro, NC
Duke vs. Georgia Tech – ESPN/Raycom, 1 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Championship – Atlantic City, NJ
Temple vs. Richmond – CBS, 1 p.m.

Big Ten Championship – Indianapolis, IN
Ohio State vs. Minnesota CBS, 3:30 p.m.

SEC Championship – Nashville, TN
Mississippi State vs. Kentucky – ABC, 1 p.m.

College Gamenight – ESPN, 3 p.m.
NCAA Championship Selection Show – CBS, 6 p.m.
NCAA March Madness Central/Bracket Breakdown – CBS College Sports, 7 p.m.
ESPNU Bracketology Special – ESPN/ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Selection Sunday Special – Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.

women’s

Big 12 Championship – Kansas City, MO
Texas A&M Vs. Oklahoma – Fox Sports Net, 1:30 p.m.

Colonial Athletic Association Championship – Harrisonburg, VA
Old Dominion vs. James Madison – Comcast Network/Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS, noon

Horizon League Championship
Cleveland State vs. Butler – ESPNU, 1 p.m.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship – Winston-Salem, NC
Hampton vs. South Carolina State – ESPNU, noon

Northeast Conference Championship
Long Island at St. Francis (PA) – ESPNU, 3 p.m.

Pac 10 Championship – Los Angeles, CA
Stanford vs. UCLA – Fox Sports Net, 6 p.m.

Snowy Wednesday Linkage

On this really snowy day in Southern Rhode Island, I’m at home, warm, toasty, trying to find a DirecTV channel that isn’t blocked by the snow. While parts up north hardly received any snow, we’re getting walloped here in southern Rhode Island. No fun.

I’ll do links while I can.

Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal reports that former Washington Times baseball reporter Mark Zuckerman got donations from readers so he could cover Nationals Spring Training.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that NBC has mostly familiar faces covering the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes how ESPN is rebranding its ESPN360 web service.

Multichannel News looks at how Fox will take the UEFA Champions League final for itself instead of being aired on FX.

Anthony Crupi from Mediaweek says great college and pro football ratings helped ESPN to power parent Disney to a rise in revenues.

Boston.com (owned by the New York Times) reports that the Times is moving ahead with the sale of its 17.5% stake of the Boston Red Sox.

Why is this not a surprise? The New York Post says Tiger Woods “Mistress No. 1″ Rachel Uchitel has gotten a gig with Extra.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says the AHL’s Albany River Rats will be heard on the FM dial starting tonight.

From the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams tells us to get ready for plenty of Danica Patrick on your TV this week.

Dennis Finley from the Virginian-Pilot apologizes to readers for messing up Monday’s sports edition which had the wrong Super Bowl score not once, but twice!

Sarah Talalay from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wraps up the Super Bowl from the local perspective.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman has NBA TV quotage from last night’s Oklahoma City-Portland game.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has a quick sports business and sports media roundup.

Ed talks with veteran Chicago Tribune Olympics reporter Philip Hersh about his 30 years of covering the Games.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an Olympic viewing primer. 

Baxter Holmes from the Los Angeles Times writes that the Pac 10 Conference is considering expansion and launching a new cable TV network.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says showing Olympic athletes in swimsuits proves that sex sells in sports.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that Versus is doing an all-out push for the NHL after the Olympic break.

Richard Ginn at Real Clear Sports says Speed had great ratings for Danica Patrick’s closed wheel debut.

That’s going to do it for us now.