Fang's Bites

Attempting A Friday Megalink Post

This week has been hellish for me and I apologize for not being able to post as much as I would like. I’ve been away from my computer for most of the day and by the time I get home, I’m tired and don’t want to update the blog.

Well, with me already done my errands for today, I’ll give you some linkage that has been seriously lacking this week.

Of course, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks which you can peruse.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jim Rome is hoping to make a splash as he prepares to launch his new daily show on CBS Sports Network.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On! blog says perpetually angry ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb is throwing his hat into the Kansas State coaching ring.

The Associated Press was on hand to witness Root Sports Northwest’s production of the Seattle Mariners-Oakland A’s regular season openers in Japan without actually traveling to the Far East.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim has more thoughts on the numerous conflicts of interest in tennis broadcasting.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has Fox Sports’ statement on its carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable over Fox Sports San Diego.

John profiles legendary sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer.

Around the Rings has the press release regarding the European Broadcasting Union obtaining the rights to the World Cups in 2018 and 2022.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute says college basketball analyst Bob Knight should not be allowed to live by his own rules when he’s on TV.

Scott Soshnick and Steven Church of Bloomberg Businessweek says the Los Angeles Dodgers sale was sparked by media rights.

Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter says former Sony Pictures head Peter Gruber who’s part of the new Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group could bring a new attitude towards marketing the team.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable has Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott calling rights fees for college football are undervalued.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NESN National is being launched in Indianapolis.

Tim Nudd at Adweek says Chrysler is unveiling four new follow ups to its “Halftime in America” Super Bowl spots during various events this weekend including the NCAA Final Four and Mad Men.

Adweek’s Mike Shields writes ESPN.com is partaking in Facebook’s Open Graph, but with some restrictions.

Jason Del Ray at Advertising Age notes that CBS/Turner brought in its highest sales revenue ever for March Madness Live.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says March Madness has been enhanced by social media and the digital experience.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing cast the upcoming Anchorman sequel using ESPN’ers. This is good.

Ben Koo at AA is not a huge fan of the overhead shots employed by CBS/Turner for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says the Los Angeles Times feels there’s one person who could spoil the new ownership for the Dodgers.

Ahmed Yussuf at EPL Talk gives a first-hand account of following the English Premier League from Australia.

Sports Media Watch says last weekend’s rain-shortened NASCAR on Fox event did not do well in the ratings.

Joe Favorito asks if ‘The Hunger Games” could give archery a boost in time for this summer’s Olympics.

Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead reports that Joe Posnanski is leaving Sports Illustrated.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says the potential Fox cable sports network may not knock down ESPN, but could give it a run for its money.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about two rival Hollywood agencies representing Tim Tebow simultaneously.

Bob’s Blitz says WFAN’s Craig Carton browbeat former Tiger Woods swing coach Hank Haney to the point where he hung up.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS returns to New Orleans where it began its Final Four journey 30 years ago.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says ESPN MLB analyst Curt Schilling is facing hypocrisy calls after he criticized his former Red Sox team this week.

Chad adds some thoughts on Schilling and on NESN’s Jenny Dell that didn’t make his column.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes in SB Nation that a Tiger Woods in contention is good for The Masters^® and its TV partners.

Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times reviews this year’s edition of the MLB At-Bat app.

Richard Sandomir from the Times examines the Dodgers sale.

Anthony Riemer of Newsday looks at Jeremy Lin’s lunch with the sacked ESPN.com editor who unwittingly made a racial slur last month.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson should not be advocating violence. I don’t think he did, Phil, but continue to hate everything, ok?

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for former Tennessee and current Sirius XM analyst Bruce Pearl on the Final Four.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has the ESPN MAC football schedule.

Pete has CBS excited about this year’s Final Four.

Jane Kwiatkowski of the Buffalo News says this is a tough time for the local TV sportscast.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at a local PBS documentary on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is ready for Phillies baseball.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” gave another of many Capitals references.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Mitch “Wildi Thing” Williams.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes that the Houston Open should be helped by a lot of interesting storylines.

David says Jim Rome is getting ready for his CBS Sports Network closeup.

David writes that Texans running back Arian Foster is taking his show to the team’s radio flagship station.

In The Oklahoman, Mel Bracht has ESPN’s MLB analysts predicting the upcoming season.

Mel says there will be plenty of baseball available in the Oklahoma City market.

Mel reports a local radio station has flipped to being a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate.

Mel writes that a local radio sports director has been laid off thanks to Clear Channel.

Midwest

Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says New Orleans has provided CBS with plenty of Final Four excitement.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a local TV station plans to ride the Kentucky train for as long as possible.

John says a couple of long-time local radio veterans got the ax due to Clear Channel cost cutting.

John writes that a radio documentary on late Cincinnati Reds voice Waite Hoyt airs this weekend.

The Indianapolis Star says Butler coach Brad Stevens will be a guest analyst for CBS on the Final Four.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes the Brewers have extended their radio rights deal with their long-time flagship station.

Bob says a local sportscaster is back to work after a long illness.

Bob tells us that Marquette coach Buzz Williams will also be a guest analyst on CBS this weekend.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that CBS loves New Orleans at Final Four time.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says 20 Cardinals games won’t be seen by AT&T U-Verse subscribers this season.

Dan writes that the defending champions Cardinals will be in the national spotlight quite a few times this season.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Fox Sports San Diego is not optimistic of getting a deal with two cable providers in time for Padres opening day.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has ESPN’s MLB analysts praising Magic Johnson’s presence with the Dodgers.

Jim was surprised that Kentucky-Louisville wasn’t the nightcap for the Final Four.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Lakers fans are enjoying having guest analysts on radio broadcasts this season.

Tom talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.

Tom has more on Rome in his blog.

Canada

The usually uninformed Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC Sports appears to be rudderless as it heads into a new NHL negotiation.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the viewership numbers for Canadian sports television from last week.

And that will conclude the megalinks.

A Few Friday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

As my computer churns away with another silly Windows Update, it’s time for a few thoughts on the sports media. They are in bullet form as always.

• The signing of Jim Rome by CBS Sports is a big one. As CBS Sports Network attempts to expand from its regular diet of college sports, it nabs Rome away from ESPN for a nightly 6 p.m. ET show that will be its signature studio show. In addition, Rome becomes a contributor to CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournment, US Open Tennis and the NFL. I didn’t realize it at the time of the announcement, but the CBS press release made no mention of The Masters or other CBS golf tournaments. While CBS does want to reach a younger audience, I don’t think the membership at Augusta National want Rome as part of CBS’ coverage, but I digress.

  CBS hopes Rome will bring his core audience to its cable channel and expand the reach to beyond a sports tier where CBS Sports Network lies on some cable systems.

• This leads to a story which The Big Lead broke today, that NBC Sports Network could go after another ESPN’er, Scott Van Pelt. As the story states, Van Pelt’s contract is up in April and NBC using the Golf Channel and possibly the Olympics, could try to lure him away from ESPN. You may remember Van Pelt came to ESPN from Golf Channel so if he leaves, it would be a return to his former home. This is a story that bears watching.
• Another ESPN’er whose contract is expiring is SportsNation’s Michelle Beadle. Her contract is about to expire this month. I have not heard anything in regards to her negotiations. Suffice to say that she is well liked in the Bristol headquarters. We’ll keep you posted if Michelle is offered another gig.
• It was reported Thursday in Dave Hughes’ DCRTV.com site that Jen Royle who’s about to leave her current gig at 105.7 FM in Baltimore, will be part of a new show at Comcast SportsNet New England. A CSNNE spokesman told me that the info reported was incorrect and that Jen is expected to make a couple of appearances on the network’s talk show, Sports Tonight, although no dates have been set. I tried to contact Jen through her Twitter account, but as of the time of this post, I haven’t heard back. The CSNNE spokesman said reports of a new show at the network are erroneous.
• And one non-sports media thought, I can officially say I’m hooked on Downton Abbey. The miniseries about life of an English family and its servants during the Edwardian era and into World War I has been absolutely addicting and infectious. The cast is excellent and the drama is well-written. Thanks to the PBS iPad app, I watched the entire 1st season and first episode paid Season 2 in two nights. And I can’t wait for the third season in the fall.

And those are your thoughts for today.

Mixing Up A Few Saturday Links

Slept in this morning so I’m getting a late start on things.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News talks about ESPN hiring Ian Darke to be its Voice of Soccer.

John Eggerton of Multichannel writes that WWE’s Smackdown moves from broadcast to cable next Friday.

Adam Hochberg of the Poynter Institute says the NHL is considering pulling back access to bloggers hearing complaints from mainstream media members last season.

Marcus Vandenberg of SportsNewser says Univision and the NFL are teaming up to launch a new website geared towards the Hispanic market. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell asks if it will be worth the time for ESPN to shadow LeBron James during the NBA preseason.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks with director Ken Burns about his “10th Inning” sequel to his PBS “Baseball” documentary.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the ESPN MLB schedule for the rest of the season.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette two local broadcasters share a milestone today.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News reports that Cablevision is once again playing hardball with HD feeds of MSG Network to its competitors.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that mobile TV provider FLO TV will distribute 200 college football games to its subscribers.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times notes that Rays-Yankees delivered knockout ratings to Sun Sports once again.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News says a potentially 0-3 Cowboys team is drawing interest from the networks.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones (who has been doing a lot of TV work) joins a local TV station. 

John says Fox Sports Ohio will be live from the Reds clubhouse when they clinch a playoff spot. 

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman says College Gameday’s producer is raving about Boise as a location for the pregame show.

Katy Moeller of the Statesman live blogged the College Gameday atmosphere from Bronco Stadium.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has more with San Diego Padres TV voice Dick Enberg that didn’t make his Friday column.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that it’s been a bad year for golf on TV.

Sports Media Watch has a story that bears watching. CBS’ NFL Today beat Fox NFL Sunday for the second week in a row.

SMW has its weekend ratings predictions. 

SMW has other ratings news and notes.

SMW says ABC has seen its college football ratings go down in the young season.

SMW notes that CBS’ SEC football debut was down from a year ago.

Dan Levy at Press Coverage raves about ESPN’s signing of Ian Darke. 

Joe Favorito says despite being out of the pennant race, the Detroit Tigers are finding ways to branch out into the community and extend their brand.

Awful Announcing notes the debut of the new ESPN show called “Audibles” and the debut of Herman Edwards’ crazy Argyle socks.

And we’ll end it there for today. Look for the College Football Game of the Day highlights later.

Doing Your Friday Megalinks

Let’s do your megalinks today. Lots to get to.

There’s the Weekend Viewing Picks which contains the sports and entertainment choices for Saturday and Sunday.

Now let’s get to the linkage. Lots of of it today.

National

From USA Today’s Game On blog, Mike McCarthy talks with the producer of new Lombardi Broadway play on the ten things we did not know about the late Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today talks about HBO’s foray into the NHL for the latest edition of its critically acclaimed “24/7″ series.

Completing a USA Today trifecta, NHL writer Kevin Allen says bringing HBO into the fold is a big feather in the NHL’s cap.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated breaks news on Twitter that ESPN has hired World Cup announcer Ian Darke to be its signature voice for soccer replacing JP Dellacamera. That will include English Premier Games as well as MLS.

Stephen Wilson of the Associated Press writes that the International Olympic Committee expects to begin the bidding process for the US TV rights to the 2014/2016 Games early next year.

Forbes Magazine says ESPN is driving the Disney engine to profits. 

Noah Davis at SportsNewser talk about NASCAR.com launching a new daily show.

Etan Vlesing at the Hollywood Reporter also has a story on the HBO 24/7 NHL series.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says NBA TV will cover the league’s first-ever “Midnight Madness” preseason practice next week.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says it’s hoped that the new HBO series on the NHL will bring new fans to the league.

Stuart Levine of Variety writes that the 24/7 series deal was done as the NHL looks ahead to signing a new TV rights deal.

All Access says a former producer with the Mike & Mike in the Morning radio show has been named program director at ESPN Radio in New York. 

Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog profiles TNT’s Marv Albert.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse tells Ines Sainz to be a little more grateful.

CNBC’s Sports business producer Tom Rotunno lists the Top 5 Best Selling Playoff Gimmicks.

Sports Media Watch says the Philadelphia Phillies continue to set ratings records for Comcast SportsNet.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore provides his thoughts on HBO’s entrance into the NHL.

To Yahoo’s Puck Daddy and Greg Wyshynski who looks at what the Washington Capitals can expect to get from the HBO 24/7 series.

Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog talks with “Baseball” director Ken Burns in the latest edition of its podcast. 

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball is intrigued by MLB’s At Bat mobile app upgrade which now allows you to order food at the ballpark.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn says NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman could not hide his glee after signing with HBO.

At the Springfield (MA) Republican, Amanda Bruno gets on NESN for not airing Wednesday’s Bruins debut of rookie Tyler Seguin (scroll down).

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a fascinating article on the discovery of long lost TV footage of the 1960 World Series Game 7 between the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates. Expect MLB Network to air during the offseason.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudamire becomes the first team member to be featured in a new ESPN NBA promo.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the Jets will be under NBC’s scrutiny on Sunday night. Whatever, Bob. Make more stuff up.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post isn’t a fan of the standard press release apology.

Pete Doughety at the Albany Times Union has the MLB Network schedule through Saturday.

Laura Nachman says the Phillies are cleaning up in Philadelphia.

Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Penguins are happy to be on HBO.

Bob Smizik of the Post-Gazette says rumors are swirling about the demise of the ESPN Radio affiliate in the Steel City.  

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog looks at the HBO 24/7 NHL series from the Capitals point of view.

Dan has video of a new NFL apparel ad featuring DC NFL team owner Daniel Snyder and actress Alyssa Milano.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about the new HBO series on the Penguins and Capitals.

Jim says the Wizards will be the focus of NBA TV’s coverage of the first practices of the season.

Jim says the NFL is trying to enhance the fan experience at games.

South

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times has NBC’s Tony Dungy listing his three favorite TV shows.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that the Miami Dolphins are going all out to attract fans to come to the game.

Sarah says Miami Heat game tickets go on sale next week.

Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel wonders if Ines Sainz should have brought up her issue with the Jets to begin with.

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Journal says Chik-fil-A has signed an extension with ESPN keeping its football games on the Alleged Worldwide Leader. 

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says ESPN will catch up with a former Saints special teams player for Sunday NFL Countdown.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has Fox’s Joe Buck waxing poetic on the old Oilers.

In the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht says the Oklahoma City Thunder will be featured NBA TV’s training camp coverage.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Kiesewetter has info for those who want to watch the World Equestrian Games being held in Lexington, KY.

Michael Rothstein of AnnArbor.com chronicles the visit of ESPN2′s SportsNation to the University of Michigan this week. 

The Muncie (IN) Star Press says Ball State students will be producing content for Fox College Sports.

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

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a closer look at ESPN’s high powered goal line cameras that will be used in Monday’s Packers-Bears game.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Jack Clark will not work for Fox Sports Midwest for the rest of the Cardinals season.

Dan also looks at the new addition to Ken Burns’ PBS Baseball documentary.

West

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman talks with ESPN/ABC’s Brent Musburger about the Oregon State-Boise State matchup which he will call on Saturday.

The Statesman is excited about College Gameday’s visit to Boise on Saturday. 

John Maffei from the North County Times says with local blackout looming in San Diego, it might be wise to invest in NFL Network’s RedZone.

Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times notes that long-time Kings announcer Bob Miller is looking forward to his 38th season with the team.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has Dick Enberg being excited over his first season calling the San Diego Padres.

Tom has his news and notes in his blog. 

And that will conclude the megalinks for today.

Videos of the Week – Best Sports Themes, Part II

Last week, I did a Videos of the Week on the Best Sports TV themes and it was so popular that it warranted a follow up that same day. And it’s now time to do a Part II and give you some more themes. I’ll do some college basketball, pregame shows and soccer. Let’s get to them without delay.

College Basketball

Since CBS renewed its contract with the NCAA, bringing in Turner Sports to air the NCAA Tournament through 2024, I figured we could look back at the networks various themes over the years. And yes, they’ve used more than one.

This dates back to 1982 when CBS first got the contract to air college basketball in 1981, taking the package away from NBC Sports. It began a relationship that has lasted into the 21st Century. This is the original open and theme. It’s a clean copy of the open that would show clips to introduce the teams participating in the day’s contest.

This theme was used when CBS renewed its contract with the NCAA for another six years in 1987 and lasted until 1993. I like this version.

In 1993, CBS renewed its contract with the NCAA once again and this video has a couple of opens to the tournament that year featuring Jim Nantz and Sean McDonough. The music is quite familiar.

The other network doing college basketball in earnest is ESPN and this the theme used from 1995 through 2001.

And here’s ESPN’s current college basketball theme used on its family of networks including in syndication.

NFL Pregame Shows

Let’s move to the NFL pregame shows and I love these themes. They just get you ready for football. This is from 1978 and the NFL Today theme. Brent Musberger is your host. Jayne Kennedy had replaced Phyllis George who tried to branch out from sports.

Moving to 1982, CBS updated the NFL Today theme and jazzed up the open for the times. Phyllis George had returned to the show. It also segued into the NFL on CBS theme that was used at the time.

Let’s jump ahead to 1993 and CBS now had a different cast for the NFL Today, Greg Gumbel and Terry Bradshaw and this video also segues into the theme that was used at the time, one that CBS used in the late 1990′s into the early aughts.

NBC didn’t have much luck in the ratings with its NFL pregame shows as it was pitted against the NFL Today and then Fox NFL Sunday from the late 1970′s into the late 1990′s. But it still tried. We go to NFL ’81 and this video is bad quality, but you can still hear the NFL on NBC theme and Bryant Gumbel is the host.

Here’s a nine second version of the NFL ’85 theme. Bob Costas had become host by this time.

As NBC Sports prepared to go into a new decade, the pregame show had been renamed “NFL Live” and here is the theme from 1990.

And here’s NBC’s current theme used for both Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football, composed by the great John Williams.

This wasn’t a pregame show, but ESPN’s NFL Primetime got you ready for Sunday Night Football and it was one of the best highlight shows bar none. While Chris Berman is a parody of himself now, he was in his element doing the highlights of every Sunday afternoon NFL game with Tom Jackson. Here’s the NFL Primetime theme from the mid to late 1990′s.

Soccer

Back in the 1970′s, one of the few ways for a soccer fan to watch international games was to wait on Saturday afternoons to watch “Soccer Made in Germany” on PBS. That’s right, PBS aired some sports in its early days. Be patient. The theme comes at the end. Toby Charles voiced the highlights and he was even the host for World Cup highlights in 1978 for PBS as well. Great stuff.

I don’t know why, but I find this next theme very intriguing. This is the UEFA Champions League theme that’s played by every rightsholder around the world. I have the entire version and I once found myself singing “THE CHAMP-EE-YONS! THE CHAMP-EE-YONS!” walking out of my car. Silly, I know, but it’s catching. This is the description of the arrangement as put on the page where this video is on YouTube: “The UEFA Champions League theme song was performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields chorus. It is an arrangement by Tony Britten of Georg Frideric Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” from the Coronation Anthems.” Enjoy.

Since the World Cup is coming up in less than a month, why not give you some World Cup themes? This is from the BBC for its 1990 coverage in Italy. I love the opens BBC Sport produces for the Olympics and World Cup. This is Luciano Pavarotti’s version of Nessun Dorma, an opera that was made popular in the last decade by the Three Tenors.

Damn! That was awesome! Here’s BBC’s open and theme for World Cup Match of the Day in 1998. The World Cup was in France that year.

In 2002, the World Cup went to Asia and South Korea and Japan were co-hosts. This is the BBC open from that year. I don’t know what this music is supposed to be.

And this is from 2006 when the World Cup went to Germany.

Ok, I found more videos than I had planned on, but this was fun to do. Next week, sports anthology themes as well as tennis, golf and other sports that find my fancy.

Thursday’s Links

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SMW has some various news and notes.

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

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

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

We’ll end it there for now.

MLB Network to Join Simlucast of Hope for Haiti Now

Just received this press release from MLB Network that states the channel will be the only sports TV network that will simulcast the George Clooney-led fundraiser for Haitian Earthquake relief. Hope For Haiti will be aired across the nation and around the world on Friday starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the networks listed below.

“HOPE FOR HAITI NOW: A GLOBAL BENEFIT FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF” ADDS NEW MUSICAL PERFORMANCES AND CELEBRITY PARTICIPANTS TO SUPERSTAR LINEUP

Beyoncé to Perform in London

Madonna in New York City

Haitian Artist Emeline Michel in Los Angeles

Participants to include President Bill Clinton, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jon Stewart, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Will Smith with Muhammad Ali, and More Than One Hundred of the Biggest Names in Film, Television, and Music

“Hope for Haiti Now” to Begin Accepting Donations via Online, Phone, Text and Mail at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT on Friday, January 22

Music Performances Available for Pre-Order Exclusively on iTunes

NEW YORK, NY; LOS ANGELES, CA; and LONDON, ENGLAND (JANUARY 21, 2010) – “Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief,” today announced the addition of new musical artists and celebrity participants to its lineup. “Hope for Haiti Now” will air on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT and 7:00 p.m. CT

Newly added performers Beyoncé in London, Madonna in New York City, and Haitian artist Emeline Michel in Los Angeles will join the previously announced lineup: Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting in New York City; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Coldplay, and a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna in London.

In addition to musical performances, Wyclef Jean in New York City, George Clooney in Los Angeles, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper reporting from Haiti, “Hope for Haiti Now” will feature President Bill Clinton, Ben Stiller, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jon Stewart, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Will Smith with Muhammad Ali, and more than one hundred of the biggest names in film, television, and music.

  

“Hope for Haiti Now” will begin accepting donations at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT on Friday, January 22 via the following methods:

•         Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org

•         Phone: 877-99-HAITI

•         Text: Text “GIVE” to 50555

•         Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation,

1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Music performances from “Hope for Haiti Now” will be available for purchase and download on the iTunes® Store. Beginning on Friday, iTunes customers will be able to exclusively pre-order both the “Hope for Haiti Now” full performance album ($7.99) and the full two-hour video telecast ($1.99).  Pre-orders will be delivered in the days following the telethon. Individual audio performances will also be available for purchase and download for $.99 cents each in the days following the telethon. Apple, the record labels and the artists will donate their share of the proceeds to Haiti relief funds managed by “Hope for Haiti Now” charities. 

“Hope for Haiti Now” performances will also be available for purchase on AmazonMP3 and Rhapsody, with distribution provided by INgrooves. Proceeds from those purchases will also benefit Haiti relief funds managed by “Hope for Haiti Now” charities.

“Hope for Haiti Now,” will benefit Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Programme, Yele Haiti Foundation, and the newly formed Clinton Bush Haiti Foundation. Proceeds from “Hope for Haiti Now” will be split among each organization’s individual funds for Haiti earthquake relief. With the exception of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, each partner organization was selected for its history of operation and collaboration within the NGO community in Haiti.

“Hope for Haiti Now” will air across ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, COMEDY CENTRAL, Bravo, E! Entertainment, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, CENTRIC, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, EPIX, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health, Planet Green, CNN en Español, HBO Latino, and Canadian networks including CBC Television, CTV, Global Television, and MuchMusic. The event will be live streamed online globally across sites including YouTube, Hulu, MySpace, Fancast, AOL, MSN.com, Yahoo, Bing.com, BET.com, CNN.com, MTV.com, VH1.com, and Rhapsody and on mobile via Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and FloTV. “Hope for Haiti Now” will also air internationally on BET International, CNN International, National Geographic, and MTV Networks International, which is available in 640 million homes worldwide. “Hope for Haiti Now” will be available non-exclusively to all terrestrial radio stations around the globe and SIRIUS XM Radio as a one time only radio broadcast via the MTV Radio Network and Westwood One.

Based on production needs and venue sizes, all “Hope for Haiti Now” studio locations will be closed to the media. Photos, pool video footage and talent interviews from “Hope for Haiti Now” will be serviced to news outlets immediately following the event.

“Hope for Haiti Now” is produced by Joel Gallen and Tenth Planet Productions, in collaboration with Viacom’s MTV Networks and George Clooney.

It’s safe to say that Hope for Haiti Now will be the lone Primetime Viewing Pick from 8-10 p.m. tomorrow.