Fang's Bites

The 6th Annual Fang’s Bites College Football Awards

With another college football regular season over and another bowl season about to begin, it’s time to go hand out the college football TV awards once again.

As Fox increases its presence in college football thanks to its new contracts with the Big 12 and Pac-12, we have a bigger pool to choose from. And there’s always the usual stalwarts of ESPN and CBS as well. Let’s see who got which award for the 2012 season.

The College GameDay Award for Best Pregame Show – College GameDay, ESPN. This show is the standard for all pregame shows in any sport. Other shows have tried to match the energy of College GameDay’s live remotes and failed. Even the college basketball version of College GameDay pales in comparison to the football edition. The show picked up from the loss of Erin Andrews to Fox, brought in Samantha Steele to host the first hour on ESPNU and did not miss a beat. With host Chris Fowler handing off to Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso, College GameDay has one of the stronger casts for any studio show. Tom Rinaldi’s heartstring-tugging stories provides College GameDay with some of the strongest features in any year. There have been some bizarre moments, but we’ll get to those later. CBS’ College Football Today is also good, but doesn’t come close to GameDay.

Best Studio Show – A new category. I decided to reward a non-pregame show and for this year, I’ll go with College Football Final, ESPN2. Manned by ESPN’s other college football studio crew, Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and Mark May, this show also has very good chemistry. Holtz and May Day appear to barely tolerate each other, but they work off one another quite well. In addition, the show wraps up the day in college football in a very neat package. This season, I purposely stayed up each week to watch the program and was very impressed. And the Final Verdict segment that could be over the top never strays thanks to Davis keeping control. College Football Final is the first winner of this category.

Best Debut – Scott Van Pelt and Samantha Steele (tie). Two very good moves by ESPN. One was to give Scott Van Pelt a role on its college football coverage and the other was bringing in Samantha Steele to replace Erin Andrews on College GameDay. SVP hosted Thursday nights in the studio and also traveled to selected College GameDay sites to provide features and interviews. And by having the SVP & Russillo radio show at the GameDay site, ESPN got some extra promotion and synergy.

By bringing Samantha Steele over from Longhorn Network to host the first hour of College GameDay on ESPNU, it made many fans forget about Erin Andrews who left for Fox. There was no awkward transition and by the end of the season, Steele gave viewers something to look forward to every week. Michelle Beadle tweeted me that Steele would crush on College GameDay and she ended up being right.

The Keith Jackson Award for Best Play-by-Play – Tom Hammond, NBC. Tom has called Notre Dame football for the Peacock annually except for one year dating back to 1994. He’s a very good nuts-and-bolts announcer and with Mike Mayock has formed one of college football’s best announcing teams. Unfortunately, Tom did not get to call the Fighting Irish’s biggest games this season as Oklahoma and USC were aired on ABC and the Pittsburgh game at home was called by Dan Hicks. However, Hammond remains as one of the best announcers and calls a very good game.

Honorable mentions – Kevin Calabro, Pac-12 Network; Gus Johnson, Fox; Sean McDonough, ESPN/ABC; Verne Lundquist, CBS; Brad Nessler, ESPN/ABC, Dave Pasch, ESPN/ABC; Joe Tessitore, ESPN/ABC

The Frank Broyles Award for Best Game Analyst – Chris Spielman, ESPN/ABC. I seemed to get a lot of games that Spielman and Sean McDonough called on ABC this season. Whether it was the luck of the draw or the region where I live, they seemed to be on every Saturday afternoon game. I was impressed by Spielman’s calm on-air demeanor. He didn’t yell nor did he call attention to himself. He spotted trends and did not come off as condescending to the viewer. Spielman impressed me throughout the season.

Honorable mentions – Todd Blackledge, ESPN/ABC; Gary Danielson, CBS; Charles Davis, Fox; Brian Griese, ESPN/ABC; Glenn Mason, Big Ten Network; Mike Mayock, NBC

Best Announcing Team – Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown, ESPN/ABC. They were assigned to the noon ET game that often involved the Big Ten. Dave Pasch who also calls the Arizona Cardinals on radio is very good. Pasch also is involved with college basketball for ESPN. He and the son of NFL Hall of Famer Bob Griese have formed a strong team in the booth. In fact, the younger Griese often sounds a lot like his dad. Dave and Brian mesh well and are on top of trends. They let the game breathe and allow the action to come to them. We know that Jenn Brown is eye candy, but she does a decent job. I admit I haven’t been a fan of hers over the years, but as long as ESPN keeps her from being flashy, she’s fine.

Honorable mentions – Tom Hammond/Mike Mayock, NBC; Gus Johnson/Charles Davis, Fox; Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson, CBS; Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge, ESPN/ABC

The Jim Lampley Award for Best Studio Host – Liam McHugh, NBC. One of the best young hosts on sports television, McHugh has had a very good year. He’s proving to be quite versatile whether he’s hosting the NHL, Olympics or college football. McHugh does a good job with the highlights, meshes with analysts Hines Ward and Doug Flutie and has a very good camera presence. I like his work.

Honorable mentions – Tim Brando, CBS; Rece Davis, ESPN; Chris Fowler, ESPN; Adam Zucker, CBS/CBS Sports Network

Best Studio Analyst – Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN College GameDay. I’m not a fan of Herbstreit’s work in the booth, but there’s no doubt that his strength is on GameDay where he has made his fame. Kirk works well with the entire GameDay crew and is the best analyst on the set. Unlike his picks where he’s not allowed to choose winners for the game he’s calling, Herbstreit is not afraid to take a stand and offers strong opinions. Of course, those opinions have led him to move from his native Columbus to Tennessee as Ohio State fans have vented their anger at him, but Herbie is one of the best analysts in the studio.

Honorable mentions – Doug Flutie, NBC; Mark May, ESPN; Jesse Palmer, ABC; Spencer Tillman, CBS

The Jack Arute Award for Sideline Reporting – Heather Cox, ESPN/ABC. Replacing Erin Andrews on Saturday Night Football and joining the “A” team with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit, Heather received a high profile assignment and she handled it swimmingly. Coming off another high-profile assignment at the Olympics for NBC at the Beach Volleyball venue, Heather handled halftime coach’s interview very well. I heard that Heather got a raise from ESPN going into this season and it’s well deserved. Very good reporter.

Honorable mentions – Alex Flanagan, NBC; Quint Kessenich, ESPN/ABC; Holly Rowe, ESPN/ABC; Tracy “The Wolf” Wolfson, CBS

Most Valuable Network – NBC. Thanks to Notre Dame’s resurgence, it led to its best ratings for the Fighting Irish package dating back to 2005. The seven games on NBC saw a 67% increase in ratings from a year ago and if Notre Dame wins the BCS National Championship Game in January, NBC will be in prime position for another ratings increase in 2013.

Honorable mentions – CBS; ESPN

Best Overall Coverage – This is always a controversial choice because this is very subjective. ESPN. College Football is a sport where it steps up and provides good coverage. It blankets Saturdays from 9 a.m. ET until 3 a.m. on Sunday. What other network can do this? Maybe CBS Sports Network, but you can start with College GameDay on ESPNU at 9 a.m. ET, watch games starting at noon and flip around to as many as five games spanning to 1:30 a.m. and then watch College Football Final ending your day at 3 a.m. ET. You shouldn’t be up that long, but if you love college football you can.

Honorable mentions – CBS/CBS Sports Network, NBC

Best Move – Fox College Football in primetime. Fox entered the primetime mix with Big 12 and Pac-12 games this season. Having Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Julie Alexandria on most of the games, they helped to give Fox a big game feel on its college football package. Most of the time, ABC beat Fox in the ratings, but Fox had some decent games this season. We’ll probably see primetime college football on Fox Sports 1 in the next couple of years, but let’s enjoy the games on the Fox mothership for as long as we can.

The Pam Ward Award for Worst Play-by-Play – Craig Bolerjack, Fox. He gets it for the second straight year. Read last year’s post for my reasoning.

Worst Analyst (Game or Studio) – Eddie George and Joey Harrington, Fox (tie). Both on Fox College Saturday, George and Harrington were extremely shaky. They had trouble doing highlights and stumbled a lot. They improved as the season progressed, but it was not enough to wipe away their failing grades from the beginning. I hope to see some major improvement next season.

Worst Debut – Fox College Saturday. This show had potential, but got off to a rough start when a baseball game ran over and wiped out its premiere to most of the country. And it happened again in following weeks when Fox Saturday Baseball would run long. And the show with Erin Andrews, George and Harrington never clicked. The chemistry among the cast never jelled. Here’s hoping with one year under its belt, the show will get better in 2013.

Worst Studio Host – Erin Andrews, Fox. The studio is not Erin Andrews’ strength. She’s best on the sidelines. Erin was shaky in the studio and there was the moment when Stanford beat USC where she said students would not be going to school the following day. Technically that was correct as school would be closed on the following Sunday. Anyway, I hope that she will improve next year, we’ll be watching.

Most Bizarre Lee Corso Moment – We have a couple, but I have to cull this down to one. Lee Corso remains an American treasure and his mascot head picks remain high comedy. However, they can become extremely bizarre like this one in November when Corso almost strangled a duck at the University of Oregon by holding its head under his arm. Luckily, the duck turned out ok, but the ASPCA almost had to be summoned.

Truly one of the most bizarre moments this year.

Honorable mention – Lee fires off guns in Oklahoma once again scaring off Kirk Herbstreit.

And that’s going to complete the Awards for 2012.

Various Wednesday Links

I’ll do a few links for you this evening.

I’ll start with a strange story that surfaced today from a University of Maryland journalism class during which ESPN Vice President and Executive Editor John Walsh made some rather strange statements about Deadspin’s John Koblin over the Lynn Hoppes plagiarism situation. Deadspin has raised issues of Hoppes lifting material from Wikipedia. In the journalism class, student Mark Sanchez asked Walsh about Hoppes and the plagiarism. Walsh then made puzzling statements that Koblin was angry that Hoppes stole his girlfriend. This is quite interesting except that Koblin is gay. The whole thing came out on Twitter in this very interesting thread. John Koblin later talked with Walsh who denied making the statements. One of the strangest stories I’ve ever seen this year or any other year.

A story that broke Wednesday night, Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that CBS/Turner might get permission to use ESPN’s Dick Vitale on the NCAA Tournament and team him with Charles Barkley.

ESPN has gained the rights to air the NBA in the UK and Ireland.

Jason Howerton at The Blaze writes that Bob Costas and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had a discussion on guns.

Dave Scott from ESPN’s Front Row public relations blog notes that Sean McDonough is recovering from surgery to correct  a rare ear condition.

Tom Van Riper of Forbes says former ESPN’er Brian Kenny brings a big network feel to MLB Network.

Reuters has a Disney executive crowing about ESPN ad sales being ahead of last year’s pace.

David Goetzl from MediaPost notes that SodaStream will advertise in Super Bowl XLVII on CBS.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age looks at the companies buying time in the Super Bowl.

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report talks with former Fox Sports Vice Chairman Ed Goren about a career that spans many decades back to his days with CBS.

Ed also has former New York Times writer Robert Lipsyte discussing Bob Costas’ halftime commentary on Sunday Night Football.

Dee McVicker from Radio World says ESPN has been studying consumers’ cross-platform habits.

SportsRantz notes that Cumulus Media has purchased radio stations that ensures that CBS Sports Radio will be heard on FM in the nation’s top three markets.

Matthew Kitchen of Esquire talks with ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of a Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic anchor mocked LeBron James after the Washington Wizards defeated the Miami Heat last night.

Sports Media Watch says the SEC Championship Game on CBS did really well in the ratings.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says WBZ-TV’s Steve Burton went out on a limb to say the NHL Lockout could be resolved.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News talks about Fox’s spending spree reaching to Cleveland.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl New York notes that the Jets are staying with ESPN Radio NY for years to come.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 14 NFL TV Schedule.

Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says TV rights fees help teams spend on free agents.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner delves into a Sports Business Journal report stating that Fox Sports was interested in buying MASN.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with former Astros analyst Jim Deshaies about leaving for the Chicago Cubs.

The Chronicle prints a press release stating that ESPN’er Steve Bunin is joining Comcast SportsNet Houston.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman has the weekend TV ratings for Oklahoma City.

Jay Miller at Crain’s Cleveland Business speculates about the sale of Sports Time Ohio to Fox Sports. Your humble blogger is quoted in the story. (subscription might be required)

Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch says the extra cash from STO’s sale may not help the Dolan family which owns the Cleveland MLB team.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN’s Samantha Steele is now engaged.

Chris Kue of the Chicago Tribune has Jim Deshaies looking forward to being the new Cubs analyst.

Lewis Lazare at the Chicago Business Journal says Comcast SportsNet Chicago has hired a new news director.

Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune writes that the Raiders are shooting down any rumors of ESPN’s Jon Gruden coaching the team once again.

Jeff Blair from the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about the late Blue Jays voice Tom Cheek being bestowed a Baseball Hall of Fame honor posthumously.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski speculates on how many games would be played if the NHL Lockout ever gets resolved.

I think that will end our linkage for the night.

ESPN Airs 34 College Bowl Games Including The Next-to-Last BCS

ESPN has sent its schedule for the college football bowls as well as the Bowl Championship Series. In addition, we have the announcing assignments for all of the games on the ESPN platforms. Most of the games will air on ESPN, some on ESPN2. ESPN Radio also carries a series of games including the entire BCS.

Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox will call the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game. ESPN’s other teams for the BCS and the other bowls approaching January are Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe, Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich and Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Maria Taylor.

Other teams include ESPN’s regular combos of Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway, Carter Blackburn/Rod Gilmore/Jemele Hill, Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham, Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell, Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown and Mark Jones/Brock Huard.

Here’s ESPN’s press release in full.

ESPN to Carry 34 College Football Bowl Games including Entire BCS

ESPN’s extensive college football coverage continues with 34 bowl games, highlighted by all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including the BCS National Championship (No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama) on Monday, Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN 3D and WatchESPN.

The schedule will kick off with an ESPN and ESPN Radio doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 15: the New Mexico Bowl (Nevada vs. Arizona), which is also on ESPN 3D, at 1 p.m. ET and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Toledo vs. No. 22 Utah State) at 4:30 p.m.

Schedule highlights:

• An ESPN outlet will offer coverage of at least one game a day for 16 out of the 19 days from Dec. 20 to Jan. 7.
• ESPN’s New Year’s Day lineup will include six games:

• Noon: Gator Bowl (Mississippi State vs. No. 20 Northwestern) on ESPN2 and Heart of Dallas Bowl (Purdue vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State) on ESPNU.
• 1 p.m.: Capital One Bowl (No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 16 Nebraska) on ABC and ESPN Radio and Outback Bowl (No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 18 Michigan) on ESPN and ESPN Radio.
• 5 p.m.: Rose Bowl (Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Stanford) on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.
• 8:30 p.m.: Orange Bowl (No. 15 Northern Illinois vs. No. 12 Florida State) on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.

• Every bowl game on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will be available on computers at WatchESPN.com and on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app. WatchESPN is currently available in 40 million households nationwide to fans who receive their video subscription from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast Xfinity TV or Midcontinent Communications.
• ESPN Deportes will televise all five BCS bowls, marking the first telecast of the entire BCS in Spanish for U.S. Hispanic sports fans. ESPN Deportes also aired the BCS Championship between Alabama and LSU last year. According to the most recent ESPN Deportes Sports PollSource: ESPN Deportes Sports Poll 2011, P2+
• , 42 percent of U.S. Hispanics follow college football. That’s more than the Hispanic fanbase following UEFA Champions League.
• ESPN 3D, the world’s first 24/7 all-sports 3D channel, will televise five bowl games, highlighted by the Sugar Bowl and BCS National Championship. It will mark the third year ESPN 3D has televised the BCS National Championship. ESPN 3D, launched in 2010, is available to more than 63 million homes in the U.S. through carriage agreements with DIRECTV, Comcast, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and Google Fiber.
• ESPN Radio will broadcast 24 bowl games, including all five BCS matchups and the Cotton Bowl (No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma on Friday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m.).
• ESPN will cover all seven ESPN Regional Television owned-and-operated bowl games: the New Mexico Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 15, at 1 p.m.), St. Petersburg Bowl (Friday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m.); Las Vegas Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 22, at 3:30 p.m.); Hawaii Bowl (Monday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m.); Texas Bowl (Friday, Dec. 28, at 9 p.m.); Armed Forces Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 29, at 11:45 a.m.); and BBVA Compass Bowl (Saturday, Jan. 5, at 1 p.m.).
• ESPN International will telecast the BCS in: Australia/New Zealand (ESPN Pacific Rim); Latin America North & South; Brazil; Caribbean; Europe (ESPN America); Sub-Saharan Africa (ESPN Atlantic) and Middle East.

Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will work their sixth consecutive BCS National Championship game on ESPN (Monday, Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m.) with Saturday Night Football reporter Heather Cox and College GameDay host and reporter Tom Rinaldi. For the second straight year, ESPN’s Monday Night Football signal caller Mike Tirico will work ESPN Radio’s broadcast with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge and reporters Holly Rowe and Joe Schad.

As part of an extensive four-year agreement with the Bowl Championship Series that began in 2010, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide television coverage, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five annual BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000.

The 2012 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN Radio, ESPN 3D, ESPN Deportes, Longhorn Network, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television, WatchESPN and ESPN GamePlan totals more than 450 regular-and post-season games.

Bowl Championship Series

Tuesday, January 1	5 p.m.	Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Stanford ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox & Tom Rinaldi Radio: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown Deportes: Georgina Ruiz Sandoval & Robert Abramowitz	ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN Radio
	8:30 p.m.	Orange Bowl: No. 15 Northern Illinois vs. No. 12 Florida State ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN Radio
Wednesday, January 2	8:30 p.m.	Sugar Bowl: No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 3 Florida ESPN: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich Radio: Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
Thursday, January 3	8:30 p.m.	Fiesta Bowl: No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Kansas State ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN Radio
Monday, January 7	8:30 p.m.	BCS National Championship Game: No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox & Tom Rinaldi Radio: Mike Tirico, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe & Joe Schad Deportes: Eduardo Varela & Pablo Viruega	ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D

Additional Postseason Games

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Saturday, Dec 15	1 p.m.	New Mexico Bowl: Nevada vs. Arizona ESPN: Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Kaylee Hartung Radio: Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Marty Cesario	ESPN, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
	4:30 p.m.	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Toledo vs. No. 22 Utah State ESPN: Tom Hart, Mike Bellotti & Quint Kessenich Radio: Rich Cellini, Tom Ramsey & Shelley Smith	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Thursday, December 20	8 p.m.	Poinsettia Bowl: BYU vs. San Diego State ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
Friday, December 21	7:30 p.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl: Central Florida vs. Ball State ESPN: Dave Neal, Andre Ware, Desmond Howard & Cara Capuano Radio: Dave Lamont, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Saturday, December 22	Noon	New Orleans Bowl: East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette ESPN: Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Quint Kessenich Radio: Marc Kestecher, Dan Hawkins & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Las Vegas Bowl: Washington vs. No. 19 Boise State Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN
Monday, December 24	8 p.m.	Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State vs. SMU ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Kelly Stouffer & Kaylee Hartung Radio: Marc Kestecher & Pete Najarian	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Wednesday, December 26	7:30 p.m.	Little Caesars Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Thursday, December 27	3 p.m.	Military Bowl: No. 24 San Jose State vs. Bowling Green Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Quint Kessenich	ESPN
	6:30 p.m.	Belk Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Duke Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN
	9:45 p.m.	Holiday Bowl: Baylor vs. No. 17 UCLA ESPN: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN, ESPN Radio & ESPN 3D
Friday, December 28	2 p.m.	Independence Bowl: Ohio vs. Louisiana-Monroe Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Cara Capuano	ESPN
	5:30 p.m.	Russell Athletic Bowl: Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor Radio: Adam Amin, Tom Luginbill & Brett McMurphy	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	9 p.m.	Texas Bowl: Minnesota vs. Texas Tech ESPN: Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza Radio: Tom Hart, John Congemi & Niki Noto	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Saturday, December 29	11:45 a.m.	Armed Forces Bowl: Rice vs. Air Force ESPN: Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson Radio: Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:15 p.m.	Pinstripe Bowl: West Virginia vs. Syracuse ESPN: Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer & Tom Rinaldi Radio: Marc Kestecher, Jack Ford & C.J. Papa	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	4 p.m.	Fight Hunger Bowl: Navy vs. Arizona State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown	ESPN2
	6:45 p.m.	Alamo Bowl: No. 23 Texas vs. No. 13 Oregon State ESPN: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich Radio: Mark Neely, Ray Bentley & Kaylee Hartung	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	10:15 p.m.	Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: TCU vs. Michigan State ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Monday, December 31	Noon	Music City Bowl: NC State vs. Vanderbilt Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Liberty Bowl: Iowa State vs. Tulsa ESPN: Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza Radio: Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Bowl: No. 8 LSU vs. No. 14 Clemson ESPN: Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards Radio: Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Tuesday, January 1	Noon	Gator Bowl: Mississippi State vs. No. 20 Northwestern Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2
		Heart of Dallas Bowl: Purdue vs. Oklahoma State Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Kaylee Hartung	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Capital One Bowl: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 16 Nebraska ABC: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele Radio: Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Brett McMurphy	ABC & ESPN Radio
		Outback Bowl: No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 18 Michigan ESPN: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden & Shannon Spake Radio: Carter Blackburn, John Congemi & Jemele Hill	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Friday, January 4	7 p.m.	Cotton Bowl: No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma Brad Sham, Ed Cunningham & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN Radio
Saturday, January 5	1 p.m.	BBVA Compass Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss ESPN: Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra Radio: Dave Lamont, Kelly Stouffer & Allison Williams	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Sunday, January 6	9 p.m.	GoDaddy.com Bowl: No. 25 Kent State vs. Arkansas State Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN

That is all.

Breaking Out Some Monday Linkage

The last few days, I’ve been sick which limited the number of posts between Friday and Saturday. I’m still not feeling well, but I’ll be providing linkage and posts as long I’m physically able. To the links.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with NFL Network’s Melissa Stark about returning to sports television after leaving in 2008 to become a full-time mom.

Don Banks of SI looks at how NFL teams are adjusting to a full season of Thursday Night Football.

John Ourand & Michael Smith from Sports Business Journal report that ESPN is close to nabbing the college football playoff for many years to come.

John catches up with outgoing Fox Sports Media Group Vice Chairman Ed Goren who helped launch the company in 1994.

Eric Fisher at SBJ notes how MLB Advanced Media kept operating after Hurricane Sandy wiped out power in the company’s headquarters.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report looks at an unusual Comcast SportsNet Chicago documentary which went to Cambodia to tell a compelling story.

Kurt Badenhausen from Forbes explains how ESPN is the cash engine that drives Disney.

Joe Levine of SportsGrid tells us that Fox NFL Sunday had some technical issues during one of its halftime updates.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age says Century 21 will return to advertising in the Super Bowl in February.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post doesn’t understand the bubble screen.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has NBC Sports Network’s college basketball announcing teams.

Don Laible talks with former WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman here and here.

Dave Zoren of the Delaware County Daily Times says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and The Comcast Network team up for almost 70 college basketball games this season (scroll down).

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks about waking up with NFL AM.

The Charlotte Observer talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz.

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

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel says a fourth sports radio station launches in the local market today.

Christine Lee of NBC Dallas says ESPN is teaming up with the Irving Chamber of Commerce to attract businesses to the local area.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle has DirecTV’s CEO complaining about Comcast SportsNet Houston’s subscriber fees.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman reviews the TV productions of the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State games from Saturday.

John Vomhof, Jr. of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal says a Fox Sports North reporter is leaving for a similar position at Root Sports Pittsburgh.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post feels Dick Vitale is key to any college basketball season.

Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-12 Conference will no longer have exposure issues now that with new TV contracts with ESPN, Fox, CBS and of course, the Pac-12 Network.

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

Tom has the five things he learned from watching sports over the weekend.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin notes that Minnesota Vikings QB Christan Ponder made a tongue-in-cheek comment about his girlfriend, ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

The Classic Sports TV and Media blog has a look at ABC’s Monday Night Football’s halftime highlights as narrated by the late, great Howard Cosell.

And that will do it for now.

College Football Viewing Picks For Week 11, 11/10/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows
College GameDay live on board the USS San Diego — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
ACC Blitz — ACC Network, noon
BTN Football Postgame — Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 3 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m.
The Final Drive — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 6:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 8:30 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 10 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN2, 10 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

noon
Louisville at Syracuse — ABC (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)
Miami at Virginia — ABC (Tom Hart/John Congemi)

Cincinnati at Temple — Big East Network (Eamon McAnaney/David Diaz-Infante/Paul Carcaterra)

Purdue at Iowa — Big Ten Network (Josh Lewin/Chris Martin/J Leman)

Arkansas at South Carolina — CBS (Tim Brando/Steve Beuerlein/Marty Snider)

William & Mary at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet (Bay Area/Houston/Mid-Atlantic/New England/Philadelphia)

Northwestern at Michigan — ESPN/ESPN 3D (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Jenn Brown)
Wisconsin at Indiana — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Niki Noto)
Army at Rutgers — ESPNU (Joe Beninati/Peter Najarian/George Smith)

Kansas at Texas Tech — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central/WLVI/KICU (Joe Myers/Brian Baldinger/Jim Knox)
St. Francis (PA) at Monmouth — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Paul Dottino/Steve Levy)
Southeast Missouri State at Eastern Illinois — Fox College Sports Pacific (Bob Belvin/Kevin Ingram)

Iowa State at Texas — Longhorn Network (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)/ABC (Iowa only) (Mark Neely/Ray Bentley)

Williams at Amherst — NESN (Tom Caron/Steve DeOssie/Katy Fitzpatrick)

Harvard at Penn — NBC Sports Network (Randy Moss/Ross Tucker/Marshall Harris)

Louisiana-Lafayette at Florida — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. (Mike Morgan/Chris Doering)
Missouri at Tennessee — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. (Dave Ware/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

Princeton at Yale — YES

12:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech at North Carolina — ACC Network

Colgate at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan/Todd Christensen/Evan Washburn)

1:30 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)

3 p.m.
Oregon State at Stanford — Fox (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)
Wake Forest at NC State — Fox Sports Net (regional) (North Plus/South/Southwest Plus/Prime Ticket)/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/NESN (Mike Hogewood/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

Arizona State at USC — Pac-12 Network (Ted Robinson/Glenn Parker/Ryan Nece)

3:30 p.m.
Penn State at Nebraska — ABC/ESPN2 (Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Quint Kessenich)
West Virginia at Oklahoma State — ABC/ESPN2 (Dave Lamont/Kelly Stouffer)

Minnesota at Illinois — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/Jon Jansen)

Texas A&M at Missouri — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson)

Maryland at Clemson — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Baylor at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Pacific/WLVI/WMCN/WDCA/KICU (Steve Physioc/JC Pearson/Laura McKeeman)
South Dakota State at North Dakota State — Fox College Sports Central (Brian Shawn/Lee Timmerman/Kevin Feeney)

Air Force at San Diego State — NBC Sports Network (Ari Wolfe/Blaine Fowler)

Portland State at Montana State — Root Sports (Northwest/Rocky Mountain)/Audience Network (DirecTV)

5 p.m.
Tulsa at Houston — CBS Sports Network (James Bates/Aaron Talor/Lauren Gardner)

7 p.m.
Mississippi State at LSU — ESPN (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)
Georgia at Auburn — ESPN2 (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Allison Williams)
Vanderbilt at Mississippi — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Angela Mallen)

Kansas State at TCU — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)
Southern Mississippi at SMU — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central (Ron Thulin/Dave Lapham/Desmond Purnell)
Central Florida at UTEP — Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mike Gleason/Ben Leber/Lesley McCaslin)

Louisiana Tech at Texas State — Longhorn Network (Dave Armstrong/Ray Bentley — 2 games in one day!)

Hawaii at Boise State — NBC Sports Network (Paul Bermeister/Rod Woodson)

8 p.m.
Notre Dame at Boston College — ABC (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

10:15 p.m.
Idaho at BYU — ESPNU (Joe Davis/Jay Walker)

10:30 p.m.
Oregon at Cal — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/Samantha Steele)
UCLA at Washington State — ESPN2 (Adam Amin/Tom Luginbill/Shelley Smith)

Utah at Washington — Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

Some Thursday Linkage

Let me try to squeeze some linkage into the site today. It’s been crazy the last few days here.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has your 2012-13 college basketball viewing guide.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today talks with former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl who will work for the ESPN family this season.

Sports Business Daily recaps one of the sessions at its Sports Media & Technology Conference in New York. This included ESPN Junta Chief John Skipper.

From the ESPN Ombudsman, the lovely Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute explores how ESPN handles rumors and how it reports them.

At The Sherman Report, Ed Sherman notes TNT’s Charles Barkley’s comments on sideline reporters.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says the NFL is marketing a $60 USB computer plug-in.

Media Life Magazine has CBS crowing about being close to selling out Super Bowl XLVII.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin goes over why NBA League Pass is a massive ripoff.

Dylan Murphy of SportsGrid notes that Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has for all intents and purposes, lost the women’s vote. Good job, Mike.

Dylan has a frightening story on the man stalking Michelle Beadle.

Speaking of Pro Football Talk, Josh Alper from PFT has the sensitive Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers unhappy about his puff 60 Minutes profile.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell says the Los Angeles Dodgers are finding plenty of suitors for their TV rights.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY talks with Marv Albert about Brooklyn’s return to professional sports.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes an area native getting a promotion at ESPN.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the NFL won’t flex in Week 12.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks with a local radio personality who used to pick high school football games.

Erik Spanberg from the Charlotte Business Journal has former NFL GM Bill Polian smiling about his ESPN NFL gig.

Michael Casagrande at the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says the viewing for the late ESPN on NBA Radio voice Jim Durham is this Sunday.

The Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht talks with TNT’s Reggie Miller.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Time Warner Cable will air Marquette basketball games this season.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune tells us that we’re paying more and more to watch sports on television.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the entries for this year’s All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival.

Sports Media Watch has some on-air personnel news.

Snap, Crackle Pop has some edgy MSG Network New York Knicks ads that had to be taken down.

Cork Gaines at the Business Insider’s Sports Page has screengrabs of some funny ESPN mustaches.

We have this week’s column from Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead notes that ESPN has transformed NFL insider John Clayton into a cartoon metalhead.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing has video of former San Francisco Giants whiner Jeff Kent angry at everything after being booted from Survivor.

And that’s it for now.

ESPN Unveils Its College Basketball Announcing Teams For 2012-13 Season

Let’s take a look at the announcers ESPN will utilize for college basketball this season.

Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale remain the top team as they’ll major ACC and Saturday primetime games together. Dave O’Brien gets an upgrade as he’ll call ACC games with Vitale, Jay Bilas or Doris Burke.

Brent Musburger returns to call Big 12 games on Big Monday, but he’ll have a new partner in Fran Fraschilla who returns to calling Big Monday on ESPN.

Musburger’s partner of last year, Bob Knight will be assigned to SEC games on Thursday nights with Rece Davis.

With ESPN picking up Pac-12 games this season, Bill Walton returns to the Mothership to be the analyst on Wednesday and Thursday night games with Dave Pasch.

Returning teams include Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery on Big East games on Big Monday, Mike Patrick and Len Elmore move to the Big East on Saturdays after calling the ACC for years and Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes on the SEC.

Ok, here’s the ESPN press release.

ESPN 2012-13 Men’s College Basketball Commentators
Vitale, Bilas & More Return; Walton Joins; Fraschilla & Knight on New Nights

ESPN’s 2012-13 men’s college basketball telecasts – more than 1,450 games tipping off with 350 nonconference contests beginning Friday, Nov. 9 – will feature a deep bench of knowledgeable and experienced commentators.

Dick Vitale, in his 34th season with ESPN, will continue to provide analysis on top games throughout the season, primarily with Dan Shulman. During conference play, Shulman and Vitale will work the weekly Saturday Primetime series and select ACC Wednesday Night Hoops telecasts, including North Carolina at Duke on February 13.

Jay Bilas, entering his 18th season with ESPN, will also work top matchups throughout the season, beginning in Germany for ESPN’s telecast of Michigan State vs. Connecticut in the Armed Forces Classic from the Ramstein Air Base on Friday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m. ET. During conference action, Bilas will again team with Sean McDonough and analyst Bill Raftery, who joined ESPN in 1980, on the weekly Big Monday BIG EAST package of games and work contests from various conferences.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton – a three-time NCAA Player of the Year (1972, 1973, 1974) at UCLA – will rejoin ESPN as a college basketball analyst, primarily working Wednesday and Thursday Pac-12 telecasts with commentator Dave Pasch. Walton, who guided UCLA to national titles in 1972 and 1973 and to an NCAA record 88-game winning streak, served as a key NBA analyst for ESPN from 2002 to 2009.

Top analysts Fran Fraschilla and Bob Knight will take on new assignments during conference play. Fraschilla will serve as the analyst on the Big Monday Big 12 series, partnering with Brent Musburger. Fraschilla previously worked Big Monday Big 12 games from 2004 through 2009. Knight will work Thursday Night Showcase SEC matchups with Rece Davis. Knight and Davis have worked several games together and shared the set on studio programming, including College GameDay.

Additional highlights:

• Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes will return to work SEC telecasts as part of ESPN’s Super Tuesday series and through the finals of the SEC Tournament. Mark Jones will call play-by-play with Dykes on Saturday SEC games.
• Mike Tirico, one of ESPN’s most versatile commentators and the voice of Monday Night Football, and ESPN analyst Dan Dakich will return for their second season together on the weekly Big Ten Super Tuesday game.
• The Thursday Night Showcase Big Ten telecasts will feature a new announcer team of Joe Tessitore and Sean Farnham.
• Dave O’Brien, who previously worked Big Ten games, will call Thursday and Saturday ACC games. Doris Burke will serve as the analyst with O’Brien on Saturday telecasts.

Commentators appearing in regular weekly ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU time slots plus Saturdays throughout the conference action (conference assignments can vary):

Various Days

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst
ESPN or ESPN2	Select Games	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale

Big Monday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPN	BIG EAST	Sean McDonough	Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery
ESPN	Big 12	Brent Musburger	Fran Fraschilla	Holly Rowe

Super Tuesday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPN	Big Ten	Mike Tirico	Dan Dakich	Samantha Steele
ESPN	SEC	Brad Nessler	Jimmy Dykes	Shannon Spake
ESPNU	ACC	Tom Hart	Len Elmore
ESPNU	SEC	Dari Nowkhah	Dino Gaudio

Wednesday Night Hoops

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst
ESPN or ESPN2	ACC	Dan Shulman or Dave O’Brien	Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas or Doris Burke
ESPN or ESPN2	BIG EAST	Mike Patrick	LaPhonso Ellis
ESPN or ESPN2	Big 12	Bob Wischusen	Stephen Bardo
ESPN or ESPN2	Pac 12	Dave Pasch	Bill Walton
ESPNU	Big 12	Mitch Holthus	Matt Doherty
ESPNU	BIG EAST	Adam Amin	Tim Welsh

Thursday Night Showcase

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPN or ESPN2	ACC	Dave O’Brien	Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas or Doris Burke	Jeannine Edwards
ESPN or ESPN2	Big Ten	Joe Tessitore	Sean Farnham
ESPN or ESPN2	SEC	Rece Davis	Bob Knight
ESPN or ESPN2	Pac 12	Dave Pasch	Bill Walton
ESPN or ESPN2	BIG EAST	John Saunders	Various analysts
ESPN2	West Coast	Dave Flemming	TBD
ESPNU	Pac-12	Roxy Bernstein	Miles Simon

Friday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst
ESPNU	MAAC	Doug Sherman	Tim O’Toole
ESPNU	Horizon	Jim Barbar	Malcolm Huckaby

Saturday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporters
ESPN	Saturday Primetime	Dan Shulman	Dick Vitale	Samantha Steele
ESPN	BIG EAST	Mike Patrick	Len Elmore
ESPN	Big Ten	Bob Wischusen	Dan Dakich
ESPN	Big 12	Jon Sciambi	Fran Fraschilla
ESPN	ACC	Dave O’Brien	Doris Burke
ESPN	SEC	Mark Jones	Jimmy Dykes
ESPNU	BIG EAST	Beth Mowins	Tim Welsh
ESPNU	SEC	Tom Hart	Matt Doherty
ESPNU	Pac-12	Dave Flemming	Sean Farnham

Sunday

Network	Conference	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
ESPNU	ACC Sunday Night Basketball	Carter Blackburn	Jay Williams	Allison Williams
ESPNU	Missouri Valley	Mitch Holthus	Mark Adams

In addition to regular assignments on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, ESPN Regional Television will produce and syndicate an extensive schedule of games from the SEC, BIG EAST and Big 12:

SEC Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
Wednesday and Saturday	Clay Matvick, Dave Baker, Dave Neal or Dave Lamont	Joe Dean, Kara Lawson, Barry Booker, Jon Sundvold or Kyle Macy

Big 12 Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
Saturday and select weekdays	Dave Armstrong, Mitch Holthus or Brad Sham	Reid Gettys, Stephen Howard, Bryndon Manzer, Chris Piper or Rich Zvosec

BIG EAST Network	Play-by-play	Analyst
Saturday and select Sundays	Anish Shroff	Bob Wenzel

That is all.

Some Sunday Linkage

I have some time on this NFL Sunday to provide some rare weekend linkage. Let’s get to it.

Chris Chase at USA Today’s Game On blog notes that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder has confirmed that he’s dating ESPN College GameDay’s Samantha Steele.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks about the Pac-12 Networks being made available to Apple mobile devices as long as they’re subscribers of participating cable and satellite providers.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report reviews this week’s 30 for 30 documentary which has a Chicago slant.

Sports Media Watch says expect Fox to be a player for the rights to the second half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season if ESPN and Turner falter in their negotiations next year.

SportsRantz says Jen Royle is owed an apology by Toronto Blue Jays fans after she correctly reported that John Farrell was a target of the Red Sox for its managerial opening.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says Fox Sports is ready to launch its New Orleans channel with the rights to the Hornets in hand.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead notes that actress Natalie Portman turned heads at the Baylor-Texas game last night.

Stephen Douglas of The Big Lead has video evidence of Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Ryan Lochte being dumber than you and me.

Tom Ley at Deadspin notes that ESPN’s Rick Reilly got fooled by web satire once again.

Once again, Phil Mushnick at the New York Post finds something to hate.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog recaps President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s comments on DC NFL team QB Robert Griffin III on Fox NFL Sunday.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with Doug Gottlieb about his new CBS Sports Network late night show.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times rates the commissioners‘ of MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL.

Nice to have Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News back in Fang’s Bites. He wonders where are the Cowboys fans as the team’s TV ratings have fallen like a rock this season.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle bids farewell to Big Tex, the huge statue that adorned the Texas State Fair outside Dallas that burned down on Friday and the voice of Big Tex.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman reviews Fox Sports Net’s production of last night’s Oklahoma blowout of Kansas.

The Oklahoman notes that ESPN’s College GameDay will be at the Notre Dame-Oklahoma game in Norman next Saturday.

The Cincinnati Enquirier’s John Kiesewetter talks with NBC’s Al Michaels who got his big break in the Queen City.

John has some outtakes with Al that didn’t make the newspaper story.

Joe Reedy of the Enquirer talks with Cris Collinsworth who will have a heavy heart working with Al Michaels tonight.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco has his work cut out for him in negotiating a new TV contract for the conference.

At TimeOut Chicago, Robert Feder discusses Jenny McCarthy joining the Sun-Times as a columnist, the Tribune going behind the dreaded paywall, and Bob Brenly’s replacement as Cubs analyst.

At the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth recalls the 31st Anniversary of “Blue Monday” for the Dodgers with Vin Scully.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog enjoys the MLB International productions over TBS and Fox in the postseason.

And that will do it.

Bringing Back The Friday Megalinks

It’s been too long since I’ve done a links post and why not do this with a Friday megalink post.

Your Weekend Viewing Picks have all of my sports and entertainment suggestions.

Now to your linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with Fox’s Erin Andrews about her being put under a bigger microscope now that she has higher profile gigs.

John Ourand & Michael Botta from Sports Business Daily handicap the bidding for the US rights to the English Premier League.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the EPL bidding is going to a second round.

At Sports on Earth, Will Leitch makes no bones about being a Joe Buck apologist.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy looks at the ratings for three KHL airings on ESPN2.

To The Godfather, Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina who notes that in Hot Clicks, ESPN’s Samantha Steele is taken. Sorry, fanboys.

Jim Romenesko notices that ESPN.com is trying to play eye doctor.

Jane McManus of espnW looks at MLB’s new dress policy for reporters.

Sports Rantz explores the revamping of the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter that could lead to more appearances for Lindsay Czarniak.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks with CBS’ Doug Gottlieb about his first job in broadcasting.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos says reporters should throw objectivity out the window when it comes to social media.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group says YES Network is finding a TV-friendly environment at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says ESPN is trying to expand the SportsCenter brand beyond television.,

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has today’s New York Post cover involving the Yankees.

Kristi Dosh as ESPN.com says GoDaddy’s hiring of a new ad agency could lead to the dropping of spokesperson Danica Patrick.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell says it’s good that the Chicago White Sox listened to their fans and dropped ticket prices for next season.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the worst sports tweets of 2012 to date.

Leah Goldman of the Business Insider’s Sports Page has what you need to know about ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

Joe Favorito looks at the Battle for the Big Apple, NBA style.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth takes a look at Joe Buck’s rare NFL/MLB doubleheader on Sunday.

Bob’s Blitz talks about CBS Sports Radio giving writer John Feinstein a daily show when the network launches in 2013.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal and Maine Hockey Journal have formed a partnership on local sports coverage.

At the Boston Globe, Chad Finn reviews Comcast SportNet New England’s NFL Pregame Live show.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with a former WEEI morning show personality.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Time Inc. has tapped a Sports Illustrated web editor to head its entire sports portfolio.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick wants everyone to be like him.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that the Yankees and Giants top the local TV ratings.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union compares and contrasts Fox and TBS in the MLB Postseason.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that a local sports talk show host is no longer employed at his radio station.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com has Baltimore Ravens voice and local sports anchor Gerry Sandusky explaining why he won’t change his name.

Also in Press Box, Dave says the Washington Nationals are seeking a bigger rights fee from MASN.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the City Paper will not mention the DC NFL team by its regular name.

Dan says Fox was filming a spot regarding DC NFL team QB Robert Griffin III this week.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the Nationals’ brand is seeing more attention after its regular season success.

South

Rick Stroud at the Tampa Bay Times says Sunday’s game involving the Saints and Bucs did sell out in time.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has some college football announcer pairings and a few local news and notes.

In his media notebook, Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman looks at Bill Simmons making the dangerous move to television.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable picks up three local high school football games this weekend.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich handicapping the Big Ten.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says the Cubs, WGN and Comcast SportsNet will quickly decide on a replacement for Bob Brenly who left and took his talents to the Southwest.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders why the Sun-Times would hire Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy to be a columnist.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that the local Fox TV station had to juggle severe warning alerts while airing the Cardinals in the NLCS.

West

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the Diamondbacks have named their new TV broadcasting team.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes on a former San Diego Charger who’s deciding whether he wants to play in the CFL or pursue broadcasting full-time.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star explores the cast changes to ESPN’s NBA Countdown pregame show.

In his media notebook, Jim says the Pac-12 Network can be found online for subscribers of participating cable and satellite providers.

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News is fed up of cable carriage disputes.

Tom has some stuff that didn’t make it into his column.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks with former NHL coach and TV analyst Mike Keenan on how to survive the lockout.

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

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says MLB got a rare ratings win over the CFL last Friday.

And that will conclude the megalinks. Enjoy the sports weekend.

ESPN Unveils 2012-13 College Football Announcing Teams

For the upcoming college football season, ESPN has made a few changes to its announcing teams. The main team of Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit for ABC’s Saturday Night Football will remain the same, however, there’s still no official replacement for Erin Andrews who left for Fox. The Big Lead has reported it will be Heather Cox, but she has told the Los Angeles Daily News that her contract with ESPN has expired so we’ll have to wait to see who replaces Erin.

As for the other teams, ESPN has created a new team for a package of primetime games, Joe Tessitore who had called Friday Night Football moves to Saturday night with Matt Millen. The sideline duties will be divided among Jessica Mendoza, Shannon Spake or Shelley Smith.

For the ESPN on ABC Saturday afternoon regional games, Sean McDonough remains on the top game, but he’ll be joined by once and now-present partner Chris Spielman. Mike Patrick and Ed Cunningham will form another team and Bob Wischusen and Danny Kanell will be the third team and be joined by new sideline reporter Maria Taylor.

ESPN’s Friday Night Football team will have one holdover, Rod Gilmore and he’ll have Carter Blackburn as his play-by-play man and Jamele Hill coming out of the First Take studios and to the sidelines.

We have the ESPN press release.

Multiple New Roles Highlight ESPN 2012 College Football Commentator Assignments

ESPN’s 2012 college football telecasts will be highlighted by commentators working in new roles and the addition of former Ohio State standout receiver Joey Galloway. In addition, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will return for their seventh season together on the ABC Saturday Night Football series while Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will continue to work the Saturday ESPN College Football Primetime telecast.

New assignments include:

• Three new commentator teams will call ABC Saturday afternoon broadcasts:

• Chris Spielman, an analyst on ESPN’s Saturday noon telecast, will pair up with Sean McDonough and reporter Quint Kessenich this season. Spielman and McDonough previously worked together on Saturday and Friday games from 2006-08.
• Ed Cunningham, a Saturday afternoon game analyst for four years before taking on ESPN2’s Saturday night game last year, will work with Mike Patrick and reporter Jeannine Edwards.
• Danny Kanell will move from an ESPNU night game to work with announcer Bob Wischusen, who returns to the ABC Saturday afternoon game, and new reporter Maria Taylor.

• ESPN’s Thursday and Friday night games will also have familiar faces in new roles:

• Analyst David Pollack and reporter Samantha Steele will join returning announcer Rece Davis and analyst Jesse Palmer on ESPN’s Thursday night game.
• Carter Blackburn will move from Saturday games to call the weekly Friday series with returning analyst Rod Gilmore and new sideline reporter Jemele Hill. Hill has been an ESPN.com national columnist where she has also appeared on ESPN television programs since 2006.

• Joe Tessitore and Matt Millen will serve as the announcers for a new package of additional Saturday night games, primarily on ESPN. Shannon Spake or Shelley Smith will report from the sidelines. Tessitore previously worked Friday night games with Rod Gilmore while Matt Millen was the analyst on Saturday afternoon ABC games with Sean McDonough.
• Each of the ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU Saturday noon telecasts will include new pairings:

• Brian Griese and reporter Jenn Brown will join returning commentator Dave Pasch on ESPN’s noon game. Last year, Griese was the analyst on the ESPNU Saturday night telecast and Brown was the reporter on the Thursday ESPN College Football Primetime series.
• New analyst Joey Galloway, a former Ohio State and NFL veteran wide receiver, will call ESPN2’s weekly noon series with returning commentator Beth Mowins.
• The new announce team of Tom Hart and analyst John Congemi will work the ESPNU noon telecast. Congemi previously called ESPN Regional Television’s BIG EAST Network games and Hart is new to ESPN.

• ESPN2 and ESPNU Saturday night telecasts will include analysts in new roles:

• Brock Huard, who worked select ESPN and ABC Saturday games last season, will pair up with Mark Jones on a weekly ESPN2 prime-time game.
• Matt Stinchcomb, an ESPNU studio analyst last year, will move to the ESPNU prime-time game with Clay Matvick and reporter Allison Williams.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Regional Television Game Announcer Pairings

Note: Additional commentators will contribute throughout the season.

Game Telecast	Play-by-play	Analyst	Reporter
Saturday Night Football (on ABC)	Brent Musburger	Kirk Herbstreit	TBA
ESPN College Football Primetime (Saturday)	Brad Nessler	Todd Blackledge	Holly Rowe
ESPN Saturday Prime Time	Joe Tessitore	Matt Millen	Jessica Mendoza, Shelley Smith or Shannon Spake
ESPN2 College Football Primetime (Saturday)	Mark Jones	Brock Huard	Jessica Mendoza or Shelley Smith
ESPNU Saturday Prime Time	Clay Matvick	Matt Stinchcomb	Allison Williams
ESPN College Football Primetime (Thursday)	Rece Davis	Jesse Palmer and David Pollack	Samantha Steele
ESPN and ESPN2 Friday	Carter Blackburn	Rod Gilmore	Jemele Hill
ABC Saturday Afternoon	Sean McDonough	Chris Spielman	Quint Kessenich
ABC Saturday Afternoon	Mike Patrick	Ed Cunningham	Jeannine Edwards
ABC Saturday Afternoon	Bob Wischusen	Danny Kanell	Maria Taylor
ESPN College Football (Saturday afternoon)	Dave Pasch	Brian Griese	Jenn Brown
ESPN2 College Football (Saturday afternoon)	Beth Mowins	Joey Galloway
ESPNU Saturday Afternoon	Tom Hart	John Congemi
ESPNU Saturday Afternoon	Anish Shrof	Dan Hawkins
ESPNU Thursday (HBCU)	Joe Davis	Jay Walker
ESPNU Late Saturday (HBCU)	Joe Davis	Jay Walker
ESPN Radio	Bill Rosinski	David Norrie	Joe Schad
SEC Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games)	Dave Neal	Andre Ware	Cara Capuano
BIG EAST Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games)	Eamon McAnaney	David Diaz-Infante	Paul Carcaterra

More later.

Samantha Steele To Replace Erin Andrews on College GameDay on ESPNU

Give props to The Big Lead for breaking this story last week. ESPN has announced that Samantha Steele, formerly of Fox College Sports, Fox Sports Net and the Longhorn Network, has been promoted to the Mothership. She’ll be the host of the first hour of College GameDay replacing Erin Andrews who as we all know went to Fox Sports.

Steele has been on the fast track at ESPN. She has received a few high profile assignments in her first year under the ESPN umbrella. Besides being buried on the Longhorn Network, Samantha worked some Friday Night College Football games for ESPN and ESPN2 last season and also was on the National Spelling Bee.

She’ll host the first hour of College GameDay mostly from the site of ESPN’s or ABC’s primetime game. Previously, she was announced as the ESPN Thursday Night Football sideline reporter.

Here’s the announcement from ESPN.

Samantha Steele Joins College GameDay on ESPNU

Samantha Steele will join the first hour (9 – 10 a.m. ET) of College GameDay on ESPNU each Saturday this college football season. In addition, she will provide features and updates for the 10 a.m. – noon hours of GameDay on ESPN.

Alongside host Chris Fowler and analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, Steele will preview the week’s best matchups, teams and storylines from the site of that weekend’s biggest game. She will travel to GameDay at the conclusion of the ESPN Thursday Night Football game, where it was announced earlier this month she will serve as the sideline reporter with the booth of Rece Davis and analysts Jessie Palmer and Pollack, who will also be in his first year with the Thursday night crew.

“In a short time, Samantha has established herself as a credible host and reporter,” said Lee Fitting, ESPN senior coordinating producer. “Her enthusiasm, energy and connections within the college football landscape will be a great addition to our already deep and talented lineup.”

Prior to this role, Steele had been a reporter for Longhorn Network. Her LHN replacement will be announced in the coming weeks.

Back later.

ESPN College Sports Update For Week 4

Let’s provide the ESPN College Sports Update for Week 4 of the College Football season. Again, there’s plenty of good stuff you can peruse. Plus, you get a link to a profile of the very lovely Samantha Steele who’s profile is increasing thanks to her work at Longhorn Network and her various assignments on ESPN and ABC this season.

I also have a video in this update so take a look.

ESPN College Sports Update

Weekly Studio Shows

• Daily at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) and reaired at 4 p.m. (ESPNU) – College Football Live
• Saturday from 9-10 a.m. (ESPNU) & 10 a.m.-noon (ESPN) – College GameDay will travel to Morgantown, W.Va., visiting the school for the first time in GameDay’s 25-year history. Segments include: Tom Rinaldi with Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon; Erin Andrews with Clemson’s Dabo Swinney; Urban’s Spotlight: WVU offense/LSU defense; The “Fail” Room (Alabama’s visitor’s locker room)
• Saturday from Noon-8 p.m. (ESPNEWS) –  College Football Live

Complete Studio Programming Schedule

Spotlight Games

This week’s schedule will include three games pitting ranked teams against each other and several matchups between undefeated programs, including:

Saturday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m. (ABC) –No. 2 LSU and No. 16 West Virginia
Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Erin Andrews

• LSU defeated WVU in Baton Rouge 20-14 last year
• This is the third ranked opponent LSU will play in the first four weeks of the season (The Tigers have defeated Oregon and Mississippi State on the road)

Saturday, Sept. 24, at 3:30 p.m. (ABC, ESPN2 & ESPN3) – No. 7 Oklahoma State at No. 8 Texas A&M
Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Jeannine Edwards

• The only top 10 matchup of the week
• Oklahoma State has won the past three matchups

Saturday, Sept. 24, at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN 3D & ESPN3 – No. 11 Florida State at No. 21 Clemson
ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe
ESPN 3D: Dave Lamont, Tim Brown & Alyssa Roegnik

• Clemson’s second of three consecutive games against ranked teams (defeated then-No. 21 Auburn last week and faces current No. 13 Virginia Tech on Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. on ESPN2 & ESPN3)
• Florida State’s second straight game against a ranked team (lost to No. 1 Oklahoma 23-13 last Saturday)

Saturday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. (ESPN2 & ESPN3) – Vanderbilt at No. 12 South Carolina
Mark Neely & Ray Bentley

• James Franklin is the only Vanderbilt football coach to start the season 3-0 since 1943 in his first year
• South Carolina has won nine of the past 11 matchups with Vanderbilt winning in 2007 and 2008

Spotlight: Samantha Steele Sideline reporter Samantha Steele took a timeout to let us know how her first few weeks pulling double duty for both LHN and ESPN are going. Steele joined the company in July 2011 and can be found most weeks on the sidelines at Texas’ athletics events, and on weekends, chasing down stories at some of the season’s biggest football games. This Saturday night, she’ll be reporting from the Florida at Kentucky game (7 p.m. on ESPN).

Read a Q&A with Samantha

College GameDay Notebook

Saturday at 9-10 a.m. (ESPNU) & 10 a.m.-noon (ESPN) – College GameDay heads to Morgantown, W.Va., for its first time in the 25-year history of the show.

On Saturday, the GameDay set will be located at Mountainlair Plaza on the Downtown Campus at the corner of North High Street and Prospect.

As College GameDay’s Lee Corso picks his way toward No. 200, this gem from the GameDay treasure trove in 2007 reveals that he’s not nearly as discriminate with his snack selections:

And that’s it for now.