Fang's Bites

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 01/28 & 01/29/2012, All Times Eastern

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

Saturday, January 28

College GameDay live from Tucson, AZ — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.

11 a.m.
Ball State at Ohio — ESPNU

noon
Wake Forest at Clemson — ACC Network
Hofstra at Northeastern — Comcast SportsNet New England/MSG Plus/The Comcast Network
St. John’s at Duke — ESPN
Marquette at Villanova — ESPN2

Women’s: Notre Dame at St. John’s — Big East Network: MASN/Root Sports Pittsburgh/SNY

12:30 p.m.
Women’s: Kansas State at Oklahoma State — Fox Sports Net (national)

1 p.m.
Texas at Baylor — CBS
West Virginia at Syracuse — ESPNU
George Washington at Fordham — YES

Women’s: St. Bonaventure at LaSalle — CBS Sports Network

1:30 p.m.
Texas Tech at Missouri — Big 12 Network
Arkansas at Alabama — SEC Network
Mississippi State at Florida — SEC Network

2 p.m.
St. Louis at UMass — A-10 Network: Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS
James Madison at George Mason — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
Delaware at Drexel — The Comcast Network

2:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech at Maryland — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Morehead State — ESPNU
Tulsa at SMU — Fox Sports Net (national)

Women’s: Purdue at Iowa — Big Ten Network

3:30 p.m.
Wyoming at Boise State — the mtn.

4 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network
William & Mary at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/CSS
Georgetown at Pittsburgh — ESPN
Purdue at Northwestern — ESPN2
Colorado at UCLA — Fox College Sports Pacific/Fox Sports Prime Ticket
San Diego State at Colorado State — NBC Sports Network
Kentucky at LSU — SEC Network

5 p.m.
Colgate at Holy Cross — CBS Sports Network
Northern Iowa at Illinois State — ESPNU
Washington State at Arizona State — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Root Sports Northwest/Fox Sports Arizona

Women’s: Rice at Houston — Fox Sports Net (national)

5:30 p.m.
Women’s: Western Kentucky at Florida International — Fox College Sports Central

6 p.m.
Cincinnati at Rutgers — Big East Network: Altitude/Fox Sports Ohio/MASN/SNY
Auburn at Tennessee — ESPN2
TCU at New Mexico — the mtn.

7 p.m.
URI at Dayton — Cox Sports RI
Washington at Arizona — ESPN
Butler at Wisconsin-Green Bay — ESPNU
Xavier at Charlotte — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Ohio
South Carolina at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net (regional)

Women’s: Oregon at Oregon State — Fox Sports Net (national)

7:30 p.m.
Western Kentucky at Florida International — Fox College Sports Central

8 p.m.
Louisville at Seton Hall — Big East Network: MASN/SNY
Illinois at Minnesota — Big Ten Network
Virginia at NC State — ESPN2
UNLV at Air Force — the mtn.

9 p.m.
St. Mary’s at BYU — ESPNU
Wichita State at Drake — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest

9:30 p.m.
Fresno State at New Mexico State — WAC Sports Network/Fox Sports Arizona Plus

10 p.m.
Hawaii at Idaho — ESPN Plus

11 p.m.
Cal State-Fullerton at Long Beach State — ESPNU
Utah at USC — Fox College Sports Pacific/Fox Sports Prime Ticket

Sunday, January 29

noon
Notre Dame at UConn — Big East Network: Altitude/Bright House/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
New Hampshire at Vermont — CBS Sports Network

Women’s: Marshall at Tulane — Fox Sports Net (national)

1 p.m.
Miami (FL) at Boston College — ACC Network
Michigan at Ohio State — CBS

Women’s: Ohio State at Minnesota — Big Ten Network
Women’s: NC State at Virginia Tech — Fox Sports Net (regional)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: Rutgers at Georgetown — ESPNU

2 p.m.
Women’s: Charlotte at Temple — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Iowa State at Texas A&M — Fox Sports Net (national)
Women’s: Auburn at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net (regional)

3 p.m.
Women’s: Penn State at Michigan State — ESPN2

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Florida State at Virginia — ESPNU

4 p.m.
Women’s: UCLA at Colorado — Fox Sports Net (national)

5 p.m.
Women’s: Tennessee at Georgia — ESPN2

6 p.m.
Iowa at Indiana — Big Ten Network
Georgia Tech at North Carolina — ESPNU

6:30 p.m.
Oregon State at Oregon — Fox Sports Net (national)

8 p.m.
Indiana State at Evansville — ESPNU

8:30 p.m.
Stanford at Cal — Fox Sports Net (national)

NBC Sports Group Coverage Plans For Super Bowl XLVI

On Tuesday, I gave you NBCUniversal’s programming for Super Bowl Week. Apparently, that was just the tip of the iceberg as we’ll get even more networks and more shows with a Super Bowl theme on the NBCUniversal family. But that’s later.

Right now, I’m going to give you the overview of what the NBC Sports Group will air during Super Bowl Week and this includes the Comcast regional sports networks in both Boston and New York, Golf Channel, NBC Sports Network and of course, NBC Sports which is producing and carrying the Big Game between the New England Patriots and New York Football Giants.

From NBC SportsTalk originating live from Indianapolis and with four three hour and one four hour show to the premiere of Costas Live and then David Feherty of Golf Channel doing a show as well, the NBC Sports Group will be well represented in Indy.

Let’s take a look at what NBC Sports Group is saying about next week’s programs.

NBC SPORTS GROUP SUPER BOWL XLVI OVERVIEW

SUPER BOWL XLVI ON NBC – Super Bowl XLVI on NBC marks the network’s 17th Super Bowl, tying CBS for the most ever. It is also the eighth Super Bowl assignment for Emmy Award-winning play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels and the second as an analyst for 12-time Emmy Award winner Cris Collinsworth. Michele Tafoya will serve as the sideline reporter. Fred Gaudelli (producer) and Drew Esocoff (director) will work their fourth Super Bowl together.

PRE-GAME ON NBC – Coverage begins at Noon ET from Lucas Oil Stadium with the Super Bowl XLVI pre-game show. Co-hosts Bob Costas and Dan Patrick are joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com for up-to-the-minute news and features leading up to kickoff. Sam Flood, executive producer of NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network, is the executive in charge of production of the Super Bowl XLVI pre-game show.

NBC SPORTS NETWORK – For the first time ever, NBC Sports Network will televise programming surrounding the Super Bowl. The 24/7 cable platform of NBC Sports will offer daily live coverage from Indianapolis in the week leading up to the event. NBC SportsTalk Live from the Super Bowl will air from 4-7 pm ET, Monday – Wednesday and Friday, and 4-8 pm ET on Thursday. Host Russ Thaler will be joined by 1984 Heisman Trophy winner and NBC Sports college football analyst Doug Flutie, King, Florio and NBC Sports’ Randy Moss.

NBC Sports Network will also debut Costas Tonight, Live from the Super Bowl, a live Town Hall show hosted by 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas. Costas Tonight, Live from the Super Bowl will feature some of the NFL’s biggest stars and newsmakers focusing on the state of the NFL, plus a preview of Super Bowl XLVI and the storylines from the NFL season. Costas Tonight: Live from the Super Bowl will air in front of a live studio audience from the Indiana Repertory Theater on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, 8-10 p.m. ET.

GOLF CHANNEL – Throughout Super Bowl week, Golf Channel’s popular morning show, Morning Drive will feature various NFL guests, including former and current players and executives to talk Super Bowl predictions. David Feherty will do a special Feherty Live from Indianapolis Saturday night, airing at 10 p.m. ET. Friday’s Golf Central show will include look-ins at Feherty’s rehearsals in Indianapolis and promote Sunday’s Super Bowl

REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORKS – The NBC Sports Group’s 11 regional sports networks will contribute to NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl XLVI by doing reports on nightly news programs. The two regional networks that are located in markets with teams playing in the game (SNY in New York and Comcast SportsNet New England) will offer enhanced coverage the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLVI. New York-based SNY will feature more than 32 hours of programming, including many shows originating live from Indianapolis. In addition to Daily News Live, The WheelHouse, Loud Mouths and Geico SportsNite, SNY’s coverage will be highlighted by a Big Blue Live pre and post-game show. CSN New England will air 64 hours of original coverage from Indianapolis leading up to Super Bowl XLVI, including extended pre- and post-game shows.

And that’s it.

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 01/21 & 01/22/2012, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Saturday, January 21

College GameDay live from Pittsburgh, PA — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m./ESPN, 8 p.m.

11 a.m.
Maryland at Temple — ESPNU

noon
Fordham at St. Bonaventure — A-10 Network: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/CSS/The Comcast Network
Wake Forest at Boston College — ACC Network
Rutgers at Georgetown — Big East Network: Bright House/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
Alabama at Kentucky — CBS
Purdue at Michigan State — ESPN

Women’s: Texas at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Net (national)

1 p.m.
Xavier at Dayton — ESPN2
Villanova at St. John’s — ESPNU

Women’s: St. Joseph’s at Xavier — CBS Sports Network

1:30 p.m.
Kansas State at Oklahoma State — Big 12 Network
South Carolina at Auburn — SEC Network

2 p.m.
Michigan at Arkansas — CBS
Missouri at Baylor — ESPN
Central Florida at UAB — Fox Sports Net (national)

Women’s: West Virginia at Pittsburgh — Big East Network

2:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Clemson — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Indiana State at Creighton — ESPN2
Cincinnati at West Virginia — ESPNU

Women’s: Wyoming at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Utah Valley at North Dakota — Fox College Sports Central

3:30 p.m.
Boise State at TCU — the mtn.

4 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas A&M — Big 12 Network
UConn at Tennessee — CBS
Kansas at Texas — CBS
Northeastern at Drexel — Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Towson at George Mason — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet Philadephia
URI at LaSalle — Cox Sports RI
Florida State at Duke — ESPN
UCLA at Oregon — Fox Sports Net (national)
Mississippi at Georgia — SEC Network

5 p.m.
UMass at Richmond — CBS Sports Network
San Francisco at Portland — Comcast SportsNet California Plus/Comcast SportsNet Northwest

6 p.m.
Syracuse at Notre Dame — ESPN
Arizona at Colorado — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Arizona
LSU at Florida — Fox Sports Net (regional)
Colorado State at Wyoming — the mtn.

7 p.m.
Marquette at Providence — Big East Network: Bright House/Cox Sports RI/SNY
Mississippi State at Vanderbilt — ESPN2
Long Island at Wagner — ESPNU

8 p.m.
Ohio State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network
BYU at Pepperdine — BYU TV/Fox Sports West
Old Dominion at VCU — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Oakland at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Central

9 p.m.
Louisville at Pittsburgh — ESPN
Murray State at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville — ESPNU

10 p.m.
New Mexico at UNLV — CBS Sports Network
Air Force at New Mexico State — the mtn.
Fresno State at Nevada — WAC Sports Network

10:30 p.m.
USC at Oregon State — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Root Sports Northwest

11 p.m.
Long Beach State at Cal-Santa Barbara — ESPNU

Sunday, January 22

noon
NC State at Miami (FL) — ACC Network
Penn State at Indiana — Big Ten Network

Women’s: URI at St. Louis — CBS Sports Network

1 p.m.
Women’s: North Carolina at NC State — Fox Sports Net (regional)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: South Carolina at Vanderbilt — ESPNU

2 p.m.
Wisconsin at Illinois — Big Ten Network
Lehigh at Lafayette — CBS Sports Network

2:30 p.m.
Women’s: Texas Tech at Iowa State — Fox Sports Net (national)

3 p.m.
Women’s: Iowa at Penn State — ESPN2
Women’s: Arkansas at LSU — Fox Sports Net (regional)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Maryland at Duke — ESPNU

4 p.m.
Northwestern at Minnesota — Big Ten Network

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: Colorado at Arizona — Fox Sports Net (national)

5 p.m.
Women’s: Louisville at Georgetown — ESPN2

6 p.m.
Virginia Tech at Virginia — ESPNU

6:30 p.m.
Women’s: Washington State at Cal — Fox Sports Net (national)

8 p.m.
Drake at Northern Iowa — ESPNU

8:30 p.m.
Women’s: Memphis at UAB — Fox Sports Net (national)

Former Giants RB and NBC Analyst Tiki Barber Joins SNY

Starting this weekend, Tiki Barber joins New York regional sports network SNY for its Giants playoff coverage. Barber who was a running back for the Football Giants and then an analyst for NBC’s Football Night in America as well as a correspondent for the Today Show, has not been seen on TV regularly since 2010 when the Peacock quietly dropped him after reports surfaced that he had an affair with a network intern.

Barber will be part of SNY’s Big Blue Live program that will air after the NFC Championship goes off the air. He’ll join hosts Chris Carlin and Gary Apple as well as fellow analyst Shaun O’Hara. We have the full details from this SNY press release.

Former Giants star Tiki Barber joins SNY

‘Big Blue Live’ to air immediately after NFC Championship

SNY announced today that former Giants star RB Tiki Barber has joined SNY for the network’s New York Giants playoff coverage beginning this Sunday. In addition, former Giants offensive lineman Shaun O’Hara will continue his analyst role on SNY’s Giants coverage — including the network’s Big Blue Live post game show — which will air immediately after Sunday’s NFC Championship game. Big Blue Live will showcase all of the post-game press conferences, exclusive on-field interviews and reactions from both the Giants’ and 49ers’ players and coaches.

“I am looking forward to providing my insights for SNY’s Big Blue Live post game show. Hopefully it will be after a Giants win as they continue on the road to Indianapolis and the Super Bowl,” said Tiki Barber.

On-air talent for Big Blue Live will include Tiki Barber, Shaun O’Hara and hosts Chris Carlin and Gary Apple. In addition, SNY’s Giants reporter Mike Garafolo, NFL Insider Adam Schein and Jeané Coakley will contribute to Big Blue Live — reporting on-site from Candlestick Park.

More coming up later.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 01/14 & 01/15/2012, All Times Eastern

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

Saturday, January 14

College GameDay — ESPN2, 10 a.m./ESPNU, 11 a.m.

11 a.m.
UConn at Notre Dame — ESPN2

noon
Villanova at Cincinnati — Big East Network/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
Hofstra at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/CSS/MSG Plus
Kentucky at Tennessee — ESPN
St. Bonaventure at Xavier — ESPNU

Women’s: Army at Navy — CBS Sports Network

1 p.m.
NC State at Wake Forest — ACC Network
Michigan at Iowa — Big Ten Network
Texas at Missouri — ESPN2

1:30 p.m.
Kansas State at Oklahoma — Big 12 Network
Texas Tech at Texas A&M — Big 12 Network
Mississippi at Auburn — SEC Network

2 p.m.
St. Louis at Charlotte — A-10 Network/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/CSS
Rutgers at West Virginia — Big East Network/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
Duquense at URI — Cox Sports RI
North Carolina at Florida State — ESPN
Pittsburgh at Marquette — ESPNU
UAB at Southern Mississippi — Fox Sports Net (national)

2:30 p.m.
Army at Navy — CBS Sports Network

3 p.m.
Michigan State at Northwestern — Big Ten Network
Oklahoma State at Baylor — ESPN2
Virginia Tech at Boston College — Fox Sports Net (regional)

3:30 p.m.
Oregon at Arizona — CBS
New Mexico at Wyoming — the mtn.

4 p.m.
DePaul at Louisville — Big East Network/Cox Sports Television/MASN/MSG Network
Iowa State at Kansas — Big 12 Network
Ohio at Akron — ESPNU
Colorado at Stanford — Fox Sports Network (national)
UNLV at San Diego State — NBC Sports Network
Alabama at Mississippi State — SEC Network
Georgia at Vanderbilt — SEC Network

Women’s: South Florida at Seton Hall — Big East Network/Root Sports Pittsburgh/SNY

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: Colorado State at TCU — CBS Sports Network

6 p.m.
Providence at Syracuse — Big East Network/Cox Sports RI/MASN/SNY
Tennessee Tech at Murray State — ESPNU
Air Force at Boise State — the mtn.

7 p.m.
Temple at Richmond — CBS Sports Network

8 p.m.
Santa Clara at BYU — ESPNU
Oregon State at Arizona State — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Arizona/Root Sports Northwest

8:30 p.m.
Montana State at Northern Arizona — Fox College Sports Pacific

9 p.m.
Memphis at Houston — CBS Sports Network
LSU at Arkansas — Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports South
TCU at Colorado State — the mtn.

Sunday, January 15

noon
Georgetown at St. John’s — Big East Network/MASN/MSG Network

Women’s: Minnesota at Michigan — Big Ten Network
Women’s: Syracuse at Georgetown — ESPNU

12:30 p.m.
Kansas at Missouri — Fox Sports Net (national)

1 p.m.
Women’s: Georgia Tech at Boston College — Fox Sports Net (regional)

2 p.m.
Women’s: Iowa at Purdue — Big Ten Network
Women’s: Temple at Dayton — ESPN2

2:30 p.m.
Auburn at Arkansas — Fox Sports Net (regional)
Baylor at Texas — Fox Sports Net (national)

3 p.m.
Women’s: Hofstra at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Comcast SportsNet New England/SNY

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Miami at Florida State — ESPNU

4 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Maryland — ACC Network
Minnesota at Penn State — Big Ten Network

Women’s: Ohio State at Michigan State — ESPN2

4:30 p.m.
Indiana at Ohio State — CBS

Women’s: Cal at Utah — Fox Sports Net (national)

6 p.m.
Nebraska at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network
Duke at Clemson — ESPNU

7 p.m.
Washington State at Washington — Fox Sports Net (national)

8 p.m.
Wichita State at Indiana State — ESPNU

9 p.m.
UCLA at USC — Fox Sports Net (national)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 01/07 & 01/08/2012, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, January 7

11 a.m.
College GameDay — ESPNU
Florida at Tennessee — ESPN2

noon
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest — ACC Network
Georgetown at West Virginia — Big East Network/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
Duke at Georgia Tech — ESPNU
Xavier at Fordham — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Ohio/YES

1 p.m.
Nebraska at Illinois — Big Ten Network

1:30 p.m.
Baylor at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network
Missouri at Kansas State — Big 12 Network
Auburn at Vanderbilt — SEC Network
Mississippi at LSU — SEC Network

2 p.m.
St. John’s at Cincinnati — Big East Network/MSG Network/Fox Sports Ohio/MASN
Kansas at Oklahoma — ESPNU
Washington at Utah — Fox Sports Net (national)

women’s: Michigan State at Penn State — CBS

2:30 p.m.
Boston College at North Carolina — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Ohio State at Iowa — Big Ten Network

women’s: Wagner at Monmouth — Fox College Sports Atlantic

4 p.m.
Marquette at Syracuse — Big East Network/MASN/SNY
Iowa State at Texas A&M — Big 12 Network
Florida State at Clemson — ESPN2
Notre Dame at Louisville — ESPNU
South Carolina at Kentucky — SEC Network

women’s: UConn at Notre Dame — CBS

5 p.m.
Troy at Western Kentucky — Fox College Sports Atlantic

women’s: Ohio State at Michigan — Big Ten Network

6 p.m.
Seton Hall at Providence — Big East Network/Cox Sports RI/MASN/SNY
San Francisco at BYU — BYU TV
Miami (FL) at Virginia — ESPNU
Fresno State at Idaho — WAC Sports Network

women’s: UCLA at Arizona — Fox Sports Net (national)

7 p.m.
Richmond at URI — CBS Sports Network
Alabama at Georgia — Fox Sports Net (regional)
Oklahoma State at Texas — Longhorn Network

8 p.m.
UConn at Rutgers — Big East Network/MASN/SNY
Murray State at Austin Peay — ESPNU
South Dakota State at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Central

9 p.m.
Memphis at UAB — CBS Sports Network
Mississippi State at Arkansas — CSS
Nevada at Utah State — WAC Sports Network

10:30 p.m.
Arizona State at UCLA — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports West

Sunday, January 8

noon
DePaul at Villanova — Big East Network
Indiana at Penn State — Big Ten Network

1 p.m.
women’s: Maryland at North Carolina — Fox Sports Net (regional)
women’s: Memphis at UTEP — Fox Sports Net (national)

1:30 p.m.
Wisconsin at Michigan — CBS

women’s: Louisville at St. John’s — ESPNU

2 p.m.
UMass at LaSalle — A-10 Network/Comcast SportsNet New England/The Comcast Network

women’s: Northwestern at Indiana — Big Ten Network

3 p.m.
women’s: Oklahoma at Texas A&M — Fox Sports Net (national)

3:30 p.m.
women’s: Tennessee at Arkansas — ESPNU
women’s: Mississippi State at Kentucky — Fox Sports Net (regional)

4 p.m.
women’s: Nebraska at Iowa — Big Ten Network

5:30 p.m.
Arizona at USC — Fox Sports Net (national)

6 p.m.
Purdue at Minnesota — Big Ten Network
Maryland at NC State — ESPNU

7:30 p.m.
Cal at Oregon — Fox Sports Net (national)

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 12/31/11 & 01/01/12, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Saturday, December 31, 2011

noon
St. John’s at UConn — Big East Network (SNY/MASN)
Louisville at Kentucky — CBS
Virginia Tech at Oklahoma State — ESPN2
Austin Peay at Morehead State — ESPNU
South Carolina Upstate at South Carolina — Fox College Sports Central/SportSouth
Boston University at Quinnipiac — NESN

1 p.m.
Iowa at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network

2 p.m.
Providence at Georgetown — ESPN2
Yale at Florida –ESPNU
Florida International at Western Kentucky — Fox College Sports Atlantic
Samford at Maryland — Fox Sports Net (regional)
Rice at Texas — Longhorn Network

Women’s: Arizona at Arizona State — Fox Sports Net

3 p.m.
Michigan State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network

4 p.m.
Illinois at Purdue — ESPN2
North Dakota at Kansas — ESPNU

5:30 p.m.
Arizona State at Arizona — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Arizona

6 p.m.
San Diego at BYU — BYU TV
Ohio State at Indiana — ESPN2
Creighton at Wichita State — ESPNU
Oregon State at Washington State — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Root Sports Northwest
USC at Stanford — Fox College Sports Pacific (CSS/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports West)
Saint Louis at New Mexico — the mtn.

7 p.m.
Tulsa at TCU — CBS Sports Network

8 p.m.
Gonzaga at Xavier — ESPN2

10 p.m.
Oregon at Washington — ESPN2

Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!!!

noon
Rutgers at South Florida — Big East Network (Altitude/MASN/SNY)

1 p.m.
Villanova at Marquette — ESPNU

3 p.m.
Monmouth at North Carolina — ESPNU
Illinois State at Southern Illinois — Fox College Sports Central (Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus/Fox Sports Midwest)

4 p.m.
Minnesota at Michigan — Big Ten Network

5 p.m.
Syracuse at DePaul — Big East Network (Altitude/Cox Sports Television/CSS/MASN/SNY)
Penn at Duke — ESPNU

7 p.m.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh — Big East Network (Altitude 2/CSS/Fox Sports Ohio/MASN/MSG Network/Root Sports Pittsburgh)
Penn State at Northwestern — ESPNU

9 p.m.
Evansville at Northern Iowa — ESPNU

Some Quick Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll do a few thoughts on what’s transpired in sports media this week. As always, they come in bullet form.

• The NFL came out smelling like roses after the league’s owners approved the new 9 year agreements with CBS, Fox, and NBC. Not only does the league have stability with its players with a long-term Collective Bargaining Agreement, but also with its TV partners. Some fascinating tidbits have come out in the new contracts including increased flex scheduling allowing CBS to air a handful of NFC games and Fox airing some AFC games to give more attractive matchups a wider audience.Also, NBC gets to air a Divisional Playoff game in addition to a Wild Card. It looks like ESPN will get a Wild Card Playoff game and NBC Sports Network will air a Sunday morning pregame show making a crowded landscape even more so.

  I like the Thanksgiving Night game going to NBC from the NFL Network. In fact one thing that’s been overlooked is the fact that NBC will have a Thanksgiving Night NFL game and a Black Friday NHL game during the November holiday weekend. The NHL game will get plenty of promotion the night before which is a very good thing.

  We also know that there will be more Thursday Night Football next season. And even if the NFL decides to have 10-12 games on the in-house NFL Network permanently, I’m okay with that. It won’t happen because the NFL wants a third cable partner (NBC Sports Network or TNT) and the cash it will receive for an 8 game package for the first half of the season.

  Overall, we learned that with CBS, Fox and NBC each shelling out an average of $1 billion/year and ESPN almost $2 billion/year for Monday Night Football, the four networks have in essence said that they cannot do without the NFL.

• HBO’s season premiere of 24/7 Flyers/Rangers on Wednesday was another success. Already, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has made an impression with his takes on the universe and life in general. In addition, HBO’s cameras catching Sean Avery’s all-too-knowing “I know you’re in trouble” look at the Rangers’ Artem Anisimov after last week’s mock sniper rifle incident against the Tampa Bay Lightning was priceless. With HBO’s stellar production values, Liev Schreiber’s tremendous narration and some interesting personalities like Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, it looks like the second edition of HBO’s NHL 24/7 is another hit.
• I had the opportunity to watch a bevy of sports media reporters on the New York regional sports network, SNY on Wednesday as they all opined on the year in sports. SNY split the reporters into a NYC and National sports media panel. Newsday’s Neil Best, the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman and Phil Mushnick of the New York Post comprised the NYC panel. Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, USA Today’s Mike McCarthy, Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir formed the national panel. Chris Carlin was the host and did a very good job as moderator, weaving between the two different panels throughout the show. He adroitly asked questions and allowed the reporters to talk without interjecting.Some of the topics discussed included the Penn State and Syracuse media coverage, announcers and the stories they predict will be big in 2012. I thought Ourand, Best and Deitsch came well during the discussions. I thought Mushnick came off as pious and nitpicky. Overall, it was a good show and fast-paced. I hope it has an opportunity to air in other parts of the country.
• And I’ll end with news on the search to replace NESN’s Heidi Watney as Red Sox field reporter. Fang’s Bites has learned that Jen Royle is no longer in consideration for the job. Apparently the position is Erin Hawksworth’s to lose. Here’s hoping that Jen gets the opportunity to return to Boston as she wishes.

I think I went longer than expected as these thoughts were quite extensive. Check out the regular Friday features, Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, College Basketball Viewing Picks, NFL Viewing Picks and Weekend Viewing Picks all throughout the morning.

Back with you later.

Doing Some Quick Wednesday Linkage

Lots of stuff going on here and it’s prevented me from providing links. I’ll do some now while I can.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek reports that the NFL has put the kybosh on a new Thursday Night Football package until next season.

Michael Smith and John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal report that with Pittsburgh and Syracuse joining the ACC, ESPN and the conference are reopening negotiations on the TV contract that took effect just this month.

In Media Bistro, Marcus Vanderberg has part one of his interview with embattled writer Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

And Marcus has part two of his talk with Jay The Rat in Fishbowl LA.

Over to Michael Hiestand of USA Today who writes that a family medical emergency is preventing Ernie Johnson, Jr. from participating in this year’s MLB Postseason for TBS.

Michael looks at the ratings from some of this past weekend’s events.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today tells us about the athletes who will pose nude for ESPN The Magazine’s Body issue.

Erik Malinowski of Wired magazine profiles the great Timothy Burke of the Mocksession site and SportsGrid.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown is now a paid endorser for GNC products.

Deadspin’s A.J. Daulerio is amazed at how Steve Bartman has managed to remain anonymous since his fateful failed attempt to catch a foul ball during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has video of a Dallas TV sports anchor creating the word “shart” on live TV.

The aforementioned Timothy Burke in SportsGrid has video from Germany of a reporter inadvertently trying to out Chelsea soccer star Didier Drogba.

At espnW, Sarah Spain writes about attending this week’s espnW: Women + Sports Summit which had a plethora of superstars from both media and sports.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football hit its biggest audience of the season in NFL Week 3.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell (and now officially a Friend of Fang’s Bites) writes that the toning shoe market could take a substantial hit after the Feds settled a case with Reebok on one its shoe claims.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders if this is the last season for the Yankees on WCBS-AM.

Neil says SNY’s Mets announcers were critical of the team for taking out shortstop Jose Reyes after the first inning of today’s game against the Reds.

Neil says Ron Darling closed out a TBS media conference call with a line that only he picked up.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says the Capital Region’s NFL fans should all be happy with the TV schedule this week.

Pete has this week’s college football TV schedule.

Crossing Broad has a new Philadelphia media feud for us to follow.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon weren’t too enthused by London Fletcher’s pregame speech before the Washington-Dallas Monday Night Football game.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans did well in the local ratings again.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman writes that Oklahoma State has decided against going for pay per view for one of its games next month.

Mel notes that college football topped the local ratings last weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TBS and MLB have yet to announce a time for the Brewers League Division Series game on Saturday.

Bob says Brewers voice Brian Anderson will call the Yankees LDS series for TBS starting on Friday.

Bill Novak of the Capital (WI) Times writes that ESPN’s College GameDay has chosen its location on the Wisconsin to broadcast for this Saturday’s show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at TBS’ announcers for the League Division Series and manages to misspell “Orsillo”

Sports Media Watch says last Sunday’s NASCAR race had better ratings than last year, but not up as it should be.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the number of games each NHL team will have televised locally.

Joe Favorito talks about how sports can be a uniter, not a divider.

Over to Yahoo’s Big League Stew where Duk has some thoughts on the ESPN Films Steve Bartman doc.

From Obsessed with Sports, we have a pic thanks to Sarah Spain of Friend of Fang’s Bites Michelle Beadle sucking rattlesnake venom from Linda Cohn at the aforementioned espnW summit. I believe this really happened.

And that will do it for today.

Friday Megalinks Just For You

Let’s do some linkage.

The Weekend Viewing Picks give you everything to you need for your viewing pleasure.

Let’s do this.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that primetime is the right time for college football.

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Daily reports that ESPN has sold out its ad inventory for its new NASCAR non-stop initiative which will allow fans to see continuous race action while commercials run.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NFL Network used some creative methods in Boston to promote its Bill Belichick documentary.

If you watched the Belichick documentary, then you probably know about the best scene which was the coach yelling at the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Mason who was trash talking. Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the video.

Brandon Costa from Sports Video Group notes that Sports Illustrated has released a new Football Rivals mobile app.

Sports Media Watch says ABC is doing well with college football in its first two weeks of the season.

SMW notes that last Saturday’s Notre Dame-Michigan game on ESPN in primetime did better than the previous week’s Fighting Irish game on NBC.

SMW says last week’s NASCAR race in Richmond garnered a four year ratings high for ABC.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider Sports Page says sports bars got hit the hardest by DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket technical difficulties last week.

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media has NHL Network’s preseason schedule that begins next week.

Joe Favorito says sports brands are now jumping into the corn field maze craze.

Awful Announcing has this week’s network TV on-screen typos.

Parade talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe writes about some ex-Patriots players who have made the transition to TV.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald talks about 98.5 The Sports Hub winning the prestigious Marconi for Best Sports Station in the country over a former winner, WEEI.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette praises the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir looks at a rare film that followed the late Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto and other ex-Pinstripers to Austria for an exhibition game in 1994.

Daniel E. Slotnick of the Times writes that former New York Jet and broadcaster Sam DeLuca has passed away.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with statistician Steve Hirdt about his career and getting to work a “home” game for this week’s edition of Monday Night Football.

Neil says SNY is fortunate to have the Jets as a partner to help viewers forget about the Mets.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is angry at everyone.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for YES analyst Ken Singleton.

Jerry Barmash in Fishbowl NY writes that MSG Network brings back its signature hockey studio show for another season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that local sports anchor Andrew Catalon gets a call-up to the NFL on CBS in October.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record talks with MLB Network’s Brian Kenny about why he left ESPN after almost a decade and a half.

Ken has more with Brian Kenny in his column.

Ken is tired of NHL Network rerunning last season’s playoffs.

South

Serena Moyle of the Tallahassee (FL) Democrat profiles ESPN’s Erin Andrews as she’s in town for the Oklahoma-Florida State game.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says you watched the NFL in droves last week.

David says ESPN is treating Longhorn Network differently than its other entities.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman writes that Longhorn Network will pick up one Oklahoma State basketball game.

Mel has some news and notes.

Gina Mizell of the Oklahoman says ESPN is keeping a close eye on Oklahoma State and Texas A&M for a potential College GameDay visit.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio expands its pregame show tomorrow to air highlights of Johnny Bench Night.

John says a local radio station has fired a long-time sports reporter and other parts of its staff.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with a long-time Division II college football radio voice.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says some local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to this Saturday’s Wisconsin game.

Bob explains why the Wisconsin game isn’t on TV.

Bob says the Brewers’ Prince Fielder will be seen in a profile on TBS Sunday.

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

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says all of the Blues games will be televised for the first time ever.

West

Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that ESPN’s deal with BYU has now become a recruiting tool for the school.

Matt Solinsky of the Desert (CA) Sun says the NFL Network documentary on Patriots coach Bill Belichick is definitely “must see TV”.

John Maffei from the North County Times tries to discover what the holdup is for the San Diego Padres’ TV and radio rights.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for California’s high school championships.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times talks with the Fox NFL Sunday crew.

T.J. Simers of the Times writes that Vin Scully can cause trouble at home.

Also from the Times, Eric Sondheimer has details of the Time Warner deal with the California Interscholastic Federation.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Jay “The Rat” Mariotti is determined to get the last word on his tumultuous year.

Tom has some media moves that didn’t make his column.

Tom says MLB Network will air a special on statistics.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says an 8 year delay will help Steve Moore in his lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi and the NHL stemming from an incident in Vancouver.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada has finally made some moves to fill some personnel holes.

And that’s going to conclude the links for this Friday.

Doing Some Thursday Linkage

Let’s provide links while I can. Trying not to make this a week where links are scarce. Let’s get this done.

First, Jessica E. Vascellaro and Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal look at how infusions of TV rights money has changed college sports not necessarily for the better.

John Ourand at Sports Business Daily notes that Longhorn Network has picked up its first major cable provider just ahead of Friday’s launch.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable also writes about Longhorn Network’s carriage deal.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at Fox Soccer signing a multiyear deal for the UEFA Europa League.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek says the Bleacher Report has raised $22 million in capital for future expansion of the site.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine explores the rich naming rights deal involving MetLife and the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says there are not that many differences between “New School” and “Old School” writers.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says the operator of an illegal sports video streaming site was arrested by the Feds yesterday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell feels Danica Patrick’s popularity has hit the wall.

Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page notes that ESPN put up a controversial rendering (now since taken down) of Michael Vick as a white man.

Robert Littal of Black Sports Online has a problem with ESPN’s premise of making Vick a white man.

At ESPN Front Row, PR maven Mike Soltys informs us that the Alleged Worldwide Leader has revised its social networking policy.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post says any talk of the NFL and Time Warner Cable being close on a deal for NFL Network is just that. Talk.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that TBS has made a change for its Sunday MLB game due to Hurricane Irene.

Ken Schott says a local radio station will have a unique baseball-horse racing on-air schedule this Saturday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the MSG Networks will be airing plenty of college football in the fall.

Ken adds that MSG Network will air a prospects hockey tournament next month.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says an area native is doing overnight sports reports on WFAN.

Justin Fenton and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun report that police have confirmed that former Orioles pitcher and broadcaster Mike Flanagan took his own life outside his home on Wednesday.

Peter Schmuck of the Sun says now is not the time to speculate why Flanagan chose to end his life.

The Sun’s Kevin Cowherd writes that Flanagan made people laugh as a player and as a broadcaster.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes says Flanagan’s death is still a mystery.

Matt Brooks in the Washington Post’s Early Lead blog says Flanagan’s death has hit the Orioles very hard.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that Danica Patrick’s move to NASCAR makes the Baltimore Grand Prix one of her last IndyCar races of her career.

Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte (NC) Observer says thanks to its new ESPN contract, ACC basketball will get plenty of TV exposure.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a primer on the Longhorn Network.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus feeling the SEC will be standing pat for the foreseeable future.

Jimmy says Verizon FiOS will be distributing the Longhorn Network across the country.

The Houston Chronicle says a local TV station will begin airing Thursday night high school football games.

David Barron of the Chronicle writes that the Longhorn Network is ready to launch, but won’t be seen widely in Houston.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says Notre Dame has renewed a radio rights deal with WLS-AM.

Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times looks at a big reveal from ESPN Films’ documentary on the Steve Bartman 2003 NLCS inc

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has Sports Illustrated saying the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot earlier this year sealed the fate of the franchise.

Mason Kelly of the Seattle Times says a local high school gym got a facelift thanks to an ESPN program.

Only Deadspin. It has a spy inside ESPN’s State of the Union meeting with higher ups.

Sox & Dawgs looks at SNY’s UConn football coverage.

The Toronto Sports Media blog notes that long-time Maple Leafs voice Dennis Beyak is apparently heading to Winnipeg.

Sports Media Watch has some various football programming notes.

That is going to finish the links for today.

Let’s Do Some Sunday Linkage

Time for some Sunday links. I’ll also attempt some Sunday thoughts later.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News writes that Comcast has dropped a lawsuit against DirecTV over its NFL Sunday Ticket ad campaign.

Tom Weir of USA Today explains how ESPN’s Dick Vitale got so angry at a sports radio talk show that he hung up.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today has Fox’s Jimmy Johnson ripping into former University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro who blew the whistle on his payments former Hurricanes to Yahoo! Sports.

Former LA Times NBA beat writer Mark Heisler gives us an inside account of his layoff from the newspaper.

Will Brinson at CBSSports.com notes that people made CBS Sports and Golf Channel-themed sandcastles at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship.

Dylan Stableford of Yahoo’s Cutline blog explains how Yahoo! Sports broke the University of Miami violations story.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser writes that the first UFC on Fox card in November 12 will not conflict with the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on the same night.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid notes that another ESPN camera was broken at the Little League World Series.

Ken Pishna of Yahoo! Sports has UFC President Dana White claiming ESPN canceled an interview with him after the announcement of the Fox deal.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group notes that Longhorn Network opened its doors to the media and University of Texas administration last week.

Plagiarist Ron Borges of the Boston Herald says boxing has fallen behind mixed martial arts in attracting younger males to the sport.

The New York Post talks with new SNY anchor/reporter Kerith Burke who makes her debut tonight.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the ESPN MLB schedule from now through the end of the month.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the NFL should make the Baltimore-Washington area a shared media market.

Matt Forman of the Miami Herald writes about former Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese joining the team’s radio broadcast booth.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News also writes about the UFC on Fox deal.

Art Garcia of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says with less than a week to go for its launch, no cable or satellite provider has yet to come forward to pick up the Longhorn Network.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discusses how NFL Films chose the three Green Bay Packers to be part of the latest edition of “America’s Game”.

Matt Erickson in the Chicago Tribune asks if the UFC and Fox are really a natural fit.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals have put former Midwest radio powerhouse KMOX back on top of the local ratings.

Dan also has the sports radio ratings for the Gateway to the West.

Stu Durando of the Post-Dispatch looks at Longhorn Network not being allowed to air high school football games.

James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe & Mail writes that NBC has signed NHL analyst Jeremy Roenick to a long-term deal. Thanks to Steve Lepore at Puck The Media for the link.

Deadspin has the video of the MLS’ Houston Dynamo’s announcer going crazy after a last second goal.

The Canadian Sports Media blog says TSN picks up Canada’s college football championship.

And that will do it for today.

The Friday Night Megalinks

I’ve been to Newton, MA and back, South Kingstown, RI and back and all over my hometown of North Kingstown, RI and all of this today. It’s time to do the megalinks and get them all done in one sitting.

There’s the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment programming.

National

Sports Business Daily goes over the UFC/Fox agreement that will put four live MMA events on network TV and plenty of ancillary programming on Fox’s cable networks.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox Sports Media Group El Presidente Por Vida David Hill has done an about face on airing Mixed Martial Arts.

Sergio Non of USA Today writes that UFC will revamp its shows when they move from Spike and Versus to Fox’s networks.

Sergio has those who will take part in the first UFC on Fox card in November.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the success of the UFC on Fox all depends on whether the sport can have a breakout star.

Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! says UFC President Dana White couldn’t be happier in making this deal with Fox.

Also from Yahoo!, Kevin Iole says it will be the fighters who will benefit the most from the new UFC on Fox contract.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has Spike announcing that the new season of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter will be the last on its airwaves, naturally.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek looks into the particulars of the UFC on Fox deal.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the Fox contract gives UFC some instant mainstream credibility.

There will be more UFC on Fox stories sprinkled throughout the megalinks. Let’s move on to other stories now.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman wonders if Showtime’s “The Franchise” is bringing down the San Francisco Giants this season.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter reports that Comcast has withdrawn a lawsuit against DirecTV over an ad campaign for NFL Sunday Ticket.

David Goetzl of MediaPost notes that DirecTV plans to expand its fantasy offerings for NFL Sunday Ticket.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at Versus/NBC Sports Network’s new exclusive NHL night in the first year of its new 10 year contract with the league.

Andrew McMains of Adweek looks at a new inspiring web video produced for the US Olympic Committee.

All Access says the ESPN Radio affiliate in Minnesota’s Twin Cities has chosen the hosts for its midday show.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explores which teams won and lost in the new NHL TV schedules.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that former voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Woody Durham, will be honored for his contributions to college football.

The Big Lead wonders if Jay Bilas is the most respected voice at ESPN.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid investigates how former 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell managed to appear to appear on the Dan Patrick Show and the Colin Cowherd Show at the same time.

And Tim presents the Atlanta Braves’ Shake Cam and how it can make fans a bit too excited.

Sports Media Watch says the U-20 World Cup is scoring for Galavision.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has a look at some interesting sports media typos.

Matt shows us how the Baseball Tonight crew had trouble demonstrating its new touchscreen.

Joe Favorito looks at what’s new with professional lacrosse.

Patrick Stafford of Smart Company in Australia speaks with the owner of Footytips.com about how he sold his site to ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the limited classic programming on NBA TV during the current league lockout can only take the channel so far.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy wearing chicken hats in the booth.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on how regional sports networks have increasing power and money to be a game changer for some professional teams.

Richard looks at the UFC on Fox deal that puts Mixed Martial Arts into the mainstream.

Dan Levin from the Times has a good story on how some athletes in Communist China are trying to buck their archaic system.

Mark DeCambre of the New York Post notes that the new Meadowlands Stadium now will have a sponsor when the new NFL season begins.

Justin Terranova in the Post looks at how Fordham University was a training ground for several NYC announcers.

Justin has five questions for SNY Jets analyst Anthony Becht.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes about Fox signing UFC for seven years.

Pete says local sports anchor Andrew Catalon’s call of tonight’s Browns-Lions game will be seen on NFL Network this weekend.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says a local radio station will air a full high school football schedule.

Ken says the NBC Sports Group is increasing its commitment to horse racing this fall.

And Ken writes that a new local sports radio talk show will be debuting soon.

To Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record who says the New York Rangers will be featured extensively on the national NHL TV schedules.

Crossing Broad has the audio of Philadelphia’s sports radio station WIP announcement that it’s taking over WYSP’s FM frequency killing off a heritage rock station.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News says ‘YSP staffers were melancholy about CBS Radio’s announcement killing off the station.

Jeff Wolfe of the Delaware County Times writes about WIP’s displacement of WYSP just as the rocker’s ratings were increasing.

Mike White in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says two local high school games hit the ESPN family of networks this fall.

Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette says the Penguins TV announcing crew will return for another season.

In the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik explains where Ravens fans can find the team on TV and radio.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Ravens did extremely well in the ratings in both Baltimore and Washington, DC in their NFL preseason opener.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with DC NFL Team radio voice Larry Michael.

And Jim writes that the Washington Capitals will have plenty of appearances on NBC/Versus (NBC Sports Network).

Mike Madden in the Washington City Paper says the local sports anchor is becoming a thing of the past.

Keith Loria of the Fairfax (VA) Times says native Lindsay Czarniak is about to make her debut on ESPN.

South

The Charleston (WV) Gazette notes that Root Sports Pittsburgh will carry some West Virginia and Marshall programming.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Bob Griese will be joining the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team replacing the late Jim Mandich.

Andy Kent of the Miami Dolphins website has Griese’s thoughts about joining the broadcast team and also sharing thoughts about Mandich.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some thoughts on the UFC/Fox deal, the Little League World Series on TV and CBS’ production of the PGA Championship.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says Yahoo! Sports does a better job of investigating college sports than the NCAA.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that Saturday’s US National Gymnastics championships get a network primetime slot.

Mike Finger and Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network hasn’t given up on airing high school football games in one form or another.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht looks at UFC getting a big payday from Fox.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with NBC’s Cris Collinsworth who’s going into his third season as Sunday Night Football analyst.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal now knows why DirecTV was so willing to give him a free subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket after learning that the service will be offered to Sony Playstation 3 owners.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press’ Michael Zuidema notes that a Big Ten Network analyst feels Nebraska is a perfect fit for the conference.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is amazed at ESPN’s ever-expanding army of NFL analysts and mountain of NFL programming.

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

Scott Dochterman in the Iowa City Gazette says NFL Network has picked up Mediacom for cable subscribers in the Hawkeye State.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says it’s not known which network will air the October 15th contest between BYU and Oregon State.

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) News speaks with BYUtv’s Executive Director in a lengthy interview. Part I of which is here. Read Part II here.

Larry Bohannan at the Desert (CA) Sun says there’s evidence of not much live golf shown in a PGA Tour telecast.

John Maffei of the North County Times weighs the pros and cons of airing the Little League World Series.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle looks at the contrasting opinions that John and Patrick McEnroe had on the state of American tennis on HBO’s Real Sports this week.

Jim explores the UFC on Fox deal.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times says Fox paid a pretty penny to get UFC into the fold.

Meg James of the Times also writes about the UFC on Fox deal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says when it came down to it, Fox didn’t have much of a choice but to sign UFC.

Tom says one sidebar to the UFC on Fox deal is the fact that Fox Sports Radio will also air MMA events.

Tom writes that former Dodgers radio voice Ross Porter has found his latest gig, calling high school sports online.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin feels TSN Radio isn’t getting the job done.

The Winnipeg Free Press notes that the Jets will get 22 games aired on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

And the number of links today are hearken back to the first two years of this blog. Lots of links. That’s it.

Some Sunday Linkage

Ok, I have some free time to do some linkage now. I was hoping to get this posted in the morning, but recently, weekends have become busier than my workweek. I really don’t understand how this happened. However, with the next few hours free, I should be able to give you some good posts here.

Edvard Pettersson of Bloomberg notes that Fox Sports has objected to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ hiring of a firm to help the team  gain a new cable TV rights deal. Fox agreed to a long term deal with the Dodgers and lent money to the team which has led to MLB taking over the operations.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News notes that the Pac-12 will be adding channels to your cable and satellite universe in 2012.

Mike says NFL Network and NFL.com received record numbers for free agent frenzy last week.

Craig Harris at the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism talks about the importance of sports business reporting.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser says universally hated Mike Lupica will now target 8-12 year olds as he will write books for that age group.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post sets his hate on in-game reporters Kim Jones of YES and Kevin Burkhardt of SNY.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that the Buffalo Bills won’t be heard on local radio this season.

Pete discusses Curt Smith’s new tome on baseball announcers.

Pete wonders why NFL Network dumped live Arena Football and CFL action for free agent frenzy programming.

David Walsh of the Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch talks with Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman about her visit to the Greenbrier Classic this week.

Jim Kleinpeter of the New Orleans Times-Picayune talks with ESPN’s Desmond Howard about the season opening LSU-Oregon game.

The Cleveland-centric Waiting For Next Year blog says Sportstime Ohio, the home of the Indians and Browns could be sold to one of two potential suitors.

Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times writes about Fox Sports attempting to block the Dodgers of hiring a firm to help secure a new cable TV rights deal.

John Daly at The Daly Planet writes about Allen Bestwick’s return to the NASCAR broadcast booth this weekend after being screwed over by NBC seven years ago.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing looks at some of the grammatical and typographical errors on ESPN last week.

Sports Media Watch looks at the big ratings increase for last week’s Canadian Open on CBS.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW has a few more notes.

That will do it.

The Law Firm of Costas & Michaels Plus Other Sunday Thoughts

I haven’t done a Sunday Thoughts post in a very long while. I’ve been wanting to do one, but either due to my day being planned for me or having to go to work or going out on Saturday and getting up late the following day, things haven’t worked out. But today, we have a nice harmonic convergence where everything came together for this post. Let’s get this done before things change.

Hey, We Should Have Bob Costas & Al Michaels Call Baseball Again!

On Friday, we finally got the awaited pairing of Bob Costas and Al Michaels on the New York Mets-San Francisco Giants game on MLB Network. Judging from their performance on MLB Network, SNY and Comcast SportsNet BayArea, I would welcome the teaming up of the two announcers again.

Costas had asked Michaels to join him on a broadcast and after clearing of schedules, the idea came to fruition with Al joining Bob at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

During the broadcast, Costas & Michaels split the first three innings on MLB Network before splitting the 4th and 5th on the Mets network, SNY, then heading over to the Giants’ flagship of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area for the 6th and 7th and finally ending on MLB Network for the 8th and 9th.

I was able to see all three broadcasts with the help of DirecTV, MLB.TV and the MLB At Bat iPad app. Officially, Michaels had not called a baseball game since the 1995 World Series, although he did a guest spot on ESPN a few years back. No matter when Al last called baseball, an entire generation of sports fans have not. While Costas to Michaels suggested that calling baseball after 16 years was like riding a bicycle, Al replied, “If the bicycle has me saying, ’3rd and 5′, then you know you’re in trouble.”

Al did show some rust in his first and half inning on MLB Network, but grew more comfortable as the game went along. He weaved tales of his time calling baseball locally in Cincinnati in the early 1970′s which led to an appearance on NBC TV and radio for the 1972 World Series, and in San Francisco which came in handy for the appearance on Comcast SportsNet.

One thing about baseball is the ability to tell stories during a broadcast and Michaels is an expert at it. During his time on all three networks, Michaels talked about calling the 1989 World Series for ABC and being in San Francisco when the massive earthquake hit during the first minutes of the broadcast’s open.

Costas and Michaels sometimes did play-by-play for each other, but it was ok. And so was not having an analyst. It reminded me of a radio MLB broadcast which usually has two play-by-play men alternating innings. Throughout their time on MLB Network, SNY and CSN Bay Area, Bob and Al had great chemistry, playing well off each other and showing humor throughout the game such as Michaels marveling at the immaculate booths of SNY and CSN while Al kept a mess in MLB Network’s.

MLB Network, SNY and CSN all weaved Bob’s and Al’s calls from the past, splicing in moments from past postseasons. However, the best tape came from CSN and was from 1975. It was Michaels’ radio call of the last out of a no-hitter thrown by Giants pitcher Ed Halicki. Al told Costas that it was the first time he had heard the tape since calling the game way back when.

While the shuffling from MLB Network to SNY to CSN back to MLB Network might have been confusing, it was to give audiences in New York and San Francisco an opportunity to hear Bob and Al as the national broadcast was blacked out in the local markets.

From what I heard on Twitter, the feedback from fans was mostly positive. People wanted to hear more of Bob and Al and hoped to see them work together again. I certainly hope we don’t have to wait 16 years for Michaels to call another game. In fact, I would think if the NFL lockout lasts into August, we might hear Al call another baseball game then.

ESPN Taking Another Event That Used To Be On Network TV

The big news last week was ESPN purchasing all US media rights for Wimbledon for the next 12 years. Of course, NBC had aired the event for 43 consecutive years ending last Sunday, July 3. I can go into the maddening tape delay policies that drove fans to the internet to look for illegal feeds and how it led Wimbledon to turn to ESPN, but I won’t. That’s not the point here.

The point of this thought is yet another event that goes all-cable starting next year. While ESPN can say those who have the rabbit ears can still see Wimbledon on ABC, they will just be table scraps or taped highlights on the middle Sunday of the fabled fortnight and on the day of the ladies’ and gentlemen’s finals.

While fans will soak in the live coverage on both ESPN and ESPN2 next year, it means another event that had been on over the air TV won’t be from 2012 through 2023. I’m not going to be like some newspaper reporters who claim that they’re looking out for the little guy who doesn’t have cable. There aren’t that many and most of the country watches TV through cable or satellite. But I still lament the loss of a great event from network TV. And while the playing field between cable/satellite is almost level with network TV since the digital conversion, you wonder if more events will be heading to the pay side.

Let’s face it, over the last few years, ESPN has purchased the rights to the Bowl Championship Series, the Open Championship, NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup and now Wimbledon. All had been broadcast mainstays, but no longer. And in 2015, the NCAA Final Four^® becomes a cable event every other year alternating between TNT and CBS.

For ESPN, it’s certainly about ratings and money, but at the same time, the channel doesn’t have to have the ratings of ABC, NBC or CBS because the audience is smaller and the network doesn’t have to worry about spilling into other programming. ESPN can be flexible since it’s airing just sports and not a myriad of daytime, news and entertainment programming. And ESPN doesn’t have to respond to affiliates that can hold the network hostage.

But even with all this, I don’t see an end to the migration of events to cable. There may be a time where NBC may want to get out of the tennis business now only having the French Open. Perhaps Tennis Channel will take that all to itself leaving just the U.S. Open as the lone tennis Grand Slam event on network TV. That hasn’t happened yet, but it might.

ESPN’s main rival is NBC. Comcast is hoping to build Versus as a competitor and alternative to ESPN. There will be plenty of opportunities for the two companies to bid against each other for events and you can rest assured that the money will be flowing. It also means more events will move to cable, leaving a much smaller pie for the broadcast networks to fight over.

And that concludes the Sunday thoughts

Chugging Along On A Thursday Linkage Edition

Time for the linkage here on this Thursday getting a late charge out of the gate as I’ve had to visit a jobsite and then had to run a couple of office errands, but we’re back inside ready to give you some linkage. Lots of stuff to get to now.

We begin with some sad news from Chicago. Sports anchor Daryl Hawks of WMAQ-TV, the NBC affiliate, was found dead this morning in an Atlanta hotel room as he was going to cover tonight’s Bulls-Hawks game. He was 38. No other details are available.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says this is the 2nd unexpected death to happen to the WMAQ-TV sports staff in less than a decade.

Robert Feder at TimeOut Chicago says Hawks’ friends and colleagues are stunned.

If I get more details about Hawks’ death, I’ll post it here.

From USA Today’s Arin Kariminian, we learn that the NFL players are suing for over $700 million in damages from the league over the disputed broadcast revenues that led to the lockout in the first place.

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal who’s been wearing bow ties for charitable causes, tells us that he’ll be wearing one this week for the Red Sox-Yankees game that will be near and very dear to his heart. We at Fang’s Bites wholeheartedly support this.

Etan Vlessing from the Hollywood Reporter says the owner of Canadian sports TV network The Score has purchased the third largest sports mobile app provider in the US.

To Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser who tells us that ESPN3.com will stream the entire season of the National Lacrosse League.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group looks at NBC/Golf Channel’s production of this weekend’s Players Championship.

In the Indiana National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times does not want athletes to stop tweeting their thoughts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at one restaurant chain that is allowing customers to drink beer for free as long as the NFL lockout continues.

Darren suggests that Disney buy Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom if he wins the next leg of the Triple Crown.

Public relations maven Bill Hofheimer in ESPN Front Row talks with two ESPN’ers who hope to have their CBS sitcoms picked up in the network upfronts later this month.

Adam Proteau from the Hockey News says fans rallying around Sean Avery’s gay marriage stance and denouncing of Uptown Sports’ tweets against it shows a true evolution in the sport.

In the Boston Herald, Ian R. Rapoport has video of Tom Brady explaining why he cried during the ESPN/NFL Films documentary, “The Brady 6.”

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman writes an appreciation of collegue, cartoonist Bill Gallo who passed away at the age of 88.

The Daily News’ Flip Bondy has Gallo’s obituary.

And Mike Lupica says Gallo will live on through his work.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes about ESPN airing a college basketball game from a military aircraft carrier on Veterans Day.

A related note from the Associated Press and picked up by the Sporting News: the carrier that buried Osama bin Laden at sea could be the one that hosts the game.

Ken says the NBC Sports Group will be airing horse racing from Saratoga Race Course over the summer.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that NASCAR fans in the DC area will be flocking to Dover this weekend.

Garry Smits from the Florida Times-Union looks at the NBC Sports Group airing the Players Championship this week.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times says a popular local sports radio host has signed a new contract with his current station.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that police confiscated some 30 phony passes including some labeled “NBC Sports” from people attempting to attend the Kentucky Derby.

John E. Hoover at the Tulsa World notes that the Oklahoma-Florida State game will be aired in primetime by either ESPN or ABC.

Amanda Van Benschoten from the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that NBC’s Cris Collinsworth has been named to a national fitness panel.

Alan Babbitt of the Holland (MI) Sentinel says ESPN’s Outside the Lines will air a segment Sunday on the high school basketball team that had a player pass away on court earlier this year.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Arena Football League’s Mustangs will be heard on local radio.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business explores the latest troubles with Jay Mariotti.

Mariotti’s former paper, the Chicago Sun-Times uses wire copy to construct the latest story on his latest arrest on stalking and domestic violence charges.

John Vornhof, Jr. from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal writes that Fox Sports North jumps into the WNBA game this summer.

Scott Dochterman in the Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette notes that Big Ten Network will air a new original series on conference coaches.

Ben Kaplan of the National Post writes about a new documentary on Donald Trump’s efforts to build a golf course in Scotland that was first chronicled by HBO’s Real Sports.

The Toronto Sports Media blog notes that a Rogers Sportsnet host who weighed in on the gay marriage debate on Twitter regarding Sean Avery’s stance, was fired yesterday.

Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star says the host, Damian Goddard is standing by his tweets.

The Big Lead looks at the first review of Captain Blowhard’s Grantland site.

The Pretty in Pinstripes blog takes down the SNY “More Sports, More Testosterone” ad campaign that was very inexplicably created by women.

Sports Media Watch says the Miami Heat series clincher over Boston took in a good rating, but not as good as Game 4.

Joe Favorito explores the new magazine being published by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull.

And that is where we’ll end it for today. Lots of links for you today.

Friday Megalink Action

With me not having to drive in between two offices, I’m able to provide you with the Friday megalinks during the day. And with things planned for me during the day for Saturday, it’s best to get these in now so it can tie you over while I’m gone.

The Weekend Viewing Picks provide your sports and entertainment programming for Mother’s Day and before.

To the links. Lots to get to today.

National

In USA Today, Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate whether Donald Trump should have pulled out of driving the pace car at this year’s Indianapolis 500.

Mike McCarthy broke news last night that Champion fired Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall over his tweets on Osama bin Laden’s death.

Sports Business Daily looks at the final sports TV ratings from this week.

At Sports Video Group, Carolyn Braff says the Pac-12 Network will take lessons from the Big 10 Network when it launches in 2012.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser notes a new website launch for the National Sportcasters and Sportswriters Association.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has an extensive look at whether the newest marketing plan by Gatorade can bring the company to new heights.

Cork Gaines of the Business Insider’s Sports Page notes that the new Pac-12 rights deal will immediately pay dividends for two schools.

Ed DeRosa of the Thoroughbred Times profiles Larry Collmus who is the new Voice of the Triple Crown for NBC.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Night 22 of the NHL Playoffs.

At SportsGrid, Glenn Davis is keeping track of whether Gus Johnson will stay at CBS or go to Fox.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing also has an update on the Gus Johnson saga.

The Nielsen Wire blog has news that will make NBC really happy, the Kentucky Derby is growing in popularity.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs looks at the college conference rights megadeals and other sports media news that occurred this week.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Pawtucket Red Sox announcer Steve Hyder is very proud of his radio partner Dan Hoard for getting the call to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the NFL Network appears to have finally gotten its Thursday Night Football announcing booth down.

Dan Lamonthe of the Red Sox Monster blog in the Springfield Republican chuckles at the “so bad, it’s good” Sullivan Tire ad with second baseman Dustin Pedroia and pitcher Jon Lester.

Newsday’s Neil Best has New York Jets coach Rex Ryan realizing that he’s been doing too many interviews this week.

I’m not sure what Phil Mushnick is saying in today’s New York Post.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for SNY analyst Ron Darling.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a local radio personality gets to take his passion for NASCAR to a national level.

Tom Luicci of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger speaks with Larry Collmus of Monmouth Park who will call the Kentucky Derby for NBC.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says sports business seems to carry on despite the sluggish economy.

Laura Nachman says Phillies radio analyst Larry Andersen has won a reader’s poll.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Root Sports has a decision to make on its Penguins announcing team.

Mark Madden of the Beaver County (PA) Times also looks at the Penguins announcing situation.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun notes that MASN is seeing higher ratings for the Orioles especially among younger viewers.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com has a look at what’s going on in Baltimore and DC sports media in Press Box.

Steven Goff of the Washington Post says the MLS’ DC United and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic have forged a rights deal.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner likes how NBC and Versus are sharing coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald is a fan of ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy.

Jeff Shain from the Orlando Sentinel looks at Golf Channel’s documentary on the late Frank Chirkinian of CBS Sports. It is a good documentary and airs tonight at 8 and throughout the weekend on Golf Channel.

Joe Biddle of The Tennessean notes that the new NHL TV contract with NBC/Versus gives the league stability, but hurts the younger generation with late starting times.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News says Alabama native Rece Davis returns to report on the recent tornadoes for ESPN and how sports is helping the region to recover.

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre tells WDAM-TV of Hattiesburg, MS that coaching or TV is in his future. Stay away from my TV, Brett.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle attempts to catch up with two weeks worth of sports media news in one column.

Peter Lim of the Chronicle says two local boxers get their national spotlight this weekend.

Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News takes a look at the control the University of Texas has over the ESPN-owned and operated Longhorn Network.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman profiles ESPN basketball analyst Doris Burke of North Providence, RI.

Mel has various sports media tidbits in his weekly notebook.

Midwest

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says it was the Big 10 Conference that paved the way for the Pac 10/12 to cash in on its media deals.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer looks into why the Bengals chose to change play-by-play announcers.

Mike Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press has NBC’s Kentucky Derby crew talking the horses in advance of Saturday’s race.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Kentucky Derby has lost ties to the local area with the departure of race caller Tom Durkin.

West

Bill Husted of the Denver Post writes that ESPN’s Rick Reilly returned to his alma mater in Boulder, CO to give the final commencement address to its Journalism School.

Lya Wodraska of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Pac-12 Network has the potential to give Utah plenty of exposure.

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star gives us a peek at how the Pac-12 Network might look like when it launches next year.

John Maffei from the North County Times notes that the Pac 10/12 has hit Powerball.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says keeping ownership of its own network is key for the Pac-12 Conference.

Jim talks about Michele Tafoya joining NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says Golf Channel will pay tribute to the late CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian tonight.

Diane says the Pac-12 media deals show how valuable sports is to television executives.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the Pac-12 member schools are going to be very rich under the new rights deals.

Tom looks at the very busy week in sports media.

Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Pac-12 contract means more options for viewers.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels Rashard Mendenhall and other athletes should think before they tweet.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the ratings for CBC and TSN for the first games of the 2nd round of the NHL Playoffs.

The Toronto Sports Media blog has the April sports radio ratings for the local stations.

And that is going to conclude the Megalinks.

Sounding Off On The Thursday Linkage

Let’s do the linkage on this Thursday morning. Some good stuff is already out.

The Financial Times has a look at how European TV money is now either catching up or surpassing US TV dollars for the bidding for certain global sports events.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News reports that ESPN has released a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch which allows Time Warner and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers to watch live TV on their devices.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel notes that SNY is now taking shots at Dish Network after being dropped by the satellite provider.

Mike says YES Network and DirecTV continue their negotiations as a deadline that was extended to today is staring them in the face.

Lindsay Rubino from Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN’s E:60 is being nominated for an award that honors diversity in communications.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life writes that Tiger Woods appears to be an afterthought for ESPN’s and CBS’ coverage of The Masters^®.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, the St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans feels Mark Cuban’s idea to ban all internet writers to improve sports coverage is quite silly.

Ronald Grover, Brian Womack and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg report that YouTube is in talks with several Hollywood companies to provide original content including sports.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says DirecTV is all over The Masters^® this year.

Marcus says since ESPN’s Captain Blowhard promised not to tweet until the Red Sox won, an online betting site is taking wagers on whether he will indeed keep quiet.

Sports Video Group has provided a site that outlines how to produce live golf in the third dimension.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown says MLB isn’t serving its Extra Innings and MLB.TV subscribers well through its archaic blackout policies.

Dan Frommer of the Business Insider has a look at the new WatchESPN iPhone app.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports TV anchor will be part of the online and DirecTV coverage of The Masters^®.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that NFL Films visited the Steelers last week to film several interviews.

CBS Radio Baltimore’s Jen Royle talks with the Baltimore Sun’s Simon Habtemariam.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former Nationals analyst Rob Dibble has come out stating that it was a letter from the father of pitcher Stephen Strasburg that led to him being fired from MASN last year.

Dan talks to a local man who came close to winning ESPN.com’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says CBS and Augusta National Country Club have a unique partnership for The Masters^®.

Iliana Limon in the Orlando Sentinel talks with Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky about the future of the league.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman discusses online coverage of The Masters^®.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has an update on what happened with Fox Sports Ohio’s feed of the Astros-Reds game from earlier in the week.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Bucks will be pushed to another radio station due to conflicts with the Brewers.

Neal Justin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says four cable and satellite providers are not carrying the full schedule of Twins games from Fox Sports North.

Tim Engstrom in the Albert Lea (MN) Tribune writes that Charter Communications is at an impasse with Fox Sports North over 45 Twins games that Fox Sports North picked up.

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times says while the Lakers will not bring back TV play-by-play man Joel Myers, they will bring back analyst Stu Lantz.

That’s where I’ll end it for now.

Getting Back to the Blogging Grind With Some Linkage

After a crazy period from 6:30 p.m. Friday until Sunday morning, when my new server host verified my account, I really didn’t have a blogging home to speak of. After Web Hub Hosting decided to remove my site from its servers following a Denial of Service attack that had apparently targeted Fang’s Bites. After discussing this with the extremely unhelpful Web Hub Hosting techies who refused to give me any information, I was in a holding pattern until Saturday night when they told me to pack up my stuff and leave. They provided me with backup of my archives so I had to quickly find another host, all this while UConn-Kentucky was airing on CBS.

The Host Monster people not only were very cooperative and understanding, but took the time to walk me through transferring my archives to its servers. It’s greatly appreciated and they were patient with me in getting me through a rather stressful transition. And by Sunday morning, I could blog once again. Let’s put it this way, Web Hub Hosting was extremely unhelpful, stalling and not forthcoming about what happened to my site. Host Monster was very gracious and helpful in getting me set up again. So you see that being helpful goes a long way. I’m very thankful to Host Monster’s tech support for the help and the efficiency of getting my blog back up and running. Greatly appreciated.

Now to our links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today feels CBS’ three man team of Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr got the job done at the Final Four^®.

ESPN Ombudsmen Kelly McBride and Regina McCombs take ESPN to task over the Jalen Rose story where he did not originally reveal his arrest on DUI charges last month.

At ESPN Front Row, Company Vice President of Content Development Ron Wechsler tells you where to eat if you’re on the road.

Saturday was ESPN.com’s 16th birthday and editor Ron King celebrated on Front Row.

Sports Business Daily notes that CBS had its best Final Four^® ratings in six years.

Daniel Kaplan from Sports Business Journal says the National Football League is going to plan for a worse-case weather scenario at future Super Bowls.

John Ourand from SBJ profiles the founder of ESPN, Bill Rasmussen who is now looking for the next big thing.

And SBJ has more profiles of people who it has deemed “Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business” for 2011.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the video of SNY airing the audio of a Family Guy clip ragging on the New York Mets during a game replay over the weekend.

Jason Fry writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says Twitter has changed the way he waits for and reports on waiver wire news.

Nyay Bushan of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket match watched by millions around the world, garnered a huge audience and broke a viewing record in India.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes about ESPN launching the Longhorn Network.

Mike writes that a Hollywood investment company is looking to launch a group of regional sports networks across the country.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life writes about CBS’ ratings for the Final Four^®.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine says CBS has the best of both worlds in tonight’s NCAA National Championship game.

At Sports TV jobs, Pamela Modarelli Hegner talks with four women including ESPN’s Suzy Kolber and Cindy Brunson about their experiences in sports TV journalism.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if people will watch tonight’s Butler-UConn game.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban asks us if ESPN has a Twitter problem.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that SNY higher ups are not laughing over a tech who slipped in a Family Guy audio drop into a Mets game replay.

Richard also talks with former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, former Yankees broadcaster and former National League President Bill White about his new candid and frank autobiography.

Once again, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in an extremely hateful mood.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says ESPN has launched the Longhorn Network.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that MASN has made spelling errors all over the place.

Barry Svrluga of the Post talks with CBS’ Verne Lundquist about the iconic 1986 Masters which a 46 year old Jack Nicklaus became the oldest man to win the tournament.

Jim Williams with the Washington Examiner talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle spent some time with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

David says for the NCAA basketball national champion , it’s all about hearing “One Shining Moment” at the end of the game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gets Joe Buck’s take on the Albert Pujols contract negotiations with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Crain’s Chicago Business’ Ed Sherman says the White Sox need a fast start to pay some pretty hefty bills this season.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that the Final Four^® three man booth worked well.

At the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Norm Clarke says ESPN’s Stuart Scott allowed a teenager to take a golf swing for a possible donation to his college fund.

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

Tom talks with ESPN’s Bobby Valentine about his time with the Dodgers and his new gig on Sunday Night Baseball.

Tom has more with Bobby in his blog.

To the Toronto Star where Raju Mudhar notes that a familiar voice to Toronto sports fans is heading to TSN Radio.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN may finally have the final piece to its radio puzzle.

Sports Media Watch notes that the NBA on TNT did very well on Thursday outrating MLB on ESPN.

Joe Favorito looks at how sports talk radio is growing in Israel.

And I will end it there.

Breaking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some mid-week linkage on a very rainy Wednesday in Southern New England. Here we go.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says even with all of the NCAA Tournament games being nationally televised, CBS and Turner still have to figure out which games go where.

Sports Business Daily looks at the overnight ratings for the first two NCAA Tournament games on truTV.

Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock goes after Jalen Rose for writing revisionist history in the ESPN Films doc, “The Fab Five”.

Alex Sherman of Bloomberg News writes that DirecTV stands to lose millions in rights fees even if the NFL lockout comes to fruition.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that truTV’s HD feed has been picked up by several cable and satellite providers in time for last night’s start of the NCAA Tournament.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says cable networks aren’t happy with Time Warner Cable’s new app that allow subscribers to stream content on their iPads.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown writes about MLB.TV experimenting with streaming one free Spring Training game a day on Facebook.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the NCAA Tournament hospitality business is up after a couple of down years.

Darren makes the case for you to not fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket.

At Time magazine, Sean Gregory recounts how he and his Princeton teammates upset defending NCAA Tournament champion UCLA in 1996.

Deadspin catches the leaked script for the sitcom pilot based on ESPN’s Mark Schlereth.

Newsday’s Neil Best celebrates SNY’s 5th birthday.

Toni Monkovic from the New York Times writes that DC NFL Team owner Dan Snyder continues to throw his weight around against the Washington media.

From the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record, Ken McMillan writes that Time Warner Cable will air several NY state high school basketball championship games.

Dave McKenna of the Washington City Paper, the same writer DC NFL Team owner Daniel Snyder is suing, discusses how Snyder forced the Washington Post to remove the team’s name from a popular blog.

Cindy Boren of the Washington Post’s The Early Lead blog also discusses the team’s name removal.

Just so you know, I have been calling the DC NFL Team, “the DC NFL Team” for several years, not because of Snyder, but because I find the term “Redskins” offensive to Native Americans. You can consider me ahead of the curve.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner looks at the multiple ways you can watch the NCAA Tournament this year.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle is already sick of the truTV promos and it was just the first night of the NCAA Tournament.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business notes that a suspended sports talk show host remains off the air almost two weeks after being arrested on DUI charges.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times says Bulls guard Derrick Rose will be the face of a global Adidas ad campaign.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that local CBS affiliates miss out on carrying area teams in the new partnership with Turner.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times looks at the new CBS/Turner partnership for the NCAA Tournament.

Diane says ESPN’s Baseball Tonight will travel to Sunday Night Baseball sites this year.

The Canadian Sports Media blog says Rogers Sportsnet has signed former Blue Jays catcher Greg Zaun as a studio analyst.

The Sports Media Watch says with Turner Sports involved and siphoning off viewers, CBS’ ratings for the NCAA Tournament could hit lower numbers.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media likes some subtle changes NBC Sports has made to Versus’ NHL Overtime overnight replay.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing talks with legendary Boston Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman about his 30 seasons with the team.

That will do it.

Shoveling Some Tuesday Links Your Way

Let’s bring you some linkage before my plate gets too full today. Lots of things to go over.

First, this story broke last night and we’re all hoping for the best for NFL Films President Steve Sabol who suffered a seizure Saturday night while in Kansas City. Greg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk says Sabol is recovering in a local hospital today.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy talks with Captain Blowhard about his new site.

John Paul of the Wall Street Journal says look for big things from the new marriage between NBC Sports and Golf Channel.

Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter writes that this summer, Wimbledon will be seen in 3-D-ready movie theaters and offered to rightsholders around the world.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable writes that former ESPN and Fox Sports Net reporter Kevin Frazier has been named as co-anchor of The Insider, the companion series to Entertainment Tonight.

In the Business Insider’s Sports Page,  Mark Fidelman explains how the Bleacher Report (ugh!) is beating ESPN.com when it comes to social media.

Eric Olson of the Associated Press reports that the UFL is hoping to pick up TV exposure in case of an NFL lockout.

The Big Lead has a couple of videos showing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for all intents and purposes becoming a woman during Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wants you to vote on the next great ballpark food idea.

Jackie Kass from Examiner.com says TNT is looking at glamor NBA matchups and the NCAA Tournament for big ratings this month.

Eric Gendron from the Daily New Canaan (CT) says ESPN’s Bob Ley headlines a panel discussion featuring two other ESPN anchors at Fairfield University later this month.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with former St. John’s coach Norm Roberts who’s seeing his ex-team’s success from the SNY studios.

Mandy Housenick of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes the Philadelphia Phillies get two appearances in the early MLB on TBS schedule.

Bob Fernandez at the Philadelphia Inquirer says with a possible NFL lockout, the TV networks are looking at the NHL as the next rights battleground.

Matt Murschel from the Orlando Sentinel has Dick Vitale’s pick to win the NCAA Tournament.

Jeremiah McWilliams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Fox Sports South will live stream scores to area billboards so commuters can keep up to date.

Robbie Neiswanger from the Arkansas News Bureau says ESPN will air the University of Arkansas’ annual spring football game next month.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News notes that Fox has signed NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip for two more years.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air most of its Reds schedule in high definition.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that NASCAR beat Big 10 basketball in the local TV ratings on Sunday.

Brian L. Cox at the TribLocal notes that a Chicago sports radio talk show host was arrested over the weekend on DUI charges.

The Chicago Sun-Times also has a story on the host who apparently was way over the legal blood-alcohol level.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says it’s not known what will happen to the host.

Ed says the Chicago Bulls are pulling in the ratings locally.

John Henderson of the Denver Post says Versus will be airing a cycling race based in Colorado later this summer.

Las Vegas Sun editorial cartoonist Mike Smith chronicles his day following ESPN NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little on Saturday.

Bob Young of the Arizona Republic says a current Fox Sports Net reporter got to see Charlie Sheen up close during the filming of “Major League.”

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle says both the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers nixed ESPN’s idea to have their season opener at AT&T Park.

Wendy Parker sees the number of women’s college basketball games on TV growing exponentially.

Daniel Feuerstein of MLS Talk feels ESPN failed to show any loyalty to soccer voice JP Dellacamera after he showed plenty to them. I totally agree. ESPN treated JP so poorly in the last few years.

Jeremy Rapanich of Wired News looks at the March Madness on Demand iPad app.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog wonders why CBC’s Mike Milbury suddenly had a change of heart on fighting.

Sports Media Watch notes that NASCAR’s ratings are on the rise.

SMW says the NHL on NBC did not do well on Sunday.

SMW also has some random news and notes.

Dave Kohl of Major League Programs praises KSPN host Mychal Thompson for not ducking from his son’s arrest on marajuana charges.

Sox & Dawgs has a very funny NESN blooper reel involving Red Sox Hall of Famer Jim Ed Rice.

We’ll end it there.

Some Monday Linkage

Let’s do some linkage on this rainy Monday in Southern New England. Such a drab day and I just can’t get started. Maybe it was due to watching The Oscars abortion last night. Anyway, here are your links to start off your work week.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reviews Golf Channel’s State of the Game Live panel discussion that had both NBC and Golf Channel analysts together.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk recaps the Golf Channel special.

Jason Gay at the Wall Street Journal tries to understand the attraction of watching the NFL Scouting Combine.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center where Jason Fry lists some of his favorite Mets stories that he’s culled online from the past week.

At Mediaweek, Katy Bachman notes that online streaming provider Ivi TV got shut down over complaints from the networks and MLB.

Jeanette DeForge at the Springfield (MA) Republican reports on ESPN.com contributor Howard Bryant getting arrested over the weekend for allegedly assaulting his estranged wife. This story was picked up over the weekend by several blogs.

The Boston Herald where Bryant used to work has a story on the incident from Jessica Heslam.

The Connecticut Post says ESPN MLB analyst Bobby Valentine is interested in buying a piece of the New York Mets.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that SNY will be visiting Mets third baseman David Wright’s home.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels Mets owner Fred Wilpon is flip-flopping over his money problems.

To Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union. He has the America East conference tournament TV schedules.

Pete also has the MAAC Conference tournament TV schedule.

Down to Washington, DC where CBS-owned WJFK-FM has announced it will be the new flagship station of the Nationals for this season.

This also gives me an opportunity to link to Friend of Fang’s Bites Liz Drabick of WJFK (she’s an update anchor) website and her Twitter page. If you’re on Twitter, say hello to her.

From the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg notes that Sports lllustrated is being harsh on Capitals  star Alexander Ovechkin. Maybe truthful is more like it.

Cindy Boren of the WaPo’s The Early Lead blog also discusses the Nationals’ new flagship radio station.

Nathan Warters from the Lynchburg (VA) News & Advance says ESPN’s Digger Phelps helped to inspire Virginia Tech to an upset of Duke on Saturday.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend in sports TV.

John Helsley of the Daily Oklahoman talks with the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb of ESPN to talk about his alma mater’s chances of making a run in the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Stupp of the Dayton Daily News talks about UFC using social media to promote its next card.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post notes ESPN’s Doris Burke’s ability to be analyst or sideline reporter.

At the Toronto Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin says the NHL TV analysts are taking off the gloves.

And I’ll end there.

Thursday’s Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The White Sox have released their broadcast schedules as well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some Late Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning Links

My plans to provide a full set of linkage got shot to hell when the car I was riding in got stuck in a snow bank during the ice storm in RI on Wednesday. So I spent three hours trying to get the vehicle out. Eventually, I got AAA to pull it out, but also spent a lot of time chipping the ice from the driveway, so it was exactly how I wanted to spend my day. Anyway, I’ll give you a short set of links here.

Brian Costa, Matthew Futterman and Michael Rothfield says the New York Mets may sell part of its stake in SNY if can help attract a minority buyer for the club.

In a related note, CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports that the principal owners of the Met who are being sued by a Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme victim, say they don’t owe any money. Donald Sterling and Saul Katz recommended Madoff to several clients.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski explores any potential complications or non-complications regarding the NHL’s new US TV deals.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser feels it’ll be a long time before Dallas hosts another Super Bowl.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media speculates as to why the NHL All-Star Game saw a ratings increase from when the game was last played.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse goes over the new management structure at NBC Sports/Comcast.

Brad Cohen in SportsGrid feels Charles Barkley’s new website is just what the doctor ordered.

The Big Lead points out that the Pro Bowl did better in the ratings than Game 3 of the 2010 World Series.

Karolos Grohmann of Reuters reports that the Tour de France won’t be shown live in Germany starting in 2012 due to lack of interest and doping problems.

Kimberly Nordyke from the Hollywood Reporter has viewing alternatives for those who don’t want to watch the Super Bowl.

Have your first look at Volkswagen’s mini-Darth Vader Super Bowl ad.

And here’s the Volkswagen Black Beetle Super Bowl ad.

Michael Malone at Broadcasting & Cable reports that a group of local stations are back on DirecTV ensuring subscribers will see the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says thanks to the BCS, ESPN swept the January cable ratings.

Bill Cromwell from Media Life Magazine notes that after Pizza Hut dropped out of the Super Bowl, Fox found another advertiser to take its place ensuring a sellout once again.

Amy Austin of the Washington City Paper has written a public response to DC NFL Team owner Daniel Snyder’s threats to sue the publication after what he perceived was an unflattering profile.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner looks at the new NBC Sports management team.

Gary West from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Michelle Beadle who’s been co-hosting ESPN2′s SportsNation live from Sundance Square.

Mitchell Schnurman of the Star-Telegram says the ESPN live productions from downtown Fort Worth have been promoting the city better than any advertising campaign.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says a Windy City media company is busy at the Super Bowl this week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News continues his series on asking various play-by-play men on what they can learn from Vin Scully.

First, we get answers from LA Kings Hall of Fame voice Bob Miller.

Then Tom speaks with Kings radio voice Nick Nickson.

Tom finds UCLA Bruins voice Chris Roberts to get his response.

Tom turns to Clippers voice Ralph Lawler.

Tom gets a response from USC basketball voice Chris Fisher.

Tom makes contact with minor league baseball announcer Jeff Lasky.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the Super Bowl Sunday programming from both CTV and Fox.

Sports Media Watch notes that the rematch of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final did slightly better than last year’s NHL on NBC debut.

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing has a very good interview with the multifaceted Kevin Harlan who will be calling the Super Bowl on Westwood One Radio this Sunday.

And that’s going to do it. I need to sleep.

Some Quick Wednesday Linkage

Ok, this may turn out to be a busy day for me so I’m going to try to sneak some links in. You may see this in multiple parts so here goes.

We’ll begin with Tom Weir in USA Today’s Game On blog discussing Tucker Carlson of Fox News wanting Michael Vick executed?

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN is not anticipating too much of a ratings hit as it takes over the BCS from Fox this season.

Kimberly Nordyke of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the Monday Night Football finale was the most watched program on cable this year.

We continue with more links.

This is a shameless plug, but how many of these do I make in a year? Head on over to BallHyped and vote for me for Sports Blog of the Year. I have no shot to win, but make my results respectable. I greatly appreciate it. You can vote for as many as three so if you feel there’s another blog that’s just as deserving, vote for that one too.

Sports Business Daily says some weak matchups could hurt the BCS’ ratings on ESPN.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Sunday Night Football on Tuesday night did very well in the ratings.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the 2010 Monday Night Football finale helped ESPN to set a ratings record.

Mike says the Outdoor Channel is set to premiere some new series including four picked up from ESPN’s now-canceled Outdoors block.

From Fox Sports, Brian Lowry says in 2010, sports and sports media had their fill of scandal.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with the CEO of New Era about sponsoring the Pinstripe Bowl and its sponsorship deal with the NFL.

Darren talks about the Coors Light NFL coaches ads which end their run after this season. 

Jon Bershad of SportsGrid has Los Angeles sportswriter Kevin Ding accusing an ESPNews anchor of lifting his material verbatim. Uh oh.

We continue with SportsGrid’s Top Sports Media Gaffes of 2010 and #4 is the Karen Owen Duke Sex List. Who could forget that?

And #3 is Ines Sainz and the alleged harassment by the New York Jets.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about the weather which could wreak havoc on the NHL Winter Classic.

Also from the Times, George Vescey says while Mike Singletary is no longer coach of the San Francisco 49ers, the David Letterman sketch featuring a faux Singletary will continue.

Newsday’s Neil Best has Kenny Albert’s adventure getting from St. Louis to Newark, NJ in the midst of this weekend’s Great Blizzard.

Neil says his appearance along with three other sports media critics on SNY last week did respectively well in the sports cable ratings in New York.

I’ve been interrupted again. I’ve been trying to start the links up again since lunch time and I just can’t get it done. Too many starts and stops. I hope to finish up tonight.

Back to the Friday Megalinks

It’s been a while since I could give you the Friday megalinks. You’re owed them. Let’s give them to you now.

There’s the Weekend Viewing Picks which has your sports and entertainment viewing choices.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reports that Fox rookie NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira will be in the broadcast booth for Super Bowl XLV in case there’s a controversial call or booth review.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today notes that in his 2nd stint in the NFL, Michael Vick has become a ratings magnet.

Nat Worden of the Wall Street Journal notes that Time Warner Cable is offering a cheaper package to subscribers without ESPN. 

Milton Kent of Fanhouse is amused by the NFL ratings claims by CBS, Fox and NBC.

Milton talks about Michael Wilbon leaving the Washington Post after three decades for a full-time position with ESPN.

Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter writes that ESPN is launching a new research and development lab with a Florida university.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that the new NBC Sports/Comcast will have a new man heading up the cable side of the division.

Mike looks at ESPN research showing that 3-D TV had a “presence” during its coverage of the World Cup this past summer.

Mike says NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football won the cable primetime ratings once again.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek discusses Fox Sports becoming the home of the Big Ten Football Championship Game starting next year.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Reebok sees its future in selling its products through vending machines.

Darren looks at the future of notifying sports fans when something special is in progress.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that ESPN was not allowed to air an Activision ad before an Outside the Lines segment today.

Glenn Davis from SportsGrid has the time lapse video of transforming Yankee Stadium from a baseball diamond to a football field.

I’ll have more on this story in the megalinks. Here’s Greg Wyshynski’s story in Yahoo’s Puck Daddy about the New York Islanders pulling a media credential from noted NHL blogger Chris Botta.

Joe Favorito talks about Botta and Scott Raab who had their credentials pulled.

Spots Media Watch notes that ESPN’s college football ratings got a rise from South Carolina-Florida last week.

SMW talks with WNBA star Candice Wiggins.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says Versus’ ratings for NHL Overtime rose over its predecessor, The Daily Line.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe looks at the first NESN simulcasts of WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan radio show.

In the Springfield Republican, the lovely Amanda Bruno profiles the blogger who blew the lid off the NHL’s Colin Campbell’s bias towards the Bruins’ Marc Savard.

In her blog, Batter-up with Bruno, Amanda tells younger sports media consumers that they should care if newspapers fall by the wayside.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the Islanders revoking Chris Botta’s media credential over a very silly issue.

Richard profiles CBS’ James Brown who is the face of a government contractor. 

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with NBC’s Al Michaels.

Neil wonders why SNY keeps replacing its female hosts for “Beer Money”.

Neil talks with Giants QB Eli Manning about hosting “Saturday Night Live”.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike refrained from asking tough questions to Tiger Woods.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post can’t stand live ad reads during live game action.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with ESPN’s NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union lists whom he thinks are among the best in hosting and calling NFL games.

Pete also conducts a poll on the same subject in his blog.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com gives a sports media roundup of the Baltimore-DC area in Press Box.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has Michael Wilbon’s thoughts on leaving the WaPo.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner has Alexander Ovechkin’s thoughts on his new NHL DVD.

South

Dustin Long of the Virginian-Pilot has NASCAR Chairman Brian France backing ESPN despite lower ratings this year. 

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes that the Heat’s ratings are up.

Ray Buck at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looks at three new NFL Films documentaries.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle also looks at the NFL Films coaching docs.

The Daily Oklahoman wonders if ESPN’s College Gameday is headed to the Sooner State next Saturday.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes what happened since the last time the Bengals were blacked out locally.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says Fox Sports Detroit is beefing up its high school football coverage. 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley doesn’t want to watch NBA TV’s airing of Allen Iverson playing in Turkey.

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

Ed has the Chicago Cubs’ statement on the Big Ten’s decision to use only one endzone at Wrigley Field for tomorrow’s Illinois-Northwestern game.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch takes a gander at the local sports radio ratings.

Dan has a closer look at the ratings.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that the Chargers narrowly avoided a blackout on Monday night.

Jay talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about Monday night’s Broncos-Chargers game.

John Maffei from the North County Times also talks with Jaws about Broncos-Chargers.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star discusses the NFL Films trilogy on coaches that began Friday.

Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times says Manny Pacquaio would have fascinated the writers of yesteryear.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the difference of sports reporting now and then.

Tom has his extensive media notes in his blog.

Stacy Brownhill of Willamette (OR) Week reports that Portland Trail Blazers fans protested Comcast SportsNet’s failure to gain widespread access for the team’s games.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if the local media is treating Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke with kid gloves in the wake of him losing his son earlier this year.

Burke’s daughter, Katie, has written a reply to some of the comments in Dowbiggin’s column.

We’ll end it there.

Bringing Back Some Megalinks, Part I

Since I’ll be away from any wireless technology this afternoon, I’m doing the megalinks now and will try to get as many as I can in before leaving the office for the day.

Let’s start now and I’ll provide some links I could not get to over the last couple of days.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has the ESPN announcing teams for the BCS games coming in January.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today notes that Versus will be rolling out a new daily NHL studio show to replace The Daily Line which went off the air last week.

Mike also talks with ESPN public relations executive Keri Potts who had to fight off a sexual assault while vacationing in Italy.

And Keri’s blog, A Fight Back Woman, which describes how she escaped is must reading not only for women, but for men as well.

From the Wall Street Journal, Aditi Kinkhabwala profiles one of the New York Giants employees who has become a giant part of the team and owner’s family. Thanks to Newsday’s Neil Best for the link.

Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated has some thoughts of Joe Morgan’s firing from ESPN. 

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable notes that lower revenues from ESPN caused parent company Disney’s fourth quarter-earnings to drop.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry is already fed up of seeing and hearing about the Miami Heat.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser speaks with Screamin’ Gus Johnson.

The Big Lead wonders if the upcoming ESPN book has already cost someone his job.

Sports Media Watch notes that ABC’s Saturday Night Football ratings tied a record low.

SMW has some news and notes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Americans aren’t too enthralled about 3-D TV and to be honest, I’m not rushing out to buy a $5,000 TV set to wear glasses over my regular pair of glasses to watch an NFL game.

Darren notes that MLB now has an official cookie.

Joe Favorito says the New Jersey Devils’ work in the community off the ice is beginning to pay off for their brand.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing notes that ESPN’s Lou Holtz has brought his quirky Dr. Lou character to a new Discover Card ad.

At Press Coverage, Dan Levy felt NFL Network’s Bob Papa deserved a medal for enduring a night with Joe Theismann and Matt Millen. 

I also have a post on Joe Theismann’s pitiful performance on Thursday Night Football.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The always lovely Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe announced this week that she’ll no longer be covering the Red Sox for the newspaper, but remain with the Globe.

Chad Finn of the Globe says NESN has ended the Uri Berenguer experiment as co-host of NESN Daily.

At the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Bill Doyle notes that WEEI’s morning team of John Dennis & Gerry Callahan are getting ready for their TV closeup starting on Tuesday.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wonders why it took so long for ESPN to jettison Joe Morgan from the Sunday Night Baseball booth.

Richard gets a rather terse statement from Morgan over ESPN dropping him.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman about the Cowboys’ new interim coach.

Dan Mangan of the New York Post notes that former Versus “Daily Line” co-host Jen Sterger finally met with the NFL regarding the Brett Favre sexting situation.

Phil Mushnick of the Post feels ESPN is wrong for trying to make us care about the Steelers’ James Harrison.

Justin Terranova of the Post speaks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale about St. John’s coach Steve Lavin.

Justin also has five questions for CBS’ NFL Today analyst Bill Cowher.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels Jets coach Rex Ryan knows how to manipulate the media.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has SNY’s college basketball schedule for this season.

Pete says Siena College has no qualms about putting its home basketball games on TV.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says SNY has made a couple of hires.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun wasn’t a fan of Matt Millen and Joe Theismann in the NFL Network booth. 

Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post notes that ESPN Radio hack Colon Cowherd did a character assassination on rookie Wizards guard John Wall.

Dan noticed that the NFL Network took on writer John Feinstein over the Donovan McNabb benching from two weeks ago?

I’ll end it here for now as I have to leave the office for a bit. I wanted to bring these to you now. I’ll have more coming later. Hopefully.

Giving You The Friday Megalinks

Ok, let’s do the Friday megalinks. Getting a late start as I’ve been all over the place today, but better late than never.

Check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for information on the sports and entertainment programs for the first weekend in October.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about ESPN creating a new brand that will target women and could eventually become a dedicated TV channel. This was already scoffed at on Twitter. We’ll see how this evolves. Asides from ESPN Mobile, the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s ill-fated cell phone brand, when the network commits to an idea, it will usually work so we’ll see.

Eleanor Barkhorn from The Atlantic shares her thoughts, pro and con, on the new ESPN women’s brand. 

A Girl’s Perspective on a Boy’s Game blog has some thoughts on ESPNW.

Dylan Stableford at The Wrap notes there are many women who aren’t in love with ESPNW.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser has more on the new ESPN venture.

Joe Posanaski of Sports Illustrated has a very good tribute to Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser says the Boston Globe will put all of its web content content except sports and breaking news behind a pay wall. 

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center looks into the history of one of his favorite leads and finds it doesn’t quite measure up to its legend.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse notes that weather delays at the Ryder Cup will force NBC to go live with its coverage on Saturday instead of planned taped coverage.

Fanhouse’s Brett McMurphy has a facetious look at the first televised college football game.

Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports says the Ryder Cup has to move to an earlier date to avoid inclement weather.

Spencer E. Ante of the Wall Street Journal notes NFL games are about to be seen on tablets.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter notes that Fox has pulled 19 of its channels including several sports regional networks off Dish Network over, what else? A carriage dispute.

Andrea Morabito from Broadcasting & Cable says in addition, MSG Network and MSG Plus were pulled from Dish over a pricing dispute.

John Consoli of Mediaweek looks at Fox making Game 3 of this year’s World Series an extra early start.

Mike Freeman of CBS Sports says LeBron James can’t call racism over criticism over “The Decision” when he’s never taken a stand in his life.

The Huffington Post has TNT’s Charles Barkley ripping James for his comments. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says US Ryder Cup team outfitter Sun Mountain Sports is getting heat over its non-waterproof raincoats.

And we have more in this video featuring Darren on CNBC.

Let’s Do Some Thursday Linkage

Time for some linkage before I get bogged down with things at work so while I’m at the home office in RI, let me find what the sports media is talking about today.

First, Christine Brennan of USA Today who has been very vocal about the Ines Sainz story ever since it broke is calling for the Jets to be penalized for their behavior in the locker room.

Milton Kent from Fanhouse says Clinton Portis’ apology over comments he made regarding the Ines Sainz situation just doesn’t cut the mustard.

Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com says the Ines Sainz story shows the attitude of male athletes towards women.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has another NFL athlete who doesn’t understand the league’s media access rules. 

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy talks with the editor of ESPN the Magazine about its 2nd annual Body or nude issue. 

Wesley Mallette in Sports COMMENTary gives some pointers on what Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss did right and did not do right following his Sunday postgame press conference in which he complained about his contract.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that NFL Network’s Deion Sanders will be hosting a new reality show for another network.

David Goetzl of Mediapost says Comcast is developing a strategy for the new NBC to absorb Comcast’s entities including Golf Channel and the SportsNet affiliates. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell suggests for college football powerhouses to find worse teams to play.

The Associated Press has the top cable programs for the week starting from Labor Day, September through last Sunday and college football dominates. 

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy handicaps season 2 of CBC’s Battle of the Blades and says it could very well be seen in the US this time around. Thanks to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media for the link.

The sports blogosphere has been abuzz with this since Monday and I’ve been doing my best to ignore it because it involves Captain Blowhard, but apparently The Big Lead has learned that the Blowhard will apparently start a new project and be hiring a new staff. Good for him and hopefully good riddance.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald has quotes from three area female sports reporters who have dealt with men’s locker rooms.

Barbara Barker who covered the Jets for Newsday says no matter how provocatively Ines Sainz was dressed, she still did not deserve the treatment she received from the team. 

Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News says the NFL has reissued its media policy reminding teams about equal access for reporters, both men and women.

Justin Terranova at the New York Post reports that Syracuse University has signed a rights deal with SNY, similar to one signed by the University of Connecticut.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with a local talk show host who’s happy he’s no longer program director of his sports radio station.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia will be providing plenty of preseason coverage of the Flyers.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that a Baltimore news anchor will host a nationally syndicated TV sports show that will be aired before the NFL pregame shows on many stations.

Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post goes after those who have attacked Ines Sainz’s wardrobe. Thanks to ESPN’s Amy K. Nelson and Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deistch for the link.

Leonard Shapiro of the WaPo feels Sainz did not deserve the childish treatment from the Jets, but also feels she should have been more professional.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog recounts the strange exchange he had with former DC NFL team defensive tackle Dexter Manley on his TV show regarding women in the locker room.

Dan has more on his appearance with Manley and also some video as well. It’s very bizarre.

Diane Tennant of the Virginian-Pilot says a new promo for ESPN3.com is giving Tangier Island a national showcase.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says Tuesday’s Yankees-Rays game set a ratings record for Sun Sports.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Fox Sports Florida will air a program on the Marlins new ballpark on Friday.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that a local sports anchor who lost a job earlier this year has a new job and doesn’t have to leave town.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman likes MLB pushing back the start of the 2011 regular season so the World Series doesn’t end in November.

Green Bay Packers reporter Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel can’t believe the debate of women reporters in men’s locker rooms is up for debate again.

Mark Klis of the Denver Post investigates the woman who brought and subsequently withdrew the temporary restraining order against former Bronco tight end and current NFL Today analyst Shannon Sharpe. Thanks to SportsbyBrooks for the link.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News urges Reggie Bush to use the media to be honest about his doings at USC.

Tom has the NFL Week 2 TV schedule for SoCal.

Tom also looks at the NFL Network’s latest installment on the Top 100 players.

Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times says 40 years after it was first published, the groundbreaking book, “Ball Four” still stands the test of time.

Sox & Dawgs is urging Connecticut Charter cable customers to get on the horn to get Saturday’s UConn-Temple on TV.

The NFL Chick tells the NFL to lower its ticket prices especially in this sluggish economy.

Chris Byrne in Eye on Sports Media reminds us about the cultural differences between the US and Mexico in the wake of the Ines Sainz controversy.

Joe Favorito notes the best way for athletes to get back in the fans’ good graces and save their brands is to “Just win, baby!”

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing looks at ESPN’s Goal Line which is its college football version of the NFL RedZone and only available to Time Warner and Bright House cable subscribers.

I’m going to end it there for now.

The Mid-Week Linkage

Ok, gathering plenty of good links for you and let’s not waste any time.

I do have one piece of upcoming attractions for you. On Friday, we start up our College Football Viewing Picks once again and every week, I’ll list the college football games of note for viewing on the major networks and syndicators. If you’re new to the blog, here’s a sample from last year. You’ll see them around 9 a.m. and when pro football begins, the NFL Viewing Picks will be up around 10 a.m. followed by the Weekend Viewing Picks at 11 a.m. So you’ll have plenty of features on Friday over the next few months. To the links.

John Ourand in the Sports Business Journal gives us five things to watch with NBC Sports when Comcast and NBC finally merge.

Emily Fredix of the Associated Press reports that the NFL will spend $50 million on a new advertising campaign to promote the return of the league this season. 

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the St. Petersburg Times looks at a pioneering NASCAR executive bringing the sport to BET.

Sean Leahy at USA Today says the NFL is trying to attract fans back to the stadium as they battle HDTV and its own RedZone channel.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that there will be a lot of college football games streaming on ESPN3.com this season.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says the NFL’s TV partners don’t want to discuss the looming lockout.

Karen Rosen of TV Guide speaks with NFL Commish Roger Goodell. 

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says SNY has begun its UConn football coverage in earnest this week.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse weighs in on the Washington Post suspension of Mike Wise.

The Sports COMMENTary speaks with Fox Sports Detroit’s Mateen Cleeves on how he made the transition from NBA player to TV analyst.

Alex Farber of Broadcast Now says ESPN UK will launch a British version of Pardon The Interruption.

Josh Stewart in the Syosset (NY) Patch speaks with NFL PR guru Greg Aiello who says Twitter has become a legitimate news source.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog has the video of a new Alex Ovechkin/Capital One ad. Yes, vikings are in it.

Tom Robinson of the Virginian-Pilot enjoys NBC’s Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football. 

Scott Anderson of the Anderson (SC) Independent Mail feels ESPN should not be televising high school football games. 

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times says Bright House cable has renewed a rights deal with the University of South Florida.

Robert Napper at the Florida Independent notes that ESPN has been taunting Tampa Bay Rays’ attendance problems. 

The Naples (FL) Daily News says the local ESPN Radio affiliate will carry plenty of college and professional football games this season.

Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post has ESPN’s NFL analysts Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden talking about the Miami Dolphins’ chances.

Victor Godinez of the Dallas Morning News says Time Warner Cable and Disney are expected to announce a carriage deal today which keeps ESPN, ABC and other channels online.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that a former Jim Rome radio show producer will become a local sports talk show host.

David explains why the Rodgers move was made in his blog.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Aroldis Chapman’s debut for the Reds garnered big ratings for Fox Sports Ohio.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business notes a White Sox subsidiary has landed a technology deal to help move TV into 3-D.

Ed says Mike North will be doing two shows a weekend for Fox Sports Radio.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with North about his weekend shifts. 

The Sioux City (SD) Argus Leader notes that South Dakota State University will have a weekly sports show on Fox Sports North.

Norm Clarke of the Las Vegas Journal-Review says ESPN NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little is getting married (scroll down).

But The Big Lead wonders if the marriage will conjure up charges of conflict of interest.

Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic profiles NBC’s Al Michaels.

James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times notes ESPN has been making inroads with its local websites, but not as big as the Alleged Worldwide Leader would like.

Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW has ratings info on Fox’s Sunday night NFL preseason game and CBS’ two preseason games last week.

Joe Favorito is disappointed in Mike Wise’s behavior this week.

John Daly at the Daly Planet says get ready for plenty of NASCAR Nationwide Series pre-emptions and interruptions on ESPN2 now that college football season is getting underway.

Some of my favorite women on Twitter, Amanda Rykoff, Susan Shan and Jaqueline Hadley Conrad all took part in a baseball fantasy player roundtable at the Fantasy Fix.

Susan Shan has an ACC football preview at her site.

From The Stands Sports Media talks with ESPN’s Lindsay McCormick.

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog wonders why baseball fans in Japan can watch MLB games on YouTube while we in the US cannot.

We’ll finish it here for now.