What Fang’s Bites is Following

Stories I’m following tonight …

The Baltimore Sun’s bloodbath of 61 staffers including reporters, editors, graphic artists and other staffers. This includes assistant Sports Editor Ray Frager who wrote the media column and maintained a blog at the paper.

Comcast and NFL Network came to an agreement to keep the channel on the provider’s systems past the midnight deadline. The two parties are now talking about coming to terms on a more permanent agreement.

Contents of the Selena Roberts book on Alex Rodriguez has been leaked and has been the talk of sports radio all over the country.

All this and more coming up in the next set of links. I’ll have them for you later tonight.

It’s A Saturday Link Thing

Let’s give you some links on this Saturday. I have some work to do, but I’ll get the linkage out of the way first.

Rarely do I start the links with Barry Horn, but I’m going to today. He writes in his weekly column that the NFL is back with the Scouting Combine, all of it on NFL Network. Late yesterday, Barry broke the news that Emmitt Smith would not be returning to ESPN.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram also writes about Smith’s departure. Ray reviews the HBO documentary on Duke-North Carolina.

The Star-Telegram has the TV schedule for the Texas Rangers.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman wonders if the lovely Stacey Dales pulled the wrong move like Trev Alberts did (remember him?).

Patricia Babcock-McGraw of the Chicago Daily Herald says Stacey’s leaving ESPN smacks of a diva. Ok.

Can Inman of the Contra Costa (CA) Times says Jon Gruden has become must see TV on the NFL Network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reviews the week in blogging and includes a link to Fang’s Bites! Thanks, Tom.

Christopher Bryne in the Eye on Sports Media blog has part 3 of a guest column written by a WWE techie who helped to put on a road show for our fine men and women serving in Iraq.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette talks with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla who will be in town to call the BracketBusters game between Northern Iowa and Siena on ESPN2.

Dave Zaleski of the Muncie (IN) Star-Press says some are questioning the value of ESPN’s BracketBusters.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week writes that Infiniti has signed on to be the exclusive sponsor of Big Ten and SEC basketball.

The always lovely Lisa Guerrero writes for the Los Angeles Times that Alex Rodriguez not only cheated on baseball, but on all of us.

Laura Nachman writes that a Philly sports radio personality named his son after Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels.

Patricia Sheridan from the Toledo Blade talks with NBC/MLB Network’s Bob Costas.

Joe Lemire of Sports Illustrated says MLB Network is off to a great start.

The Inside Track girls of the Boston Herald catch up with one of their favorite subjects, former NESN hottie Hazel Mae now of the MLB Network.

KTAR.com says the Arizona Diamondbacks will have 150 games carried on Fox Sports Arizona this season.

Joe Favorito says the next generation of virtual signage could be right on the back or front of a shaven head. Really! Joe says College Baseball Opening Day missed a big branding opportunity.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon’s money is locked in Stanford Financial. Darren wonders if there’s a Stanford Financial jinx. Darren has a clarification on where Damon and teammate Xavier Nady have their money invested in Stanford Financial. Darren says New Jersey Nets guard Eduardo Najera is happy to have taken his money out of Stanford Financial several months ago.

Dave Hughes of the great DCRTV website writes for the Baltimore Press Box site on some local sports media news and notes.

Jim Williams of the DC Examiner writes that college basketball, hockey, NASCAR and lacrosse dominate the weekend viewing.

Russell Adams of the Wall Street Journal writes about ESPN launching various local sports websites to provide what local newspapers can’t.

Eric Benderoff and Eric Gwynn of the Chicago Tribune say the new ESPN Chicago site will be staffed mostly by freelance writers.

Dave Davies of the Chico (CA) Enterprise-Record talks with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s Mindi Bach who hails from the Chico area.

Lois Weinert of the Green Valley (AZ) News & Sun talks with former ABC and CBS Sports and current Fox Sports Arizona broadcaster Gary Bender.

Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun says Flames voice Peter Maher looks fondly toward his home of Campbellton which is where today’s Hockey Day in Canada broadcast is based for CBC.

Daniel McHardie of CBC.ca says Don Cherry made a surprise visit to the Campbellton Middle School.

And there you have it. Plenty of links for today.

David Ortiz Addresses Relationship with Banned Trainer

On Comcast SportsNet New England’s Sports Tonight program from Fort Myers, FL, Red Sox Designated Hitter David Ortiz talked with hosts Gary Tanguay and Michael “Tootsie” Felger. He addressed a New York Daily News report that he was linked to Alex Rodriguez trainer Angel Presinal who has been banned from all MLB clubhouses.

As you can see, Ortiz called him “a good trainer.” I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of this story.

Thursday’s Links

Let’s get cracking on linkage. I’m a bit late on starting this morning.

We start with Breaking News. Erin Andrews has won Playboy’s Sexiest Sportscaster for the second year in a row.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about Fox Sports airing cartoons of Digger the Gopher before this Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Bill Fleischman of the Philadlephia Daily News says NASCAR was brought into the national lexicon thanks to a fight in 1979 as viewers in the northeast watched during a blizzard.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says MLB and the NFL are insulated from financial harm as Sirius XM reorganizes under bankruptcy protection.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says there’s now a Guitar Hero ad curse. Darren loves the new Ana Ivanovic ads.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Brett Favre may be retiring (allegedly), but the sales of his jersey continues. Neil writes that Favre’s Jets uniform is the number one selling NFL jersey through January. Neil jams a bunch of news and notes into one blog post. And Neil writes that Howard Stern successfully provoked WFAN’s Mike Francesa yesterday.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Favre was a bust in New York.

Rich Cimini of the Daily News has Jets owner Woody Johnson’s comments on the Favre situation during an interview on WFAN.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn is not pleased with TNT changing the famous H-O-R-S-E game to the letters of an insurance company. It appears Barry isn’t feeling enthusiastic about Fox’s Digger cartoon. Barry says Rangers studio analyst Mark McLemore will be on MLB Network today and tomorrow.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says 16 New York Mets Spring Training games will be seen on SNY and WPIX.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer goes into the Reds Spring Training TV and radio schedule.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has some more thoughts on the A-Rod mess. Ed writes that Sports Illustrated’s journalistic scoop on A-Rod was tempered with this week’s swinsuit issue.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News reports the Oakland A’s are moving to a new cable TV home.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says the A’s will have 147 games aired on Comcast SportsNet California.

Eric Young of the San Francisco Business Times has more on the A’s move to its own channel.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has news that Monday’s Sharks-Bruins game drew the highest NHL regular season viewing audience in Versus’ history.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes about the Golf Channel’s new 10 year rights deal with the LPGA.

The Desert Sun (CA) reports that the new LPGA deal will not affect the Kraft Nabisco Championship which is on ESPN2 and CBS.

Here’s the Golf Channel’s release on the LPGA deal.

That’s going to do it for now. Check back later for more

Black Friday Megalinks, Part II

Ok, time for part two of the Friday Megalinks. We’ll pick up where we left off.

Friday Megalinks – Part II

Ok, I didn’t expect to get to the second part of the megalinks so late. I had a lot of work to do plus I got sidetracked. Anyway, let’s finish up the megalinks and get them up.

We left off at the East and Mid-Atlantic region. Let’s head to the Midwest, move South, head West, then finish off as usual in Canada. Lots of things going on. Let’s get cracking.

Midwest

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says NBA TV analysts are not happy to see trash talking against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Charles Barkley’s forthright style on TNT irks some NBA players.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks about the Big Ten Network getting into Spring Football on Saturday. The Tribune also has the audio of Hall of Fame Cincinnati Reds announcer Marty Brennaman ripping Cubs fans during the broadcast Friday. Dave Van Dyk of the Tribune gets Cubs manager Lou Piniella’s reaction which really wasn’t much of a reaction.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Judd Zulgad wishes announcers would stop harping on the referee and focus on the game.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin says get ready for an NBA postseason onslaught.

South

Doug Nye of The State informs his readers that college baseball outside of the SEC is not as popular as other college sports.

Barry Jackson writing in the Miami Herald has ABC/ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy wondering what’s wrong with the Heat.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel says TV viewers should be prepared for a lot of documentaries and movies in the next few months. Subscribers to ESPN the Magazine get ready to be yelled at. Shannon J. Owens of the Sentinel reports Steven A. Smith will be joining the ranks at the magazine.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says the Rockets turned things around and made their radio broadcasters happy.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says ESPN NBA analysts Van Gundy and Mark Jackson are split on the Dallas Mavericks’ fate in the playoffs.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has the opinions of various NBA TV analysts on the move of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. Mel says the verdict is split on the Hornets-Mavericks series. And Mel has what to watch this weekend.

West

From the Deseret (UT) Morning News, Real Salt Lake, the MLS team, has signed an agreement with a local TV station to broadcast a package of regular season games. Scott D. Pierce says ESPN will look back at the 2002 Olympics Figure Skating judging scandal.

Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune talks with CBS’ Dick Enberg who has written a play about his college basketball broadcast partner and friend, the late Al McGuire. Jay Posner writes that the NBA is praying for a Celtics-Lakers final. In his media notebook, Posner says there’s no apparent end in sight in the NFL Network-Time Warner Cable dispute. Jay also has the ratings for San Diego from last weekend.

John Maffei of the North County Times says ESPN is jumping feet first into the movie business.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes it’s a good thing Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak decided not to trade Kobe Bryant in the offseason and it has led to higher ratings for the NBA and could lead to bigger things in the playoffs.

Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times returns to the TV and Radio column for one day and says that TNT’s Charles Barkley is warning the Lakers not to look past the Denver Nuggets.

Tom Hoffarth’s media column in the Los Angeles Daily News also talks about the NBA wanting a Celtics-Lakers final for the ratings and media interest. Hoffarth has more stuff in his media notebook in his Farther Off the Wall blog. Tom also has an entry in which ESPN wants you to write a eulogy in case it ever bit the dust. I wouldn’t mind if ESPN bit the dust. Maybe this is ESPN trying to tell us something.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the Houston Astros’ Miguel Tejada tried to take the high road during an ambush interview with ESPN’s E:60 news magazine. Ryan says Sharks’ TV announcer Randy Hahn had a good call of the Joe Thornton’s winning goal in Game 4 of its series with the Calgary Flames.

Canada

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich writes that Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong looks like he’ll be remaining on the team’s broadcasts even though the team is changing its TV home next season.

Sam Toman and Andrew Chin of the Toronto Globe and Mail write that three local hoops fans have gained an interational following with their podcast.

Media Publications

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News says Yankees games are scoring for the YES Network.

John Consoli of Mediaweek writes that ratings for NBA regular season games on ESPN rose 14% from the year before.

Wayne Friedman of the Mediapost Publications wonders what impact NBC Sports veteran producer Michael Weisman will have on Comcast’s sports networks.

Brooks Boliek of the Hollywood Reporter says it’s round 2 for the NFL Network and Comcast.

Blogs

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders how much will the buried David Ortiz Red Sox jersey will fetch at auction.

Joe Favorito has the latest Public Relations Move of the Day in his sports marketing and PR blog.

The Big Lead talks about Will Purdue’s silly comments on blogs and Mike Greenberg defending them during the Mike & Mike in the Morning show on ESPN Radio.

Awful Announcing has the audio of TNT’s Charles Barkley criticizing ESPN’s E:60 ambush interview of Miguel Tejada on the Dan Patrick Show.

Other

From the “Rut ro!” Department, Selena Roberts and David Epstein of Sports Illustrated have found the man whom Jose Canseco calls “Max” in his new book and he does not corroborate any of Canseco’s claims.

There you have it. I’ll be back with Saturday links on Saturday.

It’s Your Friday Megalinks

Here we are with the Friday megalinks once again.

For your weekend viewing, the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Fours will be on CBS and ESPN respectively.

CBS Sports has the glamor matchups with all four men’s number one seeds intact. UCLA and Memphis will tip off at 6:07 p.m. with North Carolina taking on Kansas in an old school matchup at 8:47 p.m. Jim Nantz and Billy Packer will call the action. Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis will be hosting from somewhere in the Alamodome rafters. Westwood One Radio begins its coverage at 4 p.m. with the unbearable Tommy Tighe hosting. Then Kevin Kugler, Bill Raftery and John Thompson will be courtside with the venerable Jim Grey on the sidelines.

ESPN couldn’t be happier having Tennessee and Connecticut in the Women’s Final Four in Tampa. Both teams are on a collision course for the finals, but they have to get by their semifinal opponents. UConn will play Stanford at 7 p.m. with Tennessee squaring off against LSU at approximately 9:30 p.m. Mike Patrick and Doris Burke will be calling the games with Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe on the sidelines. Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson and the always lovely Stacey Dales will be hosts. On Westwood One, Beth Mowins and Deb Antonelli will have the call.

If you want to avoid basketball, there’s baseball. Fox and TBS begin their national packages this weekend. Fox Sports will have three games, Mets at Atlanta, White Sox at Detroit and the Dodgers playing So Cal rival San Diego. I have the regional splits and announcing assignments here. TBS premieres its Sunday afternoon package with the Toronto Blue Jays hosting the World Champion Boston Red Sox. Also on Sunday, the Cubs host Houston on WGN and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball stops in Detroit to see the Tigers host the White Sox.

The last PGA Tour stop before The Masters next week is the Shell Houston Open and it will be on NBC on both Saturday and Sunday. The LPGA’s first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship is on ESPN Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and CBS Sunday at 3.

Motor sports will be aplenty this weekend. The Formula 1 circuit is in Bahrain on the Speed Channel, Sunday at 7 a.m. NASCAR’s Nationwide Series is in Fort Worth on ABC Saturday and the Sprint Cup Series’ Samsung 500 is on Fox at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. The Indy Car Racing Series heads to St. Petersburg on ESPN also on Sunday.

The NBA has a doubleheader on ABC on Sunday starting at 1 p.m. ESPN has a special Saturday NBA telecast with Orlando taking on Cleveland at 3 p.m.

NBC has its last regular season game with an Original Six matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Detroit Red Wings, Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

For tennis fans, CBS Sports has the women’s and men’s finals of the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

NBC has the prep races for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday with coverage of the Santa Anita Derby and Wood Memorial starting at 5 p.m.

Now let’s get to your links.

As always, we start with Michael Hiestand of USA Today says CBS’ Jim Nantz can actually be a cutup. Could have fooled me. Here is your complete schedule for sports viewing this weekend.

Let’s start off with the South Region today and work our way north then west. It’ll make sense when all is said and done.

South

In The State, located in Columbia, South Carolina, Doug Nye is not a fan of the Nike commercial that states there are no Cinderellas. It’s a good ad, but Nye feels the message is wrong.

Here’s another media writer who wondered why Chris Berman was left out to host The Masters when ESPN got the contract last year. Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel says Berman might have been an obvious choice, but looking closer, it’s probably better to have Mike Tirico in the Butler Cabin for the Alleged Worldwide Leader. Believe me, just because Berman does one tournament a year (U.S. Open), he’s not an obvious choice.

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald says the NFL Network is no closer to getting on basic cable on many of the major providers’ systems.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with NBC’s Dan Hicks who’s in town to call the Shell Houston Open.

Mel Bracht in the Oklahoman has a story on a local sports radio host who’s been recovering from a serious illness. In his weekly notebook, Bracht says Oklahoma University’s baseball team will be on TV throughout the weekend. And Mel has his usual viewing picks.

Midwest

The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein says ESPN will be keeping it low key during The Masters.

George M. Thomas from the Akron Beacon Journal writes that this weekend’s Men’s Final Four will make history in more ways than one.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley says the Brewers have renewed their radio rights with long-time home WTMJ.

Judd Zulgad from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that NBC has ignored the Minnesota Wild this season despite the team being on top of its division.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says college basketball fans will finally get some compelling games this weekend.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes that NESN will have to deal with a rare Red Sox-Bruins conflict tonight.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the Yankees and Mets will oversell their final seasons in their respective stadia this year.

New York Post curmudgeon Phil Mushnick says 1050 ESPN Radio did Yankees fans a disservice this week by not mentioning the mysterious mist-out of the season opener on Monday.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that recently named New York Knicks President Donnie Walsh is trying to kill the media with kindness. And you can help Neil write a column for this Sunday. He’s asking you to list your favorite and worst sports-themed TV shows. And he follows it up with another blog entry. And Neil noticed that the CBS Orchestra played “You Talk Too Much” when snake Jose Canseco made his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman earlier this week.

Some sports radio-related posts from Laura Nachman’s Philadelphia TV and radio blog today. She first wonders why WPEN does not air ESPN Radio’s John Kincade Show on Sunday mornings. Kincade is a Philly native. Next, ESPN’s Jayson Stark will be a weekly guest on WPEN. And Laura has the updated schedules for both WIP and WPEN after the stations went through some recent talent shuffles.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has a Final Four-related sports media news and notes column today.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner talks with Fox Sports MLB analyst Tim McCarver about the Orioles.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News says the Mountain West Conference TV schedule for football may not satisfy everyone.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner talks with Fox Sports’ Jeanne Zelasko who returns to her role as MLB studio host after surviving a cancer scare earlier this year. Jay has the ratings for last weekend.

The North County Times’ John Maffei also talks with Jeanne who also had to deal with the sudden death of her father and her sister having an aneurysm last year.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star says ESPN’s Mike Tirico moves into the Butler Cabin at Augusta National for The Masters this year.

The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says CBS’ Billy Packer likes to talk about other things, not himself. And Daniels talks about Vin Scully’s 50 years in LA as Voice of the Dodgers.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that former Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly is now raking in the cash with his new contract for ESPN and the movie “Leatherheads” which he co-wrote. Hoffarth has some more on the life of Reilly in his blog. And Tom’s extensive media notes from his blog can be found right here.

In his Morning Buzz column, John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News talks about a few Final Four-related items.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that NBC is close to renewing its TV deal with the NHL for next season.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says curling fans will have to scramble to watch the World Men’s Championships this weekend.

Blogs

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says don’t look now, but Jose Canseco could be the best selling sports author of all time.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball blog tries to explain the archaic and confusing MLB TV blackout rules.

The Sports Media Journal is now in the Finals of the Sports Radio Madness sports host contest.

The Big Lead says ESPN is using fake coyotes to get rid of a geese problem on its Bristol, CT campus. This story is not a joke.

Awful Announcing has the video of ESPN’s Steve Lavin almost … almost getting into an uncomfortable situation when he spotted fellow analyst Jimmy Dykes’ wife and daughter.

In his Sports Marketing and Public Relations blog, Joe Favorito says Topps outdid itself by putting out April Fools Day baseball cards.

The Eye on Sports Media blog has a talent profile of Arizona Diamondbacks TV announcer Darren Sutton, son of pitcher Don.

That will do it.

Wednesday Night Links

I’ll give you some linkage this evening.

Earlier today, I was listening to the Red Sox-A’s game through MLB Gameday Audio and noticed that Joe Castiglione was broadcasting solo for the first two innings. Because partner Dave O’Brien was working the Blue Jays-Yankees game for ESPN2, this was one of the games where the Shaw’s WRKO/WEEI Red Sox Radio Network was to use either Dale Arnold or Jon Rish when Dave was not there. However, both Arnold and Rish were in Boston and Joe went solo with special guest appearances from two Red Sox beat reporters. LC from the 38 Cliches blog wonders how this happened. This cannot happen again.

And we already have reaction from South Florida on Glenn Geffner who’s now butchering Marlins games as badly as he did Red Sox games last season.

Neil Best of Newsday reports in his blog that the Yankees season opener scored well for YES as did the Mets for SNY.

Earlier tonight, I had a press release from Fox Sports in which Executive Producer Ed Goren talked about the bullish ad sales for the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable has more of Goren’s comments about the Fox Saturday Baseball Game of the Week.

MSNBC’s David Sweet says CBS and the NCAA are cashing in on the Final Four.

John Consoli of Mediaweek writes that ESPN has seen a 43% increase in the ratings for the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Bryant Gumbel will interview Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (IL) on this month’s edition of Real Sports.

Stuart Levine of Variety says Tuesday night will be movie night on ESPN2 starting April 22 as the network will air various documentaries produced by the ESPN Films unit.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable says SoapNET has picked up the steamy CBC series, MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says parents can now test their kids for steroids.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about Jose Canseco’s interview with Howard Stern on Sirius Satelllite Radio as well as The Masters on CBS.

USA Today picks up an article written by the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson about The Masters showing more of its coverage online and going global thanks to ESPN.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says watching an entire Blackhawks season on TV and in HD becomes reality in the fall.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with ESPN’s Julie Foudy about David Beckham playing in the Galaxy’s home opener tomorrow.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with Bob Lobel who was ousted from WBZ-TV in Boston this week. Amy Derjue of Boston Magazine’s Daily Blog has her reaction to the cuts at WBZ.

That will do it for tonight. See you in the morning.

More Monday Meaty Links – Big Ten Network Close to Deal with Comcast

Let’s give some more links this afternoon.

We’re beginning to hear that the Big Ten Network is close to a deal with Comcast. John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal is reporting a deal is imminent. Mike Snyder of the Detroit Free Press tries to find out more. Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says in his Business of Sports blog that other major cable providers in the Midwest, Time Warner and Charter do not appear to be close to signing the Big Ten Network. Even if a deal comes about, it won’t be in time for the Big Ten Tournament this week, it will most likely ensure that BTN will be on Comcast systems in time for college football season in late August or early September. We’ll continue to monitor.

In a move that saddens me and other sports fans in Rhode Island, Citadel Broadcasting has pulled the plug on all-sports WSKO AM-FM today. It’s really too bad. I have a bunch of friends who work there and I hope to hear from them in the next day or two. Scott Cordischi, Andy Gresh and John Crowe are all good people and I hope they get jobs somewhere soon. Greshie has been doing work at ESPN Radio and I’m sure he’ll land on his feet, but as far as producers and the grunts who have lost their jobs, this is bad news.

D.K. Wilson of the Chicago Sports Review follows the evidence and finds a connection into Pennsylvannia Senator Arlen Specter’s “investigation” into Spygate. And Philadelphia Weekly also goes after Specter for this investigation.

The Sports Media Journal has started the SMJ Sports Radio Madness Best Host Tournament. You can see the 24 sports radio talk show hosts involved in the tournament here. It’s quite an interesting list. You can agree or disagree with the choices, but the tournament is certainly an interesting one.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is in day one of his Minor League Baseball Logo contest. Darren also talks with NASCAR driver Carl Edwards.

Newsday’s Neil Best recaps Alex Rodriguez’ appearance on WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog this afternoon.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks about ESPN’s Pedro Gomez being happy now that he’s no longer on the Barry Bonds beat.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News has high praise for ESPN’s documentary, Black Magic.

ESPN360 will offer a whole host of conference tournament and championship games this week.

Thomas Bonk of the Los Angeles Times has a profile of NBC Sports golf anchor Dan Hicks.

Paul Sen over at the Sports Media Watch is amazed that the much-hyped Pittsburgh-Washington NHL game didn’t do better on NBC on Sunday. But on the other hand, the Suns-Spurs NBA game on ABC did very well.

That’s it for now. If anything breaks on the Big Ten Network front, I’ll certainly let you know. And I hope to have a real time review of the latest Real Sports tonight.

The Tuesday Linkage

Here are some links for you today.

From USA Today, Michael Hiestand has a look at some of the ratings from the weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about the humor surfacing from former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy as he’s getting more comfortable on ESPN and ABC.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says the Yankees’ apologists were out in force to defend Hank Steinbrenner’s comments about Red Sox Nation.

Neil Best of Newsday talks about the venerable and lovable Ralph Kiner starting another year of broadcasting Mets games. In his blog, Neil talks about Ralph going into his 47th season in the Mets broadcast booth. Neil also links to a story from St. Louis about Joe Buck.

And that story is from Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and states that Buck will no longer do Cardinals games for FSN Midwest ending a long era of Bucks broadcasting the Redbirds. Since Joe does 10 games for Fox, his wish of spending time with his family is coming to fruition as his workload will be reduced during the summer.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks inside the newspaper’s poll on the differing testimony of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee and notices a generation and education gap in the numbers. And here’s Barron’s story on the poll.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune talks about how expensive producing games in HD is for FSN Bay Area.

Derek Simmonsen of the Treasure Coast Palm in Florida reports that a CBS Sports free lancer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges relating to an internet porn sting.

Cam Cole of the Canwest News Service in Canada says NHL players can learn a thing or two from CBS Sports golf commentator David Feherty. I didn’t write the story and I’m a little confused about the connection, but once Cole gets started, the quotes from Feherty are indeed funny.

William Houston in the Toronto Globe and Mail says CITY-TV’s first foray into broadcasting the Blue Jays was a 3 hour sales pitch. The story also quotes Providence Journal sports editor Art Martone.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call has high praise for ESPN’s Outside the Lines.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Bob Knight’s hiring by ESPN is puzzling given the statements he made against network in the past.

From the Kansas City Star, the Sporting News is moving to Charlotte, NC from St. Louis where it was based for 122 years. The same company that operates the Sports Business Journal owns the Sporting News and is consolidating its holdings.

The Big Ten Network says it will provide extensive coverage of the Big Ten Tournament.

That’s it for now.

Double Yoi! The Monday Links

I’m dragging as I worked into the wee hours of the morning. I’m even dozing off as I write so I’ve got to finish the links and do some work. Let’s get started.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that Bob Knight’s first appearance on the ESPN family of networks was just like his press conferences.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the MAAC Tournament TV schedule in his Best Seat in My House blog

Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times has a look back at the weekend in TV sports in his Two Cents blog.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes in his Four DVRs, no waiting blog that the 2008 Astros will debut on FSN Houston today.

Laura Nachman says anchor Phil Andrews is no longer working for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Baseball has a Q&A on TBS’ new package of Sunday afternoon games and the local blackout policy.

Dusty Saunders from the Rocky Mountain News reports that FSN will premiere a new special on the Colorado Rockies run to the 2007 postseason this Saturday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if it’s time for Roger Clemens’ embattled attorney, Rusty Hardin, to retire.

Wayne Friedman of TV Watch says weekend nights are becoming a bastion for sports on TV.

There’s NFL Films, and now, ESPN has announced a new venture called ESPN Films. Just read the press release to find out what it’s all about. Brooks Barnes of the New York Times has more on the story as ESPN will team with the powerhouse Creative Artists Agency and Walt Disney Studios on this venture.

Brian Davis of the Dallas Morning News writes in his blog that ESPN Classic will air the five overtime thriller between Baylor and Texas A&M from earlier this season will some extra scenes and Baylor’s radio call this Wednesday.

Eli Kaberon of the Chicago Sports Review says the Big Ten Network is isolating itself from its fans.

Mike Tankersley of the Montgomery Advertiser writes that WAKA TV is looking to replace one its sports anchors.

Steve Bornfeld from the Las Vegas Review-Journal tells us that two local sports radio stations are changing their formats.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star says the expunging of ads for a sports talk radio host in the Air Canada Centre shows pettiness on the part of the Maple Leafs.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports Fox Soccer Channel has obtained the rights to air an Olympics qualifying tournament.

That will do it for now.

Our Regular Friday Megalinks

Let’s do our weekly Friday megalinks for today.

We begin as always with Michael Hiestand of USA Today. He writes about ESPN’s hiring of Bob Knight, MMA coming to CBS and the son of one of the famous Hanson Brothers (Slap Shot) not realizing his dad’s fame until he was 13.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated also talks about Bob Knight’s hiring by ESPN.

We’ll do our links from East to West.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe talks with NESN’s Don Orsillo about coming off another championship season for the Red Sox.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch discusses the potential for more buyouts of Boston Globe sports staffers.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the ESPN hiring of Bob Knight.

From the New York Daily News, Bill Madden writes that doctors have found a spot on YES analyst Bobby Mercer’s brain that could signify a recurrence of a cancerous tumor that was found in December 2006. Bob Raissman says baseball needs Bobby. I send Bobby my best and hope that he can fully recover again.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says while last Saturday’s Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was boring, Wladimir Klitschko was actually being smart. Justin Terranova talks with MSG Network’s Dave Maloney and FSNY’s Billy Jaffe about next week’s home-and-home series between the Rangers and Islanders. Terranova says a biopsy is scheduled for Monday for YES’ Bobby Mercer. And Terranova has five questions for ESPN’s Peter Gammons.

Neil Best of Newsday talks with Will Ferrell about his new movie, Semi-Pro which opens today. In his blog, Neil says the movie “Slap Shot” helped to make “Semi-Pro” possible. Also, Neil says ESPN’s Outside the Lines will look at steroid “enablers” in baseball.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager says Sean Salisbury feels free after he left ESPN earlier this week. And in his Medium Well blog, Frager has a couple of items that didn’t make his column.

South

Ron Morris of The State wants ESPN’s Dick Vitale to stop lobbying for South Carolina to hire Bob Knight. Doug Nye has his weekly TV notes. And Nye says Braves fans will have to get used to watching the games on different outlets this season.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says South Florida will have two more sports radio stations starting Monday.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews who will be busy in March.

The Oklahoman really doesn’t belong in the South region, but I’ll put it here for now. Mel Bracht has a bunch of stories today. First, he writes about Sean Salisbury’s departure from ESPN. Next, Mel has a story on Bob Knight doing work for ESPN in March. In his notebook, Mel talks about ESPN extending its deal with the Big 12 conference. Finally, Mel has his weekend viewing picks.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks with ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy about the Dallas Mavericks.

Midwest

George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the entire nation will get a glance of the new look Cleveland Cavaliers this Sunday on ABC.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks about Bob Knight on ESPN. Kevin Pang of the Tribune has a story on Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper who has another talent besides talking.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says basketball bracketology has become a full-time profession.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that FSN North announcers will call the Minnesota-Alaska Anchorage games this weekend off a monitor. And Judd has the ratings for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market from last weekend.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says ESPN traded one ex-Viking for another this week.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that there’s speculation that former Royal Joe Randa did not the secondary analyst job on FSN because he’s too candid.

West

In the Deseret (UT) Morning News, Scott D. Pierce says Utah coach Jim Boylen is entertaining to watch on the sidelines.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner says the radio and TV voices of the Padres are gearing up for the baseball season. And Jay has the ratings for San Diego from last week.

John Maffei of the North County Times says there will be plenty of college and high school basketball on TV and radio this weekend.

From the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle says TV feels an obligation to tell compelling stories during Black History Month.

The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says basketball will be the viewing mainstays for this weekend.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News talks about how FBI agents might have decided to go after Roger Clemens.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the last of his Best and Worst lists and his one focuses on play-by-play announcers, plus he profiles Rory Markas who calls USC basketball and Angels baseball games. And in his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his weekly extensive media notes.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says a Blue Jays game amounts to a three hour informercial for the team.

William Houston from the Toronto Globe and Mail says Canadian Football League officials feel like they’re being treated as second class citizens in its new TV contract as the Grey Cup will be aired on TSN on cable instead over the air CTV while the NFL is on CTV.

I’ll have an update later today.

The Friday Morning Megalinks

At 12 p.m., I lost my internet at work, but luckily, I did not lose anything so I can still provide you with links. I’m at home now at 4;38 p.m. Here’s what I started with at 10:18 a.m. and I left off with William Houston’s story in the Toronto Globe and Mail. I’ll pick up with Chris Zelkovich below.

It’s snowing here in Southern New England and I’m at work. I don’t want sympathy, snow falls in the winter here in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, but if you watch the local TV stations, it’s as if this is a one-time catastrophic event. It’s funny when you see the banner “Team Coverage” or “Storm Team” or “Weather Team Storm Alert Coverage”. Weather is a natural phenomenon. It snows in New England. It happens every year. I worked at a TV station in Providence in the 1990′s and our news management team was from the South so they never saw snow until they moved North. They treated the snow as if it never happened before. You can get away with that in places where it rarely snows, but when it happens in New England, treating viewers as if they’re stupid rarely works. That’s my rant for now.

Let’s get to your links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says it was a stroke of luck that ESPN has the marquee college basketball matchup of the weekend with #1 Memphis taking on #2 Tennessee Saturday night. And USA Today has the weekend sports TV listings.

Today I’ll start the links in the Midwest and then spread out.

Midwest

Starting with George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal, he writes that two documentaries highlight your viewing pleasure this weekend.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune tells us that White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher will be a weekly guest on sports radio station WSCR this season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says HBO’s new documentary on Joe Louis shows the great boxer was a tragic figure later in life.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that local viewers are rewarding the Minnesota Wild with increasing ratings. And we have the ratings for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market for last weekend’s sporting events.

South

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron says Houston was one of the few markets in the country that watched the NBA All Star Game last Sunday over the Daytona 500.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel gives his picks for Best and Worst Sports Movies of all time.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the internet has given sportscasters one more thing to fear.

The State’s Doug Nye says the UCLA-Houston game 40 years ago gave college basketball the popularity it has today.

West

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) Morning News reports that DirecTV and the mtn. have reached an agreement to have the Mountain West Conference channel on the satellite TV service this summer.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union Tribune says it’s about time the mtn. gets carried on DirecTV. In his notebook, Posner talks about the NFL Network covering the Scouting Combine with a fine tooth comb.

The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels has a review of the HBO Joe Louis documentary which premieres Saturday.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth looks at the Best and Worst Game Analysts in LA and also talks with Lakers’ radio analyst Mychal Thompson. In his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his media notes for this week. And Hoffarth gives us the latest on former Monday Night Football sideline reporter and Fang’s Bites fav Lisa Guerrero.

John Ryan in the San Jose Mercury News is happy to hear that the NFL is lifting the ban on church Super Bowl parties that will show the game on TV’s over 55 inches.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the NHL Trading Deadline will cause all of Canada’s sports networks to ramp up their coverage on Tuesday.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL Trading Deadline is an exercise in excess for the viewer.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Jim Williams of the Baltimore/DC Examiner says Versus will show viewers where people can fish in the DC area tonight.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says the HBO documentary of Joe Louis tells a compelling story of the man.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Roger Clemens made the right move in opting out of ESPN the Weekend.

From the New York Times, Richard Sandomir says MSG Network can’t edit out all of the Knicks’ problems when it shows the “Knicks in 60″ game replay.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick criticizes the person responsible for putting the now-infamous Chris Berman videos on YouTube. The Post’s Mike Puma talks with HBO’s Jim Lampley about the heavyweight unification fight on HBO. And Puma has five questions for CBS/ESPN’s Bill Raftery.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton six months into their new morning show. In his blog, Neil says the column spurred plenty of reaction just minutes after it was posted on the Newsday.com website. Best links to a clip of former WFANer Sid Rosenberg ripping Craig Carton. And Neil has some comments from Esiason that didn’t make the column. Here are some quotes from Carton that didn’t make it into the paper. Neil says he was surprised to see that in doing his “Greatest Highlight” feature on ESPN, Chris Berman actually allowed some calls to survive without Boomer talking over them. Neil has NFL Films President Steve Sabol surprised over HBO’s cancellation of Inside the NFL.

And the Boston Globe’s Nancy Marrapese-Burrell talks with WHDH-TV hottie Julie Donaldson who started her new job in her native Florida covering Red Sox Spring Training.

That’s it. I’ll have an update later tonight, but I’ll do Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, College Basketball Viewing Picks and Weekend Viewing Picks first.

Some Thursday Links

Let’s give you some links as we can see the weekend at the end of the tunnel. Gotta get there first.

First, Jarrett Bell of USA Today has a story on the growth of interest and coverage in the NFL Scouting Combine.

Neil Best of Newsday links to the above mentioned story in his blog and is amazed that there’s even a radio row at the combine. And Neil has a post on the resemblance between Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean and Newsday football writer Bob Glauber which was picked up by ESPN2 during last night’s St. John’s-Marquette game. And Glauber himself chronicles the meeting between he and Crean yesterday at Madison Square Garden.

And thanks to both Neil and Bob for linking to my interview with Curt Chaplin this week. Much appreciated. Neil linked to the video earlier this week, but it was Bob who linked to it (thanks to a reader tip) before Neil (he actually tipped Neil off to its existence) and it led to me to contact Curt.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. about overrated (by WEEI’s Jon Meterperel) Boston College QB Matt Ryan going as the number one pick.

In a story that surfaced yesterday, Phil Swann of TV Predictions talks about the NFL Network being moved to a less popular tier of Dish Network. Ben Grossman of Braoadcasting & Cable reports that NFL Network’s reach is now 31 million people because of the move.

Paul Vigna of the Philadelphia Daily News talks about sports radio station WIP joining the Eagles radio network.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News writes that former Pistons coach Rick Carlisle is enjoying doing analysis work for ESPN.

Yesterday, I linked to a story in the Detroit News that all of the Tigers’ games will be on TV. Well, the News looked further into the story and found that the game that was not going to be picked up will actually be joined in progress on FSN Detroit.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says superstation WGN is scheduling the fewest number of Cubs games ever this season.

Bob Raissman and Christian Red of the New York Daily News combine for a story on Roger Clemens opting out of attending ESPN the Weekend at Disney World next week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell shows himself wearing a Speedo. Really.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes in his blog that the University of Albany should stop with the radio and TV simulcasts.

The Sports Media Watch says interest in women’s college basketball is up not only on ESPN2, but on ESPN.com as well.

Sam Andrews of the Hollywood Reporter looks at a study which says sports will drive the growth of viewing programs online in the next five years.

That will do it for now. I’ve got some work to do so I’ll have to get cracking. I’ll be back later.

Quick Wednesday Update

Still dealing with work issues, but I can break away to give you some links today.

First, John Ourand of the Sports Business Daily breaks the news that Dish Network is moving the NFL Network to a less popular tier, cutting its subscriber base by 4 million.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a word from Roger Clemens on Vitamin B-12. No, it’s not that Roger Clemens, but Dr. Roger Clemens of USC.

Speaking of that Roger Clemens, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that the Rocket is pulling out of the annual ESPN the Weekend event at Disney World later this month. Scott Powers from the Business, Tourism and Aviation blog of the Orlando Sentinel has more on this story.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union reports in his Best Seat in My House blog that ESPN will assign upstate New York native Joe Tessitore to Arena Football League games this spring.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Tom Jones has an interview with sports writer Frank Deford in his Two Cents blog.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch has the Five Best Mainstream Sports Blogs in Boston.

In his Four DVRs no waiting blog, the Houston Chronicle’s David Barron wonders if anyone has switched to recording shows on DVD or does anyone still use antiquted VCRs? Personally, I use DVD recorders. Much easier and you don’t lose quality.

Maury Brown of the Business of Sports websites has an interview with CNBC’s Darren Rovell about his Nike documentary.

NBC Sports will pick up coverage of the PGA Tour starting with the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship this weekend.

The Business First of Buffalo reports that ESPN2 will host its Friday Night Fights program at the Seneca Allegany & Casino on March 28.

Multichannel News tells us that the former CSTV and ESPNU have picked up more cable subscribers. Linda Haugsted of Multichannel says DirecTV will offer viewers three extra channels of coverage for The Masters in April.

Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer says sports radio station WIP will join co-owned 94WYSP in carrying Eagles games next season.

The Detroit News reports that for the first time, all 162 Tigers games will be broadcast either on FSN Detroit or on national TV. One game that was not going to be aired on TV has now been picked up.

I’ll have Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

Tuesday Night Links

Let’s give you some linkage this evening.

From Neil Best of Newsday, he reports that WFAN’s Yankees beat reporter Sweeny Murti is doubling as Yankees beat reporter for SNY. And Neil has the NHL on NBC flex game for March 2.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the game NBC passed over will be seen on MSG.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch says WEEI’s Glenn Ordway was in lecture mode today about the media having agendas.

A couple of things from CNBC’s Darren Rovell. One is on the real losers of the NBA All Star Game, the shoes. Darren says Sprint was also as loser at the Daytona 500.

Congratulations to original Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus who will be inducted into the broadcasters wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. Jack O’Connell of MLB.com has more.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager writes in his Medium Well blog that ESPN’s Bill Raftery was a bit hypocritical during the Louisville-Syracuse game on Monday.

Del Milligan of The Ledger (FL) says ESPN Radio’s Mike Golic and Erik Kuselias will be doing the Mike & Mike in the Morning (without Greenburg) show live from ESPN’s Bassmaster tournament in South Carolina this Friday.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says NBA All Star Weekend on TNT saw a ratings increase from a year ago. R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says TNT had a ratings spike in key male demographics.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that Sports Time Ohio will produce all Cleveland Indians games in HD as well as all of its original programming.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says 17.8 million people watched the Daytona 500 on Fox Sports.

Rick Weegman of the Duluth (MN) News Tribune says three staffers from FSN North are fine after their van flipped following the broadcast of Hockey Day Minnesota earlier this month.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post goes after Roger Clemens and his attorneys.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News previews an interview with former Los Angeles Lakers GM Jerry West on FSN West that airs tonight.

I’ll have more on Wednesday.

Post Holiday Links

Back to work for some of you. For those of us who have worked yesterday, it’s just another day of the grind.

Some FYI. I’m working on a feature story that I’ll be bringing to you in the next day or two. You can look for that here either later tonight or first thing tomorrow.

Let’s get to the links now.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with new New York Mets announcer Wayne Hagin who replaces Tom McCarthy. Hagin has a long, distinguished career, well into his third decade of calling baseball games. In his blog, Neil talks about the challenges Wayne faces as a newcomer to the Mets. And Neil posts a picture of the lovely Stacy Kiebler in discussing the new cast of “Dancing with the Stars.” And Newsday’s Bob Glauber gets on Neil’s case for posting that pic of Stacy.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir writes about the new movie, Semi-Pro, a fictional movie about the old American Basketball Association, and its commercial tie-ins.

The angry Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the saga isn’t over for Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times gives his thoughts on the last weekend of televised sports in his Two Cents blog.

Geoff Larcom of the Ann Arbor News writes about his mother-in-law’s difficult experience trying to get ESPN on her cable system.

The Jossip blog says ESPN is pretending that ESPN the Magazine is its own entity.

Jim Alexander of the Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise says we should be thankful for having so many choices for sports on TV.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune says it’s not good when sports announcers become part of the action either on the field or the court.

Brian VanOchten of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes in his Two Minute Drill blog that the NFL Network will be all over the NFL Scouting Combines this week.

The Kansas City Star’s Jeffrey Flanagan says football writer Bob Gretz is puzzled over the choice of his fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame voters for the Class of 2008.

George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says two Cleveland Cavs shined during NBA All Star Weekend on TNT. He also mentions at the bottom of the article that regional sports network Sports Time Ohio will be aired entirely in HD.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune posts the final interview ever conducted with the late Cubs announcer Harry Caray.

From Sunday’s Boston Herald, the Inside Track girls say NESN’s Bruins studio host, Kathryn Tappen is the leader in the clubhouse for the Red Sox field reporter gig that Tina Cervasio had for the last two seasons.

I’ll have more later.

Some More Friday Links

I’ve been searching for stuff tonight and found a few things I can give you.

From TV Week, Julianne Smolinski says DirecTV will offer its NASCAR Hot Pass PPV service in high definition. And Sergio Ibarra has the national sports TV ratings for the week ending February 10.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the soon-to-be-relaunched CSTV will debut next month with new graphics, a new look and new programming from CBS Sports. And Reynolds writes that fans can vote and determine the winner of the NBA Slam Dunk contest.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that WFAN in New York has hired former Rockies and Cardinals announcer Wayne Hagin as the replacement for Tom McCarthy for Mets games.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks at TNT’s Craig Sager and his wacky wardrobe.

Maury Brown’s Biz of Basketball website reports that the NBA All Star Game will be seen in a record 123 countries this year.

Paulsen over at the Sports Media Watch says even though the NBA All Star Game’s ratings have fallen since TNT first acquired it in 2003, it remains an attractive property for the network. And Paulsen says NASCAR is hoping for a fresh start and higher ratings as it begins a new season.

Jerry Bonkowski of Yahoo! Sports says it was CBS Sports’ decision to air the Daytona 500 in its entirety for the first time in 1979 that led to the explosion in NASCAR’s popularity.

Mark DeCotis of Florida Today talks with ESPN lead NASCAR announcer Dr. Jerry Punch about his Daytona 500 memories.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says NASCAR and the NBA are the stars of the sports TV weekend.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marc Narducci says TNT’s Doug Collins turned down an opportunity to coach again with the 76ers.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that FSN Prime Ticket and KCAL will combine to bring 150 Dodgers games to viewers and all will be in high definition.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald writes about the 12 hour Harry Caray marathon on Comcast SportsNet this Monday.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says ESPN’s legal analysts were out in force this week during the Roger Clemens appearance in front of Congress.

Max Showalter of the Lafayette (IN) Journal and Courier reports that Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman is optimistic that a deal with the major cable providers is forthcoming.

Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse Blog writes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews called embattled Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson “very honest” during tonight’s early SportsCenter edition.

ESPN’s Gary Thorne writes in the Bangor (ME) Daily News about some lessons learned from watching the Super Bowl.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks to Deadspin’s Will Leitch about the Chris Berman videos and what blogs mean to our culture. Good stuff.

Radio Online.com reports that ESPN Radio will premiere three new shows including one hosted by Eric Kuselias beginning next week.

FSN Rocky Mountain and the University of Colorado have announced a new multiyear contract extension for the channel to air the school’s sports and create programming.

CBS Sports previews the two college games it will broadcast this weekend including the return of Screamin’ Gus Johnson to the broadcast table.

The Friday Megalinks Are Here

Have had to deal with a few work-related issues today so the Friday megalinks are late, but I’ll give them to you in one fell swoop.

Starting as usual with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, he discusses Fox Sports’ coverage of the Daytona 500 this Sunday.

Let’s do the links starting in the East, then to the West Coast and filling in the links in-between.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has a look inside Entercom’s choice of Dale Arnold to replace Glenn Geffner in the Red Sox broadcast booth.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes about NESN’s increase of Red Sox Spring Training coverage as compared to last year.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says USA Network saw an uptick in the ratings for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

New York Post media curmudgeon Phil Mushnick says it’s sad when Brian McNamee, Kirk Radomski, Jose Canseco and even John Rocker have more credibility than MLB. Also in the Post, Justin Terranova has five questions for SNY Mets analyst Keith Hernandez. And Terranova has quotes from ESPN’s Rusty Wallace and Fox’s Darrell Waltrip about the Daytona 500 and the new NASCAR season.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News talks with Yankees radio analyst Suzyn Waldman who knows both Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about the Islanders attendance problems. In his blog, Neil says Islanders fans are responding to his column. Neil also has ESPN deciding not to respond to NBC’s shots about Monday Night Football. Finally, Neil links to the WCBS website in which Suzyn Waldman talks about the Roger Clemens testimony in front of Congress.

In Laura Nachman’s Philadelphia TV and radio blog, she reports that one Philly TV station will not cover the Phillies’ Spring Training this year.

From the Baltimore Sun, Ray Frager’s news and notes include WHFS-FM’ plans for Orioles Spring Training games. From his Medium Well blog, Ray has highlights from a Fox Sports conference call on its Daytona 500 coverage.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the NBA and NASCAR dominate the sports viewing weekend.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News says Roger Clemens didn’t do himself any favors this week.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News talks with one Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model who’s from the local area. And in his Morning Buzz blog, Ryan gets a tip that Clemens has his own Institute for Sports Medicine.

In her Sound and Vision column, the Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says TNT and the NBA are finding new ways to present the All Star Game.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about former Apprentice: LA contestant Heidi Androl now doing work for the LA Kings website filing videos and features, plus Hoffarth has his Top 10 Best/Worst LA TV Anchors/Reporters. And he expands on his column with news and notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star talks with Fox Sports’ NASCAR crew about the sport loosening the reins on its drivers.

John Maffei in the North County Times looks at Fox’s coverage for the Daytona 500.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says ESPN2 expects an electric atmosphere for the Gonzaga-University of San Diego game on Monday. Posner has his news and notes column which includes a look at the gadgets that will be used in Fox Sports’ coverage of Daytona. And Jay has the TV ratings from the weekend in San Diego.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that it was very hard to miss the Roger Clemens appearance on Capitol Hill this week.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel says it’s the rivalries that make NASCAR what it is.

Barry Jackson in today’s Miami Herald profiles Heat TV play-by-play announcer Eric Reid (who has a Providence connection), one of only 8 original Heat employees still with the team.

Doug Nye of The State says baseball suffered a black eye during the Congressional Steroids hearings this week. And Doug’s TV Best Bet this weekend is Daytona.

Midwest

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star looks into the rumors (started in Rhode Island College’s student newspaper) that the ghost of wrestler Owen Hart haunts Kemper Arena.

In the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin, Paul Christian writes about a fitness show being broadcast live on the local PBS affiliate.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Judd Zulgad talks with Minnesota native Michele Tafoya about her changed role on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. And Judd has the ratings for the Twin Cities from last weekend.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley feels ESPN should get rid of the celebrity interviews from Monday Night Football, not Tafoya and fellow sideline reporter Suzy Kolber.

Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Comcast SportsNet will devote 12 hours on Monday to the late Harry Caray.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune has his five viewing picks for the weekend.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Jim Hughson will make a choice between his two current employers, CBC and Rogers Sportsnet this summer.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says ratings for Raptors games are up this season.

Blogs

Christopher Bryne of the Eye on Sports Media blog looks at Think Pink night during the Florida-Georgia women’s basketball game on Thursday.

Joe Favorito’s blog on sports marketing looks at the NASCAR marketing machine.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell (who’s Nike documentary is getting big praise across the country, by the way) says NASCAR needs Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to start winning and fast.

The Sports Media Watch blog says at the All Star break, the NBA can look at a ratings increase from last year.

Bruce Allen in the Boston Sports Media Watch blog has the five worst mainstream sports media blogs in Boston.

Network Press Releases

ESPN says Dick Vitale is once again a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

NBC Sports tells us coverage of the Short Track Speedskating World Cup will be broadcast on Universal HD only.

CBS Sports previews its weekend golf coverage.

And there you have it for now.

The Thursday Linkage

Happy Valentine’s Day. I’ll do some quick links here now then do an update later today.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with TNT’s Doug Collins about the Celtics’ chances in the playoffs.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has the Spring Training TV schedule for the Mets, Yankees and Cubs on all local outlets.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says Roger Clemens put on quite a show during the Congressional Steroids Hearings yesterday.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star has ratings news for the sports radio stations in the market (scroll down).

Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune can’t believe it’s been 10 years since Cubs announcer Harry Carey passed away.

David Goetzl of Mediapost Publications says ESPN will put next week’s Texas-Texas A&M game in movie theaters across Texas.

Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant looks at the ESPN series on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Jeff Lee of the Vancouver Sun has NBC Sports and Olympics emperor Dick Ebersol giving praise the progress of the Vancouver Olympic Games for 2010.

Just a handful of links right now. I’ll be back later today with more.

More Tuesday Links

I’ll give you some more links for tonight.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union gives us the Yankees TV Spring Training schedule on YES. And Pete has a funny “Separated at Birth” comparison regarding Brian McNamee.

The Sports Media Watch blog notes the coverage of the Congressional Steroids Hearings today on the network news broadcasts.

Melissa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable magazine looks at how Roger Clemens performed during the Congressional Steroids Hearings today.

I linked to Laura Nachman’s site earlier today, but now she’s split the news about the Philadelphia Eagles staying on radio flagship 94WYSP for the next few years into a separate post.

From his Farther Off the Wall blog, Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News points out that ESPN sent out a press release regarding SportsCenter by the numbers for no good particular reason.

You had a feeling this was coming. Jason Fell of Folio magazine says ESPN the Magazine will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a one hour TV special … on ESPN.

Just a day after announcing a rebranding of CSTV, Jon Lafayette of TV Week writes that CBS Sports has laid off 40 of its employees.

John Consoli of Mediaweek lets us know about Fox Sports’ plans to unveil what’s known as the Gopher Cam during the Daytona 500 this weekend.

FSN gives us its programming for the week including a salute to Black History Month.

NBC Sports hypes the Detroit-Dallas rivalry which will be the showcase for the NHL Game of the Week this Sunday.

USA Today’s Jon Saraceno talks with TNT’s Kenny Smith about the efforts to help New Orleans overcome Hurricane Katrina.

The Big Ten Network says it will air seven conference championships starting February 29.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star looks at a new TV sports reporter in the market.

The Washington (GA) News-Reporter reports that legendary Atlanta Braves announcer Pete Van Wieren will participate in a luncheon honoring Hall of Fame announcer and Washington native Ernie Harwell.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says TSN has hired former Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson as a guest analyst.

That will do it for the night. Back tomorrow.

Some More Wednesday Links

Now that the Congressional Steroid Hearings are over, I can say that was a tremendous waste of time. Some Congressmen talked for talking’s sake. Others had no idea that quoting Jose Canseco wasn’t the best of ideas. Certainly some interesting developments like discovering Roger Clemens’ nanny actually placed him at Canseco’s house for a barbeque that the Rocket originally denied attending. And also finding out a potential conflict with Clemens inviting that nanny to his house before Congress got to depose her. Very interesting day, but also a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Ok, let’s get some links now.

The Sports Media Watch was monitoring coverage on the cable news channels.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the hearings were high octane drama.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager noticed that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic showed the hearings while MASN did not.

The Wall Street Journal’s Daily Fix live blogged the live blogs of the hearings.

Newsday’s Neil Best was baffled how the questioning went down party lines. Neil notes that Deadspin has all of the now-deleted-from-YouTube Chris Berman videos.

Charles Rich of the AOL Fanhouse Blog reviews Darren Rovell’s documentary on Nike which premiered last night on CNBC. I forgot to record it last night. I’ll check out the re-air next week.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth has the results of an informal readers poll on the best sports radio talk show host in town.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail was not impressed by the tears shed by former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez in an ESPN interview to be aired this Sunday.

Scott Kleinfeld of the Ravens 24×7 website grades CBS’ golf coverage.

ESPN has announced that NASCAR team driver and former crew chief Ray Evernham is joining the network as an analyst. The Daly Planet motorsports TV blog looks at more changes at ESPN for NASCAR this season. Dustin Long of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot blogs that ESPN wants to show more racing and less commercials. Fans should be happy to hear that.

ESPN tells us it will have a heavy presence at NBA All Star Weekend. Chris Reidy of the Boston Globe says Akamai of Cambridge, MA will provide the online video for TNT during All Star Weekend.

Laura Nachman reports that 94WYSP in Philadelphia will remain home of the Eagles.

I forgot to link to this the other day. The Biz of Baseball site has an interview with former Montreal Expos French announcer Jacques Doucet.

I’ll have another update tonight. In the meantime, I’ll do the Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks in a few.

Steroids Hearings Stuff

If you want to see or read what’s going on with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearings as both Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee are getting grilled, I can provide you with some links.

First, streaming video can be seen at CNN.com, USA Today.com and C-SPAN.org.

In addition, there are live running blogs at USA Today, SI.com (compiled from several SI staffers including Richard Deitsch), Boston.com, and New York Times.com. Something pointed out by SI.com, that support for Clemens is coming from the Republicans on the Committee and support for McNamee is coming from the Democrats. Interesting.

In my opinion, McNamee is coming off badly for all of the lies he has admitted to. Clemens does have some inconsistencies including testimony from Andy Petitte who has said that he had Clemens talk about using Human Growth Hormone. Clemens has not properly explained those statements.

Our Midweek Links

Time to give you some more links this morning.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has reaction from ESPN to the Chris Berman videos that were available on YouTube. David says those videos have since been taken down. If you didn’t have a chance to grab them, they are pretty much gone forever.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with NBC’s Andrea Kremer and producer of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, Fred Gaudelli, about the ESPN moves to reduce the roles of Monday Night Football sideline reporters Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber.

Newsday’s Neil Best has reaction to the Hiestand column on his blog. And Neil is also monitoring the Roger Clemens testimony on Capitol Hill.

Speaking of the Roger Clemens testimony, Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his Watch This! blog that there are plenty of ways to watch the Clemens testimony. I’m watching it through CNN.com.

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune writes about a local bartender who will appear on the “Pros vs. Joes” reality TV show on Spike TV.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the NHL TV picture in the US for next season and beyond is still unclear.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer blogs about Dan Patrick doing his radio show from his hometown this week.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call has a story about writer John Feinstein doing commentary for Patriot League games on ESPNU.

If you’re a NASCAR fan and a Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber, you’ll be happy to know that Sirius will have extensive coverage of this Sunday’s Daytona 500 according to the Orbitcast Satellite Radio blog.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes about a local TV news anchor who has made the shift to news from sports.

The Treasure Coast (FL) Palm reports that FSN Florida has announced a 150 game schedule for the Marlins.

That will do it for now

Quickie Tuesday Night Update

Here we go. Let’s do some links tonight.

The Sports Media Watch has your TV ratings from the weekend. And we have some idle notes for you from Paulsen.

Laura Nachman reports that Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia will have live coverage of the Congressional Steroids Hearings.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that people actually watched the Pro Bowl on Sunday. And Hoffarth has info on this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue with Marisa Miller on the cover.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the HBO documentary on Joe Louis is excellent.

Justin Terranova writes in the NYP TV Sports blog that pariah John Rocker will be a guest on CBS’ Early Show on Wednesday.

Jim Williams in the DC/Baltimore Examiner reports that CBS is changing CSTV’s name. And here’s the announcement from CBS Sports.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says GSN airs the 6th season of the World Poker Tour starting March 24.

Deadspin says it appears that Versus has axed Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller.

Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse blog writes that ESPN is actually ok with the Chris Berman videos on YouTube.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow.

Press Release Galore

Time to give you some press releases that were in the Fang’s Bites’ e-mail inbox.

First, from Comcast SportsNet New England, the Congressional Steroid Hearings featuring Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee will be shown live on Wednesday:

COMCAST SPORTSNET TO PROVIDE LIVE COVERAGE OF STEROID HEARINGS

BURLINGTON, MA – Comcast SportsNet will provide live coverage of the Congressional Steroid Hearings beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13. Comcast SportsNet will pickup CSN Mid-Atlantic’s coverage live from Capitol Hill and Bethesda, Md. and the coverage will include Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee testifying before Congress regarding their involvement in steroid usage within Major League Baseball.

Comcast SportsNet’s Kelli Johnson and Chris Miller will provide live on-site coverage and interviews from Capitol Hill. Acclaimed Major League Baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal and legal analyst Jack Burkmann will join Russ Thaler and Brent Harris in studio.

Highlights from Comcast SportsNet’s coverage from Capitol Hill on Wednesday include:

* Live coverage of testimony from Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee

* Analysis from FOXSports.com Senior Baseball Reporter Ken Rosenthal

* Kelli Johnson and Chris Miller live from Capitol Hill

* Timeline, statistics and graphical information throughout the live testimonies

Second, Comcast SportsNet says it’ll be live from Spring Training covering the Red Sox all next week:

COMCAST SPORTSNET PROVIDES SCENIC COVERAGE OF OPENING WEEK OF RED SOX SPRING TRAINING FROM FORT MYERS BEACH

RED SOX SPRING TRAINING FROM FORT MYERS BEACH

Gary Tanguay & Michael Felger to Host Unique Live Coverage All Week Featuring

Player and Coach Interviews from the Pink Shell Resort

BURLINGTON, MA – New Englanders are ready to move past the heartbreak of the Super Bowl and Comcast SportsNet has the perfect elixir, the region’s most distinctive coverage of the opening week of Red Sox Spring Training. While the network affiliates and other sports nets will provide the obligatory live or taped coverage from the ballpark, Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight will go live for the fifth consecutive year from the beauties of Fort Myers Beach.

Twice-a-night, Comcast SportsNet will take the players away from the ballpark and sit them down in front a live studio audience at the beautiful Pink Shell Resort. The end result is a week of shows that has the look and feel of no other network and generates some memorable moments, including Bronson Arroyo’s Boston music debut and the emergence of Cinco Ocho, Jonathan Papelbon.

Comcast SportsNet’s week-long coverage begins on Monday, February 18, and continues through Friday, February 22. In addition to player and coach interviews, Comcast SportsNet baseball contributors Sean McAdam, Rob Bradford and Joe Haggerty will weigh-in on the hot topics of the day. In addition, Dave Briggs will serve as Comcast SportsNet’s roving reporter covering all the sites and sounds of Spring Training.

Monday, February 18

6:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Live from the Pink Shell

10 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Live from the Pink Shell

Tuesday, February 19

6:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – 1 hour live from Pink Shell

Wednesday, February 20

6:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – 1 hour live from Prink Shell

9:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Live from Pink Shell

Thursday, February 21

6:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – 1 hour live from Pink Shell

10:00 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Live from Pink Shell

Friday, February 22

6:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – 1 hour live from Pink Shell

9:30 p.m. Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Live from Pink Shell

Then, Fox Sports tells us that the NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday was the highest rated and viewed in 8 years:

2008 PRO BOWL ON FOX SCORES BIGGEST AUDIENCE

& HIGHEST RATING IN EIGHT YEARS

10 Million Viewers Witness NFC’s Come-From-Behind Victory

FOX Sports concluded its extraordinary 2007-08 NFL Super Bowl season on Sunday with strong viewership and ratings for the AFC/NFC Pro Bowl. The NFL All-Star Game posted an average audience of 10 million viewers, up an impressive +43% over last year’s game in prime time on CBS (6.9 million), making it the most-watched Pro Bowl since 2000 (13.2 million on ABC), according to national ratings released today by Nielsen Media Research.

Sunday’s game also earned a 6.3 household rating and 12 share, up a significant +37% (4.6/9) from 2007, and ranks as the highest-rated Pro Bowl since 2000 (8.6/15 on ABC).

The 2008 AFC/NFC Pro Bowl also posted notable year-to-year gains in key demographics including M18-34 (+59%, 4.3 vs. 2.7), M18-49 (+58%, 4.9 vs. 3.1), M25-54 (+58%, 5.2 vs. 3.3) and A18-49 (+57%, 3.6 vs. 2.3).

This year’s Pro Bowl on FOX out-rated some of the premier events in sports including the NBA Finals (6.2), the NCAA Tournament (6.1) and the final round of the PGA Championship (6.2).

There you have it.

Tuesday Linkage

Time to give you some more links today.

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

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says not everyone will be riveted to ESPN’s coverage of the Congressional Steroids Hearings on Wednesday.

Bill Ordine of the Baltimore Sun writes in his blog that plans for televising the Congressional Steroids Hearings tomorrow are shaping up.

Newsday’s Neil Best gives over his column to the original sports media writer for the paper, Stan Isaacs. Neil says Stan covered practically every sport for Newsday. And Neil has a few more anecdotes about Stan in his blog. Finally, Neil says former Giants coach Jim Fassel was passed over for a chicken magnate for the Redskins coaching job.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune writes that the AT&T Pebble Beach golf tournament and the Daytona 500 are perfectly placed on the sports calendar.

Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star writes that the Big Ten Network is paying out a lot of money to member schools for little to no TV exposure.

In the meantime, FSN and the Big Ten Network are teaming up for two sports and entertainment specials on spring football.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the scientific approach to the NCAA Tournament.

The Sports Media Watch says the Anaheim-Detroit NHL Game of the Week matchup performed poorly for NBC.

George M. Thomas in the Akron Beacon Journal says NASCAR is suffering from lower ratings.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that TSN will air a one hour documentary on the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary on Wednesday. And Houston looks forward with CTV, the host broadcaster, to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Games.

There’s yet another embarrassing video of Chris Berman doing the Monday Night Football halftime show from 8 years ago. In this one, he calls Al Michaels a nasty word. Awful Announcing has this one.

And Awful Announcing has a review of Darren Rovell’s documentary on Nike which airs on CNBC tonight.

ESPN has announced the start times and networks for BracketBusters Weekend.

Andrew Edgecliff Johnson and Ben Fenton of the Financial Times write that Setanta Sports is considering buyout offers, but is not formally starting a bidding process. And from Scotland, the Edinburgh Evening News has Setanta insisting it’s not for sale possibly dashing ESPN’s hopes of breaking into broadcasting the English Premier League.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says in his blog that a reverse dunk by a University of Albany player made ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Cedric Golden of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman says there’s a big soap opera in local sports talk radio.

Gamers will be happy to know that EA Sports has extended its exclusive video game contract with the NFL through the 2012 season.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable says CBS Sports is beefing up its multi-platform offerings.

That will do it for now.

The Monday Links

Here we are, back to work and time to give you some links.

First, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch tells us that Tina Cervasio was seen on NBC Sports this weekend. I wish I had seen her. By the way, Boston Sports Media Watch is going through a redesign and a new server. The new web page looks quite good and Bruce Allen who runs the site does a fantastic job running the site and was the first to provide links to stories relating to Boston sports. He’s the website that many of us amateur bloggers aspire to be.

Next, Michael Hiestand of USA Today tells us that the roles of sideline reporters Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya on Monday Night Football are going to be reduced.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website says ESPN plans to expand its HD coverage in 2008.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says it was wrong of several Congressmen to have had their picture taken with Roger Clemens, several days before he was to testify in DC this week.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun gives us a couple of recommended links in his Medium Well blog.

Rocky Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News laments the end of Inside the NFL on HBO.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gives us the top selling NFL jerseys.

CBS Sports says all 63 games of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will be available online for the first time ever.

John Dempsey of Variety says Oxygen will air 20 hours of gymnastics coverage during the Summer Olympics.

You may have seen the video and Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union certainly has, but he says ESPN used restraint when showing the horrific moment when Florida Panthers defenseman Richard Zednik had his throat accidentally cut during the game against the Buffalo Sabres last night.

Laura Drake of the Ottawa Citizen writes that a Canadian band is trying to confirm one of its songs was used in the Fox Super Bowl pregame show.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says NBC is looking to produce a new reality show on curling featuring rock stars. You read that right. And Zelkovich says CBC was on its game during Hockey Day in Canada.

However, William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels CBC went too far. The Globe and Mail reports that Red Wings TV analyst Mickey Redmond is going surgery to remove a tumor on his lung.

That’s going to do it for now.

Tuesday Update

I’ll give you some more links today and then wrap it up for the day.

First, Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch has the numbers from Saturday’s Jaguars-Patriots game for Boston and nationally, plus some other TV notes for the Pats and Celtics.

Neil Best of Newsday writes in his blog that an estimated 40 million people watched Sunday’s Giants-Cowboys game.

Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the national media should deal with the fact that the Indianapolis Colts won’t play in the AFC Championship against the Patriots.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes in his blog that CBS and Fox are feeling blue after their marquee matchups in their respective NFL Conference Championship games went up in smoke on Sunday.

Suzanne Vranica and Stephanie Kang of the Wall Street Journal write that first time advertisers on the Super Bowl are also feeling the pressure to get noticed.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell calls today’s Congressional Hearings on the Mitchell Report a waste of time.

ESPN’s John Buccigross writes a column in which he talks with the NHL’s Senior Vice President of Broadcasting about the future of the NHL on TV.

The Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro writes about the Kelly Tilghman controversy.

Ryan Corazza of the Chicago Sports Weekly wonders why ESPN.com hasn’t joined the blogging revolution.

David Parker of the Calgary Herald has a feature story on a Canadian duo who design the computer animation for a lot of ESPN programming.

Peter Healey of the Stamford (CT) Advocate reports that NBC will add more jobs to its NBCSports.com and NBCOlympics.com units which are based in Stamford.

That will do it for now.

Your Tuesday Links

Let’s do some links now. One of my employees who just doesn’t shut up has now left so I can do some work in peace.

From the New York Times, Richard Sandomir writes about the precautions TV production crews have to take in the cold weather during NFL playoff games.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News gets on the Fox NFL Sunday crew for picking Dallas. But in advance of the game, I don’t know if anyone was picking the Giants. I’d like to hear which team Raissman picked, but apparently he won’t say. Also from the Daily News, TV and Radio critic David Hinckley compares the Giants coverage on WFAN and 1050 ESPN Radio.

Newsday’s Neil Best reviews the Cowboys-Giants playoff game on Fox.

Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star says Fox would get a big rating if the Patriots and Packers met in the Super Bowl.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley writes that Packers RB Ryan Grant has outpaced expectations and also has stuff on the ratings for the NFL playoff games.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes in his Four DVRs, no waiting blog that the ratings in Houston for the NFL playoffs are low compared to other markets.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog says Victoria’s Secret has purchased the first commercial in the second half in the Super Bowl.

ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber gives praise to the Worldwide Leader for its handling of the Mitchell Report release.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his blog that Comcast SportsNet and ESPN will have extensive coverage of the Congressional Steroids hearings today.

If you can’t watch the Congressional Hearings, you can keep up to date through Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch’s live blog.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star reports that former Royals second baseman Frank White could join the FSN Midwest announcing team.

The Salem (OR) Statesman Journal states that FSN Northwest will air two Oregon State women’s gymnastics meets.

Michael Sharp of the Greater Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun Bulletin says the AHL All-Star Classic will be aired on a series of Regional Sports Networks across Canada and the US later this month.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC should give the Ottawa Senators nationwide coverage on Hockey Night in Canada instead of the Maple Leafs.

That’s it. We’ll be back later.