Fang's Bites

Anatomy of a Very Bizarre Day

Monday was quite the day in the sports world. As people were getting up and preparing to go to work on the East Coast, little would they know how things were going to develop. Let’s review what happened as events occurred. All times listed below are Eastern.

7:53 a.m. — Reports trickle out of New York Jets camp that backup quarterback Tim Tebow was going to be released.

9:00 a.m. — ESPN’s Morning SportsCenter signs on with all-out coverage of Tim Tebow being released by the Jets.

Courtesy Will Brinson, CBSSports.com

11:02 a.m. — Sports Illustrated releases the first-person account from NBA center Jason Collins declaring that he’s gay. News organizations across the country and around the globe pick up the story of the first athlete from a U.S. professional sports league to come out.

11:04 a.m. — Dan Patrick interviews Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim about the Collins story.

John Koblin of Deadspin notes while other outlets are covering the Collins story, ESPN and ESPN.com continue in Tebow DEFCON 2 mode. While ESPN and ESPN.com were not reporting the Collins story, Colin Cowherd was talking about it on his ESPN Radio show which was also simulcast on ESPNU.

Noon — Awful Announcing discovers that the 12 p.m. edition of SportsCenter mentions Tebow 25 times before moving to the Jason Collins story.

After 1 p.m. — Scott Van Pelt on the SVP & Russillo Show on ESPN Radio plays Ombudsman and calls out the Morning SportsCenter for going overboard on Tebow coverage.

On WFAN, Mike Francesa downplays the Collins story as “a dramatic attempt to sell magazines.” Francesa says, “I don’t get it” as to why Collins chose to come out.

3 p.m. – ESPN’s Outside the Lines covers the Collins story and has ESPN.com openly gay columnist LZ Granderson and ESPN NBA beat reporter Chris Broussard to discuss the topic. Broussard declares homosexuality is a sin and it’s “walking in rebellion with God..”

6:20 p.m. — CBS’ Tim Brando creates a firestorm by tweeting that Collins is not a hero for coming out and making history. Then Brandi tweets something about a sex tape. Holy frijoles.

10:50 p.m. — ESPN issues a terse statement on Chris Broussard’s comments.

12:05 a.m. — Broussard issues an apology.

It’s been a long day. Very bizarre to say the least.

Advertisers Taking Notice of Viewers Using Social Media During Sporting Events

I’ve been meaning to post this video for about a week. It’s an interesting video from the Associated Press noting how second screens are becoming more and more important in sports. If you’re not aware of the term “second screen,” it means people are using their mobiles, tablets or computers as a companion to watching sports on television. The biggest evidence of this was during the 2012 London Olympics where more people Tweeted worldwide about the Games than any sporting event to date and it’s expected that number will increase exponentially for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In addition, advertisers are realizing that when their commercials are played, people tweet about them, so they’re taking notice of the power of social media.

I’ve noticed how social media can bring people together from all walks of life from all over the country into one community. Now the company that harnesses the power of this community and finds a way to tap into it will be ahead of the curve come 2016. It’s quite an interesting video. Take a gander. It’s some food for thought today.

Last year, WFAN’s Mike Francesa couldn’t believe people would tweet or go on Facebook or go on their computers to get info during sporting events, but they’ve found ways to enhance the sporting experience. Case in point, watching the Pac-12 Tournament last week, the tweets about Bill Walton made viewing the games even more enjoyable for me. And Jim Valvano trended on Sunday as ESPN’s documentary on the 1983 North Carolina State team aired.

It will be interesting to see how the marriage of social media and sports will progress as we go forward.

Breaking Out Some Sunday Linkage

I haven’t done Sunday links in a very long while. It seems as if part of my weekends have been planned for me behind my back for almost three years straight. Finally glad to be able to do links on a weekend.

Charlie White at Mashable talks about NASCAR taking down fan videos of the horrific crash that injured 28 fans at the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona yesterday.

John McQuaid from Forbes says NASCAR has a YouTube problem.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable says Dish Network may not be allowed to advertise on Fox over its Hopper device, but it’s finding a way to be seen on today’s Daytona 500.

The Sherman Report’s Ed Sherman has some videos displaying Joe Garagiola on TV at various times in his career.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the Big East had to go back to ESPN after rejecting a huge megabucks offer from the network two years ago.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with SNY’s Bob Ojeda who steps out of the studios to analyze Mets Spring Training games.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post hates Twitter.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the entire World Baseball Classic TV schedule.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the new season of The Haney Project on Golf Channel.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks at the local sports radio ratings and the Houston Rockets’ TV numbers.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman talks with Sooner State native Stacey King who is now the Chicago Bulls TV analyst.

Paul M. Banks at the Chicago Sports Media Watch has NASCAR pundits choosing their winners for the Daytona 500.

MediaRantz has yet another mistimed headline at ESPN.com.

That’s it for the linkage for now. I could be back later if news breaks.

A Fast Wednesday Sports Media Notebook

In lieu of linkage which has been sorely lacking, my sincere apologies, I give a sports media notebook which includes some links for you. Life has gotten in the way and you’ve responded by not visiting the site. It tells me you want fresh content so I’ll do my best to provide that to you as often as I can.

• John Ourand of Sports Business Journal tweeted on Tuesday that Fox Sports 1 will be unveiled to advertisers in an upfront presentation on March 5. I expect a full press release and perhaps an embeddable video to place on this site. Fox Sports 1 will take over Speed’s infrastructure on many participating cable and satellite providers in August and its companion channel, Fox Sports 2 will bump Fuel TV from existence.

  The new Fox Sports networks will certainly change the sports media landscape almost immediately.

• Also from Ourand with Michael Smith in this week’s SBJ, we find the Big East looks like it has deals in place with NBC Sports Network for football and basketball and CBS for basketball as well. ESPN does have the right to match the offers, but for now, let’s assume that NBCSN has its first pickup of a major college conference, content it desperately needs.

  I do expect NBCSN to be a major player for the second half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season and to perhaps take the Nationwide Series. NBCSN does have some summer holes to fill and NASCAR would fit the bill.

• In the Chicago Tribune, Robert Channick reports that the Cubs have exercised a clause to renegotiate its media rights deal with WGN-TV. The Cubs and WGN have been together since 1948 and has had a national following since the 1980′s when ‘GN followed WTBS and became a Superstation on cable. Since then, WGN’s parent company, Tribune Co. has split the station into two feeds, WGN America which is on many cable and satellite providers across the country and WGN, Channel 9 in Chicago.

  Earlier this week, Paul Sullivan in the Tribune reported that the Cubs may choose to leave WGN after the 2014 season and opt to go all-cable, however, it appears the two sides will at least discuss a new contract and Tribune Co. says it wants to keep the Cubs. Major factors in these new talks are the recent megadeals by the New York Yankees, Cleveland MLB Team and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs also need money to help offset costs for renovations to Wrigley Field.

  The Cubs are also on Comcast SportsNet in a deal forged with the White Sox, Bulls and the Chicago NHL Team.

  We’ll be keeping an eye on what transpires. No matter what happens, the Cubs will be getting more money. A whole lot more.

• I’m saddened to hear that Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Sara Ganim is being harassed by the Paterno “Truthers”. The Philadelphia Magazine blog, the Philly Post reports that Ganim is being subjected to sexist taunts on Twiiter by the people who refuse to believe the Freeh Report. Ganim did very solid reporting on the Jerry Sandusky case and her stories led to the downfall of the former Penn State football defensive coordinator, coach Joe Paterno and the football program, but it does not allow for people to use Twitter to harass and threaten. C’mon, now.
• A Phoenix Coyote fan who is a pediatrician for an Arizona network of hospitals got angry at Adrian Dater, the Colorado Avalanche beat reporter for the Denver Post and told him on Twitter to “go catch a movie in Aurora” and “join Jessica for all I care.” That is in reference to last year’s movie theater shooting in Aurora, CO that left 12 people dead including Jessica Ghawi and 58 others injured.

  After outrage from Dater and others, the pediatrician made his account private and then subsequently deleted his account. In addition, his employer has released a statement saying the actions are under review.

  I understand getting emotional over your team, but is it necessary to tell a reporter to get shot and wish him dead? Is this what we have become? The last two stories about trolling reporters through Twitter almost leaves me no hope for humanity. Luckily, I remain an optimist, but stories like these make it tough.

We’re done here for now.

It’s Hockey Day in America

As the late Bob Johnson used to say, “It’s a great day for hockey.” As it’s cold in the Northeast and it snowed in Southern New England, it’s certainly is a great day for hockey.

And to celebrate the sport, the NBC Sports Group, the NHL and USA Hockey have declared today as Hockey Day in America. Similar to last week’s Hockey Day in Canada, NBC/NBC Sports Network combine to air three games. NBC has an afternoon doubleheader with Pittsburgh at Buffalo followed by Los Angeles at Chicago. NBC Sports Network has the tripleheader nightcap with Washington at the New York Rangers.

The entire day will be wrapped around the Hockey Day in America celebration at New York’s Central Park hosted by Liam McHugh. In addition, there will be several features showing what hockey means to America including one on Jack Jablonski who was paralyzed after a hit in a high school hockey game and struck up a friendship with the Minnesota Vikings’ Adrian Peterson. And there will be another with Michelle Beadle and Jeremy Roenick on hockey hair.

We have the details of Hockey Day in America on the NBC Sports Group below.

NBC SPORTS GROUP CELEBRATES “HOCKEY DAY IN AMERICA”

Coverage Begins at Noon ET on NBC From New York City’s Trump Rink in Central Park
NBC Sports Will Tell the Story of America’s Passion for Hockey with Numerous Features Throughout the Day Across NBC and NBC Sports Network
NHL Tripleheader: Pittsburgh Penguins-Buffalo Sabres at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC; Los Angeles Kings-Chicago Blackhawks at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC; Washington Capitals-New York Rangers at 6 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network

NEW YORK – February 12, 2013 - NBC Sports Group will celebrate the third annual Hockey Day in America by delivering nine hours of hockey coverage on NBC and NBC Sports Network, including numerous features that tell the story of America’s passion for hockey, weaved within an NHL tripleheader that features six U.S. teams.

Coverage begins Sunday at Noon ET on NBC with NHL Live originating from Trump Rink in New York City’s Central Park. Liam McHugh will anchor NBC Sports’ live pre-game and intermission coverage, and will be joined by analysts Jeremy Roenick, Mike Milbury and Keith Jones.

Following NHL Live at 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC and NBC Sports Network will deliver three games. NBC will broadcast a doubleheader  featuring one Western Conference and one Eastern Conference matchup. In the early game, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will take the ice against Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres. Then at 3:30 p.m. ET, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings will face off against the undefeated (10-0-2) Chicago Blackhawks. At 6 p.m. ET NBC Sports Network will conclude the Hockey Day In America celebration with an Eastern Conference matchup between Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals against Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers. Both NBC broadcasts will be available online and via mobile through NBC Sports Live Extra and the NBC Sports Live Extra App.

NBC Sports will weave the stories of America’s affinity for hockey into and around its coverage of the three NHL games, which will include interviewing and highlighting American players. Among the stories scheduled to be told on Sunday:

Ice Hockey in Harlem
Ice Hockey in Harlem is a non-profit organization for youth that uses the sport of hockey to promote academic achievement, teamwork and character. Their motto is “Education is the Goal” and the organization has served the community for 25 years. The program is only open to those living north of 110th Street in Manhattan and there is a waiting list to enroll each fall. At the core of this non-profit organization are lessons that stick with the kids for life. Themes such as family, commitment, dedication and giving back are passed on to these local area children, which will help in creating a better future, leaders and role models.

Hockey Hair
Skaters streaking down the ice with long, flowing hair trailing behind them has been a common sight at hockey games for decades. Unlike playoff beards, which are widely believed to have been popularized by Islanders teams of the early 1980s, the exact origins of hockey hair have never been adequately explained. Michelle Beadle and Jeremy Roenick will dive back into NHL history and explore the long legacy of Hockey Hair.

Jack Jablonski’s Road To Recovery
Jack Jablonski was a promising ice hockey player for Benilde-St. Margaret’s high school in suburban Minneapolis. On December 30, 2011, a check from behind during a JV game left him paralyzed from the chest down. That same day, Jablonski’s boyhood idol, Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson had surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee. Jablonski and Peterson both faced grueling rehabilitation programs and seemingly insurmountable odds. Then something curious happened and they met during the summer. Jablonski naturally was inspired by Peterson and all the hard work he’d done to get back to the Vikings’ training camp. What’s surprising is that Peterson was deeply inspired by Jablonski as well and used him as motivation during his comeback, which resulted in one of the greatest years ever by a running back. Jablonski has also exceeded expectations, regaining some movement that his doctors never expected.

A Little Boys Winter Classic
During the NHL lockout this past December, eight-year old Christopher John thought of holding his own Winter Classic. Working with his parents and his teammates on the North Jersey Avalanche, John turned his dream in to a reality. The Avalanche took on the Long Island Royals at Central Park’s Lasker Rink on December 23rd. Along the way, John’s idea for a game took on greater meaning and served as a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Sandy. New York Rangers  LW Carl Hagelin and D Ryan McDonagh heard about the game and showed up at 8 a.m. to cheer the kids on. To date, the campaign has generated $25,000 for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Hockey Day in America is part of Hockey Weekend Across America. Launched by USA Hockey in 2008, Hockey Weekend Across America is a nationwide initiative to celebrate the game at all levels and to expose hockey to new audiences.

Hockey Day In America NHL Tripleheader

The tripleheader will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC when the Buffalo Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. Gord Miller will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the game and will be joined by “Inside the Glass” analyst Joe Micheletti.

At 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, the Los Angeles Kings travel to the United Center in Chicago Ill. to take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Veteran play-by-play announcer Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick will call the action and will be joined by analyst Eddie Olczyk. “Inside the Glass” analyst Pierre McGuire will report from the ice.

The Hockey Day In America tripleheader wraps up at 6 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network when the New York Rangers host the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. Dave Strader will manage play-by-play duties for the game and Brian Engblom will serve as the “Inside the Glass” analyst.

NBC will also celebrate Hockey Day through social media.

NBC SPORTS GROUP CELEBRATES #HockeyDay IN AMERICA VIA SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY

Fans Invited to Use #HockeyDay and Share Messages and Photos of Local Hockey Day Celebrations

NEW YORK – February 15, 2013 - NBC Sports Group will celebrate Hockey Day In America with fans by inviting viewers to share photos of how they are spending the day in their hometown. Using the hashtag #HockeyDay, fans will be able to share photos, via Twitter, of celebrations at home, ice rinks and at arenas across the country. Select images will be retweeted by NBC Sports’ NHL Twitter account @NHLonNBCSports and shared on-air during NBC and NBC Sports Network’s nine hours of Hockey Day In America coverage.

Hockey Day In America fans on Twitter can also follow an entire collection of NBC Sports and NHL accounts: @NHLonNBCSports, @NBCSports, @NBCSN, @NBCSportsPR, @liam_mchugh, @Jeremy_Roenick, @NHL, @BuffaloSabres, @penguins, @LAKings, @NHLBlackhawks, @washcaps, @NYRangers.

That will do it.

Some Early Sunday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

My apologies for not posting the Weekend Viewing Picks and other stuff. My power went out thanks to the Blizzard of 2013 and I also had to deal with two downed trees, one lying across my driveway, so you can imagine me going stir crazy over blocked access, no heat, no power, NO WIFI and a full driving ban in Rhode Island. Luckily, a very gracious neighbor with a chain saw cut me out and the driving ban was lifted enabling me to escape from a heatless house and go to a relative’s house where I’m writing this post.

You deserve some sports media thoughts so it’s fine time you get them now. As always, they come in bullet form.

• I know the soccer community is up in arms over Gus Johnson being named as Fox’s international soccer voice. Yes, Fox can tap Martin Tyler from its UK brother, Sky Sports, but Fox chose to go with an American voice. Now, I was with the soccer community back in 2006 when ESPN chose a heavily miscast Dave O’Brien to be its main voice for the FIFA World Cup in Germany. I can remember listening to World Soccer Daily during the month-long event killing O’Brien. A lot of it was deserved and stinging from the criticism, ESPN chose UK announcers like Tyler, Ian Darke, Adrian Healy and Derek Rae. And while they all did a very good job, long-time ESPN soccer voice JP Dellacamera was jettisoned to radio to call many games off a monitor.

  While I understand many in the soccer community who feel the Fox move with Johnson is destined to fail, I’m keeping an open mind here. Gus has called a share of San Jose Earthquakes MLS games over the last two years, plus he has traveled to Europe to learn the nuances of international soccer, spending time with Martin Tyler, something ESPN did not do with O’Brien, allowing him to be thrown to the wolves.

  Gus will call his first international soccer contest this week on Fox Soccer. He won’t win over fans when he does Real Madrid vs. Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, but he does have time to buy some credibility before he does his first World Cup game. Let’s hope he does.

• We now know Fox’s cable sports strategy coming later this year. Sometime in August, Speed becomes Fox Sports 1 airing college basketball, college football, MLB, NASCAR, soccer and UFC. Fuel will transition to Fox Sports 2 airing overflow events plus some extreme sports. Fox Soccer will rebrand to FX2 and will be completely out of the sports business. Got it? Good.

  Fox has done this quietly and without fanfare. We’ve found out about Fox Sports 1 and 2 through the reporting by John Ourand of Sports Business Journal. Fox Sports officials aren’t confirming things, but they aren’t denying them either. You’ve seen some of the things they plan on doing on FX with college football/MMA doubleheaders, UEFA Champions League games and other action. All that moves to FS 1 & 2 in August and FX and FX2 will solely be entertainment channels.

  Fox is positioning itself quite well and if it is able to obtain the rights to the breakout “Catholic 7,” the basketball-only schools from the Big East that plan on formulating in 2014, then Fox Sports 1 & 2 will be in very good shape for years to come.

• Speaking of the Big East, the same story I linked to above mentions that NBC Sports Network is offering the conference $20-23 million annually over six years. ESPN can match that offer, but will it? Knowing how much the Big East has been poached over the years, plus knowing the “Catholic 7″ will bolt in 2014, is the league still attractive? But ESPN could match to ensure NBCSN is shut out from the major conferences, if the Big East is still considered a major conference.
• I don’t know her name, but I enjoy the give-and-take, back-and-forth rivalry I have the Twitter account known as Har Journalist. She’s in Vancouver and has a blog devoted to sports with a slant towards the MLS’ Whitecaps. It’s a very good site and one that will keep you up to date on the Whitecaps. But I warn you, criticize her Canucks at your own risk. I criticize the Canucks to rile Har Journalist and she always replies in kind. It’s all in good fun.

Those are your sports media thoughts.

Presidential Bro-in-Law Photobombs The President

On this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, some of you might have taken the time to watch President Obama’s inauguration. I certainly did and was not expecting anything noteworthy to occur, but thanks to social media, HDTV and an iPhone camera, we’re able to spot some funny things that otherwise might be missed. Well, during the reading of a poem, I was flipping back and forth among the channels carrying the event and I happened to spot Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson (and brother-in-law of the President) sitting behind the just-sworn-in Mr. Obama and noticed the coach photobombing the President.

I thought it was hilarious so thanks to my DirecTV DVR, I was able to rewind the event to the precise moment when Robinson gave his funny expression, took the shot off my TV with my iPhone and posted it to Twitter.

You can see it for yourself right here.

Presidential Bro-in-law Craig Robinson photobombs the President. twitter.com/fangsbites/sta…

— Fang’s Bites (@fangsbites) January 21, 2013

It quickly was retweeted to the point where it ran all over the country. It’s also been picked up by various sites including Mashable, SportsGrid, College Basketball Talk and CBSSports.com.

Very funny pic to bring some levity to the proceedings.

Our Monday Linkage

Time for some Monday links. Let’s get to them.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with CBS Evening News anchorman Scott Pelley about interviewing President Obama for the network’s Super Bowl coverage and also reviews the performances of the NFL “B” analysts during the weekend.

Michael Smith and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal note that the Atlantic Coast Conference is exploring the potential of a new league-owned network.

Chris Chase of USA Today’s Game On blog reports that tennis superstar Maria Sharapova has joined Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Hannah Storm about returning to SportsCenter this week after the holiday season grilling fire that left her singed.

Hiestand also talks with Michelle Beadle about her upcoming show on NBC Sports Network.

UK journalist David Walsh who was the first writer to investigate disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong after his first Tour de France “win”, has an article in the Sunday Times looking back at his long journey.

Ed Sherman in The Sherman Report notes that the Times placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune calling on Oprah Winfrey to ask certain questions to Armstrong when they tape their “interview” this week. Here’s a closeup look at the ad courtesy of Deadspin.

Ed interviews Dana Jacobson of CBS Sports Radio.

Philiana Ng of the Hollywood Reporter says USA Network and the NFL will team up for their second annual special that will air after the Super Bowl.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the NHL is back.

Christopher Heine of Adweek writes that Lincoln has shot a social media-driven spot that will air during Super Bowl XLVII.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age says social media might be spoiling Super Bowl advertisers’ suspense and full impact.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Emrick calling a girls’ 12-and-under game last week.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wants to know why Lance Armstrong thought he could cheat and get away with it.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says no one is happier about the end of the NHL Lockout than NBC.

In an upset, David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun actually has some praise for CBS’ Dan Dierdorf from Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos game.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the much-maligned Vinny Cerrato is part of CBS Sports Radio’s weekend lineup.

Dan notes that Fox Sports Radio’s Steve Czaban has quit Twitter cold turkey.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about ESPN2′s Australian Open coverage which will run late into the night.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has a review of the weekend in sports TV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Texans-Patriots drew big numbers in H-Town.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable is picking up college basketball games from Sports Time Ohio.

Bob Wolfley with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL playoffs played big in Sudstown.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Comcast SportsNet is tapping a Milwaukee sports reporter to fill a position.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders writes that Ravens-Broncos got big numbers in the Rocky Mountain region.

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

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Americans shouldn’t expect to see small market NHL teams on NBC.

Brad Gagnon of Awful Announcing has the grades for the NFL’s top broadcasting teams.

Because I’ve been in and out today, I’m finally getting the links to you after 6 p.m. I have been trying to get these up since before 11 a.m.

Time For Some Tuesday Links

Let’s do some Tuesday links. Lots of stuff to get to.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that Bob Costas is receiving his share of criticism for his anti-gun commentary during halftime of Sunday Night Football.

Busted Coverage has video of Bob Costas telling Dan Patrick that he’s not backing off on his anti-gun comments.

Michael Katz of USA Today’s Game On blog recaps Vin Scully’s first and way too brief foray into Twitter on Monday.

From Yahoo’s Cagefighter, the great Maggie Hendricks tells us that Mixed Martial Arts viewing will be different in 2013.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Universal Sports will be moving its operations from Los Angeles to the Comcast Media Center in Denver.

From Advertising Age, Brian Steinberg writes that Mercedes-Benz plans to bring out some big guns for its Super Bowl ad in February.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell notes that Lincoln cars are looking to make a return to Super Bowl advertising.

Tom Conroy of Media Life Magazine reviews the new NFL Films-produced Travel Channel documentary series on the Cleveland Browns support staff.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report reviews two documentaries that debut this week.

The Nielsen Wire says the Los Angeles Lakers are the most marketable of all NBA teams.

Steve Burton of WBZ-TV in Boston is the only one reporting that the NHL Lockout is close to ending.

Bill Carter of the New York Times says Bob Costas put the spotlight on himself with his anti-gun Sunday Night Football halftime commentary.

The New York Daily News reports that the Jets have renewed their radio rights deal with ESPN Radio New York.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says YES Network had its best ratings ever for a Nets game.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says Monday night’s Giants-DC NFL Team contest hit the ratings jackpot for ESPN.

Chris Korman of the Baltimore Sun writes that the Orioles are denying yesterday’s Sports Business Journal report that Fox Sports attempted to buy MASN.

Sarah Kogod from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog tells us that many DC-area athletes stayed up to watch Robert Griffin III on Monday Night Football.

Erik Wemple at the WaPo talks about sports networks tackling political topics.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times reviews what happened on sports television over the weekend.

The Fort Pierce (FL) Tribune reports that the local ESPN Radio affiliate will continue to produce nightly sports report for the local NBC and Fox stations.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Jim Deshaies’ departure for Chicago is a big loss for the Astros.

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says Fox is close to purchasing Sports Time Ohio and gaining the rights to the city’s MLB team.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune talks about the Cubs hiring a new analyst.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the five things he learned from the weekend.

Joe Flint from the Los Angeles Times says NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football is eating into the ratings of the league’s other TV partners.

Sports Media Watch notes that the MLS Cup had a slight decline in its overnight ratings as the game moved from a Sunday night to late Saturday afternoon.

The Huffington Post has video of ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit giving Northern Illinois blackboard material by ripping the team’s invitation to the Orange Bowl.

That’s where I’ll end it today.

Some Really Quick Monday Links

As I’m helping to watch my nephew today, I have a very short window to get links in before he wakes up so let’s get this done before I get delayed.

The big story is the Jevon Belcher-Kasandra Perkins tragedy over the weekend. Many of the links deal with how CBS’ The NFL Today dealt with the story. I have my own take in case you missed it.

I’ll do as many links as I can.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch takes CBS to task for its decision not to lead its show with the Belcher-Perkins story.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today says the Belcher story forced the Sunday NFL pregame shows to change course.

At The Sherman Report, Ed Sherman says CBS made the wrong decision not to lead with the story.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has Twitter reaction as The NFL Today hit the airwaves yesterday.

SportsRantz says CBS chose to start its show with product placement for a GPS company and that itself sent the wrong message.

Back to Ed Sherman, he looks at Bob Costas’ commentary on guns during last night’s Sunday Night Football game.

Sean Newell of Deadspin goes off on Costas for his commentary.

Greg Hall says the Belcher murder-suicide put the Kansas City media in the national spotlight.

Laura Bauer and Glen E. Rice of the Kansas City Star profile Kasandra Perkins, the young mother shot nine times by Belcher.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that Fox Sports is close to purchasing the rights for the Cleveland MLB team and thus forcing the shutdown of current rightsholder SportsTime Ohio (STO).

Fox’s Charles Davis clarifies some comments he and Gus Johnson made during Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game.

Joe Flint and Meg James of the Los Angeles Times says rising sports rights fees will come back to hit cable and satellite customers in the wallet.

Michael Shamburger of The Big Lead has video of the Best of Uncle Verne Lundquist from Saturday’s SEC Championship on CBS.

Classic Sports TV and Media looks back at Dick Vitale’s first broadcast on ESPN in 1979.

That’s all for now. If I can squeeze in some more links, I will. And I’ll do my best to post any breaking news as long as my nephew is still napping,

Cranking Out The Friday Megalinks

Wasn’t able to do any posts yesterday as I was away for most of the day. Tough to get anything done when you’re out of range for any internet or even 3G. First World Problems.

Anyway, time for some Friday megalinks. Been doing well with the links, except for Thursday, but let’s continue doing them today.

No Weekend Viewing Picks yet. When they’re done, I’ll insert them here.

Let’s get cracking on the linkage.

National

We begin with Michael Hiestand of USA Today who talks with CBS’ Gary Danielson about the SEC Championship.

Ed Sherman with The Sherman Report has AOL’s David Whitley’s response to criticisms about his column about 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s tattoos.

Ed has CBS’ Verne Lundquist discussing SEC fatigue.

Ed has Gary Danielson’s preview of the SEC Championship.

And Ed analyzes the local ratings for the NFL.

Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk has Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein baffled at the NFL’s censoring of an interview featuring Bradley Cooper over a movie Weinstein produced that referenced gambling and adds that some team owners actually liked the flick.

Lesley Goldberg of the Hollywood Reporter notes that U.S. Olympic diving gold medalist David Boudia will join a new ABC celebrity diving show as a judge. Yes, Greg Louganis will also be a judge.

Will Ashworth of Investor Place wonders if now is the time for Disney to sell ESPN.

Jordan Rabinowitz of SportsGrid has video of San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich shooting down TNT’s Charles Barkley during an in-game interview against the Miami Heat.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing says this weekend is a big test for Fox College Football.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth notes that CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network need to step up their games.

Sports Media Watch talks about the ratings for Notre Dame-USC.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com says Notre Dame’s resurgence is good news for its TV rights.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell feels NBA Communist Sympathizer David Stern is wrong for threatening to sanction the San Antonio Spurs for sending their major players home last night.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says traditional media is clashing with new rules surrounding live tweeting of games.

From earlier in the week, John Koblin of Deadspin writes about ESPN admonishing its staff for crediting a story to SportsbyBrooks.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe says some big name announcers got their start at Boston College’s student radio station.

Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant writes that the Big East Conference has to recover from its latest blows while negotiating a new TV contract.

Charles McGrath of the New York Times profiles WFAN’s Steve Somers who’s been schmoozing s-p-o-r-t-s for 25 years on the nation’s first all-sports radio station.

Newsday’s Neil Best says SNY’s New York Jets postgame show does not pull any punches.

Neil has the Jets’ Tim Tebow being fine with the New York media.

Neil has an ESPN executive embracing debate.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick hates the Knicks’ style of play.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has New York’s Capital Region’s Week 13 NFL TV schedule.

Pete says ESPN executives are doing backflips over Notre Dame playing in the BCS National Championship Game.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says next week’s Army-Navy game will be aired nationally on radio.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that Louisville made the right sales pitch to get invited to join the ACC.

South

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman notes that three local college football teams all get national telecasts at the same time on Saturday.

Midwest

Lynn Henning of the Detroit News says while the Tigers may not have a rights fee as high as major market teams, they are still happy with their relationship with Fox Sports.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recaps a GQ article that profiles some of the NFL replacement referees.

Danny Ecker at Crain’s Chicago Business discusses Groupon’s new relationship with MLB.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Missouri football and basketball games will remain on a Gateway City radio station for several years.

Dan wonders where a local sports radio talk show host will surface after losing his job for making racial comments.

Greg Palermo of the Creve Coeur (MO) Patch says a local sports radio host said goodbye to his listeners today.

West

The Idaho Statesman says ESPN Radio has picked up a new affiliate in Boise.

John Maffei of the North County Times is frustrated that most local fans can’t watch this weekend’s high school football championship games.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says tonight’s Pac-12 Championship on Fox gives UCLA and Stanford a chance to wipe their slate clean for the postseason.

Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times catches up with Dodgers voice Vin Scully as he turns 85.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Dodgers are about to hit the motherlode whether it’s with Fox or another company.

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

And that’s going to do it for now.

Bringing Out Some Wednesday Sports Media Thoughts

Time for some overdue sports radio thoughts. I apologize for the inconsistency in posting. I’ve been sick since last week and its hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s no fun not having a voice and certainly not good to feel wrecked every time I awake. I hope to get better soon, but this bug continues to linger.

But you visit to to get the latest news and some occasional reviews and thoughts so let’s provide some now while I can. As usual, they come in bullet form.

• With ESPN reportedly close to wrapping up a long term contract with the BCS for the new college football playoff that begins in 2014, it’s amazing to think how much money is being paid for the contract. Sports Business Journal reports that ESPN would give the BCS $500 million annually over a 12 year span for not just two semifinal games and the championship, but for three “contract” bowls that would include the Rose, Sugar (originally the new “Champions Bowl”) and Orange Bowls.

  Not only does this keep the college football postseason in ESPN’s possession once the BCS system is done next year, but it also continues ESPN’s tight Kung-Fu grip on college football.

  Now, the other networks including CBS and Fox do have rights to BCS conferences, but they have to deal with ESPN as a partner (Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC). There isn’t much that ESPN doesn’t have its hands on and if it doesn’t want to keep rights to a league, it won’t. But until the day occurs when ESPN will let a conference slip to another network (ahem, Big East), ESPN is going to have a major say in college football for a long time to come.

• It’s really strange when WFAN’s Mike Francesa can be a Voice of Reason, but in the case of ESPN’s Rick Reilly, Mikey was dead on. After the Monday Night Football game on ESPN between Kansas City and Pittsburgh, Reilly was seen on camera instructing postgame host Stuart Scott to give him credit for allegedly breaking the news of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s shoulder injury on Twitter. However, as pointed out rather deftly by Deadspin’s Tim Burke, it had already been reported by his ESPN colleague, Adam Schefter, and as Francesa said, it was quite apparent to anyone watching ESPN that Big Ben was hurt.

  Ever since Reilly went to ESPN, he has become a small fish in a very big lake. When he was at Sports Illustrated, he was a big fish in a small pond, so he was very noticeable. In fact, when he was at SI, one could surmise that he was the star of the magazine, writing the Point After on the back page.

  But after being lured to ESPN for a lot of money, Reilly hasn’t found a signature role to stand out. His pieces on SportsCenter have been rather forgettable. ESPN has tried to employ him as an essayist at The Open Championship and major tennis events rather unsuccessfully. Do you remember his show “Homecoming” which ran for about twenty minutes? Of course you don’t.

  Whenever Reilly tries to report something, he gets mocked by blogs or even his own colleagues.

  I don’t know when Reilly’s contract with ESPN expires, it’s really not my concern, but when it does, the Powers That Be should ask for some of their money back because Reilly has been mailing it in for the past few years.

• You may not be familiar with the name of Dino Costa, but subscribers to SiriusXM are. Dino is the nighttime host on Mad Dog Radio. His Twitter feed is an interesting follow. And while I may disagree with some of his tweets, Costa is quite entertaining. And his radio show is a very good listen. If you have the opportunity to listen to him, by all means do so. Costa will tell you that he’s a good listen, but that’s fine.

  Last week, Dino called into his boss’ show, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, as the two have been feuding on-air, to tell him he (Russo) is a has-been. Mad Dog Radio’s Steve Torre tries to play peacemaker in this clip.

   

  There are two trains of thought. Either this is real and the two are at war, or it’s another stunt that Mad Dog is attempting to pull off, but I don’t think Costa would fool his listeners and play them. In any event, Costa is quite good and if you have SiriusXM, give the man a try if you haven’t already.

• CBS has created a mash-up of Queen’s iconic “We Will Rock You” with the network’s NFL theme “Posthumus Zone” and it’s pretty good. Queen’s Brian May teamed up with Helmut VonLichten to form a re-mix. It will be CBS’ theme for Super Bowl XLVII in February. I didn’t know what to think when I saw the press release on Tuesday, but after giving a listen to the mash-up, I found that I liked it. Good job, CBS.
• Saw “Skyfall” over the weekend and loved it. As a James Bond fan, I loved the dark feel to this chapter. Daniel Craig has made Bond into his own and you can see he’s more comfortable in the role. Dame Judy Dench as “M” is tremendous. Javier Bardem was great as the villain and it will be nice to see Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris in future Bond films. There were some nice nods to the past while bringing the movie into the 21st Century. Great direction from Sam Mendes. Can’t wait for Bond 24.

And we’re done.

Bringing Back The Friday Megalinks

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

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

Now to your linkage.

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

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

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

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

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

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

Canada

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

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

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

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

Bringing Out Some Wednesday Links For You

Time for some linkage in this mid-week and last day of the 2012 MLB regular season. Lots of things to get to.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand analyzes the new MLB TV deals with Fox and Turner.

Nate Davis of USA Today’s Game On blog previews tonight’s NFL Network “A Football Life” documentary.

John Ourand and David Broughton of Sports Business Journal report on this season’s local MLB TV ratings.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter has a Fox Sports executive being very bullish on soccer.

Alex Ben Block of the Reporter goes over the MLB contracts with Fox and Turner.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable writes that the American Cable Association, which hates everything, is railing against the MLB TV deals.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News also delves into the new MLB deals.

Mike says Monday night’s Chicago Bears-Dallas Cowboys game garnered cable’s third biggest audience of the year.

Kristian Dyer at Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner blog notes that Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones has apologized for an unintentional insensitive tweet responding to the paralyzed Eric LeGrand.

Spiracle Media through Storify harnessed some tweets from athletes who watched the extremely fascinating 30 for 30 documentary, “Broke” on ESPN.

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report anticipates Fox’s next move to create an all-sports cable channel.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at PGA.com’s video coverage of the Ryder Cup.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell explores the NFL financial advisory program in hopes of preventing athletes from going broke.

NFL referee Ed Hochuli is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe explores the latest Arbitron ratings for the city’s sports radio stations.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the new MLB TV deals.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 6 college football TV schedule.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s and former DC sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak celebrated the Nationals on SportsCenter.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes about the new MLB TV deals.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says last Saturday’s Texas-Oklahoma State game registered huge local ratings.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mark Dawidziak tells us that former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel will be joining a local TV station as a weekly contributor. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a local sports anchor will not face charges stemming from a domestic violence case.

Howie Magner of Milwaukee Magazine profiles Trenni Kusnierek, now of Comcast SportsNet New England, on her battle with depression.

Robert Feder of TimeOut Chicago writes that the Bulls have renewed their Spanish radio rights (scroll down).

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch has a full story on the Bulls’ renewal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the new TV deals with Fox and Turner gives MLB plenty of stability into the next decade.

James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC’s Don Cherry is blasting the Maple Leafs for their treatment of one of their players.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Globe and Mail notes that the MLB Postseason will have teams from both small and big markets.

Cork Gaines at the Business Insider Sports Page has some memorable quotes from last night’s 30 for 30 “Broke” documentary.

John Daly at the Daly Planet explores the possibilities for the much discussed, but unconfirmed Fox Sports 1.

Joe Favorito says College Radio Day is a very good thing for aspiring broadcasters.

The legend of Australian hurdler Michelle Jenneke is growing thanks to a new animated gif showing her warming up in the rain. This has nothing to do with sports media. Just me linking to Michelle Jenneke.

And that is all.

Doing Some Monday Linkage

I’m going to make a concerted effort to do linkage regularly again. It’s the reason why I started Fang’s Bites back in 2007 and I was able to do the links daily, even on weekends. But lately, my schedule has been so busy that the site has become a press release dump and I want that to stop.

So I hope to do the links every day for you this week unless I have to be off-site, but I’m going to do my best to bring you the linkage.

So without further delay, here’s the linkage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about the drama that was the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

In Sports Business Journal, John Ourand notes that NBC Sports Network’s ratings have really fallen after getting big ratings for the 2012 London Olympics.

John reports that Fox Sports is about to renew its deal with NASCAR.

Over to the ESPN Front Row PR blog where ESPN PR maven Bill Hofheimer tells us that tonight’s Monday Night Football game between Chicago and Dallas will be Mike Tirico’s 100th contest. Congrats, Mike!

Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal delves into which MLB announcer is the most biased and the results will probably confirm your suspicions.

Bloomberg’s John Helyar, Scott Church and Scott Soshnick report on MLB’s secret TV deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report says the European post-Ryder Cup press conference was an embarrassment to golf.

Ed explains how the Ryder Cup become a coveted property for NBC Sports after it was originally a sleepy event.

And Ed talks with NBC’s Roger Maltbie about his first job in television.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter remembers former ABC and CBS motorsports voice Chris Economaki who died last week at the age of 91.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says the Pro Bowlers Tour is back on ESPN.

As part of a special section, Advertising Age’s Brian Steinberg notes that NBC’s Seth Winter is one of the publications Media Mavens.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group writes about the launch of Comcast SportsNet Houston which kicks off on participating cable and satellite systems (not DirecTV though) today.

Mike McCarthy at Sports Biz USA talks about how track athletes are attempting to unionize to combat the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 40 which prevents them from being in non-Olympic sponsor ads during the Games.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick wants NBC’s announcers to kick Tiger Woods to the curb.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Fox’s Michael Strahan and co-host of “Live with Kelly and Michael” says he got good practice for his latest gig by talking with reporters when he was a New York Football Giant.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union talks with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network Radio co-host Jim Duquette about the Nationals.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle tells us about today’s launch of the latest Comcast SportsNet regional sports network.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel says the Green Bay Packers got screwed by the replacement and the real NFL referees.

Chicagoland Radio and Media says WGN in Chicago, not WGN America, will air tonight’s Bears-Cowboys Monday Night Football game plus a locally produced pregame show.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says former Comcast SportsNet reporter Sarah Kustok received an honor last week.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post notes that CBS’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will have called three consecutive Broncos games after next Sunday.

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

Tom has five things he learned from the weekend.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says drunk tweets from an NHL player made the lockout hit home.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star previews this week’s Blogs with Balls 5 event which takes place in Canada for the first time.

At SB Nation’s Puck The Media, Steve Lepore notes that four sports networks will combine for 50 college hockey regular season games, none of them named “ESPN”.

Steve DelVecchio at Larry Brown Sports says comedian Norm MacDonald actually predicted the European Ryder Cup comeback on Twitter the night before Sunday’s matches.

EPL Talk says Fox Soccer needs its own English Premier League highlight show similar to what BBC has in its venerable “Match of the Day.”

Sports Media Watch says ESPN will shuffle an IndyCar race in primetime to ABC next year.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has ten minutes of bloopers from New York Yankees radio voice John Sterling.

Matt notes that NBC inserted salsa music for Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz after scoring a touchdown for the second time in as many seasons.

And that’s going to wrap up the links for today.

Some Wednesday Evening Linkage

I’ll provide a few links on this Wednesday afternoon.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at CBS pushing its Sunday primetime lineup to 7:30 p.m. ET to accommodate the NFL.

Michael Kruse of Grantland has a very good story catching up with former ESPN Radio host Nanci Donnellan aka “The Fabulous Sports Babe”.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report has some thoughts on Notre Dame joining the ACC except for football and hockey.

Ed notes that Michelle Beadle might be headed to mornings on NBC Sports Network.

ESPN’s Kristi Dosh writes that despite losing Notre Dame, the Big East can still get a big TV rights eal.

Darren Rovell of ESPN says Notre Dame won’t becoming a full-time member of the ACC simply due to the fact that it likes its deal with NBC for football.

Georg Szalai from the Hollywood Reporter has CBS Head Honcho Leslie Moonves boasting about Super Bowl ads being sold for more than $4 million per 30 second spot.

Todd Spangler of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Google Fiber has added ESPN and several other Disney networks.

Tim Baysinger of B&C says Fox Sports has partnered with Oklahoma University to provide exclusive content on its Fox Sports Net channels.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek tells us NBC’s Sunday Night Football set another ratings record.

Jason Del Ray at Advertising Age says ESPN is launching an ad campaign for its pay Insider service.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life writes that thanks to the Olympics, NBC cruised to a summer ratings victory.

John Koblin of Deadspin has the great video of WFAN’s Mike Francesa falling asleep during his NFL Now show that was simulcast on YES last Sunday.

John also looks at the NFL going further into Sunday primetime.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing looks at Tim Brando’s Twitter war with Ohio State fans that stemmed from an interview during his radio show today.

Bill Carter of the New York Times discusses CBS adjusting its Sunday primetime schedule for the NFL.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl NY says the New York Giants season opener on NBC topped the ratings in the Big Apple.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call is one of the few who likes Bob Costas’ Sunday Night Football halftime commentaries.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has the local ratings for the DC Football Team’s season opener and RGIII’s pro debut.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle looks at the new Fox Sports-Oklahoma University rights deal.

David has a few notes in his blog including one on retiring Astros voice Milo Hamilton.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman says the NFL topped the local weekend ratings.

Berry Tremel of The Oklahoman looks at the new Fox Sports-OU relationship.

Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World has details of the Fox Sports-Oklahoma agreement.

Guerin Emig of the World has a Q&A about the new Sooner Sports TV programming arrangement.

Paul M. Banks from the Chicago Sports Media Watch says the White Sox set a 3 year ratings high for Comcast SportsNet on Tuesday.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune anticipates the 50,000th edition of ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the next inductee to the Broadcasters Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame could be going in as both a player and a broadcaster.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says a documentary on soccer match fixing is a reason why Canada needs the CBC.

Sports Media Watch says Monday Night Football got off to a slow start.

SMW notes that the U.S. Open men’s final on Monday afternoon didn’t do as well as it could have.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth noticed an error in one of Fox Sports’  MLB promos.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC Sports Network is increasing its college hockey schedule in case of an NHL lockout.

That’s going to do it for now.

Some Quick Monday Afternoon Linkage

Was out for a bit today so I’m behind in what I want to get done here. I’ll do some links for you to tie you over.

I’ll start with a couple of stories from Sports Business Daily which looks at some record overnight ratings for Fox and NBC for the first Sunday of the NFL regular season.

John Ourand at SBD notes that ESPN has officially scrapped the musical opens for Monday Night Football for good.

From NFL UK, Nicholas Pike writes that viewers can watch Monday Night Football through BBC’s red button or through its website.

Sam Laird at Mashable says NBC’s Michele Tafoya has been sending video tweets from the sidelines during the NFL Kickoff Game and on Sunday Night Football.

Michael O’Connell at the Hollywood Reporter says NBC is really crowing about its Sunday Night Football overnights.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable reports that NFL Network has hired a former DirecTV executive to join its NFL Total Access show.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says the New York Giants are on the forefront of social media.

Adweek’s Emma Bazilian discovers that CNN Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer loves watching ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Media Life Magazine reports that CBS has almost sold out its Super Bowl ad inventory.

Merrill Knox at TV Spy says Friend of Fang’s Bites Courtney Fallon has taken her talents to South Beach from Providence.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell writes that Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA becomes the latest NFL facility to offer free Wi-Fi to its fans.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report looks at what’s in store this season on ESPN’s Monday Night Fotoball.

Ed says the NFL can’t be pleased over the length of some of Sunday’s games due to replacement refs.

Rob Tobias from the ESPN Front Row PR blog talks to the man who composed the iconic SportsCenter theme.

Also from the Front Row blog, Allison Stoneberg writes about ESPN’s Monday Night Football production truck.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that NBC Sports Network will air World Team Tennis this weekend.

Pete says the Baseball Hall of Fame has narrowed the field for the Ford C. Frick broadcasters award.

Pete writes that the local CBS affiliate has opted not to show the US Open men’s final today. The same here in Providence. It’s been pushed to its co-owned Fox affiliate’s secondary digital channel. Ouch.

At the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik talks with new Monday Night Football reporter Lisa Salters who got her start in TV news in the Charm City.

Rich Shopes of the Tampa Bay Times says the local blackout of the Buccaneers home opener is killing local sports bars.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says a nice day plus a blowout lowered the Texans’ TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds’ radio ratings are truly amazing.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman took note of the replacement referees during yesterday’s San Francisco-Green Bay game.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with NBC’s Al Michaels.

The Arizona Republic’s Paola Boivin doesn’t have good news in the DirecTV-Pac 12 Networks talks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has five things he learned over the weekend.

Tom has your sports calendar for the week.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail downplays CBC’s acquisition of the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Matt Sarzyniak of Matt’s College Sports has a couple of notes on the ESPN/Fox Big 12 deal.

Doing Our Friday Megalinks

Haven’t been able to provide the Friday megalinks in a while. Let’s do an edition today.

Normally I include a link to the Weekend Viewing Picks, but I’ll be doing that tonight so you can find it on my site when it’s posted. If you follow me on Twitter or have an RSS feed, you’ll be updated as soon as it posts. If not, you can find it later.

Let’s do the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand wonders what effect the gold medal win by the US Women’s Soccer National Team will have on the sport in the long run.

Michael also live blogged Thursday’s Olympic Primetime on NBC.

Jeffrey Martin of USA Today looks at the grand experiment that’s known as the Pac-12 Networks.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the NBCUniversal’s handling of the 2012 Olympics.

At the Sports on Earth blog, Joe Posnanski chronicles his day in covering the Olympics.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily says with NFL preseason games airing in many local markets on Thursday, NBC Olympic overnight ratings took a hit.

Bill King of SBD says CBS Sports is forging ahead with a show featuring the professional debut of several US Olympic boxers despite their poor performance in London.

Ryan Baucom of SBD writes that several Olympic athletes are getting a boost in Twitter followers after their success in the London Games.

Tripp Mickle of SBD says Universal Sports broke out an ad on NBC Thursday trying to promote its Olympic sports programming. Good luck with that.

Eric Fisher of SBD says Yahoo is declaring victory over NBCOlympics.com for unique pageviews.

Sohrab Amari of the Wall Street Journal reviews an NBC News documentary fronted by Tom Brokaw which will air on NBC’s Olympic coverage on Saturday.

Sarah Kwak of Sports Illustrated talks with Lolo Jones about the media firestorm that swelled just before she ran her 100 meters hurdles race.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with outgoing Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan about his first job. Ryan will be missed in the pages of the Globe.

Sports Media Journal’s Keith Thibault and I have an Olympic-themed podcast with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times and Bruce Beck of WNBC-TV.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Today Show host Matt Lauer had an icy reunion with former co-host Ann Curry on NBC’s London Olympics set.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the FCC has already denied a Comcast request to stay its decision requiring the cable provider to give space to the Tennis Channel.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says Olympic marketers have failed to medal in their social media campaigns.

But Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age looks at the Olympic sponsors that managed to get a boost through social media.

Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age says NBC and the International Olympic Committee have to fix the Olympic business model before it breaks down.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life notes that NBC’s ratings for Wednesday Olympic Primetime show drew better viewership numbers than Atlanta in 1996.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS Sports is preparing for all type of weather conditions for this weekend’s PGA Championship.

Karen Hogan of SVG looks at NBC New York Olympic operations.

Ken Kerschbaumer at SVG says Denmark TV has a floating barge studio for the London Olympics. Now that’s pretty cool.

And Birgit Heidsiek of SVG says Eurosport TV is producing the Olympics in 3-D.

Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute and writing as the ESPN Ombudsman investigates a plagiarism incident at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that the Pac-12 Conference is readying an aggressive digital strategy that will go along with its television distribution.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead goes after former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol for being out of touch in defending the tape delayed Olympics.

The Big Lead looks at the Pac-12 being in the forefront of digital distribution after being marred for years of being behind the curve.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the Miami Dolphins will take advantage of the NFL’s relaxed TV blackout policy this weekend.

Emmett Jones of Sports Business Digest notes that Buffalo Wild Wings has purchased naming rights for a college bowl game. Looks like it will be going to overtime every year.

Sports Media Watch says with NBC committed to the Olympics this year, the NFL Hall of Fame preseason game was aired on NFL Network and naturally suffered a big viewer dropoff.

SMW reports that NBC got another ratings increase for the Olympics.

TVNewsCheck says Gannett is declaring victory saying three of its stations are the top-rated local NBC affiliates in key demographics.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser looks at NBC’s Today Show operations in London.

At TVSpy, Alex tours NBC’s operation center for its local affiliates in London.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who’s been calling Olympic handball off a monitor for NBC.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen discusses Golf Channel’s meteoric rise and its plans to cover the PGA Championship this weekend.

Jane L. Levere of the New York Times writes about ESPN’s new ad campaign for Monday Night Football.

Verne Gay at Newsday notes that a long-time NBC Sports director is retiring after the Olympics.

Newsday’s Chris Serico wonders if NBC’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera will be a bit more subdued during the Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday than their talkative performance during the Opening Ceremony two Fridays ago.

Neil Best of Newsday catches up with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski who’s filling a new role at the network after being in the Monday Night Football both.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in another one of his moods today.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes a local radio station’s high school football schedule.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Pac-12 Networks will be seen on Time Warner Cable locally.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says despite a lost season, the Philadelphia Phillies TV crew still has plenty to talk about during games.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the business of fantasy football as leagues get ready to hold their drafts soon, if not already.

Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that more people were watching the DC NFL Team in area sports bars last night as compared to the Nationals.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says the Nationals radio team tried to explain the term “ball bag”.

South

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald reviews HBO’s Hard Knocks on the Dolphins.

Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Dolphins have announced their TV blackout policy today.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says a local high school sports TV show expands to a new market.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer says ESPN’s College GameDay could be visiting the Queen City in February.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Dick Ebersol’s latest comments on tape delaying Olympic events.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with a local sports radio host who’s perturbed at a former employer.

Dan notes that the Olympics and the St. Louis Cardinals ratings have been hurt by each other.

West

Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-12 Networks are ready to launch next week, but without a few major cable and satellite providers.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with a former NBC Olympics analyst who was fired on the spot after calling a race.

To the Ventura County Star where Jim Carlisle talks about the increased spotlight on the Pac-12 through its new TV networks.

Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the Irish radio call of boxer Katie Taylor’s victory giving the country its first gold medal of the Olympics.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says this is a critical time for beach volleyball as the sport is in transition now.

Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.

And those are your supersized megalinks for today.

Some Quick Monday Links

My apologies for not bringing you links over the last week. It’s been a crazy time for me. Some linkage now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that NBC’s Rowdy Gaines doesn’t believe that Michael Phelps won’t be swimming competitively four years from now. And Hiestand reports that Matt Millen will ruin your college football viewing experience during primetime this fall.

John Ourand and Tripp Mickle at Sports Business Journal’s Olympics site find what former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol is doing in London during the Games.

Ourand talks with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts about the Olympics being a guinea pig for new media.

Ourand writes that NBC execs are feeling bullish on the Olympics after a very good start.

Mickle says a change in strategy has led the International Olympic Committee to increase its take in rights fees from global TV partners.

Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp writes that NBC saw a slight bump from Sunday’s Olympic Primetime from Beijing.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable says last night’s Olympic ratings were down from last Sunday.

Jeanine Poggi of Advertising Age says we can complain all we want, NBC is still laughing all the way to the bank with its increased Olympic TV ratings.

Media Life notes that NBC’s Today Show is back on top of the morning show ratings thanks to the Olympics.

A former GM of an NBC affiliate tells Chuck Ross of TV Week what the network can learn from the BBC in televising the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report chastises NBC for not showing Usain Bolt’s gold medal-winning run in the 100 meters live yesterday.

Speaking of Bolt, BroBible has video of him stopping a post-race interview with a Spanish reporter as Sanya Richards-Ross was getting her gold medal at the Olympics.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group notes how the Canadian Olympic Broadcast Consortium downsized its operation for London as compared to its huge undertaking in Vancouver.

Jason looks at BBC’s preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead says NBC’s handling of the London Olympics pales in comparison to the BBC in the UK.

Also from The Big Lead, Jason McIntyre notes that the increasingly bitter Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has set his sights on Olympic gymnasts wondering why they’re so tiny and don’t have any breasts. C’mon, Phil.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has video of the BBC track & field studio crew off-camera openly rooting for Mo Farah when he won his gold medal in the 10,000 meters and then again the following day for Usain Bolt in the 100 meters.

Peter Kafka of All Things Digital reports that the long-rumored Turner Sports purchase of the Bleacher Report for an estimated nine figures will finally close today.

John Koblin of Deadspin has the entire Twitter discussion between ESPN tome co-author James Andrew Miller and ESPN’s Darren Rovell from earlier today.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has video of NFL Network’s Mike Mayock singing during last night’s Hall of Fame preseason game.

Jane Kellogg of the Hollywood Reporter writes about NBC’s rights extension for the French Open.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the NFL season hasn’t officially begun, yet CBS is close to being sold out for Super Bowl XLVII.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that US judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison got to meet Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers at the NBC Olympic studios in London where he’s the studio analyst for basketball.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post goes after MLB today.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says NBC is attempting to ride the Michael Phelps gravy train for as long as possible.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has video of the new Subway ad starring DC NFL Team QB Robert Griffin III.

Dan has a look at the DC NFL Team’s preseason TV schedule.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says NBC has not been hurt by tape delaying Olympic events.

Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes about last week’s debut of the new local sports radio station.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Friend of Fang’s Bites Trenni Kusnierek will be leaving her radio gig at the end of the month to become an anchor/reporter for Comcast SportsNet New England. In effect, Trenni replaces Nicole Zalmouis who left for NFL AM on NFL Network.

At Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks says outgoing Comcast SportsNet reporter Sarah Kustok got a rousing sendoff from White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski the other night.

Sarah has a picture of the sendoff at her Twitter account.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY tells you where Sarah is going.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post looks at the Broncos’ radio and TV and other related broadcasts.

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

Sports Media Watch notes that NBC’s Olympic daytime ratings are up.

And I’ll end it there for now.

Some Olympic Media Links

I owe you some linkage and I gathered so many over the last few days that I’m slowing down by browser with so many tabs. I have to clear them so my browser can run properly.

So many things to go over. Let’s do this.

First at SportsGrid, Jordan Rabinowitz at SportsGrid notes that NBC actually spoiled itself by running a Today Show promo about Missy Franklin winning the gold medal in her 100 meter backstroke race just minutes before it aired!

Cork Gaines of the Business Insider has video of that Today promo. It’s in proper context too.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today live blogs Monday night’s NBC primetime telecast.

Michael explains NBC’s policy of holding the glamor Olympic events for primetime.

Will Oremus at Slate reviews the very strange story of NBC getting a UK reporter’s Twitter account suspended because he was critical of the network’s tape delay shenanigans and for tweeting a public e-mail address of a network producer.

Sam Masters of The Independent in the UK says that reporter is a colleague at his newspaper.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead has NBC’s statement on the matter through Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch.

Sports Business Daily Global looks at the global Olympic TV ratings.

Sports Business Daily notes the three-day average rating for NBC for the first weekend of the 2012 Olympics.

John Ourand at SBD’s Olympic site says NBC is utilizing its Comcast SportsNet affiliates to help promote the Games.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has an interview with NBC Olympics rowing analyst Yasmin Farooq.

Matt writes that NBC’s tape delay policy continues to anger some viewers.

Steve Lepore of SB Nation says despite the tape delays, NBC has nothing to apologize for.

Jeff Jarvis at Buzz Machine is intrigued by the Twitter hashtag #nbcfail which has been popping up since the Olympics began.

ESPN’s Julie Foudy is saddened by US Women’s Soccer National Team goaltender Hope Solo’s Twitter attacks on former teammate Brandi Chastain who has been working for NBC during the Olympics.

John Clarke at Forbes SportsMoney says NBC reaped in the ratings for the Opening Ceremony last Friday, but took a beating on Twitter.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says while every Olympic event is being streamed online by NBC, not everyone can see them.

Richard says NBC may have thought putting events online would have eased complaints about tape delays, but they haven’t.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report looks at how newspapers are covering the 2012 Olympics with fewer resources at their disposal in the present day.

Ed says problems with online streaming at NBCOlympics.com should be expected.

By the way, I tried to watch the streaming of Missy Franklin in the 100 meter backstroke on Monday and this is how it looked on my iPad through the NBC Olympics Live Extra app. Actual image.

It should be much clearer than that, but I’m getting that type of quality especially when an event of high interest is on. NBC has to correct that.

Sports Media Watch says Olympic Daytime and Late Night are doing well for NBC.

SMW says the Olympics are off to a fast start on NBC.

A few links that aren’t Olympic-related.

The Big Lead reports that the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb is expected to leave ESPN for CBS and a formal announcement will be made later this week.

SportsRantz got up early on Monday and took notes on the first hour of the premiere edition of NFL AM.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth says a new policy on making injuries public could hurt Jacksonville Jaguars beat reporters.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette can’t believe the latest in bad home run calls by Yankees radio voice John Sterling.

Sports Media Watch says it appears ESPN has snatched the rights to the new “Champions Bowl” that will pit teams from the SEC and Big 12.

And that’s is where we will end the linkage for now.

NBC and Twitter Announce Olympics Partnership

On Sunday, we began hearing inklings about a relationship between NBC and Twitter for the Olympics. Now, we have the official word from NBC. In this new partnership, Twitter will create a separate page for the Olympics, encourage users to watch NBC’s coverage and embed one of its staffers with NBC’s social media team in London.

In turn, NBC will promote Twitter on its broadcasts and utilize the #Olympics hashtag during the duration of the Games.

According to Shira Ovide of the Wall Street Journal, no money will exchange hands.

It’s the second social media partnership for NBC for the Olympics. Last week, it announced a new partnership with Facebook for the London Games.

Here’s the press release.

NBC OLYMPICS AND TWITTER ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP FOR LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

Twitter to Launch Olympics Event Page at Twitter.com/#Olympics
Twitter Tracker on NBCOlympics.com & NBC Olympics Mobile and Tablet App to Track Real-Time Pulse of Games

LONDON — July 23, 2012 — NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, and Twitter will partner during the London 2012 Olympic Games to drive viewership and interest. The partnership includes:

• launching the first-ever Olympics event page in the U.S. at Twitter.com/#Olympics;
• aggregating content on the #Olympics event page from Olympians, @NBCOlympics, @Olympics, @USOlympic and the best of the London Olympic conversation;
• promoting the event page with on air graphics across the networks of NBCUniversal that are airing Olympic programming, including in primetime on NBC, as well as additional on-air promotion and content integration;
• and reprising the NBC Olympic Twitter Tracker, a visually compelling real time heat map depicting the minute-by-minute movements of the Olympic conversation on Twitter

The Olympics event page will be Twitter’s home for Olympic news and information in the United States. The page will aggregate the Olympic conversation with the most engaging and relevant Tweets about the Games from athletes, coaches, teams, families, media, fans, and Olympic insiders, including NBC Olympics commentators. Representatives from Twitter will be on-site in London to work side-by-side with NBC Olympics on producing and updating the page to showcase the best stories on Twitter. The page will be co-branded by NBC Olympics, the International Olympic Committee, and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“With the eyes of the world focused on London, there is no doubt that the conversation on Twitter will rage around the competition, the athletes and the incredible stories from the Games,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “This partnership with Twitter will enable NBC Olympics to make an enormous contribution to this conversation, bringing to the swarm of attention surrounding the London Games our expertise, depth of content from our years of preparation, and the unique access to the Games only NBC Olympics has in London.”

To help promote the Olympics event page, NBC Olympics will include #Olympics in certain on-air graphics, and will promote the page in other ways on air throughout the Games across the networks of NBCUniversal that are airing the Olympics, including within primetime on NBC. In addition to promoting the Twitter.com/#Olympics web address, U.S. Twitter users will be directed to the event page when they click on the hashtag #Olympics or search for “Olympics” on Twitter. The page will also be available in the U.S., for non-users via promotions on Twitter.com, and is available on mobile devices.

“Twitter has become the roar of the crowd during live sporting events. Partnering with NBC Olympics to create Twitter.com/#Olympics allows us to now shine a spotlight on the best moments within the shared experience of the Olympics and to tell the stories that capture the world’s attention,” said Chloe Sladden, Vice President of Media, Twitter. “Our unparalleled joint orchestration across NBC Olympics’ presentation of the Games on-air, online, on mobile, and on tablet will bring fans closer to every moment of the Olympics.”

NBC Olympics and Twitter have also reprised the NBC Olympics Twitter Tracker presented by General Electric (GE) on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Olympics mobile and tablet app. This real-time heat map will track the Olympic conversation swarming around the Games, each sport, the athletes and the hot topics swirling around London. It will include the Olympics “Tweet Sheet,” a constant feed of athlete conversation prior to and during the Games. Olympic Top Sponsor and NBC Olympics advertiser GE will be the presenting sponsor of the NBC Olympics Twitter Tracker on NBCOlympics.com bringing to the conversation its insight on human and athlete health at #healthyshare.

There you have it.

Classless. Just Classless

No words. None. I hope Celeb Boutique was not aware of the shootings in Aurora, CO today, but even so, how can anyone make this type of tweet in the wake of the 12 people who died and 59 others who were injured?

#Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora dress Shop: celebboutique.com/aurora-white-p…

— Celeb Boutique (@celebboutique) July 20, 2012

Bad. Just plain bad. That’s all for today.

It’s A Thursday Link Thing

Let’s do some linkage now. Fifth straight day! This is a record!

Michael Florek at USA Today’s Game On blog notes that Time Magazine will have six separate covers in four regions for its Olympic preview issue. For the U.S., guys will have Lolo Jones to gawk at, women get Ryan Lochte. Gymnast Gabby Douglas also adorns a cover.

To Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal who profiles NBC Olympics Executive Producer Jim Bell who is not only following in his mentor, Dick Ebersol’s footsteps, but still has to do his regular job of overseeing the Today show as well.

Sports Business Daily says a nightly Olympic light show in London will display colors based on the overall mood of Tweets during the Games. I kid you not.

Nick Zaccardi and Richard Deitsch at Sports Illustrated provide you with fifty Twitter feeds you should follow during the Olympics.

Speaking of SI, Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report delves into the staff cuts made this week at the fabled magazine.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age looks at where SI made its staff cuts.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable notes a new NFL analyst hire for ESPN.

Noreen O’Leary at Adweek writes that Cadillac has launched a new short film to target consumers just before the Olympics.

Jenny Tsao at Arbitron notes that sports radio on FM is drawing a higher and younger audience than AM.

Matt Hayes from the Sporting News reports that the college football four team playoff system could get a huge rights fee and that ESPN is a big favorite to get the whole kit and caboodle.

John Koblin of Deadspin finds more evidence of ESPN.com writer Lynn Hoppes lifting material.

Tom Ley at Deadspin had a funny battle with a horse dressage site this week. And thanks to Deadspin’s readers, the dressage site’s editor had to humbly apologize. The comments in both stories are just plain hilarious.

And Issac Rauch of Deadspin has video that has become a worldwide sensation, Australian hurdler Michelle Jenneke’s pre-race dance before her heat at the IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about Sports Illustrated’s staff cuts.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says the MLB All-Star Game drew well in New York.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the local ESPN Radio affiliate will have a weekly show devoted to the Saratoga horse racing season starting tonight.

Adam Sichko of the Albany Business Review says a local TV studio will assist NBC in producing its summer horse racing series at Saratoga.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a local radio station will pick up the Buffalo Bills this season.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Fox Soccer will air over 20 college soccer gamesin the fall.

In Press Box, Tim Richardson reports that a decision is close on the MASN/Washington Natonals rights fee dispute.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog writes that DC NFL Team linebacker Ryan Kerrigan guest anchored on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic this week.

Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com talks with Kerrigan about his experiences on the TV side.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that two sports radio hosts with local ties made Talkers Magazine’s Heavy 100 list.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch talks with ESPN Chicago NBA beat writer Nick Friedell.

Jack Denker of the Fremont (NE) Tribune profiles a native who’s working behind-the-scenes at ESPN.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says NBC is hoping for big numbers from the London Olympics.

Dave Paresh of the San Francisco Chronicle says NBC and Adobe have teamed up to create two Olympic mobile apps.

David P. Greisman at Boxing Scene says NBC is seeking to increase the time in-between rounds so it can squeeze in more commercials.

Joe Favorito says the Houston Rockets should be taking a page from the Brooklyn Nets’ playbook and start reaching out the community.

We are done.

Let’s Break Out Some Monday Linkage

Here’s the Monday linkage wrapped in a nice bow for you.

From Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Michael Smith, they report that ESPN will pay an average of $80 million per year to air the Rose Bowl. That more than doubles the current contract which pays $30 million.

Liz Mullen of SBJ says a noted movie studio is forming a sports talent agency further melding Hollywood and athletics.

Also from Sports Business Journal, Chris Botta notes that Brooklyn is ready and waiting if the New York Islanders can’t find a new home on Long Island

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Bill Walton returns to national TV through ESPN as he’ll become the network’s analyst for Pac-12 basketball games.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that the early sign up numbers for NBC’s Olympic apps are encouraging.

Mike says NBCUniversal is looking to make the 2012 London Games a truly digital experience.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about turning 60.

Talkers Magazine, the so-called Bible of Talk Radio, lists its 2012 Heavy 100 of Sports Talk. I agree with Mike Francesa and Dan Patrick in the Top 3, the rest I have issues with including a few in the New England area, plus why is Joe Morgan on the list? And there are only two women.

Lisa O’Carroll of the London (UK) Guardian says Britain’s oldest and largest black newspaper has been denied credentials to the Olympics Stadium for the track & field events.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable notes that it’s expected that social media will be heavily used for the Olympics.

Matt Rudnitsky of SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Captain Blowhard and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban are engaging in the next Great Twitter feud.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs wonders how NFL Network’s new morning show can sustain fresh content over a four hour period every day.

Kirk Minihane of WEEI.com tackles the question over whether the Boston Red Sox should fire advisor Bill James over his comments on ESPN Radio about Joe Paterno and the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

If it’s Monday, then it must mean that the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is in a bad mood about something.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that Syracuse has negotiated an early exit to the ACC from the Big East Conference.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that ESPN is starting its weekday coverage of the Open Championship earlier than previously announced.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes writing in Press Box talks about the friendship that has developed between MASN’s Washington Nationals studio team of the great Johnny Holliday and Ray Knight.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog noticed that Democratic gargoyle strategist James Carville wore a Nats t-shirt on MSNBC over the weekend.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times has a look back at the weekend in sports television.

Mike Herndon of the Mobile (AL) Press-Register writes about the SEC releasing its early-season football TV schedule.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle looks back at the ten years since the failed US Olympic bids for the 2012 Games.

David imagines what if Houston had been awarded the 2012 Olympics.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says the Penn State scandal has been the talk of the town.

Matthew T. Hall at the San Diego Union-Tribune wants to organize a fan protest on the lack of movement on getting Padres games on local TV.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has your weekly sports calendar.

Sports Media Watch looks at Bill Walton making his return to ESPN.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media suggests how the NHL Network can stop the inexorable amount of game reruns during the summer.

Cork Gaines from the Business Insider’s Sports Page says MLB Advanced Media gave a hollow apology for a system-wide outage preventing fans from watching MLB.TV online Friday.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says truTV has given the go to a Shaquille O’Neal-fronted viral video show.

This is where we’ll end the links for today.

Grinding Out Some Tuesday Links For You

Let’s do some links. Couldn’t get to them yesterday. Time to grind some out today.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN won’t be an oasis away from political advertising this fall.

Michael also has the ratings on Wimbledon and NASCAR.

Bill King of Sports Business Journal looks at NBC bringing back boxing to network television.

Sports Business Daily Global notes that the Wimbledon men’s final drew well in both the US and the UK.

SBD says the International Olympic Committee is under fire for renewing sponsorship deals with McDonald’s and Coke in the midst of an increasing obesity crisis.

And Eric Fisher of SBD notes that MLB will allow players to Tweet during tonight’s All-Star Game.

Jason Fry of the ESPN Ombudsman’s Poynter Review Project notes that the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s reporting has changed thanks to Twitter.

Alicia Jessop at Forbes writes that Kansas City expects a big financial windfall from the MLB All-Star Game.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at Fox’s ever-changing production of tonight’s All-Star Game.

Chris Ariens of TVNewser has a clip of Erin Andrews’ interview with Fox News’ Shepard Smith in Kansas City.

Glenn Davis from SportsGrid notes that one cover of ESPN the Magazine’s Body issue will feature a nekkid Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots.

A rare link to Grantland finds a 15,612 word oral history of WFAN written by Alex French and Howie Kahn. It’s really good, but read it at your own pace and not all at once.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable says the Gentlemen’s Final at Wimbledon drew ESPN’s best tennis ratings ever.

Tim says NBA TV is all over Summer League games in the next two weeks.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News notes that the combined TNT/truTV effort for last Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race brought the highest ratings for the Daytona 400 in four years.

Ann Killion of Adweek says Olympic athletes are trying to get their piece of marketing gold in the midst of companies getting all of the sponsorship money.

Also from Adweek, Anthony Crupi writes that NBC and Turner Sports appear to be fighting for the main cable rights to MLB.

Lifestyle Mirror has a fantastic photo shoot with Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson.

To The Sherman Report where Ed Sherman has Part 1 of a two part series with Fox Sports MLB analyst Tim McCarver. And here’s Part 2.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times is amused that SNY, the home of the Mets, has erected a billboard at the Yankee Stadium subway train stop.

Richard says Jerry Seinfeld, a big baseball fan, will break down the iconic Abbot & Costello comedy skit, “Who’s on First?” on MLB Network.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a local TV station has hired a new sportscaster.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says WFAN and ESPN Radio NY will split Dial Global Radio’s Olympic coverage later this month.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that new DC NFL Team QB Robert Griffin III was asked on local sports radio if he’s already more popular than the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

Dan says DC NFL Team radio analyst Sam Huff has worked so long on the game broadcasts that the network feels he can call his own shots now.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ Tim McCarver.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times writes that a local TV station has signed to air NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football Bucs-Vikings game.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says MLB Network airs a documentary on the life and death of former Astros pitcher Darryl Kile.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says ESPNU will re-air four games involving Sooner State schools in its top college football games of the season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that despite the U.S. Women’s Open being played locally, there wasn’t much interest either on ESPN2 or on NBC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Fox Sports Florida sideline reporter Laura McKeeman was crowned Miss Florida over the weekend.

SportsRantz also profiles Ms. McKeeman.

Sports Media Watch says last night’s MLB Home Run Derby had a slight ratings decline from last year.

SMW says Fox’s Baseball Night in America ended its 8 week run on a high note thanks to Yanks-Red Sox.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Time for Friday linkage.

The Weekend Viewing Picks have your sports and entertainment suggestions. Let’s get cracking.

National

Michael Hiestand from USA Today looks at TNT’s plans to go mostly split-screen during breaks for Saturday’s NASCAR race.

Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal reports that the one Wimbledon souvenir the players want is the towel.

Alex Sherman at Bloomberg Businessweek talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Olympics.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says enhancing the NFL fan experience might bring more people to games.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report is happy to learn that Jeremy Schaap’s ESPN Radio show is now available as a podcast.

Bob Pockrass at The Sporting News says NASCAR hopes that NBC Sports will be a bidder for the sport’s TV rights.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says ESPN Deportes scored with the EURO 2012 Final last Sunday.

Mike says Golf Channel has selected the venue for the next season of “Big Break”.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says MLB’s allowing Twitter votes for the All-Star Game for the first time may have had a hand in deciding which league hosts the World Series.

Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age says the impending Turner Sports purchase of Bleacher Report makes sense.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost says the NFL easing requirements on local TV blackouts shows the league wants to reach the casual fan.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says ESPN will be utilizing plenty of microphones at the MLB Home Run Derby.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder has a screengrab of a Canadian TV station messing up the Steve Nash trade to the Lakers.

And Matt has found an episode of Judge Sapp. Yes, that’s Warren Sapp.

The Big Lead soaked up the latest Twitter battle between ESPN’s Darren Rovell and Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch.

MediaRantz looks at the top 5 ESPN plagiarism scandals.

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog wonders what is the big deal with the TNT/truTV simulcast of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race on Saturday.

Joe Favorito likes how MLS has adopted “Food Week” to get fans to explore its markets’ restaurants.

East and Mid-Atlantic

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen says it was time for Erin Andrews to leave the ESPN Mothership.

Jerry Barmsah of Fishbowl NY says CBS Radio’s WFAN could be headed to FM and could take the Yankees with it.

Yes, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, we know you hate ESPN.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for ESPN tennis analyst Brad Gilbert.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the MLB Extra Innings pay per view package will be free next week.

Don Laible of the Utica (NY) Observer-Dispatch talks with the NHL on NBC’s Dave Strader about calling Olympic basketball.

Ken says a local minor league baseball team has found a new radio home.

Dave Sottile of the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News says there are no plans to bring Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to the local area.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the differences between the Washington Nationals and MASN over the team’s TV rights fee.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Chris Rose.

South

Kyle Veazey of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal says a popular local sports radio host is changing stations.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes that the new Comcast SportsNet Houston will air Conference USA football featuring the University of Houston.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says MLB feels it has restored integrity to the All-Star Game. It’s an exhibition game!

Paul M. Banks of the Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders who had the best mock NBA Draft?

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the new TV voice of the Minnesota Wild will have an exciting team to call this season.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about Erin Andrews making her Fox debut next week.

Dan writes that Blues analyst Darren Pang turned down a full-time offer from TSN and will remain in St. Louis.

West

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this harsh takedown of Erin Andrews.

Here’s Tom’s column which has a little more on the last post.

Tom also links to reaction to his Erin Andrews column.

Matt Rudnitsky of SportsGrid replies point-by-point to Hoffarth.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about Erin Andrews joining Fox.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star talks with Fox’s Joe Buck on the challenges of calling the MLB All-Star Game.

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

Matthew T. Hall at the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders where’s the fan outrage in the Fox Sports San Diego-Time Warner Cable dispute leaving Padres games off TV.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News tries to clear up some confusion over the Pac-12 Network.

And that will conclude our links for today.

The Thursday Linkage

So weird to have the 4th of July in the middle of the week. You get the holiday after two work days and then have two work days afterwards. Some of you have the entire week off which is good, but for me, there’s no such thing as a vacation. In fact, I haven’t had a vacation since August 2001. That’s true. Anyway, you don’t care about that. Let’s get to the links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today lists which sports media personality has donated money to which politician.

Michael says ESPN NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little will work her last race for a few months this weekend.

The BBC reports that a single yellow cable that will carry the Olympics from London to Europe was almost cut in Belgium.

Trefis Team at Forbes says ESPN contributes heavily to Disney’s stock price, but that could be reduced over time.

Keach Hagey of the Wall Street Journal looks at the new NBC Sports/Sports Illustrated partnership.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter says former mustachioed Oakland Raiders defensive lineman turned pitchman Ben Davidson has died at the age of 72.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN set a viewership record for the EURO 2012 final.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life reports that NBC is close to selling out its Olympic ad inventory.

The Associated Press says the ACC has signed a 12 year deal with the Orange Bowl.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo about his two decade long partnership with WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing writes that ESPN’s Chris Fowler gave John McEnroe a lesson about Twitter parody accounts at Wimbledon this week.

Joe tells us about reporter-on-reporter Twitter crime between ESPN’s Buster Olney and CBS’ Jon Heyman.

Melissa Jacobs at the Football Girl agrees with Erin Andrews’ assessment that sideline reporters are a necessity when used correctly.

Speaking of Erin, she speaks with Adam Silverstein of the Only Gators blog about moving to Fox.

Dave Nagle in ESPN’s Front Row public relations blog notes the network’s new broadcast position at Wimbledon.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Barclays’ recent troubles are trickling down to the Brooklyn Nets as they prepare to occupy their new home.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reports that The Whistle, a sports media company geared towards kids, will have a programming block on NBC Sports Network starting in September.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that DC NFL Team radio analyst Sam Huff will work a reduced schedule this season.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman says the U.S. Olympic Trials topped the local ratings this past weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Annika Sorenstam joins the NBC golf team this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch urges the White Sox to calm down in asking people to do last-minute voting for the All-Star Game.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Pac-12 Network will be a success in Utah knowing the failings of the mtn.

Bill Mooney of the Thoroughbred Times says Fox Sports Net will air the West Virginia Derby next month.

Media Rantz notes that the NBC President who was responsible for the “Heidi Game” and forever changed how sports was aired on TV has passed away.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says CTV will bring back a few features for this year’s Olympics that were used in 2010 for Vancouver.

EPL Talk has a partial list of English Premier League games that will be aired in the States on ESPN2 and Fox Soccer.

Sports Media Watch says TNT took a ratings hit for last Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest notes that the US Olympic Committee will pass on bidding for the 2022 Games dashing hopes for a couple of cities. It means the earliest an Olympics will be held in the United States will be 2024.

And those are the links that I could manage to squeeze out of the internet today.

Doing Some Monday Linkage

Let’s bring out some Monday links today.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he talks with Fox’s Erin Andrews (weird to write that) about her decision to leave ESPN.

A.J. Perez of Fox Sports has Erin’s reaction to joining the network.

Jane Kellogg and Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter write about Erin Andrews leaving ESPN for Fox.

As for replacing Erin at ESPN, Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead seems to be in Samantha Steele’s corner.

Back to Hiestand at USA Today, he notes that the U.S. Olympic Trials scored for NBC this past weekend.

Michael says the CBS Sports golf crew did as best as they could in a difficult situation when heavy storms ravaged the Washington, DC area and affected the AT&T National PGA Tour stop.

John Ourand at Sports Business Daily talks with NBCUniversal’s CEO on how important the Olympics are important to the company.

Ryan Wilson at CBS Sports notes that the NFL has changed its blackout policy, reducing the requirements for local teams to ensure games will be seen in local markets.

Also at CBS Sports, Dennis Dodd writes that the Big 12′s TV contract has still yet to gain approval from the league’s presidents.

To Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report and he remembers the passing of Jack Buck ten years later.

Ed also looks at Erin Andrews leaving ESPN for Fox.

Scott Roxborough of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the EURO 2012 Final racked up the ratings in Europe.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Comcast SportsNet Chicago has entered the game show arena.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the broadcast networks are looking to sports and reality to attract viewers during the dead summer season.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life notes NBC’s plans for the London Olympics later this month.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost writes that NBC is mostly sold for the Tour de France.

Kevin Iole at Yahoo’s Boxing Experts Blog writes about NBC Sports expanding its boxing portfolio.

Evan Weiner of Examiner.com says no matter how you look at it, the NFL is a monopoly.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group notes the amount of cameras ESPN is using at the X Games.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after college athletics once again.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says a local minor league hockey announcer is moving on.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times-Herald Record talks with some area sports radio personalities about WFAN’s 25th anniversary.

The Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune notes that an announcer with local ties will be part of NBC’s Olympic broadcast team.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Chick Hernandez was hit by a Tiger Woods drive this weekend.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times still yearns for the faulty BCS.

Gary Brown of the Canton (OH) Repository notes that a Golf Channel crew was in town to do a story on a local golf pro.

At the Denver Post, Dusty Saunders says the U.S. Olympic Trials serve as an appetizer for the main course later this month.

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

In the Toronto Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin pays tribute to a colleague who’s retiring this month.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing looks at the free agent frenzy among the TV networks over the last year.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the video of gymnast Nastia Liukin doing a horrific faceplant off the uneven bars during last night’s US Gymnastic Olympic Trials.

Paul M. Banks at the Sports Bank says a popular Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter picked up a lot of Twitter love when she joined the service a few days ago.

MediaRantz notes that WFAN’s Boomer and Carton could be nationally syndicated on CBS Sports Radio in January.

Joe Favorito talks about the growth of American soccer.

And those are all of the links I could squeeze out today.

A Few Sports Media Bullet Points

Ok, as we’re all in denial over the Miami Heat winning the NBA Championship, it’s time for a few sports media thoughts. Too many things to go over, but I’ll do my best to cover as many things as I can.

As always, we do them in bullet form. And to drown out the thoughts of LeBron James celebrating, I’m listening to Korn on my iPad at the highest volume.

• Over 24 hours since first learning about Darren Rovell’s decision to leave CNBC for ESPN and I’m still baffled. Now, over all the sports media free agents I’ve mentioned or heard about for 2012, Darren’s name never came up. Darren who started his career at ESPN and left for CNBC in 2006 seemed to be happy with the NBCUniversal, having his own show on NBC Sports Network, his own CNBC site, and occasional appearances on NBC Sports events.

  But when the Worldwide Leader comes a’calling, you have to listen. Deadspin reported Thursday that Disney will pay Rovell $500,000 to file reports for both ABC News and ESPN.

  I don’t know if he’ll have his own show as he did with NBC Sports Network, I tend to doubt it. But the timing is rather interesting. Just after getting the sports business show that he had been clamoring, Darren leaves.

  ESPN has made a few recent sports business hires including Kristi Dosh and Michelle Steele. I wonder if ESPN is making a concerted effort to cover sports business again.

  And as we know, Darren is a prolific tweeter. Will his penchant for Twitter be controlled under ESPN’s social media policy? I’m sure this will all be addressed down the line.

• CBS Radio’s announcement that it was launching a sports radio network came as a surprise. The timing came just ten days after NBC announced it was launching a radio network of its own.

  This makes an already crowded radio scene even more so. Considering you have ESPN which has been firmly established since the 1990′s, Fox Sports Radio, Yahoo and even the Sports USA Radio Network, one wonders if there’s enough room for one more national radio net let alone two.

  Personally, I love to see more networks because competition can only lead to better programming, however, economic realities tell you that one of these fledgling entities may not make it.

  The eyeball test from the outset shows that CBS has the best infrastructure having already established sports stations in several major markets that will be part of CBS Sports Radio. Plus teaming with Cumulus Media’s 67 stations cross the country helps the reach.

  As for NBC, it’s just getting back into the radio business after General Electric had sold the Radio Network to Westwood One and its entire radio station group to various owners. It will partner with the former Westwood One now known as Dial Global.

  The question is whether this will lead to a bidding war for sports properties. ESPN Radio has the BCS, MLB and the NBA while Dial Global has the NFL, NCAA Championships and The Masters.

  Suddenly radio is red hot once again and I like it. And as SportsbyBrooks pointed out, it could lead to more poaching of ESPN talent by CBS and NBC to fill programming slots.

• I was disappointed to learn that Radio Wimbledon will not be handling the worldwide audio play-by-play of the Championships Wimbledon starting next week.

  Last October, Wimbledon’s parent, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club accepted a bid from IMG to take over the radio rights to call the matches. The new entity called Live@Wimbledon will be using some, but not all of Radio Wimbledon’s team. Over the years, Radio Wimbledon had been the only link to live tennis when NBC was pulling its tape delay shenanigans. Unfortunately, despite Radio Wimby attracting 2.7 million listeners in 2011, the AELTC decided to take IMG’s money and ruin a very good service for the fortnight.

  Radio Wimbledon will be missed.

• As Sports Business Journal reported this week, Fox Sports has begun talks with NASCAR in hopes of extending its current contract. It expires in 2014.

  As Fox has been successful in obtaining rights to the FIFA World Cup, Big 12 and Pac-12, the thinking behind many of these acquisitions has been to play keep away from NBC Sports Group. You know that with NASCAR rights in play, NBC Sports would love nothing more than to add inventory to NBCSN.

  If Fox is successful, it leaves only TNT’s mid-season Sprint Cup races and ESPN’s Chase for the Cup races being up for grabs. And both Turner and ESPN want to prevent NBC from grabbing their packages.

  With MLB, NASCAR, the Big East and the NBA negotiations all unsettled thus far, NBC still has a chance to lure one if not all to its war chest.

• Lastly, the aforementioned SportsbyBrooks tweeted that Chris Berman will call the late game for Monday Night Football’s season opening doubleheader on September 10. And in addition, he’ll call one preseason game as practice. If you thought the venom towards Berman is bad when he calls the U.S. Open or the All-Star Home Run Derby, just wait until he does the NFL. It’s probably best that ESPN public relations stay off social media on the nights Berman calls the NFL.

And that will conclude the thoughts. Enjoy your Friday.

Some Thursday Links

After an outage that ruined things from Sunday through Tuesday and being busy yesterday, my goal to have links every day this week has gone out the window. However, I can get a few links out to you today.

Let’s get to them.

Starting with Ed Sherman from the Sherman Report who talks with ESPN resident Prince of Darkness Vince Doria who not only hates Twitter, but is concerned that the social media site could bring “diminished standards.” No, hiring Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith brings “diminished standards.”

Ed feels ESPN’s hiring of Darren Rovell away from CNBC is a good move for all sides.

Christopher Botta and John Ourand from Sports Business Journal write that despite having ratings downturns for the NHL Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final, NBC and its sponsors are happy with the results.

Christopher notes that a budding Northwest US MLS rivalry is bringing excellent sponsor activation in the region.

At the Bleacher Report, Dan Levy asks ESPN to respond to the heavy viewer criticism brought forth to the network every time Chris Berman does the U.S. Open.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says the ESPN Family is doing well with EURO 2012.

Peter Kafka at All Things Digital writes that the on-again/off-again Turner purchase of the Bleacher Report seems to be on again. I promise my friends over at Bleacher Report that I won’t publish the Tsunami screengrab like Deadspin does.

Speaking of Deadspin, John Koblin tells us that CNBC’s Darren Rovell, will be getting $500,000 from Disney to work at ESPN and ABC News.

The Big Lead notes that Jalen Rose will be heading to the basketball version of ESPN’s College Gameday.

Simon Dumenico of Advertising Age notes the high amount of Tweets devoted to Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Media Life Magazine notes NBC’s ratings for last weekend’s US Open.

Evan Weiner at Examiner.com says while Roger Clemens was acquitted by a jury of his peers, he still has to get by the Hall of Fame jury known as the Baseball Writers of America.

Lance Venta at Radio Insight reports that with CBS Radio starting a new sports network, ESPN Radio will lose two affiliates in Florida.

To espnW where Amanda Rykoff went to an event which honored women in sports business including Kim Williams, the Chief Operating Officer of NFL Network.

Matt Rudnitsky at SportsGrid says today is D-Day for many Sports Illustrated employees. Godspeed to them.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at how TNT tries to expand the fan experience during its six NASCAR Sprint Cup productions.

Jerry Barmash of FishbowlNY talks with MSG Network’s Walt “Clyde” Frazier about his popularity among Knicks fans.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says SNY’s Gary Cohen will be taking two rare days off this week.

Ken says WFAN will be airing Team USA Olympic basketball games.

And Ken talks about the launch of CBS Sports Radio.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the Philadelphia Phillies’ troubles have become fodder for the local talk shows.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that the city is about to get its 5th sports radio station thanks to the new CBS Sports Radio.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says Game 4 of the NBA Finals set another local ratings record.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds’ ratings are up and they’re being noticed by Fox Sports.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Brewers analyst Bill Schroeder will work Saturday’s game against the White Sox for a different audience.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper guest tweeted on the White Sox official account this week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily has begun a list of the top sports media voices of the landmark Title IX that gave women the opportunity to play sports. His first honoree is sports broadcasting pioneer Donna de Varona. Next is Mary Carillo. She’s followed by Ann Ligouri. Pam Ward is next. Basketball Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale follows. Read about Jeannine Edwards. Then look at the bio of Christine Brennan. Then there’s Michele Tafoya. Then Jamie Little. Next is Suzy Kolber. And she’s followed by Sally Jenkins. Great stuff by Tom.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the NHL doesn’t want Maple Leafs rightsholders Rogers and Bell to form a consortium to bid for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and they’ve been told to provide separate bids.

Michael Hill from Dolce Vita magazine profiles CTV Olympic host Brian Williams (not to be confused with NBC’s Brian Williams) about the many Games he has hosted over the years for either CBC or CTV.

Sports Media Watch speculates that NBC could be moving its NHL Game of the Week to Saturday afternoons for the 2012-13 season.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page has a slideshow on ESPN’s Erin Andrews who remains a free agent at this time.

Joe Favorito looks at the NBA possibly shutting the door on its players participating in the Olympics.

And that will do it for us today for the links.