Fang's Bites

Knocking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for some linkage again.

Starting with Sports Business Daily which gauges media reaction to last night’s extravagant NFL regular season schedule release on both ESPN and NFL Network.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reviews both the Monday Night and expanded Thursday Night Football schedules.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report has your potential hits and misses in the 2012 NFL regular season schedule for all of the league’s TV partners.

Dan Levy of the Bleacher Report talks with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch about Skippy Bayless, ESPN’s free agents and Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that NBC is now going all in to provide a live online Olympic experience.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says the NFL Schedule Release Shows on ESPN and NFL Network filled fans’ thirst for football news.

Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press says thanks to a NASCAR-less Sunday, IndyCar’s race on NBC Sports Network got a ratings bump.

Stuart Kemp and George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says London is hoping to build buzz for the XXX Olympic Summer Games in the days leading up to the Opening Ceremony.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable notes the FCC is appealing to the Supreme Court, the ruling from a lower court throwing out its decency complaint over CBS’ airing of Janet Jackson’s nekkid boob during Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Sarah Mahoney of MediaPost’s Marketing Daily says advertisers are jumping on the Olympics 100 Day Countdown.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that cable provider Comcast is proving to be a very good broadcast competitor.

Jason McIntyre of the Big Lead says a lawsuit brought forth by a former ESPN.com writer against New York Post NBA big mouth Peter Vescey has been settled out of court.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid talks with ESPN’s Michelle Beadle about what her next move is.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group notes that NBCOlympics has tapped AT&T to manage private networking systems for the London Summer Games.

Zac Wassink in Yahoo! says MLS on NBC Sports Network is doing decently in the ratings.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has the local sports radio ratings and CBS Radio continues to be on top.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC will stream all Olympic events live online, but there’s a bit of a catch.

Richard says the NBA is looking at allowing jersey sponsorships.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY notes the passing of a former Yankees, Islanders and Nets radio announcer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette notes the good ratings for the NHL on NBC.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has a viewing primer for the upcoming NFL season.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call discusses and dissects NBC’s Sunday Night Football schedule.

Keith says the NHL’s Battle of Pennsylvania is drawing big ratings in the Keystone State.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com’s Goalkeeper blog says a Spanish League soccer game on ESPN2 beat MLS on NBC Sports Network in the ratings last weekend.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has pictorial proof of the Space Shuttle Discovery passing various local sports venues on its last flight to the Smithsonian yesterday.

Tom Robinson at the Virginian-Pilot reports that the United Football League could have a TV contract with CBS Sports Network.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Texas Rangers’ ratings on Fox Sports Southwest are way up this season.

Mike Bailey of the Houston Chronicle talks with a local golfer who took part in the upcoming season of Golf Channel’s Big Break reality show.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman says a local sports radio show moves from middays to afternoon drive.

Mel has the local weekend TV ratings.

Berry Tremel of The Oklahoman writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the NFL’s premier TV package.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer remembers a former NBA announcer.

Bill Shea at Crain’s Detroit Business says the Tigers are looking at a big payday for their TV rights.

Robert Channick in the Chicago Tribune profiles Comcast SportsNet Chicago head man Jim Corno.

Eric Goodman at Mile High Sports feels he wasted three hours of his life watching ESPN’s NFL regular season schedule release special.

Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic says Phoenix Coyotes TV analyst Tyson Nash is feeling the wrath of Chicago Blackhawks fans for comments he made about a hit on ‘Hawks star Marian Hossa.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News mourns the passing of a former Kings radio voice.

Tom Cheredar of Venture Beat talks about NBC’s extensive plans to stream the Olympics online.

Sports Media Watch notes the rise of NHL ratings for a couple of regional sports networks.

SMW talks about CBS passing on broadcasting this upcoming season’s Pro Bowl.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says NBC may air both Bruins-Capitals NHL Playoffs games this weekend.

Joe Favorito says sometimes, it’s a little idea at a major network that could catch fire elsewhere.

And that is all for now.

United Football League Commissioner Resigns

The United Football League which was hoping to gain fans in its three years of operation has announced that Commissioner Michael Huyghue has resigned. He has been the Commissioner since the league’s inception in 2009. The league has played with four or five teams in its three seasons. Plans for the 2012 season will be announced at a later date.

Huyghue has overseen league play and attempts to expand beyond five teams, however, the UFL has been hampered by lack of interest, lack of a steady TV contract and funding.

We have this press release from the UFL regarding Huyghue’s resignation.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE COMMISSIONER RESIGNS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JACKSONVILLE, FL – Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - MICHAEL HUYGHUE announced today that he has resigned as Commissioner of the United Football League with immediate effect.

Huyghue has served as Commissioner of the United Football League since its inception and oversaw all three seasons of on-field competition in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

“I am proud of the quality product we were able to put on the field and the overwhelmingly positive fan response,” said Huyghue. “While new professional football leagues have struggled to find a niche historically, I believe the UFL exceeded those other attempts.

“The UFL has experienced significant funding issues and at this juncture it seems most prudent that I step aside while the owners work to raise the necessary funds to conduct a fourth season.”

UFL owner and founder BILL HAMBRECHT said: “We are greatly indebted to Michael for taking an idea and turning it into a reality against very challenging circumstances. We remain committed to taking the league forward and face some challenges heading into a fourth season, but we would not be here today without his steadfast leadership.”

The United Football League is currently revising its business model and strategy for the upcoming 2012 season and will announce details of future plans in the coming months.

Prior to joining the UFL, Huyghue was CEO and founder of Axcess Sports & Entertainment, where he represented a number of NFL, NBA and PGA TOUR players. The Sports Business Journal has twice named Huyghue to the “Forty Under 40″ Top Sports Business Executives.

At the age of 29, he became the youngest general manger in professional football when he joined the NFL’s World League in 1989. Huyghue joined the Detroit Lions as Vice President and General Counsel, before becoming Senior Vice President of Football Operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the team’s inaugural NFL season. During Huyghue’s tenure with the Jaguars, the team became the winningest franchise in expansion history, achieving two AFC Central Division Championships and an unprecedented two AFC Championship appearances.

Best of luck to the UFL in 2012.

Shoveling Some Tuesday Links Your Way

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SMW also has some random news and notes.

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

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

We’ll end it there.

UFL To Stream Saturday’s Championship Game Worldwide on YouTube

It may not change the sporting world, but it certainly gives us food for thought. The fledgling United Football League has announced it will stream its Championship Game live around the world with no restrictions on YouTube. It means people in the United States can watch it live at the same time as those in the UK, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Brazil, you get the idea. Not only that, the announcing crew will interact with viewers through social media.

We have the press release from the UFL.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE CREATES HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUTUBE TO BROADCAST 2010 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LIVE

Ground-breaking UFL will be the first sports league to establish a multiple camera live feed on YouTube when Las Vegas Locos and Florida Tuskers clash in Omaha

 Fans can interact during broadcast through Facebook and Twitter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – OMAHA, NE – Wednesday, November 24 – The United Football League will create broadcast history this weekend when the 2010 Championship Game is broadcast live on YouTube in high definition.

Football fans across the world will be able to watch the live game feed from Rosenblatt Stadium at the www.YouTube.com/theUFL platform when the defending UFL champion Las Vegas Locos take on the Florida Tuskers at 11am Central (12pm Eastern) on Saturday, November 27.

The groundbreaking broadcast features four alternative camera angles in addition to the main live VERSUS telecast as CRAIG MINERVINI and former NFL quarterback DOUG FLUTIE call all the UFL Championship Game action. During commercial breaks, HDNet sideline reporter HDNet sideline reporter RON KRUCK will respond to fans who can submit questions and comments through the UFL Facebook and Twitter social media platforms.

“We regularly promise our fans that they will have an opportunity to engage with the UFL and play an active part in our league and this is another example of that interaction,” said UFL Commissioner MICHAEL HUYGHUE.  “Broadcasting through YouTube also allows us to take our Championship Game and our product to an international audience.”

Other sports leagues such as the Indian Premier (cricket) League have streamed live events through YouTube, but the United Football League is the first to make multiple camera angles available. Fans have the option of watching from a sideline hand-held camera, the line of scrimmage roving sideline angle, a high end zone angle and a second end zone camera that will follow the feed that is used for official replays.

Previous sporting events streamed live have also been blocked in some countries, but the 2010 United Football League Championship Game will be available worldwide, taking the game to an international audience. The IPL cricket games were blocked in the United States, but the international American Football community, which spans some 59 countries where the game is played and watched by millions of enthusiasts, will be able to tune in to catch all the UFL action.

Football fans will be able to connect in person to the game by submitting questions and comments to analyst Ron Kruck through UFL Facebook and Twitter interaction. Comments posted to #UFLCG on Twitter and at www.Facebook.com/UnitedFootballLeague will also post on the YouTube broadcast and selected questions will be answered during commercial breaks.

“At the UFL we embrace every opportunity for new technology to change the way sports fans experience our product,” said UFL VP of Information Technology TOMAS LLIBRE. “This is where the future of television is going and we are excited to be at the forefront as we present our showpiece game.”

The www.YouTube.com/theUFL live feed will be the only platform available for UFL Championship Game viewing and can be accessed through the option of high, medium and low quality streams to accommodate every internet provider’s bandwidth and speed.

Watch Ron Kruck’s UFL YouTube video promo at www.YouTube.com/theUFL.

Perhaps other sports leagues can follow suit. Actually knowing the NFL and MLB Advanced Media, they won’t but it let’s us imagine the potential of a Super Bowl or Olympics on YouTube.

UFL Unveils Its Announcers for 2010 Season

The United Football League has announced the announcing crews on its three cable television partners for the 2010 season. One notable change, Dave Sims who called the inaugural season on Versus is gone and is replaced by Craig Minervini. Dave said scheduling conflicts were the reason for the change. In any event, let’s take a look at who will be calling the UFL on Versus, HDNet and NESN.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 2010 SEASON BROADCAST TALENT ON VERSUS, HDNET AND NEW ENGLAND SPORTS NETWORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JACKSONVILLE, FL – Tuesday, September 14, 2010 – The United Football League today announced the broadcast teams who will bring football fans all the action from the 2010 UFL season on VERSUS, HDNet and the New England Sports Network.

On VERSUS, Craig Minervini will handle play-by-play duties, while former Boston College and NFL and CFL quarterback Doug Flutie returns for his second UFL season as color analyst. Roaming the sidelines will be former NFL linebacker Ryan Nece and Sports Illustrated senior writer Damon Hack.

All returning for a second season of UFL broadcasts on HDNet are Kenny Rice handling play-by-play, veteran broadcaster Paul Maguire as analyst and sideline reporter Ron Kruck. Joining Kruck on the sidelines will be Paul Crane, for his first season of UFL coverage.

For the New England Sports Network (NESN), Mike Logan and Brett Haber will handle play-by-play duties. Logan will call the Saturday, September 18 UFL season opener between the Hartford Colonials and Sacramento Mountain Lions at Rentschler Field, while Haber will call the October 16 visit of the Omaha Nighthawks to Connecticut.

Former NFL quarterback Scott Zolak, who spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots, will provide color analysis for the two NESN telecasts.  John Chandler and Tony Terzi will bring viewers closer to the action from the sidelines for both games.

“We are delighted to welcome back the talented and informative play-callers, analysts and sideline reporters who helped to establish the UFL as an exciting and innovative television spectacle in our first season,” said UFL Commissioner MICHAEL HUYGHUE.  “I look forward to watching the established UFL talent and their new colleagues take our broadcasts forward to a wider audience this coming season.”

The full UFL 2010 broadcast schedule is available at www.UFL-Football.com.

UFL Broadcast talent bios

VERSUS:

CRAIG MINERVINI – An experienced play-by-play announcer and sports host, Minervini’s football experience includes NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts, the XFL and the University of Miami (Fla.) He also has done play-by-play at Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports for the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League, and has covered south Florida sports and news for more than a decade. Prior to joining Fox Sports Florida, Minervini worked at WTVJ-TV, Miami’s NBC affiliate, as a sports anchor, and hosted multiple football highlight shows. While at WTVJ, Minervini covered the Marlins from their inception, and was nominated for a regional Emmy Award for a feature story on the team. Minervini is a graduate of Syracuse University, and earned a degree in broadcast journalism.

DOUG FLUTIE – Flutie returns for his second season as a UFL analyst on VERSUS, and brings a wealth of playing experience in three professional football leagues to the table. Following a stellar career at Boston College with culminated with winning the Heisman Trophy in 1984, Flutie began his pro journey with the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals in 1985. After the USFL folded in August of 1986, Flutie played with the Chicago Bears (1986-87), then was traded to the New England Patriots, where he spent three seasons from 1987 to 1989. He then began a career in the Canadian Football League in which he won three Grey Cup championships. Flutie played for the British Columbia Lions (1990-91), the Calgary Stampeders (1992-95) and the Toronto Argonauts (1996-97). He then returned to the United States to finish his pro career, playing with the Buffalo Bills (1998-2000), San Diego Chargers (2001-04) and, finally, back with the Patriots (2005). Flutie is a member of both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

RYAN NECE – Nece begins his professional broadcasting career after a seven-year NFL career as a linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-07) and the Detroit Lions (2008). Nece was part of the Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII. His interest in a broadcasting career led him to the NFL Films Broadcaster Boot Camp, from which he comes highly recommended. Nece worked for seven seasons both on the football field and in the community, and he also honed his business acumen. As a co-founder of DERY Realty, Nece’s primary focus has been buying, renovating and selling single-family homes. Nece also co-founded the Solidarity Fund with his NFL colleagues. Nece, who played football and received a Bachelor’s Degree in business economics from UCLA, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott.

DAMON HACK - Hack is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering golf and the NFL. He also covered golf and the NFL for The New York Times, in addition to covering golf and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association for Newsday. Hack also covered the San Francisco 49ers for the Sacramento Bee. He was born in Los Angeles, and graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in history and from Cal-Berkeley with a master’s degree in journalism.

HDNet:

KENNY RICE – An award-winning sportscaster, Rice hosts the popular HDNet program, Inside MMA. In addition to working UFL broadcasts last season, Rice has called play-by-play for Harvard-Yale football games, the Wooden Classic and Wooden Tradition college basketball tournaments, the College Basketball Invitational, boxing and MMA for HDNet. For NBC, Rice covers the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and has covered the 2004 (boxing) and 2008 (equestrian) Summer Olympics, as well as the United States Olympic Trials in both the triathlon and equestrian. He also has reported on the NFL for NBC’s Football Night in America, and has called track and field, rugby and basketball for the 2008 Paralympics Games. Rice’s varied broadcasting background also includes calling the Pro Bull Riders World Finals, in addition to hosting horse racing for ESPN from 1997 to 2006. He also was a co-host of college basketball’s Midnight Madness for the debut of ESPNU, ESPN’s college programming-based network.

PAUL MAGUIRE – Maguire is a veteran broadcaster who was turned in nearly 40 years in television, including covering four Super Bowls (XXIII, XXX, XXII and XXVII), and serving as a member of NBC’s lead NFL broadcast team with Dick Enberg. He also provided his candor and insight to ESPN’s NFL Sunday Night Football, and worked as an analyst for college football on ABC. Maguire also stood out during an 11-year professional football career as a punter and linebacker for the San Diego Chargers (1960-63) and Buffalo Bills (1964-70), during which time he played in six American Football League championship games. He was a member of three AFL championship teams (1963-65), and was named to the Bills’ Silver Anniversary All-Time Team as a punter in 1984. Maguire is one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire 10-season existence. Maguire is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

RON KRUCK – Ron Kruck has worked for Mark Cuban’s high-definition network HDNet since 2003 and is an integral member of its ground breaking MMA coverage. In addition to interviewing the sports biggest stars, Kruck is the lead reporter / news anchor for the popular program Inside MMA and produces the weekly segment Kruck’s Korner. He has also handled play-by-play duties for HDNet Fights, the International Fighting League and has covered boxing and college football for the network. The multi-talented broadcaster will return to his mainstream sports roots and, for the second consecutive year, work the sidelines for the United Football League. Prior to joining HDNet, Kruck’s sports broadcasting career began as a producer and reporter for Prime Sports Network, TBS Super Station, KUSA-TV and KWHD-TV. Kruck has reported on the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the Major League Baseball playoffs, the NBA playoffs, as well as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, US Olympic Trials and the Fiesta and Orange Bowls. In addition, Kruck has covered University of Colorado football and basketball.

 

PAUL CRANE – Crane, a veteran sports broadcaster, joins the UFL coverage on HDNet this fall. He also serves as a host for all New Orleans Saints programming on Cox Sports Television, the regional home for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Crane also has done play-by-play work for both Cox and Comcast regional networks. Crane spent nearly 10 years at CNN Sports and CNN/SI, covering college football and basketball, hosting a weekly college football preview show and hosting the weekly College Coaches Corner, the program on which the weekly CNN/USA Today college football coaches’ poll was announced. He also spent nearly 10 years as a sports anchor/reporter at KDFW-TV in Dallas, primarily covering the Dallas Cowboys, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, MLB’s Texas Rangers, the then-Southwest Conference, the then-Big Eight Conference, the Cotton Bowl, the Oklahoma-Texas football game and PGA Tour events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

NESN:

MIKE LOGAN – Mike is an experienced play-by-play announcer as he is the television and radio voice for the Providence College men’s hockey team, a position he has held for the past 16 seasons.  He has also served as a play-by-play announcer for the Pawtucket Red Sox and broadcast football and basketball for both Harvard and Northeastern Universities.

BRETT HABER – For almost 15 years, Brett has become established as a fixture of sports news broadcasting.  He has previously served as an anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter. During his career, he has received 17 Emmy Awards, including a remarkable four-year run as the Washington D.C. area’s most outstanding sports anchor beginning in 2007 and continuing through this year.  Brett joined WUSA9 in November 2004 and is currently the station’s sports director and primary sports anchor.

SCOTT ZOLAK – Zolak will be the color analyst for UFL games on the New England Sports Network. He has worked both pregame and postgame analysis of New England Patriots games on radio and television. Zolak co-hosts the “Gresh and Zolak” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub in Boston, Massachusetts. A former quarterback in the National Football League, Zolak spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots (1991-98) and one with the Miami Dolphins (1999). In 55 career games, Zolak threw for 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns. He originally was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 1991. Zolak played college football at Maryland.

TONY TERZI – Tony has more than 20 years of experience in the broadcast industry. He has worked as a Sports Anchor/Reporter at WTIC, Sports Anchor/Reporter at WVIT (NBC 30), and Air Personality at KC-101. Currently, Terzi is a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN Radio.

JOHN CHANDLER – John is no stranger to NESN viewers, having served as both an anchor and reporter for NESN’s sports news programming. In 2009, he worked as the play-by-play voice for the Springfield Armor of the NBA D-League. He also worked as a sports reporter/anchor at WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio and WVII in Bangor, Maine. His work has earned several Emmy nominations and has been recognized by the Associated Press and the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

That’s it for this post.

UFL Announces Its 2010 Broadcast Schedule Including Two Games on NESN

The United Football League has announced its broadcast schedule for the upcoming season. Once again, HDNet and Versus will air games nationally, but in a first, NESN will air two games involving the Hartford Colonials. As it did last season, Versus will air the UFL Championship Game. Here’s the press release with the broadcast schedule.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES BROADCAST
SCHEDULE AND KICKOFF TIMES FOR 2010 SEASON

VERSUS and HDNet return as broadcast partners for second UFL season;
New England Sports Network to air two Hartford Colonials home games

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JACKSONVILLE, FL – Monday, July 26 – The United Football League announced today its 10-week, 20-game 2010 regular season broadcast schedule and kickoff times.

Returning broadcasters VERSUS and HDNet are joined in 2010 by the New England Sports Network (NESN), which will broadcast two of the Hartford Colonials’ home games during the upcoming fall season. Games will also be streamed live on www.UFL-Football.com. 

“We continue to make progress in bringing our games to a wider television audience through three established and innovative broadcaster partners,” said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue. “VERSUS and HDNet were pioneers in introducing our quality product to the nation’s sports fans in 2009 and we are delighted to partner with them again and to also welcome another strong broadcasting ally in NESN.”

VERSUS will feature eight regular season UFL games on Saturdays and one Thursday evening, beginning with the Sacramento Mountain Lions’ first home game against the Florida Tuskers at Hornet Stadium in Week 2 on Saturday, September 25 at 8pm PST/11pm EST. VERSUS will also broadcast the UFL Championship Game on the Thanksgiving holiday Friday, November 26 at 3pm between the top two teams in the final regular season standings at a venue to be determined. 

“We look forward to the second year of the UFL on VERSUS,” said Jeff Goldberg, Vice President of Programming for the network.  “Through our telecasts, these five teams will have national exposure on the fastest growing sports cable network in the country.”

HDNet, whose Chairman Mark Cuban became a UFL investor in 2010, will broadcast ten regular season games, including the 2009 UFL Championship Game rematch between the Las Vegas Locos and Florida Tuskers at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, September 18 at 8pm PST / 11pm EST.  The much-anticipated clash moves back 24 hours from the original UFL schedule.

“The game is fun, it’s exciting and the talent level is off the charts and we want to be a part of it,” said HDNet Chairman Mark Cuban.  “We believe last year was just the beginning and the best is yet to come from the UFL.  We are going to broadcast games in the highest quality nationwide and our priority is to grow viewership, grow the fan base and really help the UFL succeed.”

The HDNet cameras will also televise the debut of the expansion franchise Omaha Nighthawks at Rosenblatt Stadium against the Hartford Colonials at 7pm on Friday, September 24 at 7pm CST / 8pm EST.

HDNet is the independent network with unique and thought provoking content that is delivered in true high definition and is available on AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DIRECTV, Dish Network, Insight, and Verizon FiOs. 

The UFL 2010 season-opening game will now be played in Hartford, CT, when the New England Sports Network (NESN) cameras capture the hometown Colonials at home to the Sacramento Mountain Lions at 2.30pm EST on Saturday, September 18. 

NESN is delivered to more than four million homes throughout the six-state New England region and nationally via DirecTV and Dish Network.  The definitive home for New England sports programming; NESN has been the top rated regional sports network in the country for six consecutive years.

“We are excited for this opportunity to help showcase the UFL,” said Joel Feld, NESN’s executive vice president and executive producer.  “We feel that the UFL is a television property that offers us great upside and is poised to grow in the coming years once fans see the entertaining and competitive football action that the league offers.”

For season ticket information, fans may visit www.UFL-Football.com/tickets.

Wk.   Date                    Game                                  Kickoff       Kickoff          Network

          Fri., Nov 26        Championship Game                tbc                3:00pm      VERSUS

We’re done here.

Lazy Sunday Links

Let’s do some linkage. I was doing some other things earlier today so as long as the media stories don’t refer to today’s NCAA action, we should be able to get some things done for you.

Anthony Crupi at Mediaweek says the big beneficiary of Tiger Woods’ return to the PGA Tour will be Golf Channel.

Brian Lowry of Variety writes that Tiger Woods’ resurfacing at The Masters next month will have something in store for everyone.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that the UFL is seeking capital from the NFL in return for putting games on NFL Network.

Andrew Heining in the Christian Science Monitor discusses the record number of online visitors to CBS’ March Madness on Demand.

SportsbyBrooks says despite reports to the contrary, a decision has already been made to expand the NCAA Tournament.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels the NCAA is conducting a money grab if it indeed expands the Tournament from 65 to 96 teams.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post says the NCAA should not expand the Tournament and leave well enough alone.

Laura Nachman has created a bracket of 64 Philadelphia sports announcers.

Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer says original Comcast SportsNet anchor Leslie Gudel leaves the desk this week for a new position with the channel.

Steve Hummer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says not even Tiger Woods’ return could mar The Masters.

Marlon Morgan at the Memphis Commercial Appeal says the ratings for the Grizzlies on Fox Sports Tennessee are up this season in a big way. 

Dave Birkett at AnnArbor.com says the University of Michigan will be ready for its first ever football primetime game in 2011.

Over to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley hears from ESPN/CBS analyst Jay Bilas on Cornell’s low seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says while the Timberwolves have been short of wins, Corey Brewer has been getting his share of the national spotlight thanks to his spectacular dunks.

Obrey Brown of the Highland (CA) Community News discusses the phone call he received from Bob Costas in regards to steroids and other issues.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner writes that ESPN and CBS will be the big winners for Tiger Woods 2010 debut at The Masters.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball writes about a new sports social networking site launched by Anaheim Angels announcer Victor Rojas. A bit of disclosure here. I was asked by Victor to help beta test the site. I’ll be talking to Victor about the site named Yakcy and the features there.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

I’ll end it there for now. 

Late Night Links … Again

After getting a late start to blogging today and not being able to provide links during the day, I thought maybe I can take the night off from blogging. WRONG! Things are breaking tonight. It’s hard to decide where to begin, but let’s go with the New York Times.

Andrew Ross Sorkin and Tim Arango chronicle how the Comcast/NBC deal was made and how it all began back in July.

To the West Coast where we discover that legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg is going back to baseball to San Diego Padres games in 2010.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune breaks the news that Enberg will be the main TV voice for the team.

John Maffei from the North County Times says Enberg will call as many as 125 games for the Padres.

This means that Enberg will cut the French Open from his schedule for next year while keeping Wimbledon and the U.S. Open which he calls for ESPN2 and CBS respectively.

To Chicago where WBBM-TV, the Windy City’s CBS affiliate is doing something rather radical for its low-rated morning daypart. Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune reports that the station is picking up Mike North and Dan Jiggetts from Comcast SportsNet and placing their show in the timeslot where the morning news is currently.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times also writes about WBBM’s move to bring North and Jiggetts over from Comcast SportsNet.

And Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business chimes in with a story of his own on North moving from cable to over the air TV.

To Washington, DC and our nation’s capital, Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times writes that the paper is reorganizing and laying off 40% of its workforce.

Times’ sports business writer Tim Lemke tweets that this likely means the entire sports department will be cut.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with a former Nike insider about the Tiger Woods apology.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News tries to make sense of the mainstream media’s reporting of the Tiger Woods apology.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union looks at the ratings for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

And Pete updates this week’s college football schedule.

Laura Nachman says a former Philly TV and radio personality is disbanding his Tiger Woods fansite.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News crunches some of the NFL ratings numbers from Week 12.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN The Magazine is giving love to Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant.

The Los Angeles Times has a special section devoted to the work of the late Mike Penner.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that the long-time head of a city sports radio station moves to the TV side.

William Houston at Truth & Rumours also writes about the TV/radio shakeup and the Tiger Woods story.

Rick Kissell from Variety looks at ESPN’s ratings for Monday Night Football.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says football gave ESPN the monthly cable win for November.

Lucia Moses of Mediaweek says Sports Illustrated is set to unveil in 2010 an electronic reader that can expand on its magazine.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says Monday’s Patriots-Saints game just barely missed breaking a cable ratings record.

And SMW notes that the UFL Championship Game didn’t do all that well on Versus.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media has decided to leave a blog network.

Chris adds that Tiger Woods should have learned a lesson on privacy.

The Cycle blog says it’s time to leave Tiger alone.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that MLB.com is looking for stats stringers for 2010.

Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog looks at radio and TV media rights.

That’s going to be it for us tonight. I will post two press releases and go to bed.

Tuesday Evening Links

We have some links to provide this evening. And since I’m in the final days of not having a TV, I can concentrate on them without distractions.

Starting with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, he looks at what Versus would look like under NBC’s watch.

Stuart Levine of Variety says ESPN has set a launch date for its Los Angeles-centric website.

Writing for USA Today, WUSA-TV sports anchor Brett Haber is disgusted by the media coverage of Tiger Woods.

Hal Bodecker of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the TV coverage, both local and national, of the Tiger Woods story.

Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press is at Tiger’s tournament, the one he’s not attending, and he says the talk is all about Woods.

The AP reports that an ESPN executive is on the bid committee to bring the World Cup to the US either in 2018 or 2022.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that ESPN2 will have coverage of the World Cup Draw on Friday.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says Audi is commissioning a film on the US Ski team that will be aired on three NBC networks leading up to the Winter Olympics.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gives three predictions for sports business and media in 2010.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL could face some pressure for additional outlets for the Cowboys-Saints game in Week 15 as the game is on NFL Network.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com says Chip Caray could find himself as the every day TV voice of the Atlanta Braves once again.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has some various TV and radio notes.

Pete also has the college football bowl schedule.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says a local radio station picks up the SEC Championship this Saturday.

The Washington Times’ Tim Lemke and the great Maury Brown from the Biz of Sports websites talk about various issues including the Yankees, sports stadia and steroids.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer would like to see the late Reds announcer Joe Nuxhall be inducted into the broadcasters’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the college football TV schedule.

Tom writes that NFL Week 13 begins in Canada and ends in Green Bay.

Tom says Vin Scully is back for another year with the Dodgers.

Tom looks at the new Versus reality show featuring Junior Seau doing odd sports jobs.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the Grey Cup topped the ratings in Canada.

The Sports Media Watch notes that college football on ESPN beat the NFL on NFL Network on Thanksgiving night, but there’s a good reason for that.

SMW has some NBA ratings news and notes.

SMW looks at various college football ratings.

SMW has more ratings news and notes.

SMW says Fox had a strong number for its late NFL doubleheader game last Sunday.

And SMW writes that Sunday Night Football experienced a ratings bump.

The Big Lead is perplexed that Steven A. Smith is once again at odds with the Philadelphia Inquirer shortly after the newspaper took him back.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says CBC’s Ron MacLean should shoulder some of the blame for the verbal fisticuffs on the Hotstove on Hockey Night in Canada.

Steve notices that the person in the middle of those verbal fisticuffs, analyst Mike Milbury, will not be on the Hotstove panel this week.

John Daly of the Daly Planet NASCAR blog engages readers on what should be the fate of the long-in-tooth This Week in NASCAR program.

Sarah Spain at Chicago Now notices a controversy a brewin’ over who’s really Chicago’s Sexiest Athlete.

Matthew Coller at the Biz of Football wonders if after one season the UFL is already on life support.

We’re done. Press releases are coming next.

Here’s Your UFL on Versus Announcing Crew

Today, the fledgling United Football League announced the crew that will call its games on Versus starting next month. Of course, DirecTV subscribers won’t be able to see the games as the satellite provider continues its dispute with the channel. But I digress.

Nice to see good friend Dave Sims get the play-by-play call, but interesting hire is that Baltimore sports radio host and former women’s professional football quarterback and Playboy model Anita Marks will be on the sidelines. Check out the release.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE

ANNOUNCES TV ANNOUNCERS

FOR VERSUS UFL TELECASTS

Dave Sims, Doug Flutie, Kordell Stewart

& Anita Marks to Lead Broadcast team

RUTHERFORD, NJ (September 22, 2009) – The United Football League announced today that four highly talented broadcasters will lead the television coverage of the UFL on VERSUS. Veteran play-play announcer Dave Sims joins the broadcast booth with color analyst and former NFL standout Doug Flutie. Former Steelers Quarterback Kordell Stewart and radio and television host Anita Marks will serve as sideline and features reporters.

“We have assembled a top-notch team to lead our inaugural telecasts on VERSUS,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “The combined football experience and knowledge of Dave, Doug, Kordell and Anita will help us provide unprecedented access to professional football while allowing the home viewer prime viewing position that will truly make them feel like they are part of the action.”

A two-time Emmy Award winning sportscaster, Dave Sims is best known as the television play-by-play voice for the Seattle Mariners and the radio play-by-play announcer for Westwood One’s NFL Sunday Night Football. In addition, Sims continues to be a mainstay on the college sports scene where he has been calling basketball games for ESPN since 1991. A veteran of the local New York sports scene, Sims worked at WCBS-TV as a reporter/anchor, has hosted talk shows at Madison Square Garden Network and WFAN-AM Radio and spent seven years as a sportswriter for the New York Daily News. In addition to his Emmy Awards, Sims accolades include the 2005 Big East Conference Media Award and the American Football Foundation’s 2003 Lindsey Nelson Outstanding Sportscaster Award.

A phenomenal college football player who rose to prominence during his playing days at Boston College, Doug Flutie is probably best remembered for his 1984 “Hail Mary” touchdown pass. A Heisman Trophy and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award winner, Flutie has had experience playing at all levels of professional football including the USFL, the NFL and the CFL. Flutie led the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts to back-to-back Grey Cup victories and was named CFL’s Most Outstanding Player a record six times and MVP in all of his three Grey Cup victories. As a member of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, he earned Pro Bowl and NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors. In 2006, Flutie was the top ranked CFL Player. In 2007, Flutie was named to the College Football Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the first American born player to be inducted. In combining his CFL, NFL and USFL statistics, Flutie ranks sixth among the all-time pro football passing leaders in attempts, completions and touchdowns.

Kordell Stewart joins the UFL broadcast team as sideline reporter. As quarterback at the University of Colorado, Stewart is also heralded for his “Miracle at Michigan” pass which led the Buffaloes past the University of Michigan 27-26 in 1994. He became one of the most prolific quarterbacks in school history, setting several records including most completed passes, most passing yards and most touchdown passes. In Kordell’s first season as a starting quarterback in the NFL, in 1997, he led the Steelers to an 11–5 record and the AFC Championship Game. In 2001, Stewart led the Steelers to a 13-3 regular-season record and the top seed in the AFC playoffs. He had the best professional season of his career throwing for over 3,000 yards, completing 60 percent of his passes and attaining a passer rating of 81.7. Stewart threw for 14 touchdowns and ran for five more. Stewart’s year culminated with his being elected to the Pro Bowl and being named Steelers MVP. Among NFL quarterbacks, Stewarts’ 38 rushing touchdowns ranks second all-time behind Steve Young’s. Stewart was given the nickname “Slash” early in his career due to his abilities as utility player playing running back/wide receiver/punter. Most recently, Stewart served as studio host on ESPNews for its college broadcasts.

Anita Marks learned about football by playing the sport competitively. She fine-tuned her football skills and dominated the Collegiate Flag Football Circuit for four years while attending the University of South Florida (USF) where she graduated with a Communications degree. Upon graduation from USF, Marks transferred her passion for sports into a career as a sports producer for the local CBS affiliate in Miami. The opportunity to return to the gridiron and play professional football occurred in 1999 when Marks served as quarterback for the Miami Fury, a women’s professional football team, for four years and the Florida Stingrays for one year. Known for her incredible arm strength and pinpoint accuracy, Marks developed a reputation for being one of the best QB’s to ever play women’s professional football. Upon conclusion of her playing days, Marks transitioned back to the media and currently hosts her own afternoon sports talk show on Baltimore‘s ESPN Radio 1300, which is also simulcast on television’s Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). Marks also hosts the Ravens pre- and post-game shows and has her own television show on MASN called Fantasy Blitz.

The United Football League is a new professional football league that will kick-off its “Premiere” season this October. Featuring high-quality traditional football played by world-class athletes and led by former NFL coaches, the UFL’s “Premiere” season teams include the California Redwoods, Florida Tuskers, Las Vegas Locomotives and New York Sentinels. The UFL’s goal is to provide fans with affordable, innovative and entertaining game-day experiences.

The UFL previously announced that VERSUS, one of the fastest growing sports cable networks in the country, will air eight of the League’s “Premiere” season games. VERSUS’ first game will air on October 8^th at 9:00 PM EST. Each live telecast will be approximately three hours and all games will be produced and available in HD. The complete schedule for UFL games on VERSUS follows:

Oct. 8	California Redwoods at Las Vegas Locos	9:00 PM (EST)
Oct. 14	Florida Tuskers at Las Vegas Locos	9:00 PM (EST)
Oct. 22	California Redwoods at Florida Sentinels	7:00 PM (EST)
Oct. 29	California Redwoods at New York Sentinels	7:00 PM (EST)
Nov. 4	Las Vegas Locos at New York Sentinels	7:00 PM (EST)
Nov. 12	Florida Tuskers at New York Sentinels	7:00 PM (EST)
Nov. 19	Florida Tuskers at California Redwoods	9:00 PM (EST)
Nov. 27	Championship Game in Las Vegas	3:00 PM (EST)

Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

Grouping A Bunch of Press Releases Together

Ok, I have a whole slew of press releases to post. Get ready to scroll for a while.

CBS Sports which gets busy this month after four months of quiet, previews the college football season on Saturday.

CBS SPORTS PREVIEWS 2009 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON ON

“NCAA FOOTBALL PREVIEW SHOW“ ON SATURDAY, AUG. 15

CBS Sports kicks off the college football season with the 2009 NCAA FOOTBALL PREVIEW SHOW on Saturday, Aug. 15 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET). Tim Brando hosts with analysis from CBS Sports’ lead college football analyst Gary Danielson, Spencer Tillman and Tony Barnhart.

The one-hour program breaks down each of the top conferences, previews games to watch this season, looks at the Heisman front-runners and the trio of analysts give their 2009 national championship predictions.

CBS Sports begins its ninth year of national coverage of Southeastern Conference (SEC) football on Saturday, Sept. 19 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET), with Tennessee at Florida. Danielson will be joined in the booth by play-by-play announcer Verne Lundquist, and reporter Tracy Wolfson on the sidelines. COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY (3:00 PM, ET), the Network’s pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show with Brando and Tillman leads off the day each week.

The 2009 NCAA PREVIEW SHOW was produced by Vin DeVito.

Harold Bryant is Vice President Production, CBS Sports

Below are excerpts from the show.

* * * * *

EXCERPTS FROM CBS SPORTS NCAA FOOTBALL PREVIEW SHOW

Gary Danielson on LSU-Florida Match-up in National Championship Game: I have been a strong advocate for 10 years that you can’t play in the (National) Championship unless you win the Championship of your conference. Since they won’t listen to me, I will stick it right back to them. I am picking Florida-LSU in the Championship. Four teams from the SEC are in the top 10. I see Florida losing at LSU in that night game. LSU losing to Alabama. Florida will beat Alabama. No one goes undefeated. Two left standing, LSU and Florida play for the (National) Championship. I think every team will lose a game and I don’t think they are going to put Boise State ahead of LSU.”

Tony Barnhart on Punishing Florida State for Academic Fraud: First of all, let’s be clear, Florida State should be punished. This is academic fraud. It was sloppy and it’s unforgivable. But, vacating victories is not the way to go. And I think the same way about the Alabama case. In vacating victories, basically you are saying the games were never played. It is not like forfeiting. I don’t agree with the concept. Do scholarships, do TV, do fines, do any of that, but I agree with Bobby Bowden. This is not fair, in my opinion.

Tim Brando on Charlie Weis: If Notre Dame doesn’t get at least nine wins, Charlie Weis will have to buy a ticket to see the Irish play in the Bronx next year.

Danielson on Notre Dame-Michigan Game: That game against Michigan early is going to start this whole rumor mill going. Michigan-Notre Dame, for the losing coach, the rumors will start.

The Big Ten Network will allow fans living abroad to tap into Big Ten games online for a fee, of course.

Big Ten Network Introduces Web Streaming for Fans Abroad

‘Big Ten Ticket’ will make football, men’s basketball telecasts available online outside U.S., Canada

CHICAGO – Big Ten fans around the globe will be able to watch their favorite football and men’s basketball teams beginning this fall with “Big Ten Ticket,” the Big Ten Network’s new international streaming package.

All televised Big Ten Network football and men’s basketball games will be available live and on-demand online to viewers living outside of the United States and Canada on www.BigTenTicket.com.

“The Big Ten Network has made a significant financial investment in the latest streaming equipment and technology. As a result, fans will see their games with a clarity that is comparable to high definition,” Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said. “We are thoroughly pleased to be able to offer these games to Big Ten fans living abroad and help them feel a little closer to home.”

Fans will be able to select from three service options: the “Single-Game Pass,” the “School Pass,” which covers every Big Ten Network football and men’s basketball telecast for one school and the “Conference” pass, which covers every Big Ten Network football and men’s basketball telecast for every Big Ten school during the 2009-10 season. Fans will be able to make their selections at www.BigTenTicket.com beginning in late August.

The UFL has unveiled the name of the New York franchise.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE INTRODUCES

NEW YORK SENTINELS

AS TEAM NAME & UNVEILS UNIFORMS

Sentinels to Play “Home” Games at Hofstra, Giants Stadium & Rentschler Field

NEW YORK, NY (August 13, 2009) – At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the New York franchise will be named the Sentinels and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Sentinels’ “Premiere” season colors of black, silver and green. The name “Sentinels” was selected after more than thirty thousand fan entries and interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. New York Sentinels Owner Bill Mayer and Sentinels Head Coach Ted Cottrell were also in attendance at the press event.

“It was critical to us that we took our time in selecting team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” said Commissioner Huyghue. “When selecting a name for the New York franchise, we wanted to pay homage to the individuals who protect the city including the NYPD, FDNY, the Port Authority and so many other dedicated organizations who bravely watch over the city.”

Mayer also announced that the Sentinels will play its three home games in its “Premiere” season at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex on October 29^th, Hofstra University on November 4^th and Rentschler Field in Hartford on November 14^th.

“In an effort to reach fans across the tri-state region, we are playing at multiple stadiums in our “Premiere” season,” said Mayer. “The fan interest for the New York area team has been immense and we want to expand our reach so that all fans may attend a “home” game and be able to embrace the New York Sentinels as their team.”

The New York Sentinels’ first game will be in Orlando on October 10^th and will be broadcast on HDNet at 6:00 PM Pacific. The Sentinels’ first home game is October 29^th against the Redwoods at Giants Stadium and will be broadcast on VERSUS.

NBA TV will celebrate Magic Johnson’s 50th birthday on Friday.

“Magic’s 50!” NBA TV Special to air on Friday, Aug. 14 @ 6 p.m. ET

A 5-time NBA Champion, 3-time league MVP, Olympic gold medalist and one of the biggest stars ever to play the game of basketball, Earvin “Magic” Johnson now celebrates another milestone – his 50th birthday. NBA TV pays tribute to Magic with a series of countdowns, adding up to the 50 top moments of his career. Assists, Showtime highlights, All-access clips, Clutch plays and his top ten “Magic Moments” are all included, reaching deep into the NBA Entertainment library for exclusive footage not seen in a long while. “Magic’s 50!”…tune in on his birthday, August 14th at 6 p.m. ET on NBA TV.

Please click on the link below to view a rough cut preview of “Magic’s 50!”

http://dmmx2.nba.com:8080/nbae/specials/specials_decker_magic_largerthanlife_and_clutch_1500.wmv

Two releases from NBC Sports now. This weekend, America’s Olympic Network has coverage of the World Track & Field Championships from Berlin, Germany.

BOLT & GAY HEADLINE NBC SPORTS LIVE COVERAGE OF WORLD TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM BERLIN BEGINNING SATURDAY

Live Streaming Webcasts on UniversalSports.com

NEW YORK - August 13, 2009 - The fastest athletes in the world, including Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica and reigning world champions Tyson Gay, Bernard Lagat and Allyson Felix of the U.S., headline NBC Sports' live coverage of the World Track & Field Championships from Berlin over the next two weekends.

TEAM USA: The 2009 Team USA squad consists of 20 Olympic medalists, 28 World Outdoor Championship medalists and 10 American record holders.  The reigning World champions on Team USA competing in Berlin includes Gay, Lagat, Felix, Jeremy Wariner, Kerron Clement, Michelle Perry, Reese Hoffa and Brad Walker.

Over the past 11 World Track and Field Championships, Team USA has won a total of 228 medals, including 110 gold. Russia places second during that span with 122 total medals (33 gold).

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS: NBC Sports will air eight hours of competition over two weekends beginning this Saturday from 1-3 p.m. ET (LIVE), continuing this Sunday from 2-4 p.m. ET (LIVE), August 22 from 1-3 p.m. ET (LIVE) and concluding August 23 from 2-4 p.m. ET (Same Day Tape). Coverage highlights include:

This Saturday:  Men's 100m Quarterfinals  Women's 10,000m Final  Men's Shot Put Final

This Sunday:  Men's 100m Final  Women's Shot Put Final  Women's 400m Semifinal

Saturday, Aug. 22: Men's 4x100m Relay Final  Women's 4x100m Relay Final  Women's 5,000m Final  Men's Long Jump Final  Men's Pole Vault Final  Women's Hammer Throw Final  Men's Marathon

Sunday, Aug. 23: Men's 4x400m Relay Final  Women's 4x400m Relay Final  Men's 800m Final  Women's 1,500m Final  Woman's Marathon  Women's Long Jump Final  Men's Javelin Final

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM: UniversalSports.com will provide a live webcast of the morning and evening sessions from Berlin each day of the Championships, from August 15 - 23. UniversalSports.com's Alan Abrahamson will provide daily blog posts and news updates from Berlin. The full webcast schedule, highlights, full-length videos, photos, breaking news and more is available at UniversalSports.com/trackandfield.

TEAM USA RETURNS TO BERLIN: These World Championships marks the first time that the USA Track and Field team will return to Berlin for a major international competition since the 1936 Olympic Games where Jesse Owens won four gold medals.

ANNOUNCERS: Calling the action from Berlin is NBC Sports Olympic Track and Field broadcast team of: Tom Hammond, Ato Bolden, Lewis Johnson, Dwight Stones and Bob Neumeier.

NBC will also air the Dew Tour.

DEW TOUR CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND WITH THE WENDY?S INVITATIONAL ON NBC & USA

Competition Features World Champions Ryan Sheckler, Bucky Lasek and Dew Winners Jamie Bestwick & Dave Mirra

NEW YORK – August 13, 2009 – Skateboard Park and BMX Park highlight NBC Sports’ coverage of the Wendy’s Invitational this weekend from the Rose Quarter in Portland, Ore., the first three-sport stop of the 2009 Dew Tour. NBC Sports’ live coverage of Skateboard Park airs Saturday and BMX Park airs Sunday at 4 p.m. ET both days. USA Network will air late-night coverage of the BMX Vert final Saturday at midnight ET/PT.

Athlete analysts Jamie Bestwick, Chris Miller and Paul Zitzer will join host Kenan Harkin and correspondent Tiffany Simons from Portland.

More than 140 of the world’s best skateboarders and riders will compete in Portland, including the winners of the first two Dew stops who are back to defend their titles. Competitors include: Bestwick (BMX Vert), Dave Mirra (BMX Park) and Josh Hult (BMX Dirt) from the Nike 6.0 BMX Open; and Skateboarding world champs Ryan Sheckler (Skateboard Park) and Bucky Lasek (Skate Vert) from the ISF Skateboarding World Championships.

These Dew Tour winners will face steep competition from athletes fresh off X Games gold medals including Pierre-Luc Gagnon (Skateboard Vert), Garrett Reynolds (BMX Park) and Paul Rodriguez (Skateboard Park).

Freestyle Motocross (FMX) also makes its first appearance on the 2009 Dew Tour, with an FMX jam session featuring last year’s Dew Cup winner Adam Jones, Jeremy Stenberg and Mike Mason.

Complete 2009 Dew Tour Schedule, airs on NBC & USA:

Date/Event/Site - Venue

Aug. 13 – 16: Wendy’s Invitational – Portland, Ore. – Rose Quarter
Sept. 17 – 20: Toyota Challenge – Salt Lake City, Utah – Energy Solutions Arena

Oct. 15 - 18: PlayStation Pro - Orlando, Fla. - Amway Arena

Next weekend, Golf Channel will have extensive coverage of the Solheim Cup.

GOLF CHANNEL Has The Solheim Cup Covered from Tee to Green

40 hours of Live Tournament Action and Wrap-around News Coverage

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 13, 2009) – As Team U.S.A. and Team Europe battle for the prestigious Solheim Cup outside Chicago, GOLF CHANNEL will take viewers inside the ropes at Rich Harvest Farms with 26 hours of live match-play coverage of The Solheim Cup – produced for the first time in high definition – Aug. 21-23, coupled for the first time with 14 hours of wrap-around news coverage throughout the week. Live From the Solheim Cup will surround GOLF CHANNEL’s tournament coverage with all of the news from the first tee-shot to the last putt.

Friday and Saturday (Aug. 21-22), GOLF CHANNEL will air more than 10 continuous hours of daily live tournament coverage of The Solheim Cup matches, beginning at 9 a.m. ET. GolfChannel.com will take over live coverage for two hours on Friday, streaming from 2-4 p.m. ET, before the network returns for the conclusion of play from 4-7:30 p.m. ET. Sunday’s live tournament coverage will air from 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET.

Brian Hammons and six-time Solheim Cup U.S. Team member Dottie Pepper will serve as play-by-play announcer and lead analyst of the network’s live tournament coverage.

Hall-of-Famer Donna Caponi-Byrnes, LPGA veteran Kay Cockerill, multiple LPGA tournament winner and ’96 U.S. Solheim Cup team member Val Skinner and Phil Parkin will report from the course. Tom Abbott will conduct post-match interviews and report from an on-course tower. Rich Lerner, as show host, will set the stage for the telecasts each day, conduct post-round interviews and rotate with Hammons for play-by-play duties. Hall-of-Famer and two-time U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Judy Rankin will make her GOLF CHANNEL debut at the Solheim Cup as lead analyst, working alongside Lerner.

The network’s Live From The Solheim Cup news team will include Kraig Kann, Charlie Rymer, Laura Baugh, Inga Hammond, Scott Walker, Lerner, Abbott and Pepper providing live news reports, inside analysis and compelling features. Live From The Solheim Cup kicks off Tuesday and Wednesday with pre-event news conferences, followed by wrap-around news coverage Thursday – Sunday. GolfChannel.com’s Jay Coffin and Randall Mell also will contribute to the popular Shag Bag blog with entries and posts throughout the week.

Wednesday (Aug. 19) at 8:30 p.m. ET, Annika Sorenstam will be a special guest on the Grey Goose 19^th Hole, joining host Vince Cellini and analysts John Hawkins and Jeff Rude on the network’s fast-paced talk show to preview The Solheim Cup.

GOLF CHANNEL / The Solheim Cup Coverage, (All Times Eastern):

Tuesday

· Live From The Solheim Cup (News Conferences), 2 – 3 p.m.

Wednesday

· Live From The Solheim Cup (News Conferences), 2 – 4 p.m.

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 6 – 8 p.m.

Thursday

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 1 – 2 p.m.

· The Solheim Cup Opening Ceremony, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 1 – 1:30 a.m.

Friday

· The Solheim Cup (Day 1), 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

· GolfChannel.com live stream of The Solheim Cup, 2 – 4 p.m.

· The Solheim Cup (Day 1), 4 – 7:30 p.m.

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 7:30 – 8 p.m.

· The Solheim Cup (Day 1 re-air), 10:30 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.

Saturday

· The Solheim Cup (Day 2), 9 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 7:30 – 9 p.m.

· The Solheim Cup (Day 2 re-air), 9 p.m. – 12 a.m.

Sunday

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 10:30 – 11 a.m.

· The Solheim Cup (Day 3), 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

· Live From The Solheim Cup, 4:30 – 6 p.m.

· The Solheim Cup (Day 3 re-air), 9 p.m. – 12 a.m.

And that does it for this slew of press releases. Baseball this weekend is coming up.

Various Football-related Press Releases

Here are some football-centric press releases for you as I clear the inbox of press releases that should have been posted either last night or earlier today. But as long as they’re posted, we’re good.

This is from the NFL and the plans for the NFL Kickoff on September 10 in Pittsburgh.

“NFL OPENING KICKOFF 2009 TO CELEBRATE START OF NFL SEASON AND PITTSBURGH STEELERS SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 SHOW AND FREE CONCERT TO FEATURE PERFORMANCES BY TIM McGRAW AND THE BLACK EYED PEAS

NBC/NFL Network Special On Sept. 10, 8-8:30 p.m. ET

Precedes NFL Kickoff Game 2009:
TENNESSEE TITANS vs. PITTSBURGH STEELERS

It is time to “Own The Moment” as the NFL begins its 90^th season with a celebration in its special pregame show, “NFL OPENING KICKOFF 2009” – 8:00 PM ET Thursday, Sept. 10. TIM MC GRAW and THE BLACK EYED PEAS are scheduled to perform.

There will be simulcast coverage of the 30-minute pregame show which will air from 8-8:30 PM ET on NBC and NFL Network. The live pregame broadcast will also be available via NFL Mobile Live only from Sprint.

The performances are part of the celebration to kick off the 2009 season and to honor the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.

The show leads into the season opener between the Steelers and the Tennessee Titans at Heinz Field (NBC, Westwood One Radio Sports, 8:30 PM ET).

Both three-time Grammy Award winning artists, McGRAW and THE BLACK EYED PEAS will get it started in the Steel City at a free concert open to the public at Point State Park. More concert details and other community events will be announced shortly.

This is the sixth consecutive year the NFL has saluted the Super Bowl champions with the opening game in their stadium on a Thursday in primetime.

NFL OPENING KICKOFF 2009 is an NFL NETWORK PRODUCTION and will be executive produced by RICKY KIRSCHNER, one of the producers of the Super Bowl pregame and halftime shows and directed by GREGG GELFAND.

HISTORY OF NFL OPENING KICKOFF EVENTS

DATE	LOCATION	NETWORK	TALENT	GAME
9/5/2002	Times Square, New York	CBS, MTV, VH1 and ESPN	Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Alicia Keys, Eve, Cast of Broadway musical Rent with Joey Fatone of NSYNC	San Francisco at NY Giants (ESPN)
9/4/2003	The National Mall, Washington, DC	ABC	Aerosmith, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Britney Spears, Good Charlotte	NY Jets at Washington (ESPN)
9/9/2004	Gillette Stadium, New England/ Metropolitan Park, Jacksonville	ABC	Boston Pops, Mary J. Blige, Destiny’s Child, Elton John, Toby Keith, Lenny Kravitz (NE); Jessica Simpson (Jax.)	Indianapolis at New England (ABC)
9/8/2005	Gillette Stadium, New England/ Los Angeles Coliseum, LA/Detroit	ABC	Green Day, Santana, Michelle Branch, Ozzy Osbourne, Trisha Yearwood (NE); Kanye West, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Rihanna (LA); Rolling Stones (taped from Detroit)	Oakland at New England (ABC)
9/7/2006	Heinz Field, Pittsburgh/Miami	NBC	Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride (Pitt.); Diddy, Cassie, Yung Joc, Tego Calderon (Miami)	Miami at Pittsburgh (NBC)
9/6/2007	RCA Dome, Indianapolis	NBC, NFLN	John Mellencamp, Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, Hinder, Keyshia Cole, Voices of Unity Youth Choir	New Orleans at Indianapolis (NBC)
9/4/2008	Columbus Circle, New York City	NFLN, NBC	Natasha Bedingfield, Keith Urban, Usher	Washington at New York Giants (NBC)
9/10/2009	Heinz Field, Pittsburgh	NFLN, NBC	Tim McGraw, The Black Eyed Peas	Tennessee at Pittsburgh (NBC)

To ESPN which says Chris Mortensen’s long bus ride across the NFL’s training camp continues this week.

The Bus Rolls On: Mort’s Training Camp Tour at Midway Point

Senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen is officially halfway into his three-week “Mort Goes to Camp” road trip to cover 21 NFL training camps in 24 days. He next visits two camps in New York — Bills (Fri./Rochester) and Giants (Sat./Albany) — and ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn., (Thurs.) before heading south this weekend for the final leg of his trip. In addition to covering the teams, Mortensen has enjoyed surrounding sights and scenery along the way. He has taken his bus for a spin on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he rolled through Times Square on the way to Jets camp. Mortensen will continue to provide daily updates on SportsCenter, NFL Live, and ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning, among other programs. He is also tweeting regularly on Twitter (@mortreport).

‘Mort Goes to Camp’ Schedule

Thu, Aug 13	ESPN (Bristol, Conn.)
Fri, Aug 14	Buffalo Bills (Rochester, N.Y.)
Sat, Aug 15	N.Y. Giants (Albany, N.Y.)
Sun, Aug 16	Baltimore Ravens (Westminster, Md.)
Mon, Aug 17	Washington Redskins (Ashburn, Va.)
Tue, Aug 18	Tennessee Titans (Nashville, Tenn.)

Continuing with ESPN, new NFL insider Adam Schefter makes his debut on August 17 just before another Monday Night Football exhibition game.

MNF Preseason: New York Giants Host Carolina Panthers on Monday; Adam Schefter to Make ESPN Debut on Monday Night Countdown at 7 p.m.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football preseason coverage continues when quarterback Eli Manning and the New York Giants host quarterback Jake Delhomme and the Carolina Panthers on Monday, Aug. 17, at 8 p.m. Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and analysts Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden will call the game from the Meadowlands, joined by reporter Suzy Kolber.

NFL Insider Adam Schefter will make his ESPN debut from the studio during the Monday Night Countdown pre-game at 7 p.m. The newest member of ESPN’s NFL team will contribute to SportsCenter, NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown throughout the year as well as ESPN.com, ESPN Radio and other platforms. Chris Berman will host the one-hour Countdown with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson and senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, who will report from Redskins training camp in Ashburn, Va., as he continues his 24-day NFL training camp bus tour.

Two UFL releases for you. This one came in Tuesday. It’s the unveiling of the name of the California franchise based in San Francisco.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE INTRODUCES CALIFORNIA REDWOODS AS TEAM NAME & UNVEILS UNIFORMS

SAN FRANCISCO (August 11, 2009) – At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the California franchise will be named the Redwoods and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Redwoods’ “Premiere” season colors of green, blue and white. The name “Redwoods” was selected after more than thirty thousand fan entries and interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. California Redwoods Owner Paul Pelosi was also in attendance at the press event.

“It was critical for us to select team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” said Commissioner Huyghue. “The Redwoods, large, strong trees native to California, symbolize many traits that the UFL and the California franchise plan to embody. The Redwoods and the UFL are reaching for the stars and are eco-friendly.”

Redwoods’ owner Paul Pelosi wanted his team’s name to possess attributes that signified strength, respected the environment and suggested growth opportunities.

Coach Dennis Green who was unable to be in attendance at the press conference due to a previous commitment gave the name high marks. “The true measure of success for a football team is how we produce on the field. The UFL’s success will also be measured in how we connect with the fans in our community. With the Redwoods’ name, we are showcasing our plan to firmly set roots in the community and our desire to cultivate this team into a successful franchise.”

The California Redwoods’ first game of the season will be in Las Vegas on October 8^th. The Redwoods’ first home game will be on Saturday, October 17 at AT&T Park against the Florida franchise. Tickets go on-sale tomorrow and can be purchased by calling Tickets.com at 800.225.2277 or logging onto www.tickets.com.

Today, the UFL released the name of the Florida franchise.

ORLANDO, FL (August 12, 2009) – At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the Florida franchise will be named the Tuskers and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Tuskers’ “Premiere” season colors of blue, black and white. The name “Tuskers” was selected after more than thirty thousand fan entries and interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. Florida Tuskers Head Coach Jim Haslett and Michael Kalt, Tampa Bay Rays’ Senior Vice President of Development and Business Affairs, were also in attendance at the press event.

Commissioner Huyghue also announced that the Tuskers’ game against the Las Vegas Locomotives on October 30th will be played at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays, and that the Rays have reached an agreement in principle to acquire an interest in the UFL’s Florida franchise.

The Florida Tuskers’ first game of the season will be on October 10^th at the Citrus Bowl against New York. Tickets are now on-sale and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster Charge by Phone at 800.745.3000 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.

There is one more press release post before I do links. Yes, I will do links tonight so be prepared.

Some Football-centric Press Releases

Let’s move to football, both college and pro for this press release post.

We’ll begin with the NFL Network and the exhibition games it will air this week.

EXHIBITION SEASON WEEK 1:

FIVE LIVE GAMES ON NFL NETWORK FEATURING DEBUTS OF TOP QB PICKS MATTHEW STAFFORD & MARK SANCHEZ, JAY CUTLER’S FIRST GAME WITH BEARS AND TERRELL OWENS’ FIRST GAME IN BUFFALO

First-Ever Live Exhibition Season Tripleheader on Saturday

Live Telecasts This Week:

Rams at Jets, Friday at 7:00 PM ET

Broncos at 49ers, Friday at 10:00 PM ET

Falcons at Lions, Saturday at 4:00 PM ET

Bears at Bills, Saturday at 7:00 PM ET

Seahawks at Chargers, Saturday at 10:00 PM ET

Fantasy fans sharpen your pencils. The 2009 exhibition season is here and all the action is on NFL Network. For the first time, all 65 games can be seen on NFL Network in high definition.

The live coverage kicks off with a doubleheader on Friday, August 14 at 7:00 PM ET when the St. Louis Rams face the New York Jets in a game that marks the debut of Jets first-round draft pick QB Mark Sanchez, and new head coaches Rex Ryan (Jets) and Steve Spagnuolo (Rams). At 10:00 PM ET, Denver Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels begins his tenure with a new QB in a battle against the San Francisco 49ers.

Saturday, August 15 will feature the first-ever live tripleheader with the Atlanta Falcons vs. Detroit Lions beginning at 4:00 PM ET. Lions QB Matthew Stafford season begins his rookie season after he was selected with the top pick in the draft. Immediately following at 7:00 PM ET, the Chicago Bears face the Buffalo Bills. The Bears unveil their new QB Jay Cutler while WR Terrell Owens makes his debut in front of the Bills home crowd. Finally, at 10:00 PM ET, the Seattle Seahawks take on the San Diego Chargers in a matchup of teams that have each won their division title four of the past five seasons.

During the 2009 NFL exhibition season, NFL Network will televise a record 65 games – up from the 54 shown in 2008. The exhibition season schedule, which is entirely in HD for the first time, also includes a record 12 live games and 97 encore telecasts so that no one will miss a game.

NFL NETWORK AIR TIMES FOR 2009 WEEK 1 EXHIBITION SEASON GAMES

(ALL TIMES EASTERN; ALL GAMES IN HIGH DEFINITION)

Monday, August 10

12:30 AM – Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans – encore

Tuesday, August 11

12:30 PM – Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans – encore

Thursday, August 13

12:30 AM – Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans – encore

11:00 PM – New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles

Friday, August 14

2:00 AM – Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders

3:00 PM – Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens

9:00 AM – New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles – encore

12:00 PM – Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders – encore

7:00 PM – St. Louis Rams at New York Jets – LIVE

10:00 PM – Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers – LIVE

Saturday, August 15

1:00 AM – Minnesota Vikings at Indianapolis Colts

7:00 AM – Cincinnati Bengals at New Orleans Saints

10:00 AM – Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens – encore

1:00 PM – Arizona Cardinals at Pittsburgh Steelers

4:00 PM – Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions – LIVE

7:00 PM – Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills – LIVE

10:00 PM – Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers – LIVE

Sunday, August 16

1:00 AM – Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers

4:00 AM – Cincinnati Bengals at New Orleans Saints – encore

7:00 AM – St. Louis Rams at New York Jets – encore

10:00 AM – Houston Texans at Kansas City

1:00 PM – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tennessee Titans

4:00 PM – New England Patriots at Philadelphia Eagles – encore

7:00 PM – Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders – encore

10:00 PM – Minnesota Vikings at Indianapolis Colts – encore

Monday, August 17

1:00 AM – Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers – encore

4:00 AM – Seattle Seahawks at San Diego Chargers – encore

7:00 AM – Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs – encore

10:00 AM – Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions – encore

1:00 PM – Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills – encore

4:00 PM – Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers – encore

11:00 PM – Jacksonville Jaguars at Miami Dolphins

The new Monday Night Football announcing team featuring former Tampa Bay coach Jon Grudin makes its debut this Thursday.

Jon Gruden Makes MNF Exhibition Season Debut Thursday with Super Bowl XLIII Rematch

ESPN will kick off its Monday Night Football Exhibition Season schedule with a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers host wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals at Heinz Field on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 8 p.m. ET. Jon Gruden will make his debut in the MNF booth alongside play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski in the first of four ESPN MNF exhibition games in August. Reporter Suzy Kolber will also be in Pittsburgh as the two teams take the field for the first time since Santonio Holmes caught the game-winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds to play and the Steelers defeated the Cardinals 27-23 for their sixth title in franchise history.

The Cardinals-Steelers matchup will be preceded by a one-hour Monday Night Countdown (7 p.m.) hosted by Chris Berman with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson and senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, whose three-week NFL training camp bus tour will make a one-day visit Thursday to the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football 2009 NFL Exhibition Season Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Teams
Thu, Aug 13	8 p.m.	Arizona Cardinals at Pittsburgh Steelers
Mon, Aug 17	8 p.m.	Carolina Panthers at New York Giants
Mon, Aug 24	8 p.m.	New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
Mon, Aug 31	8 p.m.	Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans

Suspended wide receiver Donte Stallworth from my Cleveland Browns will speak to ESPN’s E:60 tomorrow night.

Suspended Cleveland Browns Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth Speaks Exclusively to E:60 Tuesday, August 11, at 7 p.m. ET

Suspended Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth, in an exclusive E:60 interview, will talk in detail with correspondent Michael Smith on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. ET, about the early morning hours of March 14, when Stallworth killed a man while driving under the influence in Miami.

A plea deal was reached in June, and Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail for DUI manslaughter. After serving 24 days of his sentence, Stallworth was released and is under an indefinite suspension from the NFL after meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Aug. 5. It is not known when Goodell will rule on Stallworth’s request to return to the NFL.

Critics have expressed outrage that Stallworth is just another example of a rich athlete buying his way out of hard time. E:60 will air the complete interview with Smith on Tuesday. Stallworth talks for the first time about the morning he killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes, lessons learned while in jail and how he hopes to make a positive impact in the future, on and off the football field.

The UFL has unveiled the name for its Las Vegas franchise.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE INTRODUCES LAS VEGAS LOCOMOTIVES AS TEAM NAME & UNVEILS UNIFORMS

LAS VEGAS (August 10, 2009) – At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the Las Vegas franchise will be named the Locomotives and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Locomotives’ “Premiere” season colors of silver, blue and white. The name “Locomotives” was selected after reviewing more than thirty thousand fan entries and receiving interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. Las Vegas Locomotives Head Coach Jim Fassel was also in attendance at the press event.

“It was critical for us to select team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” said Commissioner Huyghue. “Las Vegas was originally established in 1905 with the opening of the Salt Lake, San Pedro and Los Angeles Railroads. We wanted to honor the vast history of the city and the intrinsic benefits that this innovation provided to the community.”

Previously, the UFL announced Miami-based GameWear Team Sports as the League’s official uniform supplier. GameWear Team Sports is one of the leading athletic uniform outfitters in the country and has worked extensively in growing the sport of football on the grassroots level. Award-winning designer Ron Caruso of Purepartner created all the teams’ uniforms using derivatives of the official League logo for all the designs while making each one distinctive.

“The inspiration for the “Premiere” season uniform design comes directly from the UFL shield and its foundation colors which represent “green grass”, “blue sky” and silver for innovation,” said Caruso. “Throughout the uniforms, we used the dimensional “arc” of the shield on the chest and supporting “arcs” on the sleeves and pants. The unique font of the numbers reinforces the shield’s classic bold typeface with angles and dimensional treatments conveying depth and motion. The four uniform designs work together in a unified branded system, providing manufacturing efficiencies while allowing each team to retain its own unique and differentiated character.”

Tomorrow, the United Football League will be holding a press conference at AT&T Park to announce the San Francisco team’s name. Similar events will be held in Orlando on Wednesday and in New York on Thursday. Photos of each of the team’s uniforms will be available on the League’s website, www.ufl-football.com, along with video from the press events.

“We are extremely pleased with the names selected for all of our teams and the overall “Premiere” season uniform design,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “Name selection for a new sports franchise can be an arduous process having to take into account the disqualification of many great possibilities due to trademark and copyright issues. There was a team of experts headed up by Jeff Sofka of Bendigo Co., and included Charley Inc., GameWear Team Sports, Purepartner, and many others who assisted in the name selection and uniform design processes and we are grateful for all of their hard work.”

The UFL launched its Name the Team Campaign with the redesign of its website in February. From that time, more than thirty thousand entries were submitted. Fans who submitted the selected names will be notified and given the appropriate credit.

The Las Vegas Locomotives’ first game of the season will be on October 8^th at Sam Boyd Stadium against San Francisco.Tickets are now on-sale and can be purchased by calling UNLV Tickets Charge by Phone at 702.739.FANS or log onto www.UNLVtickets.com.

To college football and ESPN.com is unveiling some fantasy games just for you.

ESPN.com Debuts Its First Player-Based Fantasy College Football Game, College Football Challenge

Newly Redesigned ESPN College Pick ‘Em, College Bowl Mania Return This Season

ESPN.com recently kicked off its newest and first player-based fantasy college football game, College Football Challenge, for sports fans this season. Players can register now for a chance to submit up to three entries in a specific conference within the Division 1-A football bowl subdivision (excluding 1A Independents), across all conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, 1A Independents, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pac-10, Sun Belt, SEC or WAC) or both. Entrants of College Football Challenge select a roster of six offensive players, one team kicker and one team defense each week. ESPN will award the winner with the most points at the end of the season and a guest a trip to the 2010 national championship game.

Returning this year and launching August 11 is the newly redesigned College Pick ‘Em, with a more user-friendly interface for fans and more content integration with ESPNU. The game, which will feature ten – 10 – Saturday college football games played with confidence points, will once again include a mobile extension for players on their phones. Since it was first introduced to fans in 2000, College Pick ‘Em has grown to nearly 300,000 users in 2008, up 83 percent compared to five years ago.

College Bowl Mania, a special pick ‘em game for the 2009-2010 bowl season, will also return this year in December along with its annual TV special. The game, also played with confidence points and first introduced in 2000, grew 140 percent last year compared to 2003, with approximately 480,000 users in 2008 alone. Prizing will be awarded to first place finishers for College Pick ‘Em and College Bowl Mania.

That’s going to wrap up this post. A more general press release post comes up right after this one.

A Few More Press Releases You Can Read

Here are a couple of press releases for you on this Monday morning.

First, the International Baseball Federation says the 2009 Baseball World Cup will be televised on one of Europe’s biggest sports networks.

Fastest-growing channel in Europe to serve as broadcaster for September’s Pan-European World Championship  

(LAUSANNE, Switzerland) – The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) today announced that Eurosport Group has agreed to televise on Eurosport 2 over 40 games of the 2009 Baseball World Cup, which will be held across Europe from 9-27 September. It marks the first time Eurosport 2 will serve as broadcaster for the event and will give the World Cup its first live television presence in Europe in the events’ 38 year history. Eurosport 2, the fastest-growing TV channel in Europe since its launch in 2005, already broadcasts to 36 million households in 14 languages across 46 countries.

“This is yet another positive sign of the growth of baseball globally, and its continued emerging in Europe,” said IBAF President Dr. Harvey Schiller. “The global interest in baseball, especially across Europe and in emerging nations, continues to grow exponentially and this agreement is further validation that the efforts the sport is making to grow are being recognized. We are confident that Eurosport 2 will contribute to the popularity of baseball in Europe”.

Eurosport 2 also televised the European Cup Championship on 21 June, won by Italy’s Danesi Caffe’ Nettuno, 1-0 over fellow Italian club  Fortitudo Bologna.

The 2009 Baseball World Cup will be held in Regensburg, Germany; Zagreb; Prague; Barcelona; and Stockholm from 9-12 September. The second round will be split between Italy and the Netherlands, while the final round will be in Italy finishing on 27 September. In total, 22 nations will compete for the coveted world championship. Additional television plans for the World Cup will be announced shortly.

The UFL is opening up a webstore today.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE

LAUNCHES UFL STORE

AT WWW.GETUFL.COM

RUTHERFORD, NJ (August 10, 2009) – The United Football League announced its online retail store, www.GETUFL.com, will launch today, Monday, August 10^th. The UFL’s e-commerce launch is in advance of the League’s press conferences next week in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orlando and New York to announce team names, unveil “Premiere” season uniforms and commence ticket sales. Team merchandise will be available next week after each team name is revealed.

UFL’s online store, managed in conjunction with PAID Inc., will offer licensed products including but not limited to custom authentic jerseys, replicas, shirts, hats, player practice gear, accessories and novelties.

“From our initial announcement, fans have been asking for UFL-licensed merchandise and we are proud to fulfill this request with our new online store at www.GETUFL.com,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “Our online store is another exciting way for our fans to connect with the UFL. We will be launching the site with some key products and will expand the selection as we head into the ‘“Premiere” season’.”

ESPN tells us what’s coming this week in motorsports.

Motorsports This Week on ESPN

ESPN’s Champions Take Over Booth at Michigan Nationwide Series Race

ESPN2’s live coverage of the Aug. 15 Carfax 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway will have a new and different approach as the telecast will prominently feature five former NASCAR champions and will be done without a traditional “play by play” announcer.

ESPN’s “Backseat Drivers” telecast will engage NASCAR fans with the authenticity and experience of analysts Tim Brewer, Ray Evernham, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree and Rusty Wallace. With Brewer contributing reports and analysis from the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage, Evernham, Jarrett, Petree and Wallace will call the race from the booth.

“Our goal is to give viewers a different presentation, one filled with discussion, observations, and stories from some of the most respected champions NASCAR has crowned, and their unique unfiltered perspective on an event,” said Rich Feinberg, ESPN vice president, motorsports.

“This is an opportunity for our viewers to have the experience of sitting around watching a race with these champions from their couch at home, and without the traditional approach to sportscasting.“

In addition to the five champions, the telecast will include pit reporters Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch, while Allen Bestwick will host. The race airs Saturday, Aug. 15, at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Michigan on ESPN

ESPN will have live, flag-to-flag coverage in high definition as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competes in the Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 16. The telecast begins with NASCAR Countdown at 1:00 p.m. ET and the race’s green flag is at 2:16 p.m.

The final 17 races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will air on the ESPN Networks, with the first six on ESPN and the final 11 on ABC, including all 10 races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN’s coverage, with analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Reporting from the pits will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Vince Welch, with two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Allen Bestwick will host the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program with analysis by 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty, owner of a winning team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in the ESPN pit studio.

Also this week, ESPN Classic will air highlights of the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 500 from Pocono (PA) Raceway on Monday, Aug. 17, at 6 p.m. The race was won by Darrell Waltrip, with Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin, Harry Gant and Geoff Bodine completing the top five.

Craven, Said, Chengelis on NASCAR Now Roundtable

NASCAR on ESPN analysts Ricky Craven and Boris Said will join ESPN NASCAR reporter Angelique Chengelis as panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program on Monday, Aug. 17, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Mike Massaro hosts half-hour episodes of NASCAR Now airing Tuesday through Thursday of this week at 5 p.m., and Friday at 9 p.m. following ESPN2’s live coverage of U.S. Open Series tennis.

Massaro also hosts the one-hour weekend edition that airs Sunday, Aug. 16, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. The weekend wrap-up edition airs at 1 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17 (late Sunday night). Nicole Manske and Chengelis will report from Michigan for both programs, while Said will join Massaro in the studio.

NASCAR Now is hosted by Massaro, Bestwick and Manske and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie, and ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Spake and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing from Minnesota on ESPN2

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series returns from a two-week break with action at Brainerd (MN) International Raceway this weekend, and ESPN2 will air qualifying and eliminations action on a same-day basis. Qualifying from the NHRA Nationals airs Saturday, Aug. 15, at 6 p.m. ET, and again at 11 p.m., with eliminations airing Sunday at 10 p.m. Finals coverage re-airs Monday, Aug. 17, at 11 a.m. on ESPN Classic.

NHRA’s version of a weeklong campout, this event is a popular stop due to the area’s recreational opportunities. Avid fishers often spend the days before the event trolling the area’s many lakes for walleye, bass, and northern pike, and a huge on-site campground provides nightly camaraderie for racegoers who sit around fires discussing the day’s action. A 700-foot concrete launchpad, one of the longest on the tour, helps boost performances as competition heightens for positions in the Countdown to 1.

Paul Page anchors ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by 22-time NHRA winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff report from the pits. Rieff and Dunn host NHRA RaceDay on Sunday at 11 a.m. to set the stage for that day’s eliminations action.

Other NHRA programming airing on ESPN Networks this week includes highlights from the 2003 NHRA Nationals in Phoenix airing Monday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m. on ESPN Classic.

TORC Series Action on ESPN2 Sunday

Action from the TORC Series returns to ESPN2 on Sunday, Aug. 16, at 11:30 a.m. ET with highlights from the series event held in Bark River, Mich. The premier short-course racing series with the top stars in off-road racing, this exciting form of door-to-door action will appear on both ESPN2 and ABC this season.

The 2009 season features eight total rounds of racing. ESPN2 will air five rounds with three to appear on ABC, including a live telecast on ABC of the 40^th Anniversary of Off-Road Racing. Marty Reid, lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN on ABC’s coverage of the Indianapolis 500 and selected NASCAR races, will call all of the TORC Truck Series events on ESPN2 and ABC. Joining Reid will be long-time extreme sports announcer Tes Sewell and former Miss USA Kimberly Pressler as pit reporter.

That’s it for now. I expect some more press releases later today.

Some Saturday Linkage

Let’s do some linkage for you. Already a busy day as we get ready for the David Ortiz press conference at Yankee Stadium and there’s something else stirring on the blogosphere as well. We’ll get to that later.

First, some links.

Newsday’s Neil Best has viewing tips on how to endure a Red Sox-Yankees marathon.

Jane L. Levere of the New York Times looks at a new innovative NFL ad campaign that debuts during the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday.

Mike Cardillo of the Connecticut Post profiles ESPN soccer analyst Kyle Martino.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says Cris Collinsworth will be in the spotlight as much as Terrell Owens as both men will be making debuts on Sunday.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner writes that the Hall of Fame Game brings in a new era for the NFL on TV.

Sad to see and it’s an unfortunate sign of the times. The Dayton Daily News is eliminating its Cincinnati Reds coverage at the end of this season and thus, it’s the end of the line for Hall of Fame writer Hal McCoy’s career who says goodbye to his readers.

Bill Lilley from the Akron Beacon Journal looks at the different approaches from golfers when it comes to sponsorship.

Here’s our first link to the Rocky Mountain Independent, a new online news publication made up of former staffers of the Rocky Mountain News. Glad to see them here at Fang’s Bites. Bob Plasket of the RMI writes that he’s happy to hear college football talk returning to Denver’s sports radio stations.

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk says all of the UFL’s games will be televised nationally.

Asides from the Big Papi press conference, the big story today is the fact that Deadspin published photos of Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton apparently slipping from his sobriety last winter.

Deadspin finds Hamilton’s “accountability partner” who feels the photos aren’t real.

Congratulations to my friend Bob Mantz on the one year anniversary of his great blog, Bob’s Biltz.

This is part 2 of Sumner Widoes interview with ESPN’s Kenny Mayne.

The Sports Media Watch says Terrell Owens’ VH-1 reality show is neither a ratings hit nor a failure.

That will do it for now.

A Back To Work/Still Holiday Weekend Links

Some of you may have gone back to work today. Some of you might have extended your holiday weekend today. Whatever situation you’re in, linkage doesn’t stop so we get some today. I’m in a bit of withdrawal from having morning tennis over the last two weeks and with Howard Stern still on vacation at Sirius XM, I’m a bit lost for morning listening today. So I delve further into the linkage for you.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand went to the AT&T National this weekend to see the small army CBS Sports employs for a PGA Tour event.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks to Andy Roddick’s Mojo (remember the American Express ads?) to see if indeed, he has it back.

Phil Mushnick over at the New York Post praises Tim McCarver for speaking out against Fox’s cutting to Manny Ramirez’s at-bats on Saturday.

Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News also gives McCarver some love for his anti-Manny statements.

Members of the Philadelphia Inquirer feel Fox Sports ripped off Phillies fans with the Manny cut-ins on Saturday.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that a Baltimore radio station has picked up a Sunday afternoon NFL package.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the 4th of July holiday weekend had a distinct European flavor on sports television.

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

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News previews tonight’s 4th and Long episode.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business warns of the return of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti to the Windy City in some capacity.

Thomas V. Bona of the Rockford (IL) Register Star writes about NFL Network and ESPNU joining Comcast’s digital tier at the end of this month.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that John McEnroe was a man of few words during yesterday’s Wimbledon’s men’s final.

However, Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star feels John and his partner, Ted Robinson spoke too much!

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail goes over Wimbledon and a host of others subjects.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable reports Golf Channel and Donald Trump are talking about a new documentary on his efforts to build a huge golf course and resort in Scotland.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News looks back at the Wimbledon men’s final.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel says the sale of the Montreal Canadiens could give an unexpected boost to Cablevision, the owner of MSG Network and the New York Rangers.

Mark Newman of MLB.com says Yankees online in-market streaming starts on Wednesday.

Phil Villarreal of the Consumerist blog says getting the NFL Network on Comcast systems may still cost you extra.

Shane Bacon of the AOL Fanhouse blog tells us that ESPN/ABC won’t show next week’s Open Championship in HD!

Joe Favorito says the CFL and the UFL fought to get attention.

And that’s going to do it for the links for now.

A Mid-Week Link Thing

Let’s do your links. I want to finish these as I’m heading into Boston later tonight for an HBO screening of the Ted Williams documentary that will air on July 14. I’ll give you a report after I get home. Thanks to the fine people at HBO’s public relations department for sending me the invitation. I also have a preview DVD so expect a full review within a week.

Linkage now.

Earlier today, I wrote about NBC’s decision to tape delay the Roger Federer-Ivo Karlovic match across the country while other matches were underway, forcing ESPN2 to pick up doubles matches and stop Wimbledon programming at 10 a.m. in all time zones. Well, this apparently has struck a chord.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Daily says NBC decided to air the Federer match instead of Andy Roddick-Lleyton Hewitt because it’s “following history“. Thanks to the SBD for not only opening up the page today, but also mentioning Fang’s Bites.

Henry Blodget of the Business Insider writes not only is NBC screwing fans on TV, it’s also screwing fans online by forcing them to upgrade their Microsoft Silverlight players for those who want to watch live matches at NBCSports.com.

Awful Announcing which also links to me (thanks, Brian!) says don’t expect this tape delaying practice to end anytime soon.

The Orange County (CA) Metroblog is also angry with the NBC practice of tape delaying matches especially on the West Coast.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes about how the 1st “Breakfast at Wimbledon” almost started with NBC joining the Gentlemen’s Final in progress.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is in London following Wimbledon and he writes that local favorite Andy Murray’s sponsors are getting plenty of mileage. Darren reports that golfer Vijay Singh is not wearing the logo of embattled sponsor, Stanford Financial at the AT&T National PGA Tour stop. And Darren is fascinated by a lawsuit involving the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Back to the Sports Business Daily where Terry Lefton reports that the NBA has signed Taco Bell to replace McDonald’s as an official league sponsor.

Justin Rice of Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab looks at the ethics behind league-owned channels hiring and paying working journalists to cover stories.

Ben Klayman of Reuters writes about the UFL looking at overseas expansion even as it has yet to play a single down.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power Rankings for June. And Richard talks with an ESPN executive about the network’s plans for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Newsday’s Neil Best who’s blogging while on vacation says the US-Brazil final at the Confederations Cup scored well in New York. Neil informs us that he’s “100% testosterone.”

Laura Nachman says the date of the memorial service for the late Philadelphia sports anchor Gary Papa has been set.

From the Washington Post, Leonard Shapiro talks with Chick Hernandez of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times laments the loss of certain sports traditions. He’s way off on the roof at Wimbledon.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News tells Cowboys fans that their favorite Super Bowl teams will be featured on the NFL Network this holiday weekend. Barry says the Texas Rangers rated high on Fox Sports Southwest on Tuesday.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about the Best Damn Sports Show Period and NFL Network’s “America’s Game” marathon this weekend.

The Kansas City Star’s Aaron Barnhart writing in his TV Barn blog talks about TV novice Jamie Quirk of Fox Sports Kansas City making his national debut this week on MLB Network. I know, that last sentence was wordy. Sorry.

James Edward of the Deseret (UT) News feels it was ESPN which made viewers want to watch soccer. I wouldn’t go that far.

Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN could not be happier about its soccer ratings on Sunday.

Peter Ottesen of the Stockton (CA) Record previews a new fishing show that premieres on Comcast SportsNet California this weekend.

Melissa Grego of Broadcasting & Cable talks with FX President John Landgraf who’s looking at sports to increase the network’s ratings.

Katherine Rushton of Broadcast Now in the UK reports that ESPN plans to produce a daily sports show as part of its English Premier League broadcasts.

From the Sports Media Watch, we find that the ratings for the NBA Draft last week took a double digit drop. SMW says NASCAR saw a ratings increase for the first time this year. SMW has some news on various sports figures. And you have the weekend overnight ratings.

Chris Byrne at the Eye on Sports Media writes that Fox Sports South has laid down the law for comments on its Facebook page. Chris also looks at a post that former Deadspin editor Will Leitch made about which sports death would have the most impact similar to Michael Jackson.

Paula Duffy of Examiner.com writes about the NFL Broadcasting Boot Camp.

And that will do it. When I return from the HBO screening, I’ll provide a quick impression on the Ted Williams documentary and post the press releases that have flooded my inbox today. See you then.

More Thursday Links

Some more good stuff for you today.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says TNT’s Charles Barkley helps to make a regular telecast interesting.

Darren Rovell of CNBC has a new addition to his sports business blog and he discusses the Mark Cuban foray into a proposed new fall football league. While I made the comparison to the USFL last night, Rovell makes the comparison to the XFL which was a colossal failure. And he also mentions another failed competitor, the World Football League of the 1970′s.

Can you believe ESPN/ABC will show the National Spelling Bee tonight? The hosts will be Mike & Mike of ESPN Radio. I don’t think this should be televised, but Disney spends a lot of money and that helps to fund the competition. Here’s an article on the Spelling Bee which by the way, is written by a Scripps Howard reporter. Scripps Howard sponsors the Bee.

That’s it for now. We’ll have more later.

Wednesday Night Links

A couple of more things since I last updated here.

First, I finally heard Alicia Silverstone today! Remember I was asking if you remembered Alicia? She was on Sirius Satellite Radio talking with Alexis Stewart (yes, Martha’s daughter) and Jennifer Hutt on Whatever, a show that’s on the Martha Stewart channel. Before you go killing me listening to Martha Stewart Living Radio, Alexis and Jennifer talk about a lot of things, like Jennifer schtupping her boyfriend, Guy; and Jennifer thinking about schtupping her husband for their 10th Anniversary. So it’s not about cooking, sewing, lifestyles and the like. If you have Sirius, Alexis and Jennifer are on Sirius channel 112 from 5 – 7 p.m. Eastern Time. It’s quite the show and I’ve called in a few times although not in the last six months. Very funny show.

This story came in late this afternoon, but Mark Cuban wants to be part of a new league that will rival the NFL. Just like the USFL before it in the 1980′s, the objective is to bid for the lower round talent, but I’m sure just like the USFL before it in the 1980′s, the owners of this new league will want to make a splash and will enter into a bidding war for higher priced talent. This was tried with the USFL and when Donald Trump became owner of the New Jersey Generals, he thought it would be a good idea to try to sue the NFL to force a merger. Didn’t happen and it was one of the bigger losses Trump suffered in his career. The fact that this league will try to compete in the fall with the NFL is one red flag I see right off the bat. Sports fans are so ingrained with the NFL, this will not work. Yes, the AFL became an alternative to the NFL in the 1960′s, but they were in cities the NFL had not touched (Boston, KC, San Diego, Buffalo, Miami). Cuban comments about what will be called the UFL in his blog.

Defending BCS Champ Florida will have its annual faceoff against Tennessee on CBS Sports on September 15. CBS Sports has not announced its full slate of SEC games as of yet, but has announced its windows this season.

CBC’s Don Cherry will finally make his debut on NBC’s Stanley Cup Final coverage this Monday.

The Rocky Mount Telegram appeals to its cable company to pick up five channels including the NFL Network and ESPNU.

The Sports Media Watch blog reports that ratings for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus fell almost 30% from last year. That’s not good. How are you going to spin this, Gary Bettman?

May was a bad month for the cable channels including TNT and ESPN. Ratings for the NBA hurt both channels and don’t forget, that all of the over-the-air networks were also running their season ending finales.

That should be it for tonight.