Fang's Bites

Some Late Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning Links

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then Tom speaks with Kings radio voice Nick Nickson.

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

Tom turns to Clippers voice Ralph Lawler.

Tom gets a response from USC basketball voice Chris Fisher.

Tom makes contact with minor league baseball announcer Jeff Lasky.

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

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

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

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

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

Some Quick Tuesday Night Links

My hopes of having a night off from the blog have gone by the wayside. Too many things going on. I’m going to give you an extra set of links this evening.

Our first story is in regards to the NFL Players Association complaint that the NFL improperly negotiated its TV contracts, insisting its TV partners pay for games even if there’s a lockout. A special master ruled against the union, however, did award damages to the NFLPA.

For its part, the NFLPA released a statement giving its reaction to the ruling.

In Sports Business Daily, John Ourand reports that Versus President Jamie Davis is being replaced by the NBC Sports hierarchy.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! has details of a meeting between Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry looks back at Super Bowl XVIII where one particular commercial took hold and paved the way for advertisers.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser clears things once and for all on the back of John Clayton’s head.

Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page delves into ESPN’s rehiring of Stephen A. Smith to host two local radio shows in New York and Los Angeles.

Rob Gloster and Andy Fixmer from Bloomberg write about the new naming rights deal for Los Angeles’ new stadium which doesn’t have an NFL team.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell explains why he’s watching the Super Bowl from home instead of being at the game in person.

Milton Kent from Fanhouse writes about Stephen A. Smith’s return to ESPN.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union also writes about ESPN bringing back Stephen A.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has NFL Network’s Steve Mariucci telling Packers fans that they’ll forgive Brett Favre eventually.

Lance Pugmire from the Los Angeles Times has a story on the new stadium naming rights deal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks to various play-by-play men about Vin Scully.

First, Tom asks CBS’ Jim Nantz about Vin.

Tom also talks with one of the worst play-by-play men of all-time and a writer of Cheers, Ken Levine

Tom then talks with one of Vin’s former partners, Ross Porter.

Tom taps former Padres play-by-play man and current MLB Network host Matt Vasgersian to talk about Vin.

Tom finds current Anaheim Angels voice and Friend of Fang’s Bites Victor Rojas to discuss what he can learn from Vin.

And finally, Tom talks with Vin’s current partner, Charley “Follow Me To Freedom” Steiner.

David Shoalts from the Toronto Globe and Mail delves into the NHL US TV rights negotiations which get a bit more interesting now that Versus’ exclusive negotiating window has ended.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Globe and Mail reports that TSN which obtained Euro 2012 & 2016 along with the Tour de France today, appears to have wrested the Canadian rights to Major League Soccer away from CBC and Rogers Sportsnet.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks into TSN’s acquisition of MLS.

Dave Kohl from Major League Programs writes about Super Bowl coverage from the local point of view.

That’s going to finish us for tonight. Glad to provide some linkage for you.

Giving You The Friday Megalinks

Ok, let’s do the Friday megalinks. Getting a late start as I’ve been all over the place today, but better late than never.

Check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for information on the sports and entertainment programs for the first weekend in October.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about ESPN creating a new brand that will target women and could eventually become a dedicated TV channel. This was already scoffed at on Twitter. We’ll see how this evolves. Asides from ESPN Mobile, the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s ill-fated cell phone brand, when the network commits to an idea, it will usually work so we’ll see.

Eleanor Barkhorn from The Atlantic shares her thoughts, pro and con, on the new ESPN women’s brand. 

A Girl’s Perspective on a Boy’s Game blog has some thoughts on ESPNW.

Dylan Stableford at The Wrap notes there are many women who aren’t in love with ESPNW.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser has more on the new ESPN venture.

Joe Posanaski of Sports Illustrated has a very good tribute to Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser says the Boston Globe will put all of its web content content except sports and breaking news behind a pay wall. 

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center looks into the history of one of his favorite leads and finds it doesn’t quite measure up to its legend.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse notes that weather delays at the Ryder Cup will force NBC to go live with its coverage on Saturday instead of planned taped coverage.

Fanhouse’s Brett McMurphy has a facetious look at the first televised college football game.

Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports says the Ryder Cup has to move to an earlier date to avoid inclement weather.

Spencer E. Ante of the Wall Street Journal notes NFL games are about to be seen on tablets.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter notes that Fox has pulled 19 of its channels including several sports regional networks off Dish Network over, what else? A carriage dispute.

Andrea Morabito from Broadcasting & Cable says in addition, MSG Network and MSG Plus were pulled from Dish over a pricing dispute.

John Consoli of Mediaweek looks at Fox making Game 3 of this year’s World Series an extra early start.

Mike Freeman of CBS Sports says LeBron James can’t call racism over criticism over “The Decision” when he’s never taken a stand in his life.

The Huffington Post has TNT’s Charles Barkley ripping James for his comments. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says US Ryder Cup team outfitter Sun Mountain Sports is getting heat over its non-waterproof raincoats.

And we have more in this video featuring Darren on CNBC.

Bringing You A Friday Megalink Thing

I owe you some megalinks from last week so let’s get this done.

Don’t forget the Weekend Viewing Picks.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy square off over whether viewers should care what announcers do off the air and away from the camera.

USA Today’s Sean Leahy has NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger saying the New York Jets did nothing wrong in the Ines Sainz controversy. For some reason, this story is just not going away. 

At Sports Illustrated, Richard Deitsch has his Media Power Rankings for August and September.

Chris Gentilviso of Time notes that 2010 may be the Year of the Blackout for the NFL. 

At Pro Football Talk, Michael David Smith says all 32 NFL teams will undergo a training program in the wake of the Ines Sainz incident.

Mike says the Lions just barely avoided a blackout in Detroit.

Jason Lisk at The Big Lead feels the NFL blackout policy needs to change.

Ryan Wilson at Fanhouse tells us which athletes are going to “appear” in this year’s “Body” issue for ESPN The Magazine.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Fox Soccer Channel has signed a rights deal to air French’s top soccer league in the US.

Mike writes that some Comcast subscribers had trouble accessing NFL Network’s RedZone last week.

George Winslow of Multichannel notes that Verizon Fios is adding Syracuse University sports for fans in the upstate New York area.

Paul Thomasch at Reuters notes that Fox is over 90% sold for the Super Bowl in February.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Michigan football jerseys are a hot seller once again.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser reports that Jay Mariotti’s arraignment on domestic violence charges was postponed until October 1.

Sports Media Watch notes that the NFL had its most watched opening week since 1987. 

Even with that good news, SMW discovers that the early NFL window for Fox actually experienced a ratings decline from the year before.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW says the delayed men’s final at the US Open hit another ratings low.

And SMW tells us that the US Open women’s final also delivered low ratings. 

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore looks at the early plans for NHL Network and NHL Radio.

Dave Dahlquist at Macworld says CBS is streaming its entire SEC football schedule on its iPhone app.

David Brown at Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog has a very good interview with Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe looks inside the radio ratings between 98.5 The Sports Hub and WEEI.

At the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Bill Doyle talks about the tremendous Week 1 TV ratings for the NFL.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says Fox failed to follow up after the Philadelphia Eagles’ Stewart Bradley returned to the field after seemingly suffering a concussion.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that MSG Network has signed a rights agreement with the New York Giants.

Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday says the Jets will not be penalized for its behavior last week against Ines Sainz.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News has NBC’s Andrea Kremer’s take on the Ines Sainz
situation.

Dr. Doom and Gloom in the New York Post continues to harp on points that only he cares about.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union profiles the new program director/midday host of the local sports radio station.

Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Ashley Fox says Ines Sainz brought on the Jets behavior by her improper attire. 

Dave Hughes at Press Box talks about the new partnership between the Baltimore Ravens and Comcast SportsNet’s Baltimore website.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes that football fans are opting to stay home and watch games in HD rather than go to the stadium and pay expensive ticket prices.

And Jim likes listening to the Sirius Playboy Morning Show not just to hear about women, but for the NFL picks.

South

Carolyn Shapiro at the Virginian-Pilot notes that CBS College Sports is being picked up by a local cable company.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald looks at the tremendous TV ratings for the NFL.

Katherine Kington of WTVM in Columbus, GA speaks with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. 

Ray Buck at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hears from the CBS college football crew on the state of the game today.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle talks with one of the hosts of Sporting News Radio who made the move to H-Town when the operations moved from California.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman says Saturday’s Air Force-Oklahoma game will be picked up for troops stationed overseas.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals avoided a local blackout on Sunday.

John notes a Chicago sports TV anchor who got some bad advice from her boss when she was working in Dayton.

Tim Twentyman of the Detroit News says the Motor City will not be blacked out this Sunday for the Eagles-Lions game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on the very short leave that Shannon Sharpe took from CBS due to a legal problem that was quickly dropped.

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

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune says the Ines Sainz controversy is an example of a woman being unprofessional.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes with Cardinals returning to KMOX, it completes sports teams going full circle in the Gateway City.

Dan notes that there’s some late season juggling going on with the Cardinals TV schedule.

West

Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman says a local cable system will not pick up CBS College Sports for tomorrow’s Boise State-Wyoming game. 

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders what’s going on at one local sports radio station.

John Maffei of the North County Times says fans who want to watch San Diego State play this weekend will have to shell out some extra bucks.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star wants CBS to stop sending the Oakland Raiders to the local airwaves.

Jim also has the NBC crew previewing Sunday’s Manning Bowl II.

At the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth inquires about the local ESPN Radio affiliate.

Tom speaks with a former Sports Illustrated editor who authored a damaging book on the USC football program.

Tom looks back at a crazy week in sports media in his blog.

The San Jose Mercury News has video of a rather testy exchange between KPIX sports anchor Dennis O’Donnell and 49ers coach Mike Singletary.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that two cable companies are picking up the controversial Rogers Sportsnet One in time for NHL season.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star wonders if it’s time for a rights charter for sports fans.

The Star’s Rosie DiManno heard from former NHL coach Pat Burns after CTV Ottawa erroneously tweeted today that he had died.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie received the first phone call from Burns.

And we’re done for the night.

Quick Thursday Links

I’m at the Massachusetts office, but could be leaving any minute as the big boss, better known as Dad, is with me today and he could ask to leave. So I’ll do as many links as I can before leaving.
Michael McCarthy of USA Today examines a Forbes magazine report which states the average value of an NFL franchise has dropped over the past year.

Milton Kent from Fanhouse explores the NFL announcing lineups for CBS and Fox.

John Walters at Fanhouse profiles ESPN’s Michelle Beadle. I just wonder, is calling Michelle “reasonably (as opposed to unreasonably) attractive” the way to go? Either you’re attractive or you’re not. C’mon, man.

From Yahoo! Sports, Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy notes that the NHL wants to ban bloggers from opposing teams’ locker rooms.

Greg tries to play “pin the tail on the donkey” with NBC’s 2011 NHL schedule.

And Greg analyzes Versus’ 2010-11 NHL schedule.

Jon Lafayette at Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN has recruited Discover to sponsor the Orange Bowl.

Jon says the NFL is conducting a special fantasy league draft for various ad agencies.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Outdoor Channel is ready to break out of America and reach several international markets.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that fantasy players who pick Brett Favre in their drafts do so at their own peril. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times speaks with CBS’ Bill Cowher who recently lost his wife and is in no hurry to get back into coaching.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says two local TV stations and one local cable channel will have coverage of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga this weekend.

Pete says two local radio stations will carry New York Jets games to resolve conflicts with the New York Yankees.

Ken McMillan at the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record writes that the New York Rangers will get plenty of appearances on Versus this upcoming season.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says the DC NFL team is cleaning up in the ratings.

Adam Kilgore of the Post says MASN’s Rob Dibble has either been suspended or chosen to take two games off after comments made about Stephen Strasburg.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner is pleased to have Vin Scully back with the Dodgers for another season.

Jim says Versus has snagged the Washington Capitals for 11 appearances this season.

At the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn talks about DirecTV making their Sunday NFL Ticket package available online.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says a local TV station is bringing back an old brand for its high school football coverage.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the high school organization that owns the slogan “March Madness” is now looking to cash in.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has various news and notes in today’s column.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily doesn’t know whom to side with in the ESPN/Time Warner Cable dispute.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star says there will be plenty of hockey for Canadians to watch this season.

In Puck The Media, Steve Lepore tells us what Versus and NBC did right and wrong in their NHL schedules.

I now have to leave. I’ll try to get more links in when I get back to the RI office.

Back To Monday Linkage

Now that the wedding hangover is just about over, I’m back at work, also blogging and ready for another week in the dog days of August. Let’s go.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has CBS’ Phil Simms discussing the enigma that is Brett Favre.

CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd says eight Big 12 schools are in discussion to start their own TV network. This would not include Texas which is developing its own channel. My head is spinning.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry wishes beat writers would use Twitter for reporting and not complaining.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the Shake Weight is a big hit. Just looking at the ads, how to use it seems so wrong. Very wrong.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Gol TV will launch in HD on a 2nd affiliate after a successful launch on DirecTV earlier this month.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says DirecTV will offer Sunday NFL Ticket online to non-subscribers. 

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post says the Roger Clemens steroids cases drudges up more problems for MLB.

Ryan Sharrow of the Baltimore Business Journal looks at the Ravens signing with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to air their regular season programming.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Al Michaels’ halftime interview with Brett Favre bumped a previously taped piece between Bob Costas and DC NFL team coach Mike Shanahan. 

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times has a look at the weekend in sports TV.

Ed Sherman with Crain’s Chicago Business says former Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti has put his career in jeopardy with his arrest on domestic assault charges.

Chicago media critic Robert Feder says Mariotti’s arrest brought up some old wounds between he and his former Sun-Times colleague Roger Ebert.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post feels Vin Scully is truly a treasure.

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes about Scully’s announcement to return for the 2011 season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says SoCal led out a collective sigh of relief upon hearing of Vin’s return.

Tom has various reaction to Vin’s announcement.

Tom says while Vin apologized for making the announcement, Tom says the media should be apologizing to him for making this all a big deal.

Tom has your SoCal sports calendar.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says a Canadian sports TV network has parted ways with one of its long-time personalities.

Chris Zelkovich at the Toronto Star feels Buck Martinez has greatly improved the quality of Blue Jays telecasts on Rogers Sportsnet.

I don’t know how Deadspin did it, but the site somehow got classified financial information on four Major League Baseball franchises. And it also got one more.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball tries to make sense of it all.

At the Sports Bank, Paul M. Banks had the chance to talk with softball star Jennie Finch and what’s next for her as she’s retiring from the sport. He talks with her about her legacy. And he also talks with her about what’s next for her, either owning a softball team or going into television.

The Big Lead notes that NBC’s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth giddily talked about gambling at the end of last night’s Vikings-49ers game. 

The Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard writes a guest post for The Big Lead in which he understands, but also fears the reprisals on Jay Mariotti.

Kurt Allen at Midwest Sports Fans says Mariotti is another in a long line of troubles at ESPN.

That’s all for now.

Back to the Linkage Grind

On a very rainy Sunday in the Northeast, let’s give you linkage which you have been sorely missing over the last few days. As you might know, I’ve been at a wedding and got back late on Saturday. I did provide some fresh material while I was gone and I thank Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina for including Fang’s Bites in his A.M. Hot Clicks on Thursday and Friday.

Let’s do the linkage.

A strange story came out of Los Angeles on Saturday and it’s very disturbing. ESPN and Fanhouse blowhard Jay Mariotti, best known as Jay The Rat to Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, was arrested Saturday and eventually released on $50,000 bail following an alleged domestic assault incident involving his girlfriend. Of course, ESPN has no comment, but I would not expect the organization to talk at this point.

According to SportsbyBrooks, this incident could be the death knell for Mariotti’s career at ESPN which was about to take off.

SBB also notes that prior to this alleged incident, Mariotti had been a noted critic of athletes who commit domestic abuse. 

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch tweets that Fanhouse’s editors will continue to monitor the story. We’ll also keep an eye on this story. There are several Mariotti detractors who are privately crowing about this.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says MSG Network’s high school sports channel is expected to go high-def by next year.

Mike also looks at the new carriage agreement between the NFL Network and the National Cable Television Cooperative which could bring the channel to Cablevision, Charter and Suddenlink systems.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred says sometimes the best stories suddenly appear out of thin air.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says this year’s ratings declines should not affect talks between the PGA Tour and its network TV partners, CBS and NBC.

Over to the New York Daily News where Bob Raissman feels Jets holdout Darrelle Revis could find himself on TV should he not sign a contract before the new regular season starts.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is making another preposterous argument.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wonders if ESPN’s Jenn Brown should be endorsing beer.

Press Box notes that the Baltimore Ravens have made an agreement to air their regular season programming on both WBAL Plus and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the Ravens returning to Comcast SportsNet.

Jim talks with Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis about the possibility of forming his own regional sports network.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has a few tidbits from ESPN College Gameday analyst Kirk Herbstreit.

Sarah Talalay from the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Miami Dolphins are bringing the nightlife experience to fans at whatever its stadium is called this week.

Iliana Limon of the Orlando Sentinel says Conference USA learned from the Mountain West’s mistakes and have plenty of freedom in new rights deals with CBS College Sports and ESPN.

We move to the Dallas Morning News and Barry Horn who talks with former Cowboys coach and current Fox NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson about his Survivor experience.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says College Gameday co-horts Herbstreit and Lee Corso agree on which teams will play in the Big 12 Championship.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that ESPN2 among other networks are showing old footage to show the Queen City’s skyline.

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune says filmmaker Ken Burns will take a hard look at the steroids era when he premiere’s his addition to “Baseball” this fall.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Peyton Manning’s pursuit of Brett Favre’s records as projected by the Indianapolis Star.

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar notes that some local viewers will be able to watch SEC Network games.

Dan writes that a Post-Dispatch colleague no longer has a sports radio talk show gig.

Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times looks at the return of Vin Scully to the Dodgers booth next season.

Steve Friess of LA Weekly has a lengthy story about the late Mike Penner, the Los Angeles Times sports writer who became Christine Daniels and later committed suicide.

Steve also looks at what happened to Daniels’ blog and why the records no longer appear at the Times.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball also has a story on Scully’s return. 

The Sports Media Watch notes that MLB actually beat preseason NFL head-to-head.

SMW has its weekend ratings predictions.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says CBC will air 10 AHL games taking the place of the NBA’s Toronto Raptors which received low ratings.

Over at SB Nation NY, Steve ranks New York’s color analysts.

Joe Favorito says the New York Yankees may be defending MLB champs, but they were really big champions in the local community this past week.

And we’ll end there for now.

BREAKING NEWS: Vin Scully Will Return For 2011 Season

Just coming out now, we’re learning that national baseball treasure Vin Scully will be returning to the booth to call the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2011 season. It seems that Vin is being appreciated more in recent years as speculation over his retirement increases. Last year, it was thought that Vin was going to leave after this season, but that was later refuted by Scully himself.

Now, we learn through ESPN’s Amy K. Nelson that the Voice of the Dodgers will be coming back next year.

In addition, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com writes that the Dodgers made the announcement this morning.

Vin began with the Dodgers when they were in Brooklyn in 1950 and the 2011 season would be his 62nd with the franchise. Last night, T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Vin would make an announcement during today’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, but the Dodgers apparently decided to release Vin’s decision much earlier.

Whatever the reason, baseball fans are the richer for having Vin around for at least the 2011 regular year.

We’ll have more as we continue throughout the day.

More Sunday Links

Well, thanks to being informed at the very last minute that I’m having guests today, I had to stop the links earlier today and I had to clean my house. Anyway, as I’m waiting for their arrival, let’s get back to the linkage.

Steve Lepore of SB Nation New York ranks the tri-state area’s best announcers. He has part one here and part two here.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has the PGA Championship TV schedule.

Bob Grotz in The Trentonian (NJ) talks with NFL Network’s Mike Mayock.

David Stanley Ford of the Daily Oklahoman says the Oklahoma City Thunder being chosen for an NBA Christmas Day game shows the team has truly arrived on the national scene.

Jim Benson of the Bloomington (IN) Pentagraph really enjoys Vin Scully. 

Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay (WI) Press Gazette says ESPN’s, and host of Wipeout, John Anderson will get his own bobblehead this week.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers will air a game commercial-free to benefit a local charity. 

Bill Shaikin from the Los Angeles Times says calculating future TV revenue for the Dodgers will be difficult as estranged wife of owner Frank McCourt, Jamie McCourt wants a certain percentage.

John Canzano of The Oregonian notes one community is upset with Comcast as they can’t watch the Portland Trail Blazers.

Joe Favorito says having NASCAR return to the New York-area for a race is not a bad idea.

That will complete the links for today.

Videos of the Week – Best Baseball Announcers: Vin Scully

Now that I’m done with the Best/Worst Sports TV Themes, it’s time to move to another topic and this one is perfect now that we’re in the summer season. Baseball is a sport that lends itself to radio and warm weather. Over the next few weeks and as long as I can, I’ll post some of the best calls of the greatest baseball announcers of all time. This first one is a natural subject. Vin Scully of the Los Angeles Dodgers is in his 61st season with the team and goes back to when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. He moved when owner Walter O’Malley packed the moving vans and decided to go to Los Angeles and he’s been calling games ever since.

Vin was inducted in the broadcasters wing at the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1991, a member of the Radio Hall of Fame since 1995 and he even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Scully started his career as a fill-in on college football on the CBS Radio Network, recruited by Red Barber, who would become to be his mentor with the Dodgers. He joined the Dodgers in 1950 replacing Ernie Harwell who would go to the New York Giants. In 1953, Vin became the youngest broadcaster to call a World Series at age 25, a record that still stands.

In addition to calling baseball for the Dodgers, he’s called the Game of the Week for NBC from 1983 until 1989, heading World Series coverage in 1984, 1986 and 1988. He was the main broadcaster for CBS Radio and called the Fall Classic from 1979-1982 and again from 1990-1997.

Vin also called the NFL and the PGA Tour for CBS. He was the first voice of the Skins Game when it began on NBC in 1983 and called it on ABC from 1991 until 1996.

Over the last few years, Scully has cut back on his schedule, calling home games and rarely traveling outside of the Pacific and Mountain time zones. He has hinted at retirement, but he hasn’t given the official word as of yet. When he does, Vin will be missed as he’s truly a national treasure, especially to Dodgers fans who have grown up listening to his calls.

Ok, enough of the brief biography and let’s get to some of his best known calls.

This is from April 8, 1974. Henry Aaron faced Al Downing of the Dodgers in Atlanta and hit his record breaking 715th home run, passing Babe Ruth. At the moment the ball cleared the fence, Vin got up from his chair and got a cup of coffee allowing the crowd at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium tell the story for 90 seconds. And then he had the perfect words to describe what was happening.

Here’s a rare recording of Vin calling Sandy Koufax’s first of his four no-hitters on June 30, 1962 against the New York Mets. We have the fascinating story of how this recording came to fruition as game audio recordings were rarely done in those days. Here’s a short excerpt of the no-hitter.

From September 9, 1965, we have the audio of Vin’s call of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. This the entire 9th inning and the description is just tremendous. When the transcript published verbatim in a book, readers could not believe it was spoken because the words were grammatically correct. Just enjoy the next 10 minutes and 50 seconds.

Ok, you’ve heard why Vin put timechecks into his call of the Koufax perfect game. Let’s now go to July 20, 1970 and the last three outs of the Bill Singer no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Keep that in mind when you hear the next 9:37 of the call. This comes off a record made a few weeks after the no-hitter so you’ll hear some pops in the audio.

Let’s jump to last year’s National League Division Series between the Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals and listen to Vin’s excellent call of Mark Loretta’s walk off base hit in Game 2.

Lastly, here’s Vin informing his audience earlier this month on Fox Sports Prime Ticket of the passing of former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. As usual, Vin finds the right words and uses Shakespeare to describe Wooden.

Next week, I’ll post calls of another great baseball announcer.

Some Sunday Links

I’ll do a few links on this Sunday before I head out to check out Baltimore today. Nice to see the Red Sox fans whom I had exchanged tweets on Twitter over the last year in person last night. Certainly a fun time.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks with Gavin Harvey, the new CEO of the Sportsman Channel.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a brief look at Marv Albert’s departure from Westwood One Radio and Monday Night Football.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says New York Knicks owner James Dolan got an unlikely assist from former adversary Mayor Michael Bloomberg in courting free agent LeBron James.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post decides to handicap the US-England World Cup match.

From the Buffalo News, Greg Connors profiles a local sports talk show host.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says the NBA Finals Game 1 got good ratings.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at TNT taking over for Fox on the NASCAR beat.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News has your World Cup primer.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel lobbies for Kevin Harlan to take over for Marv Albert on Monday Night Football.

Artie Gigantino from the San Francisco Examiner calls Larry King’s interview of LeBron James, “a gem”

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the video of how many Los Angelenos found out about former UCLA coach John Wooden’s passing.

The Sports Media Watch says Fox had its lowest ratings ever for NASCAR. Again.

SMW also has its Weekend Ratings Predictions.

To Puck The Media and Steve Lepore who has the preliminary Versus college football schedule.

Ian Bethune of Sox & Dawgs has the hilarious video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy reacting to two women at Friday’s Red Sox-Orioles game asking them out on a date.

I’m going to end it there as it’s checkout time here at the Mt. Washington Conference Center. Had a great time with the Red Sox tweeps. I hope to do it again soon.

Some Tuesday Night Linkage

Got busy plus shuffling between two offices prevented me from doing linkage. I’ll do it now as I try to find a cool place in my house to blog. The humidity is killing me tonight.

Anyway, let’s get to the links.

Jason Fry at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that the New York Yankees are missing out on reaching a truly local audience.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that NBC’s audience for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday was quite good.

In his first column as FoxSports.com sports media critic, Variety’s Brian Lowry discusses how today’s NBA TV announcers don’t come close to matching the late Chick Hearn of the Los Angeles Lakers. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gets on the NBA for having just eight champions over the last 30 years while other leagues have spread the wealth around. 

Darren speaks with Sacramento Kings co-owner Joe Maloof about his ventures.

Darren says there won’t be an NBA free agent summit as had been promoted last week.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News writes that FLO TV will provide all 64 of ESPN’s World Cup to AT&T Mobile TV subscribers.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel says AT&T U-Verse subscribers will be able to get Univision’s World Cup coverage on demand and a multiview application.

Glen Dickson from Broadcasting & Cable reports that ESPN will be offering live multiplatform coverage of the World Cup. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final led NBC to a younger demographics win on Monday.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine writes that a sponsor could have its message seen for as many as five days during the MLB All-Star Game festivities.

Channel Guide Magazine has an online World Cup Viewing Guide.

Sarah Mahoney from the Mediapost Raw blog says ESPN is the most powerful brand in New England outranking several traditional regional brands like Dunkin’ Donuts, Samuel Adams and Ben & Jerry’s. 

The Boston Business Journal picks up a story from John Lombardo of sister publication, Sports Business Journal, that ad sales for the NBA Finals are outpacing last year’s. 

Jack Bell of the New York Times says there are a bunch of World Cup iPhone/iPod Touch apps available at the iTunes store.

Richard Sandomir of the Times says The Big Lead has been purchased by Fantasy Sports Ventures for a figure in the “low seven figures.” A piece of disclosure: Fang’s Bites is part of the Fantasy Sports Ventures network. If The Big Lead is worth in the “low seven figures,” Fang’s Bites certainly must be worth somewhere in the “low single figures.” Seriously, congratulations to Jason McIntyre who has been running The Big Lead since 2006. Jason’s become a friend and I’m glad to see a fellow blogger hit it big.

In a mild upset, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post actually praises YES for using restraint after Cleveland Indians pitcher David Huff was hit in the head by a line drive by Alex Rodriguez.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette and suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan notes that the NHL Stanley Cup Final is doing well for NBC.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that this is an exciting time to be a Philly sports fan.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Florida Marlins are selling unused tickets from Roy Halladay’s perfect game on Saturday for face value.

Randy Riggs from the Austin (TX) American-Statesman tells us that two early season Texas Longhorn games will be picked up by ABC. 

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman writes that the Blackhawks’ ratings are drifting close to rarefied Bears territory.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun Times says NBC affiliate WMAQ could not be happier with the Blackhawks’ ratings.

Austin Meek of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal says the annual Kansas-Kansas State football game will be moved to a Thursday night to accommodate Fox Sports Net.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has your June sports calendar.

Tom wonders how Larry King managed to get the first national interview with potential free agent LeBron James.

And Tom says Dodgers voice Vin Scully is immortalized in a new song.

William Houston of Truth & Rumours says his former newspaper, the Toronto Globe and Mail will be outsourcing its copy editing to an Australian-owned entity and he also looks at the Stanley Cup Final ratings in both the US and Canada.

The Sports Media Watch says the overnight ratings for the Indianapolis 500 fell to a record low for the second year in a row.

SMW says the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 also hit its lowest overnight rating in a decade.

SMW notes that the NBA Western Conference Finals finished out on a down note.

SMW says the same thing happened with the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

SMW has some various news and notes.

And SMW has various stuff on some sports media personalities.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has a comparison of Stanley Cup Final postgame coverage betweeen Versus and NHL Network.

Steve looks inside NBC’s tremendous overnight rating for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Steve also has the media awards for this year’s inductions to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy has the video of Don Cherry being the Phantom of the Opera before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says the Washington Nationals are ratcheting up the marketing effort for Steven Strasburg when he finally makes his major league debut later this month.

EPL Talk has ESPN/ABC’s promo for the England vs. USA World Cup matchup.

That’s going to do it.

We’ll Miss You, Ernie

Even though we knew that Ernie Harwell’s passing was coming, it doesn’t make the sadness go away any quicker. For a man to be so beloved not only in his adopted hometown of Detroit, but around the country shows how well he was liked. Ernie told MLB Network’s Bob Costas in his last interview that he wasn’t bitter about the cancer that would eventually take him away from us, “I knew God was in charge and whatever happens, happens for the best. I really have a lot of serenity and great support from my wife family and friends. It’s been so far a fairly easy task to accept it.”

I still hearken back to the days when I was a kid and would listen to the radio to see what stations I could find. In fact, I mentioned this on Twitter on Saturday. During hot summer nights, I would listen to the Red Sox with Ned Martin and Jim Woods, then find the New York stations to listen to the Yankees broadcasts with Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and Bill White. If I couldn’t hear the Yankees, I’d go to the Mets to hear Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy call the games. Then I would hear the Orioles broadcasts on WBAL with Chuck Thompson and Bill O’Donnell. Sometimes, I could hear WSB and pick up the Braves broadcasts with Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Ernie Johnson, Sr. (yes, EJ’s dad) and John Sterling. There would be nights I could hear the Cleveland Indians on 3WE and the Reds with Marty Brennaman on WLW. When the Phillies went to the old WCAU Radio, I could listen to Harry Kalas, Andy Musser, Richie Ashburn and Chris Wheeler rotate innings for the Philadelphia team.

On humid nights, signals from Chicago would come in strong and I could listen to Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall call the White Sox and Jack Brickhouse call the Cubs on WGN.

But the one constant that I could pick up was WJR out of Detroit, clear as a bell on 760 AM. And I would listen to Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey call the games from Tiger Stadium. The press box was so close to the field, you could hear the ball hit the bat so clearly.

Ernie just had this manner of description that made the game come to life. He had a friendly voice and you felt he could be one of your neighbors. With the announcers calling every game on your radio, it was if they were part of your family. Familiar voices coming on the same time every night from the same station, it was no wonder that when Ernie was inexplicably fired by the Tigers and Bo Schembechler in particular in 1992, fans practically revolted. The wrong was righted a year later when Ernie returned, but Tigers fans never forgave Bo for the deed.

My love for baseball was enhanced by listening to games on the radio and hearing the great announcers boom into my room on the 50,000 watt stations from across the country. Their signal could reach 38 states and go into Canada.

There aren’t many of the old school baseball announcers left, those who have spent most of their careers with one team and have spanned multiple generations. Vin Scully of the Dodgers comes to mind and interestingly enough, Vin joined the Brooklyn Dodgers to replace Ernie who went to the New York Giants. There’s Marty Brennaman still calling games for the Reds on WLW. Dave Niehaus has been with the Seattle Mariners since their inception in 1976. Jerry Coleman is still with the San Diego Padres, however, he’s on a reduced schedule and only doing color analysis. Jerry Howarth of the Toronto Blue Jays like Niehaus has been with his team since 1976.

And in this century, we’ve lost Jack Buck, Chuck Thompson, Harry Kalas, Skip Caray and now, Ernie. Thank goodness, we still have some of their best calls immortalized on tape and Tigers fans can hear Ernie’s call of the 1984 World Series in perpetuity.

MLB.com has created a tribute page for Harwell that contains stories, tributes and videos.

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal shares some of his thoughts on Ernie’s passing.

Vin Scully remembers Ernie as only he can.

MLB Network broke into regular programming to run this segment on Ernie.

Justice B. Hill at Real Clear Sports gives thanks to Ernie.

Michigan native Tim Cary says Ernie helped to fill his summers.

The Detroit News has statements from Tigers ownership and management on Ernie Harwell.

John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press says Tigers manager Jim Leyland was saddened to hear of Ernie’s death.

John has reaction from all over Michigan, the baseball community and beyond.

Rob Neyer of ESPN.com recalls his one encounter with Ernie.

I’m sure there will be more stories and tributes to Ernie on Wednesday. I’ll be sure to bring them to you.

One last note, MLB Network will re-air Bob Costas’ interview with Ernie Harwell conducted last November. It will be seen Wednesday at 4 p.m. East/1 p.m. West.

The highlights of the interview include the following:

ON HIS HEALTH

Back in July, the doctors gave me six months to live, give or take a few months. I’m hoping to reach my birthday on January 25 but I’m pretty sure I won’t make the baseball season. But you never know as the Lord works wonders.

I’m not overwhelmed by the circumstances. One of the doctors said, “If you were my father, I’d say, don’t do anything, just relax and wait for the inevitable.” But I had great peace about that and closure to it and I knew God was in charge and whatever happens, happens for the best. I really have a lot of serenity and great support from my wife family and friends. It’s been so far a fairly easy task to accept it.

On Returning to Comerica Park on September 16

That was a great event for me. First of all, I addressed the team, which was a real honor. Jim Leyland had the whole team around. And after a couple innings, they sent me out there with a microphone and I said a few words of farewell. It was very heartwarming for me to see the way people felt about me.

The old voice hasn’t changed that much in 50 years and I thank mainly the genes, the good health the Lord gave me, and the fact I enjoyed the job so much. I never looked at it as work. It was something I got great pleasure out of; Getting to know the people in baseball, traveling with them, and being a part of that great Major League Baseball fraternity.

ON SUPPORT FROM FANS

I don’t think there’s any reason for this response except that I was the Tiger announcer. I showed up and did the best I could. I tried to be myself and my whole philosophy was the game was the main thing and don’t ever interfere with the game. People tune in to what the Tigers are doing. No matter whose doing the game, they’re going to tune in.

ON BEING A LOCAL MLB ANNOUNCER

I do feel like those people out there were my friends and I hope I was their friend. It is a unique association that you have with your listener. I really appreciate the fact that they’ve taken interest in me. I don’t know that I deserve that. All I tried to do was be myself. I wanted to broadcast the game that I thought I’d like to hear as a listener. I tried to give the score as often as I could. I let the play take over and fill in with anecdotes or historical information that maybe nobody else came up with. There were going to be some people who like you and some who don’t like you and you have to accept that when you start out. 

On moving from the segregated South to Brooklyn in 1948

It was a little strange seeing a black man play against white competition. I accepted it and Jackie Robinson became a very good friend of mine. I played cards with him, played golf with him, rode the train with him. It’s the most exciting and most eventful thing that’s happened in sports history, the breaking of the color line by Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey.

On leaving Baltimore IN 1960 and taking THE job WITH THE DETROIT TIGERS

So I made the jump and it was probably the best move I ever made because the people in Michigan have really been super. They’re great fans, it’s an original franchise, and they have a great passion for baseball.

RIP, Ernie. You will be missed.

Sunday’s Linkage

Let’s do some links for you on this Sunday. Lots of stuff to go over now.

Starting with Barry Wilner of the Associated Press writes that the NFL is helping to produce a Broadway play on the late Green Bay Packers coach, Vince Lombardi.

Dave Anderson of the New York Times writes about the NFL Draft going to primetime.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News feels this season’s Hard Knocks on HBO featuring the Jets will be quite colorful.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says MLB is doing Jackie Robinson Day for the wrong reasons.

Jackie Majerus at the Bristol (CT) Press looks at ESPN hiring its own security guards rather than outsourcing them as has been the case. 

Laura Nachman tells us to watch HBO’s documentary, Broad Street Bullies next month.

John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the national media is unfairly blaming the city for the now-infamous incident of a Phillies fan attempting to intentionally vomit on an off-duty policeman and his two daughters. 

Mike Prince from the Montgomery (PA) Newspapers speaks to an area native who is now calling the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league team on radio. 

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner speaks with TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley about the postseason.

Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviews Showtime’s Nick Charles about his battle with cancer. 

Scott Sloan of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader notes that Kentucky loves its basketball, even when the Winter Olympics are on.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News notes that TNT is not sending its top team to the Dallas-San Antonio NBA playoff series.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the NFL Draft is getting to roll out the red carpet as it goes primetime.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviews Jon Gruden’s ESPN quarterback special.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes today is the 60th anniversary of Vin Scully beginning his Dodgers broadcasting career.

Cecil Conley of the Vacaville (CA) Reporter speaks with the head of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area which recently celebrated its 2 year anniversary.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner says a primetime NFL Draft will make for Must See TV.

The Sports Media Watch notes that Fox got off to poor start for its MLB Game of the Week series.

SMW says the NHL on NBC ended the regular season last Sunday on a down note.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

SWM has its weekend ratings predictions.

The Big Lead has the video of a post-fight brawl that took place during CBS’ coverage of Strikeforce’s MMA card.

Sean Leahy of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog tells us why the Buffalo Sabres are able to show their playoff games on an outdoor screen at HSBC Arena when the Pittsburgh Penguins were not last year.

Joe Favorito feels the NHL is in the midst of its most critical playoff season.

Jesse Chula at EPL Talk notes that ESPN the Magazine and Sony are teaming up for a unique contest for a trip to the World Cup in South Africa.

Those are the links for today.

Busy Sports Monday Linkage

We have a lot of stuff going on today. You have the NCAA men’s basketball National Championship game between Butler and Duke. There’s MLB Opening Day in earnest with a whole host of games. And of course, the Tiger Woods press conference at The Masters. Let’s get to the linkage.

Starting with the great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated looks at the media covering the Tiger Woods press conference today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg about Butler’s impact on the NCAA Tournament.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk notices that someone at ESPN screwed up royally today.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says advertising for the first two months of the MLB regular season is almost sold out for the sport’s TV partners.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Universal Sports has tapped a former Fox Cable executive to lead the network.

Mike says SNY plans all-access coverage for the New York Mets season opener today.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine says CBS is hoping for a close game and excellent ratings for the NCAA Championship Game tonight.

The Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center has dispatched its students to the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis over the last week and they’ve cranked out some very good stories. I’ll link you to one right now. John Patischnock talks with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist and frequent ESPN guest Bryan Burwell about the diversity of college basketball announcers and analysts on TV and radio.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Butler merchandising has blown up the last two years.

In the Sporting News, Dan Levy of On The DL discusses a whole bunch of issues including the NCAA Championship, ESPN’s MLB analysts, Erin Andrews and other stuff. 

Very good article in the New York Times by Big Ten Network host Dave Revsine passing his love of the Chicago White Sox to his oldest daughter just like his dad with him.

Katherine Q. Seelye of the Times went to Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill in Boston to find out who would pay $500 for the season to watch Red Sox games on TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union has the tip time for tonight’s NCAA Championship game.

Pete says MLB Extra Innings out of market pay per view package is free on digital cable and DirecTV this week.

Tim Wilkin of the Times-Union speaks with ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose. 

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette notes the first bad home run call of the season by New York Yankees voice John Sterling.

Ken McMillan at the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says it’s time for baseball on TV. 

Earl Holland at the Delmarva (MD) Daily Times says FM sports talk comes to the local area as of today. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says MASN will be all over today’s Nationals season opener.

Jim says ESPN and ESPN2 have a full slate of MLB games on Opening Day.

Jim says John Riggins’ new radio show premieres on an HD channel this week.

Jim previews tonight’s NCAA Championship game.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times anticipates today’s Tiger Woods press conference.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says watching baseball on TV hasn’t been any better than today.

Mel looks at the MLB teams available on radio in Oklahoma.

Mel also has the MLB teams available on TV.

Mel has the MLB TV schedule for Fox Sports Oklahoma. 

Mel explores the MLB ratings for the Oklahoma City Fox TV affiliate.

Mel has the national MLB TV schedule for the next two months.

Mel looks at the offseason announcer moves in MLB.

In the Cincinnati Enquirer, John Kiesewetter talks with Reds announcer Thom Brennaman who looks forward to spending more time with the kids.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is not a fan of the NCAA Tournament expanding from 65 teams.

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel writes that Brewers flagship radio station WTMJ will go all out for Opening Day. 

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Frank Thomas will have a role on White Sox games on Comcast SportsNet this season.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune waxes poetic on the late Jack Brickhouse.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times discusses Comcast SportsNet using an ad agency to help promote its on-air talent. 

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that Tiger at The Masters is the big sports story of the week.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News had the privilege of speaking with legendary Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

Tom has more with Vin in his blog. I got so engrossed with the interview that I forgot I was doing links.

From the Toronto Star, Chris Zelkovich notes that Blue Jays voice Jerry Howarth is still going strong after 30 years with the club.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that it’s a big day at Augusta National Country Club as Tiger Woods takes the podium.

Bailey Stephens at MLB.com looks at how MLB Network is gearing up for its 2nd full season of coverage.

The Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions. 

Comcast demonstrates what’s in store for those who can watch The Masters in 3-D.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media looks at the playoff TV situation in both the US and Canada if the postseason began today.

There you have it. Plenty of linkage for today.

Giving You Good Saturday Links

Ok, you’re owed some linkage big time. Thursday, I got caught up with the Sports Emmy Award nominations and the NCAA Tournament. On Friday, I was out of the office and unable to do the usual features until very late at night. So after running errands this morning, it’s time to provide you with some links. I do it for you, my loyal readers.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says an exciting first day of the NCAA Tournament led to a record number of visits to CBS/NCAA’s March Madness on Demand.

Mike says MLB Home Run Derby will become the first event to run on the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s new 3-D network.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel tells us that in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, Madison Square Garden pulled a profit thanks to higher cable affiliate fees for MSG Network. 

Tripp Mickle and Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Daily write about the new collective bargaining agreement hashed out today between Major League Soccer and its players.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the Big East lost out on some big money when three of its teams lost on the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred finds that a Duke University cultural anthropologist on how big an event the return of Tiger Woods will be, not to just The Masters, but to the country.

SportsbyBrooks says it appears that The Masters will not have Tiger Woods’ first tee shot at Augusta National on live TV.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says sports retailers are hoping that Tiger Woods gets back on track.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says despite three overtime games and some big upsets, Thursday’s ratings for the NCAA Tournament were down from a year ago.

The Buffalo News’ Alan Pergament writes that CBS could not have asked for a more compelling first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Writing in Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com says WJZ-FM has hired a replacement for Anita Marks who left earlier this year.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks inside the record viewing numbers at March Madness on Demand.

Jim explores how Tony Kornheiser and cyclist Lance Armstrong made up after Mr. Tony got in trouble again.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says CBS hopes it’s still broadcasting the NCAA Tournament in 2011 when the Final Four is played there.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News has some tidbits he has picked up from watching the first two days of the NCAA Tournament.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the latest on Vin Scully who had to be hospitalized after a fall this week.

And Tom has a clip of this Sunday’s 60 Minutes which focuses on #1 ranked doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan who grew in SoCal.

Tom’s Friday column looks at MLB Network’s 30 Clubs in 30 Days program on the Dodgers.

Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times says when Vin Scully is ok, it means Southern California is ok.

We have this video from the Times’ Jim Peltz and Fox Sports West’s Jill Arrington discussing Vin’s return to calling the Dodgers this Sunday after his fall.

I had wondered what was up with Jill. Now I know.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says CBC is convinced there’s a market for amateur sports on TV, but regulators are uncooperative.

William Houston in Truth & Rumours says an Olympics/amateur sports channel should be on the air in Canada.

The Sports Media Watch notes that the NHL on NBC fell below a 1.0 rating last week.

SMW says the ratings for the NCAA Selection Show on CBS fell last Sunday.

The Big Lead notes that CBS’ Greg Anthony wasn’t too happy over a late lane violation call that cost New Mexico State an upset bid over Michigan State.

Sox & Dawgs noticed that NESN was advertising Mets.com instead of the Red Sox.

Orbitcast says Sirius XM will air complete coverage of The Masters in April.

That will end the linkage for your Saturday.

Sunday Linkage

We’re back after not being able to turn on the computer all day on Saturday. Right when I was about to blog yesterday, got a phone call from the parents asking me to accompany them to Massachusetts and it ended up being a total waste of time. Then it ended up that I was at the home office for the day and then I met up with friends last night so I never had a chance to provide links. I just hate when my day is planned for me without my knowledge. One of these days, I’ll have a weekend to myself.

Anyway, let’s do the links.

Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated has an appreciation of Bill Walton upon his recent retirement from broadcasting.

T.S. Chamberland of the Lewiston (ME) Sun-Journal profiles the hosts of a weekend sports talk show and the editors of a Maine-centric (CMSB) sports blog.

Terri Schlichenmeyer reviews CBS’ James Brown’s new book for the Lawrence (MA) Eagle-Tribune.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels Steve Phillips will have a hard time in finding another TV analyst position.

Today, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post extends his hate to the NFL Network.

In a quick hits column, Phil says he hates MMA and poker. Anything else, Phil? Maybe Phil should find another line of work that doesn’t cause him to hate everything.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union noticed that two sports programs were running simultaneously on one station. That’s what happens when you have automation on weekends and you don’t have anyone manning the station.

Pete also has your college football TV schedule for this week.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that NFL Network and Time Warner are no closer to an agreement today than last month.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that NASCAR will be the sole focus of ABC this afternoon.

Jim talks with NBA TV’s David Aldridge.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and theDC NFL team are hooking up to provide content online.

Austin Meek of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal says ESPN will carry the game to decide the Big 12′s North Division this Saturday.

Dirk Facer from the Deseret (UT) News writes that ESPN’s College Gameday is paying the Mountain West Conference some respect this season.

Anthony Cimino of the Tucscon Citizen says ESPN’s College Gameday visits Arizona for the first time ever on Saturday.

Over to Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News who writes about an exhibit involving two of the greatest sports photographers of their generation.

Tom looks back at the last week in sports media.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner gives props to the networks for their tributes to the troops last week.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says CBC’s Mike Milbury went too far in his comments two Saturdays ago.

Daphne Bramham of the Vancouver Sun writes about Battle of the Blades being a big ratings success for CBC.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable talks with MLB Network’s/NBC’s Bob Costas about a myriad of topics including the Olympics, Comcast impending purchase of NBC and MMA (?).

John Eggerton of B & C says a local Cleveland TV station ensured that Monday Night’s game against Baltimore won’t be blacked out.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that NBC still has a lot ad inventory to sell for the 2010 Winter Olympics with less than 90 days to go.

Peter King of CBS Radio News (not the one from Sports Illustrated) writes an appreciation of Vin Scully for Radio World.

Some NFL ratings news from the Sports Media Watch.

SMW says Fox saw a big ratings spike for its regional coverage in Week 9.

The ratings went the other way for CBS’ doubleheader.

The SMW notes that NFL Network got off to a good start with its Thursday Night Football opener.

SMW looks at the NFL’s ratings through the first 9 weeks of the season.

SMW notes that ABC’s ratings for primetime college football last week were lackluster.

And SMW has its usual weekend ratings predictions.

Joe Favorito notes that two Northern California sports franchises are doing positive things to expand their brands.

The Big Lead is getting more pictures of Jim Nantz’s 29 year old girlfriend.

And we’re done for the day. The Sunday NFL pregame quotage will come later today.

On A Friday Megalinks Roll

Time for the Friday Megalinks as usual. Let’s get to these while we can.

You can always check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for the sports and primetime viewing for Saturday and Sunday.

Let’s go to the links.

National

USA Today’ Michael Hiestand says we may have not have seen the last of Steve Phillips on TV.

Sports Business Daily Assistant Managing Editor Brian Helfrich talks with three pundits (including yours truly) about ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series. Thanks to Brian for asking me to participate.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated talks with some of the TNT and NBA TV staff about the new season.

James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog writes that the World Series performed well in the ratings once again on Thursday.

Marc Berman at Mediaweek says the World Series lifted Fox to a rare Thursday primetime victory.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that the New York Knicks are making a push to get fans into the seats.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about Roger Federer’s new endorsement deal with a chocolate company.

Darren went one-on-one with new Cubs owner Thomas Ricketts.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Baseball says World Series viewership is up almost 50% from last year.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Football says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are firing back at a radio report that the owners of the team were planning to sell the team.

The Big Lead interviews Big Ten Network studio host Dave Revsine.

The Sports Media Watch looks at Fox’s record ratings for its Week 7 NFL doubleheader.

SMW says CBS saw its lowest ratings for the NFL in Week 7.

SMW writes that Versus continues to see good ratings for the NHL.

And the SMW writes that the World Series is doing well through two games.

Chris Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media has another guest column from former Raycom and NBC Sports football analyst Dave Rowe.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media has a look at the viewership of each Versus NHL game this season to date.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe profiles New Englander Ryen Russillo who has a regular gig with ESPN Radio.

Bill Doyle from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with long time Celtics TV analyst Tommy Heinsohn.

Here’s Kristine Leahy of WEEI.com with the week ending edition of The Five.

Newsday’s Neil Best says ESPN’s Bobby Valentine was looking forward to working with Steve Phillips before all hell broke loose.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman writes that Fox’s Joe Buck and Tim McCarver spent Game 2 of the World Series complaining about the noise level at the Bronx.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post feels Buck and McCarver forgot what a “must-win” really means. Whatever.

To ESPN1050 in New York and Andrew Marchand who has five questions for Fox Sports’ Joe Buck.

Lisa Swan of the Subway Squawkers blog properly gets on a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter for complaining about covering the World Series. I’m not a Yankees fan, but I totally agree on reporters, writers and sports radio hosts who complain about their accommodations and/or assignments. No one wants to read or hear whining.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with the great Ian Eagle of CBS Sports/YES/Westwood One Radio/Tennis Channel about his rather sedate schedule this time around. Yes, I’m being facetious.

Laura Nachman writes that the World Series has been a ratings winner thus far.

Rich Hofman of the Philadelphia Daily News says the Delaware Valley loves watching their Phillies.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the TV sportscast is slowly falling by the wayside on Baltimore’s newscasts.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner writes about the big college football slate on Saturday.

And Jim looks at a DirecTV contest trying to determine the most diehard displaced NFL fan in the country.

South

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald has some football announcing highlights and lowlights to date.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says ESPN has forced out football analyst Shaun King in the middle of the season.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram likes the addition of Ozzie Guillen to the Fox World Series broadcasts.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Metroplex watched the World Series in droves on Wednesday, relatively speaking.

Barry says Fox’s Troy Aikman is gushing over Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin.

Barry writes that the inventor of the Arlington Stadium dot race will be honored next week.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle notes the increase in World Series ratings this year.

To Jerry Garcia in the San Antonio Express-News who says Fox is anticipating good news with a big market World Series this year.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says a local sports radio show features hosts who aren’t even in the same studio let alone same area code.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman about the Green Bay-Minnesota game and the return of Brett Favre to the area.

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

Ed writes that Comcast SportsNet Chicago is canceling its morning show co-hosted by Mike North and Dan Jiggets.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says ESPN is doing a 30 for 30 documentary on Steve Bartman.

Dave van Dyck of the Tribune writes that Ozzie Guillen is behaving during Fox Sports coverage of the World Series.

The Chicago Sun-Times talks with the new owner of the Cubs, Thomas Ricketts.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau Field becomes Must See TV on Sunday.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch isn’t a fan of Fox’s policy staying with blowout games.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News writes that maybe the Mountain West Conference’s TV exposure isn’t that bad after all.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Green Bay-Minnesota will be seen in most areas of the US, except for San Diego.

John Maffei of the North County Times feels the Chargers are always flirting with a local blackout at the last minute.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says Fox has been getting plenty of mileage from Joe Buck.

Jim writes that MLB Network looks back tonight at the 1989 Bay Area earthquake that forced the World Series to be temporarily postponed.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes that Fox will be all over Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay in more ways than one.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News learned what it was like to be a sideline mic operator.

In his blog, Tom has a story on Vin Scully misidentifying a home run in the NLCS and no one coming out to correct him during the game.

Tom has his usual media notes.

Canada

William Houston in his Truth and Rumours blog notes that the new ratings system in Canada is being very beneficial to sports programming.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy’s failed attempt to get his book published.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star (and at whom William Houston threw some shots today) writes about the Canadian Olympic Committee’s losing hope on launching its own cable channel.

Saturday Morning’s Links Or A Whole New World For Soccer Fans

I’m up this morning watching English Premier League soccer on ESPN2. Late last night, ESPN came to an agreement with Fox Soccer Channel to air two games a week, early Saturday morning games and Monday afternoon games so fans who had had to depend on Setanta Sports and shelling out money to watch the games don’t have to anymore. Setanta still has the Saturday 10 a.m. and early Sunday morning games, but not as many as in the past. It’s a nice feeling to wake up to EPL games on ESPN2 for the next 10 months.

I’ve been critical of ESPN for many things, but getting the EPL this season in both the UK and the US is a great move. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Of course earlier this year, ESPN won the rights to air EPL games in the UK and its website is up and running.

Let’s do some linkage for you.

The Nielsen Ratings Wire blog looks at the excitement over the new Madden 10 NFL video game.

Mary Ellen Fillo of the Hartford Courant looks at a new ESPN promo starring Snoop Dog… and Mike Ditka????

Jack Bell of the New York Times looks at ESPN’s entry into the English Premier League starting today.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union is urging a local radio station to stop airing the Dan Patrick Show on a 6 hour delay.

John Boccacino of the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle looks at ESPN’s Chris Mortensen making a stop at Buffalo Bills training camp on Friday.

Jonathan Tannenwald writes in his Philly.com Pretzel Logic blog that he’s excited to watch English Premier League games on ESPN2.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says scoring the EPL rights is a huge feather in the cap for ESPN.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer says Fox Sports Ohio will have a full slate of high school football games this fall.

Janelle Gefland of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with ESPN’s Cliff Drysdale who’s in town to call a women’s tennis tournament this weekend.

In the Shreveport (LA) Times, CBS’ Tim Brando previews a college football show he hosted for the network.

Christopher Curry of the Gainesville (FL) Sun says Cox Communications and Sun Sports have finally come to an agreement to air Tampa Bay Rays games this season.

Angela Busch of the Naples (FL) News writes that a local minor league hockey team is changing flagship radio stations.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman does not like CBS’ Gary Danielson’s predictions for the BCS Championship Game.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks with local sports radio legend Norm Hitzges.

Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star writes that the new Arizona Wildcats Sports Network is hiring new talent for football and basketball games.

Mitch Chortkoff writing in the Santa Monica Mirror says contrary to a Los Angeles Times report last month that Dodgers voice Vin Scully would retire after next season, now has Scully backtracking on those comments.

Cary Osborne of the Santa Clarita Valley Signal says there’s an increase of high school sports on TV.

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times is disturbed, but also encouraged by some of the trends he’s witnessing in baseball reporting.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the NFL has begun the promotional push for its NFL RedZone which will be available on cable this year. RedZone is different from the Red Zone Channel which is an exclusive to DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers.

Mike looks at ESPN’s US deal to air EPL games.

Sam Dunn of the Guardian in the UK writes about ESPN getting ready to join the battle for EPL viewers today.

Andy Fixmer and Margaret Brennan of Bloomberg combine for a story in which ESPN is predicting a high UK viewership for EPL games.

James Corrigan of the Independent in the UK feels ESPN’s signing of legendary football announcer Ray Stubbs is a big deal for the upstart network.

The great EPL Talk blog says this is not the first time that ESPN2 has aired English Premier League games.

The Sports Media Watch says last week’s Red Sox-Yankees game tied the highest ratings of the season for Fox Sports with …. a Yankees-Red Sox game!

Joe Favorito discusses the best way to deliver a message.

And Joe looks at the way the New Jersey Nets are trying to spread their message during the NBA offseason.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media looks at the SEC’s final revised media policy.

The Big Lead looks at the traffic for the major sports websites during what turned out to be a very busy July.

Chuck Hanf from the Two Cents from Beantown blog has a new show and it debuted last night. Check it out.

That’s going to do it. Turned out to be busier than I thought, but that’s a good thing. This should do it for today unless something major breaks.

Back to the Grind Links

As many of you return to work today, time for some linkage.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, he says ESPN will conduct an announcing experiment during tonight’s Dodgers-Cardinals game.

Mike Freeman from CBSSports.com, who wrote a book about problems at ESPN, writes that ESPN has put together a list of 100 banned reporters in regards to the Erin Andrews story. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal has an extensive look at the rise and fall of Nashville Predators co-owner Boots Del Biaggio.

Dan Steinberg of On the DL recaps an interview Fox Sports and MMA enthusiast Jay Glazer did with WNYC’s On the Media in his Sporting News column.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir recaps the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about Nick Peters who was inducted into the Writers wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Neil loves Batting Stance Guy.

The angry Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says there’s no hiding the empty seats at Yankee Stadium.

To Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner who talks with Versus’ Phil Liggett about the 2010 Tour de France.

And Jim discusses the premiere of a new sports radio show on the local ESPN Radio affiliate.

Travis Sawchik from the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier says with the ACC starting its media days this week, the conference is now looking ahead to its TV negotiations in hopes of increasing its rights fees.

Paul Strelow of The State says ACC Commissioner John Swofford hopes to bridge the gap in TV rights money between the super rich SEC and the ACC which is now fallen to fifth of the 6 BCS conferences in TV money.

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

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel profiles ESPN Dictator George Bodenheimer.

From the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn congratulates former NBC/TSN/MSG Network analyst Tony Kubek on his enshrinement to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with an FSN Rocky Mountain anchor/reporter who originally wanted to go into international business.

Jerry Crowe of the Los Angeles Times has Dodgers voice Vin Scully recalling the day where he caught his big break during a cold afternoon at Fenway Park back in 1949.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says there’s a double standard when it comes to judging female sportscasters.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star feels the Canadian Open deserves more TV coverage.

In the Batter-up with Bruno blog, Amanda Bruno talks about Gordon Edes of Yahoo! giving shoutouts to his former Boston Globe copy editors during the Orioles-Red Sox game on NESN.

Kristine Leahy has a new edition of The Five on WEEI.com.

That’s going to do it for today.

The What Am I Doing Friday … Errrrrr… Saturday Megalinks

Ok, time for the megalinks. I’ve been procrastinating so these are very late, but better late than never.

As usual, we go over the Weekend Viewing Picks.

The 4th of July weekend is perfect for Breakfast at Wimbledon and we know that an American will will win the Ladies Final on Saturday, either Venus or Serena Williams. On Sunday, Andy Roddick, an upset winner over Scotsman Andy Murray on Friday will try to foil Roger Federer’s attempt to break Pete Sampras’ record of total Grand Slam titles. NBC carries both matches at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Baseball storms towards the All-Star Game in St. Louis a week from this coming Tuesday and there are plenty of games on national television, starting with regional coverage on Fox. The list of games along with announcing assignments and regional splits in the case of Fox are all in the “Baseball for Your Holiday Weekend” post.

Another event in Europe begins on Saturday and that’s the month-long Tour de France. It starts in Monaco this year and ends in Paris as usual. This year’s edition has higher interest for Americans as Lance Armstrong returns to the event that he has won 7 consecutive times from 1999 through 2005. Versus starts its extensive coverage Saturday morning at 9:30 and will have “enhanced coverage” in primetime.

NASCAR heads back to Daytona for its traditional 4th of July race. This year’s race is called the Coca Zero 400 and TNT carries it Saturday night at 8.

The PGA Tour is in Maryland and the Congressional Country Club for the Tiger Woods-hosted AT&T National. Golf Channel and CBS team up for 3rd and final round coverage throughout the weekend.

Other programming of note, NFL Network begins an America’s Game marathon, its excellent documentary series on Super Bowl winners. All 42 documentaries to date will be aired beginning Saturday morning at 6 and running all the way to Monday morning at 6.

The entire Weekend Viewing Picks can be seen here.

Now the links:

National

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Versus is along for the ride as Lance Armstrong returns to the Tour de France on Saturday.

Mike says Univision’s family of networks and Fox Soccer Channel will cover the Gold Cup throughout the weekend.

Joe Favorito writes that two indoor soccer leagues only stood to hurt the franchises.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that for the most part, fans are forgiving of Manny Ramirez.

UPDATE, 8:15 a.m.: I fell asleep with the computer on, which is never a good thing. Time to resume. I’ll also add Saturday links here as well.

The Sports Media Watch says it appears the All England Lawn and Tennis Club preferred having attractive women on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

The great College Sports on TV site is putting together the viewing guides for the entire college football season and you can check it out here.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Over to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who writes that NBC had its own ideas for the Andy Roddick-Andy Murray match at Wimbledon despite it being in progress when the network hit the air.

Richard talks about a new website that keeps track of an athlete’s Tweets so you don’t have to.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman takes the opportunity to bash Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks to a local sports radio program director who’s happy to have stayed in the area after he lost his TV gig.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette is one of an increasing amount of writers who feel that ESPN may not be all that good for the NHL. I agree.

Laura Nachman provides two possible replacements for the late sports anchor Gary Papa.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says NBC did not do itself any favors by delaying yesterday’s Andy Roddick-Andy Murray match at Wimbledon.

Jim talks with Versus’ Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin about the Tour de France.

South

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson says sports radio WQAM is looking at Sid Rosenberg to fill a high profile time slot.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says two more local sports anchors have lost their jobs.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Cowboys’ Marion Barber might be media shy, but a segment on ESPN will show that he has a big heart.

Barry says Breakfast at Wimbledon remains one of the best traditions on TV.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says NBC is ready to serve another double dose of Breakfast at Wimbledon. Mel writes that ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd comes to TV for a new show. Mel has his media notebook.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox Sports ramps up for Mannywood.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that we’ve grown into Breakfast at Wimbledon over the last 30 years.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News feels sports anchors should not be openly rooting for local teams.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes about Fox Sports putting the national spotlight on Manny Ramirez’s return from his steroids suspension.

John Maffei of the North County Times says baseball isn’t your only sports viewing option on this holiday weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes about 30 years of Breakfast at Wimbledon. Jim says the networks are pulling out all the stops for Manny Ramirez’s return.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times has Fox Sports Prime Ticket’s Steve Lyons talking about Manny. Diane writes that Vin Scully did not give Manny a free pass. Diane says Vin was matter-of-fact when Manny went 0 for 3 last night.

From the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth says the media is all about Manny this weekend. Tom has more on this in his blog. Tom says tennis fans have a legitimate gripe against NBC for its mishandling of Wimbledon this week (including a link to Fang’s Bites, thank you, Tom). Tom also looks at the week in blogging.

That’s it. I won’t be around for the rest of the day, but I will be back on Sunday. Enjoy your holiday.

Doing a Sunday Link Thing

Time for some links on this Sunday. I watched a fun South Africa-Spain match in the 3rd place game at the Confederations Cup on Univision this morning and kept up through Twitter with the coup in Honduras that CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are all ignoring today. News never stops just because it’s the weekend. I’m surprised not to hear any mention of it.

Anyway, time for some links.

Dave Solomon of the New Haven Register talks with CBS Sports’ Peter Kostis about golfer Kenny Green who had part of his leg amputated following a serious car accident two weeks ago.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the YES crew did a good job of filling time during last night’s Yankees-Mets blowout.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman didn’t like Greta Van Susteren’s visit to the Fox Sports booth during last week’s game between the Mets and Tampa Bay.

Paul Mrozek of the Batavia (NY) Daily News speaks with author Curt Smith about his book on Vin Scully.

Laura Nachman says Brian Baldinger will no longer be an NFL analyst with Fox Sports.

Brian’s brother Richard who has done work for CBS Sports, was involved in a fatal car accident in the Kansas City area.

Joe Logan in the Philadelphia Inquirer reviews a new book that NBC’s Jimmy Roberts has written about golf slumps.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot looks at one sports radio talk show host who’s firmly entrenched at his radio station.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the University of Georgia is expanding its football game coverage on radio.

In a related note, Chip Towers of the AJC says the Bulldogs will have two primetime games this fall on ESPN.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times lists the Top 10 Most Influential Figures in Sports and there are sports TV executives included.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News previews the next episode of “4th and Long” and has found out an interesting spoiler.

Howard McEwen of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a college student announcer is being recognized for his work.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale about last week’s NBA Draft.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth looks at some of the intersting blog posts on various SoCal sports issues. And Tom provides some links to said blog posts.

Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times says it didn’t take long for Conan O’Brien to make fun of the Clippers.

From the San Francisco Examiner, Artie Gigantino has some observations on various sports TV topics.

James Robinson of the London Observer says the worldwide credit crunch led to the downfall of Setanta Sports in the UK.

The Sports Media Watch has the ratings for three sports series. And the SMW has its usual weekend ratings predictions.

The great Maury Brown looks at the second MLB team that will be streaming its games online in-market.

Joe Favorito looks at how teams and athletes can use the Draft to their branding advantage.

The Daly Planet NASCAR blog says TNT’s Bill Weber was suspended for today’s race at Loudon, NH over an incident at his hotel on Friday. No specifics are available. John says Ralph Shaheen will call the race in his place.

The Bundesliga Talk blog talks with ESPN’s soccer announcer extraordinaire Derek Rae about the German soccer league and international football in general.

I’ll end it here for now. I might be back later. Keep it here.

An Extremely Late Night Megalinks

Well, here we are doing the Friday megalinks well into the late night.

As usual, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks for you.

The U.S. Open has been pushed back a day and possibly more with some rainy weather expected in New York this weekend. NBC has announced it will start its Saturday coverage of the second and possibly third round at 10 a.m., four hours before it was originally scheduled to come on the air. Should the weather cooperate and the final round is played as scheduled on Sunday, NBC will begin its coverage at 1:30 p.m.

Interleague baseball continues this weekend. Fox’s Saturday matchups include Tampa Bay at the Mets. MLB Network has the Civil Rights Game in Cincinnati. TBS has Atlanta at Boston. Check out what your national baseball games are in the “Baseball This Weekend” post.

NASCAR heads to Sonoma, CA this Sunday and TNT has the race at 5 p.m.

The IndyCar series is on ABC, Sunday at 1 and the Formula 1 circuit, most likely on its last legs, is in the UK for the British Grand Prix. Fox has same day coverage starting at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Soccer fans have the Confederations Cup with the US taking on Egypt on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

And for fans of Ninja Warrior, there’s the weekend marathon taking place all weekend on G4 leading up to the new Sasuke 22 competition that airs Sunday night starting at 6:30 preceeded by the American Ninja Challenge at 5:30.

The Weekend Viewing Picks have everything in sports and primetime you need to see.

National

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, he looks at a new ESPN2 show to be co-hosted by ESPN Radio no-talent hack Colin Cowherd.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is surprised that golfer Vijay Singh is still wearing the logo of embattled Stanford Financial Group despite its CEO being indicted on Federal fraud charges.

Darren has an interview with Tiger Woods’ agent.

Joe Favorito likes the move to set up a new office for Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport.

Leo Baraclough of Variety says the English Premier League has terminated its relationship with Setanta Sports after it failed to meet a deadline to pay part of its rights fee. ESPN is now the frontrunner to pick up Setanta’s 23 game package that begins next season.

Marc Graser of Variety says the WWE punked the media with a fake press release saying Donald Trump purchased “Monday Night Raw”.

Claire Atkinson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Tennis Channel is gearing up to air Wimbledon starting on Monday.

The Sports Media Watch looks at the ratings for the PGA Tour this year to date. The SMW says the ACC Football Championship Game heads to primetime, but will be on ESPN after spending its first four years on ABC. The SMW has some various news and notes. SMW also has news on various sports personalities.

The Big Lead interviewed ESPN SportsCenter anchor Josh Elliott.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media has some suggestions on how to improve the NHL Awards Show.

Chris Byrne of Eye on Sports Media wonders why NBC Sports used baseball lingo to promote the U.S. Open. Chris notes that there’s the same small group of volunteers who help the media at the U.S. Open every year.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe looks at Matt Millen’s two NFL broadcasting gigs this upcoming season.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette hears from the NBC golf crew about the U.S. Open.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says there was little for ESPN and NBC to do when the rains started falling at the U.S. Open on Thursday.

Newsday’s Neil Best says NBC is set to start its U.S. Open coverage early on Saturday morning. Neil namedrops from his day at Bethpage Black. Neil says a scheduled Friday appearance by Sid Rosenberg on WFAN was nixed at the last moment.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is amazed at how Mets manager Jerry Manuel manipulates the media.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post weighs in on the Joe Buck Live/Artie Lange controversy.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the U.S. Open provides plenty of intrigue for the viewer.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that a local New York-Penn League team will have its games webcast on the internet this season.

Laura Nachman says a popular Philly sports anchor, Gary Papa, passed away on Friday. Laura has a statement from the Papa’s former TV station. And Laura links to some clips that paid tribute to Papa.

Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer also writes about Papa’s death.

The 700 Level blog also pays tribute to Papa.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes about NBC starting its U.S. Open coverage some four hours earlier than planned on Saturday.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with ESPN/ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy about his experience calling the NBA Finals with his brother on the sidelines.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram doesn’t feel this year’s U.S. Open and Wimbledon tournaments will be as dramatic as last year’s.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News unveils the identity of the mysterious quarterback in 4th and Long.

James Corley of The Oklahoman writes that ESPN will showcase former OU Sooner standout Blake Griffin during the NBA Draft.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio plans limited commercial interruptions for the Civil Rights Game on Saturday.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press says HBO generated the wrong type of buzz for Joe Buck Live.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley talks with author Curt Smith about his new biography about Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business lists his winners and losers of the week. Ed also sets the record straight about who broke the story about the now-defunct Windy City internet sports radio station.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Judd Zulgad says TV is the most likely step for former Timberwolves General Manger Kevin McHale.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that rain will make for interesting viewing at the U.S. Open this weekend.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar says Joe Buck might have taken hits for a bad show and the Artie Lange controversy, but his show did pull viewers for HBO.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret Morning News says the only ways to catch the Salt Lake Bees are on the radio or the internet.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that long-time local personality Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton returns to the area airwaves for a week.

John Maffei of the North County Times says rain or shine, the U.S. Open will go on.

Diane Pucin from the Los Angeles Times also writes about the waterlogged U.S. Open that’s wreaking havoc with ESPN and NBC.

Austin Knoblauch of the Times feels the NHL shot and missed by holding its Awards show in Las Vegas.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says rain makes for a difficult telecast at the U.S. Open. Tom has his usual news and notes. Tom looks at the week in sports blogging.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says NBC’s Johnny Miller is honest to a fault.

And we’re done.

Making The Friday Megalinks Count, Part II

As I have the Red Sox-Phils on NESN on my TV and Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 from CBC on my computer, I’m finishing up the Megalinks so I can go to bed early and head for NYC tomorrow for the Blogs With Balls conference.

Let’s update some of our earlier links.

National

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says vacating games is just plain silly.

The Eye on Sports Media’s Chris Byrne wonders if the NCAA is making the right decision if it rules to eliminate printed sports guides.

Joe Favorito says NASCAR making a media stop in New York is a good move for the sport.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media plays “One of These Things Is Not Like The Other”.

Stuart Levine of Variety says the NBA Finals propelled ABC to a ratings win in both primetime and late night.

Keith Thibeault of the Sports Media Journal laments no real internet access from Blogs with Balls.

The Nielsen ratings Wire blog tells us that a Game 7 is an automatic ratings winner no matter the sport.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette talks about the Rose Bowl moving to ESPN in 2011.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams says Mets-Yankees headlines the national baseball broadcasts.

Jim notices that Sirius XM radio will have international events like the 24 Hours of LeMans and cricket this weekend.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has some suggestions for ESPN.

Ray Buck from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Joe Buck will get to show his comedic touch on HBO.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at MLB Network’s new reality series premiering this weekend.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that today’s digital conversion will help the MLS’ Dynamo.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the long streak of Texas Rangers voice Eric Nadel came to an end earlier this month. Mel also has his news and notes.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Joe Buck doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel for his new HBO show.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business lists his winners and losers in sports business and media this week.

Ed says the Chicago internet sports station is in trouble.

Carol Slezak of the Chicago Sun-Times hopes Frank Thomas’ return to the Windy City as a broadcaster means some healing for him and the White Sox.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin says Game 7 is what sports are all about.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says local resident Joe Buck is ready to go on HBO.

West

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune says Padres fans will be able to watch the team’s road games on the big screen at Petco Park.

John Maffei of the North County Times feels the new MLB Network reality series might be Must See TV.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star reviews Curt Smith’s book on Vin Scully.

Jim looks at Joe Buck’s new HBO show.

Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times writes about the Rose Bowl moving to ESPN in 2011.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with ESPN/ABC’s Mark Jackson about what this next move will be. Tom has more with Mark in his blog. Tom has his usual extensive media notes. Tom reviews the week in blogging.

The San Jose Mercury News’ John Ryan says the Oakland A’s are adjusting to a new TV home.

Canada

John Doyle of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the financial problems with the UK’s Setanta Sports could affect the Canadian version of the channel.

And we’re done. I’ll be back on Sunday. I’ll Tweet from the Blogs with Balls conference and I may be able to get a mobile post here from my iPhone. I’ll see how it goes.

Monday Afternoon Links

I wasn’t expecting to do afternoon linkage, but there are enough to do them for you. Plus, I need to pay full attention to the season finale of 24 tonight.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann shares a story on his MLB blog that Vin Scully almost became the Voice of the Yankees in the mid-1960′s. Amazing.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says an agreement between the NFL and Comcast is expected early this week.

Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times reviews the new Spike TV reality show, 4th and Long.

Newsday’s Neil Best says SNY’s Beer Money premieres its second season on Tuesday.

Ray Frager at the Sports Media Journal gives his thoughts on the eventual NFL/Comcast deal. And Ray opines on the Jon Gruden for Tony Kornheiser on Monday Night Football story.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media writes that Sunday’s Game 1 of the NHL Western Conference Finals drew tremendous ratings for NBC.

The fearless leader of Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen says last night’s Game 7 of the Celtics-Magic series drew great ratings for TNT.

The Sports Media Watch tells us that Lakers-Rockets drew the lowest overnight ratings in this decade for an NBA second round Game 7 airing.

Congratulations to the Washington Times’ Tim Lemke who is the father of a new bouncing baby boy.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says MLB will unveil new caps that honor veterans in both the U.S. and Canada.

EPL Talk says classic English Premier League matches are going to be available on iTunes, but only in the UK for now.

That’s it for the time being.

Wednesday Into Thursday Linkage

Because I was at a jobsite today, I was not able to provide links so I’ll catch up on them now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Steven A. Smith who is leaving ESPN this week. Michael writes that Tweeting by TV announcers is gaining momentum.

Bill Griffith writing for Sports Illustrated gives his grades to ESPN and NFL Network for the Draft.

Ben Klayman of Reuters says Red Sox owner John Henry is making an offer to buy the Boston Globe.

Over to Newsday’s Neil Best who breaks news that NBC is unlikely to renew Jerome Bettis on Football Night in America. Neil says if Saturday’s Pittsburgh-Washington NHL Playoff game goes beyond one overtime, NBC will shuffle it over to Versus to make way for the Kentucky Derby. Neil says on Tuesday, the Yankees barely beat the Rangers in the ratings. Neil says the Baltimore Sun has parted ways with excellent sports media writer Ray Frager, a regular Fang’s Bites link and I certainly hope Ray finds work very soon. He is an excellent reporter and I have come to enjoy his columns. We exchanged e-mails back in February and he will be missed in the Friday megalinks.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says lost in the reporting on Under Armour’s earnings yesterday was the fact that its shoe sales are climbing fast up the charts. Darren reviews the reasoning behind the price reduction for selected Yankee Stadium premium seats. Darren says it’s one thing for Jenny Craig to own a horse running in the Kentucky Derby, but she might want to change his name. Darren says Wells Fargo was shamed into taking Wachovia’s name off of this week’s PGA Tour stop.

Tom Hererra of the AOL Fanhouse blog talks with the ravishing Erin Andrews.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union is not feeling the love for Versus and I totally agree with him.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says MLB Network will air the first round of this year’s MLB Draft. Ken also talked to local elementary school students today about his job.

Mike Kerwick of the Bergen (NJ) Record profiles ESPNews anchor Mike Yam who takes care of his grandmother when he’s not in Bristol, CT.

Laura Nachman says Wednesday was the last day for one Philly sports anchor.

Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says FSN Pittsburgh is taking some heat for back-to-back in-game blackouts last week.

Scott Brown of the Pittsburth Post-Tribune writes that Thursday could be the final day for the NFL Network on Comcast systems across the country.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has the TV schedule for the Capitals-Penguins NHL Playoff series.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says NBC will stay with Caps-Penguins in the local markets even if the game cuts into the Kentucky Derby.

Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times says former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Grudin was comfortable in front of the cameras during the NFL Draft.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News notes that TNT’s Charles Barkley is not a fan of the Mavericks. Barry says in the series clincher with San Antonio, the ratings for the Mavs finally hit paydirt.

Jerry Garcia from the San Antonio Express-News was amused by TNT’s Spurs edition of “Gone Fishin’”.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that after Clear Channel’s bloodletting of a local sports radio station, it replaced all but one local program with Fox Sports Radio.

Speaking of the Clear Channel bloodletting, Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog goes into some of its other sports radio stations that let go of staff this week. Clear Channel means we’re clearing staff.

George James Malik of Michigan Live says Fox Sports Detroit will have up to four games of the Red Wings-Anaheim Ducks series.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says the NFL Draft’s ratings were solid.

WTMJ in Milwaukee talks with MLB Network’s and Fang’s Bites fav Trenni Kusnierek. Thanks to LC over at the 38 Cliches blog for that link.

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with TNT’s Doug Collins who almost became coach of the Bulls before this season.

Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star says CBS/TNT’s Kevin Harlan returns to the Chiefs to call two exhibition games this summer. He was the radio voice of the Chiefs from the mid-1980′s to early 1990′s.

Samuel McKewon of the Nebraska State Paper reports that former ESPN and CBS College Sports college football analyst Trev Alberts has become the Athletic Director of Nebraska-Omaha despite not having any administrative experience.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News did play-by-play for an inning of minor league baseball today. Really. And Tom links us over to a press release on the whole thing. And Tom talks of his experience calling the game. I can’t wait to get a hold of the .mp3 file that Tom will post on Friday.

Ted Green of the Los Angeles Times writes a blasphemous blog post calling out Vin Scully?

Richard Guzman of Los Angeles Downtown News reports that Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket will get some new digs.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star says fans actually found the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts games online when its flagship radio station could not air some games due to various conflicts. Chris says thanks to having the Calgary Flames on its air, TSN’s ratings were up while CBC’s were down.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says May is a good month for boxing on Pay Per View.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that TNT’s NBA ratings are solid gold.

Mike says the Chicago Blackhawks gave Comcast SportsNet Chicago its highest rated NHL game.

Kevin Downey from Media Life Magazine says TNT is seeing its best ratings ever for the first round of the NBA Playoffs while ESPN’s are sluggish.

The Sports Media Watch says the NHL Playoffs did not score for NBC last weekend. SMW says the NFL Draft’s ratings were flat with last year. Paulsen notes that Yankees-Red Sox are still a ratings draw. And SMW has some news and notes on various media personalities.

I will end it there. Good night now. Oh actually, I have one more press release to give you. I’ll say good night later.

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Linkage

Time for some linkage on this Tuesday.

I did listen to the debut of Andy Gresh on Sirius XM Radio last night. It was good. Gresh knows how to generate calls and get people to talk. I listened from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and he had a good interview with former Oakland A’s pitcher Dave Stewart in regards to Rickey Henderson’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was typical Gresh and he was able to get some good stories from Stewart on Rickey. Overall, I’d give Greshie a B plus for his debut. If you want more info on the show, you can head to the official website which launched yesterday.

On to the linkage.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today looks at the ratings of selected weekend events.

The Sports Media Watch says the ratings for the Arizona-Carolina NFL playoff game were down from last year. The SMW writes the ratings for the Eagles-Giants game were also down despite having the #1 and #4 media markets. But the ratings for San Diego-Pittsburgh were the highest of the weekend, but were also down from last year. The SMW has some random ratings news. Finally, the blog says T-Mobile has pulled its ads featuring Charles Barkley.

Newsday’s Neil Best does not give Giants unofficial spokesman Antonio Pierce a pass for not talking to reporters on Sunday and Monday, and speaking only to WFAN which is a paid appearance. Neil says it’s only fair to call out Pierce because he himself appointed himself as team spokesman. Neil has posted video of one of the reasons why older Giants fans don’t like attending games in person.

Bill Hutchinson of the New York Daily News writes that Fox Sports’ Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Tim McCarver all received illegal U.S. Marshal escorts to the 2007 World Series in Boston and Super Bowl XLII in Tampa thanks to a Fox staffer who was also a U.S. Marshal. The Smoking Gun has the Report of Investigation into the matter.

Also from the Daily News, Bob Raissman says Fox got the short ratings straw by drawing the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with the outgoing commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. Darren asks for your vote on the greatest TV product. Darren says it’s a good thing that Jim Rice got elected to the Hall of Fame. And Darren writes that FIFA may need a new information technology sponsor for the 2010 World Cup in the wake of Satyam’s economic troubles.

Keith Groller of the Allentown Morning News says Donovan McNabb’s phone antics during the Eagles-Giants game were subject of debates.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun talks about some changes in local sports radio. And Ray talks with host Rob Long about why he changed stations.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that Cleveland sports radio station WKNR has made a change to its lineup.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune was not enthused over Mike North’s and Dan Jiggetts’ debut on Comcast SportsNet on Monday.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has a quick sports business round-up. Ed wonders if the Washington Redskins cutting 20 positions is going to be a trend around the NFL.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Eagles-Giants playoff game was the most watched of the four NFL playoff games locally (scroll down).

Billy Packer and Bob Knight are teaming up for five shows on Fox Sports Net to analyze the NCAA Tournament from the Wynn Las Vegas casino.

Walt Belcher of the Tampa Tribune writes that CBS will have another Super Bowl Commercials special at the end of the month broadcast from Randall James Stadium.

SJ Munoz of the York (NE) News-Times says there was a time when ESPN was actually known for giving sports news.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn feels the Super Bowl is ratings-proof no matter which teams are participating. Barry handicaps the Dallas Cowboys radio rights sweepstakes.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says Vin Scully has been named as Best Sportscaster of All-Time.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has the entire list of Top 50 Sportscasters of All-Time.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times says Washington-Oregon will not be on FSN this week.

Starr Begley of the Maui (HI) News goes behind the scenes of Golf Channel’s production of the Mercedes-Benz Championship last weekend.

Michael David Smith of AOL Fanhouse is not enamored with NBC’s hiring of Matt Millen for the Super Bowl.

Steve Lepore in the Puck The Media blog says the Anaheim Ducks have ended their ice level camera broadcasts on Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket. Steve has the final three of the NHL Tournament of Announcers after clearing up some shenanigans with the Jack Edwards-Sam Rosen vote. And Steve has a look at the NHL if it were on The CW.

And I’ll end the links here for now.

Your Monday Afternoon Linkage

I’m blogging from home as I await the DirecTV serviceman to arrive to fix my dish. In the meantime, I’ll provide some links as I catch up on last night’s Mad Men episode. The Red Sox have to learn to play games in a 3 hour window. Can you imagine if the Dodgers-Cubs series extended to four games? TNT would most likely have aired the entire Game 4 of that series as TBS stayed with Angels-Red Sox as it went well into the early morning hours. I’m not one who gets frustrated about games that go into the late night hours, but it was getting out of hand last night.

Let’s go into the linkage for today.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, he mentions that TBS needs a stronger personality in the studio for its MLB postseason coverage.

From the Sports Business Journal, we have a few stories for you today. John Ourand and John Lombardo team up for a story on the NBA starting a campaign to promote its digital properties.

John Ourand writes that Versus is looking to get younger.

Steve Bilafer says sports needs to catch up in the blogosphere.

Terry Lefton says the NHL has some new corporate sponsors to crow about this season.

And Jon Show writes the financial crunch is taking a bite out of golf endorsements.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell adds that sports teams are going to be a tough sell in today’s economic market. And Darren says Elite XC is on its last legs.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the all-imporant Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship will be aired on your local FSN affiliate tonight.

A few things from Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union. Pete feels TBS mistreated the National League in the Division Series. Next, Pete has the college football TV schedule for the New York Capital Region. Pete says no one should complain that the Bills aren’t on TV this week because they have the bye. And Pete says next week, all four regional NFL Teams will be on TV.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that College Gameday will be in Big D for the Texas-Oklahoma game. Barry says with the Cubs out of the MLB postseason, the next best thing for Fox would be a Red Sox-Dodgers World Series. Barry also has some thoughts from yesterday’s Bengals-Cowboys game.

From the Kansas City Star, Jeffrey Flanagan has quotes from the TV and radio calls of the Chiefs-Carolina game. Also from the KC Star, the great Aaron Barnhart writes that Metro Sports grabbed quite a few local Emmy Awards Saturday night.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TBS’ John Smoltz was mostly on target during yesterday’s Game 4 of the Phillies-Brewers League Division Series.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog looks at the dispute between LIN TV and Time Warner Cable that is leaving CBS TV affiliates off of several cable systems and NFL fans in the dark. And Chris says ESPN missed the memo on Lehigh University’s name change …. 13 years ago!!!!!!

Dusty Saunders in the Rocky Mountain News says despite losing the Cubs in a sweep, TBS’ coverage of the MLB postseason has been more than adequate.

Over to Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star who writes that Rogers Sportsnet has made a big dent in the Canadian TV landscape despite lots of skepticism when it launched 10 years ago.

We have two things from Maury Brown and the Biz of Baseball. First, Maury has a story on the MLB Network hiring five new executives. And Maury says MLB Advanced Media has signed a new licensing agreement for MLB-branded pictures.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the Raiders circus last week made the top of the Sunday NFL pregame shows.

A press release says Vin Scully and Curt Gowdy head the Class of 2008 for the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

That will do it for now.

Vin Scully to Mark 60 Years with the Dodgers

Without much fanfare, the Los Angeles Dodgers sneaked out a press release on Saturday announcing that long-time announcer Vin Scully will return for his 60th season in 2009. Vin has never been a self-promoter so this is par for the course.

Vin goes back to when franchise was in Brooklyn and moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. He’s so heavily associated with the Dodgers that it’s hard to fathom somebody else taking over the reins when Scully eventually retires.

I happened to stumble across the news via the Big Lead whose Patrick Imig somehow found the release.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that it appears that 2009 will be Scully’s last season, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Vin will keep his reduced schedule, working all home games and only road games no farther east than Colorado. If 2009 is Vin’s last season, then the Dodgers should do something to mark the occasion, but knowing a bit about Scully, he would not want to make anything out of it.

We’ll keep you posted.