Saturday Links, Finally

It sucks when your day is planned for you and you find that you keep getting interrupted for silly little things. I’m at work again, stuck in the home office and trying to actually get work done and hoping to get a link or two in, but I’m finding it extremely difficult today. As I mentioned in the press releases (scroll below or click here), it took me close to five hours to get that particular post up and now I’m trying to do this before another interruption comes in. I hate working on Saturdays.

Anyway, here are the links. I try to get to those that aren’t outdated, but the problem when doing Saturday links, I have to get them up before noon ET as the sporting day usually start around that time.

Starting with David Flores of the San Antonio Express-News who writes his last column for the paper, being one of the victims of a layoff due to budget cuts.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes the Texas Rangers radio broadcast team is a mutual admiration society. Barry tries to explain the sports radio ratings. Barry says Houston Texan running back Ryan Moats and his wife will be interviewed on Good Morning America on Monday. Moats was stopped by a policeman as he was speeding to see his dying mother-in-law. We’ve all seen the maddening video by now.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that Western New York is mad about the NCAA Tournament this year.

Good friend Ken Schott (and fellow David Letterman fan) of the Schenectady Gazette has some issues with CBS’ switching during the NCAA Tournament.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media says CBS’ switching of games during the NCAA Tournament may not be in the best interest of fans.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the Mets made sellouts and fewer seats a priority in the new Citi Field.

Newsday’s Bobby Cassidy, Jr. of the paper’s Trading Paint NASCAR blog talks with ESPN pit reporter and NASCAR Now host Shannon Spake.

Jim Williams of the DC Examiner says CBS gets into the Madness early today … well, earlier today. And Jim says the NCAA Women’s Tournament is back underway today as well. Earlier today as well as a matter of fact.

Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertiser says the Western Athletic Conference is waiting on ESPN so it can release its final football schedule for the fall.

Jennie Rees of the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that ESPN has dropped the Kentucky Derby post-position selection show, leaving HRTV and several local stations to pick it up.

Brandon McClure of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says an Alabama State alum has made it big as an online host for Turner Sports, similar to what Friend of Fang’s Bites Beau Estes does during baseball and NASCAR season.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says HBO is looking at a multiplatform approach for its next 24/7 series.

Greg Sandoval of CNET says Disney’s ESPN could be part of a deal for ABC to join Hulu to share video clips and shows.

The Sports Media Watch says the NBA’s ratings fell hard again last Sunday. Paul Sen of the SMW writes that while the NHL is drawing consistent ratings every week on NBC, they’re still miniscule compared to other sports. And SMW says the NCAA Tournament slam dunked the primetime competition on Friday.

Wrap Around Curl over at Puck The Media has a SportsCenter clip of the Top Ten goaltender blowouts and that includes this week’s Tukka Rask meltdown at my hometown Providence Civic Center (I know it’s called something else, but if the donut company that bought naming rights wants to pay me to call it by its current name, I’ll be more than happy to write it next time, but it’s still the Civic Center to me).

The Sox & Dawgs blog previews another event in the Jerry Remy empire in April.

Ok, that’s going to end the links for today. I’m already seeing Sunday’s stories on various websites and I’d like to save those for Sunday, of course. See you later.

Friday Night Megalinks

Ok, time for the Friday megalinks. I had to eat dinner before doing these because they always take so long for me to compile.

Let’s start as always with your Weekend Viewing Picks.

Week 1 of the NFL really begins in earnest on Sunday with 13 games including NBC’s Chicago at Indianapolis in primetime. CBS has regional action while Fox has a doubleheader. To see the full schedule plus links to coverage maps, DirecTV and Sirius Satellite Radio channel assignments, you can go here.

There is plenty of college football action on Saturday highlighted by Miami (FL) heading to the Swamp to face Florida on ESPN at 8 p.m. You can check out the TV schedule for college football here.

Tropical Storm Hanna is wreaking havoc on the sports schedule. It could force cancellation of the US Open men’s semifinals and women’s final on Saturday. If it goes off as scheduled, CBS will begin its coverage of the men’s semis at 11 a.m. tomorrow and the women’s final at 8 p.m. Then on Sunday, USA has the women’s doubles final at 1 p.m. and CBS carries the men’s final at 4 p.m. However, if the rain comes and it forces a change in schedule, then either USA or ESPN will pick up coverage on Sunday and CBS would air the men’s final on Monday.

NASCAR has moved its Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races to Sunday and the ESPN family of networks will air them both. The Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway will be on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. Then on Sunday night, the Emerson Radio 250 will be on ESPN2 at 7.

Over to baseball, Fox Sports has coverage of three games including the Phillies at the Mets in a National League showdown. Fox’s regional splits and announcing assignments can be seen here. WGN has the Angels-White Sox Saturday night at 7 and the Cubs at Cincinnati, Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. TBS has the final game of the Angels-White Sox series, Sunday at 2 p.m. ESPN’s Sunday night game is Phillies-Mets.

Boxing fans can watch HBO’s Boxing After Dark on Saturday which has a bout for the vacant IBO Lightweight Title between Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis. Coverage begins at 10:15 p.m. both on the East and West coasts.

The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup has the BMW Championship in St. Louis. NBC has second and third round coverage Saturday at noon, then on Sunday, NBC signs on at 2 p.m.

The Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix starts at 7:30 Sunday morning on Speed.

Now let’s do your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about Fox NFL rookie analyst Brian Billick’s approach to game preparation.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power Rankings for September.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finds out why DirecTV has a blimp. Darren says now that Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson has legally changed his name to Chad Ocho Cinco, you can now buy his jersey with his new name. Darren talks with NFL Commish Roger Goodell about the NFL and the NFL Network. And Darren talks with Patriots QB Tom Brady about keeping injuries secret.

The Sports Media Watch says moving the NFL season opener up an hour earlier to accomodate the Republican National Convention hurt NBC’s ratings.

But Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says even with the lower ratings for the NFL kickoff compared to last year, NBC still won Thursday night’s ratings.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that ESPN Axis, the rotating replays used during Euro 2008 will be utilized this season on Monday Night Football.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel says ESPN brings some familiar faces back to Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown.

Christopher Bryne of the Eye on Sports Media blog wonders what happened to Bob Trumpy on Westwood One Radio’s coverage of the NFL.

Jonathan Landreth of the Hollywood Reporter says a staggering 4.7 billion people watched the Communist China Olympics.

Bob Mantz has part 2 of his interview with former Florida State Cowgirl Jenn Sterger.

Maury Brown’s Biz of Baseball blog notices that MLB.com and Lucasfilm have teamed up once again.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at WEEI.com forging ahead and a wrap-up of the Gordon Edes/Boston Globe divorce.

Liz Robbins and Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Tropical Storm Hanna could wreak havoc for CBS at the US Open this weekend.

Marcus Henry of Newsday recaps Chris “Mad Dog” Russo’s debut on Sirius Satellite Radio on Thursday.

Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News writes that the Yankees missing the playoffs would be a big blow to the YES Network.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post woke up on the wrong side of bed today.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with CBS analysts Dan Marino and Phil Simms about Brett Favre’s debut with the Jets this Sunday. And in the New York Post’s TV Sports blog, Justin says Fox 5 in New York begins a “Beat the Pros” segment this week.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a look at the college football TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes in his blog about NASCAR changing its schedule this weekend.

Laura Nachman reports the Fox Philadelphia affiliate shed another position in its sports staff. And Laura says three former Eagles will contribute to Comcast’s CN8 channel every week.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun talks about a third sports radio station debuting in town on Monday.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret Morning News says there are good things and bad things about the WAC’s new deal with ESPN.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune talks with long-time sports talk show host Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton who’s most likely leaving the market after 21 years. And Jay wonders why the local CBS affiliate chose to air Chiefs-Patriots instead of Jets-Dolphins.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that San Diego will miss Hamilton.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes that NBC’s Al Michaels is hoping for an overtime Super Bowl as he gets to call the game in February.

To the Los Angeles Times where Steve Springer tells us that NBC’s Andrea Kremer is adding blogging to her duties as sideline reporter on Sunday Night Football.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth says NBC’s Al Michaels and John Madden are hopeful that the City of Angels will get an NFL franchise in their lifetime. Tom has a bunch of media extras in his Farther Off the Wall blog (and it’s one of the reasons why he’s one of my favorite writers to link to). First, Tom has the SoCal schedule of NFL TV games. Next, Tom has comments from various Fox and CBS NFL analysts. Tom then looks at Sports USA Radio Network’s NFL and college football schedules. This link focuses on college football on TV. Tom goes back to the NFL in this next link. Finally, Tom then moves to other sports in some more sports media notes. How did Tom not get carpal tunnel with all this typing?

Midwest

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal likes ESPN’s shifting focus of Monday Night Football back to the game.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says NFL TV ratings leader Fox Sports is not making too many changes to its lineup.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks to various NFL TV analysts about Brett Favre. Bob talks with NBC’s Al Michaels and John Madden about Brett Favre.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald says the NFL is putting Sunday Night Football online for free while MLB continues it pay per view model.

Chicago Tribune Olympics writer Philip Hersh looked at NBC’s coverage of the Olympics opening ceremonies almost a month after he covered it and liked what he saw.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin has a primer for readers on the NFL on TV this season.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Bulletin talks about a local sports radio talk show host return to the airwaves on Monday.

Jeffrey Flanagan from the Kansas City Star says former Chiefs QB Len Dawson is celebrating 40 years on the air.

South

Doug Nye of The State talks about a new DVD commemorating Yankee Stadium’s last year.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says NFL analysts feel the Dolphins are greatly improved this season.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel looks at the changes in the NFL TV rosters.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks with Fox’s Troy Aikman about Cowboys QB Tony Romo.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron writes about Chris Berman returning to SportsCenter on Sundays.

In the Oklahoman, Mel Bracht says Monday Night Football is throwing the guests overboard and focusing on the game. What a concept. Mel adds that Oklahoma State’s season opener last week topped the ratings in Oklahoma City. In his media notes, Mel says former Oklahoma University coach Barry Switzer returns to Fox for his Grumpy Old Coaches segment with Jimmy Johnson on Fox NFL Sunday. And Mel has his weekend viewing picks.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail likes TSN’s addition of former Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella to its NHL roster of analysts. And William has comments from NFL TV analysts previewing the new season.

Bev Wake of the Vancouver Sun says the internet has become a source for watching the Paralympic Games from Communist China.

Here’s TSN’s official announcement of John Tortorella and former NBC analyst Ray Ferraro joining the network for its NHL coverage.

There you have it. Your Friday megalinks, finally.

Quick Thursday Links

I don’t have much time to blog today as when I arrived in my office, I found that all my phone lines were down preventing me from using my DSL at work. So I’m home so I can e-mail some documents out.

While I’m dealing with this, I’ll give you a few links for now.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he talks about viewers calling the shots when they watch tonight’s NFL season opener and NBC’s Sunday Night Football online.

Nice to see John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News back after a brief sabbatical. He writes about NBC’s online coverage of Sunday Night Football.

Rocco Valluzzo of the Redding (CT) Pilot talks with Sunday Night Football director Drew Escohoff who also directed the swimming coverage at the Olympics in Communist China.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe discusses the back-to-basics approach for Monday Night Football this season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that ESPN finally listened to the fans regarding Monday Night Football.

Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune talks about ESPN’s new seven year contract extension with the WAC.

Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star says fans of Indiana and Purdue Universities will have plenty of chances to watch their schools on TV.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks with Tennis Channel Chairman and CEO Ken Solomon about his network gaining the rights to all four Grand Slam tournaments.

Kathleen McElroy of the Times says she’ll miss USA Network televising the US Open.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman talks about Mike Francesa and Chris Russo working without each other for the first time.

Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press says ESPN’s Dick Vitale is thankful the Pistons fired him which led to Dickie V to TV. On Friday, Vitale is being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

That will do it for now. Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks coming up later.

Details of the ESPN/WAC Deal

Coming in the wake of last week’s stunning 15 year contract extension with the SEC, ESPN has further solidified its hold in college sports with another long-term deal signed with the Western Athletic Conference on Wednesday. It’s a seven year deal starting in 2010-11 and ending in 2016-17.

The WAC had been seeking wider exposure and had been talking with ESPN over the last 20 months over a new contract. The talks finally came to a head with the new agreement.

Darrell Moody of the Nevada Appeal writes that persistence paid off for the WAC.

The Honolulu Advertiser says the new deal will double football broadcasts and provide the WAC with must needed exposure.

Tim Stephens of the Orlando Sentinel says WAC Commissioner Karl Benson couldn’t be happier with the new contract.

Felix Chavez from the Las Cruces (NM) Sun-News tells us the new contract will take effect when the current agreement expires in two seasons.

Here are key details of the new agreement:

Football

Exclusive national television home of the conference:

• An annual minimum of 10 games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, including telecasts on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
• An annual minimum of six games on ESPNU.
• ESPN Regional Television has the right to syndicate five games annually.
• ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV will be able to simulcast any ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC telecast.
• WAC content will also be available on ESPN Classic, ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile Properties.

Men’s Basketball

Exclusive national television home of the conference:

• An annual minimum of six regular-season games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC as well as one conference tournament semifinal game and the championship during Championship Week.
• An annual minimum of six regular-season games on ESPNU as well as one conference tournament quarterfinal game.
• Every WAC team will participate in the ESPNU BracketBuster event.
• ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV will be able to simulcast any ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC telecast.
• WAC content will also be available on ESPN Classic, ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile Properties.

Women’s Sports

• ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will provide extensive coverage of women’s basketball and Olympic sports, including six regular-season events (a combination of basketball, volleyball and softball) in 2008-09. The number of events will increase to seven in 2009-10 and to eight for the remaining years of the contract.
• ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU will televise the volleyball championship each year.
• The conference women’s basketball championship will be available on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU annually.

No word on how much ESPN will be paying annually. I’m sure it’s not in the SEC range, but it’s enough to make WAC member schools quite happy.

Another Late Wednesday Night/Early Thursday Morning Blog

Well, I just finished watching Sarah Palin speak at the Republican National Convention. Since this is not a political blog, I won’t give my opinion here, but it was quite fascinating to hear her speak. That’s all I’ll say. Just to let you know, I gave Barack Obama my undivided attention as well so don’t think I’m one-sided here. I’m Switzerland.

Anyway, let’s give you some links now.

Newsday’s Neil Best who never stops covering the Mike & the Mad Dog beat even though they’ve splitten up, says both Mike Francesa and Chris Russo will previewing the NFL season for their respective companies on Thursday. And Neil writes about the Tennis Channel’s attempts to gain wider distribution.

Thanks to Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News for the following link, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Hoffer has an appreciation for the long-time Voice of the Dodgers, Vin Scully.

And Tom who is against the use of maple bats because of the danger they pose, looks at one particular bat that shattered during the Dodgers-D’Backs game on Sunday.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says MLB Advanced Media is putting its MLB.TV up for purchase on a per day basis for the rest of the season.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal talks with NFL Commish Roger Goodell about a host of issues including TV coverage and live internet streaming.

The San Francisco Chronicle looks at the state of NFL TV coverage this season.

One complaint about CBS’ NFL coverage was that all games were not shown in HD. Over the last three seasons, CBS would air two to three games a week in crystal clear high definition. Well, Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog tells us that CBS Sports will produce all of its games this season in HD, but you won’t necessarily see them in high def. Hoo boy.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post likes the back-to-basics approach ESPN is taking with Monday Night Football.

Rick Bentley of the Fresno Bee notes that NBC Sports will have the first game of the NFL regular season and the very last game of the NFL postseason.

And Paul Farhi of the Post writes that the Republicans are fearful that Thursday night’s NFL season opener between the Washington Redskins and the New York Football Giants could cut into John McCain’s acceptance speech.

It’s not as earthshattering as its 15 year deal with the SEC, but on Wednesday, ESPN signed a long-term deal with the WAC to show football, basketball and women’s sports. That is a big blow to the Mountain West Conference which has been struggling for exposure since starting up the mtn. I’ll have details of the contract in a separate post.

Mark Harden of the Denver Business Journal says FSN Rocky Mountain received great ratings for the annual Colorado-Colorado State game last Sunday.

Kim Shugart of the Mobile (AL) Press-Register reports that the Senior Bowl, currently shown by the NFL Network, will be played at night for the first time coming in January.

We may be into Week 2 of the college football season, but it’s never too early to think about college basketball. The Big Ten has announced its conference TV schedule.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says now that it has signed the major cable companies to deals, the Big Ten Network can now focus on improving its programming.

The Sports Media Watch brings us the final wekend ratings, a bit later than usual. And the SMW says the US Open is not doing any favors for USA Network.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that a local sports anchor has given his notice.

After losing Fang’s Bites favs Tina Cervasio and Hazel Mae, NESN has done the right thing and signed Bruins studio host Kathryn Tappen to a contract extension.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Steve Michaels over at the the Sox & Dawgs blog feels WEEI’s “contest” to find the next great blogger is bogus and so do I. This smells of similar stunts like the “audition” that led to Bob Neumeier’s hiring to co-host middays with Dale Arnold and the “sit-in” that gave us Mike Adams. I’m not endorsing this contest, but if you feel so motivated to enter, you can go here. Don’t worry, I’m not going to Rick Roll you.

Daisy Whitney of TV Week writes that despite Yahoo winning the internet wars over the Olympics, a new study shows that Olympic viewers flocked to NBCOlympics.com.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says former tennis star Monica Seles will host a five week show on Sirius starting Thursday on Sirius Stars, channel 102.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun answers the question of WBAL radio’s affiliation with Fox Sports Radio now that newcomer WVIE becomes a full-time FSR affiliate.

The Phoenix Coyotes have announced their TV schedule.

The Detroit Red Wings have announced their TV schedule as well.

The lovely Tracey Myers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Dallas Stars will have most of their games carried on FSN Southwest.

The Detroit Free Press says all of the Detroit Pistons’ games will be shown on TV, but just three on over the air television.

A lot of links. That will do it for now.

A Thursday Night Linkage

Due to the fact I was at the emergency room for my fall last night, then all over the place today, I was not able to provide linkage. I can now provide you with links so let’s get to them.

A few things from Neil Best of Newsday. First, he mentions that Long Island’s News 12 cable channel has signed broadcasting legend Bob Wolff for two more years. Neil writes that WFAN beat 1050 ESPN Radio in the ratings in the spring book.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says an athlete’s name on a restaurant doesn’t always guarantee success.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post says the jury is still out on the new WTEM.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that KSPN has reassigned one of its hosts from his afternoon drive show to a daily podcast.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union looks at the release of ABC/ESPN’s college football schedule.

Darren Epps of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that SEC Commish Mike Slive will make a formal decision in early fall about the new conference TV contract.

Phil Dailey and Dave Southorn of the Idaho Press report that the WAC has not finalized a new TV contract with ESPN as has been previously reported.

The Kansas City Star reports the Big 12 has released its men’s basketball conference schedule including various games on ESPN and CBS.

The Topeka Capital-Journal says all of Kansas’ men’s basketball games can be seen on TV nationwide.

Eric Young of the San Francisco Business Times reports that Comcast SportsNet Bay Area plans to move to bigger confines next year.

Willie Barns of MLB.com says This Week in Baseball focuses on the Hall of Fame weekend.

Joe Frisaro of MLB.com says ratings for Florida Marlins games on FSN Florida and Sun Sports are up compared to last year.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says SNY delivered its best ratings for the Mets on July 23.

Good friend Steve over at the Sox & Dawgs blog says Friday night will be a Red Sox Game Night at participating Showcase Cinemas all over New England.

Franklin Kanin of the Falmouth (MA) Bulletin profiles Eric Frede who freelances for NESN.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News tells us that Universal HD will present Olympic-themed programming leading up to the Olympics in August.

Eric Ransom writing for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks about Dale Jarrett entering the ESPN booth for its second NASCAR season.

Jonathan Huntington of the Edmonton Sun reports that ratings for the CFL on TSN are up compared to when the CFL was shared by TSN and CBC.

That’s it for tonight. Don’t forget Friday megalinks tomorrow.

Saturday Linkage

Time to give you some links today.

Yesterday, John Crowe over at his Crowe’s Nest blog hinted of a change in the Providence sports radio landscape. Today, he’s able to confirm that former WSKO host Scott Cordischi will be back on the airwaves, albeit on a weekly basis, on WPRO, every Saturday starting next week.

David Scott of Scott’s Shots was also able to get confirmation and was told the show will be called, “Scott Cordischi On Sports”. He was able to get this quote from Cordischi: “I am very much looking forward to talking sports with Rhode Islanders and Southern New Englanders once again here in Providence. I have missed talking about things like the Sox, Yankees, the Celts run to a championship, the PC coaching search, the NFL Draft, etc.” Thank you, David for getting the quote.

It’s a good move for Scott, giving him a chance to be back on local radio. It’s not a full-time gig, but it gives him an opportunity to give his opinions again.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says Yankee Stadium will be on full display during the All-Star Game on Fox this Tuesday.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the Fox Sports announcers have to do a balancing act during the All-Star Game.

Chas Rich over at the AOL Fanhouse blog says it appears that Fox Sports will keep the Bowl Championship Series thanks to its marriage with IMG and add to the fact that IMG is the exclusive negotiator for …. the BCS.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that restructuring at KMOV-TV’s sports deparrment is leaving the staff in a precarious position.

The Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

The San Antonio Express-News’ Jerry Garcia talks with legendary local weatherman Jud Ashmore about his memories about the late Dan Cook.

In his Pressbox blog, Chris Pursell of TV Week previews the week ahead and also talks with CBS golf analyst Ian Baker-Finch who will be part of the TNT crew televising the Open Championship in Royal Birkdale next week.

The Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown has a review of the new MLB.com At Bat widget for the new Apple iPhone 3G. And from Maury’s Biz of Sports site, he looks into the new Turner Sports/Yahoo! Sports partnership.

Joe Favorito has a story about the New Jersey Institute of Technology making a small splash in college basketball by joining …. the Great West Conference. I kid you not.

Cynthia Wolfe Boynton in a story that will be in tomorrow’s New York Times writes that even while ESPN has become a sports behemoth, it still remains loyal to its Bristol, CT home.

Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman says if the reports about a contract extension with ESPN are true, then the WAC has won some much needed TV exposure. Yesterday, Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertiser reported a 5 to 7 year contract extension between the two parties.

Alan Strachan of the Vancouver Sun writes about Steve Nash of Phoenix Suns directing a film for ESPN about Canadian legend Terry Fox.

Jeremy Evans of the Tahoe (NV) Daily Tribune says media coverage of the celebrity American Century Championship golf tournament has grown ever since NBC helped to create the event in 1990.

With this week’s announcement that Dan Patrick would be reunited with former ESPN co-hort Keith Olbermann on NBC, Craig Stoda of the Palm Beach Post decided to look at the top sports broadcasting partnerships.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog is in New York for the All-Star Game weekend.

That’s going to do it for now. I don’t think I’ll have any more updates today. I will have Videos of the Week, a look at NBC’s coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea tomorrow, so you can look for that. Enjoy your weekend.

It’s the Friday Megalinks!

On this day when many people are waiting for the new iPhone 3G launch, I remain outside of that loop and will provide you the Friday megalinks.

This being All-Star Game weekend in New York, we don’t have much for sports TV viewing. The big summer events happen next week with the MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium and the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, but this is a nice quiet weekend especially after last weekend’s great Wimbledon finals.

Weekend Viewing Picks

MLB is the main agenda for the weekend. Fox prepares for the All-Star Game by televising the New York Mets hosting the Colorado Rockies. Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal will be at Shea Stadium with the call. Fox’s other games will be Minnesota at Detroit and Arizona at Philadelphia. The first pitches for each game will be 3:55 p.m. on Saturday. WGN will air the White Sox at Texas, Saturday night at 7 and the Cubs hosting San Francisco, Sunday afternoon at 2:10. TBS has the Red Sox taking on Baltimore at Fenway Park at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. And ESPN’s Sunday night game will be the Rockies-Mets.

The Tour de France continues on Versus throughout the weekend. Coverage on Saturday morning begins at 8:30 and on Sunday at 7:30 a.m.

HBO brings us live boxing from Hamberg, Germany Saturday afternoon as IBF/WBO/IBO Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitchko defends his titles against Tony Thompson. Jim Lampley leads the HBO World Championship Boxing crew. If you can’t watch the fight, it will be re-aired later at 10 p.m.

NASCAR heads to the Chicagoland Speedway for the Lifelock.com 400 Saturday night at 8 which marks the end of TNT’s 6 race season. In two weeks, ESPN/ABC picks up the rest of the Sprint Cup Series.

IndyCar will have Firestone IndyCar 200 from Nashville. ESPN goes head-to-head with NASCAR as it will show the race live Saturday at 8 p.m.

The PGA Tour has the John Deere Classic which CBS picks up for the weekend. Watch 3rd and final round coverage on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.

ESPN2 has live 3rd round coverage of the LPGA Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, Saturday at 4 p.m., then will show the final round on tape, Sunday night at 6.

NBC will show the American Century Celebrity Championship, the golf tournament featuring celebrities from movies, sports, TV, news, you name it. NBC has the second round Saturday at 4, then on Sunday at 3 p.m. Charles Barkley is among the big names playing at Lake Tahoe.

Summer also means beach volleyball as NBC shows the AVP McDonald’s Chicago Open throughout the weekend.

The entire weekend schedule can be seen over at USA Today.com.

Now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that MLB is putting its best foot forward for the All-Star Game festivities for ESPN and Fox. As you’ll notice in today’s links, the All-Star Game will be the theme.

This next link has nothing to with the sports media, but it’s to give you something to look at. They’re known as the “Wilhelmena 7″, a group of LPGA golfers selected by Wilhemena Artist Management to be showcased to show a different side of women’s golf. Here’s the first salvo, a very nice photo shoot for Golf.com.

We continue with the links.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Friend of Fang’s Bites, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch, breaks news that Boston Herald Red Sox beat writer Rob Bradford will be leaving the paper to write for the soon-to-be-relaunched WEEI.com. This is a big shake up in the Boston media as a mainstream writer leaves to write for a sports radio station’s website. Bruce Allen of BSMW says this is a very good move for Bradford and WEEI.

Nancy Marrapese-Burell of the Boston Globe says Fox Sports is pumped up for the last All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium this Tuesday.

Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant discusses ESPN’s new “30 for 30″ documentary initiative.

Brian Shelter of the New York Times also writes about the increased number of documentaries at ESPN.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium is an exercise in excess.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says the Mets are gouging their season tickets holders. Justin Terranova of the Post writes that Yankee Stadium will be the real star of Fox’s coverage of the All-Star Game. Justin has five questions for YES’ Ken Singleton.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun writes that the Ravens will now use their radio team to call its exhibition games on TV.

Ryan O’Halloran of the Washington Times says the Redskins-owned sports radio WTEM made some firings this week including the Redskins beat reporter.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes about some football-related media moves including Inside the NFL, Dan Patrick joining Football Night in America and Bob Papa joining the NFL Network.

Midwest

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the ratings for the Arena Football League’s Cleveland Gladiators are pretty decent.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Fox’s Joe Buck and Tim McCarver raving about the Brewers’ young pitching.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald has the pros and cons of watching the All-Star Game.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune has his weekend viewing selections.

Judd Zulgad over at the Minneapolis Star Tribune says Fox will have some challenges in airing the All-Star Game.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin writes that this All-Star Game will be one to watch.

South

Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald says ESPN plans to produce a documentary about the U, University of Miami’s football program and it’s not expected to be sugarcoated. Barry Jackson of the Herald has a primer on the changing landscape of local sports talk radio.

Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post says Michael Strahan’s candor will make him a hit on Fox.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel looks forward to Bob Costas’ latest town hall meeting coming up on Wedensday. Also from the Sentinel, Brian Schmitz and Kyle Hightower wonder when FSN Florida will settle its dispute with Bright House cable about Magic games.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron writes that Fox is promising everything but the kitchen sink in its All-Star Game broadcast. And David tells us that NBC plans to air a majority of the Olympics on the internet.

Ray Buck in today’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Fox likes the storylines heading into Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

We have quite a few stories from Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman. First, Mel talks with Fox’s Joe Buck who wishes he had one more game with his father, the late great Jack Buck. Next, Mel has Sonics TV voice Kevin Calabro ripping Seattle for allowing Oklahoma City to take the team. Here’s Mel’s media notebook. And Mel has his viewing picks.

West

Jeremy Evans of the Tahoe (NV) Daily Tribune writing in the Nevada Appeal says ESPN’s Rick Reilly is the Michael Jordan of sports writers.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Yankee Stadium is the going to the real star of the All-Star Game. And here are the ratings from last weekend in San Diego.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Fox is trying to create moments at the All-Star Game instead of letting them happen.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star says Yankee Stadium will be the focus of the All-Star Game on Fox.

Larry Stewart from the Los Angeles Times writes that everybody loves a parade including Fox for the All-Star Game.

Tom Hoffarth in his weekly media column at the Los Angeles Daily News says NBC is planning to show everything at the Olympics in Communist China. Tom has his extensive media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog. Tom facetiously combines two of Joe Buck’s favorite things.

Ferd Lewis from the Honolulu Advertiser says the WAC is appears to be getting increased exposure from ESPN in a new contract.

Media Publications

Kimberly Nordyke of the Hollywood Reporter says ESPN has signed 30 filmmakers for its “30 for 30″ project.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News writes that ESPN is pulling out the heavy hitters for the All-Star Home Run Derby this Monday.

Press Releases

ESPN has also announced four new documentaries for the winter season.

NBC says its coverage of Wimbledon received its highest ratings in 8 years. And NBC talks about the stars participating in the American Century Championship this weekend.

Blogs

Awful Announcing looks at Bob Costas’ latest town meeting on baseball which will run live on HBO the day after the All-Star Game.

The Big Lead has video of Alyssa Milano visiting the Philadelphia Phillies’ TV booth. And the Big Lead has a transcript of WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog’s first show together since news surfaced that they might split up.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders how Stephon Marbury can sign a shoe deal with Amazon.com.

SportsbyBrooks talks about Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy going off on agent David Falk in the Elton Brand negotiations.

There you have it for your links today.

Your Wednesday Update

As I watch the local news, I’ll give you some links today.

It’s now official. Charles Barkley has signed a long-term deal with Turner Sports to remain as a studio analyst for TNT in its NBA coverage. He’ll also do work for NBA TV. Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has details in his blog.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that Turner Sports has announced its early season slate of Sunday afternoon baseball games on TBS. Neil says New York Giants QB Eli Manning actually got a chance to speak on WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog show.

Tom Singer of MLB.com has more on the slate of Sunday MLB games on TBS.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions site says ESPN has announced its Spring Training schedule all of which will be seen in HD. And MLB.com lists the announcing assignments for each game.

The Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht writes in his blog about a teleconference involving ESPN’s draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch lists the New England winners of the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.

Darren Rovell of CNBC says the injury to the Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming could prove devastating to Reebok.

Dan Gigler of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives us a personal anecdote about the late Myron Cope who passed away this morning. And there will be a tribute to Myron before the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game tonight at the Petersen Events Center. And the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has its own obit of Cope. And this is audio from his last radio show on WEAE radio in 1995. First and foremost, Cope considered himself as a writer and from a piece in 2005, Joe Starkey of the Tribune-Review has some excerpts of Cope’s stories from Sports Illustrated.

ESPN is going to love this story. Linda Haugsted of Multichannel News writes that the all-sports network ranks high among cable operators for helping them gain and retain subscribers.

Nick Jezierny of the Idaho Statesman says basketball coaches in the Western Athletic Conference are dissatisfied with their TV contract with ESPN.

Dave Zirin of SI.com says looking closer at Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s motives on Spygate and the NFL Network shows that something just doesn’t add up.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says that someone wants to revive SlamBall. You may remember seeing it on Spike TV five years ago.

The Puget Sound (WA) Business Journal reports that three regional sports networks in Seattle, Denver and Pittsburgh formerly owned by FSN will combine to form the Liberty Sports Group. And Mike Farrell of Multichannel News has more on the story.

In addition, Liberty has finally completed its year-long purchase of DirecTV.

That’s it for now. I might have an update later tonight. Keep checking back here.

Late Monday Night Update

Time to give you a few more links on this Monday night.

First, Neil Best of Newsday tells us that the Arena Football League’s New York Dragons will have 1050 ESPN Radio as its flagship station this season.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty writes in his blog about the higher ratings NBC experienced for this year’s WGC Accenture Match Play Championship with Tiger Woods involved in the entire weekend of play.

NBC Sports says the ratings for Sunday was 67% higher than last year’s event which saw Tiger eliminated early in the action. In addition, NBC says Pittsburgh at Washington will its choice for the NHL Game of the Week on March 9.

Greg Tunnicliff of the Flint (MI) Journal says ESPN will do a feature on two high school female wrestlers for Outside the Lines.

Greg Auman of the St. Petersburg Times says the University of South Florida will have four of its football games aired on the ESPN family of networks this fall, matching the most of any Big East Conference team.

The Denver Post reports that ESPN has moved the Colorado-West Virginia game to September 18, making it a primetime Thursday night game.

Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces (NM) Sun-News says coaches in the WAC are concerned about their TV exposure especially in the wake of a majority of their BracketBuster games not being shown on ESPN.

George James Malik of the Michigan Live website writes that NHL.com will stream TSN’s coverage of the Trading Deadline all day Tuesday. Stu Cowan of the Canwest News Service says the Trading Deadline is a big deal for TSN.

The Boston Herald’s Inside Track talks about the NFL Network ending its display of topless men at the Scouting Combine, plus the Track girls compare the ratings for the Oscars to the NFL.

And that does it for Monday. Good night.

It’s a Tuesday Link Thing

Time for some links now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the ratings from the weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says David Cone is close to hashing out a deal with the YES Network to work as an analyst.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News pokes fun at Super Bowl Media Day.

Newsday’s Neil Best is with his newspaper’s large contingent in Arizona and he writes that this Super Bowl has set a record for media credentials. And Neil writes that with HDTV, he could see the stubble on Sal Paolantonio.

Jon Friedman of Marketwatch.com writes that the Giants have shut out former teammate Tiki Barber.

Stuart Crosby of the Times-Herald in Georgia writes about the circus that is known as Super Bowl Media Day.

Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News laments that Fox won’t accept political ads for the Super Bowl.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says Fox is going to have a long tailgate party before the Super Bowl.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says FSN has sold out its sponsorships for the Super Bowl-themed Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life magazine talks to a Seton Hall professor about why Super Bowl ads use humor.

ESPN gives us the entire list of Super Bowl programming for TV and Radio from Arizona today.

The Oakland Tribune’s Dave Del Grande writes that last week’s report of Lane Kiffin’s refusal to resign as Raiders coach should have come with the words “as told by Lane Kiffin”.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Brett Favre has been chosen as one of the 10 Best QB’s of all time by the Cold Hard Football Facts website.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the Dana Jacobsen incident may be a blessing for disguise.

By the way, here’s her apology on First Take yesterday morning. I hope this is the last time I reference this story.

Gary Eastwick of the Fresno Bee says coaches in the WAC aren’t happy with the change in format for ESPN’s BracketBuster weekend.

Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says the Liberty Bowl was the 4th most watched bowl game of the 2007-08 bowl season.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TV analysts did not fall in love with the NHL All Star Weekend.

That’s it for now.

Wednesday Links and Maybe Some Other Stuff

Let’s get to some links. We had a lot late last night so let’s see what we have now.

Starting with USA Today, Michael Hiestand writes that CBS will not do any extra hype for Sunday’s New England-Indianapolis game which is good. If Fox or ESPN had the game, you would see hype up the ying-yang, but CBS prefers to let the game speak for itself.

Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher should talk to the media instead of by-passing reporters.

James Day of the Salem (OR) Statesman Journal says ESPN and the Pac 10 decided to make Saturday’s Arizona State-Oregon a national broadcast.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says if Joe Torre is hired by the Dodgers as manager, he would bring back a celebrity quotient to the games.

From the Raleigh News & Observer, Tim Simmons writes that Taco Bell got plenty of publicity for some mentions of free tacos thanks to the World Series.

David Scott & Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer write that if Time Warner gets the naming rights for the Bobcats arena, it could give up the cable TV rights and have Fox Sports South gain them.

John Denton of Florida Today says the Orlando Magic’s first game which will be aired on Fox Sports Net Florida will not be carried by Bright House Cable. Dick Scanlon of the Lakeland Ledger writes about the FSN-Bright House dispute.

The Arkansas-Tennessee game on November 10 will be carried on Lincoln Financial Sports. In other SEC news, the Georgia-Auburn game will be picked up by CBS Sports for the 3:30 p.m. ET slot on the same day. From the WAC, Brian McInnis of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin says a decision will be made today whether ESPN will pick up the Hawaii-Fresno game.

The Waterbury Republican-American’s Ed Daigneault says UConn’s athletic director feels ESPN is using the school as a pawn in an attempt to get ESPNU carried on Comcast. Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant has another version on the UConn/ESPNU/Comcast story. And Chip Malafronte from the New Haven Register has more on UConn being angry at ESPN.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel talks with ESPN NBA analysts Hubie Brown and Jeff Van Gundy about the Bucks. And from Tuesday, Wolfley says ESPN spent too much time deferring to Packers QB Brett Favre.

Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle says Bay Area fans have a dilemma this Sunday. The Texans-Raiders game is not sold out and if it’s not by the Thursday deadline, CBS will beam Patriots-Colts instead. Mark Gillispie of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the local CBS affiliate won’t be able to show New England-Indianapolis despite not carrying the Browns this Sunday. David Heuschkel of the Hartford Courant talks with Jim Nantz and Bill Cowher of CBS Sports about the Patriots running up the score.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that the Yankees allowed ESPN into its conference call announcing Joe Girardi as manager.

Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune writes that Comcast SportsNet and the Blackhawks have obtained a sponsor to present the team’s home games starting November 11. Tim Cronin of the Chicago Daily Southtown says it’s time the Blackhawks show its home games on local TV.

Jim Benton of the Rocky Mountain News has three questions for ESPN’s Suzy Kolber. Chuck Abrams from Insider Racing wonders what’s causing apathy towards NASCAR. Jon Lafayette of TV Week says ESPN/ABC’s overall ratings for NASCAR might be dipping, but it’s pointing to a rise in ratings for certain demographics.

Here’s ESPN’s press release touting its “multi-platform” approach to the NBA which will include carrying games on ESPN360, cell phones, live audio on ESPN.com and sending games to your home phone. I’m joking about that last part, but you just never know what ESPN is thinking.

Maury Brown in his Biz of Basketball website reports that NBA TV will air the D-League draft tomorrow. That will certainly be compelling TV.

A lot of links for midweek. We’ll be back later today.

Thursday Afternoon Links Update

Time to give you some updated links.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that the New York Yankees trust had to threaten the media on Wednesday after they requested reporters stay away from Joe Torre’s home.

Jeff McAllister of The Other Paper in Columbus, OH says Time Warner Cable and the Big Ten Network differ on whether an agreement can be reached in time for this Saturday’s Ohio State-Kent State game. Brian Hedger of the Gary (IN) Post-Tribune writes that the Comcast-Big Ten Network feud is leaving Indiana University fans without an outlet to watch its football games. And without a way to watch the games, Indiana recruits have had to resort to seeing tapes.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times’ TV Decoder blog says ESPN is trying to show life beyond sports with its new E:60 news magazine.

Dayn Perry writes a hilarious blog entry over at Fox Sports.com giving us a sneak preview of ESPN doing the Masters.

ESPN is extending its tentacles to share content with a couple of internet college sports websites.

Brian McInnis of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reports that Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier will lead a new task force which will among other things, look to gain a new TV contract with ESPN for the Western Athletic Conference.

Phil Stacey of the Salem (MA) News talks with Comcast Sportsnet President Jon Litner.

CBS Sports will have the LSU-Kentucky game this Saturday.

The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, is finally hitting TV. He’s going to be a contributor to ESPN’s E:60 news magazine which debuts next week. My thinking is he’s going to fill the Andy Rooney role. And if you’re a fan of rugby, ESPN360 will be showing the Rugby Super League live starting with the Grand Final this Saturday.

I’ll have Primetime Viewing Picks coming up.

Tuesday Morning Links

Listening to Scott Baio on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio. The women he’s banged. If I only had half of his number, I’d be a very happy man. I started watching “Scott Baio is 45 … and Single” on VH-1 and it’s actually very good. Instead of him being crazy, he’s quite grounded and the people around him are crazy. Very well produced. I actually do recommend the show.

On to the links this morning.

Let’s start with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the TV ratings from the sporting weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on the NBA TV partners not being worried about the referee gambling scandal. Bob Raissman in today’s New York Daily News says the NBA TV partners were snookered by Commissioner David Stern.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about Vin Scully’s call of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run back in 1974.

Let’s go to a couple of links concerning the Big Ten Network. Tom Kubat of the Journal & Courier of Lafayette, Indiana writes that the Big Ten Network and Comcast are at an impasse. Variety’s John Dempsey has another story on Echostar wanting BTN classified as a Regional Sports Network.

From Pittsburgh, there’s a story about an anchor for ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh, John Duffy, has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges.

To Ohio, Akron to be exact, where George M. Thomas of the Beacon Journal writes that Sports Time Ohio, the cable TV home of the Cleveland Indians, has turned a profit in a short 15 months since it launched and allowed the team to make deals with players.

Darrell Moody of the Nevada Appeal writes about the Western Athletic Conference media day where Commissioner Karl Benson discusses the WAC’s TV schedule and negotiations with ESPN.

Over to the Mountain West Conference which is still having problems getting its network, the mtn., picked up by cable companies.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has a story on the city’s “Fantastic Four” in sports.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press writes about the passing of Bill Flemming who was one of the original announcers along with Jim McKay at ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

Pat Summerall has signed up to host an internet talk show to premiere in November.

Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times writes about Campbell Brown moving to CNN to host a primetime show.

Breaking news – Lindsay Lohan was arrested early this morning for DUI and police found cocaine in her car. Good job, Lindsay. Here’s a link to TMZ.com which already has her mugshot.

Finally, NBA Commish David Stern will have a press conference to talk about the referee gambling scandal. We’ll monitor.

More later.