Fang's Bites

Time for the Thursday Links

The links are here, let’s get to them.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today recaps the testimony of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and cable providers on Capitol Hill yesterday. Gerry Shih of the Austin American-Statesman reports on the all-out attack by Goodell on the cable providers. Robin Brown of CBC News wonders if sports on over the air TV is becoming a thing of the past.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with former Red Sox TV announcer Sean McDonough who will call today’s Red Sox-Dodgers Spring Training game for ESPN.

There’s a column from the Frankfort (IN) Times about the Big Ten Network relunctantly calling it necessary for the sports fan. Unfortunately, I can’t give credit to the writer because there’s no name on the website.

Zak Brown of the Boulder Daily Camera says a local road race that had been broadcast an a local CBS affiliate for over 25 years will now be televised on FSN Rocky Mountain.

Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times has some thoughts on recent news out of ESPN.

Newsday’s Neil Best tells us that ESPN will show 30 features on Yankee Stadium as it goes into its last year of use.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if the Patriots’ Randy Moss can bring the Pony brand back into the forefront.

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will air 16 DC United soccer games this season.

Barry Silverman of the Pressbox Baltimore sports site says a MASN HD channel is in the works.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog reports that XM Satellite Radio will have extensive coverage of The Masters next month.

Not many links this morning. But I’ll be back later with an update.

Some More Wednesday Links

I’ll give you a few more links today.

We have some good news from Neil Best of Newsday. He tells us that a biopsy on Bobby Mercer was negative, that his MRI last week showed only scar tissue and not a recurrence of a brain tumor. Mercer will rest at home for a few more days.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the NFL and Time Warner Cable clashed on Capitol Hill today as executives from both sides testified before Congress.

Darren Rovell from CNBC says one legacy that Brett Favre leaves is that his NFL jersey is the best selling of all-time.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch has some suggestions on how to improve the local mainstream sports media blogs

In his Medium Well blog, Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun writes that on March 12, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will devote its secondary channel completely to Alex Ovechkin during the Washington Flames-Calgary Flames game.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says XM will offer full coverage of the Indy Racing League for the fourth consecutive year.

Sports anchor Brendan O’Reilly of WBNG-TV in Binghampton, NY, has an open letter to ESPN about how the Alleged Worldwide Leader treated the station when Cornell University won the Ivy League title this past weekend. And thanks to Deadspin for the link to the story.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post feels Brett Favre will eventually come back.

In his Morning Buzz blog, John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News thinks NBA Commish David Stern watches a lot of Golden State Warriors games.

Good news from The Masters. CBS Sports.com says the 15th and 16th holes from Augusta National will be added to its online coverage.

Ina Fried of CNET.com says NBC will use Microsoft’s Silverlight technology to show the Summer Olympics from Communist China online.

Dave McNary from Variety says the Directors Guild of America ratified a three year contract for its members who work news, sports and operations for the TV networks.

Joe Favorito’s Sports Marketing and PR blog gives kudos to a Minor League Baseball team for developing a Leap Year promotion.

Christopher Byrne from the Eye on Sports Media blog has a quick look at what is known and what is unknown about this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on CBS.

That’s all. Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

Another Friday Update

I’ll give you a few more links before moving onto the Viewing Picks for college basketball and the weekend.

First, Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says Comcast SportsNet and MASN are experiencing HD growing pains.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a preview of this Sunday’s New York Times Play magazine in which Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner tries to stomp on Red Sox Nation. And Neil says Bobby Mercer’s work schedule on YES will be curtailed as he undergoes a biopsy for a brain tumor this Monday.

Darren Rovell of CNBC chronicles his experience playing the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square two weeks ago. Darren also reveals himself wearing “Semi-Pro” gear. And Darren talks about Sprint being the big loser at the Daytona 500 two weeks ago.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes in his Best Seat in My House blog about ESPN profiling the son of Dave Hanson, one of the Hanson brothers in Slap Shot. Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has more about Christian Hanson who plays hockey himself at Notre Dame.

Chris Pursell of TV Week writes in his Pressbox blog about the increased ratings for last Saturday’s Tennessee-Memphis on ESPN.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News says Verizon Fios hopes to offer MLB’s Extra Innings PPV package to its subscribers.

Evan Benn of the Miami Herald has a story on ex-Red Sox and current Florida Marlins announcer Glenn Geffner and Friend of Fang’s Bites, LC from 38 Cliches is quoted in the article. LC has his reaction in his 38 Cliches blog. Geffner is pictured in the article giving a fist pump. What he’s doing exactly is unknown.

I’ve been meaning to link to this story, but I keep forgetting. XM Satellite Radio subscribers can listen to Spring Training Grapefruit League and Cactus League games all throughout March. The Orbitcast blog has details.

That does for now. I’ll have more coming up.

Trying to Catch Up After Being Out for the Morning

It’s already been a long morning and as I’m multitasking, doing links and some paperwork at the same time, I provide some links while I can.

First, Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse Blog chronicles the return of Dana Jacobsen to ESPN’s First Take today. However, the Christian Defense Coalition will not let the matter die.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy goes after the common cliches spouted during NFL broadcasts.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick reviews a new documentary on the great boxer Rocky Marciano.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner in his Watch This! blog give us the entire schedule Super Bowl Week schedule for the NFL Network.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union tells us that NHL Center Ice is giving a free preview of its pay per view service this week.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL All Stars Skills Competition did not translate well to TV.

ESPN Radio has launched an “ESPN Xtra” channel on XM Satellite Radio.

Emily Steel of the Wall Street Journal writes that Super Bowl ads are now heading online. Mike Branom of the East Valley (AZ) Tribune writes that ESPN has set up an outdoor studio in Scottsdale, AZ as its Super Bowl headquarters. Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable gives us an overview of the Super Bowl on Fox. And Glen Dickson of B&C talks about Fox’s production plans for the Big Game.

Carolyn Sackariason from the Aspen Times says the X Games have become a big franchise for ESPN.

NBC says ratings for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships for the Ladies Free Skate on Saturday night were 65% higher than last year when it was aired on a Sunday afternoon on ABC.

Mark Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers have had four games selected for Fox regional broadcasts.

That’s it for now.

Your Late Tuesday Afternoon Links

Let’s give you a few links on this late Tuesday afternoon on the East Coast.

First, the Sports Media Watch says the NHL fell back to reality last Sunday with the first of 9 games on NBC. However, Chris Pursell of TV Week quotes a TV executive in his Pressbox blog saying the 1.1 rating on Sunday for the NHL can be considered a win. And in a story for this week’s print issue, Chris says the NHL is actually attaining ratings and attendance goals this season.

One more thing about the NHL, XM Satellite Radio will have the NHL All Star Game this weekend, plus coverage of the minor league All Star Games as well.

Sirius Satellite Radio subscribers get plenty of Super Bowl coverage thanks to NFL Radio, channel 124. And in addition, the Orbitcast satellite radio blog says there will be 12 live broadcasts of Super Bowl XLII including eight foreign language calls of the game.

Orbitcast also tells us that Sirius music channel Faction will be airing live from the Winter X Games starting this Thursday and all throughout the weekend.

In his Watch This! blog, Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the AFC and NFC Championship Games will be re-aired tonight on the NFL Network.

Neil Best of Newsday tells us to watch for extensive coverage of the Super Bowl in his newspaper and website.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post says the firing of Golfweek Editor David Seanor over the noose cover was the right move.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Time Warner Cable is indeed appealing this month’s arbitration ruling that it discriminated against MASN by keeping it off basic cable in North Carolina. Also from Broadcasting & Cable, Ben Grossman writes that NASCAR has extended Turner Broadcasting’s deal to operate its website through 2014. It’s a big win for Turner as it also completed a deal with the NBA to operate NBA.com and NBA TV. By the way, if you see Kelly Cross on NASCAR.com, tell her that the Fang’s Bites blog says hello.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says ESPN Deportes will broadcast much of the South American World Cup soccer qualifying tournament live.

Sarah Mahoney of the Media Daily News reports that advertisers are targeting women in several Super Bowl ads. And David Goetzl writes that NBC and ABC have announced their Super Bowl Sunday counterprogramming plans.

That will finish the links for now. I’ll have a real time review of HBO’s Real Sports later tonight.

Thursday Links

I’ve been avoiding the Kelly Tilghman issue because plenty of bloggers have been all over it since the story broke and then Al Sharpton has to get involved. But now that the story has mushroomed, I’ll say this.

I was watching Golf Channel on last Friday when I was doing the megalinks. I have to admit, I didn’t hear the comment in question because the volume on my TV was down. I will say that I don’t think Kelly was trying to be vindictive when she made the comment. Was it wrong? Yes. Does it warrant her to be suspended? Probably not, but with the story growing legs, Golf Channel didn’t have a choice. If Tiger Woods doesn’t have a problem with it, then we should not as well. If the comments can lead for some good discussion and discourse, then we’ll have learned, and hopefully we will.

Newsday’s Neil Best who broke the story in his Tuesday column has the report of Kelly’s suspension on his blog and has more on the story in the paper. Pete Dougherty in his Best Seat in My House blog says the comment was supposed to be lighthearted banter between Kelly and analyst Nick Faldo. And Kelly’s suspension is also covered by the Sports Media Watch. The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that Kelly doesn’t deserve the venom and I agree.

Moving on to other subjects, Best reports that former Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals announcer Wayne Hagin is a candidate to replace Tom McCarthy in the Mets radio booth. And Neil makes his video debut on Newsday.com and you can get the link here. Neil reacts to a New York Press story by Becca Taylor that the Knicks have employed actors to be fans in ads promoting their games. Best writes that the Yankees and Mets are popular attractions on TV. Finally from Neil, he tells us that Ian Eagle’s father, Jack, a well-known comic and actor has passed away at the age of 81. My condolences to Ian as well who has visited this site a few times.

Back to the Sports Media Watch, Paulsen has the ratings numbers from last weekend.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has comments from CBS Sports’ NFL analysts Dan Dierdorf and Phil Simms on the Patriots.

And here is the CBS Sports’ press release on this weekend’s NFL divisional playoffs.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News says Comcast is killing a channel devoted to high school sports in both Michigan and Indiana.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer who has enjoyed working for Fox Sports this season. And Mel has his notebook. Plus, Mel gives us his weekend viewing picks.

I saw this late last night and because I was working on the Amazing Race Asia episode recap, I could not put this in, but I’ll do it today. Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw tells Justin Terranova of the New York Post that he’s going to retire from Fox NFL Sunday when his current contract expires.

David Woods of the Indianapolis Star writes that Butler University appears on ESPNU quite often.

Tony Kornheiser returns to XM Satellite Radio after a 7 month hiatus for Monday Night Football.

The Associated Press reports that viewership for the just-completed NFL regular season is up from 2006.

The Washington (GA) News-Reporter says legendary Hall of Fame baseball announcer Ernie Harwell will be honored in his hometown in advance of his induction into the Georgia Hall of Fame next month.

The Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal talks about the new Kansas City Royals TV announcing crew for FSN Midwest.

That’s it for now.

Thursday Night Links

I’m such a political junkie, I’m glued to CNN and MSNBC watching the results of the Iowa Caucuses. Don’t worry, this won’t become a political blog, this will always be a sports media blog first, followed by the Amazing Race and anything else, but the anything else won’t be politics. But I do enjoy watching the election results as they come in. If you’re watching on TV or the internet, you know who’s winning, I won’t link or put them here because you can find your own trusted sources for the results.

Ok, on to some links.

On Sunday, CBS’ 60 Minutes will have the first interview with Roger Clemens since he was named in the Mitchell Report last month. While teammate Andy Pettitte who was also named has admitted taking steroids during his rehab, Clemens remains steadfast in denying ever taking them. It will be interesting how Clemens comes off with Mike Wallace.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders if Clemens is actually telling the truth.

One blog that we haven’t been linking to and should be regularly is the Best Seat In My House blog written by sports media writer Pete Dougherty of the Albany (NY) Times Union. I’ve linked to his stories in the paper here and there, but after reading his blog today, I’ve not only decided to add him to the blogroll, but start regularly linking to him as well. He’s got some good stuff. Today, Dougherty talks about CBS taking over CSTV’s business operations.

Curtis Eichelberger of Bloomberg writes that CBS taking over CSTV will allow the network to sell advertising on the channel. And Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says CBS will now take over the reins of CSTV. Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable says CSTV founder Brian Bedol will no longer have a day-to-day role in the channel and will serve as an advisor.

The Sports Media Watch blog has been busy over the past week and today is no exception. First, Paulsen looks at the final ratings for the NFL regular season and Fox remains the Sunday afternoon ratings winner, but CBS has reasons to be proud as well. And ratings for the BCS on Fox are down from last year.

Dave Curtis of the Orlando Sentinel says Florida coach Urban Meyer will be a guest analyst on Fox Sports’ coverage of the BCS Championship Game on Monday.

Awful Announcing tells us that ESPN has hired three analysts for the NFL playoffs this week.

NBC Sports will have the Miami Dolphins’ Jason Taylor as a special guest in its Football Night in America studio for Wild Card Saturday.

In an editorial for tomorrow’s editions, the Hartford Courant says the viewer pays in the NFL Network vs. Cable dispute.

Nellie Andreeva of the Hollywood Reporter says the networks got a boost from the NFL on Saturday and Sunday nights. The San Francisco Chronicle picks up a story from the AP’s David Bauder on the Patriots-Giants game being the most watched program of the week. Gary Levin of USA Today has another version of the same story.

Jeff Bercovici’s Mixed Media blog in Conde Nast’s Portfolio.com site has a not-so-nice entry on the NFL Network’s Bryant Gumbel.

ESPN.com’s Jim Caple has a funny article on what if the news networks covered the NFL like they did the elections.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek looks at XM Satellite Radio picking up Dan Patrick’s radio show.

Last night we told you that NBC Sports had won an Eclipse Award for the Kentucky Derby. Today, HBO has won one for its documentary on Barbaro.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that the NHL Network will rebroadcast the Winter Classic this weekend. And Reynolds writes in his blog that his New Year’s Day had two new viewing choices.

That’s it. And I’ll remind you that the Friday megalinks which I try to finish in the morning will be late tomorrow as I’ll be at a jobsite. I’ll try to get them to you as fast as I can.

A Few Thursday Afternoon Links

Let’s give you some links this afternoon.

Kevin McGran and Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star team up on a story about the good ratings for the NHL Winter Classic.

Broadcasting & Cable says the ratings for the Winter Classic are the best for a regular season NHL game in more than a decade.

A couple of things from Newsday’s Neil Best. First, he reports in his blog that 1050 ESPN Radio in New York has found a New Jersey station to simulcast its signal. And Ticketmaster has now backed off its Florida residents only restriction on those buying tickets for the Giants-Buccaneers game.

The Sports Media Watch blog reports that Fox won last night in the 18-49 demographic with the Sugar Bowl, but lost the overall overnight ratings to NBC. And Zap2It has more on the overnight ratings story.

We get a preview of the Tennessee-San Diego NFL Wild Card Playoff Game from CBS Sports. And CBS Sports will now take over the day-to-day operations of CSTV.

The Orbitcast blog on satellite radio has more on Dan Patrick’s radio show going to XM.

Joseph De Avila of the Wall Street Journal writes about male salons offering beer, wine, ESPN, and pool tables in addition to haircuts. The price for the haircuts are a bit high, but if I can drink a beer before getting a haircut, I’m all for it.

That will do it. I may have an update tonight. Keep it here.

Time for Some Thursday Links

It’s cold in New England, just 10 degrees when I left my house this morning. It’s cold. And please don’t e-mail me from a warm climate giving me your temps today. I don’t want to hear it.

I’m letting you know ahead of time that the Friday megalinks will be late tomorrow as I’ll be at a job site for much of the day.

Starting with the lovely Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News, she writes about a local basketball star who is the first Paralympian to star in his own Nike TV commercial.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner has a bunch of news and notes in his Watch This! blog including an item about former Redskins RB John Riggins doing some analysis on the BCS for Fox and XM Satellite Radio.

The Sports Media Watch blog says the New Year’s Day bowls except for the Capital One Bowl took a hit in the ratings.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says it’s unfair that college athletes can’t profit from the sale of their jerseys.

The Press-Register in Alabama reports that there’s been a change in announcing teams for the GMAC Bowl on ESPN.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star reports that a local TV station appears to have found a successor to Len Dawson when he decides to step down as sports director.

Ryan White of The Oregonian says ESPN has now turned on the BCS.

NFL Network President and CEO Steve Bornstein writes an editorial for the Kennebec (ME) Journal Morning Sentinel of all papers, about putting his channel on the major cable providers. Why not the Wall Street Journal? The New York Times? The Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel? I’m not dissing the Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel, but that’s a strange place for it.

Karen Price of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the ratings for the NHL Winter Classic were very good for NBC.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about the good ratings for the NHL outdoor game.

John Ryan from the San Jose Mercury News is back from vacation and makes an error about the overnight ratings for the NHL Winter Classic. It was a 2.6, not 2.3 as he writes.

I’m linking to Dan O’Neill’s column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch only to point out that he made a mistake mentioning that the Cotton Bowl was on CBS. It was on Fox. Some people call themselves journalists and don’t bother to check their stories out of laziness. And editors allow things like this to go out.

Dan Patrick’s radio show is being picked up by XM Satellite Radio. And Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball blog has news on the story as well.

That will do it for now.

Some Monday Links

Time to give you some Monday links. One of my employees remains out so I still have to cover for him. The links will go up as soon as I get to my office or when I get home, but I’ll do my best to get them to you when I can.

Starting with USA Today, Michael Hiestand writes that the snow in Cleveland yesterday forced CBS to an old school type NFL broadcast.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post writes that the MLB Players Association is giving players who don’t do steroids and Human Growth Hormone the shaft.

Neil Best from Newsday writes in his WatchDog blog about the New York Giants Football Giants’ radio voice Bob Papa doing some work for the NFL Network.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that while the Raptors aren’t getting it done on the court, they are attracting TV ratings.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Andy Pettitte admitting he took HGH was a very good public relations move.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune says both ESPN and the Bears enter tonight’s game with new quarterbacks at the helm.

XM Satellite Radio will air 30 college football bowl games including the Bowl Championship Series.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek says ESPN’s Monday Night Football is setting ratings records not only on cable, but in local markets as well. Also from Mediaweek, John Consoli writes that the NFL Network is selling the Patriots-Giants game at increased ad rates.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Vermont’s Congressional Delegation wants the NFL Network to expand access for the Patriots-Giants game which it will carry on December 29.

Clay Robison of the Houston Chronicle looks into the contributions of the Jones family and its public relations firm to Texas legislators who are supportive of the fight to get the NFL Network on cable.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says ratings for the NFL on CBS are up thanks to the Patriots.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star reviews yesterday’s Titans-Chiefs game on the radio and TV.

Jeff Elliot of the Florida Times-Union writes that high school football brings eyeballs to state TV sets.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated writes that ESPN is awaiting the response of its own Fernando Vina who was named in the Mitchell Report.

Laura Nachman reports that Philadelphia news anchor Alycia Lane was arrested in New York over the weekend. There’s never a boring moment with Alycia. And Jess Snow of the National Ledger has more on Alycia’s arrest.

If I get more info on Alycia’s arrest, you’ll see it here. In the meantime, enjoy your day.

The Thursday Snowstorm Links

We’re expecting what the weather forecasters are calling “a major snowstorm” today and right when the snow starts, I’m expected to be at a job site. I’m very happy. Anyway, I’ll be there so I won’t be able to give reaction to the Mitchell Report when it breaks. But I’ll give some links now in advance of the release.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News writes that a new webcast devoted to the Detroit Lions has quickly become popular with fans.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has a story on former Oklahoma State player Doug Gottlieb who’s back in town to call the Arkansas-Oklahoma game on ESPN2. Bracht has his weekly notebook which includes news about CBS college football ratings. And he has his weekend viewings picks.

We’re getting word that best buddies Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte have been named in the Mitchell Report as two players who have used steroids.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says he’s received an interesting e-mail related to the Mitchell Report.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that organizers for the U.S. Army High School All-American game are not happy that ESPN has created a similar game to be aired opposite it.

Neil Best of Newsday has a link to Bob Glauber’s appearance on WFAN this morning and is eagerly awaiting the Mitchell Report.

Ray Frager writes in his blog that XM Satellite Radio will have a continuous reading of the Mitchell Report today. And the Orbitcast blog says XM will also have extensive coverage of the report’s release on its Home Plate channel.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Comcast has replied to Senator John Kerry’s letter appealing it to carry the NFL Network. And Eggerton has a story that the NFL is willing to talk to the cable companies, but not just for the Pats-Giants game, but for a long-term deal. Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel reports that DirecTV will fly its blimp over the city on December 20 and 22 showing games that can’t be seen on Bright House cable. Don Walker writes in his Business of Sports blog for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about more fun and games for the NFL Network. Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly says he’s fed up of the NFL propaganda machine.

Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette writes that area fans won’t be able to see tonight’s Broncos-Texans game on cable. The Denver Post reports the game can be seen locally on KWGN. The Rocky Mountain News says Comcast will show the game on basic cable in southern Colorado through KWGN. David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the NFL Network will try to cover all of the angles for tonight’s game.

Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World reports that a Tulsa TV station’s bid to televise the Insight Bowl from the NFL Network has been rejected.

I’ve been called early to the job site so I have to go. My pick for tonight’s game between the Broncos and Texans will be Denver.

It’s Tuesday Linkage

The Patriots managed to hold on to beat the Ravens last night. Crazy game, but it marked the first time I really paid attention to a Monday Night Football telecast since ESPN took over last year. To be honest as an announcer, Tony Kornheiser is a very good writer. That means he shouldn’t quit his day job. I like him on Pardon the Interruption, but in the Howard Cosell observer role, he’s a pale comparison. I wasn’t very impressed, plus it appeared ESPN was paying more attention to everything, but the game. They talked about Sean Taylor (as they should), but it seemed to be an underlying theme.

From the Sports Media Watch, Paulsen talks about the good ratings for the final weekend of College Football.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog’s mistreatment of the Sean Taylor story.

Brett Favre is the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

The Detroit Free Press has a transcript of an interview sports radio station WDFN conducted with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit about him releasing the erroneous Les Miles to Michigan story this past weekend. Herbstreit now says he will stick to X’s & O’s and leave the reporting to others. Phillip Zaroo of the Mlive.com website also writes about the Herbstreit interview and also has the audio of the interview. And the Detroit Free Press also goes over Les Miles’ interview with Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio.

Lynn Ducey of the Business Journal of Phoenix writes that ESPN will apparently use Scottsdale, AZ as its base for its coverage of the Super Bowl instead of Glendale, AZ where the game will be played.

Paul Gough of the pro-studio Hollywood Reporter writes about ESPN launching SportsCenter.com which will provide live scores for 180 countries.

The Orbitcast blog on satellite radio says XM Satellite Radio will carry all five Bowl Championship Series games.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune says local TV station WPWR will carry the NFL Network’s feed of the Bears-Redskins game this Thursday. Tom Witosky of the Des Moines (IA) Register writes that the NFL and Big Ten Networks are still in a stalemate with Mediacom. Michael Futch of the Fayetteville (NC) Observer writes about the problems the NFL Network is having with Time Warner.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal looks at the dueling BCS Selection Shows on Fox and ESPN that aired at the same time on Sunday.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune writes that co-owned Comcast SportsNet West and FSN Bay Area will carry high school championship games in the upcoming days.

Those are the links for now.

The Thursday Night Links

While watching the NFL Network’s broadcast of the Green Bay-Dallas game, I’ll provide some links. As I start this latest entry, the score is 27-23, Dallas in the 3rd quarter and Brett Favre is out of the game with a swollen elbow, but backup Aaron Rogers has led the Packers to two consecutive scores. We’ve got a ball game as many of us expected.

Three things from Newsday media reporter extraordinaire, Neil Best. First, he reports that New York sports anchor legend Warner Wolfe joins ESPN Radio 1050 as a morning drive sports update guy. Neil says Tony Kornheiser will address rumors whether he’ll leave Monday Night Football after the season. Finally, Neil says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declined to appear on WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog show this afternoon after realizing that the hosts would be hostile towards his pro-NFL Network campaign.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Dancing with the Stars champion, race car driver Helio Castaneves looks to cash in on his appearance.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog reports two sports-related programming notes. First, XM Satellite Radio will have extensive coverage of the MLB Winter Meetings next week on its Home Plate channel. And XM will also have the ACC, SEC and Big 12 Football Championship games this Saturday.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated talks with actor Michael Imperioli, formerly of “The Sopranos”, about his latest role, playing a catcher in the TV movie, “For One More Day”, based on Mitch Albom’s book. And Deitsch nominates former Dallas Cowboy Everson Walls for SI’s Sportsman of the Year for donating his kidney to his friend and teammate, Ron Springs. That’s a great choice.

Sam Thielman of Variety writes that ESPN will air a four hour documentary on NCAA Selection Sunday on the civil rights movement seen through African American basketball players.

ESPN wants you to know that it will air a Best of “This is SportsCenter” special on December 11.

CBS Sports previews its coverage for this Sunday, plus it has the announcing team assignments for Weeks 13 & 14. And the Tiffany Network will have a college football doubleheader on Saturday including the SEC Championship.

That will do it for now. The Friday megalinks will be coming sometime Friday morning.

Tuesday Morning Holiday Week Links

As we get closer to Thanksgiving, let’s get to the links.

Neil Best of Newsday has a column today and he writes about WFAN beefing up its news organization. And in his blog, Neil says Yankees manager Joe Girardi signed a three year deal to appear on the FAN. Neil also reviews the first two shows of Frank TV which premieres tonight on TBS.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says the constant Eli Manning talk on the NFL pregame shows and during the game broadcast bored him to death.

USA Today wants your help in a story regarding the NFL Network. And Michael Hiestand from the Gannett-owned newspaper looks at the TV ratings for selected weekend events.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says XM Satellite Radio has helped to fill the void for hockey fans shut out from local radio.

In his Four DVRs, no waiting blog, the Houston Chronicle’s David Barron says the NFL dominated viewership on Sunday and the MLS Cup also did well before the football games came on.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell touches on a bunch of subjects today.

Jim Peltz of the Los Angeles Times has NASCAR President Brian France not worried about sinking TV ratings.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says if it’s Thanksgiving, then it’s time for fans to be shut out of the NFL Network.

John Colbert of the Wisconsin Radio Network reports that one state legislator is calling the state university’s contract with the Big Ten Network, “a disaster”. Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star writes that a state legislator in the Hoosier State is proposing arbitration to settle the NFL Network and Big Ten Network disputes.

Jeffrey Flanagan in today’s Kansas City Star says the rotating Thanksgiving night NFL game was the late Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt’s idea.

Kevin Noonan of the Wilmington (DE) News Journal writes that ESPN has selected the Delaware-Delaware State matchup as the only I-AA playoff game it will air this weekend because the two schools have never played.

Clay Travis of CBSSports.com is happy to see Lincoln Financial sell off its sports production arm to Raycom.

That’s it for now.

Late Wednesday Night Links

I’ll give you a few links here. Just finished watching the latest edition of Ninja Warrior on G4 in which two Americans who qualified for the Sasuke tournament this past summer got to compete. Unfortunately, they could not advance past the first stage, falling into the muddy water at the Jumping Spider. They tried hard and they can take solace that 98 of the 100 participants failed to advance to the 2nd stage and the two that did advance to the next stage could not get past the Salmon Ladder. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can get a full explanation of this at the Wiki site. It’s pretty accurate.

To some links now.

Neil Best of Newsday tells us that Madison Square Garden prevented Knicks play-by-play man Gus Johnson from appearing on Steven A. Smith’s ESPN Radio program to comment on the Stephon Marbury situation. Neil also reviews Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller.

From TV Week, Chris Pursell reports that the NHL Network adds some programming through 20 American Hockey League games. And in his Pressbox blog, Chris writes that the NFL Network has two big games this season.

In news that could have a big effect on the cable industry, Linda Moss of Multichannel News reports that an arbitrator has ruled that an Ohio cable provider should be paying FSN Ohio less money for carriage because the channel lost the rights to the Cleveland Indians. Also from Multichannel, Linda Haugsted tells us that the NFL Network has begun using former 49er QB Joe Montana in a campaign to promote its eight game schedule.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable magazine cites a Motorola study which states football fans prefer to watch games on HDTV rather than going to the games.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says XM Satellite Radio will be the sponsor for NHL All Star fan balloting.

Two things from the corporate offices of ESPN. First, we get a press release on the plans to cover the MLS Cup which airs Sunday on ABC. And here are plans for the “multi-platform” coverage for Ohio State-Michigan including classic games on ESPN Classic.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at one of the first sports talk shows in the country that helped to shape how sports radio is done today, the Sports Huddle with Eddie Andelman, Mark Witkin and Jim Witkin which started in Boston back in the early 1970′s and airs today in a different incarnation.

The NFL says the Cowboys-Giants game on Fox this past Sunday was the most watched program of the week.

COWBOYS-GIANTS ON FOX MOST-WATCHED SHOW OF WEEK

NFL Games Account for 5 of 6 Most-Watched Shows of TV Season

NFL Games Top Ratings in 25 NFL Markets

Sunday’s FOX doubleheader game featuring the Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants was viewed by 25.1 million fans, ranking as the most-watched program of the week on television and posting a 15 percent larger audience than the week’s No. 2 show (CSI, 21.9 million viewers).

Since the NFL season kicked off on Sept. 6, NFL games account for five of the six most-watched programs on television:

Most-Watched Shows on TV, Sept. 6-Nov. 11, 2007

NFL games topped the local ratings in 25 of 30 NFL markets last week (Nov. 5-11).

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the turnaround of Alex Rodriguez to negotiate a new contract with the New York Yankees is a slap in the face to baseball uberskunk Scott Boras.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News wonders why the Sharks don’t like playing on TV.

Staying in the Bay Area, Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune has some suggestions on how to improve the ratings for the final NASCAR Nextel Cup race this Sunday. Del Grande is wrong that the race will air on NBC, it airs on ABC. NBC no longer has the NASCAR rights.

Awful Announcing quotes an interview Sports Business Daily conducted with CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus in which he talks extensively about the NFL, the NFL Network and flex scheduling. Good stuff.

That’s going to do it for tonight. I’m going to bed. Back with more tomorrow.

Our Midweek Links

Time for some linkage today. Let’s get to them.

The USA Today’s Michael Hiestand is back today and he writes about the lower ratings for NASCAR this year.

From Neil Best of Newsday, we get some blog entries. The first one has Best commenting on Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci who has a business relationship with Joe Torre. A very good post I might add. Neil also talks about ESPN hiring more reporters from the print world to join its Evil Empire. And finally, Best says Eric Byrnes in small doses is better than 3 hours which is what XM Satellite Radio will do by giving him a show on its Home Plate channel.

Patrick Walters of Noise/The Hub in Michigan hates the Big Ten Network.

Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News talks about the good times and bad times of the A-10 Conference including its problems getting exposure through its TV contract with CSTV, now in its second year.

The Salem Statesman-Journal reports that this Saturday’s Oregon-Arizona game will be simulcast on XM Satellite Radio.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says Monday Night Football helped to put ESPN on top of the cable primetime ratings last week.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the Monday Night Football booth was energized when Steve Young was brought into the booth this week.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says Bryant Gumbel may not be the best voice for the NFL Network. From the New York Times, Richard Sandomir says the NFL/Big Cable dispute shows the league doesn’t have the all of the power in this case.

Steve Donohoe of Multichannel News says Playboy is doing a second edition of its America’s Sexiest Sportscaster poll. Of the choices, I go with Shana Hiatt of NBC’s Poker After Dark (some pics in the link are NSFW). And also, the Flip Side column in the Baltimore Sun looks into the poll.

The Gary Post-Tribune says ESPN will be in Northwest Indiana to cover a Professional Bowlers Association Tour event.

Dave Kane of the Springfield (IL) State Journal-Register writes that the LPGA’s State Farm Classic is moving from Labor Day weekend to mid-July so it can get TV coverage from ESPN.

Holly Sanders of the New York Post writes that NBC plans to use its online coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics to sell plenty of ads.

Brian Koonz of the Danbury (CT) News-Times says the Big East has decided to put 14 UConn games on SNY, MSG Network and FSN New York to offset Comcast’s refusal to place a local station on its lineup.

This has nothing to do with sports, but if you’re a regular reader of this site, you’ll know that I like Nigella Lawson of the Food Network. She was in Seattle yesterday. This is just an excuse to link to the story and also look at the picture that accompanies it.

That’s going to do it for now. I’ll be back later.

Some Tuesday Late Links

We have some links for you on this Tuesday.

First, from Awful Announcing via Sports by Brooks, we get the call from Bob Lamey of the Colts Radio Network totally blowing the call of the missed FG attempt by Adam Vinitieri during Sunday night’s Colts-Chargers game. Oops. Thanks to Boston Sports Media Watch for the link.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today gives us the overnight ratings from selected events over the weekend.

Neil Best of Newsday wonders what the Mets’ David Wright was wearing on SNY last night. And Neil points out that it was 35 years ago last Thursday that HBO carried its first sporting event, a Rangers hockey game! Finally, this has been reported by other sources, but Neil gives his take on the NFL Network’s/HBO’s Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth not taking sides in the dispute between the NFL and Time Warner Cable.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Darren Rovell of CNBC, wonders how long sponsors and fans will stay with NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt, Jr. if he continues his losing streak.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News blogs in Farther Off the Wall about the HBO documentary on Ohio State-Michigan and about FSN’s double coverage of the Kings-Ducks game. Tim Cronin of the Chicago Daily Southtown has his take on the HBO documentary which airs tonight.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that ESPN finished ahead of sister network, the Disney Channel in the cable primetime ratings for the week ending November 11. Reynolds also writes about the NFL Network holding Fan Appreciation Day this weekend at several stadia across the country.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post profiles Kelli Johnson of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, who covers the Redskins for the channel.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News in his Talking Points blog points out several errors made by Ron Jaworski during last night’s Monday Night Football broadcast of the Seattle-San Francisco game. Also from the Mercury News, John Ryan blogs sarcastically about NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman doing a weekly show on XM Satellite Radio.

From the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator, we get a story about Ray Mancini wanting to tell his side of the story in regards to his tragic fight with Deuk-Koo Kim that not only ended in his death, but his mother and the referee. A documentary on the fight airs tonight on ESPN Classic. Joe Amarante of the New Haven (CT) Register talks to the producer of tonight’s documentary.

Mike Lewis of the Bedford (IN) Times-Mail writes that Indiana University fans aren’t happy about not being able to see half the school’s basketball games because of Insight’s refusal to carry the Big Ten Network. Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times reports that a Madison assisted living center that bought the Dish Network to get the Big Ten Network only to find that it couldn’t get BTN, will get the channel after all.

In Tuesday Morning Quarterback, ESPN.com’s Gregg Easterbrook looks at the State of High School Nation, or some trends in High School Football. And ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber has her monthly column and she gives praise to E:60.

The Minnesota Wild has picked up a TV affiliate in the northeast part of the state.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says this Saturday’s Lehigh-Lafayette game, the nation’s oldest college football rivalry, will have plenty of TV coverage.

Brent Hunsberger of The Oregonian writes the Portland Trail Blazers’ fast start has also helped the ratings on the new Comcast SportsNet channel there.

That’s it for today. I will be watching the ESPN Classic documentary as well as HBO’s The Rivalry documentary. I should have reviews of both in tomorrow’s links.

Tuesday Links Plus a New Look

Back to work for many of you and there’s a new look on the blog as well. I’m trying a new layout just to experiment. This may not stay and I might even change it back, but I’m just checking this out for now. I kind of like it. For regular visitors, you’ll notice the blogroll, tags and archives are now on the left instead of the right. Let me know what you think by either commenting below or e-mailing me.

To the links.

Neil Best is officially back from vacation with a column and some blog entries. His Newsday column focuses on Bryant Gumbel assessing his performance on the NFL Network last season and how the New York Giants might be rethinking putting players on WFAN. And in his Watchdog blog, Best goes in-depth to the WFAN/Giants issue with Craig Carton’s painful interviews with the Jets’ Thomas Jones.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News wonders why Tiki Barber is gunshy on Football Night in America.

Richard Sandomir in today’s New York Times reviews two documentaries that will premiere tonight. Also from the New York Times’ Fifth Down blog, there’s an entry about Gumbel as well.

Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News previews tonight’s ESPN Classic documentary on the Ray Mancini-Deuk-Koo Kim fight.

Two things from the Sports Media Watch blog. First is a look into the NFL ratings which were very good for Fox, especially for the Cowboys-Giants game. And then, we have a look into the ratings for NASCAR which are sinking by the minute.

From the Orbitcast blog on satellite radio, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Eric Byrnes will have a show on XM’s Home Plate channel. And NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will have an weekly show on XM.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes that the ratings from the Blackhawks home debut on Comcast SportsNet did not garner the ratings the channel had hoped for.

Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles ESPN Monday Night Football sideline reportes Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber.

From Editor & Publisher, we find that ESPN has hired one of the two reporters that broke the BALCO story for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Press-Register’s Evan Woodbury reports that ESPN will pick up the Auburn-Alabama clash on November 24 in primetime. Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News writes that ESPN got the Iron Bowl after CBS passed on it.

In the Spartanburg (SC) Herald Journal, we find that ESPN2 will get the Clemson-South Carolina game on the same date. The Roanoke (VA) Times says on November 24, the Virginia-Virginia Tech game will be on at noon either on ESPN or ESPN2.

Antoine Pitts of the Ann Arbor News says ESPN’s College Gameday will be on the Michigan campus this Saturday (scroll down).

Ryan Wood of the Ball State Daily News talks about the school getting some national exposure on ESPN2 tonight.

Carl DiOrio of the Hollywood Reporter says the Directors Guild of America is negotiating a new contract with the networks for sports and news.

Michael Malone in Broadcasting & Cable writes that the YES Network has signed a new contract with WWOR-TV to broadcast a number of Yankees games.

RADAR Online wonders if Friday Night Lights will move from NBC to ESPN.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has TSN’s James Duthie suggesting a slight change to NHL All Star Weekend.

That will do us for now.

The Monday Morning Links

Back to work today. A great day of college football on Saturday and the Pats-Colts game lived up to expectations on Sunday so overall it was a great sporting weekend.

Let’s do our links, shall we?

First from Boston Sports Media Watch, David Scott tells us that a Boston sports monthly magazine, Boston Sports Review, has ceased publication and he also writes about a low point for Comcast SportsNet New England which lost its transmission of the Celtics-Raptors game yesterday as the game was in OT and did not have the game-winning shot by Ray Allen. Luckily for CSN, most of New England was fixated on the Patriots-Colts at the time.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today gives praise to CBS’ no-nonsense approach to the Pats-Colts game. Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News also liked CBS’ telecast. However, Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star felt CBS actually engaged in some hype for the game. Really? Did he bother to watch other networks that actually overhyped it?

Jeff Elliot of the Florida Times-Union writes that viewers want to know why the local Jacksonville CBS affiliate switched from the Jacksonville-Saints game to the Bengals-Bills late in the game.

Former AFL and NFL TV analyst George Ratterman has died.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post likes how Pat Haden was critical of Notre Dame during key moments of its game against Navy.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes about Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ iron-clad contract that really prevents the university from buying him out.

Turning to a couple of Big Ten Network links now. Dick Knapinski of the Appleton (WI) Post-Crescent writes that there are no winners in the BTN-Time Warner dispute. From the University of Wisconsin’s Daily Cardinal, Amanda Hoffstrom writes about the letter sent by university officials to Badger fans saying BTN is good for Wisconsin.

Beth Kassab of the Orlando Sentinel writes that there an agreement between Bright House and FSN for Magic games is nowhere in sight.

ESPN will sell full-length games and other content to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.

XM Satellite Radio (and hopefully soon, Sirius Satellite Radio) kicks off its over 1,000 game college basketball schedule tomorrow.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale about the upcoming college basketball season.

John Doyle of the Toronto Globe and Mail previews a CBC documentary on David Beckham.

Those are the links for now. Back later.

The Mid-Week Links

Here we are with our links for Wednesday.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has an extensive column which includes stuff about Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes going into broadcasting while being an active player, plus stuff on TNT hiring Mike Fratello to join Marv Albert and Reggie Miller on the NBA.

Neil Best of Newsday blogs that MLB President and CEO Bob DuPuy feels that postseason games are getting too long and links to a Washington Post story about it. You want to cut down the length of games? It’ll never happen, but cut down the time in-between innings from two minutes and twenty seconds to 90 seconds. That’s 50 seconds per half inning and almost two minutes per a full inning. That’s a big savings in time over a full game, but Fox and TBS want the ad revenue. My fear is that the time could increase to a full three minutes in the next contract. Just when you think it couldn’t happen, you get news that the time will increase. I hope MLB will consider this.

Now that the World Series is here, it means that only the flagship radio stations can air the games in the home cities. The network affiliates are not allowed to air the games because ESPN Radio has national exclusivity. But if you have XM Satellite Radio, you can hear the hometown calls of the Red Sox from WRKO and the Rockies from KOA. The Orbitcast blog on satellite radio has more. You can also hear the home broadcasts through MLB.com’s Gameday Audio service for a fee.

And Howard Herman of the Berkshire (MA) Eagle writes about ESPN Radio airing the World Series. Also from the Eagle, Amy Carr has a story about the Super Bowl having more of a cultural impact on the country than the World Series.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press writes that ESPN will have extensive coverage of the Series.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail previews Fox’s coverage of the World Series which will include 25 cameras and 100 microphones. Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star says Fox and MLB pushed back the start of the World Series to mid-week to maximize revenues. Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe talks with kids who get to stay up late for to watch the Series. Mark Newman of MLB.com talks to the Fox Sports crew about its preparation for the Series. And Newman writes about the online features that are available for fans.

Cary Snyder of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle writes that the Fox affiliate in Chyenne has had service interruptions and can’t guarantee it won’t go out during the World Series.

Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune says Blackhawks players are treating the news of Comcast SportsNet airing home games this season positively.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the World Series just isn’t special any more.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times recaps the HBO Real Sports interview with Joe Torre. And Sandomir has a story on the New York Rangers wanting to control its own website instead of having it belong to NHL.com.

Clint Boulton of eWeek writes that avid sports fans keep visiting ESPN.com.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail writes that the Big East conference is really happy over the new deal with ESPN.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that despite hitting an all-time ratings low for Monday Night Football last week, it still led the cable primetime ratings.

Michael Learmonth of Variety says NBC Sports’ Football Night in America will kickoff the network’s week long eco-friendly programming on November 4.

Some stories from the NFL Owners Meeting in Philadelphia. Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News has NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell unhappy with Comcast. And Matt Young from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times writes that the NFL has rejected Time Warner Cable’s proposal to put its games on Pay Per View, plus the league has committed to keeping games on the NFL Network through 2011. Michael David Smith of the New York Sun says the streamlining of the NFL Draft shows that the league is taking the opportunity to market the event even further.

That’s it for now. Check back for updates throughout the day.

Tuesday Update or "I Cry at Cinderella"

I’ll explain the title in a moment. Time to give you a few links this afternoon.

Last night, WCBS Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman was doing the postgame show and what she did has become fodder on blogs and sports radio stations across the country. And it’s unbeknownst to me why WCBS put this on its website as a podcast. But it’s great for you the reader. You can listen to Suzyn as she literally breaks down in the locker room as she describes the Yankees coaches crying at Joe Torre’s statements in the postgame press conference. Yankees coaches crying? I can understand because they feel it’s the end of a long run. But a broadcaster crying on the air? There’s a time and a place and that’s not the place for it. Awful Announcing has its take on the whole thing.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the Roger Clemens deal with the Yankees now that their season is over.

Those of you visiting in the new NHL Store in New York may notice a new studio there. It will be used for XM Satellite Radio to air live shows and interviews. The Orbitcast satellite radio blog has the story.

Neil Best of Newsday has an anecdote of TBS’ Chip Carey being the batboy for the Atlanta Braves in the early 1980′s during which time Joe Torre was the manager.

Brian Davis of the Dallas Morning News says the Big 12 is in a holding pattern for October 20 because ESPN has yet to decide which games it wants to televise leaving FSN and Versus in the lurch.

Hall of Fame Houston Astros broadcaster Milo Hamilton is recovering from a heart attack over the weekend. Hamilton has called games in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Chicago.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the new Hockey Night in Canada had a low key debut last Saturday.

Among the things Gregg Easterbrook is discussing in his Tuesday Morning Quarterback are using the tight end more, the problems with the Buffalo Bills, democratizing the skies, the hypocracy of the movie industry and suspending players who are no longer in the NFL.

That’s it.

Saturday Links

Two great ALDS games last night, both ended in dramatic fashion. TBS was on top of it all with its pictures and stats. Decent job and with all the early round games on TBS, there’s some nice harmony for the studio to make switches and show updates. Good job by Turner Sports.

Let’s get to some links today.

Starting with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar writes that baseball fans wanting to find the LDS on the radio are shortchanged due to weak signals.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells is good and actually shows a sense of humor on the ESPN set.

Over to the San Antonio Express-News where Jerry Garcia asks sports readers to take a moment out of their viewing to watch “Friday Night Lights” on NBC.

Completing our Texas Trifecta, Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram catches up with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski.

Also from the Star-Telegram, Wendell Barnhouse writes about former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer and politico James Carville teaming up for a college football show on XM Satellite Radio (I kid you not).

For Dish Network subscribers frustrated you can’t get TBS HD, Steven Musil of CNET.com reports that the satellite provider finally added it last night. Phil Swann of TV Predictions.com confirms this.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes that Cubs fans turned off their TV’s right about the time the Diamondbacks took control of Game 2 resulting in a lower rating than Game 1. Dusty Saunders in the Rocky Mountain News says TBS gets a mixed grade for its coverage of the Phillies-Rockies series, offering praise to NESN’s Don Orsillo. Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his Watch This! blog that Cal Ripken got off to a slow start in the TBS studio, but is progressing nicely. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says through the first six games of the LDS, ratings have been the highest on TBS in five years. I’ve been waiting for this editorial, the Reading (PA) Eagle says the late starting times for the Phillies-Rockies games this weekend shows that MLB doesn’t care about Phildelphia fans. Most people aren’t working this holiday weekend so it’s ok. I would have a beef if the games were on late on weeknights.

Good article in today’s New York Times Business Section by Joe Nocera looking at the battle of the cable companies vs. the NFL Network and Big Ten Network and why both channels are trying to avoid the dreaded sports tier.

Steve Kroner of the San Francisco Chronicle previews ESPN’s Outside the Lines documentary on Jim Jones, Jr. I’m definitely going to try and catch this on Sunday. Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg (FL) Times has a sneak peek as well.

We reported on this earlier, but the Hollywood Reporter picks up the story that Yahoo Sports beat ESPN.com in August for most visited sports website.

Some notes from the Sports Media Watch blog. First, I’ve never seen a TV rating of 0.0, but Versus came pretty damn close last week for the NHL Opener in London. The second story is on Fox garnering the lowest ratings for its MLB regular season package since NBC had it in 1987. And we get Paulsen’s ratings predictions for this holiday weekend.

I was so engrossed with the Red Sox game last night that I didn’t make a post Friday night and wanted to include the following links:

Neil Best of Newsday… we interrupt this blog entry to say we love Charissa Thompson, sideline reporter for the Big Ten Network. Bangs in her eyes. We’re officially smitten….. Ok, back to your links. Neil Best of Newsday says Cablevision in New York has added the NHL Center Ice package. For those of you hoping to see Mixed Martial Arts on HBO, you can forget about that now, Neil reported first that talks between UFC and HBO broke down and both sides have walked away from the table.

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com has more on the UFC/HBO non-deal.

Sports Business reporter extraordinaire Darren Rovell reports on his CNBC blog that despite a guilty plea, Nike will not seek to get its endorsement money back from sprinter Marion Jones who admitted to taking steroids before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

That’s a lot of links for a Saturday. I’ll be out tonight so I’ll give NFL Picks later.

Friday Mega Links

Time for your links for today.

The last two days, I’ve had to go to bed early in order to get up at 4:30 a.m. to drive north of Boston so there’s been no evening updates on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus, I haven’t been able to watch the Cubs-D’backs series although I do know that the Cubs are behind the 8 ball heading back to Wrigley Field on Saturday.

Let’s get to the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has a mostly positive review of TBS’ coverage of the League Division Series, but he says we’re seeing a bit too much of Frank Caliendo and I agree. TBS is running his promos every inning or so it seems.

From the Sports Media Watch, we find that TBS got some good numbers for the first day of the LDS.

Darren Rovell of CNBC has a transcript of an interview with one of the Greatest Athletes of our generation, Lance Armstrong.

Heading to the Boston Globe, Susan Bickelhaupt writes about Jack Edwards who will do the entire Bruins season on NESN for the first time.

In today’s New York Times, Richard Sandomir writes that TBS is coming up a bit short in its first year of MLB Postseason coverage.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is swinging the ax against Madison Square Garden in the wake of the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment lawsuit.

Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News is definitely a TBS hater.

In Newsday, Neil Best writes about TBS selecting earlier start times for the Yankees-Indians series.

The YES Network has fired a freelance photographer for getting into an accident with Yankees first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz before last night’s Game 1 with Cleveland. Minky was injured, but did start the game. And Best mentions in his blog that YES didn’t even report on the accident in its pregame show last night while it became a national story.

Laura Nachman of the Bucks County Courier Times writes that Phillies announcer Chris Wheeler is thinking about his late friend, John Vuckovich, during the playoffs.

To the midwest, George M. Thomas says FSN Ohio is pulling its HD feed from Time Warner Cable systems over a contract dispute.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Milwaukee Brewers games garnered its highest TV ratings since 1994.

In the Chicago Tribune, Ed Sherman reports Wednesday’s Game 1 between the Cubs and Arizona rated lower than the 2003 NLDS opener, mostly due to the all-cable telecast and the later starting time.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Judd Zulgad mostly likes what he sees from TBS.

Let’s head to the Southern Region. Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has news and notes today. His first item is on MASN preparing to show at least a portion of its Orioles schedule in HD next season.

Doug Nye of The State in South Carolina writes that the ol’ ballcoach Steve Spurrier likes to wing it when taping his TV show.

Two articles from Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald. First is on the changes in the NFL studio shows on the various networks. Jackson likes the changes in NBC’s Football Night in America while not liking the changes in ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown. And from earlier in the week, Jackson writes that the Florida Marlins have dropped Roxy Bernstein from its radio booth because he won’t give up doing University of California basketball broadcasts.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Dave Darling writes about ESPN’s Outside the Lines documentary on the son of People’s Temple cult leader Jim Jones, who saved his life after his dad led his followers in a mass suicide in Guyana almost 30 years ago.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer on why the Red River Rivalry (I still prefer calling it the Red River Shootout, but these are politically correct times) between the Sooners and Texas is more important to OU fans. On a side note, Switzer will be live on XM Satellite Radio previewing the game.

Heading out west, two weeks ago, CBS’ Phil Simms told the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner it wasn’t time for Chargers fans to panic over a 1-1 record. Simms tells Posner this week it’s still not time to panic over a 1-3 record, but he joked that it’s close. And here are the ratings for sports in San Diego last week.

In the North County Times, John Maffei says NBC should not put “Friday Night Lights” on a night when the real Friday Night Lights are taking place. And Maffei likes TBS’ coverage of the postseason, even Frank Thomas which is a true rarity from what I’ve read this week.

The Ventura County Star’s Jim Carlisle talks with NBC and ESPN NFL studio analysts about Green Bay QB Brett Favre.

Christine Daniels in her Sound & Vision column in the LA Times has fans’ reaction to Frank Thomas on TBS. It’s not kind to say the least.

Let’s go to the LA Daily News and Tom Hoffarth’s plethora of Friday stories. First is on Dan Patrick’s debut on KLAC and 24 other stations across the country this week. Hoffarth dusts off a review of the first televised World Series in the New York Times, 60 years ago. And Hoffarth writes about ESPN’s upcoming documentary on Jim Jones, Jr.

Up to Canada and the Toronto Star where Chris Zelkovich talks with Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser about the former’s first year on ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

William Houston in the Toronto Globe and Mail says the switch of TBS to Peachtree TV in Canada has left many baseball fans in the lurch. Houston says many did not know the games would be on Rogers Sportsnet.

There you go. I’ll be back later with a lot more. Check back throughout the day.

Some Thursday Night Links

Let’s give a few links tonight.

First, if you’re a subscriber to XM Satellite Radio and an NHL fan, you’re in luck because it will carry every game of the season. This is the first year of a long term agreement. The NHL had been with Sirius up until last season. Orbitcast has that story.

ESPNU has picked up 75,000 subscribers thanks to a new agreement with Armstrong Cable Systems. The channel can now be seen on Armstrong systems in Western PA, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Maryland.

Tim Ott of MLB.com has a story on TBS getting ready to broadcast its first MLB postseason. Here are highlights of a TBS Conference Call with the media involving Cal Ripken, Jr., Tony Gwynn and Chip Carey.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley writes about the President’s Cup, Dan Dierdorf’s comments on Tony Kornheiser and Dan Marino being gracious about Brett Favre tying his touchdown record.

The Iowa City Press-Citizen has the channel assignments for the Big Ten Network games at noon ET on both DirecTV and Dish Network. I will also list them tomorrow when I list the College Football Viewing Picks.

Allan Kreda at Porfolio.com writes about Joe Theismann’s unceremonious bouncing from ESPN.

Forbes Magazine lists the Top 40 Sports Brands in the World and at number one is ESPN. I’m sure CNBC’s Darren Rovell will have his take on this tomorrow. Here’s a slideshow of the brands from number 1-40.

Will Leitch of Deadspin writes in New York Magazine about the reaction to his story last week about Alex Rodriguez’s agent Scott Boras looking into buying the Chicago Cubs and it being pushed into the Sports Spin Cycle as Leitch calls it.

Dan Patrick posted on his blog Wednesday that he’s coming back next week.

By the way, if you’re a Comcast subscriber, you might be interested in the 5 Confessions of a Comcast Customer Service Rep posted on the Consumerist blog. I do this as a public service. Sometimes it’s not all sports here at Fang’s Bites.

And that’s going to do it. Friday will be busy as we’ll have our mega-links, Primetime Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks, College Football and NFL Viewing Picks and my NFL Picks. How will I get it all in?

Friday Update

My computer has been slow as molasses this afternoon and this is despite rebooting it several times. So this update may be short and I’ll give a full-fledged update tonight.

Let’s start with some press releases from CBS Sports. First, the network televises its final NFL exhibition game tonight (New England at Carolina) and in the release, CBS gives its announcer assignments for Weeks 1 and 2 of the NFL regular season. And CBS hypes televising the US Open for the 40th consecutive year.

XM Satellite Radio will have coverage of the US Open with Bud Collins and Virginia Wade. Play-by-play begins with the women’s semis and concludes with the men’s finals.

NBC Universal tells us that USA Network will provide 107 hours of coverage of the US Open starting Monday at 11 a.m. ET. And the last press release from NBC, it will cover both beach volleyball and the World Track & Field Championships this weekend.

Speaking of the World Track & Field Championships, it will be seen on both NBC and Versus, but if you want to see the event on your own pace and schedule, they can be seen online at WCSN.com. You will have to sign up and pay, but you can watch the events uninterrupted and with a minimum of commercials. I have watched track & field, swimming and cycling on WCSN and the quality of the webcast is pretty decent.

This story was reported by Richard Sandomir in today’s New York Times, but Paulsen in the Sports Media Watch expands on it. Faith Hill replaces Pink as the performer to sing NBC’s “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” theme for Sunday Night Football. It’s not an earth-shattering story, but in the duel between Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football, NBC wants people to sing its theme rather than the well-established “All My Rowdy Friends” theme done for MNF. And Paulsen gives you his predictions for this weekend’s sports viewing.

In his Watch This! blog, the Examiner’s Jim Williams says the Fox Saturday Baseball matchups are the highlight of the sports weekend.

Darren Rovell of CNBC goes over the Comcast vs. Big Ten Network battle which seems to be really heating up. In the Michigan State insider blog, Steve Grinczel says the Big Ten Network is proceeding without Comcast. BTN has cut a deal with Dish Network. John Pozenel of the Saginaw (MI) News urges fans to call Charter Communications to get BTN. Dave Goetzl of the Media Daily News writes that cable will lose subscribers if the dispute with BTN continues (scroll down to the 4th story on the page). Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star says fans of many Big Ten schools will be in the dark for their season openers. Steve Donohue of Multichannel News has more on the BTN-Comcast debacle. Also from Multichannel News, Linda Haugsted says Comcast took a hit for using sneaky PR tactics in posting on internet message boards. In the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin, Paul Christian says BTN will launch with few viewers.

By the way, here’s the schedule for the Big Ten Network for the first three weeks of the season.

BIG TEN NETWORK FOOTBALL SCHEDULE: WEEKS 1-3

Saturday, September 1
Appalachian State at Michigan, Noon EDT (HD)
Youngstown State at Ohio State, Noon EDT (HD)
Florida International at Penn State, Noon EDT (HD)
Northeastern at Northwestern, Noon EDT
Bowling Green at Minnesota, 8 p.m. EDT (HD)
Indiana State at Indiana, 8 p.m. EDT (HD)

Saturday, September 8
Akron at Ohio State, Noon EDT (HD)
Nevada at Northwestern, Noon EDT (HD)
Bowling Green at Michigan State, Noon EDT (HD)
Miami (Ohio) at Minnesota, Noon EDT
Eastern Illinois at Purdue, Noon EDT
Western Illinois at Illinois, 7 p.m. EDT (HD)
Syracuse at Iowa, 8 p.m. EDT (HD)

Saturday, September 15
The Citadel at Wisconsin, Noon EDT (HD)
Buffalo at Penn State, Noon EDT (HD)
Akron at Indiana, Noon EDT (HD)
Duke at Northwestern, 8 p.m. EDT (HD)

As usual, we’ll keep an eye on this as the launch approaches next Thursday.

John Ryan in his Morning Buzz blog in the San Jose Mercury News makes a correction from an earlier post. NBC in fact, made it for West Coast writers. The special edition of Countdown on Sunday will be seen after the NFL exhibition game at 10 p.m. PT. Ryan also replies to posters who snapped at him and rightly so.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes about the upcoming Canada-Russia junior hockey series which will be aired on both TSN and rival Rogers Sportsnet. This would be like ESPN and TBS sharing the NBA playoffs … oh wait! They do that already! LOL.

In the crosstown Toronto Star, Chris Zelvovich says Mixed Martial Arts fighting isn’t going away any time soon.

Well, my computer held up well enough to make this the full-fledged update for today. Nice. I’ll have primetime and late night viewing choices coming up.

Wednesday Afternoon Updates

Here are a few more links for you before I head home.

The Sports Media Watch blog says ESPN will continue to cover David Beckham like a rock star. Heavy hitters Bob Ley (who did play-by-play for the World Cup in the 1980′s for ESPN) and Lisa Salters have been added to Thursday’s LA Galaxy-Chivas USA game.

Jeffrey Marcus who writes the New York Times soccer blog has an interview with Fox Soccer Channel’s Christian Miles.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has some advice for the Big Ten Network which is still in a minority of cable-eligible homes. Inside Indiana Business reports that a state legislator is getting involved in the Comcast-BTN dispute.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog has a recap and pictures of the taping of XM Satellite Radio’s Baseball Confidential show with Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable magazine writes about the rebranding of the CBS Sportsline website into CBS Sports.com.

The Biz of Baseball blog links to an article in the Portland Tribune that the court date for Harold Reynolds’ wrongful termination lawsuit against ESPN has been set for early 2009.

Sister site, the Biz of Basketball, has a rundown of the NBA’s cable and network TV contracts dating back to the 1950′s.

Following up on a story that we first gave you last week, the NFL Network has signed a deal with MyNetworkTV to produce an exclusive edition of NFL Total Access on Saturday nights during the regular season. Broadcasting & Cable’s Marisa Guthrie has the story.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says viewers in the Baltimore/DC area could see Saturday’s Redskin-Ravens game on as many as four channels.

This morning, I gave you the link to USA Today’s story about ESPN’s plans to air a 25 hour pregame show for the LSU-Mississippi State game later this month. Here’s ESPN’s press release outlining its plans. Talk about overkill.

NBC Sports gives you its programming schedule for the next month and a half.

That’s it for now.

Late Tuesday Update

Here are some links for you today.

Even though the Big Ten Conference is having trouble launching its channel, other college conferences are looking into launching channels of their own. Michael Smith and John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal report that the Southeastern Conference may forge ahead with plans to launch a channel and that current TV syndicator, Lincoln Financial Sports, could be a partner in that venture. The SEC’s contracts with CBS and ESPN expire in 2009 and it’s expected both will renew. But LFS whose contract also expires in 2009 may turn over its rights to the SEC a year early and sign up with Comcast to help distribute a SEC channel. Charter may also be involved and of course, keep an eye on Fox which owns a 49% stake in the Big Ten Network. We’ll monitor this over the next few weeks.

Michael McCarthy of USA Today looks at the TV ratings of selected sports telecasts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says big money donations to college athletic departments such as Nike’s Phil Knight to the University of Oregon won’t pay dividends right away, but certainly down the road.

NBC Sports has signed an agreement with the Associated Press to be the exclusive news agency to distribute NBC-produced content and stories for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter has more.

Wayne Friedman of TV Watch wonders if big ticket events like the Olympics are worth the money for advertisers.

ESPNU has gained carriage agreements with Time Warner Cable in New York and New Jersey to be placed on the digital basic tier. Big win for ESPNU. According to the press release, ESPNU is available in 20 million homes nationwide.

ESPN Radio has named a new Senior Vice President/General Manager.

XM Satellite Radio is getting ready to kickoff college football season with games from six of the BCS conferences starting August 30. The Orbitcast blog which keeps track of all things satellite radio has more.

Sanford Nowlin of the San Antonio Express-News looks into another round in the battle of the NFL Network vs. Time Warner, Cablevision and Comcast.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes in his Morning Buzz blog that he feels Keith Olbermann and NBC’s Football Night in America is a strange fit and even more so with a special edition of MSNBC’s Countdown being aired this Sunday before the NFL preseason game. But as one poster commented, perhaps Ryan forgot of Olbermann’s past work with ESPN and Fox Sports.

I love Gregg Easterbrook’s TMQ (Tuesday Morning Quarterback) on ESPN.com. It usually runs from August until February during NFL season with two special editions for the NFL Draft. This week, Gregg writes about the disparity between the NFL and NBA. As usual, Gregg is right.

Good amount of links and we’re doing well even without having Neil Best of Newsday on which to depend. Primetime viewing picks coming up.

Monday Links

Let’s start with USA Today and Michael Hiestand. He writes about CBS focusing its PGA Championship coverage on Tiger Woods especially during the 4th round on Sunday. The man was leading and the margin did go from 5 shots to 1 at one point. It’s understandable.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick goes after the TNT and CBS announcers for not keeping things simple during the PGA Championship broadcast. I will have to disagree with that. I think Mushnick reads too much into it. But Mushnick does have praise for CBS’s pictures.

In the Toronto Star, Chris Zelkovich says CBS went overboard in its “cheering” for Tiger. Again, I’ll disagree with that. He’s leading, he has to be the focus of the broadcast.

And Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times says CBS made the PGA Championship boring. What do these media critics want?

Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World has a story on CBS cameraman David Finch who had the assignment of following Tiger this weekend. I’m sure Chris Zelkovich felt Haisten was rooting for Tiger by following him.

Neil Best in his Newsday blog says streaming records were set at PGA.com during the first two rounds of the PGA Championship.

In the San Francisco Examiner and the Watch This! blog, Jim Williams says ESPN will be doing live shows in the City by the Bay today.

Dusty Saunders in the Rocky Mountain News says ESPN is pulling out all of its publicity guns to promote Ron Jaworski on Monday Night Football. John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News also writes about Jaws’ debut on MNF tonight. The Charlotte Observer picks up Barry Jackson’s Miami Herald story on Jaws.

Subscribers to the NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV will be able now be able to see live streaming games on the web. FINALLY!!! But you have to have DirecTV and subscribe to the additional SuperFan package.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron writes about sports radio station, KFNC, making some new hires.

Variety says the Harlem Globetrotters will be the subject of a new reality show.

Former Oklahoma University and Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer joins XM Satellite Radio as an analyst.

Bob Wolfey in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the Brewers have hired a consultant company to measure the city’s radio market.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter while ESPN gets all of the headlines, Versus is slowly but surely carving out a niche of its own. I’m not sure about that. I don’t hear anyone talking about Versus on my block.

Kyle Nagel of the Dayton Daily News says the Big Ten Network may become an afterthought for Ohio State fans just like ESPNU has.

Those are your links for now. I’ll check back with you later.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

Here are a few more links before I ease up for the day.

For satellite radio subscribers, we have a couple of items and thanks to the Orbitcast blog which tracks everythying XM and Sirius. First, Sirius NFL Radio begins its 3rd annual training camp tour. Starting next Thursday, the channel visits every team training camp until mid-August. This week, XM Satellite Radio’s MLB channel will be at Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions starting on Friday. The DC/Baltimore Examiner’s Jim Williams also has a story on XM covering Cal Ripken’s and Tony Gwynn’s induction.

Back to the NBA referee gambling scandal, CNBC’s Darren Rovell reviews his theory that Tim Donaghy may have influenced the over/under on games.

A press release has the coaches of Indiana and Purdue throwing their support for the Big Ten Network. BTN President Mark Silverman did an interview with Inside Indiana Business saying Indiana and Purdue fans will see more games than ever and you can see that interview here.

David Beckham’s debut on Saturday set a record rating for a MLS game on ESPN.

NHL fans won’t see a studio show on NBC next season. In another strange move by NBC Sports, Bill Clement is being dropped as host and the status of studio analyst Ray Ferraro is unknown. Brett Hull has already left to take a position with the Dallas Stars. Sports Media Watch has the story.

Also from Sports Media Watch, ESPN starts the hype for NASCAR this week as it airs its first race since 2000, the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

In Denver, KCNC (CBS4) has signed a contract extension with the Broncos to televise preseason games and all of the ESPN games (exhibition and Monday Night Football) through 2010. The Denver Business Journal has a story on the extension as well.

The Sun Belt Conference will have four games nationally televised on ESPN2.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times looks at Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic having to find programming after losing to the Orioles to MASN.

Jesse Noyes of the Boston Herald writes about Shaw’s Supermarkets becoming the official sponsor of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Lots of links today. That’s it for now. Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

Monday Update

Time to give you a few links.

Newsday had a special section congratulating WFAN on its 20th Anniversary. Included were a few stories. Neil Best chronicles the early days of the station until now. Best’s next story discusses how Suzyn Waldman (the first voice heard on the station) and Mike Francesca pursued jobs at the FAN. Here are some station milestones. No talk station can survive without callers. WEEI in Boston has its regulars such as Frank from Gloucester, the late Butch from the Cape and the Man on the Way Up. WFAN has its regulars. If you listen regular to Mike and the Mad Dog, you’ll know neither are graduates from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, but Chris Russo certainly has had his malapropisms. And one of the more notorious hosts was Sid Rosenberg who has battled drug and gambling demons along with getting suspended for racial comments about Venus and Serena Williams and was on the air with Don Imus on the day the comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team were made.

Newark (NJ)Star-Ledger has its own series of stories on the FAN. Matthew Futterman has a profile of Ian Eagle who rose from an intern at WFAN to producer of Mike and the Mad Dog to play-by-play of the Nets and Jets to CBS where he does the NFL and NCAA Tournament. And Futterman gives some of best … and worst moments of WFAN.

We’re getting more reaction on the firing of Bud Collins from NBC. The Palm Beach Post has Bud saying this isn’t retirement for him and he’ll seek employment from either ESPN or the Tennis Channel. In his Newsday blog, Neil Best writes that Bud will be missed. I’m sure there will be more articles tomorrow.

The Sports Media Watch blog has a look at the ratings when the Williams sisters are in contention for a Grand Slam title.

Mike Battaglino of the New York Post looks at John Turturro’s portrayal of the late Yankee Billy Martin in The Bronx is Burning which will be shown on ESPN this month.

The Indianapolis Star regurgitates the Big Ten Network’s press release on its launch. Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press has his take on the first day of the channel.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle has a bunch of news and notes today.

For those of you who have XM Satellite Radio, you’ll be pleased to know that it’ll have All Star Game Week covered from wall to wall. And the Orbitcast satellite radio blog has details of the NHL becoming exclusive to XM. It had been heard on both Sirius and XM the last two seasons.

Bill Burt of the Lawrence (MA) Eagle-Tribune goes after Michael Wilbon for making comments about why African Americans don’t want to come to Boston.

That’s it for now.