Fang's Bites

The Big Dozen Sports Media Stories of 2012

Time for the look back at the Year in Sports Media in 2012. Lots of great stuff. The year has been very interesting and we have seen a lot of things.

Just doing a Top Ten is never enough for the Year in Review. It’s always an even dozen with some honorable mentions mixed in.

Let’s go over what were the Sports Media Stories of 2012.

12. Embrace Debate Leads To Rob Parker Suspension

One of the silliest stories in 2012 was ESPN’s commitment to debate programming. Two shows were revamped to accommodate more debate among ESPN personalities, First Take and Numbers Never Lie. Due to outrageous statements made on First Take, mostly by Skip Bayless, the show received lots of attention and increased ratings. But the pressure to stand out may have caught up with Rob Parker who questioned whether DC NFL Team quarterback Robert Griffin III’s authenticity.

It led to Parker’s suspension and allegedly more oversight over the shows. We’ll see if it leads to some more control and fewer outrageous statements.

11. Steve Sabol (1942-2012)

One of the pioneers in sports television passed away in 2012. Steve Sabol’s impact on the National Football League’s popularity through NFL Films cannot be measured. With his father Ed, the Sabols brought fans closer to the game by thinking outside the box. Games weren’t just regular contests, they became movies with Hollywood production values and full orchestrations. Instead of showing games from high in the stadium, NFL Films went to field level and made extreme closeups of the players. In addition, Ed and Steve introduced slow motion photography to sports.

In 2011, Ed Sabol was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It would behoove voters to induct Steve sometime soon to join his dad.

10. Big Media Taps Into New Media

2012 saw Turner Sports purchased the much-criticized and now-improving Bleacher Report, USA Today buying Big Lead Sports and NBC Sports aligned itself with Yahoo! Sports. This is more than getting pageviews and improving comScores, this is about expanding portfolios and attracting younger audiences. According to comScore, Yahoo! has been the most popular sports news site for several years outpacing ESPN.com. Bleacher Report may get criticized for its multiple and questionable slideshows, but its hiring of some respected editors and writers have increased the quality of the site to the point where Turner Sports purchased the site for beaucoup bucks. And I have to make this disclaimer, Fang’s Bites is an independently-owned blog that is affiliated with USA Today Media Group. We will see more purchases in 2013.

9. NASCAR Renews with Fox

Fox Sports was the first of NASCAR’s TV partners to renew its ties with the sport taking the first half of the Sprint Cup season. For an estimated pricetag of over $2.4 billion through 2022, Fox remains with NASCAR in a relationship that dates back to 2002. Fox is expected to put some of its races on its new all-sports channel, but we’ll get to that later. And expect live on-streaming in this new contract. However, NASCAR’s ratings are a question-mark, but bidding for the second half in 2013 is expected to bring even more money. It’s all going to be quite an interesting year for NASCAR.

8. NBC Steals English Premier League and Formula One From Fox

October turned out to be a good month for NBC Sports Group as far as acquisitions were concerned. It first obtained the rights to Formula 1 as Fox gave just a nominal bid. Then a couple of weeks later, it emerged as the frontrunner to the English Premier League and then won out over a concerted combined bid from ESPN/Fox. While NBC Sports Network won’t be known as a college sports destination or for MLB, perhaps it can become an international sports channel with the EPL, Formula 1 and Olympic Sports. NBC Sports Network will have some sports to watch year-round with the English Premier League, Formula 1, MLS and the NHL (when it finally returns).

7. NFL Network Picks Up Its Last Two Holdouts

Since 2010, NFL Network has been gaining momentum in picking up carriage agreements with the major cable providers. It finally was able to sign deals in 2012 with its last two remaining holdouts, first Cablevision in August and then the very last one, Time Warner Cable in September. Thanks to the increased audience, NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football package had record ratings for its new 13 game schedule. It was a struggle for NFL Network to get all eight major cable and satellite providers on board, but after eight years, it finally got it done.

6. MLB New TV Contracts For A Lot of $$$

It started in August when ESPN renewed rights for its three nights of baseball games, a return to postseason and an increased amount of games for a total of $5.6 billion over eight years. Then in October, MLB announced deals with Fox and Turner for a combined $6.8 billion through 2021, providing them with TV Everywhere rights, postseason deals and a package of regular season games. For Fox, it allows the network to put games on its anticipated all-sports cable channel, but again, more on that later.

5. CBS & NBC Announce New Sports Radio Networks

2012 brought two new national networks to the sports talk radio scene. Within two days of each other, NBC Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio were announced by both companies and with respective partners Dial Global and Cumulus Radio. NBC Sports Radio has been airing limited weekend programming since September, however, CBS Sports Radio chose to wait until this month to begin full operation with a 24/7 lineup. Both have a long way to go to match the firepower and the reputation of ESPN Radio that has been on the scene since the early 1990′s, however, CBS has hired familiar names like Jim Rome, Doug Gottlieb, John Feinstein, Scott Ferrall and Dana Jacobson. NBC will wait until the NCAA Final Four to finalize its weekday lineup. No matter the case, ESPN Radio finds itself with some formidable competition to join Yahoo! Sports Radio and Fox Sports Radio for listeners.

4. ESPN Free Agency

We had some big names leave the ESPN nest, Erin Andrews, Steve Berthiaume, Michelle Beadle, Cindy Brunson, Doug Gottlieb, Dana Jacobson, Michael Yam to name a few, but many stayed including Scott Van Pelt. This seemed to be quite the year for free agency for ESPN. In some cases, the network chose not to renew and wave goodbye to those departing, others decided not to return for other opportunities while in others, ESPN went out of its way to make sure its desired talent stayed. For the first time, ESPN was transparent in making statements about its free agency signings or departures. In the past, it had issued terse statements when media inquiries were made.

3. Fox Spending Spree

As the year-end was approaching, Fox Sports through its parent, News Corp., went on a spending spree unlike any other in sports media. It not only set up an all-sports cable channel for operation in 2013 (again, more on this later), but it bought into the YES Network which will eventually lead into a majority share of the New York Yankees regional sports network and fully purchased Sports Time Ohio for the Cleveland MLB Team. In addition, Fox is reportedly close to signing a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for its media rights. News Corp. had money to spend with the company splitting off its publishing holdings into a separate company and of course, the proverbial fiscal cliff where tax credits were about to change. Will we see more of Fox’s financial muscle in 2013? I think that’s a safe bet.

2. The Emergence of Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2

While NBC Sports Network was attempting to bid for major sports properties, Fox Sports was quietly forming its cable sports strategy for 2013 and beyond. We began hearing rumblings about Fox rebranding Speed into an all-sports channel that would be named “Fox Sports 1″ then at the end of the year, the company’s Fuel channel would also be rebranded as “Fox Sports 2″.

In its new contracts with MLB, NASCAR, the Pac-12, UFC and other sports properties it signed in 2012, Fox had a provision to put games and events on Fox Sports 1. As part of its new contract with Major League Baseball, Fox Sports can place 40 regular season games on cable as well as several postseason games. We should expect a number of NASCAR Sprint Cup races on FS1 and most likely see some UFC events as well.

The strategy is in place. Let’s see how it’s enacted in 2013 and beyond.

1. NBC’s Olympics Both Fail and Succeed

Up until the London Olympics begin in late July, NBCUniversal had been downplaying both ratings and financial expectations stating that it expected to lose money and the ratings for a tape delayed event would not be as good as in 2008 when events were carried live from Communist China. Somewhere along the way, something happened. NBC broke even financially on the Olympics and they became the most watched event in US television history. That was the successful part.

The failure was the tape delayed aspect when many viewers wanted to watch events live. The #NBCFAIL hashtag on Twitter quickly spread like wildfire during the first weekend of the Olympics. In addition, online streaming was sluggish and haggard. But even with the delays and streaming problems, Americans still watched in droves. When the games were said and done, NBCUniversal could pat itself on the back.

Honorable Mentions:

Struggles of new regional sports networks to gain carriage agreements.
NHL Does Well; But Shoots Itself in the Foot with the Lockout
Tim Tebow Overload
ESPN Continues Dominance in College Sports

NBC Sports Group & Yahoo! Sports Form Digital Alliance

Announced just before Sunday Night Football, Yahoo and NBC Sports have formed a digital partnership that would include editorial content, original videos, talent sharing, live event streaming and fantasy sports.

• Yahoo will link to NBC Sports Live Extra content including Sunday Night Football, the NHL, Notre Dame Football and other content the Peacock will stream. This does not include the Olympics.
• Yahoo’s fantasy sports platforms will now become the official provider for NBCSports.com.
• Yahoo’s Rivals.com will now provide college sports content for NBCSports.com and the Comcast SportsNet websites.
• NBC’s on-air talent including Bob Costas, Mike Florio, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison will be seen on Yahoo.

From what I understand, this will not include radio, both Yahoo and NBC Sports Radio will remain separate. Both sites will remain separate as well.

Here are the details of this agreement.

YAHOO! SPORTS, NBC SPORTS GROUP TEAM UP FOR NEWS, FANTASY, AND VIDEO COVERAGE OF SPORTING EVENTS

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and NEW YORK, December 9, 2012 — Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and the NBC Sports Group today announced a content and promotional deal combining Yahoo! Sports’ original reporting expertise, coverage of big events, Rivals college content and popular fantasy sports products with NBC Sports Group’s growing digital assets, and significant television promotion and integration. This alliance of two of the most trusted brands in sports will become the daily habit of fans looking for an all-star lineup of digital and on-air experiences.

While Yahoo! Sports and the NBC Sports Group will continue to maintain separate sites and editorial control of their respective newsrooms and digital properties, they will collaborate on premium sports news and events coverage both online and on the air. Yahoo! Sports’ popular products will also be included in the NBC Sports Group’s digital assets.

Key features of the alliance include:

• Editorial Depth: The combined talent roster of Yahoo! Sports and NBC Sports features a deep bench of award-winning reporters and commentators, such as NBC’s Bob Costas and Mike Florio; Yahoo!’s Dan Wetzel and Adrian Wojnarowski. Yahoo! Sports’ renowned investigative reporting will be featured on NBC TV, giving fans multiple-platform delivery.
• Original Video Programming Concepts: Yahoo! Sports and NBC Sports will work together to develop original made-for-web video programs that will appear on both Yahoo! Sports and NBCSports.com featuring fan favorites from among the award-winning editorial teams’ rosters, including:
  • NBC Sports host and Emmy Award-winning commentator Bob Costas: video sports news interviews and editorialso Football Night in America’s Tony Dungy & Rodney Harrison: video segments during NFL season
  • Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com: daily, weekday NFL web show, Pro Football Talk Live
  • Rivals on Recruiting: weekly college recruiting show with Rivals and NBC Sports talent.
• Live Streaming: Yahoo! Sports will link to and promote the NBC Sports Live Extra video player. Fans will be able to watch live streams of some of NBC’s biggest events, starting with Sunday Night Football and NHL Game of the Week. Live content from NBC Sports Network will continue to be distributed through NBC Sports Live Extra on a TV Everywhere basis.
• Fantasy Sports: Yahoo! Sports, the leading fantasy platform, will become the exclusive fantasy game provider of NBC Sports’ Rotoworld, the premiere fantasy news and information site. This will include Yahoo! Sports’ fantasy experiences for football, baseball, hockey, soccer, College Bowl Pick’em and Tourney Pick’em.
• Rivals.com: The college sports destination will power recruiting and college sporting news for NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports Regional Networks.
• NBC Sports Regional Networks: The authentic, local sports properties will serve as Yahoo’s preferred content provider in relevant markets, and integrate Yahoo! Sports’ team pages, fantasy experts and sports talent.
• NBC’s Alli Sports: Providing youth-focused, action-sports video and other content to Yahoo!

“Passionate fans need news and analysis about their favorite teams in real time, and they want access to that information no matter where they are. We’re thrilled to combine Yahoo!’s fantasy offerings, product innovation and editorial authority with NBC’s broadcast coverage of live sports events and award-winning on-air talent. We think our users will love the result,” said Ken Fuchs vice president of Yahoo! Global Media and head of Yahoo! Sports and Games.

“The complementary nature of this partnership is unmatched in digital sports media,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “Through our growing television and digital platforms, the Yahoo! Sports partnership dramatically expands the digital reach of NBC Sports around the biggest sporting events. We are committed to continually growing this alliance for the benefit of both parties, our sports-property partners, and, most importantly, sports fans.”

Yahoo! Sports and NBC Sports will also provide scalable advertising solutions to reach engaged audiences through distinctive opportunities and sponsorships. The alliance will include the following sites: Yahoo! Sports, the Rivals Network, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Regional Networks,, Golf Channel.com, Rotoworld.com and Allisports.com. NBCSports.com will continue to provide sports content for NBCNews.com.

That will do it.

Fang’s Bites Medals For 2012 London Olympics, Part III — Event Analysts, Reporters & Non-Rightsholders

It’s time to finally wrap up the coverage of the 2012 Olympics on Fang’s Bites. The medals posts have taken too long, but sometimes life gets in the way and I had to divide them into three parts. This will complete the coverage and I can move on to other sports.

Part I focused on the Studio Hosts and Analysts. Part II concentrated on Event Play-by-Play. This installment will look at the work of the event analysts, reporters and for the first time ever, grade the non-rightsholders which had to report around the International Olympic Committee’s restrictions.

Here we go.

EVENT ANALYSTS

Gold Medal

Teddy Atlas, Boxing – If Teddy didn’t exist, you would have to create him in a Hollywood movie. I love his accent, I love the way he talks and I love his candor. When he doesn’t like how a boxer fights, he’ll say so. When he thinks a fight stinks, he’ll say so. When he thinks the referees don’t know how to officiate a fight, he’ll say so. And when the judging stinks, he’ll say so. The man is very good when it comes to talking about the Sweet Science and he makes boxing come alive. He continues to bring gold medal analysis to the viewer.

Ato Boldon, Track & Field – Ato has become a premier Olympic analyst. He’s worked very hard since being hired by NBC and done very well on the sprints. He became a little punny this year, but that can be overlooked. Ato was right on top of the Usain Bolt gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4×100 meters. He also gave us very good thoughts on why certain athletes ran out of their lanes and made good use of the pointer. Ato deserves to be on the medal stand.

Doug Collins, Basketball – Once the premier TV analyst in the NBA, the current Philadelphia 76ers coach stepped in at NBC and did not miss a beat. Despite Bob Fitzgerald’s pedestrian play-by-play, Doug shined. He was on top of trends and wasn’t afraid to criticize players. Collins demands so much respect among the players that after the gold medal game, many went to his courtside position and shook his hand. And I’m sure Doug will return to TV once his coaching career is over.

Kate Markgraf, Soccer – Kate worked out of New York calling games off a monitor with JP Dellacamera. She should be the main women’s soccer analyst in Rio in four years. She was very good in spotting trends and I was quite impressed with her work. She may not have the name of a Brandi Chastain, but Kate is a much better analyst.

Craig Masback, Track & Field – It was nice to have Craig back on the Olympics on the distance races. Craig certainly knows his running and has a very good chemistry with Tom Hammond.

John McEnroe, Men’s Tennis Final – Johnny Mac only called one event, but it was a big one, Andy Murray’s gold in the men’s gold medal match against Roger Federer. He was on top of the entire match.

Ann Meyers, Basketball – A former analyst on the NCAA Women’s Final Four for ESPN, Ann was very good on NBC in London.

Shannon Miller, Gymnastics, Olympic Broadcast Services – Shannon was not on any of the NBC broadcasts, but if you watched any of the gymnastics main feeds on NBCOlympics.com or on the Live Extra app, you heard her as the analyst on the World Feed. Her analysis throughout the Games was excellent. She explained the scoring system. She talked about what gymnasts had to do to get good scores. She explained how judges deduct points. When the NBC Gremlins in New York weren’t cutting off her analysis to fire online ads, Shannon’s analysis was clear, concise and to the point. This was a girl who was once so shy and could hardly talk to the media when she was a part of the Magnificent Seven in Atlanta to where she’s now a confident businesswoman and analyst. She was never overdramatic like the NBC crew and was always on top of the action. Here’s hoping NBC will hire her for Rio.

Cynthia Potter, Diving – I’m hot and cold with Cynthia. There were times when she sounded bitter and angry at the divers and others where she explained the action clearly and concisely. It seemed that the former was quite prevalent during the Games, but as she went on, Cynthia went into coach’s mode and educated us on proper dives, scoring and did a tremendous job in the post production Stromotion that gave viewers sequential stop motion replays. It was really educational. After a bronze medal start, Cynthia gets a gold.

Paul Sherwen, Cycling – Usually teamed with Phil Liggett on the Tour de France, Paul worked for NBC without his usual partner on the Olympics, either working with Todd Harris or Steve Schlanger. He knows the sport. He knows the players and he’s very good.

Rennae Stubbs, Tennis – Coming over from Tennis Channel and 7 Network in Australia, Rennae was on top of the action from Wimbledon. She was very good throughout the Olympic tennis tournament, but saved her best work for the women’s final which saw Serena Williams win the gold. Whether it working with Andrew Catalon, Brett Haber or Mary Carillo in the final, Rennae was on top of trends and first guessed instead of second guessed. And I liked her chemistry with Carillo. I hope she’s on the US Open for Tennis Channel later this month.

Silver Medal

Kevin Barnett, Indoor Volleyball – Worked well with Paul Sunderland. Made very good points. Kept his analysis short.

Yaz Farooq, Rowing – Four years ago, Yaz’s voice was very soothing. This year, Yaz either took personality pills or she drank 5 Hour Energy before every race. She yelled as the crowd roared its approval of the Great Britain rowers winning medals. She was good, but the yelling got in the way of many of her points.

Rowdy Gaines, Swimming – Rowdy got a gold medal in Beijing and he still does quality work, but his screaming takes away what could have been a top showing. His voice went up as many as 160 octaves during races. There’s no doubt that Rowdy is a great ambassador for the sport and does a great job in fundraising, but it’s time for NBC to replace him for Rio.

Eric Giddens, Canoeing Whitewater/Canoeing Flatwater – Eric was very good in explaining the sport and giving insight.

Lisa Leslie, Basketball – Lisa worked in New York calling games off a monitor with Dave Strader. I thought she did better as a studio analyst during hits with Liam McHugh in London. There were times when she had trouble pronouncing names, but overall, Lisa’s analysis was spot on.

Dawn Lewis, Handball – With Mike Gorman, Dawn formed a very good team. Gave us good explanations on the sport that is quite foreign to many of us.

Kyle Martino, Soccer – The main analyst for men’s soccer did a very good job working with Arlo White. MLS fans are familiar with their work on NBC Sports Network and they did well during the Olympics.

Melanie Smith Taylor, Equestrian – Melanie is the Voice of Equestrian analysis for many fans of the sport. She and Tim Ryan form a very good team every four years.

Dwight Stones, Track & Field – Mostly voiced tape delays and recaps of the field events. NBC butchers many of these events and show just three or four athletes. Not Dwight’s fault, but he doesn’t really get to analyze, he mostly summarizes.

Bronze Medal

Jamie Bestwick, Mountain Bike/BMX – It seemed that during his short stint on the last weekend of the Games, Jamie wanted to do play-by-play and let his partner, Todd Harris do the analysis. Then again, that is the British style as the play-by-play caller and analyst mix roles. He was ok.

Justin Gimelstob, Tennis – Justin is ok, but there are times when he goes off on a tangent or name drops. We don’t want that. Give us the match.

Tim Hutchings, Marathon – Tim was decent during both the men’s marathon.

Shep Messing, Soccer – Shep barely makes the podium. There were times when Shep made some head-scratching points. He gets on the podium because he wasn’t afraid to criticize or take a stand.

Elfi Schlegel, Gymnastics – Didn’t have much time to talk between Al Trautwig and Tim Daggett. There were times when she and Tim disagreed, but they were never allowed to argue.

Julie Swail, Water Polo – Did decently during water polo.

Kevin Wong, Beach Volleyball – Went overboard in saying the sand at Horse Guards Parade was deep to allow for rallies. I think Kevin said it once or twice a match. I understand you’re sometimes talking to different audiences every night, but it got tiresome. But he made valid points when he wasn’t consumed with the sand.

BOWL OF HAGGIS

Marcelo Balboa, Soccer – I was so happy that Marcelo was not the main analyst this year. He still made insane points and went off the track. Fans will never forgive his horrid performance with Dave O’Brien on the 2006 World Cup and he continues to be a bad analyst.

Brandi Chastain, Soccer – Too often, Brandi would interject “OH!” during goals going over Arlo White’s calls. Then in the USA vs. Canada women’s semifinal she began TO SHOUT IN  THE SECOND HALF AND WOULDN’T STOP! WHAT WAS THAT??? WHY?? Up until that game, Brandi was on the podium and Hope Solo’s criticisms of her analysis made Chastain a sympathetic figure. Then the USA-Canada performance wiped that all away. She did better in the final, but it was not enough to put her back on the podium.

Tim Daggett, Gymnastics – A mistake was either “catastrophic” or “disastrous” for gymnast’s medal chances. He overdramatized mistakes. There were times he and Al Trautwig focused so much on crying Russian gymnasts, it made you wonder about them. I’m hoping NBC brings in new blood for gymnastics in 2016 because Al, Tim and Elfi aren’t working.

REPORTERS

Gold Medal

Drea Avent, Soccer – She did the first few women’s soccer games then did some features for NBC primetime and daytime. Thought she did a good job in London.

Heather Cox, Beach Volleyball – Heather has reported on the sport for NBC either during the Olympics or when the now-defunct AVP Tour was on the network. She knows the players and inserted good information during the matches. Now we’ll see if she gets the plum ABC Saturday Night Football sideline assignment in September.

Alex Flanagan, Diving – Alex was a studio host in New York for the Beijing Games. This year, she got to report from a venue. She did very well in her interviews and reports.

Craig Sager, Basketball – Craig seemed like just another sideline reporter with his bland polo shirts on the sidelines. If Craig is going to Rio, NBC needs to allow him to break out the loud shirts as it will go hand-in-hand with the Brazilian party that will be the 2016 Olympics. The players all like Craig and they all flocked to him after the games.

Michele Tafoya, Rowing/Women’s Soccer – Michele’s a pro’s pro and asks the right questions. Her queries are never clichéd.

Russ Thaler, Boxing – Russ had to wade through the madness that was the ExCel Arena. Did a very good job.

Jon Wertheim, Tennis – Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim was more like the insider during the tennis broadcasts on Bravo. He gave good info and brought an extra element to the coverage.

Silver Medal

Lewis Johnson, Track & Field – The US athletes all knew Lewis, but he was limited to getting out of breath answers from many of them.

Bronze Medal

Andrea Kremer, Swimming – I like Andrea, but her questions at the Aquatic Center were very strange. “What makes you so good?” What? A bitter fall off the gold that she achieved in Beijing.

BOWL OF HAGGIS

Andrea Joyce, Gymnastics – Once again, I like Andrea, but this wasn’t her best Olympics. Getting a tearful Jordyn Wieber after she didn’t make the All-Around Final wasn’t necessary. I heard that NBC were trying to guilt her to talk. I don’t think Andrea did that, but even so, we knew her reaction. We could see the tears.

TWO BOWLS OF HAGGIS

Pierre McGuire, Water Polo – The man is abrasive. I really don’t know what NBC sees in him. He asked abrasive questions of the water polo coaches and players. And for some reason, he conducted interviews with Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant of the USA men’s basketball team. I was hoping for someone on either the women’s or men’s side to pull him underwater, but it didn’t happen. Oh well.

NON-RIGHTSHOLDERS

Gold Medal

Fox Sports – Using its website, Fox did a very good job covering the Games utilizing Laura Okmin, Maurice Greene, Christian Laettner and Amy Van Dyken. They would record video and have it on the website just minutes after events finished. Very good coverage.

Yahoo – Utilizing reporters like Pat Forde, Maggie Hendricks and Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo managed to claim a victory over NBCOlympics.com in unique hits for its coverage. The service used Twitter and Facebook to provide in-progress coverage. Quite impressed.

And that will conclude our Olympics coverage for 2012.

Doing Our Friday Megalinks

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

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

Let’s do the links.

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

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

Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.

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

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

Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.

And those are your supersized megalinks for today.

Your Monday Linkage

Back to work for many of you. Let’s get some Monday links in.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says the networks have missed a competitive Tiger Woods.

Tom Weir of USA Today adds that Cleveland Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has pulled his Quicken Loans ads from Rush Limbaugh’s radio show over a budding controversy.

The independent Gannett Blog notes that all of USA Today’s sports staffers have been told to reapply for their jobs as part of a newsroom reorganization. Oh, that’s nice.

At Forbes, Douglas Alden Warshaw says Comcast is going all in on sports and chronicles how it survived the loss of NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol last year.

To Mashable where Sam Laird notes that ESPN is opening up its source code so developers can build apps around the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s sports information.

Michael Schottey at Bleacher Report says it’s time to end the archaic NFL blackout rules.

Nat Ives with Advertising Age writes that magazines like Sports Illustrated are finding at what price is best to bundle print and tablet subscriptions.

Also at AdAge, Brian Steinberg looks at NBC’s ad sales pitch for the London Olympics.

To Adweek where Anthony Crupi says car rental company Enterprise will ramp up a new March Madness spot for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says MLB Network is gearing up for this week’s Cleveland-Arizona telecast which will feature nearly real-time audio from the field.

Double G Sports interviews Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle.

To Comcast SportsNet New England’s Tom Curran who says the Boston Globe treats the Red Sox and Patriots differently when it comes to their off-the-field business deals.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says it may take civil action to finally put an end to bounties in the NFL.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the ratings for the final round of the Honda Classic were good.

From the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner writes that a U.S. Senator is seeking an end to NFL blackouts.

Kevin Callahan of the Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier-Post talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about being booted out of the Monday Night Football booth.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says ESPN’s Bram Weinstein is forever grateful to former Georgetown coach John Thompson.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times writes that a new sports radio talk show premieres today.

Tom also reviews the weekend in sports television.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Green Bay Packers have changed flagship TV stations.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman says local MLB teams are cashing in on huge rights fees, except for the Cubs and White Sox.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Cardinals have set their spring training radio schedule.

Dan says this week, Joe Buck is co-hosting a local radio show that could lead to a podcast or a nationally syndicated show.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that quarterbacks help drive the NFL engine.

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

Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle says NBC Sports Group will attempt to attract viewers to the 2013 America’s Cup.

Steve Ladurantaye of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Yahoo is considering a bid for the Canadian TV and online rights for the 2014/16 Olympics after two combined efforts by CBC/CTV were thrown by the International Olympic Committee for being too low.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail wonders if CBC will pay a price with the NHL for Don Cherry’s candor on Coach’s Corner.

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says Cherry’s criticisms of Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke are getting out of hand.

Joseph Hall at the Star says Cherry remains at odds with Burke.

Sports Media Watch says Tiger Woods helped drive the Honda Classic’s overnight ratings to a 10 year high.

SMW says North Carolina-Duke gave ESPN its highest college basketball overnight ratings in 3 years despite a blowout.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC’s overnight ratings continue on a steady upward trend.

And we’ll end the links there for today. Enjoy the rest of your Monday.

Bringing Out The Sunday Links

Let’s provide the links on this Sunday.

Tim Goodman in the Hollywood Reporter writes about how the MLB Postseason remains compelling even without big market teams.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that Game 4 of the National League Championship Series became the third most watched NLCS game on cable.

John Eggerton of Multichannel says DirecTV will air the first ever 3D production of pro bull riding.

Mike says Golf Channel is off to record ratings for the PGA Tour’s Fall Series.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel notes that ESPN has closed its Content Development department which was responsible for its critically acclaimed “30 for 30″ series.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN.com college football reporter Pat Forde is leaving to join Yahoo! Sports.

Barry Janoff of The Big Lead writes that the NHL is now red hot for marketers.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says ESPN will not discipline New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica for an anti-President Obama piece.

From Media Bistro’s Agency Spy site, Kiran Aditham wonders which agency won the NBC Sports account.

In Sports Media Journal, Southern New England media mogul Keith Thibault delves into the controversial Boston Globe piece on the collapse of the Red Sox.

Matthew Holehouse of the London (UK) Telegraph looks at ESPN UK’s new virtual studio for its English Premier League broadcasts.

The Hartford Courant says both the State of Connecticut and NBC are not commenting about reports that NBC Sports could be moving its headquarters to Stamford.

To the New York Post where Phil Mushnick has some suggestions for the TV networks.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call speaks with former CNN Sports Tonight co-host Fred Hickman about his friend, the late Nick Charles.

Neal Zoren of the Delaware County Times says a retired Philadelphia sportscaster will have new book coming out this week.

The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column notes that ESPN’s Lindsay Czarniak tied the knot with an MSNBC anchor.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has a few sports media tidbits.

The Miami Herald says E:60 will have a feature on a WWE wrestler who’s been locked in a battle outside of the ring.

Tommy Stevenson of the Tuscaloosa (AL) News says sports television coverage of this year’s devastating tornado has showed the city’s resilience to the nation.

George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press notes that ESPN’s College GameDay will be on the Michigan State campus this week.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times looks at HBO Sports tapping the Showtime ranks for its new division president.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog replies to a blogger who wants the CBC to be privatized and no longer be funded by the government.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes the passing of a Canadian sportswriter.

Sports Media Watch says the ratings for the NLCS are improving, but still down from last year.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media goes off the beaten path and says realignment in college football could mean some good things for Versus/NBC Sports Network.

Awful Announcing introduces the Dick Stockton Chronicles.

And that will do it for today.

Let’s Do Some Sunday Linkage

Time for some Sunday links. I’ll also attempt some Sunday thoughts later.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News writes that Comcast has dropped a lawsuit against DirecTV over its NFL Sunday Ticket ad campaign.

Tom Weir of USA Today explains how ESPN’s Dick Vitale got so angry at a sports radio talk show that he hung up.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today has Fox’s Jimmy Johnson ripping into former University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro who blew the whistle on his payments former Hurricanes to Yahoo! Sports.

Former LA Times NBA beat writer Mark Heisler gives us an inside account of his layoff from the newspaper.

Will Brinson at CBSSports.com notes that people made CBS Sports and Golf Channel-themed sandcastles at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship.

Dylan Stableford of Yahoo’s Cutline blog explains how Yahoo! Sports broke the University of Miami violations story.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser writes that the first UFC on Fox card in November 12 will not conflict with the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on the same night.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid notes that another ESPN camera was broken at the Little League World Series.

Ken Pishna of Yahoo! Sports has UFC President Dana White claiming ESPN canceled an interview with him after the announcement of the Fox deal.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group notes that Longhorn Network opened its doors to the media and University of Texas administration last week.

Plagiarist Ron Borges of the Boston Herald says boxing has fallen behind mixed martial arts in attracting younger males to the sport.

The New York Post talks with new SNY anchor/reporter Kerith Burke who makes her debut tonight.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the ESPN MLB schedule from now through the end of the month.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the NFL should make the Baltimore-Washington area a shared media market.

Matt Forman of the Miami Herald writes about former Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese joining the team’s radio broadcast booth.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News also writes about the UFC on Fox deal.

Art Garcia of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says with less than a week to go for its launch, no cable or satellite provider has yet to come forward to pick up the Longhorn Network.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discusses how NFL Films chose the three Green Bay Packers to be part of the latest edition of “America’s Game”.

Matt Erickson in the Chicago Tribune asks if the UFC and Fox are really a natural fit.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals have put former Midwest radio powerhouse KMOX back on top of the local ratings.

Dan also has the sports radio ratings for the Gateway to the West.

Stu Durando of the Post-Dispatch looks at Longhorn Network not being allowed to air high school football games.

James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe & Mail writes that NBC has signed NHL analyst Jeremy Roenick to a long-term deal. Thanks to Steve Lepore at Puck The Media for the link.

Deadspin has the video of the MLS’ Houston Dynamo’s announcer going crazy after a last second goal.

The Canadian Sports Media blog says TSN picks up Canada’s college football championship.

And that will do it for today.

The Friday Night Megalinks

I’ve been to Newton, MA and back, South Kingstown, RI and back and all over my hometown of North Kingstown, RI and all of this today. It’s time to do the megalinks and get them all done in one sitting.

There’s the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment programming.

National

Sports Business Daily goes over the UFC/Fox agreement that will put four live MMA events on network TV and plenty of ancillary programming on Fox’s cable networks.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox Sports Media Group El Presidente Por Vida David Hill has done an about face on airing Mixed Martial Arts.

Sergio Non of USA Today writes that UFC will revamp its shows when they move from Spike and Versus to Fox’s networks.

Sergio has those who will take part in the first UFC on Fox card in November.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the success of the UFC on Fox all depends on whether the sport can have a breakout star.

Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! says UFC President Dana White couldn’t be happier in making this deal with Fox.

Also from Yahoo!, Kevin Iole says it will be the fighters who will benefit the most from the new UFC on Fox contract.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has Spike announcing that the new season of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter will be the last on its airwaves, naturally.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek looks into the particulars of the UFC on Fox deal.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the Fox contract gives UFC some instant mainstream credibility.

There will be more UFC on Fox stories sprinkled throughout the megalinks. Let’s move on to other stories now.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman wonders if Showtime’s “The Franchise” is bringing down the San Francisco Giants this season.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter reports that Comcast has withdrawn a lawsuit against DirecTV over an ad campaign for NFL Sunday Ticket.

David Goetzl of MediaPost notes that DirecTV plans to expand its fantasy offerings for NFL Sunday Ticket.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at Versus/NBC Sports Network’s new exclusive NHL night in the first year of its new 10 year contract with the league.

Andrew McMains of Adweek looks at a new inspiring web video produced for the US Olympic Committee.

All Access says the ESPN Radio affiliate in Minnesota’s Twin Cities has chosen the hosts for its midday show.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explores which teams won and lost in the new NHL TV schedules.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that former voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Woody Durham, will be honored for his contributions to college football.

The Big Lead wonders if Jay Bilas is the most respected voice at ESPN.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid investigates how former 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell managed to appear to appear on the Dan Patrick Show and the Colin Cowherd Show at the same time.

And Tim presents the Atlanta Braves’ Shake Cam and how it can make fans a bit too excited.

Sports Media Watch says the U-20 World Cup is scoring for Galavision.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has a look at some interesting sports media typos.

Matt shows us how the Baseball Tonight crew had trouble demonstrating its new touchscreen.

Joe Favorito looks at what’s new with professional lacrosse.

Patrick Stafford of Smart Company in Australia speaks with the owner of Footytips.com about how he sold his site to ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the limited classic programming on NBA TV during the current league lockout can only take the channel so far.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy wearing chicken hats in the booth.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on how regional sports networks have increasing power and money to be a game changer for some professional teams.

Richard looks at the UFC on Fox deal that puts Mixed Martial Arts into the mainstream.

Dan Levin from the Times has a good story on how some athletes in Communist China are trying to buck their archaic system.

Mark DeCambre of the New York Post notes that the new Meadowlands Stadium now will have a sponsor when the new NFL season begins.

Justin Terranova in the Post looks at how Fordham University was a training ground for several NYC announcers.

Justin has five questions for SNY Jets analyst Anthony Becht.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes about Fox signing UFC for seven years.

Pete says local sports anchor Andrew Catalon’s call of tonight’s Browns-Lions game will be seen on NFL Network this weekend.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says a local radio station will air a full high school football schedule.

Ken says the NBC Sports Group is increasing its commitment to horse racing this fall.

And Ken writes that a new local sports radio talk show will be debuting soon.

To Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record who says the New York Rangers will be featured extensively on the national NHL TV schedules.

Crossing Broad has the audio of Philadelphia’s sports radio station WIP announcement that it’s taking over WYSP’s FM frequency killing off a heritage rock station.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News says ‘YSP staffers were melancholy about CBS Radio’s announcement killing off the station.

Jeff Wolfe of the Delaware County Times writes about WIP’s displacement of WYSP just as the rocker’s ratings were increasing.

Mike White in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says two local high school games hit the ESPN family of networks this fall.

Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette says the Penguins TV announcing crew will return for another season.

In the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik explains where Ravens fans can find the team on TV and radio.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Ravens did extremely well in the ratings in both Baltimore and Washington, DC in their NFL preseason opener.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with DC NFL Team radio voice Larry Michael.

And Jim writes that the Washington Capitals will have plenty of appearances on NBC/Versus (NBC Sports Network).

Mike Madden in the Washington City Paper says the local sports anchor is becoming a thing of the past.

Keith Loria of the Fairfax (VA) Times says native Lindsay Czarniak is about to make her debut on ESPN.

South

The Charleston (WV) Gazette notes that Root Sports Pittsburgh will carry some West Virginia and Marshall programming.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Bob Griese will be joining the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team replacing the late Jim Mandich.

Andy Kent of the Miami Dolphins website has Griese’s thoughts about joining the broadcast team and also sharing thoughts about Mandich.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some thoughts on the UFC/Fox deal, the Little League World Series on TV and CBS’ production of the PGA Championship.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says Yahoo! Sports does a better job of investigating college sports than the NCAA.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that Saturday’s US National Gymnastics championships get a network primetime slot.

Mike Finger and Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network hasn’t given up on airing high school football games in one form or another.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht looks at UFC getting a big payday from Fox.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with NBC’s Cris Collinsworth who’s going into his third season as Sunday Night Football analyst.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal now knows why DirecTV was so willing to give him a free subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket after learning that the service will be offered to Sony Playstation 3 owners.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press’ Michael Zuidema notes that a Big Ten Network analyst feels Nebraska is a perfect fit for the conference.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is amazed at ESPN’s ever-expanding army of NFL analysts and mountain of NFL programming.

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

Scott Dochterman in the Iowa City Gazette says NFL Network has picked up Mediacom for cable subscribers in the Hawkeye State.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says it’s not known which network will air the October 15th contest between BYU and Oregon State.

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) News speaks with BYUtv’s Executive Director in a lengthy interview. Part I of which is here. Read Part II here.

Larry Bohannan at the Desert (CA) Sun says there’s evidence of not much live golf shown in a PGA Tour telecast.

John Maffei of the North County Times weighs the pros and cons of airing the Little League World Series.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle looks at the contrasting opinions that John and Patrick McEnroe had on the state of American tennis on HBO’s Real Sports this week.

Jim explores the UFC on Fox deal.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times says Fox paid a pretty penny to get UFC into the fold.

Meg James of the Times also writes about the UFC on Fox deal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says when it came down to it, Fox didn’t have much of a choice but to sign UFC.

Tom says one sidebar to the UFC on Fox deal is the fact that Fox Sports Radio will also air MMA events.

Tom writes that former Dodgers radio voice Ross Porter has found his latest gig, calling high school sports online.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin feels TSN Radio isn’t getting the job done.

The Winnipeg Free Press notes that the Jets will get 22 games aired on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

And the number of links today are hearken back to the first two years of this blog. Lots of links. That’s it.

A Wednesday Link Thing

Let’s do some linkage on this Wednesday. Trying to do this early instead of late.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today who tells us what ESPN has promoted Trent Dilfer among its NFL analysts and dropped Matt Millen although he remains on its college football coverage.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser is as confused as I am as to why and how Time magazine named the Bleacher Report as one of its top 50 websites of the year. This is not just sports, but every single website.

Marcus Vanderberg at Media Bistro speaks with former ESPN’er Josh Elliot about his current gig at Good Morning America.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of ESPN’s Erin Andrews playing with puppies while guest-hosting on Regis & Kelly today.

David F. Carr of Information Week explains how Comcast SportsNet uses social media to its advantage.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that ESPN is placing two channels on Hong Kong’s Internet TV provider.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable says Showtime is picking up two more episodes of its MLB reality series, “The Franchise” as the San Francisco Giants’ season is hanging in the balance.

At the Sports PR Blog, Michael Speciale says the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speeches by Shannon Sharpe, Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders all had a common thread.

Rip Empson at TechCrunch notes that ESPN has a new company that’s managing its online video streams.

Domenic Poli of the Brattleboro (VT) Reformer says the late Atlanta Braves announcer Ernie Johnson, Sr. never forgot his Vermont roots.

In Press Box, DCRTV’s Dave Hughes writes about Brett Haber leaving WUSA-TV in Washington, DC.

Ileana Limón at the Orlando Sentinel writes that Conference USA and ESPN have settled the network’s lawsuit against the league after it said CUSA had breached its contract by signing a new rights deal with Fox Sports.

Brad Zimanek of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says televising the local LPGA event live on Golf Channel this year will add a new element to this year’s tournament.

The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader says Kentucky will be heavily featured on ESPN’s Super Tuesday SEC basketball schedule.

Kirk Bohls at the Austin American-Statesman says splitting up Texas and Texas A&M would be bad for college football, fans and TV.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Bengals preseason opener did well in the local ratings.

Steve Walentik of the Columbia (MO) Tribune wants to know why ESPN didn’t see something wrong with the Longhorn Network ahead of time?

Kellis Robinett of the Kansas City Star looks at Kansas State’s plans to start its own online TV network.

Austin Meek of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal says the launch of K-StateHD.TV was planned long before the latest Big 12 crisis.

The San Francisco Business Times reports that the America’s Cup has signed a deal with Versus.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail takes a shot at crosstown rival the Toronto Star for a misquote in an obituary for Winnipeg Jets center Rick Rypien who died Monday.

Speaking of the Star, Raju Mudhar speaks with the editor of ESPN The Magazine about the reaction to its story on the Toronto Blue Jays allegedly stealing signs.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has a guest column from Mark Milner of North of the 400 who wonders what’s going on with TSN Radio.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing go over Yahoo! Sports’ extensive investigation into the University of Miami’s football program that could lead to its very hard downfall.

The Football Girl speaks with ESPN’s new coordinating producer for Sunday NFL Countdown.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media wonders if the Stanley Cup Final rematch between Boston and Vancouver is going to be a lead-in for NBC’s NFL Wild Card Saturday playoff doubleheader.

And that’s going to do it for today.

On To The Tuesday Links

Let’s get your Tuesday linkage up and posted today. Good stuff to get to.

Variety’s Stuart Levine talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Versus rebrand to NBC Sports Network and other subjects.

The Associated Press has Lazarus hopeful that he can make former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol proud.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age writes that NBC’s rebrand of Versus plus having the Super Bowl this season puts the network in position to be a real challenger to ESPN.

Marisa Guthrie in the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog says NBC’s top brass was never worried about losing NFL games this season.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Canada’s Rogers Communications will stream live video of Toronto Blue Jays games online and on smartphones starting this month.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter notes that Fox Sports is protesting a plan to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers’ media rights. Fox says it agreed to a long-term extension of its current deal with the team, but MLB has rejected it.

To Adweek and Emma Bazilian who says Fox is going to war over the Dodgers’ media rights.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News writes about AT&T U-verse suddenly dropping ESPN3D citing the high carriage fees and lack of subscribers.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN has promoted one of its executives.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that Chicago sportscaster Mike Adamle was cleared of DUI charges.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser looks at Awful Announcing’s Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament that left Craig James as its “winner”.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group wonders if 3-D will have a role in the 2012 London Olympics.

At Outkick The Coverage, Clay Travis says it’s Yahoo! that’s poised to be ESPN’s true sports media rival in the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

The Sports Biz Miss, Kristi Dosh in the Business of College Sports explains why BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences are not knocking down Boise State’s doors to have the school join their leagues.

Kristi also looks at how the Pac-12 Network will be distributed to several Top 100 media markets within the Conference footprint.

To Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where Sean Leahy talks with ESPN’s John Buccigross about his NHL guilty pleasures.

Jose Martinez of Complex speaks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews about her country music and Saturday Night Live obsessions.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy also talks with Erin, this time about Twitter and her assessment of her first year on the anchor desk at College GameDay.

All Access reports that Fox Sports Radio is hooking up with Mastercard for a Stand Up to Cancer promotion.

Greg Bordonaro of Hartford Business writes that ESPN plans to take advantage of a Connecticut tax break incentive offer to add more jobs in the state.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at NBC/Versus NHL voice Mike “Doc” Emrick receiving another honor.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call catches up with iconic Philadelphia Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post speaks with outgoing local sports anchor Brett Haber about his decision to leave his local station.

Adam Kilgore of the Post writes that MASN has not exercised the option on Washington Nationals TV voice Bob Carpenter’s contract, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t be back next season.

ESPN3.com will be streaming a Georgia rivalry high school football game later this month.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Big 12 schools decided to compromise on the Longhorn Network for one season.

Randy Riggs of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman writes that means no high school football games on the Longhorn Network for now.

Mike Finger in the Houston Chronicle says the Big 12 did leave open the possibility of having a conference game aired on the Longhorn Network this season.

Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal says an NBC Sports Group deal to put NFL games on Versus would be a big help to the channel’s IndyCar package.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that NFL Network and companion RedZone were picked up by Charter Communications.

Bob says Chicago Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes regales in telling stories about the late Marquette coach Al McGuire and their time calling the school’s games together.

In OnMilwaukee, Andy Tarnoff goes behind the scenes during a Brewers game production with the Fox Sports Wisconsin crew.

Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew is ready for the NFL season to start.

Shad Powers of the Desert (CA) Sun says MLB Network came through on Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News discusses the rebranding of Versus to NBC Sports Network.

In the Daly Planet, John Daly notes that ESPN NASCAR analyst Rusty Wallace has a conflict of interest when calling Nationwide Series races.

Toronto Sports Media says Sirius and XM in Canada might be pulling the plug on The Score radio channel.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has some thoughts on the last week in Canadian sports media.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN has brought in former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas as a studio NFL analyst.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs looks at the moves to rebrand of Sporting News Radio and Versus.

And we’re done with the linkage for today.

Sporting News Radio Is Now Yahoo! Sports Radio

Here’s another rebrand for you. Sporting News Radio which is based out of Houston has rebranded as Yahoo! Sports Radio as of today. Gow Broadcasting which owns Sporting News Radio, now Yahoo! Sports Radio made the announcement today. The daily lineup which includes Steve Czaban, Tim Brando and Todd Wright remains intact. This give listeners access to the many writers Yahoo! Sports employs and they can now be heard regularly on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

The origin of Sporting News Radio date back to 1991 when it began as the Sports Entertainment Network, the third attempted company to syndicate all-sports programming across the country. Two years later, a Chicago investment group bought Sports Entertainment Network changing the name to One on One Sports. It eventually grew to a network of over 300 radio stations across the country.

In 2000, Sporting News bought One on One and changed the name to Sporting News Radio. Gow Broadcasting eventually purchased the assets of Sporting News Radio, moved the operations to Houston and today, made the announcement that it’s changing its name once again to Yahoo! Sports Radio with a network of 180 affiliates nationwide.

We have the press release from Gow Broadcasting and Yahoo.

Yahoo! Sports and Gow Broadcasting Hit the Radio Airwaves with Yahoo! Sports Radio

No. 1 online sports destination announces new relationship with leading sports radio network

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug 01, 2011 — Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, and Gow Broadcasting, LLC (formerly Mission Media Group, LLC), today announced the launch of Yahoo! Sports Radio. The new, national sports radio network can be heard on over 180 affiliate radio stations across the country, Sirius Satellite Radio, and a number of digital and mobile partners. This partnership enables Yahoo! Sports — the No. 1 destination for online sports with more than 50 million monthly unique users — to reach its avid fans in the largest local sports markets across the country.

“Yahoo! Sports Radio builds on our leadership as the No. 1 sports site online and creates a national and local outlet for our brand and talent,” said Ken Fuchs, VP Yahoo! Media Network. “As Yahoo! Sports covers the biggest events, stories and athletes on and off the field, our partnership with Gow Broadcasting will provide more access to our users and solutions to our advertising partners that want to connect with them wherever they consume sports.”

“We are delighted to enter this relationship with Yahoo! Sports,” said David Gow, CEO of Gow Broadcasting, LLC. “We have long enjoyed Yahoo! Sports’ content. We believe strongly that the resources at Yahoo! Sports combined with our on-air talent create the strongest sports roster in the industry. For our affiliates and our listeners, we can deliver top-shelf reporting, analysis and commentary.”

In this relationship, Yahoo Sports! and Gow Broadcasting will share content, develop new content together and engage audiences and advertisers across multiple platforms. The result is that Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Sports Radio are designed to be the first stop for news, information and sports commentary. Key features of the new Yahoo Sports Radio include:

– Yahoo! Sports Radio’s popular shows, such as the Steve Czaban show and the Tim Brando show, will feature experts from Yahoo! Sports. Dan Wetzel, Mike Silver, Adrian Wojnarowski, Charles Robinson and others will be regular participants on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

– Yahoo! Sports investigative stories and breaking news will be delivered simultaneously on both platforms.

– Yahoo! Sports Radio’s audio content will be featured on Yahoo Sports!, including Peter Gammon’s daily feature, and top interviews from Yahoo! Sports Radio’s shows.

– Yahoo! Sports Radio will also add shows such as Fantasy Freaks with experts Brandon Funston, Brad Evans and Andy Behrens and Rivals Radio with host Chris Childers, where fans can listen to college football and basketball programming with Rivals.com experts.

Yahoo! Sports Radio continues Yahoo!’s commitment to provide sports fans with personally relevant sporting content across all media where fans gather — including online, mobile, tablets, connected television, AT&T U-verse and multiple publications such as Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football and Rivals College preview magazines.

For more information on Yahoo! Sports Radio and a full list of local affiliates including New York (WFAN), Chicago (WSCR), San Francisco (KBWF) and Dallas (KTCK) visit: http://www.yahoosportsradio.com.

That is all for now.

Yahoo’s Puck Daddy To Team with Toronto’s theScore for NHL Trade Deadline Coverage

One very nice feature of this year’s NHL Trade Deadline is having Yahoo’s PuckDaddy Radio on top of all of the news. Friend of Fang’s Bites Greg Wyshynski will host five and a half hours of coverage starting at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Monday. Not only will it be heard in Toronto, but all over North America on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 98 We have the press release.

theScore® Teams Up with Yahoo! Sports To Keep You in the Know on NHL® Trade Deadline Day

Can’t sit for hours in front of the TV?  theScore’s got you covered.

TORONTO, February 25^th, 2011 – Score Media Inc. (TSX: SCR) and Yahoo! Sports today announce that they’re joining forces to get you everything you need to know – the way you want it – on NHL Trade Deadline Day.  >From Puck Daddy’s in-depth analysis throughout the day available on theScore Satellite Radio™ SIRIUS Channel 98 and streamed online on theScore.com and Yahoo! Sports along with regular TV updates from Sid Seixeiro and in-depth analysis by 24hrs in 30mins personalities Tim Micallef and Cam Stewart, theScore along with special contributions from Yahoo! Sports analysts will be the ultimate source for all the information you’ll need and want on trade deadline day.

Greg Wyshynski, editor of Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports’ infamous and humorous hockey blog and host of Puck Daddy Radio on theScore, will feature a special edition of his popular radio show live from 10-3:30 p.m. giving his analysis of each and every move.  With special guests, live in-studio visitors, and other members of Yahoo! Sports’ respected NHL analysts contributing to the show alongside their regular contributions to the Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo! Sports, this can’t-miss edition of Puck Daddy Radio will also be streamed on theScore.com.

“theScore is known for our authentic and in-depth sports analysis and our partnership with the Puck Daddy blog and Yahoo! Sports will add another level to our coverage that will give sports fans what they want, the way they want it,” says Benjie Levy, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Score Media Inc.

theScore.com, theScore iPad Edition and ScoreMobile will offer you everything you need to know wherever you are.  theScore.com’s talented roster of Sports Federation bloggers will be breaking down trades while the trade tracker will give you each and every move.  theScore iPad Edition will have a trade deadline blog and a trade, rumour and signing tracker available anywhere you are.  As always, the industry-leading app, ScoreMobile®, will have you covered with up-to-the minute reports on trade news and rumours throughout the day, available on your Android, BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Phone 7 device.

theScore will also feature two special editions of 24hrs in 30mins with Tim Micallef and Cam Stewart, known for their hard-hitting and blunt analysis airing at both 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.  Throughout the day, theScore’s TV coverage will consist of on-going updates hosted by Score personality Sid Seixeiro who will be breaking down every move while paying particular attention to what is being said on Twitter by players, analysts, reporters and management.

And there you have it.

Some Snowy Wednesday Links

On this day of massive snow here in the Northeast, I’ll provide you with some linkage. Crazy day as local meteorologists first predicted 4-8 inches, then as the storm organized, the totals were revised upward and upward. Now, it appears we have more on the ground here. Not quite the perfect storm, but damn close. And who would have thought 49 states of the Union have snow on the ground? Including Hawaii? Insane.

Let’s do some linkage today to get our minds off the snow.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today gives us a reality check on ESPN’s ratings for the BCS.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today talks with the head of powerful sports agency IMG about a whole slew of topics including gambling.

Sean Leahy at USA Today’s The Huddle notes Jon Gruden’s announcement that he’ll return to ESPN next season.

Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal looks at Brent Musburger giving Tostitos free advertising this week.

Ben Klayman from Reuters writes about General Motors signing a huge advertising deal with NBC for the 2012 London Olympics.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse doesn’t like how golf allows viewers to call in to report violations on PGA Tour players.

Fanhouse’s Viv Bernstein finds that former college basketball analyst Billy Packer is not being docile in his retirement from broadcasting. 

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that GolTV will air a Central America soccer tournament.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek looks at ESPN’s record ratings for the BCS National Championship Game.

Anthony writes in Adweek that ESPN will be a big sponsor target this year. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine also writes about ESPN’s ratings for Auburn-Oregon.

The great Darren Rovell of CNBC has his Golden Rules of Twitter.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser looks at LeBron James’ tweeting at the expense of his old Cleveland Cavs team.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid reviews the premiere episode of Onion SportsDome.

Across the pond, David Evans of Autosport notes that ESPN UK has obtained the rights to the popular World Rally Championship, keeping the sport away from free TV in England. 

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes a Boston connection to Onion SportsDome. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wasn’t too thrilled with Brent Musburger’s call of the BCS National Championship Game.

Richard talks about Yahoo! Sports launching an all-new online magazine.

Speaking of the new Yahoo! Sports online magazine, called The PostGame, it has a feature on Fang’s Bites fave, Charissa Thompson. 

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the love-hate, mostly hate relationship between the New York Jets and WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Time Warner Cable will produce several AHL games.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says ESPN’s Dick Vitale will remain in the fold for a while.

Jason Reid of the Washington Post recaps the DC Sports Owner summit.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the BCS’ ratings on cable are down considerably from when the games were on broadcast TV.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Dish and DirecTV subscribers will be able to see tonight’s Cincinnati Bearcats game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Packers-Eagles is the most watched TV show of the season.

Bob says CBS’ Bill Cowher gives praise to the Packers’ defensive plan to contain the Eagles’ Michael Vick.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune talks about Brent Musburger’s Tostitos plug late in the BCS National Championship Game.

The Chicago Sun-Times picks up a story that local NBC affiliate sports anchor Mike Adamle has been arrested on DUI charges.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune wonders if ESPN can objectively report on college football and the BCS.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail handicaps the upcoming changes in Canadian sports radio.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media breaks news that NBC will have six hours of coverage for Hockey Day in America next month.

Steve also compares Tuesday’s editions of NHL Overtime and NHL on the Fly.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch notes that the BCS National Championship on ESPN finished lower in the ratings than the game on ABC last year.

Joe Favorito says the Indianapolis Colts may have lost Saturday, but won with its social networking approach to its FanCam.

Awful Announcing has Twitter reaction to Onion SportsDome.

And that will do it for today. I’ll be digging out the rest of the day.

Some Tuesday Night Links

Let’s do some additional linkage since I had to cut the regular Tuesday links short earlier today.

Bill Krueger of the Poynter Institute looks at how Yahoo! Sports has made a name for itself in sports investigations.

Jason Humphries of Reuters has International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge hopeful that the US TV rights for the 2014/16 Olympics will exceed what NBC paid for the 2012/14 Games.

Also from Reuters, Steve Keating says the NHL is bullish that a new US TV deal could put the league on equal footing with the other major sports leagues.

Craig Custance at the Sporting News has NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman optimistic over the negotiations for a new US TV contract.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the last bastion of sports sponsorship is time.

From Fox Sports, Brian Lowry says it’s no coincidence ESPN scheduled the Heisman Trophy Presentation and its 30 for 30 documentary on SMU football back-to-back on Saturday.

Dylan Stableford of The Wrap takes a look at the launch of espnW. 

With Newsday free to all for a month, I’m taking advantage. Neil Best has a story on ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series which for all intents and purposes ends on Saturday.
From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg recaps how a local radio station landed the volatile interview with DC NFL team defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth this week.

Leonard Shapiro of the Post notes that the Daniel Snyder-owned sports radio station hasn’t pulled any punches on the DC NFL team.

D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that the local ratings for the Falcons are on fire.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Texas Rangers are changing flagship radio stations. 

Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says Don Meredith may have helped to make Monday Night Football a party, but not in his private life.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the 30 for 30 DVD boxed set is LA-heavy.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times remembers Don Meredith. 

Eric Young at the San Francisco Business Times says Comcast is urging Dish Network customers to cut the cord over the satellite provider’s decision to pull its SportsNet California channel. 

Sports Media Watch mentions that Captain Blowhard will be on the live call of an NBA game for ESPN this week.

SMW says that the Big 12 Championship scored a four year ratings low.

SMW notes that the SEC Championship’s ratings for CBS were down from last year, but still held its own.

Joe Favorito says George Mason University is going all-21st Century by developing a smartphone app so fans can listen to basketball games and keep up with the school’s sports.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says MLB Network wants to gain carriage on Dish Network and AT&T U-Verse.

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog isn’t happy over Marvin Miller’s exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says ESPN’s Michelle Beadle’s attire is burning up the internet.

And that will do it for tonight. Maybe a press release or two and if I get motivated, an original post. Keep your RSS feeds updated.

Yahoo’s Puck Daddy Is Now On The Radio

How about this? Friend of Fang’s Bites Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s tremendous Puck Daddy section now has its own radio show. I usually don’t lobby to be a guest on radio shows (although I am available), but this is perfect for Wyshynski and I to talk about hockey on TV. Steve Lepore of Puck The Media would be perfect too, but this is right my alley and I know Greg visits Fang’s Bites, so Greg? I’m available to be on the show anytime you want.

Enough groveling. Considering how many times Greg has been a guest on various shows across the US and Canada, this is the next logical step and very well deserved for Puck Daddy. The show will air on The Score in Toronto through its website, theScore.com as well as on Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 98. This is great news.

Puck Daddy Joins theScore Satellite Radio

Greg Wyshynski, a.k.a. “Puck Daddy” now on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 98 and theScore.com with live daily radio show airing from 1-2 p.m. ET

TORONTO, October 12th, 2010 – Score Media Inc. (TSX: SCR) today announces that Greg Wyshynski, a.k.a “Puck Daddy”, has officially joined its line-up of broadcast talent. Greg Wyshynski, the editor of Puck Daddy, Yahoo! Sports’ infamous and humorous hockey blog, today becomes a member of theScore with a live show on theScore Satellite Radio on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 98. Puck Daddy Radio will be hosted by Greg Wyshynski along with theScore’s Rob Pizzo, and will air Monday to Friday from 1-2 p.m. ET. Each episode will be rebroadcast at 5 p.m. ET daily and will be streamed on both theScore.com and on Yahoo.com’s Puck Daddy blog.    

Since 2008, Puck Daddy has blended in-depth analysis of the NHL with a humorous look at hockey culture. It is considered the leading hockey blog in North America for its innovation and influence. Award-winning editor, Greg Wyshynski, has written for many leading publications including Deadspin, AOL FanHouse, the Hockey News, The Fourth Period Magazine and SportsFan Magazine. He also spent 9 years as an editor for The Connection Newspapers of Northern Virginia, a chain of 16 weekly publications. 

Wyshynski frequently appears as a guest on radio stations around North America and through his many years as a hockey authority, he has developed an enormous following of devoted fans. His weekly play-off show and various other appearances on theScore during the 2009-2010 NHL season got rave reviews and left fans wanting more.

“After the success of last season’s Puck Daddy play-off show, we discovered that fans wanted more and that a weekly show was simply not enough so we made the decision to create a dedicated, daily show that will give both Puck Daddy and his fans an even louder voice in the hockey world,” says Mike Gentile, Program Director, theScore Satellite Radio. 

With Wyshynski’s wit and in-depth hockey knowledge, Puck Daddy Radio on SIRIUS channel 98 will be the go-to destination for hockey fans across North America.

“My goal is to take the insight and entertainment from Puck Daddy and bring it to theScore Satellite Radio. It’ll be exciting, informative and unpredictable,” says Greg Wyshynski, Host, Puck Daddy Radio. “I think theScore is a perfect partner in bringing the nonsense we do on the blog to an unsuspecting public and I look forward to interacting with the Puck Daddy audience on a more personal level as scary as that could get.”

More stuff coming up.

Saturday’s Linkfest

I have a little bit of time to do some linkage today. Let’s get to it.

In Sports Illustrated, Andy Staples and Stewart Mandel look at the ten trends that will influence college football in this decade including how TV will be involved. 

At Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio says after using HBO’s Hard Knocks to pound their position on holdout Darelle Revis, the New York Jets are now using players as mouthpieces to the media in hopes of getting the player in camp. 

Comcast SportsNet New England has some of the best flubs, one liners and other stuff from the week. Ignore Jon Meterperel’s one brief appearance. 

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News talks with Yahoo NBA writer Adian Wojnarowski on how Yahoo! Sports has become the #1 destination on the web over established brand names like ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports.

Shannon Owens from the Orlando Sentinel has ESPN’s Lee Corso predicting Tim Tebow will the Denver Broncos’ starting QB by Week 6? Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about the Texas Rangers setting rating records this season.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman has his media notes today. 

Kevin Hoffman of the Minnesota City Pages says Gawker Media, owner of Deadspin, is defending the site’s decision to post the Brett Favre sexting story.

KFBB-TV in Great Falls/Helena, Montana reports that the Big Sky has announced its TV schedule which means most of the conference’s football games will be televised throughout its footprint.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the demise of the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that the launch of Rogers Sportsnet One today means another Canadian cable channel dispute.

TV Squad notes the return of Pat O’Brien to sports broadcasting with his hire by Fox Sports Radio.

Susan Ashworth at TV Technology says CBS is looking at how to employ 3-D TV at the upcoming U.S. Open at Flushing Meadow.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Baseball says the new Texas Rangers ownership is already scoring with fans by lowering prices across the board.

And that’s going to finish our links for today.

Mid-Week Linkage For You

Let’s do some linkage for you on the day before the real action on the NCAA Tournament begins. I tried watching last night’s Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Wofford game, but I just couldn’t. It was tough. So I went to Lost which was a bit more exciting.

To the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks to the CBS executive in charge of putting the tip times together for the NCAA Tournament.

The Nielsen Wire blog looks at Tiger Woods’ return to golf and what it means for the ratings for The Masters.

In Mediapost, Wayne Friedman writes that CBS and ESPN won’t see any more money with increased viewership in The Masters because advertising has already been sold and inventory is limited by the Augusta National Country Club.

Anthony Crupi in Mediaweek says ESPN and CBS should see increased ratings for The Masters with Tiger’s return and the PGA Tour should benefit as a result.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the big winner at The Masters will those be holding the coveted badges to get into Augusta National to see Tiger.

Darren wonders if the controversial secret coin flip that put the New York Jets on the opening Monday night in their new stadium will cost the team or help it.

And Darren gives us an idea what a 96 team NCAA Tournament bracket would look like.

Lisa Olson in Fanhouse says the last six months for Erin Andrews have been a nightmare.

Cameron Frye wonders if two and a half months are enough for Michael David Barrett, the man convicted of stalking Erin.

Eric Fisher in Sports Business Daily reports on the purchase of the Citizen Sports Network by Yahoo. 

Claire Atkinson of Broadcasting & Cable says Univision is close to selling out its ad inventory for the World Cup.

Richard Sandomir writes in the New York Times that the New York Giants and New York Jets are in a battle to sell out seats in their new stadium.

Richard says team owners have to work harder in these economic times to make money.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News feels CBS’ announcing team won’t be talking much about Tiger Woods’ ordeal during The Masters.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post says Tiger Woods at The Masters will be must-see TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Thursday NCAA Tournament schedule for the local CBS affiliate.

Pete says Time Warner Cable will pick up the New York State girls’ high basketball championship games.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and the Philly CBS station will both air NCAA Tournament specials.

Jim Willams in the Washington Examiner writes that Tiger Woods will be lampooned on South Park tonight.

Jim writes that Lance Armstrong’s return to cycling this year will be aired on Universal Sports this weekend.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has Thursday’s NCAA Tournament TV schedule for the Metroplex.

Barry has Friday’s TV schedule and notes one glaring omission.

Barry has more on the aforementioned omission.

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans are lobbying to be on HBO’s Hard Knocks later this year.

The Chronicle’s David Barron writes about another media feud, this one between CNN’s Roland Martin and ESPN’s Rick Reilly, and adds a few NCAA Tournament notes.

And David is not in favor of the University of Houston playing two home football games on Friday nights in direct competition with high school games.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the local CBS affiliate and its digital station will be able to show twice the action during the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business urges Tiger Woods to speak to the media before The Masters gets underway.

Ed explains why Tiger chose The Masters to make his return to golf.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notices a trend among sports teams to blanket their fans.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Globe says the Vancouver effect is producing a ratings mixed bag for Olympic sports.

Amanda Bruno at Batter-up with Bruno notes that the Boston Globe sports section as well as one of its writers have won Associated Press Sports Editors Awards.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says Tiger Woods is returning to the PGA Tour at the right time as last weekend’s stop in Florida dropped by over 40% in the ratings.

SMW notes that a good lead-in from the SEC Championship on Sunday gave the Celtics-Cavs good ratings for ABC.

Joe Favorito explores Spongetech which bought sponsorships with teams and venues last year and now is under Federal investigation for faulty business practices.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore lists the dates of NHL playoff action on NBC.

Steve investigates why the local ratings for Sunday’s Washington-Chicago game on NBC were low.

We’ll end it there.

Saturday’s Linkage

Well, I purposely didn’t do links on Thursday and on Friday, an unexpected joy fell into my lap as my Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff, a.k.a The OCD Chick, came up from New York for a conference, so we hung out Friday night. And while there, I caught up with baseball superwriter, Jonah Kieri and a regular contributor to the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry.

All were attending the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference today at the Boston Convention Center. If you want to follow what’s going from the conference on Twitter, just search for the hastag, “ssac” and you can read the Tweets. Some heavy hitters are speaking. I didn’t know about this, but hopefully, I can attend next year.

Anyway, I’ll give you some of the linkage from today. First, Friend of Fang’s Bites Victor Rojas explains why he’s leaving MLB Network after one year to take the Anaheim Angels play-by-play position.

Ed Baig of USA Today looks at some improvements in this year’s CBS March Madness on Demand iPhone app.

Martin Peers of the Wall Street Journal looks into the Cablevision/ABC dispute and notes that sports is behind the whole fray. 

Dave Kindred, writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, says giving your story the proper hook is a great way to lure readers.

The Hollywood Reporter picks up an Associated Press story which talks about a dispute in Hong Kong that could leave viewers in the dark for the World Cup.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that the ESPN360 broadband service will show Winter X Games Europe in the US.

Mike says MSG Network will air a 10 part series on the best baseball players in New York.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek tells us that Yahoo! drew more visitors to its site over the Olympics than ESPN and NBC, but NBCOlympics can claim a victory of sorts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at CTV’s I Believe Olympic theme song making some money for the network. I watched a lot of CTV’s coverage and I along with millions of Canadians heard it constantly throughout the games.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the New Jersey Nets using Newark as a stopover until its Brooklyn home is ready in two years.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says it’s time for DirecTV and Versus to settle their differences.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says don’t expect a post-Olympics ratings bump for the NHL.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner writes that DirecTV and Fox are seeking to find the fans’ thoughts on best NASCAR driver.

Jim writes that this is a big day for lacrosse fans.

Jim also has a couple of clips previewing tonight’s HBO Magic & Bird documentary.

Maryland alum Tim Lemke condemns the unruly behavior at the University of Maryland campus after the Terps’ win over Duke earlier this week.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Andrea Adelson wonders if 3D will actually change the way we watch sports television. 

Andrea says watching an event in 3D is rather impressive.

Andrea also explains what you’ll need to watch sports in 3D.

And Andrea looks at some of the most important dates in the development of sports television.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn speaks with ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Olympics actually hurt the local NBC affiliate in the local ratings and gave the CBS affiliate the win in February.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says the local ESPN Radio affiliate is making a lineup change. 

From The Press-Enterprise (CA), we learn that someone who is under criminal investigation on corruption made an appearance during John Daly’s Golf Channel reality show.

SportsbyBrooks learns that ESPN’s local New York site made a big hire.

The Big Lead notes that MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann lashed out at the Blowhard known as Bill Simmons.

The Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN was late again in reporting another on another Ben Roethlisberger sexual assault story.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

To the Major League Programs blog which looks at a new rights deal between the Miami Dolphins and a Southwest Florida radio station.

Those are your links for now. Coming up this afternoon, a review of the Magic & Bird documentary.

Thursday’s Stuff

I have links for you today. Trying to finish these early so I can some work done.

The Associated Press has the top 15 cable programs for last week which includes some programming from ESPN.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that ESPN will finish third in the yearly cable primetime ratings.

Anthony says Monday Night Football scored for ESPN this week.

Romanesko reports that Editor & Publisher, the organization that covers the newspaper industry is now ceasing publication. Very sad.

Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter looks at the 3-D test being conducted at Cowboys Stadium for the San Diego-Dallas game.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says hearings will be held on Capitol Hill later this month on pirating sports broadcasts over the internet.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that the Sportsman Channel is being upgraded on Comcast systems in Chicago.

Sports Illustrated’s Dan McGrath says Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly is ready to get back into managing.

Alden Gonzalez from MLB.com writes about Dick Enberg being inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame next week.

Sean Gregory of Time looks at how the PGA Tour’s TV partners are treating Tiger Woods.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at how the Tiger Woods story is affecting sports marketing.

Paul Baker from the Ridgefield (CT) Press writes about Monday Night Football director Chip Dean receiving an honor from Arizona State University.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says since the Tiger Woods Slam into a fire hydrant the day after Thanksgiving, his website has seen increased traffic.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has some thoughts on why Peter Gammons left ESPN in favor of MLB Network.

Dustin Long of the Virginian-Pilot says NASCAR might be putting more of its races online (scroll down). Thanks to Jay Busbee of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog for the link.

The Orlando Business Journal says the St. Petersburg Bowl now has a sponsor.

Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel talks about a West Palm Beach TV station outsourcing its sports reports to the local ESPN Radio station.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News is amused by Michael Strahan’s comments on the Cowboys’ Flozell Adams.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business wonders if the sluggish economy is responsible for the excellent TV ratings for sports programming.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says NBC’s Rodney Harrison is on the Packers’ Super Bowl express.

Riverside County (CA) Press-Enterprise looks at the Lakers’ Luke Walton taking the mic for a couple of games.

Peter Hadekel of the Montreal Gazette talks with International Olympic Committee member and director of the Vancouver Organizing Committee Richard Pound on the business and economic impact of the 2010 Olympic Games.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Tiger Woods story is leaving sponsors, the PGA Tour and others wondering what’s in the golfer’s future.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star looks at a civilian who won a one year contract to broadcast sports.

Writing for Pro Football Weekly, Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald says NFL Network’s game productions has a ways to improve.

Sports Media Watch says the Big 12 Championship did well for ABC on Saturday.

SMW says college football on the ESPN family networks was the most viewed in over a decade.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

SMW says the Tiger Woods story is good business for Yahoo, but not for Tiger’s sponsors.

And the SMW speaks with TNT Inside the NBA producer Tim Kiely.

John Daly’s Daly Planet blog looks at whether NASCAR fans are willing to watch a new one hour weekly highlights show on Showtime.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media wonders where Mike Milbury is on NBC’s coverage of the NHL Winter Classic.

We conclude with Kristine Leahy doing The Five on WEEI.com.

That’s going to do it for now.

Some Tuesday Linkage

Let’s give you links for today.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand who looks at the ratings of Wimbledon, MLB and the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Here’s a story that bears watching. Beth Ann Baldry of Golfweek reports that a group of top LPGA players are calling for commissioner Carolyn Bivens to resign.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Staples will see a lot of exposure during the Michael Jackson funeral today.

I wrote a story for the Fang’s Bites at Boston Sports Media Watch page about Boston Globe Celtics beat writer Marc Spears leaving for Yahoo! Sports.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that NBC is setting up at the nearby Saucon Valley Country Club for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open.

A couple of stories from Tim Lemke of the Washington Times. He writes that Tiger Woods was a big draw to the AT&T National both in person and on TV. Tim also looks at the temporary stadium built for the Washington Kastles of World Team Tennis.

Tracee Hamilton of the Washington Post is amazed at the subject matter on commercials that run on sports television.

Dan Steinberg of the WaPo’s DC Sports Bog talks about Wizards TV voice Steve Buckhantz’s signature call.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business tells us what the Cubs sale means for the team’s fans.

George Castle of the Northwest Indiana Times profiles MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac.

Tim Ellerbee of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the SEC’s new contract with ESPN will put many of the conference’s football games into primetime.

Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman says CBS is going into the vaults to replay a 1963 golf duel between Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about a local sports radio station juggling its lineup. Barry also looks at the latest person ousted from 4th and Long.

Penny Parker of the Denver Post talks with outgoing Fox Sports Net President Bob Thompson.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says a regular season CFL game beat out the Wimbledon men’s final in the ratings.

Kate Holton of Reuters says ESPN is going to launch a new channel in the UK to carry English Premier League games as well as some of its US programming.

A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin gets on the Kansas City Star’s Jason Whitlock for the character assassination of Serena Williams.

A bunch of links to the Sports Media Watch now. The ratings for the Wimbledon men’s final were down from last year, but still strong. The AT&T National beat Wimbledon in the ratings. A boring Wimbledon’s ladies final trailed last year’s all-Williams affairs. Manny Ramirez’s return to the Dodgers failed to bring any juice to Fox’s MLB ratings. SMW has some more ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito talks about the mixing of summer sports to help build a brand.

That’s going to do it for now.

Sneaking in A Few More Monday Links

Ok, I’m at the home office and I’ve been waiting to do a couple of things. I’ll try to sneak in a couple of links here.

I’m also going to sneak in two more links from the Sports Business Journal.

John Ourand writes about ESPN’s construction of their new Los Angeles headquarters.

And John joins Tripp Mickle to write a story about the US Olympic Committee’s continued attempts to get a devoted amateur sports channel on cable.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has part one of an excellent interview with NESN’s Jack Edwards. You may be surprised at what Jack has to say about ESPN. Steve mentions that the NHL on NBC fell below a 1.0 rating for the first time this season.

The fearless leader of Boston Sports Media Watch, the great Bruce Allen, has an update on the voting for Worst Boston Sports Column.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has some ratings news from the Metroplex. Barry says NFL hopeful Michael Crabtree has grabbed his first endorsement deal.

Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times says several of the paper’s sportswriters were honored by the Associated Press.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the official sponsors for both the Yankees and Mets for stadium signage.

The Sports Media Watch says ABC had a mixed bag for its NBA Sunday doubleheader. The SMW says it’s wash, rinse, repeat for NASCAR’s ratings on Fox.

Ryan Saghir of the Orbitcast satellite radio blog explains why XM listeners will hear MLB games and why Sirius listeners will not.

Greg Sandoval of CNET talks with MLB Advanced Media CEO Bob Bowman on the reason why MLBAM dumped Microsoft’s Silverlight technology for online steaming of live games after just one season.

Thanks to The Big Lead for the following link. Mike Shields of Mediaweek writes that ESPN.com continues to lose the online battle for unique visitors to Yahoo Sports.

Sox & Dawgs has a clip of ESPN hot chick Amy K. Nelson talking with your 2008 American League MVP Dustin Pedroia.

Christopher Bryne of the Eye on Sports Media blog says Michigan State winning tonight’s NCAA Championship game against North Carolina is not going to make anyone who’s lost their job feel any better.

Laura Nachman says Philadelphia native Jayson Stark of ESPN is a best selling Amazon author.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back later with your grade of tonight’s 24 episode.

Your Friday Megalinks, Part Deux

Ok, time to provide you with the Part 2 of the Friday megalinks after Part I was done this afternoon. Not only that, I can also provide you with updates from the links that I had provided earlier.

But let’s pick up where we left off.

Midwest

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News talks with Dayton native Jon Seibel who’s holding his own on ESPN Radio.

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that Fox NFL analysts Brian Billick and Jimmy Johnson don’t think it’s unrealistic for the Detroit Lions to go 0-16 this season.

And Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel say Billick and Johnson still like the Packers’ chances this season.

Shannon Ryan has the weekend viewing recommendations for Chicagoans in the Tribune.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald says ESPN.com’s Mayne Street is one of the reasons why the internet is ruining the world. That’s a bit harsh. Perhaps Ted needs to get away from his computer and go to the Mosquito Coast.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says there’s a battle over the radio rights to the St. Louis University Billikens men’s basketball team.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News writes that fans can only watch BYU at Utah on the mtn. and nowhere else.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the world’s oldest goff tournament is breaking a new barrier, showing all four rounds on US cable TV. Jay also has the ratings from the San Diego market for last weekend.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with CBS/CBS College Sports/Sports Radio USA college football/NFL analyst Dan Fouts about his multitasking this season.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star wonders if the BCS and the Rose Bowl could be cable exclusives come 2010.

The Los Angeles Times’ Diane Pucin says Anaheim Angels owner Arte Moreno is subtly using his own sports radio station to throw his team’s hat into the ring for free agent Manny Ramirez.

Over to the crosstown Los Angeles Daily News where Tom Hoffarth writes about LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks fans’ unhappiness over Fox Sports West’s excessive use of rinkside cameras during telecasts. Tom has extensive media notes including news about Hazel Mae joining the MLB Network. Tom says USC football voice Pete Arbogast managed to talk himself out of doing fill-in work for USC basketball. Good job, Pete. And Tom reviews the week in blogging.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says 49ers GM Scott McCloughan gave some cryptic answers when being interviewed this week.

Gary Washburn from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes that sports is getting less of a presence on local TV newscasts.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the internet is adding a huge wrinkle in the sports broadcasting business.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says much of Ontario province won’t be able to watch the Raptors this Sunday thanks to a conflict between TSN and Rogers Cable.

Now to some more links from the regions I already did in the first part of today’s megalinks.

National

A couple of things from The Big Lead. First, it reports that NBC Sports is expected to layoff employees at its website and the New York television office. And Yahoo! Sports has widened its lead over ESPN.com as far as hits and traffic are concerned.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media ran a semi-live blog from the Nashville Predators-Anaheim Ducks game.

Kevin Downey of Media Life Magazine says sports TV is no longer recession-proof.

Steve Lepore of Puck the Media has decided to make following Jack Edwards’ calls a regular feature and he has the video of Jack going over the top during Thursday’s Habs-Bruins game.

Daniel Frankel of Variety writes that the new Ski Channel launches on Christmas Day on two prominent services.

And that will do it.

Some Bonus Sunday Night Links

I’ll give you some more linkage on this Sunday night.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch breaks his exile and has reaction to the latest dust-up between Sports Guy Bill Simmons and ESPN.com.

A couple of things from Neil Best of Newsday. He breaks news that the YES Network has until Thursday to match the offer from MSG Network to take the simulcast of Mike Francesa’s WFAN Radio show. Neil says the antiquated NFL rules prevented New York fans from seeing the end of the Green Bay-Tennessee game.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun noticed several mistakes made by CBS’ Rich Gannon during the Ravens-Cleveland game today.

Roger van der Horst of the Raleigh News & Observer has the ACC football TV schedule for this week.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News recaps the NFL Today on Terrell Owens’ ranking in Bill Cowher’s list of current top wide receivers.

Steve Lepore’s Puck the Media site has the schedule of Yahoo NHL webcasts for this month.

Rick Kissell of Variety says ESPN’s Monday Night Football is paying dividends for the network.

Ian R. Rapoport of the Birmingham (AL) News says ESPN’s College Gameday will be in Baton Rouge, LA this Saturday for the Alabama-LSU game.

DirecTV is now offering Comcast SportsNet New England in HD.

That will do you until Monday.

More Wednesday Linkage

Let’s give you some linkage tonight.

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch tells us that the Boston Herald is now talking with noted plagiarist Ron Borges about coming on board. Bad move if you ask me.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wonders why Bills-Jags is not being shown on the local CBS affiliate this Sunday.

Bob Diddlebock of the Denver Examiner says ESPN did not match the Broncos’ high quality performance on Monday night.

Paula Duffy of the Examiner wonders if Keith Olbermann should be anchoring sports during the election season.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the possible sale of naming rights to the new Giants-Jets stadium and how it has ties to Nazi Germany.

Jeff Z. Klein of the Times blogs that there are many sources to watch the Paralympics from Communist China on the web.

In the Biz of Football, Maury Brown looks at ESPN’s use of virtual technology in a show the Alleged Worldwide Leader is producing with video game producer EA Sports.

Laura Nachman says NFL Films President Steve Sabol will be honored next week.

Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times talks about ESPN’s College Gameday airing live from the LA Coliseum in advance of Saturday night’s Ohio State-USC game.

Etan Horowitz of the Orlando Sentinel says Bright House cable will add Big Ten Network to its lineup in central Florida.

But in Iowa, Michael Tidemann of the Estherville Daily News says despite Mediacom and BTN coming to an agreement, not all communities in the Hawkeye State can watch the channel.

The Big Ten Network says it will stream live games including some non-conference basketball games and other sports on its website for free. Football will not be streamed on the website.

Here’s CBS Sports’ press release on its live streaming of SEC games on CBSSports.com.

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks with CBS Sports’ Gary Danielson about the SEC.

Jen Murphy of the Wall Street Journal talks with the vice president of content for CBS College Sports about his workout and his doing color analysis for Rutgers football.

Also from the Journal, Matthew Futterman talks with Fox Sports Head Honcho David Hill about a myriad of subjects.

Dan Slater of the Journal says the son of the late NFL Films voice John Facenda can sue over the use of his father’s voice in a commercial.

Shahaz Mahmud of Adweek writes that ESPN will debut a channel on social networking site Bebo that will offer highlights from SportsCenter and other programming.

Joe Favorito likes the way the George Foreman Grill used the US Open to gain brand recognition.

Keith Thibault of the Sports Media Journal had the opportunity to visit Fenway Park’s press box.

The Associated Press reports that last Thursday, the Washington Nationals scored a record low in the ratings on MASN against the Redskins-Giants game. Ooof.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media has a few posts tonight. We start with the announcement that the New York Times is eliminating its separate sports section to save money. Chris wonders if the Chicago White Sox is trying to buy off the media by allowing reporters first dibs to buy postseason tickets???? And Chris looks at Inside the NFL debuting on Showtime this week.

Bobby “Butch” Burney of the Sulfur Springs (TX) News-Telegram talks about ESPN coming to town to televise a local high school game this Friday.

Jimmy DeButts of the Birmingham (AL) Business Journal says a local sportscaster is suing his old station over a non-compete clause in his contract.

Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that every Utah Jazz game will be televised and that includes all of the exhibition games.

Moving overseas, Dan Sabbagh and Amanda Andrews of the Times of London report that ESPN is seriously considering a bid for the TV rights to the English Premier League. They are currently held by Rupert Murdoch’s British Sky Broadcasting.

Going over to Australia, Paul McIntyre of the Sydney Morning Herald says Yahoo!7 (a consortium of Yahoo and 7 Network) and Telstra are crowing that they made more revenue online than NBC did during the Olympics.

That will do it for now. Since it’s late, I won’t have a review of Inside the NFL tonight. I’ll try to put one up on Thursday. Good night, now.

Some Final Sunday Links

I’ll give you some final links as I’ve been editing my awards for Olympics coverage throughout the evening.

From Tripp Mickle of the Sports Business Daily/Journal’s Olympics website, he writes that NBC’s Universal Sports channel will have complete coverage of the Paralympic Games from Beijing starting September 4.

Jay Weiner of the SBD/SBJ recaps the Closing Ceremonies which are being aired on NBC in the East some 12 hours after they happened.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustated gives his final thoughts on his time spent in Communist China.

James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter notes the viewing record set for the Beijing Olympics.

Bill Carter of the New York Times recounts the important moves made by NBC to ensure the 2008 Olympics Games in Communist China were a ratings success.

Brian Stelter of the Times says NBC and Yahoo were the big winners in online traffic for the Olympics.

Stuart Elliot of the Times lists his favorite and not-so favorite Olympic ads.

David Bauder of the Associated Press writes that NBC officials are absolutely giddy over a successful Games.

Andrew Edgecliff-Johnson from the Financial Times has NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker hoping that the rating success for Olympics will carry over during the TV season.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post also gives out his gold, silver and bronze medals.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has reader reaction to his column from earlier today on athletes who leave their native countries and become Olympic athletes for other countries.

The Arizona Daily Star notes five NBC announcers, analysts and hosts who had Valley of the Sun ties.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record notes that the Olympics ratings have continued to dip without swimming or gymnastics. Ken says NBC’s Universal Sports channel will have Olympic event replays starting next month. Moving away from the Olympics, Ken has MSG Network’s and MSG +’s schedule for September.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette recaps Chris Russo’s appearance on a local sports talk show tonight.

The Sports Media Journal has listed the local media outlets covering all 30 NFL teams

And that will do it for tonight. I’ll be back on Monday.

The Tuesday Linkage

Well, I’m still recovering from staying up late watching the Olympics coverage. With women’s gymnastics on tonight, expect another late night.

Let’s start with Newsday’s Neil Best who has a couple of stories in today’s edition of the newspaper. The first story has reaction from NBC’s Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines who called the thrilling men’s 4 x 100 meters swimming relay. Neil’s second story is on NBC’s internet coverage which is sans announcers, but has bloggers providing live commentary. And in his blog, Neil writes about the New York Jets bringing on Florida State University Cowgirl Jenn Sterger as their gameday host. Bloggers across the country seemed to be obsessed with Jenn, mostly in a negative way. She’s hot and she’s parlayed one cutaway TV shot on ABC into a career, but more power to her for being able to make money. If you so wish, you can visit her website.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels Bela Karolyi is a walking, talking conflict of interest commenting on gymnastics on NBC while his wife is coaching the US women’s team.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says NBC’s ratings for the Olympics have been nothing short of golden.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Rick and Dick Hoyt, the father and son team that have been seen in many a marathon and triathlon, have been signed to a shoe endorsement deal and I think everyone can agree they truly deserve it. Last year, HBO’s Real Sports profiled the pair in a very inspirational story. If you don’t know, Rick has cerebral palsy and his father Dick, pushes him in a wheelchair at road races all across the country.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty says NBC’s softball voice Joe Castellano made his debut last night.

Ken McMillan from the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says Late Night with the Olympics has been quite entertaining.

James Hibberd from the Hollywood Reporter has NBC responding to some fakery accusations during the Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog gives Microsoft credit for its Silverlight technology which powers the NBCOlympics.com live video streams.

Anick Jesdanun of the Associated Press likes the online streaming of the Games, but it won’t replace TV.

The Sports Business Daily/Journal’s Olympic website reports that NBC is averaging a 17.0 rating for the Games through Sunday, a very good number in this day and age.

Mike Shields of Adweek says NBC and Yahoo are the clear leaders in online traffic for the Olympics.

Jerry Guo of Gadling has some ways to find the Olympics online if you can’t access NBCOlympics.com’s streams. I’m not endorsing this by the way.

NBC is taking preorders for the Olympics highlights DVD.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Olympics beat the Cowboys in the local ratings on Saturday.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald writes that NBC has been caught off guard as the Olympics are actually living up to the hype.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL Network is going to pick up the reamaining exhibition game schedule of the New York Jets and ESPN has changed plans for the first Monday Night Football game at Green Bay.

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports gives us the account of how he came to break the Brett Favre-to-the-Jets story.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says the Monday Night Football crew might be finally getting the broadcast right.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says Time Warner Cable is not doing right by its customers by not adding the Big Ten Network to its lineup.

But Comcast customers aren’t going to have that problem as of August 15. Don Dodson of the Urbana/Champaign (IL) News-Gazette has the story.

Mike Nadel who wrote the anti-Erin Andrews column now comes back with a new story talking about the reaction.

Wayne Fish from the Philly Burbs newspapers says Chris Thierien will join the Flyers’ radio booth. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer says Thierien will replace Brian Propp.

Thomas Stinson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about the Skip Caray memorial service that took place on Monday. Carroll Rogers of the AJC says Caray’s wit and life were celebrated.

And our last story has to do with a new show on Fine Living that will skewer Martha Stewart. Brook Barnes of the New York Times writes that Martha’s daughter, the always lovely Alexis and Jennifer Koppleman Hutt, the co-hosts of Whatever on Sirius Satellite Radio will do a MST3K-type snarky skewering of Martha’s old shows.

Your Monday Linkage

Let’s do your Monday links and somehow, I’ll try to write The Week Ahead.

I am not in a position to see the new live SportsCenter that debuted at 9 a.m. ET today. However, other people are keeping track of the Josh Elliot-Hannah Storm pairing including Awful Announcing which is doing a live blog.

Newsday’s Neil Best noted the first thing Hannah did on SportsCenter was to tease a Brett Favre story! Neil was also happy to hear the old NBA on NBC theme music during the USA-China men’s basketball game on Sunday.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says more is not less for NBC as far as Olympic ratings are concerned. Robert Bianco of the Nation’s Newspaper says so far, NBC’s coverage is looking like a winner.

In his Monday wrap, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about Gordon Edes making his Yahoo debut and how NBC is already ahead of ESPN in the disclosure department.

We’ve got a few things from a very busy Darren Rovell from CNBC. First, he writes how the Beijing Organizing Committee’s choosing of Li Ning to light the cauldron might have rubbed addidas and Nike the wrong way. Darren says Li Ning’s sporting apparel company came out a big winner after the Opening Ceremonies. Darren also discusses an elaborate Olympics ticket scam that duped many people around the globe. And Daren writes that Speedo is coming out a big winner thanks to 22 of 24 swimming races won in the new LZR suit.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says his city ranked first in the nation of those watching the Olympics. Ray also mentions that he likes the world record line shown in swimming.

From the Schenectady Gazette, Ken Schott has some thoughts on the Olympics including his dislike of the world record line shown in swimming.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is very grumpy today.

The Sports Media Watch talks about NBC’s successful online streaming of the Olympics.

The Seattle Times says even NBC’s online coverage has limitations.

Matthew Futterman and Sam Schechner of the Wall Street Journal says it’s apparent with the Olympics that online streaming will not hurt overall TV ratings.

Tony Pierce of the Los Angeles Times appeals to NBC to stop saying “live” when the Olympics are not actually live on the West Coast.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC is going live in primetime, except in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

David Carr of the Times says NBC, more or less, tried to TiVo the Olympics Opening Ceremonies from us.

Also from the Times, George Vescey says NBC is in Michael Phelps Standard Time.

The Sports Business Daily/Journal’s Olympic website has some news and notes from Communist China including some ratings news on the first two days of the Games.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star goes over the best and worst CBC Olympic analysts. And Zelkovich says CBC still needs to work out some kinks.

Les Perraux of the Toronto Globe and Mail says if you’re wondering why the Olympics are being held in hot and humid August in Communist China, then you might want to ask NBC.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post says there’s a reason why you won’t see boxing or other Olympic sports in primetime … women.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News wonders how Meet the Press suddenly appeared in NBC’s Olympic primetime coverage on Sunday.

Mark Madden (I’m wondering if this is the former Pittsburgh sports radio talk show host) writing for the Beaver County Times, wonders what happened to the crusading sports journalist.

David Goetzl of MediaPost writes that Time Warner Cable is continuing its talks with the Big Ten Network.

Terri Trespicio writing for the Boston Sunday Globe magazine writes about her experience being cast on NESN’s reality show abomination, Sox Appeal. Pink Hat Hell looks at her date on season premiere of the show.

And that will do it. I expect another NBC press release about the Olympic overnight ratings coming very soon and when I get it, I’ll post it immediately.

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.

A Thursday Night Link Thing

This blogging schedule is upside down. Friday megalinks may be sometime in the afternoon as one of my employees is expected to be in the office which means I’ll have to listen to his stories. So tough when one employee doesn’t know when to shut up.

The Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on TNT topped the cable ratings last week. The SMW says Red Sox-Yankees gave ESPN a ratings boost on Sunday. And the blog has some media news and notes.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has some possible Friday media column topics.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if Brett Favre tipped his hand about his coming out of retirement to collectors.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says the NFL is appealing to the FCC to resolve its cable dispute with Comcast.

Jason Whitlock writing for FoxSports.com feels NBC is going overboard with its hiring of Dan Patrick for Football Night in America.

Mark Harden of the Denver Business Journal writes that KWGN will pick up the NFL Network’s broadcast of the Broncos at Cleveland on November 6.

Joe Favorito says College Fanz Network is giving Sports Information Directors another chance for public relations opportunities.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch says WEEI has snatched “Patriots Friday” away from rival 890 ESPN.

Stephanie Clifford in the New York Times reports that Communist China will restrict advertising space in Beijing giving preferential treatment to Olympic sponsors.

The boxing reality TV series, The Contender has found a new home. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that Versus has signed with Survivor-producer Mark Burnett to produce a 4th season as well as a Muay Thai verision of the series that has previously called NBC and ESPN its home.

Reynolds writes that Turner Sports and Yahoo! Sports have reached a content and advertising agreement that benefits both sides.

Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Yahoo! will gain access to Turner content on its website and Turner will manage ad sales for both while the two will share revenue.

Showing that we’re truly in the dog days of summer, ESPN has a press releasing combining announcements on Wimbledon, the Man O’ War Stakes and Major League Lacrosse. You can’t that information anywhere else. And once again, Chris Berman will be involved in the Home Run Derby. I can’t wait.

Ronald Blum of the AP has ESPN’s Joe Morgan blasting the All-Star Game during ESPN’s conference call with reporters about ESPN’s coverage of the All-Star Game. Good job, Joe.

Mike Lucas of the Capital (WI) Times profiles FSN Wisconsin host Craig Coshun.

Phil Swann over at TVPredictions.com reports that Charter Communications will add six HD channels in Wisconsin including FSN Wisconsin in time for the Milwaukee Brewers’ stretch run.

Matt Swenson over at the Express from the Washington Post says there’s a disconnect between the Nationals and TV viewers.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press reports that ESPN is looking for even more land to house its expanding headquarters.

Gail Pennington of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is at the Television Critics Association tour and blogs about ESPN Films’ Jackie Robinson biography.

This person over at OnMilwaukee.com shares my feelings on ESPN’s silly “Titletown” features on SportsCenter (notice this is the first and last time I will mention this in my blog).

Deadspin has Florida State’s Jenn Sterger clarifying her “suck it” statement regarding Erin Andrews.

Den Cotton over at the National Sports Review thinks ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd is funny.

CBS Sports previews its coverage of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic this weekend.

Jeff Munson of the Tahoe (NV) Daily Tribune writes that NBC Sports will commit to two more years of the American Century Championship, the celebrity golf tournament that its been carrying since 1990. Sara Thompson of the Daily Tribune talks to two tournament participants, former Dateline NBC anchor Stone Phillips and Joe Buck about the state of the media.

Lots o’ links tonight. That will do it and as I mentioned at the top, Friday megalinks will be up sometime in the afternoon.

Fast Monday Night Update

I’ll give you a few links tonight. I’ve got to get to work, but there’s enough news to warrant a quickie update.

The Sports Media Watch says the finals of Euro 2008 drew a 3.1 overnight rating for ABC on Sunday. Pretty decent for a steamy Sunday afternoon here on the East Coast. And the SMW reports that the U.S. Olympic Trials drew decent ratings for NBC’s primetime lineup.

The lovely Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the U.S. Olympic Trials led NBC to a primetime win on Sunday.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says just two weeks after NBC purchased a stake in WCSN and rebranding it, Universal Sports has now been picked up by Time Warner Cable in New York and Los Angeles.

Greg Johnson of the Los Angeles Times writes about Time Warner placing Universal Sports in its lineup.

Paul Sweeting writing for Digital Media Wire says NBC is going to have a hard time preventing peer-to-peer sites from offering torrents of Olympic coverage.

Chris Albrecht of NewTeeVee.com is worried that NBC will delay some of its Olympic events from the web too long for consumers’ tastes.

In his Olympics insider blog, Ron Judd of the Seattle Times provides the tape delayed times for the U.S. Olympic Trials on NBC and USA Network for this week.

By the way, if you want to get acquainted with some other Olympic athletes not from the United States, Australian Olympics rightsholder 7 Network has produced a weekly show, “Road to Beijing” which can be seen online here. It’s actually a decent program and well produced. You can say you know some of the Australian swimmers before anyone else in your neighborhood.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek writes that Yahoo will be launching a stand alone website and mobile site devoted to the Olympic games in Communist China.

Robert Weintraub of the Guardian in the UK says Euro 2008 got a big infusion in the States from British announcers.

Clement Lisi of the New York Post says Euro 2008 was a big hit here in the US.

The Gaffer at EPL Talk says ESPN has the power to make soccer work in the States.

Today is Darren Rovell’s 30th birthday! I wish a Happy Birthday to Darren who was one of the first to e-mail me about my blog.

Broadcasting & Cable reports that in the Subway Series ratings race, YES beat WPIX on Friday while the two swapped places on Sunday.

David Goetzl of TV Watch writes that ESPN is going beyond cable TV.

Ray Hanania of the Southwest (IL) News Herald and head of the National Arab American Journalists Association writes that it’s best to forgive Bonnie Bernstein about her comments about Palestinian children.

Art Spander of the Oakland Tribune is happy to see Bud Collins back at Wimbledon after suffering ulcers in his legs.

Fred Mitchell of the Chicago Tribune writes that Mike North makes his first appearance since leaving WSCR on Tuesday.

John Daly of the Daly Planet motorsports blog says TNT hasn’t had much help from the racers in its NASCAR coverage.

Condolences go out to Jim Nantz whose father died over the weekend. David Barron of the Houston Chronicle reports.

That will do it tonight.