Let’s give you the Friday megalinks while I can. Not as many links as the usual Friday, but the Memorial Day weekend has a lot to do with that. I’ll give you what I can.
Getting ready for the three day weekend and you can find the sports and the entertainment viewing for Saturday and Sunday right here.
On to the links.
National
USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Michael McCarthy debate the pros and cons of holding Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey.
William Cooper of Sports Business Daily says the first ad promoting the US World Cup bid for the 2018 or 2022 games will air Saturday.
Neil Hayes writing for NBC Sports.com says the Stanley Cup Finals could be a ratings boon for the NHL. Don’t forget NBC is a rightsholder for the NHL.
Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post announces that he’s leaving to join NFL Network and NFL.com full-time.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that sports apparel brand Crons is entering the nutrition game.
Milton Kent of Fanhouse says Danica Patrick may have lost some fans in IndyCar.
The Sports Media Watch says Thursday’s thrilling Game 5 between the Lakers and Suns got its highest ratings of the NBA Western Conference Finals, but they’re still down from last year.
SMW also has news and notes on various sports TV personalities.
Steve Lepore at Puck The Media discovers that Dan Patrick will not host NBC’s coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals from the beginning.
Steve also has NHL Network’s coverage plans for the Stanley Cup Finals.
Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy tells NHL fans what they can do to help increase the ratings for the Stanley Cup Finals.
World Cup Buzz critiques ESPN’s practice run for the World Cup.
World Cup Buzz shows us ESPN’s World Cup murals.
Deadspin has the video of YES reporter Kimberly Jones having her pork chop eaten by an overzealous and extremely creepy Yankees fan in Minnesota.
Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest asks if an outdoors cold weather Super Bowl makes sense.
East and Mid-Atlantic
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe profiles ESPN/ABC main NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy.
Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News wants the New Jersey Super Bowl talk to stop now.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post puts his vitriol aside for one day and remembers a former New York Football Giant who fought bravely for his country in Iwo Jima during World War II.
Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union wonders if ESPN/ABC should focus on Danica Patrick during this Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Peter Van Allen of the Philadelphia Business Journal says the Flyers have brought record ratings to the local Comcast SportsNet affiliate.
Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says Nationals fans as well as baseball fans across the country will have their eyes focused on the Junior College World Series and potential 1st round draft pick Bryce Harper tonight.
Jim notes that it will be a hockey weekend on NBC.
South
Adam Fisher of the Naples (FL) Daily News says Dick Vitale was a big hit as the keynote speaker for a local event.
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says all signs point to the Astros and Rockets leaving Fox Sports and signing with Comcast or another entity for their TV rights.
Midwest
Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that soccer games can draw ratings as the numbers show us.
Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star wonders when the local blackouts of the Indianapolis 500 will end.
Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox Sports is putting out an all points bulletin for younger male viewers for NASCAR.
Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has CBC’s Don Cherry being bullish on the Flyers-Blackhawks Stanley Cup Finals.
Ed says the Blackhawks are the big winners in sports business this week.
Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin looks at ESPN/ABC’s coverage of this Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals might be making changes to their TV and radio deals for next season.
West
Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News writes that BYU fans will be able to watch the women’s softball team in action this weekend on the ESPN family of networks.
Jay Posne
r of the San Diego Union-Tribune tells Padres fans that Dick Enberg prefers to call games straight down the middle.
To John Maffei of the North County Times who tells us that the Padres, Cox 4 and a local sports radio station have agreed to pull a spot that depended on bathroom humor.
Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes that Danica Patrick may be losing her status as IndyCar sweetheart.
And Jim has some sports media news and notes today.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News speculates on where Erin Andrews may land after her ESPN contract expires later this year.
Tom also has his extensive media news and notes in his blog.
Canada
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if CBC will broach the subject of match fixing during the World Cup. Dowbiggin apparently thinks every soccer game is fixed based on this extremely biased column.
TSN announces that TSN2 will carry an early afternoon NFL game during the regular season.
As mentioned, not as many links on this Friday as many writers took the weekend off. Can’t say I blame them.
