Now that I’ve finished my work for the day and walked five laps around my office building, I’ll do the links. I’ve found that I’m more productive in my new office than the last building. Perhaps it’s the setting, perhaps it’s the honeymoon I have with the new landlord, perhaps I just have found this new place to feel like home, whatever it is, I’m doing more work here than I ever did. And I’m finding the time to blog here as well. I hope I can keep up this production.
Anyway, here’s your links for today.
USA Today’s Michael McCarthy writes about ESPN The Magazine now doing ESPN The Nude Issue meaning athletes will be posed “tastefully” in the buff. Whatever.
The lovely Christine Brennan of USA Today appeals for viewers for the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
Chris Littman of the Sporting News says Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury actually foresaw ESPN The Nude Issue 13 years ago.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell has his list of athletes who he thinks will pose for ESPN The Nude Issue. Darren likes the fact that this year’s viewership for the NBA Finals is beating last year’s.
BBC News reports that ESPN is saying it has no plans to buy the cash-strapped Setanta Sports.
Ainsley Thompson of the Dow Jones News Service writes that ESPN does not ruling out buying Setanta’s rights to the English Premier League, however.
Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the Mets are discounting tickets for this week’s key series against the Phillies. Neil says the New Jersey Nets still plan to break ground for their proposed arena in Brooklyn. Neil writes that NBC Sports is gearing up for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that local viewers will be able to see John Smoltz do a rehab start for the Pawtucket Red Sox later this afternoon.
Laura Nachman will miss listening to Philadelphia’s Channel 6 on the FM dial due to the digital TV conversion.
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post’s Nationals Journal blog says fans tuning to MASN2 on certain Comcast systems had trouble watching last night’s Reds-Nats game.
Dan Steinberg of the Post’s DC Sports Bog chronicles what exactly happened as the game was suddenly pulled off Comcast.
Paul Farhi of the Post talks about CBS Radio’s plans to challenge Redskins owner Dan Snyder’s Red Zebra group of sports radio stations.
Tim Lemke of the Washington Times delves into the Nationals’ negotiations with draft pick Stephen Strasburg. Tim also looks at the Nationals TV issues with Comcast last night.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the local ABC affiliate will delay its digital conversion until after Game 4 of the NBA Finals is complete.
Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune writes about Frank Thomas talking with his former White Sox teammates for Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a former Packer is taking part in the NFL Broadcast Boot Camp.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says former Rams coach Mike Martz will be on NFL Network today and tomorrow.
Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News feels the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash is doing a great job as an NBA Finals reporter for David Letterman.
Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times says it’s a taste of TNT’s Inside the NBA on NBA TV.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders what Mark Jackson’s next move will be after calling this year’s NBA Finals on ABC.
John Ryan from the San Jose Mercury News likes one NFL Network Top 10 program with one exception.
Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times gets into the debate over reporters vs. bloggers, especially in the wake of the Raul Ibanez controversy that began in the Midwest Sports Blog.
As a follow up, Jerod Morris of the MSB has what he hopes are his final thoughts on the whole thing.
The CBC says Hockey Night in Canada analyst Marc Crawford goes back to coaching next season with the Dallas Stars.
Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine writes that an advertiser actually got its message across by unfurling a huge banner at a Brazilian soccer game.
Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine talks with Joe Buck in advance of his new HBO show which premieres on Monday.
The Sports Media Watch says TNT also saw a ratings drop for NASCAR last Sunday. SMW has a quarter-hour breakdown of the ratings for the NBA and NHL from Tuesday.
Chris Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media says the Boxing Writers Association of America will webcast their annual awards on Friday. Chris says CBS’ Tim Brando will be honored by college Sports Information Directors. And Chris feels the NCAA’s new rules on social network go beyond any logic or common sense.
Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says MLB.com has delayed the wait for archived games by double the time as requested by its TV partners.
Some good video from Sox & Dawgs, two of which I forgot to post yesterday. First, there’s a video of a woman slapping her ass during NESN’s Red Sox montage from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Yankees game. Also from Tuesday’s game, NESN analyst Dennis Eckersley admits he’s clueless. One of the reasons why Eck is so refreshing in the booth. And here’s a screengrab from last night’s Yankees-Red Sox game showing a woman laughing at Nick Swisher for failing to make a catch.
Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog looks into the Celtics possibly streaming their games online.
Tim Conneally of BetaNews.com says a group of smaller cable providers is asking Congress to
limit ESPN’s cost for its broadband 360 site.
CBSSports.com has an excerpt of Jim Nantz’s book, “Always By My Side”.
Plenty of links. I have a press release post coming up.
