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A Few Sunday Links

Let’s provide some linkage on this NFL Sunday.

Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com writes that the SEC plans to reopen its humungous media rights contract with ESPN soon after its admission of Missouri into the conference is made official.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit losing his concentration as an earthquake hit Oklahoma last night.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that the Sportsman Channel will provide an outdoor programming block for ESPN International in Africa, the ANZAC region and the Middle East.

Chris Greenburg of the Huffington Post has videos of some of the sports topics that the late Andy Rooney discussed on “60 Minutes”.

Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald says UFC’s Dana White couldn’t be happier to bring MMA to Fox.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick can’t stand football being played outside of Saturday or Sunday.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about hosting Sunday Night Football at the game sites.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Soccer’s General Manager about bringing the World Cup into the Fox Sports Media Group.

Coley Harvey of the Orlando Sentinel tells us that this Saturday’s Miami-Florida State game will be an ESPN on ABC affair.

Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News says the Spurs will be showing some classic games to fill time during the NBA Lockout.

Mike Brudenell of the Detroit Free Press writes about Red Wings analyst Mickey Redmond being honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame next week.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel speaks with outgoing Brewers announcer Corey Provus about his new gig in Minnesota.

Bob also talks with new Thursday Night Football analyst Mike Mayock about the Green Bay Packers.

Harry Plumer of the Columbia Missourian talks with Fox Sports Net’s Jim Knox about the art of sideline reporting.

Jeff Call of the Deseret (UT) News writes about BYU using its resources and media relationships to ensure that its game against Oregon State would be televised.

Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that ESPN is changing the way the World Series of Poker is seen and produced.

Bob Young of the Arizona Republic recounts some of the sports topics the late Andy Rooney explored on 60 Minutes and in other arenas.

Lindsay Schnell of The Oregonian writes that the Oregon Ducks will be part of an ESPN College GameDay telecast once again this season.

Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette wonders if CBC will get shutout from the NHL in the next round of Canadian media bidding.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star talks with former NESN and MLB Network host Hazel Mae about her return to Canada and her old Rogers Sportsnet stomping grounds.

Sports Media Watch says CBS hit a season ratings high for its NFL national window in Week 8.

SMW says Fox continues to see a rise in ratings for the NFL.

SMW says college football on ABC did very well last week.

SMW notes that the SEC on CBS did not do well last week.

SMW says Notre Dame football hit a ratings low last Saturday.

SMW has some various college and pro football ratings news and notes.

And SMW has World Series ratings dating back to 1972.

We are now complete with the links for today.

Unveiling The Wednesday Links For You

On Tuesday, I did the links in the evening, but today, the linkage is coming out early. Let’s get to them.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that Fox plans to use its college football sideline reporter more as an analyst on the field, rather than give injury updates.

To the Wall Street Journal where Sam Schechner and Alexandra Berzon write about poker programming falling off TV due to the recent Fed crackdown of offsite gambling sites.

The Sports Biz Miss, Kristi Dosh, writes in Forbes that the settlement of the NFL lockout does not bode well for the NBA players in their dispute with the league.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser notes that former Access Hollywood and Insider host (and Betsy admirer) Pat O’Brien returns to CBS as the host of a new poker series. Pat used to be NBA, MLB and Olympics host for CBS Sports a long, long time ago. I think he’s better known now for his entertainment work than his sports career.

Cam writes that BBC Sport has posted a rather extensive online viewing guide for the 2012 London Olympics.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable has Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban being bullish on cable saying it’s the best way to distribute video rather than the internet.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says Universal Sports, which is now available on DirecTV, is airing “One Year To Go” programming as we’re now a year away from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Ki Mae Heussner from Adweek says ESPN’s Erin Andrews was among those taking part in an event hosted by Marie Claire magazine.

Tim Nudd at Adweek looks at the State of MLS as it hits its All-Star Game tonight.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of the controversial ending between the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates in the 19th inning.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group notes that ESPN.com has reworked its video player to stream 720p clips.

At Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog, Jay Busbee has ESPN’s NASCAR crew telling Dale Earnhardt, Jr. that it’s time to be a man.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN is all over football right now even though baseball is approaching one of its busier times of the season.

Awful Announcing is now at the finals of its Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament. Finalists might surprise you.

All Access says ESPN Deportes Radio has picked up another affiliate, this time in South Florida.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times the victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme are now focusing on the Mets ownership and what they knew of Madoff’s shenanigans and when they knew it.

Tom Spousta of the Times notes that Texas’ rivals in the Big 12 are seeing more than burnt orange in regards to the Longhorn Network.

Pete Tobey at the Glen Falls (NY) Post-Star says local native Dave Strader is leaving his Phoenix Coyotes post to work for the NHL on NBC/Versus.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says CBS Radio is making a hard charge at the Pittsburgh Pirates rights as Clear Channel tries to hold onto them.

Fox Sports Southwest has formally announced that Friday nights will be devoted to high school football programming.

Brent Zwerneman at the Houston Chronicle notes that the Big 12 has called a meeting on what to do about the Longhorn Network.

Steve Watkins of the Cincinnati Business Courier says Fox Sports Ohio is offering some online features as a companion to its Reds game broadcasts.

Robert Feder at TimeOut Chicago says NBC Chicago has hired the replacement for the late Daryl Hawks on its sports staff.

Vahe Gregorian at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Big 12 hierarchy is feeling that the issues surrounding Longhorn Network can be fixed.

Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star says a switching error caused the Royals-Red Sox extra inning game to go off the air on Fox Sports Kansas City late Monday night and a streetball program to go on briefly its place.

Chris Dufrense of the Los Angeles Times says Pac-12 schools remain euphoric about their $3 billion media rights contract with ESPN and Fox, but there are still some issues that hang over the conference.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News caught up with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and spoke with him about several issues facing the league.

Robert Collias of the Maui (HI) News reports that NBC golf analyst Mark Rolfing is sounding off after being dropped as the Executive Director of a PGA Tour stop.

Susan Krashinsky of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Rogers Sportsnet has purchased Setanta Sports Canada and will rebrand the channel under the Sportsnet name.

Erik Spanberg from Scene Daily has ESPN being hopeful that the upward trend on NASCAR’s TV ratings continue as it takes over the Sprint Cup schedule for the rest of the season.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

The Business Insider Sports Page has its suggestions as who should be cause in the ESPN Book movie.

And I’m done with the links for now.

The Complete Friday Megalinks

Friday’s have become maddening. I was out of the office earlier today and expect to be out again later, but I’m doing the Megalinks early so I can be done with them and be free for other stuff tonight.

As always, check out the Weekend Viewing Picks for the sports and entertaining programming.

National

We’ll begin with Andy Staples from Sports Illustrated who writes that the Longhorn Network has suddenly created a big problem for Big 12 Conference schools not named “Texas.”

Gavin J. Blair of the Hollywood Reporter says one of Japan’s networks will begin airing women’s soccer in the wake of the country’s win in the Women’s World Cup last week.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says MSG Network will celebrate Baseball Hall of Fame Weekend with a marathon of Halls of Fame specials.

Jessica Shambora of Fortune says ESPN succeeds where other cable channels don’t.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid notes that NFL Players Association Executive DeMaurice Smith snuck up on ESPN reporters George Smith and Chris Mortensen during a live shot on Thursday.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser has former Howard Stern Show castmember Artie Lange confirming that he’s in talks to do a Fox Sports Radio show.

Karen Hogan of the Sports Video Group mentions that ESPN Films will premiere a new documentary on famed Georgia running back Herschel Walker in September.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tells us that he’s going to sing the national anthem before a selected MLB game next month.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media waxes poetic about Mike Emrick’s departure as Voice of the New Jersey Devils.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the site’s next matchup in its Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament, Joe Buck vs. Jim Gray. That’s a tough choice.

Ryan Yoder from AA says ESPN is taking a chance on airing live poker.

Joe Favorito asks who really benefits from the World Cup?

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs has a review of the week in sports media.

Dom Cosentino of Deadspin notes that San Francisco Giants announcer Jon Miller is still bitter about his firing by ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Sunday Night Baseball analyst Bobby Valentine about his first year in the broadcast booth.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with Mike Emrick about his decision to leave the New Jersey Devils.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that the Derek Jeter 3,000 hit chase has put a famous memorabilia company into the spotlight one again.

Neil talks about New Jersey announcers departing their teams after long runs.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post admits that he loves to hate WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Justin Terranova of the Post writes about Hall of Fame announcer Mike Emrick leaving the New Jersey Devils after 21 seasons.

Justin has five questions for ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with an NBC Sports executive about how its summer horse racing series from Saratoga came to fruition.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that one Baltimore TV station is cutting back on its sports coverage.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg revels in an on-air argument on one of the local sports radio stations in the DC Sports Bog.

South

At the Houston Chronicle, Brent Zwerneman writes that Texas A&M officials are very concerned about the Longhorn Network and what it means for the future of the Big 12 Conference.

The Chronicle’s David Barron has statements from Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe and Longhorn Network owner ESPN about the conference’s temporary cease-and-desist order on airing high school football games and a Texas conference game.

David says the Longhorn Network saga could make for good reality TV.

David says while Longhorn Network is prevented from airing high school football for now, Fox Sports Southwest will have an NFL Red Zone Channel-like high school football block on Friday nights.

Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin Statesman-American says Longhorn Network programming is currently in limbo.

From the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht writes that ESPN will document the Oklahoma football program as it prepares for the 2011 campaign.

Midwest

John Erardi of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that ESPN’s Barry Larkin is coming back to the Queen’s City this Sunday.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that a local TV sports director is back on the job after corrective neck surgery.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business has this week’s winners and losers.

Roman Augustoviz says WNBA star Maya Moore will give viewers an inside look at the WNBA All-Star Game tomorrow.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times says there’s too much money being left on the table for an extended NFL lockout.

Bill Shakin of the Los Angeles Times writes that court documents show MLB was very skeptical of how Fox’s money for an extended rights deal could have helped the Dodgers remain competitive.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Minnesota Twins analyst Bert Blyeven credits Dodgers voice Vin Scully for helping him to become a Hall of Fame pitcher.

Jeff Faraudo of the San Jose Mercury Times reports that ESPN Deportes now has an affiliate in the Bay Area.

Jon Wilner of the Mercury Times tries to handicap what will happen next with the Pac-12 Network.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at Bryant Gumbel’s closing comments on the US Women’s soccer team on HBO’s Real Sports.

And that’s going to do it. Stay cool on this scorcher of a day.

A Full Tuesday Linkfest! Finally!

For the last week, I haven’t been able to do a full set of links. Work has been crazy, but I hope to give one today. It’s either going to the other office or heading out with the boss to various work sites or head to meetings, but today should be calmer.

I’ve started a series on People You Should Follow on Twitter in response to Sports Illustrated’s list published last week. Part 1 was posted Monday night and Part 2 came out Tuesday night. Look for more installments throughout the week.

Let’s get started.

First, ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute writes about the ESPN/Bruce Feldman suspension/non-suspension and for some reason, doesn’t do full due diligence on the story.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing does an excellent point-by-point takedown of the Ombudsman’s acceptance of ESPN’s company line on the Feldman suspension.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has graphic evidence of ESPN Radio Hack Colon Cowherd being a complete idiot.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand notes that ESPN is about to fully embrace Twitter and social media.

In the Business of College Sports, Kristi Dosh has a fascinating post on which sports turn a profit for BCS schools and which ones don’t.

Mike Reynolds from Mulitchannel News writes about the Women’s World Cup Final resonating with viewers.

Mike says a marketing firm is looking to package two pre-World Cup Western Hemisphere qualifying tournaments to networks.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek looks at Ross Greenburg’s departure from HBO Sports.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life Magazine goes inside the Women’s World Cup’s stellar ratings.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry writes about the marriage between sports and Twitter.

Vinnie Iyer of AOL Sporting News has HBO being optimistic that a new edition of Hard Knocks will be filmed this summer. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser for the link.

Jonathan Wall of Yahoo’s Devil Ball blog critiques ESPN’s coverage of the Open Championship.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is suing sports apparel manufacturer Champion for dropping him from endorsements after his tweets about Osama bin Laden last month.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe delves into the Boston Celtics buying a large stake into Comcast SportsNet New England.

Roger Catlin at the Hartford Courant says ESPN came out as the real winner of the Women’s World Cup Final.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says ESPN produced a fair and compelling Women’s World Cup Final broadcast.

Richard Huff at the New York Daily News looks at ESPN premiering a Spanish language-edition of E:60.

Michael Blaustein of the New York Post writes that ESPN’s miniature cameras at the World Series of Poker are giving competitors an interesting advantage.

At Fishbowl New York, Jerry Barmash reports that Len Berman is dropping his sports reports on a local radio station and will be replaced by the same man who replaced him at WNBC-TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Open Championship final round ratings.

Evan Weiner at the New Jersey Newsroom wonders what the UK phone hacking scandal could mean for News Corp.’s sports partners here in the US.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that NFL Today host James Brown didn’t like how DC NFL team coach Mike Shanahan handled QB Donovan McNabb.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the ratings for the Women’s World Cup Final.

Travis Sawchik of the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier says lucrative TV contracts have helped to make college football a big business.

Candace Carlisle of the Dallas Business Journal says Fox Sports Southwest has hired a veteran writer from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to beef up its online coverage.

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle says Texas A&M Regents are concerned over Texas’ Longhorn Network and what it means for the future of the Big 12 Conference.

Ryan Sharp of the Daily Oklahoman writes that Big 12 Conference schools can’t be too happy over the Longhorn Network’s airing of Texas high school football games.

Steven Matthews of the Dayton Daily News says the Western & Southern Open will have plenty of new looks including extensive TV exposure this summer.

Tim Prahl of the Muskego (WI) Patch talks with former MLB Network reporter Trenni Kusnierek about returning home to Milwaukee to co-host a radio show.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business notes two games scheduled for the Chicago Bulls that may never get played.

Kyle Ringo of the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera says the University of Colorado is in a unique position where it can sell the TV rights to its games this season.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times goes over some of the changes in the proposed NFL collective bargaining agreement including a new TV package.

Steve Zeitchik of the Times looks at Ross Greenburg leaving HBO.

Elizabeth Salaam of the San Diego Reader says a recent Facebook poll wasn’t kind to Padres TV voice Dick Enberg.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some thoughts on various topics.

Sports Media Watch has some news and notes.

And we have some more news and notes from SMW.

Joe Favorito looks at who will benefit when the NFL lockout finally comes to an end.

And there is your full set of links.

Bringing Out The Monday Links

Time for the Monday linkage. I hope you had a good Easter if you observed the holiday. If not, I hope the weekend was relaxing for you. Let’s go over the linkage for today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball analysts like the idea of expanded MLB playoffs.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today reviews ESPN’s upcoming documentary on Steve Bartman and what he’s had to endure since becoming the scapegoat for the Chicago Cubs failure in 2003.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says NFL Network is going all out for the NFL Draft.

Jason Fry at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says like it or not, ESPN isthe standard bearer for most things sports media.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebserol could very well pull a successful Olympics bid out of his hat.

David Goetzl at MediaPost says ESPN should be given credit for admitting it’s wrong.

At ESPN Front Row, Dan Quinn looks at how the Alleged Worldwide Leader keeps the ABC’s Wide World of Sports flame.

The always lovely Kristi Dosh of The Business of College Sports tells us why an antitrust suit against the BCS won’t necessarily bring a playoff to college football.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a year supply of 7Up is not a worthy prize for hitting a half court shot.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick was apparently in a bad mood when he wrote today’s mishmash of a column.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with executives from NBA TV and the NHL Network about their postseason coverage.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend that was in sports television.

Steve Svekis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has Bill Parcells discussing his Miami Dolphins drafts in anticipation of his ESPN special on Tuesday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reviews ESPN’s broadcast of the Thunder-Spurs game over the weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TNT’s Charles Barkley is apologizing again.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says Game 6 of Vancouver-Blackhawks on Sunday set yet another ratings record for Comcast SportsNet.

Ed tells Bulls and Blackhawks fans to get their remotes ready for Tuesday.

Derrick Goold from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at ESPN’s Baseball Tonight paying a visit to the Gateway City.

Dan Caesar of the Post-Dispatch says ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball announcers had trouble getting to the city due to the violent storms in St. Louis over the weekend.

At the Denver Post, Dusty Saunders explores the humble beginnings of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage with Bob Ley.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News goes over this week’s sports calendar for Southern California.

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star says this month’s crackdown on online sites is forcing ESPN, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and The Score to rethink their poker programming.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says 2012′s NHL Playoff starting times could be staggered like the NCAA Tournament to gain more US TV viewership.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings for the NBA Playoffs on TNT.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wonders if the Winter Classic saved the NHL on network TV.

Jim Weber at the Lost Letterman site says if you think the NFL likes seeing the Draft in primetime, then we may be in store for a lot more in the future.

Joe Favorito says the team concept does not work for every sport.

Emmett Jones of the Sports Business Digest says the NFL stands to lose $2 BILLION in revenue if it lost the entire 2011 season.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing has the video of the usually solid Versus’ Dave Strader calling the wrong winner during Saturday’s Canadiens-Bruins game.

At Tribal Football, Andrew Slevison talks about ESPN2′s MLS ratings from last week.

Bob’s Blitz correctly calls for Colin Cowherd’s resignation from ESPN based on his sitcom deal working for CBS that is now in violation of the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s endorsement guidelines.

And that will do it for now.

Doing The Tuesday Links

I need to get these up quickly as the NBC/NHL conference call will occur at 1 p.m. today. I won’t be able to monitor it, but I do hope to provide details as they become available. Lots of links to get to.

The major news of the day thus far is NBC’s renewal of its agreement with the NHL. It means NBC and Versus will keep the rights to the league and it’s for 10 years/$200 million. Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy tells us what it all means.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand who has been tremendous in reporting this story has the full details of the new agreement between NBC/Comcast and the NHL.

Anthony Crupi says NBC/Comcast has won its first battle in what should be many against Disney/ESPN.

Barry Pachesky of Deadspin puts the NBC/Comcast contract with the NHL into perspective.

Keara Dowd of Aerys Sports says ESPN really wanted to get the NHL back.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says NBC/Comcast will have increased rights to the NHL with the new 10 year deal.

And in a related note, PBS’ Nightly Business Report had a segment on Comcast’s purchase of NBC and wanting to gain a big foothold in sports.

Back to Wyshynski, he gives us the best of NESN’s Jack Edwards from last night’s Game 3 of the Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens series. Jack was more over the top than usual.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says for Generation Y, sports is about getting together, not necessarily competing against each other.

Also from USA Today, Sean Leahy notes that despite the lockout, the NFL is pressing ahead with plans to release its 2011 regular season schedule tonight.

Sean speculates on some of the NFL’s marquee games for this season.

Sean says Joe Theismann has tweeted (since removed) that he is indeed out of the NFL Network Thursday Night Football booth.

Back to the Sports Business Journal and Terry Lefton who notes that the NFL continues with its Draft even as the lockout continues.

John Ourand and David Broughton of Sports Business Journal report that San Antonio reigns over the local TV ratings for the league.

Over at Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds says the NBA on TNT’s opening Sunday NBA Playoff tripleheader drew 36% more viewers than the year before.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek says the big TV ratings for the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs means more revenue for ESPN and Turner Sports.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that the NBA’s postseason ratings could set a record.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with someone in the know about the Feds’ crackdown on offshore poker websites.

Sports Business Daily looks at ESPN’s decision to drop all poker advisertising.

Cam Martin from SportsNewser says ESPN is going to be dropping all poker advertising and related programming for the foreseeable future.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing tells us what ESPN’s decision on poker advertising and programming means to the niche sport.

Russell Scibetti from the Business of Sports shares his thoughts on the Feds’ crackdown on poker websites and what it means for the networks that air poker.

Emmett Jones of Sports Business Digest notes that Pittsburgh is on top of the local NHL TV ratings heap.

The great Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says MLB’s TV partners are bullish about ad revenue for this season.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir writes about ESPN posting the endorsement deals made its announcers and analysts.

ESPN has announced that the extremely insufferable Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News will host a one hour daily show for ESPN Radio in New York. I refuse to link to any stories about this. You’ll thank me later.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes the early postseason ratings for both the NBA and NHL.

Dejan Kovacevic at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talks about the Penguins being number one in the local NHL TV ratings.

John Steigerwald of the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter who wrote the incendiary column last week about Giants fan Bryan Stow who is still in a coma after being beat up by two Los Angeles Dodgers fans, tries to explain himself this week and claims everyone across the country is to blame for misunderstanding his original incendiary column.

To Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner who says the NBC Sports Group outdueled three other networks for the NHL.

Jerry Ratcliffe of the Charlottesville (VA) Daily Progress writes about the bond between Fox NFL Sunday co-horts and odd couple Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long.

Rick Bozich from the Louisville Courier-Journal feels ESPN owes the University of Kentucky an apology.

Ryan Clark of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that ESPN’s Bob Knight should be fired for remarks he made about the Kentucky basketball program.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman previews one segment on tonight’s HBO Real Sports program.

Mark Dawidziak of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says a local man will get a shot at his dream to work for ESPN.

Diane Pucin from the Los Angeles Times looks at the new NBC/NHL deal.

TV Sports Jobs looks at 10 Worst Acting Performances in sports movies.

The great Bob’s Blitz blog has the ratings for WFAN and ESPN Radio New York for last month.

Pressdog notes the ratings for ESPN2′s airing of last weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide race.

The Canadian Sports Media blog feels CBC’s curling coverage ain’t what it used to be.

Sports Media Watch says TNT is off to its best start ever for an NBA postseason.

SMW says ESPN had good numbers for its NBA Playoffs opening tripleheader.

And SMW notes ABC had really good numbers for its opening two games of the NBA Playoffs.

Another post from Russell Scibetti, this time in the Business Insider Sports Page, where he noticed that MLB.com has stopped its free streaming of a game a night on Facebook.

Joe Favorito says in addition to promoting team pride, NBA and NHL Playoff teams might want to attach a worthy cause as well. I like this idea.

OK, lots of links and lots of stories. I think we’ll end it there.

Doing The Saturday Linkage

I got up early this morning (not that you care) and it now enables me to do some links for you. Some good stuff out today.

First USA Today’s Mike McCarthy, we learn that Joe Theismann claims he has not been told about any changes to the NFL Network Thursday Night Football booth. Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reported earlier this week that Mike Mayock is replacing Theismann and Matt Millen. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser for the link.

Back to Marcus at SportsNewser, he tells us that the Los Angeles Times is explaining why it chose to print the homophobic slur Kobe Bryant used against a referee in an NBA game this week.

CNBC’s Brian Beers has three cities to where the Sacramento Kings should relocate and they don’t include Los Angeles.

Kathleen E. McLaughlin of Global Post says an economic summit in Communist China led officials to ban several TV channels including Golf Channel.

There’s a controversy brewing in Philadelphia over a she said/she said story that was originally posted in the Naked Philadelphian blog where Sarah Madson, the wife of Phillies pitcher Ryan Madson was quoted as saying she hates Phillies fans and they’re rude and she won’t live in the city in the offseason. Deadspin picked up the story and the story boomeranged from there.

But Kyle Scott from the Crossing Broad blog did some investigating and found that the writer of the post, Laura Goldman has a rather checkered past. While Mrs. Madson has not denied the quote, the Phillies issued a statement that Goldman never identified herself as a reporter, nor did she record the conversation with Madson. For her part, Goldman said she did identify herself not just once but several times.

Kyle has written a post for CBS Philadelphia on the whole matter and again, he questions Goldman’s credibility. The whole question on bloggers and ethics is coming up again. I’m not sure about Goldman’s actual credentials based on her rather shady past, but there is a standard to uphold on approaching a potential interviewee. If she did identify herself as a reporter, that’s one thing, but according to people who attended the event, there was no notebook or tape recorder and there is a claim that Goldman cornered Madson and would not let her go. This story is apparently not going away any time soon.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says the NBA’s TV partners are looking forward to high ratings for the postseason.

Mike says Comcast SportsNet Chicago saw record ratings for the Bulls during the regular season.

Mike writes that the NHL on Versus saw increased viewership for the first night of the postseason.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel writes that NBA.com is going to provide increased coverage for the NBA Playoffs.

Chris Tribbey of Home Media magazine says 3-D TV’s future depends on sports programming.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch takes a look at the Bruins and Celtics playoff TV coverage.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times takes a look at MSG Network Knicks analyst Walt Frazier’s extensive wardrobe.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post reports that Bob Papa and Gus Johnson are “neck-and-neck” for the NFL Network Thursday Night Football gig.

The Gaston (NC) Gazette reports that the local Fox Sports Radio affiliate has picked up the rights to the Charlotte 49ers basketball and football broadcasts.

Chris Bahn of Arkansas Sports 360 notes that the University of Arkansas is reaping the benefits of ESPN choosing its spring football game to air today.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Fox/Big 12 deal could look frugal down the road and Barry also talks with CBS’ Bill Macatee about his infamous Tiger Woods interview at The Masters last week.

Speaking of that interview, the Golf Channel’s Bradel Chamblee takes Tiger to task for being smug with Macatee.

Nathan Olivarez-Giles of the Los Angeles Times writes extensively on the success of NBA.com’s video streams and how it looks to make a mark in social media.

Nathaniel Popper of the Times reports on the Fed’s crackdown on three online poker websites on Friday.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says while ESPN reported on the FBI’s shutdown of the poker betting websites, it did not mention the money it took in from each site for advertising.

The Hawaii Reporter says the NBC Sports Group will be covering a rowing and canoeing event at the islands next month.

Sports Media Watch notes the NBA on TNT wrapped up its most viewed regular season.

SMW says the same goes for the NBA on ESPN.

SMW says ABC had its highest-rated and most viewed season for the NBA as well.

Joe Favorito says Vancouver has untapped potential for the NHL and MLS.

And we are now done for the day. If there’s any breaking news, I’ll be here to cover it.

Late Night Linkage

Here are some links for you on this late night Monday going into early Tuesday.

First a favor to ask. My lovely friend, Steelergurl, is asking you to fill out a survey on NFL and new media. It won’t take more than five minutes of your time. If you’re an NFL fan, she wants to know how you get your NFL news, what news sites you visit, what blogs you read, which players you follow on Twitter, that type of thing. I appreciate if you could fill out the survey. Steelergurl thanks you in advance.

Now to the links.

Sports Illustated’s Richard Deitsch gives us his Bucket List, the list of sporting events he would like to witness before he passes. Richard is one of 16 SI writers who provided their lists for a special feature on the magazine’s website.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has video of two interviews he conducted while at one of the nation’s largest horse sales.

The Sports Media Journal’s Ray Frager looks at the merits of inducting cockroach Art Modell into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If Modell ever gets in after he moved my beloved Browns to Baltimore, I vow never to mention the Pro Football Hall of Fame on this blog again.

Speaking of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggests changing the format of the induction ceremonies.

From the Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen learns that the Boston Globe has filled the vacancy left when NBA beat writer Marc Spears left for Yahoo! Sportts.

Newsday’s Neil Best caught up with Luis Tiant on the night before the ESPN documentary, “The Lost Son of Havana” on his trip to Cuba aired Monday. Neil also reviews the documentary.

Neil says Friday’s Red Sox-Yankees 15 inning classic was a ratings bonanza for YES.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the NFL and PGA scored in the ratings on Sunday.

Brian Kaminski of the Tarentum Valley (PA) News Dispatch writes about a fan winning a one year contract to be on the air for a Pittsburgh sports radio station.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner goes over Michael Vick’s interview on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Jim talks about Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic extending their exclusive content deal with the Washington Redskins.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times reports that the deal allows CSN to exclusively air the Redskins’ exhibition games in HD.

Andrea Adelson from the Orlando Sentinel writes about the first two stops of the college football season for ESPN’s College Gameday.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the local Fox affiliate is expanding its high school football coverage.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business debunks a SportsbyBrooks report that Jay the Rat is moving to the Chicago Tribune.

In the Chicago Daily Herald, Ted Cox has Jay The Rat saying the deal has yet to be finalized.

But SportsbyBrooks is standing by its story.

I’m at the point where I just don’t care about Jay the Rat.

Vince Horiuchi of the Salt Lake Tribune writes the local NBC affiliate will not air a poker game show because of the owner’s stand on gambling.

MLB Network airs its second minor league game ever next Monday.

Golf Channel says it will stream coverage of Day 1 of the Solheim Cup which is the women’s version of the Ryder Cup.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media has scanned the SEC’s media policy for your perusal.

Holly Anderson of Yahoo! Sports also looks at the new relationship between ESPN and the SEC that forged the new media policy.

Owen Gibson of the Guardian writes about ESPN’s entry into the UK airing English Premier League games.

Matt Eley in The Publican says ESPN has won the rights to air Italy’s Serie A league soccer in the UK.

That will do it for the late night links.