Fang's Bites

Cranking Out Some Friday Megalinks

Ok, linkage has been really scarce over the last month and a half and I apologize for that. My schedules have been quite busy and it’s been tough to sit down for the time it takes to gather the links. I hope that changes over the next month or so.

I have some National links for you right now. I’ll follow up with more stuff later.

Here are the Weekend Viewing Picks for you.

National

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with the people at the Poynter Institute who are the ESPN Ombudsman.

Nate Davis at USA Today’s The Huddle has the Miami Dolphins not so enthusiastic about being on Hard Knocks this season.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Sean McDonough who will undergo brain surgery later this year.

Ira Boudwell of Bloomberg Businessweek says ESPN is getting out of the high school sports business saying it’s not broad enough.

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says this week’s blowout between David Stern and Jim Rome proves that the NBA Commissioner needs to go.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily says Fox Sports San Diego is launching an ad campaign against Time Warner Cable which has still not picked up the regional sports network.

Good Morning America’s and former ESPN SportsCenter host Robin Roberts says she will beat the rare blood disorder that will require a bone marrow transplant.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the NBA Finals are pacing ABC to good ratings this week.

At Broadcasting & Cable, Tim Baysinger writes that this week’s Dream Team documentary gave NBA TV its best viewership ever.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says GolTV scored with this week’s soccer international friendly match between Brazil and Argentina.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life reports that NBC will debut two new sitcoms right smack dab in the middle of the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report looks at the geriatric broadcasting team calling the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that even after the winning the Stanley Cup this week, the Los Angeles Kings still aren’t getting respect from the local media.

Former Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio returns to his former stomping grounds to do a massive takedown of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

Also from Deadspin, John Koblin writes that there doesn’t seem to be a clamoring for Erin Andrews beyond ESPN.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBA TV and NBA Entertainment are appealing to the hardcore basketball fan for their Finals coverage.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Sports Illustrated could be laying off part of its staff.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people who hated Chris Berman on the U.S. Open yesterday.

Sports Media Watch notes that this year’s Stanley Cup Final did not resonate with viewers.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Brooklyn Nets gear is selling very well.

MediaRantz tells us that Sean Salisbury will be getting a new internet radio gig.

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Time for more linkage here.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that May was a very good month for sports radio station WEEI as it finished ahead of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

At SB Nation, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about golfer David Duval taking a turn in the broadcast tower at the U.S. Open.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette discusses Johnny Miller holding court for NBC at the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Petersen who will be introducing many Long Islanders to the College World Series today.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the Yankees for pricing out fans from the “Beautiful People” seats at Yankee Stadium.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that SNY will unveil the all-time Mets team at a gala event on Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the US Women’s National Soccer Team will be on TV and the web this weekend.

Ken says local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to the new Pac-12 Networks this summer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says NBC Sports Group has announced the 2012 Summer at Saratoga schedule.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union talks with Jim Rome who marks his 16th year in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete says one of harness racing’s famous races changes networks this year.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a local cable TV sports reporter who is filling a double role this summer.

Keith has more on her in his blog.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that a decision on the Washington Nationals TV rights has been delayed.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald has some NBA Finals Game 2 postgame reaction as well as Jon Barry saying he’s not a Miami Heat Hater.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Fox Sports Houston was well-prepared and staffed for Wednesday’s perfect game thrown against the Astros by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that ESPN on ABC was all over the non-foul call against the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Oklahoman rounds up what sports reporters are saying on Twitter about the NBA Finals.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says an all-star high school football game will be shown locally this weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN is dropping its high school sports operation.

Bob criticizes Jim Rome for his questioning of NBA Communist China Sympathizer David Stern.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says Cubs announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly were silent when comedian Jeff Garlin brought up trading Alfonso Soriano.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes the rare occurrence of the U.S. Open and the NBA Finals going head-to-head on TV this Father’s Day.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that viewers of Fox Sports Midwest may need a scorecard to tell who’s in the Cardinals TV booth over the next few days.

Dan notes that next week will mark a decade since the passing of Jack Buck and Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile.

West

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman says this fall’s Boise State-Southern Mississippi game will get the Fox treatment.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utahans are nervous about getting the Pac-12 Networkcomparing it to their experience with the ill-fated the mtn.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Fox Sports San Diego has set its sights squarely on Time Warner Cable.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says ESPN’s NBA Countdown show seems to work fine without a host.

Jim talks with NBC’s Johnny Miller about the U.S. Open.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times says Game 2 of the NBA Finals drew a good overnight number for ABC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former Kings voices about the Stanley Cup victory.

Tom has some more in his blog.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin blames both Jim Rome and David Stern for their ugly exchange this week.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says the NBA and NHL Commissioners are taking it on their chins this week.

And that’s going to do it.

Our NCAA Tournament Tuesday Links

I know not many of you will feel it necessary to watch tonight’s FIRST FOUR™ doubleheader of the NCAA Tournament, but I will. Yes, the Tournament doesn’t start in earnest until Thursday, but seeing some postseason college basketball one day after Selection Sunday is always welcome.

Let’s do some links for you.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks the fanboys off the ledge, debunking the rumor that Erin Andrews is leaving ESPN.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has a viewer’s primer for the NCAA Tournament.

Brian Lowry of Variety says longer postseasons help the networks to offset rising fees to sports leagues.

In Baseball Prospectus, the Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown gives us the real reason why Jeff Moorad pulled his offer to take control of the San Diego Padres and it wasn’t because of the team’s new contract with Fox Sports.

Tim Baysinger of Fox Sports Detroit says the regional sports network’s long-time VP of communications died suddenly over the weekend.

Mike Farrell at Multichannel News writes that sports networks carry the most expensive price tag for cable and satellite providers.

R. Thomas Umstead and Mike Reynolds of Multichannel sit down with YES Network officials to talk about the regional sports network’s 10th anniversary.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek says golf and sports magazines are preparing to cover The Masters^®.

Bill Imada at Advertising Age says the frenzy over Linsanity may be fading, but the lessons from that period are still being learned.

Simon Dumenco of AdAge writes that social TV data helped to save a Fox Sports Detroit marketing campaign that seemed doomed from the start.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life speaks with a media researcher about the increased ad inventory for the NCAA Tournament thanks to all the games being made available on TV.

Dan Fogarty of Sports Grid has the video of the national anthem being sung by fans led by the celebrated Timbers Army before last night’s MLS game between the Philadelphia Union and the Portland Timbers. It’s an awesome sight to say the least.

All Access reports that DC sports radio personality Doc Walker is staying with ESPN Radio Washington.

Jack Messmer of the Radio Business Report tells us that a new union contract with NBC gives the rank and file access to NBC Sports Network assignments.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says a woman who kept letters from the late George Steinbrenner dating back to when they were teens has died.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY writes that a veteran New York sportscaster is retiring after four decades.

Newsday’s Neil Best says ESPN will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark Title IX which brought women’s sports into equal footing with men’s on the collegiate level.

Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer has comments from MLS Commissioner Don Garber and NBC Sports VP Jon Miller about their new partnership.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times says a local sports radio morning show host called three African American NFL free agents “monkeys”.

A rare Barry Horn sighting for us. In the Dallas Morning News, Barry says the viewership for MLS on NBC Sports Network wasn’t great, but it was up from last year.

Mel Bracht at the Oklahoman notes that Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is fast becoming a TV darling.

John Keating of Fox Sports Detroit remembers the regional sports network’s PR man who passed away last weekend.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune reviews the local TV broadcast of Real Salt Lake’s MLS season opener.

Jeff Pearlman talks with former ESPN’er Sean Salisbury

Jeremiah Oshan of SB Nation says MLS’ debut on NBC Sports Network didn’t do well in the ratings, but was better than on its previous home.

And that will wrap it up for today.

Ringing In Some Monday Linkage

Let’s do our Monday linkage today.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today writes that CBS/Turner’s Clark Kellogg will have a big “get” during halftime of Tuesday’s NCAA Tournament First Four game.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says MSG Network has a new show dedicated to the best and worst baseball trades and deals.

Mike says YES Network’s national feed will be seen by California cable subscribers for the first time.

Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age looks at SB Nation’s foray into producing original content for YouTube with former ESPN’ers Bomani Jones and Amy K. Nelson.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says the NCAA Tournament can be a sports marketer’s dream.

Kevin Wagstaff of Time Magazine says YouTube will be the official video player for NBCOlympics.com, however, don’t expect to see live Olympics on the video streaming service.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead spent a day following ESPN’s Jay Bilas at the Big East Tournament.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead wonders if NBC’s entrance into MLS will help to grow soccer in America.

Timothy Burke of Deadspin has the funny video of ESPN’s Dick Vitale being Dick Vitale during last night’s Bracketology show.

Ken Belson of the New York Times describes the Mets first-ever radio broadcast which included the late Howard Cosell as pregame host.

Michael O’Keefe of the New York Daily News talks with former ESPN’er Sean Salisbury who has been battling depression and hoping to make a TV comeback bid. The story never mentions Salisbury’s MTV2 gig with the Lingerie Football League.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post writes that TV continues to ignore athletes’ bad behavior.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the tip times for the FIRST FOUR and 2nd Round games of the NCAA Tournament.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the voices of the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league affiliate get their call to the big club this week.

Bob Rossi in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says NBC will go all out for the NHL Playoffs this spring.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports television and I find that I disagree with a couple of his points.

Richard Connelly of the Houston Press says the new Comcast SportsNet Houston plans to build studios that will allow for a Today Show-like atmosphere outdoors.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer is in talks to have a movie based on his interesting life.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says there wasn’t much anger directed at the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee this year from the TV analysts.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that Dan McLaughlin returned to Fox Sports Midwest Sunday after a long suspension over his drunk driving arrests.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says Peyton Manning’s visit to the Mile High City gave the local media plenty to talk about over the weekend.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times had a chance to tour Jon Gruden’s offices as he prepared to host several incoming NFL quarterbacks for his ESPN shows this Spring.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about rebranding the conference.

Tom also has his sports calendar for this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the Canadian NHL clubs want some changes in CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

Bruce also looks at the coverage of the death of Canadian skier Nik Zoricic over the weekend.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says when Don Cherry leaves Hockey Night in Canada, he will be sorely missed.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on Fox lost a million viewers for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 from the previous year.

Paul Kennedy at SoccerAmerica feels NBC Sports Network did well in its MLS debut.

SoccerNation says NBC has tapped a well-known composer to produce its MLS theme music.

And that’s going to do it for now.

Bringing Out Some Tuesday Links

Let’s do some links on this Tuesday.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today writes that a tepid LSU-Alabama rematch drew the BCS National Championship Game’s lowest overnight rating ever on ESPN.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today reports that former ESPN analyst Sean Salisbury has either quit or been fired from his MTV2 Lingerie Football League gig. There’s always a gray area with Sean.

Bruce Horovitz from USA Today says Kim Kardashian has been booted from Sketchers’ Super Bowl ad and replaced by a dog.

Sports Business Daily looks at the reviews of ESPN’s production of the BCS National Championship Game.

At Fox Sports, Brian Lowry feels ESPN did a better job in stepping up than LSU-Alabama last night.

Erin Carlson of the Hollywood Reporter notes that NBC will air the London Summer Olympics in 3-D.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News reports from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that ESPN admits a lack of 3-D programming for owners of 3-D sets, but the network says that should change.

Ben Drawbaugh of Engadget was at ESPN 3D’s demonstration of the BCS National Championship Game.

Jaymar Cabebe at CNET looks at ESPN Radio now streaming live through Slacker apps.

Erin Griffith of Adweek says the popular sound recognition app Shazam will power almost a third of this year’s Super Bowl ads.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age says Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow could reach the marketing and endorsement stratosphere as long as he keeps winning.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says a lackluster game between LSU and Alabama should lead the BCS to change its system.

Noam Cohen of the New York Times looks at NBC going 3-D for the Olympics.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY looks at the NYC Marathon’s new deal to have WABC-TV carry the race live starting this year.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union discusses the end of Jim Rome’s tenure at ESPN.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg says in the DC Sports Bog that former WaPo writers Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon say they would take Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio over Washington’s John Wall right now.

David Knox of the Birmingham (AL) News says last night’s BCS National Championship Game drew a big rating locally for Alabama-LSU, but not as big as last year’s involving bitter archrival Auburn.

Doug Segrest at the News says Alabama quickly took the wind out of ESPN’s sails for a close game.

W. Scott Bailey at the San Antonio Business Journal says the Alamo Bowl on ESPN drew good numbers as compared to some of the BCS games.

Mark Dawidziak of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that the voice of the Browns and WKYC Sports Director Jim Donovan will co-anchor the 7 p.m. edition of the station’s newscast.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that local ratings for the NFL Wild Card weekend were very good.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business looks at a new series on Big Ten Network.

Ed says the Big Ten Conference remains steadfastly opposed to a Plus One or anything resembling a playoff in college football.

At the Salt Lake Tribune, Scott D. Pierce says NBC and ESPN have snubbed Real Salt Lake in their MLS schedules.

Houston Mitchell of the Los Angeles Times says you can bid on the chance to have NBA Hall of Famer and TV analyst Bill Walton at your house.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown says it’s best to wait a year before expanding the MLB playoffs.

I’ll end it there for now. If anything warrants, I’ll add some more links.

UPDATE, 6 p.m.: Some more links for you now.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe looks at the record ratings for the AFC Wild Card Playoff Game between Pittsburgh and Denver.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the NFL is seeing more monster ratings.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette notes what Time Warner Cable subscribers are missing on MSG Network in Day 10 of the two companies’ dispute with each other.

Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing notes that ESPN Radio premieres a new show tonight.

That’s going to do it.

Some Sunday Quick Links

Since Friday, I’ve been all over the place and haven’t been able to provide linkage for you and I’m currently suck at work right now so I can’t watch the AFC Championship and will probably miss a good portion of the NFC Championship. That’s what happens when the blog is not the full time job. As much as I would like it to be, I can’t right now. That’s unless I get some decent advertising so if you’re a network or sports media industry company and would like to place an ad to reach 50,000 unique viewers a month, by all means contact me at kzfone@gmail.com.

Ok, a few links then I have to focus on work.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a fascinating story on when local AFL or NFL teams were blacked out of their local markets even if the game had sold out hours or days in advance. Hard to believe today.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News predicts what will be said on the NFL pregame shows today.

We all know, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, you hate WFAN’s Mike Francesa. This type of column is boring and old. Move on to something else.

Laura Nachman talks to a media consultant who has to subscribe to cable to get Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and DirecTV to get NFL Sunday Ticket and hopes a new FCC ruling will help to end the madness.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that the Washington Capitals are now reaching out to the Baltimore market and Orioles are back on radio in Pennsylvannia.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with NFL Network studio analysts Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin.

Tim Lemke is happy the FCC shot down a loophole Comcast was utilizing to prevent competitors from carrying Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviews Steve Ross’ first year as majority owner of the Miami Dolphins.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, sports business writer Don Walker gives us a first look at Brett Favre’s new Sears ad which debuts today and he has Prince’s awful new Vikings fight song. I love Prince and no one is a bigger fan of Purple Rain, Let’s Go Crazy, Get Off, Cream and I Would Die 4 U than me, but that fight song is hideous.

Also from the Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley has NFL Network’s Deion Sanders singing the praises of Packers cornerback Al Harris.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Chronicle is looking forward to NFL Championship Sunday.

William Houston of Truth & Rumours says CBC’s Ron MacLean tried to wrap up the Alex Burrows controvery.

Here are the Weekend Ratings Predictions from the Sports Media Watch.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media says the networks aired a lot of sports programming in 2009.

Thanks to Chris for honoring Southeastern New England media magnate Keith Thibault and I for the Sports Media Weekly podcast.

Chris also honors the best college sports Online Media Guide.

Deadspin looks at Sean Salisbury’s admission that yes, he took cell phone pics of his private parts and displayed them proud as a peacock.

I’ll have to end there. Back with Sunday NFL pregame quotage as it becomes available.

A Few Thursday Afternoon Links

I have a free moment before I leave for home. Let’s give you some linkage.

I’ve been meaning to link to Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who’s been doing an Olympics daily preview of what you’ll see on NBC. Richard writes what’s in store for us when we turn on our TV’s this evening.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News says he has already reached Olympic burnout.

The Sports Media Watch has the numbers for last night’s Olympic coverage which went down slightly from Tuesday. Those numbers will go up tonight as Michael Phelps swims for a 6th gold medal and the women’s gymnastics all-around are scheduled for primetime.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about the war between addidas and Nike in their sporting apparel battle in China. And Darren says Michael Phelps is now becoming a collectable item.

Awful Announcing says scratch those rumors about NBC going live with the Olympics in all time zones this Saturday.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says Fox will put the NFL up against the Olympics tonight and Friday.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune reports that the AHL’s Chicago Wolves have found a new announcer to replace Pat Foley who returned to the Blackhawks.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says the NHL has released the national TV schedules. And here’s Versus’ schedule which begins with a European doubleheader on October 5.

CBC has unveiled its Hockey Night in Canada schedule.

TSN has its schedule which has many exhibition games as well. TSN says it will have 70 games this season.

Back to the Sports Media Watch, the blog has the number of national appearances for each NHL team.

Deadspin has an interview with the bombastic Sean Salisbury.

That will do it for now. I might be back with one more post tonight.

Late Night Links

For the first time since the Olympics began, I lost a bit of interest in the coverage tonight. I think mostly it was due to Michael Phelps not having a medal to swim for this evening. He did have a 200 individual medley semifinal, but that was it for his schedule for tonight. NBC did have Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor in beach volleyball, but they dispatched of their opponents so quickly that the network had too much time to fill before heading to swimming. NBC is currently in gymnastics coverage, but that is going quite late on the East Coast so I shut off the TV and am blogging just before I go to sleep tonight.

Subscribers to DirecTV’s Sports Pack will know that over the past month and a half, the channels of the various Regional Sports Networks have been changing and this week, it’s time for Comcast SportsNet New England, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, FSN North, Fox Sports en Espanol and NESN to change locations. This has been a gradual migration of channels that will be completed in October. The moves are being done to create more room for several new channels like the mtn. which starts later this month. For a list of new locations, you can check them out here.

Now to some linkage.

I’ll begin tonight with Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun who writes that Baltimore remains on top of the ratings heap of markets watching the Olympics.

The Sports Media Watch notes that other sports running opposite the Olympics are getting hit hard by the Summer Games in the ratings.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that the first numbers of NBC’s measurement index of those watching the Olympics online, on TV and on cell phones have been released.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine says despite the high ratings, teenagers aren’t watching the Olympics.

Add Patty Fisher of the San Jose Mercury News to those who are angry over NBC’s decision to delay the Olympics on the West Coast.

Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle would like NBC to ease up on the West Coast Olympics delay.

Scott Collins and Lynn Smith of the Los Angeles Times says like Michael Phelps, NBC is in pursuit of an Olympic record.

The Sports Business Daily/Journal feels NBC’s Cris Collinsworth has been just short of creepy in his features at the Olympics.

Variety’s John Dempsey and Diane Garrett write that 17.7 million people have watched the Olympics online or on cell phones.

I happened to see CNBC’s Darren Rovell this morning interviewing agent Evan Morganstein whose clients include swimmers Dara Torres and Jason Lezak and gymnast Natasha Liukin and this is the transcript of the interview. And Darren discovers that despite a DUI arrest in 2004, Anheuser-Busch would not hesitate to sign Michael Phelps for endorsements.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post feels NBC is glossing over too many of China’s faults in its Olympics coverage.

James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter wishes NBC would take more of a news reporting approach to the Olympics.

A British TV photographer was among those arrested at a Tibet protest in Beijing on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says the Chiefs-Bears exhibition game last week almost matched the ratings of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies, however, the two events did not go head-to-head.

Deadspin has a Sean Salisbury sighting.

Christopher Byrne of the excellent Eye on Sports Media blog noticed that original NHL2nite host Bill Pidto has left ESPN and there’s been no reason given for his departure.

Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star has a story on the Indy Racing League’s meetings with Versus which will air most of the IRL’s races starting next year.

Now it’s time for the annual Big Ten Network vs. cable industry fight to the deadline stories.

Mark Alesia of the Star writes that the Big Ten Network makes its Comcast debut this Friday morning.

However, the Chillicothe (OH) Gazette says fans of the Ohio State University are getting nervous as BTN and Time Warner Cable are not close to an agreement.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the signs are not encouraging for BTN and Time Warner Cable.

Cory Giger of the Altoona (PA) Mirror says customers of Atlantic Broadband are unlikely to see Penn State games on the Big Ten Network anytime soon.

CBS Sports previews its coverage of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship this weekend.

Matt Farr of the New Baltimore (MI) Voice Newspapers writes about CBS’ Dick Enberg hosting his own golf tournament in Michigan and gets his reaction to Billy Packer’s departure from the network.

I have enough links for now. I’ll be back with more links later.

Our Regular Friday Megalinks

Let’s do our weekly Friday megalinks for today.

We begin as always with Michael Hiestand of USA Today. He writes about ESPN’s hiring of Bob Knight, MMA coming to CBS and the son of one of the famous Hanson Brothers (Slap Shot) not realizing his dad’s fame until he was 13.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated also talks about Bob Knight’s hiring by ESPN.

We’ll do our links from East to West.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe talks with NESN’s Don Orsillo about coming off another championship season for the Red Sox.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch discusses the potential for more buyouts of Boston Globe sports staffers.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the ESPN hiring of Bob Knight.

From the New York Daily News, Bill Madden writes that doctors have found a spot on YES analyst Bobby Mercer’s brain that could signify a recurrence of a cancerous tumor that was found in December 2006. Bob Raissman says baseball needs Bobby. I send Bobby my best and hope that he can fully recover again.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says while last Saturday’s Klitschko-Ibragimov fight was boring, Wladimir Klitschko was actually being smart. Justin Terranova talks with MSG Network’s Dave Maloney and FSNY’s Billy Jaffe about next week’s home-and-home series between the Rangers and Islanders. Terranova says a biopsy is scheduled for Monday for YES’ Bobby Mercer. And Terranova has five questions for ESPN’s Peter Gammons.

Neil Best of Newsday talks with Will Ferrell about his new movie, Semi-Pro which opens today. In his blog, Neil says the movie “Slap Shot” helped to make “Semi-Pro” possible. Also, Neil says ESPN’s Outside the Lines will look at steroid “enablers” in baseball.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager says Sean Salisbury feels free after he left ESPN earlier this week. And in his Medium Well blog, Frager has a couple of items that didn’t make his column.

South

Ron Morris of The State wants ESPN’s Dick Vitale to stop lobbying for South Carolina to hire Bob Knight. Doug Nye has his weekly TV notes. And Nye says Braves fans will have to get used to watching the games on different outlets this season.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says South Florida will have two more sports radio stations starting Monday.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews who will be busy in March.

The Oklahoman really doesn’t belong in the South region, but I’ll put it here for now. Mel Bracht has a bunch of stories today. First, he writes about Sean Salisbury’s departure from ESPN. Next, Mel has a story on Bob Knight doing work for ESPN in March. In his notebook, Mel talks about ESPN extending its deal with the Big 12 conference. Finally, Mel has his weekend viewing picks.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks with ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy about the Dallas Mavericks.

Midwest

George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the entire nation will get a glance of the new look Cleveland Cavaliers this Sunday on ABC.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks about Bob Knight on ESPN. Kevin Pang of the Tribune has a story on Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper who has another talent besides talking.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says basketball bracketology has become a full-time profession.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that FSN North announcers will call the Minnesota-Alaska Anchorage games this weekend off a monitor. And Judd has the ratings for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market from last weekend.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says ESPN traded one ex-Viking for another this week.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star writes that there’s speculation that former Royal Joe Randa did not the secondary analyst job on FSN because he’s too candid.

West

In the Deseret (UT) Morning News, Scott D. Pierce says Utah coach Jim Boylen is entertaining to watch on the sidelines.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner says the radio and TV voices of the Padres are gearing up for the baseball season. And Jay has the ratings for San Diego from last week.

John Maffei of the North County Times says there will be plenty of college and high school basketball on TV and radio this weekend.

From the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle says TV feels an obligation to tell compelling stories during Black History Month.

The Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says basketball will be the viewing mainstays for this weekend.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News talks about how FBI agents might have decided to go after Roger Clemens.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the last of his Best and Worst lists and his one focuses on play-by-play announcers, plus he profiles Rory Markas who calls USC basketball and Angels baseball games. And in his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his weekly extensive media notes.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says a Blue Jays game amounts to a three hour informercial for the team.

William Houston from the Toronto Globe and Mail says Canadian Football League officials feel like they’re being treated as second class citizens in its new TV contract as the Grey Cup will be aired on TSN on cable instead over the air CTV while the NFL is on CTV.

I’ll have an update later today.

Thursday Thursday

I keep thinking today is a continuation of Wednesday, but luckily, it’s not. I definitely need Saturday because I’ve been working late into the night. But I hope that changes soon.

Anyway, let’s get to your links.

The Detroit News’ Joanne C. Gerstner talks about Red Wings TV analyst Mickey Redmond’s second battle with cancer.

Sheil Kapadia of Baltimore Sun.com writes that according to Sean Salisbury, he’s entertaining offers from FSN and CBS.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that the release of an unauthorized biography on legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully has been delayed.

David Goetzl of Media Daily News says ESPN will stand by MLB analyst Fernando Vina even though he was named in the Mitchell Report.

Brett Hait of the Nashville City Paper talks with ESPN college basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks about ESPN simulcasting its coverage of The Masters online.

CBS has signed a deal to televise four MMA matches on Saturday nights.Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable has the story.

Speaking of MMA, Neil Best of Newsday writes that the International Fight League season gets underway Friday night in Las Vegas on HDNet.

Leighton Ginn of the Desert (CA) Sun writes that the Pacific Life tennis tournament in March will be switching networks from ESPN2 to FSN.

Chris Walsh of the Rocky Mountain News says ownership changes are in store for FSN Rocky Mountain and two other FSN networks.

Donnie Collins of the Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune remembers the late Myron Cope.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN won the ratings battle for English speaking viewers for its coverage of the NHL Trading Deadline.

The Canadian Press reports that Terry Leibel, the first woman to call a sporting event and host an Olympics broadcast for CBC, is now retiring. Here’s the story from CBC News.

That’s all for now.

Our Wednesday Linkfest

Let’s give you some links for this middle of the week.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy talks about ESPN’s personnel moves, hiring Cris Carter while letting go of Sean Salisbury.

Larry Stewart from the Los Angeles Times talks with Salisbury, saying the parting from ESPN was mutual.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News has his take on the Comcast-NFL Network battle and the Carter and Salisbury news out of ESPN.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the Comcast-NFL Network case will go to trial.

Reid Chernier of USA Today catches up with ESPN’s multi-faceted Doug Gottlieb.

ESPN tells us that Saturday’s Tennessee-Memphis game was the most viewed college basketball game in its history.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes in his blog about his favorite and least favorite ESPN personalities as ESPN the Weekend will get underway later this week at Disney World.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune writes about Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo expressing his displeasure with the Big Ten Network.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes about how Texas Rangers closer C.J. Wilson got into trouble by talking about his teammates’ political knowledge (or lack thereof) in an article on ESPN.com, then again on a Rangers-related blog. We’re hearing more about players using blogs to express themselves and this is not the last we’re going to hear about this story.

Bill Blankenship (no relation to Kenny … fans of MXC will get that) of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal writes that if the local CBS affiliate and Cox Communications can’t get together on a fair price, cable customers will not be able to see the NCAA Tournament and The Masters.

Jesse Nunery of the Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram says we should be thankful for technology which brings us sporting events to our television sets.

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch says ESPN890 in Boston is taking on water and sinking fast. And Bruce Allen of BSMW has a post on how the media assists the NFL in player tampering. It’s a good piece.

That’s going to do it for now.

Some More Tuesday Links

It’s been a busy Tuesday.

People have been hired, fired and re-hired. I already talked about Sean Salisbury leaving ESPN. The blogosphere is abuzz about Salisbury.

However, there were other personnel moves today. Before Sean Salisbury became the personnel move of the day, ESPN announced it had hired Cris Carter, formerly of HBO, as a studio analyst. Did his hiring lead to Salisbury’s departure? I’m not sure, but at first, people including Newsday’s Neil Best were wondering if this would affect Emmit Smith (it did not). Justin Terranova of the New York Post says ESPN traded former Vikings. So Carter is in at the Worldwide Leader while Salisbury is out. Was this in direct correlation? You decide.

While ESPN was making multiple personnel moves, TNT was close to locking up its star studio analyst, Charles Barkley to a multi-year, seven figure contract. The Sports Media Watch links to a story from John Ourand of Sports Business Daily (who’s been breaking stories left and right this week) about Barkley who will also make appearances on the Turner Sports-operated NBA TV.

Paulsen of Sports Media Watch also has the final weekend ratings.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s salary.

Glenn Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN has made a deal with The Masters to show its tournament coverage on multiple platforms including ESPN360.

Going back to the NFL Network vs. Comcast dispute, earlier today, the New York State Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling allowing the cable provider to put the channel on a sports tier, lowering potential subscribers. John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says wake him up when this thing is over. Paritosh Bansal of Reuters says the dispute has now been sent back to court. Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says this is a setback for Comcast.

The Sporting News picks up an Associated Press story which has Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo calling the Big Ten Network, “a PR nightmare.” That’s not good.

That’s it for tonight.

Say Goodbye to Sean Salisbury

In a move that can only be described as surprising, ESPN announced today that NFL analyst Sean Salisbury is out after 12 years.

A press release put forth by the Worldwide Leader has just two short statements, one from Salisbury, the other by ESPN. No reason is given, no explanation is forthcoming.

Salisbury says he looks forward to expanding into other opportunities. For its part, ESPN says it wishes him the best. For an announcement of such magnitude, the lack of words speak volumes. First, it’s very strange to have just two statements and second, there was no indication of ill-will from either side until now.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune first broke the story.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that Salisbury’s website and MySpace profile are down and not working.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Salisbury’s contract was up and ESPN decided not to renew it.

The Sports Media Watch has a report on Salisbury’s departure.

Awful Announcing gives its take on the news.

Sports by Brooks is pleased to see Salisbury gone.

And I give the last word to Michael David Smith from the AOL Fanhouse blog.

Why do I have the feeling we haven’t heard the last of this story?