Fang's Bites

A Sunday Link Day

Let’s give you some links on this Sunday.

I’ll start with Phil Mushnick of the New York Post. He likes the upcoming HBO Ted Williams documentary and he feels last week’s Chris Russo tirade was fake.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says MSG Network has picked up TSN’s Friday Night CFL package. Ken writes that SNY will air the entire 1969 World Series pitting the Mets and Orioles over the next two months.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Walking Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig about the All-Star Game format.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Joe Morgan about the All-Star Game.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers from last week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about UFC reaching its 100th big pay per view event.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star feels sorry for local native John Saunders who’s hosting The Superstars on ABC.

We get the weekend ratings predictions from the Sports Media Watch. The SMW has a very good interview with Atlanta Hawks TV voice Bob Rathbun.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media notes that only one person from the Raycom SEC broadcasts survived to ESPN Regional Television’s syndicated package. Chris writes that two CBS College Sports mainstays are moving to ESPNU for SEC football. And Chris has the field for the Women’s Preseason NIT.

The great Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says the All-Star Game will truly be a global television event. Maury says the official announcement of the NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park comes later this week.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the Boston Herald’s John Tomase, the reporter who came into question after the Patriots Spygate scandal, has been replaced on the Pats beat by a new reporter coming from Alabama. Thanks to Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch for the link.

The Sox & Dawgs blog has the video of Brock Lesnar beating up Frank Mir at UFC 100. Then check out Lesnar’s postfight interview. It has to be seen to be believed.

One more thing from Sox & Dawgs. Kudos to Ian Bethune for getting a photoshopped image of Dennis Eckersley onto the NESN airwaves last night.

That’s it for now. I’ll have my review of the HBO Ted Williams documentary coming up later today.

Links for Your Thursday Night

Time for some linkage finally. For the 4th of July holiday weekend, the posting may be sparse. It depends on the schedule. Friday will have your usual posts, Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks, Follow Friday and the megalinks. I know Saturday will be busy so I may not be able to provide links. I hope that Sunday will be a lazy day so I can do the Videos of the Week and other features for you. Keep your RSS feeds updated and if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll certainly know what is posted.

Let’s get to the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has TBS’ baseball analysts talking about the All-Star Game.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal talks with new NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith.

Tom Van Riper of Forbes says attendance and TV ratings are proof that two teams in the Baltimore-Washington area cannot work.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes what many of you have been saying regarding NBC’s coverage of Wimbledon. It’s time to end the tape delays.

The Sports Business Daily has a roundup of columns denouncing NBC Sports for its Wimbledon coverage.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes an open letter to Lance Armstrong urging him not to participate in this month’s Tour de France.

The Nielsen Ratings Wire blog tells us that NASCAR fans are very loyal to buying American brand cars.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette reports that a local sports radio show is taking the Friday holiday off.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News has a dozen TV picks for the holiday weekend and Wimbledon, MLB and the NFL Network are included.

Ed Barkowitz of the Philadelphia Daily News says Eagles QB Donovan McNabb will star in a new IHOP commercial.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal has highlights of a conference call no-talent hack Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle conducted in advance of their new ESPN2 show. Ray also has some “reflections” on the MASN simulcast of the Scott Garceau/Anita Marks radio show.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has a look at ESPN The Magazine’s Ultimate Franchise ratings.

Tim Lemke from the Washington Times says the NBA’s long relationship with McDonald’s is over.

Tim writes that NBC’s coverage of Wimbledon is angering tennis fans across the country.

Angela Henderson of the Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch is happy that NBC is reuniting volleyball announcing team Chris Marlowe and Paul Sunderland this weekend.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that a local sports radio host is resurfacing on the airwaves this week.

Mike Leggett of the Austin American-Statesman went fishing with ESPN college football and basketball announcer Ron Franklin.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio starts its University of Cincinnati sports coverage on Monday.

The Cherry Creek (CO) News says Dish Network abruptly pulled Tennis Channel as of June 30.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that ESPN Classic is bringing back reruns of the old “Sports Challenge” game shows hosted by Dick Enberg.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times talks with the Sparks’ Lisa Leslie about her participation in “The Superstars”.

Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle writes NBC’s coverage of Wimbledon has been inadequate and dreads ESPN2′s covering this year’s U.S. Open.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says Canadian TV won’t be part of the Toronto Indy IRL race.

Brian Bennett of ESPN.com says the Big East Football Confernce and ESPN Regional Television have announced the schedule for this season’s syndicated package.

Multichannel News says Speed is ready to launch what it calls “Big Block Thursday” later this month.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that just under 4 million viewers watched the Confederations Cup final between the U.S. and Brazil on ESPN.

Joe Favorito says despite the hard economic times, NASCAR continues to build its brand and its fan base. Joe adds that during the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong will be all over social media.

Deadspin says Jay “The Rat” Mariotti is being rumored to join the Chicago Tribune.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball looks at the new MLB.com app for the Palm Pre.

Steve Donohue of the Contentinople blog chronicles how the Yankees in-market online streaming deal came about. And Steve talks with YES President Tracy Dolgin about the deal.

That’s it for tonight. Don’t forget the usual features on Friday. And actually, I do have one more press release post for tonight.

Another Friday Night Megalinks Post

In the euphoria of my joining Boston Sports Media Watch, I got stuck doing a few things and did not do the megalinks. Time to do them now.

As usual, it’s time for the Weekend Viewing Picks.

Interleague baseball’s last games of the season takes center stage this weekend. Games such as Yankees-Mets, Red Sox-Braves, Cubs-White Sox get national attention. MLB Network and ESPN will take Yankees-Mets on Saturday and Sunday nights respectively. Fox and TBS will air Red Sox-Braves on consecutive afternoons. Fox also has Cubs-White Sox Saturday, then WGN has the matchup on Sunday. The national MLB schedule with announcing assignments and regional splits in the case of Fox can be seen at the MLB This Weekend section of Fang’s Bites.

Wimbledon resumes Saturday and then takes the middle Sunday off as is tradition with the tournament. ESPN2 has live coverage Saturday morning at 8, then moves over for NBC at 3 p.m. Then on the rest day, NBC has taped coverage of the best matches of the week at 1 p.m.

NASCAR heads to Loudon, NH for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. TNT has that race Sunday at 2 p.m.

The IndyCar circuit is in Richmond for the SunTrust Indy Challenge that Versus will bury Saturday night at 8.

In soccer, the US is in the finals of the Confederations Cup against Brazil and after its upset of Spain on Wednesday, interest will be a bit higher for the match played on Sunday. ESPN has the game starting at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The PGA Tour is in Cromwell, CT for the Travelers Championship and CBS has weekend coverage at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

And boxing fans have their choice of bouts to watch Saturday on Showtime at 9 p.m. and HBO at 10 p.m.

The full Weekend Viewing Picks are over here.

Now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy says TBS feels Ron Darling is in the upper echelon of MLB TV analysts.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal writes that MLB remains in a ratings malaise.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says his readers have spoken and chosen a new nickname for Shaquille O’Neal. Darren reports that Vijay Singh was willing to post bail for embattled Stanford Financial CEO Allen Stanford. Darren also projects the contracts for the first round picks of the NBA Draft.

Joe Favorito wonders if soccer can take advantage of the US’ performance at the Confed Cup.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says MASN is mixing and matching its announcing teams for the Orioles-Nationals series. Mike writes that ESPN and ESPN2 saw record viewership for the College World Series.

The Sports Media Journal’s Ray Frager says he prefers watching the NBA Draft over the NFL Draft.

Deadspin says HBO plans to ditch the comedy for the next edition of Joe Buck Live.

The Sports Media Watch says ESPN has chosen its hosts for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Andrew Laughlin of Digital Spy says ESPN may use one its existing UK channels to show recently acquired English Premier League gamese.

Len Berman gives us his top 5 sports stories of the day at the Huffington Post.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says Dennis Eckersley is gaining his own legion of fans while sitting in for Jerry Remy on NESN.

Good friend LC at the 38Cliches blog is impressed with Dave O’Brien’s work ethic on Red Sox radio broadcasts.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times chronicles how NBC’s Breakfast at Wimbledon began.

Here’s a Phil Mushnick column I can actually agree with. The New York Post columnist rips WFAN’s Craig Carton for sexually harassing tennis star Jennifer Capriati earlier this week.

The Big Lead also weighed in on Mushnick’s column.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with YES’ Al Leiter about the Subway Series which has lost some luster this year. And Justin has five questions for MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams about his former Phillies team.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with WFAN’s Mike Francesa one year after his split with former partner Chris Russo. Neil has more with Mike Francesa in his blog. Neil says Mike is in no rush to find a new partner for his show. Mike has some choice words for former CBS Radio and now Sirius XM chairman Mel Karmazin. And Neil has some more from Mike regarding Russo and ESPN. Neil writes about former WFAN midday co-host Sid Rosenberg whether his future is in the Big Apple or South Florida. Neil wonders why the TSN-produced NHL Draft show carried on Versus did not have a continuous scroll.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman goes after ESPN and MLB for “celebrating” the return of Manny Ramirez.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes about the Yankees’ deal to stream games online and in-market for a hefty price. Pete adds that ESPN was really happy about its College World Series ratings.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner gives us his weekend viewing picks. And Jim says the USA-Brazil final in the Confederations Cup is a highlight of the weekend.

South

The Munroe (LA) News Star says CBS’ Tim Brando was honored by the nation’s Sports Information Directors.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News says Terrell Owens and supermodel Joanna Krupa get to return to The Superstars on Monday.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle writes that Sporting News Radio gets a new affiliate in town.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes about a local sports radio host who’s happy he can see again. In his media notebook, Mel talks about ESPN NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson branching out from his football roots.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press is another who prefers the NBA Draft over the NFL’s.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has quotes from ESPN’s basketball analysts about the NBA Draft.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers of the week.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin is already looking forward to college football season on ESPN and the Big Ten Network.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with former Blues voice Ken Wilson about Brett Hull who will be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame this year.

West

A local sports talk show host switches places with the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner and writes this week’s media column in the newspaper.

John Maffei from the North County Times says rain put a damper on the U.S. Open and its ratings.

Mike Penner of the Los Angeles Times says the NBA Draft lent itself to a lot of trade talk on ESPN.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Manny Mania swept Albuquerque and the media in both New Mexico and SoCal.

Tom has other sports media news in his blog. Tom goes over the week in blogging.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star bids farewell to a different type of sports radio show.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN NHL analyst Ray Ferrarro will have to wait and see where his son will be picked in the Entry Draft.

And that’s it. I’ll be back with more links Saturday.

Thursday’s Linkage

Time to do a Thursday link thing for you. There will be a major announcement about Fang’s Bites and its future coming in the next day or two. I’ll give you that when the time is right. In the meantime, let’s get to the links.

Starting off with the Nielsen ratings Wire blog, it says EA Sports will have a major impact on the NBA Draft tonight.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the new in-market online streaming deal between the Yankees, YES, MLB.com and Cablevision. Neil feels other teams will most likely follow suit. Neil previews a new SNY documentary on the 1969 Miracle Mets.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times also looks at the Yankees-Cablevision deal.

David Kohl of the Major League Programs Blog tells us what’s wrong with the deal.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says you can buy actual U.S. Open scorecards at auction. Darren wants to come up with a new nickname for Shaquille O’Neal now that he’s a Cleveland Cav. Darren notes that golfer Vijay Singh still stands by Stanford Financial despite the company’s CEO being in tremendous legal trouble.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says TNT will continue airing the PGA Championship through most of the next decade.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says Terrell Owens and supermodel Joanna Krupa will see another day at The Superstars. Apparently T.O. has shot a mock apology for his performance.

Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the Steel City watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in record numbers resulting in a 42.2 rating! Thanks to Steve Lepore at Puck The Media for the link.

From Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman talks with former Bear Steve McMichael about being a part-owner and coach of a local indoor football team.

Bob Wolfley in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about Packer Al Harris’ interview on Sirius NFL Radio.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News advises us that ESPN and TNT will air the Cleveland Cavaliers as much as possible next season.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has ESPN.com’s mock top five NBA Draft choices.

Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times looks at the first episode of The Superstars.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star says Setanta Canada is safe for now, but what about in years to come?

Steve Clarke of Variety says ESPN is considering launching a new UK channel in the wake of obtaining the rights to the English Premier League this week.

Kevin Downey from Media Life Magazine writes that the NCAA baseball postseason drew well for the ESPN networks.

The Sports Media Watch says the U.S. Open’s ratings were washed away this past weekend. Paulsen has some various ratings news and notes. SMW says Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will host a baseball movie marathon on FX on the Sunday before the MLB All-Star Game. SMW also has the NBA Draft ratings since 1999.

Chris Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media has the Mid-America Conference’s football TV schedule for this season. Chris also has the early TV schedule for the Big East Football Conference.

The Gamecocks on TV blog has found another affiliate for ESPN Regional TV’s syndicated SEC football and basketball package.

My phone is ringing off the hook for some reason. It’s driving me crazy so I’m leaving the office and shutting off my iPhone. See you later.

A Monday Linkage Thing

Call me crazy, but I have both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon streaming video on my computer today. And thanks to backdoor sites, they are not taking up memory. I was watching the U.S. Open on NBCSports.com, but it was eating up my memory as the video player was slowing things down. I’ve also found a site that is streaming BBC’s Wimbledon coverage so right now, I’m in sports heaven on this back to work Monday. The streaming quality of both are good and there’s no lagging.

Let’s do your links for today.

Reid Cherner of USA Today writes that rain gave NBC an opportunity to mix in weather reports during the U.S. Open.

Four stories from Sports Business Journal today.

John Ourand writes that ESPN is using podcasts to expand its audio, online and print brands.

Daniel Kaplan says the new roof over Centre Court at Wimbledon makes its official debut today.

Terry Lefton reports on the new management team at Madison Square Garden overseeing the building’s renovation.

Liz Mullen & Jon Snow write that the powerful IMG agency is looking to buy all or part of Gaylord Management whose clients include Phil Mickelson.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gives you some of the storylines he’s rooting for at today’s U.S. Open.

Michael Amon and Patrick Whittle of Newsday write about the beer policy being changed at the U.S. Open in the wake of drunk heckling on Saturday.

Neil Best of Newsday says while the Phil Mickelson charge at the Open is great for NBC, the network must be wondering what could have been if this had happened on Sunday.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is really reaching when he says NBC is apologizing for Tiger when he plays poorly.

Alan Pergament from the Buffalo News says the producers of the new version of “The Superstars” praise Terrell Owens for his cooperation during the series tapings.

Mark Kram of the Philadelphia Daily News previews HBO’s Real Sports piece on Lenny Dykstra which airs tomorrow.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a Rafael Nadal-free Wimbledon raises more questions than answers about the tournament.

Jim says it’s a Manic Monday at the U.S. Open and that is so true as we’re watching Phil Mickelson tie for the lead at Bethpage Black.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times says NBC’s U.S. Open broadcasts were definitely marathons thanks to the rain.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a great video of Joanna Krupa swearing up a storm at Terrell Owens in a preview of “The Superstars”. Barry previews tonight’s “4th and Long” episode.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business recaps his encounters with the acused co-founder of the now-defunct Chicago internet sports radio station.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes that NBC was all wet throughout the weekend at the U.S. Open.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner talks about CBS/Golf Channel’s Nick Faldo being knighted and the debut of Joe Buck Live.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star gets on NBC for focusing on Tiger and Phil during the U.S. Open.

Peter Bart and Michael Fleming of Variety report that Columbia Pictures has scrapped the “Moneyball” movie based on the book about Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s.

LC at the 38Cliches blog tells us that former Red Sox announcer Jerry Trupiano has now started a podcast. You can find that podcast right here.

Wrap Around Curl at Puck The Media has some suggestions on how to improve the NHL Awards.

Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy says Commissioner Gary Bettman remains defiant on the NHL Players Association’s request to get games on ESPN.

That’s going to do it for the Monday links for now.