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.

Finally Back To Linking

The last couple of days have been tough to provide links as I was out of the office. Glad to be back linking again, although you never know if I’ll be called away again. I’ll try to do what I can.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today attended the NFL on CBS media day on Tuesday which introduced the network’s announcing teams for this season. Mike got some interesting quotage from NFL Today analyst Boomer Esiason on Denver Broncos third string QB Tim Tebow.

Mike reported earlier this week that ESPN’s Brian Kenny is leaving the network to possibly take a position with MLB Network.

Erik Brady of USA Today writes that the late Al McGuire’s granddaughter, once a basketball player at Virginia, is now an accomplished model.

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal chronicles what NBC Sports Group is doing to position Versus as a major player in sports television.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable says CBS Sports officials were worried about a potential NFL lockout, but continued to sell ads and carried on with its business of getting ready for this season.

Tim Baysinger of  B&C has Marv Albert pleasantly surprised to be calling the NFL on TV again.

Over to Multichannel News and Mike Reynolds who writes that the Pac-12 Conference has hired a sports media veteran to run its seven Pac-12 Networks.

Mike says Tennis Channel has signed a new deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative that takes it off sports tiers on member’s cable systems.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says MTV2 will air some live Lingerie Football League games starting on Friday.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that concerns over the NFL lockout led advertisers to turn to college football for commercial buys.

Crupi adds that NFL Network has signed up another cable provider leaving Cablevision and Time Warner as the last two major holdouts.

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk writes that former Patriots, Dolphins and Saints running back Heath Evans will retire and join NFL Network’s large cadre of analysts.

Mike Florio of PFT says NFL owners realize that empty stadiums don’t make for exciting TV.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser writes that ESPN is hiring another WWE veteran to join its on-air staff.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown crew was dressed in SWAT uniforms for an promo shoot.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says the Baltimore Ravens are successfully producing all home preseason TV games in-house rather than outsource production to a local TV or cable network.

The Big Lead’s Barry Janoff recaps the NFL on CBS Media Day.

Rich Arden at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog says you can now put the Monday Night Football schedule into your Google calendar. Seriously!

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that if it’s US Open time, then it must mean another battle between Cablevision and Tennis Channel.

Richard says after many repeated offers, MetLife is finally taking the plunge and buying the naming rights to the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Barry Bearak of the Times profiles former play-by-play announcer Dom Valentino who’s currently fighting several life battles.

Richard Huff of the New York Daily News reports that WCBS-TV sports anchor and sometimes CBS Sports reporter Sam Ryan is leaving to take a job with MLB Network.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at MetLife slapping its name on New Meadowlands Stadium for a rather large fee.

During Tuesday’s NFL on CBS Media Day, Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union asked CBS Sports President Sean McManus about a few non-NFL related issues.

Pete says 18 years later, CBS NFL analyst Steve Tasker is still correcting those who think it was he who prevented Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Leon Lett from scoring at Super Bowl XXVII.

Ken Schott in the Schenectady Gazette says the University of Albany is shifting its football season opener to a different radio station as its flagship has a conflict.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that Time Warner Cable won’t be airing any local high school football games this season.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard about his new book and his usage of social media.

Henry Unger of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution speaks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about replacing the former Emperor Dick Ebersol.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the ESPN College GameDay crew will be in Austin to help launch the Longhorn Network.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Longhorn Network’s immediate future looks rather murky right now.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman notes that former Sooners safety Roy Williams will be a part of the school’s radio broadcasts this season.

Mel says the NFL preseason topped the local TV ratings.

Mike Baldwin of the Oklahoman says ESPN’s All-Access series on the Sooners is compelling TV.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Bengals garnered a huge local rating on Sunday.

John says the new Joe Morgan radio show is being heard locally.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers will appear weekly on the local NBC station.

The Provo (UT) Daily Herald notes that ESPN has released the 2011-12 West Coast Conference men’s basketball schedule.

Ryan Casey of the Denver Post tells us that Root Sports Rocky Mountain will air the state high school football and basketball championships this year.

The Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal reports NFL Network will be seen on the local cable provider this season.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC is shooting down claims that it’s biased against Western Canadian NHL teams in its new Hockey Night in Canada schedule.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says TSN and CBC are teaming up for coverage of this weekend’s LPGA Canadian Women’s Open.

Sports Media Watch says the PGA Championship’s ratings fell to a three year low.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

Daniel Feuerstein of MLS Talk feels NBC will be a big boost for Major League Soccer.

Joe Favorito writes that Fordham University has been a fertile training ground for several of NYC’s sports voices.

Last night, I had the privilege to be a guest on the Sports-Casters podcast. Steven Bennett and Don Russ interviewed me on several subjects including the NFL on CBS, Marv Albert’s role at CBS, Joe Buck’s voice, NBC Sports Group, Olympics and a whole plethora of topics. I’m at 1:17:14 into the podcast. Michael Fabiano is also on so give it a listen.

The only Steeler fan I really like, Steelergurl, explains why she hasn’t been blogging lately. Get well soon, Lahne.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth looks at what NBC Sports Group is doing to improve Versus.

And that is going to finish out the links today.

The Lingerie Football League Returns To MTV2; And It’s Live!

Last season, MTV2 aired weekly 30 minute highlights of Lingerie Football League games. Well, after showing the semifinals live in January, MTV has decided to go live with the entire season! This follows MTV’s decision to have live mixed martial arts on MTV2 throughout the spring. Now Lingerie Football will live on Friday nights on MTV2 starting in August. It will be a 20 game regular season schedule that go until January. Then MTV2 will also have the rights to the Conference Championships as well as the Lingerie Bowl that will take place during halftime of the Super Bowl. Well, we are now spared from having to pay for the Lingerie Bowl. At least I hope you haven’t been paying for the Lingerie Bowl.

Anyway, we have the press release from MTV2.

LINGERIE FOOTBALL LEAGUE RETURNS TO THE GRIDIRON LIVE THIS FALL ON MTV2

MTV2 RENEWS LFL PRESENTS: FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL AIRING GAMES LIVE ON FRIDAY NIGHTS BEGINNING AUGUST 26TH

(LAS VEGAS, Nev. and NEW YORK, N.Y. – March 22, 2011) – Lingerie Football League, LLC (LFL) and MTV2 are excited to announce the return of LFL Presents: Friday Night Football to MTV2 premiering LIVE Friday, August 26, 2011 kicking off from ‘Titletown’, Green Bay, Wisconsin at 9 PM ET.  MTV2 has committed to broadcast the entire upcoming LFL 2011 / 2012 season LIVE and in full-length form for the first time ever.

“We are truly excited to bring LFL back to MTV2 to continue our great partnership and see the continued evolution and growth of the league on the network,” said Mitchell S. Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Lingerie Football League, LLC. “With the incredible viewer interest in 2010, the move to airing LIVE full-length games on MTV2 in 2011 will only add to our viewership and explosive buzz for the LFL.”

“We are thrilled to broadcast LFL Presents: Friday Night Football LIVE this year on MTV2 as we bring back the exciting, signature style of football that only the LFL can deliver, ” said Eric Conte, SVP, Programming Development and Production, MTV2. “Although there’s a possibility that pro football may be sidelined this season, the LFL on MTV2 will continue to bring football fans the action and intense gameplay they crave.”

Throughout the 2010-11 LFL season last year, MTV2 aired weekly hard-hitting recaps of regular season games.  However, the new season of LFL Presents: Friday Night Football on MTV2 will comprise of 20 live regular season games, two conference playoff games, as well as the LFL’s championship game -  one of television’s biggest specials, the annual Lingerie Bowl on Sunday, February 4, 2012 (Super Bowl Sunday) to compete with halftime of Super Bowl XLVI. The inaugural season on MTV2 drew strong ratings, significant national media coverage and created a frenzy across social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter – where LFL Football was a trending topic on Twitter on multiple Friday nights during last season.

LFL Presents: Friday Night Football is Executive Produced by Mitchell S. Mortaza for Lingerie Football League. Eric Conte serves as Executive Producer for MTV2. Joe Buoye is Executive In Charge for MTV2.

And that will end our night.

MTV2 Airs Lingerie Football League Conference Championships Live

Yes, MTV2 which had been airing half-hour weekly highlight shows of games actually gets into the live game arena by showing the Lingerie Football League Conference Championships on Saturday. They begin at 6 p.m. Eastern time and will be preceded on Friday with a recap of the regular season. It all leads to the Lingerie Bowl on February 6, which is the same day as Super Bowl XLV.

Anyway, here’s the press release from MTV2.

LINGERIE FOOTBALL LEAGUE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS TO BE DECIDED LIVE ON MTV2 ON SAT., JAN. 29, BEGINNING AT 6 P.M. ET

MTV2 Re-Caps the Road to the Playoffs and Offers an Advance Look at the Games with “Leather and Lace: LFL Conference Finals Preview” on Friday, Jan. 28, at 11 p.m. ET

Worrying about how to handle those football withdrawal symptoms this weekend?  MTV2 has the remedy – live coverage of the Lingerie Football League’s Eastern and Western Conference Finals on Saturday, January 29, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.  “Super Saturday Night” on MTV2 night is sure to be the perfect dose fans need with 90 minutes of back-to-back live gridiron action featuring the hottest female athletes playing full-contact football.

The night kicks off with the Los Angeles Temptation (4-0) and Chicago Bliss (3-1) taking to the field to battle for the Western Conference title and will be followed by the Philadelphia Passion (3-0) and Tampa Breeze (3-0) in their quest to clinch the Eastern Conference win.  All of the on-field action will take place at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. and the winners of each game will advance to the Lingerie Bowl in Las Vegas on February 6.

MTV2 will also give fans a sneak peak of what to expect during the playoff games with “Leather and Lace: LFL Conference Finals Preview,” a 30-minute special airing on Friday, January 28, at 11 p.m. ET.

Throughout the 2010-11 LFL season, MTV2 aired weekly recaps which featured all the game’s hard-hitting moments and the January 29 live playoff games are the culmination of this season of LFL Friday Night Football on MTV2.

That will do it.