Fang's Bites

Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks

First off, thanks to FSN New England for letting me know that it will carry the Celtics live press conference introducing Kevin Garnett at 6 p.m. Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will all be in attendance. The deal between the Celtics and the Timberwolves involving Kevin Garnett has finally gone through.

The Red Sox have traded for Texas reliever Eric Gagne in exchange for pitcher Kason Gabbard, minor league outfielders David Murphy (AAA)and Engel Beltre (Single A).

Celtics Live Press Conference – FSN New England, 6 p.m.
Orioles at Red Sox – NESN, 7 p.m.
America’s Got Talent – NBC, 8 p.m.
Damages – FX, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight (this is really getting interesting now)

The Tuesday Afternoon Update

Let’s give you a brief update and perhaps a mini-rant if I have time.

We start with NBC Sports. It has a press release announcing the re-launch of its Sunday Night Football website, Sundaynightisfootballnight.com. It looks similar to its website that launched last year, but this year’s version has a few more features. We’ll check to see if its updated unlike last season which was woefully inept after Week 2 of the NFL season.

Jim Williams in his Watch This! blog in the DC/Baltimore Examiner says Comcast Sportsnet was the winner in the Cal Ripken coverage and only one DC anchor went to Cooperstown to cover Cal’s HOF inductions.

The Sports Media Watch blog has a recap of media and blogosphere commentary in regards to the proposed NHL/ESPN deal that could mark the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s return to hockey.

Joe Lapointe of the New York Times says the NFL Network squashing Deion Sanders from writing a column for the Fort Myers News-Press is another example of sports leagues trying to control their message.

ESPN/ABC says it will have 13 Iowa State basketball games on its networks this upcoming season.

Here’s a story from Broadcast Newsroom on the Versus Channel which has been slowly increasing viewership through coverage of the Tour de France and the NHL, but still has a big hill to climb.

Providence (RI) College will be offering streaming video of 7 home games online. This marks the first time the small, insignificant member of the Big East Conference will offer games online.

Those are your links for now.

It’s Tuesday

Time for some more links. Checking around to see what’s going on for you.

Newsday’s Neil Best says ESPN has picked up two more San Francisco Giants games tonight and tomorrow. And Best writes that Craig Carton who’s proposed to be Boomer Esiason’s sidekick on WFAN (when he’s hired) may not be a good choice.

Yesterday, I gave you a story where the NFL Network put the kybosh on a column Deion Sanders wrote about Michael Vick for the News-Press in Florida. The NFL Network says it “owns ” Sanders’ opinions. That’s a copout if you ask me. Today, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the NFL Network is in a sense “muzzling” Sanders.

In Jim Williams’ DC/Baltimore Examiner Watch This! blog, he says the Ravens and Redskins are back in training camp and there will be extensive coverage on various media outlets. And in his regular column, Williams says it was Baltimore’s day during the Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies.

In the Sports Media Watch blog, there’s an analysis of the Kevin Garnett trade from Minnesota to the Celtics, two markets where the NBA has not done well in the last three seasons.

Let’s get the latest links on the The Big Ten Nework. Tim Cronin of the Daily Southtown paper from Chicago says don’t be fooled by the Big Ten Network, that their publicity blitz is really a money grab. Mark Tupper of the Lee News Service recaps what the whole thing is about. Brian Hedger of the Gary (IN) Post-Tribune got a behind-the-scenes look at BTN’s studios. Tom Kubat of the Lafayette Journal & Courier says BTN sees the financial benefit for adding a 12th team to the Big Ten. But hold on! Jim Carty of the Ann Arbor News says Conference Commissioner Jim Delaney is putting the kybosh on expansion talk.

David Pratt of the Vancouver Province writes that NBC’s relationship with the NHL is just about over. But Ray Slover of the Sporting News says ESPN may come to pick up where NBC will leave off. We linked to the Sports Media Watch blog yesterday which reported this story.

Diane Bell of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that former ABC and NBC play-by-play man Charlie Jones was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame last week (scroll down).

Jonathan Okanes of the Oakland Tribune says Comcast will be exapnding local programming on FSN Bay Area. It officially took over ownership on June 30.

Erika Engle of the Honolulu Star Bulletin writes that Oahu now has four sports radio stations. This joins Houston as the other city that has four sports radio stations. Is this a trend?

Up to Canada, CBC continues its winning streak. Last week, it signed a contract with Skate Canada to televise figure skating events for the next four years.

The Toronto Star’s William Houston writes that Setanta Sports which has a channel here in the States to air English Premier League soccer games is setting up a channel in Canada to do the same.

That’s it for now. Back later if the links warrant.

The Last Mary Tyler Moore Show

Growing up as a kid in Rhode Island in the 1970′s, I’ll always remember the CBS Saturday night lineup including the venerable Mary Tyler Moore Show. It lasted seven seasons, went out on top and probably had the very best series finale ever. Seinfeld, Friends, St. Elsewhere and The Sopranos are among the series finales that had disappointing endings.

For me, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Cheers were the series that ended the right way. Here’s the last episode of MTM.

Part 1 – Ted pleads for support

Part 2 – Lou, Mary and Murray are fired, Ted Stays

Part 3 – The return of Rhoda and Phyllis

Part 4 – It’s a Long Way to Tipperary

The original ending of the show with the cast introductions by Mary (I saw this during the first run of syndication, but it hasn’t been seen in the syndication runs since).

Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks

Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies – ESPN, 7 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother – CBS, 8 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen – Fox, 9 p.m.
The Closer – TNT, 9 p.m.
Saving Grace – TNT, 10 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

BREAKING NEWS – NHL RETURNING TO ESPN?

According to the Sports Media Watch blog, the NHL is talking to ESPN about picking up NBC’s portion of the broadcast contract in 2008-09. NBC would end televising the NHL after this season (makes sense after the ratings its received the last two seasons) and ESPN would pick up NBC’s option the following year. We’ll monitor.

Monday Afternoon Links

Just got the sad news that former San Francisco 49er coach Bill Walsh died of leukemia. He was a pioneer in the league bringing in the West Coast offense, started what was known as the coaching tree, won three Super Bowls and took the 49ers from what was a bad team into a dynasty. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ray Ratto remembers Walsh. Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News also gives his thoughts on Walsh. Ann Killion also of the Mercury News says Walsh changed the NFL and the Bay Area’s image forever. There will be more on Walsh as the night wears on. Certainly one of the best coaches of all time. He did work on NBC in the early 1990′s with Dick Enberg, a move that really didn’t work and also led to him taking the head coaching job at Stanford, a job he enjoyed. I’m sure the 49ers will be dedicating this upcoming season to him.

Turning over to the Big Ten Network, Kyle Nagel of the Dayton Daily News says the channel is putting on a big publicity blitz with a month to go before launch.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle profiles the four sports radio stations in the market.

I’ll have more later.

The Monday Links

Back to work on a Monday. Had heavy rains here early in the morning, but they’re over now and we expect some humidity later. But enough of the weather report, time for your links.

Yesterday marked ESPN’s return to NASCAR and there’s reaction all over the place. Let’s start with Michael McCarthy in USA Today who liked the coverage of the Brickyard 400, but didn’t necessarily like Draft Track. From the Daly Planet blog which critiques TV coverage of NASCAR, John Daly (not the golfer) says ESPN missed the entire finish of the race choosing to cutaway after Tony Stewart took the checkered flag. In his NASCAR blog in the Hartford Courant, Shawn Courchesne writes that Stewart chose to say “bullshit” in a post-race interview to show ESPN he was irritated with the line of questioning.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that Boomer Esiason is very close to reaching an agreement with WFAN to host its morning drive show. And in his Watchdog blog, Best compares the approach of YES and SNY to their game broadcasts.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News says the hiring of Esiason might be good for WFAN’s competitors.

Phil Mushnick in today’s New York Post goes after Nike and Reebok for not dumping Michael Vick earlier.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir recaps the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

Jim Williams in the DC/Baltimore Examiner also recaps the HOF ceremonies from the Baltimore point of view.

From Crain’s Detroit Business News, ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV has signed to carry six MAC games to replace the Big Ten games it lost to the Big Ten Network. And one month from now, BTN will debut, but it’s still has yet to gain carriage from the heavy hitters of cable. The Chicago Daily Herald has more.

You may have seen it already, NBC has begun a megablitz for Sunday Night Football.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes about LA Dodger fans listening to Vin Scully inside Dodger Stadium.

This is interesting. The NFL Network won’t allow its own Deion Sanders to write a column for the News-Press.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back with more links later.

Some Sunday Links

Hello on a scorching Sunday. Hot here in the Northeast, but it’s hot everywhere in the US as well, so I hope you’re running the air conditioner or at least heading to the beach today. Let’s give you some links so you don’t have to do a lot of physical activity (but don’t get stuck to your seat).

Neil Best of Newsday talks with Keith Hernandez who has managed to become of the better local MLB analysts. His work on SNY during Mets games is getting notices.

Bob Raissman in today’s New York Daily News lobbies for Tony Kubek to gain entrance to the Broadcasters’ Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. I have to agree. Kubek did excellent work with NBC, TSN and MSG as both an analyst and play-by-play. I feel his best work came in the late 1970′s-early 1980′s when he was first teamed with Joe Garagiola then Bob Costas.

In the New York Post, it looks like Phil Mushnick wrote this particular column in a bad mood. He says if the NFL wants to clean up its image, it had best start with its own NFL Network.

Today is Baseball Hall of Fame inductions in Cooperstown, NY where Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken will see their plaques for the first time. Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the woman who has been responsible for making those plaques since 1995.

And today is finally the day when ESPN returns to airing Nextel Cup races for NASCAR. If you click on your TV sometime before 1 p.m. ET today, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews and ESPN Classic have all been hyping the return and it’s to the point where you want to avoid the channels. Anyway, despite this ridiculous hype, Paulsen in the Sports Media Watch blog points out the ratings for NASCAR have been in a slump over the past year. Larry Stewart in the Los Angeles Times says the Draft Track feature that will be unveiled today was named out of thin air.

Two entries from Jim Williams in the DC/Baltimore Examiner. First is on the bells and whistles ESPN will offer in the NASCAR race today. Second is a guide on where to watch and listen to today’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

The 38 Cliches blog has been quiet this weekend. That’s because Glenn Geffner is not doing the Red Sox radio broadcasts and Dave O’Brien is leading to joy all over Red Sox Nation. LC does have a funny entry from Friday on what Dave was doing while Glenn was broadcasting 15 Red Sox games in a row.

Big Ten fans will be able to see the conference’s annual media day live on ESPN this Tuesday.

Fang’s Bites fav, Natalie Gulbis has won her first LPGA title in France. To celebrate, we offer one of her hotter pictures from her FHM shoot.

Ok, I don’t think we can do any more today. Enjoy your Sunday.

The New Indiana Jones Reveal

This video was revealed at ComicCon 2007 in San Diego on Thursday. As expected, Steven Spielberg was there, so was Harrison Ford, Ray Winstone and Shia LaBeouf. But also, Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. Check it out.

This is courtesy of G4TV.com

Videos of the Week

Instead of doing music videos this week, I thought I would give you some vintage NFL TV opens from NBC and ABC.

Here’s an open from NBC dating back to 1978 – 79, Oakland vs. Seattle when NBC had the rights to the AFC games.

From 1983, the opening to the AFC Wild Card game between Denver and Seattle. Again, NBC had the broadcast, the legendary Charlie Jones and Bob Griese did the play-by-play and color.

Let’s go to Monday Night Football. This dates back to 1973 when MNF was in its infancy. Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford and Dandy Don Meredith are all in this clip.

This is the 1988 MNF “pinball” open. Notice Hank Williams had not arrived on the scene for MNF as of yet. Featured are Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf.

Here’s ABC’s open for Super Bowl XXII.

By 2002, John Madden joined Al and so had Hank Williams singing “All My Rowdy Friends.” Here’s an ABC promo for MNF.

Finally, many of you may not know that before NBC broadcast and butchered its Olympics coverage, the network of the Summer and Winter Games was ABC. It had done so many and by 1984, it had pretty much done them like clockwork. Note some of TV’s greatest announcers including Jim McKay, Jack Whitaker, Keith Jackson, a young Jim Lampley and my broadcasting hero, HOWARD COSELL!!! And yes, the familiar Olympic theme was first heard on ABC.

Weekend Viewing Picks

You’ve got a lot of picks for this weekend.

Saturday, July 28

Senior Open Championship, 3rd Round – ABC, 2 p.m.
PGA Golf/Canadian Open, 3rd Round – CBS, 3 p.m.
Braves at Arizona or Detroit at Anaheim or Padres at Astros – Fox, 3:55 p.m.
US Open Series/Indianapolis Tennis Championships – NBC, 4 p.m.
Pan American Games (men’s basketball finals) – ESPN, 4 p.m.
Red Sox at Tampa Bay – NESN, 7 p.m.
White Sox at Toronto – WGN, 7 p.m.
Marlins at Giants – ESPN, 9 p.m
US Open Series/Bank of the West Classic – 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Sunday, July 29

Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions – ESPN Classic, 1 p.m.
Senior Open Championships, 4th Round – ABC, 1 p.m.
Cubs at Cincinnati – WGN, 1 p.m.
Red Sox at Tampa Bay – NESN, 1:30 p.m.
NASCAR/Brickyard400 – ESPN, 2 p.m.
Road to the PGA Championship – CBS, 2 p.m.
PGA Tour/Canadian Open – CBS, 3 p.m.
US Open Series/Bank of the West Classic – ESPN2, 3 p.m.
US Open Series/Indianapolis Tennis Championships – NBC, 4 p.m.
Braves at Diamondbacks – TBS, 4:30 p.m.
Detroit at Anaheim – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Entourage – HBO, 10 p.m.
Scott Baio is 45 … and Single – VH1, 10:30 p.m.
Meadowlands – Showtime, 11 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Friday/Saturday Links

Sorry for the long delay in getting you links. I was out at two job sites during the day, then I had to drive my mother to several locations and got home late when I thought I would get home early. Nonetheless, I’m here now and I’ll give you big megadose of links tonight.

Let’s start with USA Today where Michael Hiestand says ESPN has bought the rights to the Florida-San Francisco games both on Friday and Saturday nights to cover the Barry Bonds home run record chase.

In the Boston Globe, Nancy Marrapese-Burrell writes that the Bristol, CT-based network will have a yellow line similar to the 1 and 10 line in football coverage to cover drafting in NASCAR.

David Scott from Boston Sports Media Watch reports that former Boston Herald columnist and soon-to-be former Washington Post sports writer Howard Bryant will be moving to ESPN.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says there’s a silver lining to the NBA referee gambling scandal.

Neil Best from his weekly Friday Newsday column writes that former Boston Bruin and New Island GM Mike Milbury will join NBC for its NHL coverage.

From the New York Daily News, Bob Raissman says it’s getting tougher and tougher to watch baseball on TV based on his experiences with Mets games on SNY.

From the Bucks County Courier Times outside Philadelphia, Laura Nachman profiles former Eagle Mike Golic who’s been busy with ESPN Radio.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says some residents of the city and surrounding areas may not be able to see Cal Ripken’s Hall of Fame induction this Sunday because it’s on ESPN Classic.

Jim Williams in the DC/Baltimore Examiner also has a blurb in his Watch This! blog that ESPN picks up two SF Giants games this weekend to chronicle Barry Bonds and that move has already paid off as Bonds hit his 754th homer in the first inning of tonight’s game.

Doug Nye in The State newspaper of Columbia, SC writes that a 30 minute local sports show on TV is practically out of the question.

From the CNBC.com Sports Biz blog, Darren Rovell says Nike has suspended Michael Vick’s endorsements and most likely has kicked him out of its thinking for good.

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald writes that Jim Mandich is happy to be back on Miami Dolphin radio broadcasts. You may have heard his signature “Awwwright, Miami!” whenever the ‘fins score a touchdown. Mandich had been off the broadcasts for the past two seasons because he was working on a rival radio station. Now that the rights have returned to WQAM, Mandich will be back in the booth.

In the Houston Chronicle, David Barron reports that the excellent ESPN college football announcer Ron Franklin has fully recovered from a car accident back in April.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn writes extensively about the NFL Network maturing into an influential sports channel.

Let’s go to the Akron Beacon Journal where George M. Thomas writes that FSN Ohio will have two shows devoted to my beloved Cleveland Browns.

In St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar has a story on the war of words between Barry Bonds and Gateway City resident Bob Costas.

It’s not a real update if I don’t have something on the Big Ten Network and Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune comes through with another “BTN vs. Comcast” story.

Judd Zulgad in the Friday edition of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune writes that Twins fans are having trouble finding new flagship station KSTP at night.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Mel Proctor is the only announcer to have done play-by-play of the more significant portions of Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, both of whom will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this Sunday.

In the North County Times, John Maffei writes that San Diegans will also have trouble just like this in Baltimore watching the HOF ceremonies on ESPN Classic. If the channel isn’t widely available, you would think that the idiots at the Alleged Worldwide Leader would put the inductions on a more widely viewed channel like, oh say, ESPN or ESPN2?

Larry Stewart has his usual two stories in the LA Times. First is about Jon Miller who could call Barry Bonds’ 756th home run. The other is a news and notes column which includes Dan Patrick’s move from ESPN Radio to the Content Factory.

Over to the LA Daily News where Tom Hoffarth is skeptical of ESPN’s new Draft Track which will be unveiled this weekend at the Brickyard 400. And in his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth does an extensive media notes column.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes about Draft Track as well.

Those are your links for tonight. I’ll give weekend viewing picks soon.

Thursday Night Links

Hello. Time for an update since I didn’t have one earlier today.

I won’t be able to give a Friday morning update and may not be here for the afternoon as work gets in the way of the blog. I will give an update when I can, but let’s get to the links now.

We haven’t mentioned much of the Tour de France and for good reason. Really. With all of the doping scandals in this year’s edition, it’s hard to get into it and the race has lost credibility with a lot of fans across Europe. Paulsen in his Sports Media Watch blog discusses the problems of the Tour and how this can affect sports here.

Barry Bonds is after Bob Costas in a big way. On Tuesday’s edition of “Costas Now” on HBO, Bob interviewed BALCO chemist Patrick Arnold and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schiling. Bonds’ name came up prominently. The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers has more on Bonds’ comments which include calling Costas a “little midget man who absolutely knows shit about baseball, who never played the game before.” Way to ingratiate yourself, Barry.

The Trib’s Teddy Greenstein has details of WMVP’s Dan McNeil’s return to the airwaves.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a plethora of posts in his blog today. One includes his ode to ABC’s Bill Flemming who passed away this week.

You remember the Fiesta Bowl back in January where Boise State beat Oklahoma on a two point conversion by running back Ian Johnson. Right after scoring the winning points, Johnson went down on one knee and proposed to cheerleader hottie Chrissy Popadics. It was a great story. Unfortunately, both are now receiving death threats for their bi-racial relationship. Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesmen has the unfortunate development to this story. And Murphy has some updated quotes in his blog.

In his CNBC.com Sports Business blog, Darren Rovell suggests to Nike that it drop Michael Vick, yesterday.

Jim Williams in his Watch This! blog in the DC/Baltimore Examiner says two Baltimore TV stations will have primetime specials devoted to Cal Ripken, Jr.

CBS Sports has announced its complete SEC college football schedule including two games that will start at 5 p.m. ET. Staying with the Southeastern Conference, Lindsay Jones of the Palm Beach Post says Commissioner Mike Slive is considering a TV network of its own.

From the Boston 9 blog, Bob416 wonders when NESN decided to move away from focusing on the Red Sox and go to reality TV. The channel has been promoting a dating show (Sox Appeal) to which I refuse to give any more attention.

I made a concerted effort to ESPN out of this update and I succeeded! That’s it for now. Once again, the Friday update will be late and most likely will be combined into one huge megalinkfest either in the afternoon or evening.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Red Sox at Cleveland – NESN, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Giants – TBS, 7 p.m.
Big Brother 8 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Thursday Links

Been out and about today, but I’ll give you a few links here.

The return of ESPN to NASCAR is this weekend. If you haven’t watched ESPN lately, you’re lucky not to have seen the many promos which have flooded all of the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s programs. Anyway, John Sturbin of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looks forward to the return. Payton Towns III of the Dublin (GA) Courier Herald also looks forward to ESPN returning to NASCAR. From the Daly Planet blog which follows TV coverage of motorsports, John Daly dreads ESPN’s re-entry into the NASCAR market. Mike Mulhern of the Winston-Salem Journal says while ESPN was great for NASCAR when it covered the races in the 1980′s and 1990′s, he shares the same concerns as Daly.

And the bashing of the Alleged Worldwide Leader continues. Mario Sarmento of the Boca Raton (FL) News says ESPN is doing a big disservice to fans.

Gwen Knapp of the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the town meeting ESPN conducted last night concerning Barry Bonds. John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says there was one voice heard loud and clear at the event.

Pierce Huff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says Arena Football League officials are happy in its first year of a five year contract with ESPN.

Mike Cronin of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the not guilty plea of John Duffy of ESPN Radio in the Steel City has led to problems for another John Duffy who has also worked for ESPN Radio, Pittsburgh. Weird.

Fans of Steve Stone will get to see him back on WGN-TV again, but working on a White Sox game.

From Mark Snyder’s Big Ten blog in the Detroit Free Press, it appears the battle between the Big Ten Network and various cable and satellite companies isn’t going away anytime soon. And the Big Ten Network says the move by Echostar to classify the channel as a Regional Sports Network is a “brazen ploy”. The Columbus Dispatch looks at the 24 classic Big Ten football games that will be aired on the network. And Bryce Miller of the Des Moines Register says the Big Ten Network is looking for other events to televise, not just football and basketball.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News reports that Denver will get another sports radio station.

From the 38Cliches blog, LC notes that Glenn Geffner has been torturing Red Sox radio listeners for 14 straight games?????!!!!!! The prisoners at Abu Gharib weren’t subjected to that.

That’s it for now.

The Wednesday Night Update

Good evening. Barry Bonds isn’t playing tonight so there’s no need to watch the Braves-Giants game on TBS. So instead, I’m watching Ninja Warrior on G4. Very entertaining indeed.

The Sports Media Watch blog has a good entry today on the NBA referee gambling scandal. While some media pundits feel this spells the end of the league, Paulsen says it’ll take more than this to doom the NBA.

LC has more on the fool that is Glenn Geffner. Tuesday night was the 100th game of the season as pointed out by the Goof. Plus, LC publishes an e-mail from one reader. I can’t stand listening to a Red Sox game as long as Goofie is on the mike. I feel he is an affront to all of Red Sox Nation.

USA Today picks up a story from a fellow Gannett newspaper, the Des Moines Register, saying that the Big Ten Network has conference officials looking to add a 12th team, possibly as soon as next year. I can tell you it won’t be Notre Dame. You knew this was coming. In addition to the games it will televise this season, BTN will air 24 “Classic” football games. From the Herald Times (IN) online blog about Indiana University sports, Doug Wilson and Chris Korman give the scoop on the Big Ten Network and what it means for Hoosier fans.

ESPN will unveil what it calls “Draft Track” during its NASCAR debut on Sunday. John Andretti will part of the radio team broadcasting the Brickyard 400. And SI.com picks up an Associated Press story on ESPN’s return to NASCAR.

Broadcasting & Cable’s John Eggerton says The Radio and Television News Directors Association (of which I used to be a member) has lodged a protest with the NFL in regards to its silly 45 second video rule for websites.

And Eggerton also writes about TBS.com having streaming video of every Barry Bonds at-bat until he breaks Hank Aaron’s home run record.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner gives us an article about how Cal Ripken successfully created his own brand.

Those are your links for tonight. I will probably have links later tomorrow.

More Wednesday Links

Checking for some more links for you.

Chater Communications in Madison, WI is adding ESPNU and ESPN2HD, but not the Big Ten Network. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will be promoting the Big Ten Network in Des Moines today as part of an effort to put pressure on Mediacom cable.

Ron Aiken of the Free Times of South Carolina says Dan Patrick’s departure from ESPN means a changing of the guard at the Alleged Worldwide Leader. However, Aiken calls Patrick’s leaving a “retirement” and that’s not the case as Dan is going to be doing a new show in September.

It appears that with a new TV contract with ESPN, the Sun Belt Conference will get a second bowl bid.

Not too many links today. More later, if warranted.

The Wednesday Links

Time for the links on this Wednesday.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent about the NBA referee gambling scandal. You may remember Vincent was in charge when the Pete Rose gambling story ruled the front pages.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the NBA TV partners still have confidence in the league despite the referee gambling scandal.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that Don Imus more than likely won’t be returning to WFAN and Boomer Esiason will be his replacement.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks about ESPN’s re-entry into NASCAR with plenty of bells and whistles.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner compares David Beckham’s MLS debut on Saturday to Geraldo Rivera’s opening of Al Capone’s safe. Harsh, but there’s a certain ring of truth to it. And Williams says in his blog that the ratings for Saturday on ESPN was a big hit as far as soccer is concerned.

CBS will air a PGA Championship preview this weekend.

Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star says Indiana University fans are worried that they won’t be able to see games once the Big Ten Network launches.

Continuing on conference TV networks, Mark McGrane of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Mountain West Conference is concerned about carriage for the mtn. channel which is still struggling to get agreements with cable companies.

The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein writes that WMVP’s Dan McNeil returns from suspension today. Apparently McNeil insulted a Comcast Sportsnet Chicago executive on the air. Real nice, Dan. And Greenstein reports that WSCR morning show host Mike North has garnered his best ratings since moving to morning drive.

Dave Weekley of the Charleston (WV) Gazette has praise for ESPN’s new College Football Live show which debuted this week.

In Bob Wolfey’s column in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Jon Anderson of ESPN says he was surprised that Dan Patrick announced his departure from the network (scroll down).

That’s it for now.

Damages and Meadowlands (two reasons why we should be watching cable this summer)

I just finished watching the series premiere of Damages on FX. This was one of the best premieres I have seen. This is about a litigator, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) who will stop at nothing at winning her cases and the young associate she hires, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). Hewes is embroiled in a class action lawsuit against a CEO, Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson). Frobisher’s lawyer, Ray Fiske (Zelko Ivanek) battle Hewes.

In the premiere episode, we see a bloodied and catatonic Ellen running out of an elevator into the streets of New York. She’s picked up by police and from there, we piece together Ellen’s story from six months before, being turned down by one law firm because she reveals she has been contacted by Hewes’ firm. From there, Ellen is hired by Patty and we see that Patty is no ordinary attorney. She’s cut-throat and she’ll stop at nothing to win her lawsuits. And she presses on against Frobisher, but she’s being railroaded by her clients who want to accept a settlement.

As the episode reveals itself, we see that Ellen’s boyfriend, David Connor (Noah Bean) is wary of her joining the firm, but as we get further into the hour, we see him dead in a bathtub. Is this connected to Ellen being bloodied? David’s sister, Katie (Anastasia Griffin) is tied to Frobisher as a chef and eventually will be asked by Ellen to turn over as a witness. But of course, Frobisher knows this and will try to silence Katie.

And we also see that Patty’s long-time associate, Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan), knows his boss inside and out, but is fired for not seeing the clients wanting the settlement. But Ellen tries to get some info out of him. And it appears he’s still working for Patty on the side. So what’s going on here?

I think Damages has the potential to be very good. Glenn Close is a very good actress. Rose Byrne has done good work in the UK and Australia, of course in 28 Weeks Later and 28 Days Later. I’ve never been a fan of Tate Donovan, but he shows a mysterious side here. The series is shot well and I think will do well in the 10 p.m. Tuesday slot for FX. This will be a weekly primetime pick.

Now I haven’t written about Meadowlands since the first episode because I felt the series screeched to a halt after an excellent first episode. The last two episodes have been much better. We’re finding more about what the place is about. At first, we thought it was for people who need to be put under witness protection and never be seen by the outside world again. However, as the series has been progressing, we find it’s a social experiment to see if people can change their identities and sense of themselves so they become someone else.

As we discover, the Brogans, the family who we first saw at the beginning of the series, are hiding a secret. So is everyone who has been moved to Meadowlands. Danny Brogan had to testify against criminal associates who helped him to open a bar.

Jack the Handyman had kidnapped a woman when he was 14 and subjected her to sexual abuse. Eventually, Jack was killed by Danny.

Golf Pro Tom Tyrell was actually a left wing journalist who’s wife was killed.

And Samantha, Danny’s handler is actually the adopted daughter of a Professor who’s theories led to the creation of Cape Wrath, the town where Meadowlands exists. Samantha wasn’t the actual daughter of Professor Campbell, she was taken from a remote farm in South Africa and provided a new life by her “father”. But she finds out as he’s about to die.

So the whole thing about Meadowlands is discovering the secrets and also, trying to see whom is really whom. The last episode saw Danny trying to find out more about Cape Wrath and Samantha getting the truth from her father. This Sunday is the season finale. I have seen the previews and they do look good.

Lucy Cohu (Evelyn Brogan), Felicity Jones (Zoe Brogan), Ralph Brown (Constable Wintersgill) and Nina Sosanya (Samantha) have all been excellent in the series and helped to have given the series a dark edge.

Here’s hoping Meadowlands returns for a second season on Showtime.

Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks

Red Sox at Cleveland – NESN, 7 p.m.
America’s Got Talent – NBC, 8 p.m
Atlanta at San Francisco – TBS, 10 p.m.
Damages (series premiere) – FX, 10 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Tuesday Afternoon Links

Here are a few more links before I ease up for the day.

For satellite radio subscribers, we have a couple of items and thanks to the Orbitcast blog which tracks everythying XM and Sirius. First, Sirius NFL Radio begins its 3rd annual training camp tour. Starting next Thursday, the channel visits every team training camp until mid-August. This week, XM Satellite Radio’s MLB channel will be at Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions starting on Friday. The DC/Baltimore Examiner’s Jim Williams also has a story on XM covering Cal Ripken’s and Tony Gwynn’s induction.

Back to the NBA referee gambling scandal, CNBC’s Darren Rovell reviews his theory that Tim Donaghy may have influenced the over/under on games.

A press release has the coaches of Indiana and Purdue throwing their support for the Big Ten Network. BTN President Mark Silverman did an interview with Inside Indiana Business saying Indiana and Purdue fans will see more games than ever and you can see that interview here.

David Beckham’s debut on Saturday set a record rating for a MLS game on ESPN.

NHL fans won’t see a studio show on NBC next season. In another strange move by NBC Sports, Bill Clement is being dropped as host and the status of studio analyst Ray Ferraro is unknown. Brett Hull has already left to take a position with the Dallas Stars. Sports Media Watch has the story.

Also from Sports Media Watch, ESPN starts the hype for NASCAR this week as it airs its first race since 2000, the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

In Denver, KCNC (CBS4) has signed a contract extension with the Broncos to televise preseason games and all of the ESPN games (exhibition and Monday Night Football) through 2010. The Denver Business Journal has a story on the extension as well.

The Sun Belt Conference will have four games nationally televised on ESPN2.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times looks at Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic having to find programming after losing to the Orioles to MASN.

Jesse Noyes of the Boston Herald writes about Shaw’s Supermarkets becoming the official sponsor of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Lots of links today. That’s it for now. Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

The Commish Was Front and Center

In the 11:00 a.m. ET hour, NBA Commissioner David Stern went in front of the media to talk about the alleged gambling by former referee Tim Donaghy. To his credit, Stern stood at a podium in front of a full room of reporters for over an hour. He answered all questions to the best of his ability, some things were missing. CNBC’s Darren Rovell kept a live blog for about an hour.

Stern pledges that this is an isolated case. He had better hope so. Unfortunately, the NBA doesn’t have tapes as of yet about the supposed games where the league believes Donaghy gambled. Here’s another recap of the news conference.

Ian Thomsen of SI.com wonders if there are other referees who might be dragged into the scandal.

And it appears that Donaghy will plead guilty to the charges. Here’s the original story from the New York Daily News.

Paulsen at the Sports Media Watch blog has a look at the media coverage of the press conference and also keeps track of some of the questions.

We’ll have more links when they become available.

Tuesday Morning Links

Listening to Scott Baio on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio. The women he’s banged. If I only had half of his number, I’d be a very happy man. I started watching “Scott Baio is 45 … and Single” on VH-1 and it’s actually very good. Instead of him being crazy, he’s quite grounded and the people around him are crazy. Very well produced. I actually do recommend the show.

On to the links this morning.

Let’s start with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the TV ratings from the sporting weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on the NBA TV partners not being worried about the referee gambling scandal. Bob Raissman in today’s New York Daily News says the NBA TV partners were snookered by Commissioner David Stern.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about Vin Scully’s call of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run back in 1974.

Let’s go to a couple of links concerning the Big Ten Network. Tom Kubat of the Journal & Courier of Lafayette, Indiana writes that the Big Ten Network and Comcast are at an impasse. Variety’s John Dempsey has another story on Echostar wanting BTN classified as a Regional Sports Network.

From Pittsburgh, there’s a story about an anchor for ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh, John Duffy, has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges.

To Ohio, Akron to be exact, where George M. Thomas of the Beacon Journal writes that Sports Time Ohio, the cable TV home of the Cleveland Indians, has turned a profit in a short 15 months since it launched and allowed the team to make deals with players.

Darrell Moody of the Nevada Appeal writes about the Western Athletic Conference media day where Commissioner Karl Benson discusses the WAC’s TV schedule and negotiations with ESPN.

Over to the Mountain West Conference which is still having problems getting its network, the mtn., picked up by cable companies.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has a story on the city’s “Fantastic Four” in sports.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press writes about the passing of Bill Flemming who was one of the original announcers along with Jim McKay at ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

Pat Summerall has signed up to host an internet talk show to premiere in November.

Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times writes about Campbell Brown moving to CNN to host a primetime show.

Breaking news – Lindsay Lohan was arrested early this morning for DUI and police found cocaine in her car. Good job, Lindsay. Here’s a link to TMZ.com which already has her mugshot.

Finally, NBA Commish David Stern will have a press conference to talk about the referee gambling scandal. We’ll monitor.

More later.

More Monday Night Links

Well, I keep finding stuff and I need to pass them along to you, my loyal visitors.

From Canada, there’s a shakeup for the venerable Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. The legendary Bob Cole has been signed to a two year contract, but will have a reduced role. He’ll no longer be the lead play-by-play man and his last season will likely be the 2008-09 season. Cole’s long time partner, Harry Neale has been signed to a one year deal and his role will also be reduced. Expect Jim Hughson who was signed in 2005 to replace Chris Cuthbert to be the new voice of HNIC. And the Executive Producer Joel Darling has been moved to a new role in CBC Sports. William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has the exclusive story.

From the Victoria Times-Colonist (I love the names of these merged newspapers from across North America, the Post-Intelligencer, the Journal-Sentinel, the Post-Gazette, the Times-Dispatch, the Times Picayune, the Star-Tribune, but it also shows that a lot of papers had to combine to survive, a sad sign of the times), CBC garnered pretty decent ratings for the FIFA U-20 World Cup that concluded this past weekend. And Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says CBC analyst Craig Forrest was on a personal crusade against diving during the tournament.

You may have seen the lovely Campbell Brown’s last Weekend Today appearance on NBC Sunday. She’s going to CNN on September 1. I throw this in here because I like Campbell. Back to sports.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News of Denver says NBC had a crew of 11 to talk about “Football Night in America” which re-premieres in September. Does Dick Ebersol need that many for a network promotion?

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has his review of the sporting weekend including the work of Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo on ABC during the Open Championsihp.

Jane Levere of the New York Times writes about a clever ad campaign involving Serena Williams and Roger Federer for the US Open Series.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Bob Wolfey says the ratings for Brewers games on FSN Wisconsin and WITI-TV continue to sizzle.

ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel will air the the last three days of the Acura Classic concurrently, meaning they’ll alternate coverage during that time.

MASN continues to pick up programming during the fall and winter months when they won’t have the Orioles or Nationals. The RSN has signed a contract with the Big South Conference to show both selected football and basketball games.

The owners of Dish Network, Echostar, have filed a petition with the Federal Communications C Commission, seeking to have the Big Ten Network declared a Regional Sports Network so it can negotiate a reasonable price to pick up the channel. According to the petition, Echostar says BTN is trying to position itself as a national network.

Versus has announced it’s adding the BYU/Utah game to its 19 game college football schedule.

You got more links than I thought you would in this update. Back on Tuesday.

Late Monday Night Links

Here are a few more links for you tonight before I watch “Saving Grace” on TNT.

SI’s Richard Deitsch has a story on the San Francisco Giants announcers who have the potential to call Barry Bonds’ record breaking 756th home run. The best chances belong to Jon Miller on radio or TV or Duane Kuiper as both do the most innings on both media. But Dave Flemming, who was in the booth for Bonds’ 715th, but had a microphone problem, and Greg Papa are both long shots to call it.

From the excellent Biz of Baseball blog, Maury Brown writes that MLB has now set the rules for networks that can air game-in-progress highlights of Bonds’ record-tying and record breaking home runs.

A couple of ratings-related stories from the Sports Media Watch blog. First is on the overnights for David Beckham’s MLS debut on Saturday. Second is on overnights for the overall weekend.

The Boston Radio Watch blog writes about Entercom radio selling naming rights for the Boston Red Sox Radio Network to a well-known regional supermarket chain. And no, it’s not a first. CBS Radio sold naming rights to the Patriots Rock Radio Network and the Boston Bruins Radio Network (both TD Banknorth) two seasons ago.

If I find more links, I’ll post ‘em here.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Red Sox at Cleveland – NESN/ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen – Fox, 9 p.m.
The Closer – TNT, 9 p.m.
Saving Grace (series premiere) – TNT, 10 p.m. (anything with the lovely Holly Hunter automatically goes in the primetime picks)
Giants at Atlanta – ESPN, 10 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Monday Afternoon Update

I’ve been keeping track of the Pan American Games online. If you have access to ESPN360, you can watch the coverage from ESPN Deportes. The coverage is in Spanish, but if you don’t understand, you can either turn the volume down or just watch and listen to the announcers who are quite entertaining especially during the obligatory “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL!” calls on soccer games. ESPN essentially uses the World Feed and probably has its announcers call the games from their studios in Bristol, CT rather than send them to Rio de Janeiro. To be honest, I have only seen sideline reporters on-site and not the announcers themselves. I know someone from ESPN visits this blog from time to time. If I’m wrong, please let me know.

Taking a look at the NBA Referee Gambling story, CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the media is looking in the wrong place to determine where Tim Donaghy influenced games. Darren says instead of looking at the point spread, the media should be looking at the over-under. Very good point, Darren. And Darren has a link to where you can look.

Neil Best of Newsday is blogging like crazy today. One entry bemoans the fact that ESPN splashed its logo all over its coverage of the Open Championship yesterday. And keeping tabs on the WFAN morning show gig, Best points out that neither Don Imus nor Boomer Esiason will host through the week of August 13.

RCN Cable has signed a content distribution deal with Disney that includes providing ESPN360 and ESPN2 HD.

Do you want a Best of X Games DVD? You can if you want now.

Holden Parrish of MSNBC.com says you may not like it or even care, but the over-the-top coverage of David Beckham is here to stay.

Versus has announced its on-air lineup for college football games including Ted Robinson and Rod Thulin who will call the Big 12 and Pac 10 for the channel.

Mike Tankersley of the Montgomery Advertiser has a news and notes column and it includes the number of Braves games increasing on FSN South next season (scroll down).

Those are your links for now.

The Monday Links

Good morning. Back to work on this Monday, but let’s get into the links.

First, Michael Hiestand of USA Today has kind words for ESPN/ABC for coverage of the Open Championship this past weekend saying it was laid back and not over the top.

Jim Williams in his Watch This! blog in the DC/Baltimore Examiner says watch a new documentary on the Washington Redskins tonight on Comcast Sportsnet.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says the YES Network will show a true Yankees Classic in two weeks, the first game after Thurman Munson’s funeral in 1979.

David Barron in today’s Houston Chronicle has some news and notes.

Remember when former New York Met Keith Hernandez was on Seinfeld? The Los Angeles Times does and here’s a feature by Jerome Crowe on one of the best ever episodes of the series.

The Big Ten Network continues its efforts to gain carriage in Iowa. Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham (AL) News talks about Gerry DiNardo who leaves ESPN for the Big Ten Network. Aaron Dorksen of the Daily Record (OH) says the Big Ten Network and other sports channels are playing hardball with the cable companies.

Light on the links this morning. I’ll do an update as it warrants.

Sunday Links

Time to give a few links today.

Neil Best talks about the headaches of parking at the Meadowlands now that 5,000 spaces have been lost to construction of the new Giants-Jets stadium.

Phil Mushnick continues to bash ESPN and for good reason.

SI.com’s Richard Deitsch says the David Beckham coverage on ESPN last night was excessive and almost a bust.

In the Los Angeles Daily News, media writer Tom Hoffarth says the over-the-top Beckham coverage was much ado about noting.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes that ESPN will have a Town Hall devoted to the Barry Bonds home run chase.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press says ESPN is growing so much that it’s expanding into the neighboring town of Southington, CT.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News talks with Tiki Barber who will be working for NBC on “Football Night in America”.

This set of links was ESPN-heavy and I’ll try to do better tomorrow. Those are your links for now.