Fang's Bites

Some Really Quick Wednesday Links

I’m going to try to do some Wednesday linkage here. Also have a lot of end of the month/beginning of the month crap to do at work some I’m balancing the two off.

Here are the links that I have for now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at NBC’s plans to provide live online coverage of the 2012 London Olympics.

At MediaPost, Erik Sass looks at the New York Giants integrating Twitter into its NFL preseason broadcasts.

David Goetzl at MediaPost notes that Fox has had a 51% majority stake in Big Ten Network since last year.

The Associated Press reports that Versus is adding a whole host of original programming to its weeknight lineup.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter also writes about Versus’ new original programming.

Lacey Rose and Lesley Goldberg at the Reporter report that HBO has given the green light for a drama based on boxer Mike Tyson.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable writes that Turner Sports is expanding the exclusive content offerings at NCAA.com.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says CBS Sports Network will air a documentary on the first black college football game played in New York.

To Adweek where Anthony Crupi chronicles how NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus lured former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol back to the company just mere months after he left.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life Magazine discusses how NBC is going to provide everything from track & field to archery live at 2012 London Olympics.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid looks at the sad tenure of Fred Hickman’s days at ESPN.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the video preview of NFL Films’ documentary on Patriots coach  Bill Belichick.

On this final day for SportsNewser, let me link to a few stories. Marcus Vanderberg writes that former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand will be joining the school’s football broadcasts on radio. You may recall LeGrand was paralyzed last year and hopes to make a full recovery.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says fans will vote on the next nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Broadcaster Award.

Back to Marcus, he writes that Southwest Airlines will stream live MLB games to its passengers thanks to its in-flight internet provider. Now back to me.

Now back to SportsNewser where Marcus looks at Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl picks.

Ok, that’s it for the SportsNewer links. The site will be missed.

Nat Ives of Advertising Age notes that a month-long sponsorship starting tomorrow, will allow the New York Times to open up five sections (including sports) in its iPad app from behind the dreaded paywall.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell couldn’t be more thrilled to be getting his own weekly show on Versus.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette talks about ESPN releasing its Big East and Big Monday basketball schedules.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog talks with former Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic original Russ Thaler about his new gig with Versus/NBC Sports Network.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that the U.S. Open will be well covered on TV and online.

Josh Robbins from the Orlando Sentinel says the Magic’s Gilbert Arenas has shut down his Twitter account.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes that a pair of Eastern transplants top the local sports radio ratings.

Mel says NFL preseason again led the local TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer has a preview of tonight’s HBO/NFL Films 10 year retrospective on Hard Knocks.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN’s Jon Gruden isn’t a fan of the new NFL replay rule.

Bob says the digital Sporting News Today has ceased publication.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the city’s high school football and basketball championships are moving to a new TV home.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says all of the Dodgers’ announcers are coming back for 2012.

Ed Tait and John White of the Winnipeg Free Press says the new Jets have signed a 10 year deal with TSN for both TV and radio.

Sports Media Watch says Hurricane Irene coverage on many local ABC stations cut into NASCAR’s ratings on Saturday.

Deadspin shows a picture of HBO’s Bryant Gumbel being “beaten up” by UFC’s Chuck Liddell and Fox’s Jay Glazer.

Joe Favorito says the hiring of former Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl by a grocery company is a good marketing move.

And we’ll end it there for today.

HBO Sports & NFL Films Celebrate A Decade of “Hard Knocks”

On Wednesday, HBO will air a retrospective looking back at 10 years of “Hard Knocks”, the reality show produced by NFL Films that looks inside various training camps. The show debuted in 2001 with NFL Films going into the Baltimore Ravens training camp with then-coach Brian Billick and linebacker Ray Lewis. The show has evolved into one of the most popular summer series. Last year’s “Hard Knocks” focusing on the New York Jets was the most watched in the history of the series.

The show has focused on the Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys (twice), Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets.

We have the joint press release from HBO Sports and NFL Films discussing what you’ll see on the special that premieres on Wednesday and will have multiple re-airs.

HBO SPORTS^® AND NFL FILMS TEAM UP TO PRESENT A SPECIAL EDITION OF THE ULTIMATE SPORTS REALITY SERIES WHEN HARD KNOCKS:  A DECADE OF NFL TRAINING CAMPS DEBUTS WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

Ten years after the debut of the groundbreaking HBO Sports and NFL Films collaboration on the first-ever sports reality program, one of sports television’s most enduring partnerships teams up for an all-new special when HARD KNOCKS: A DECADE OF NFL TRAINING CAMPS debuts WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31 (10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Other HBO playdates:  Aug. 31 (4:05 a.m.) and Sept. 2 (2:30 p.m., 9:00 p.m.), 3 (9:15 a.m., 1:00 a.m.), 5 (2:00 p.m., 1:30 a.m.), 7 (10:00 p.m.), 8 (9:00 a.m., midnight), 11 (9:45 a.m.), 13 (6:30 p.m.) and 16 (6:00 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates:  Sept. 1 (9:00 a.m.), 6 (1:15 a.m.), 7 (4:30 p.m., 2:35 a.m.), 10 (6:00 a.m., 1:55 a.m.), 13 (1:15 p.m.) and 21 (9:00 p.m.)

One of the fastest-turnaround reality programs on television, the cinema-verité series debuted Aug. 1, 2001 when NFL Films and HBO Sports began chronicling rookies and free agents trying to make an NFL roster as determined veterans fought to keep their jobs at the camp of the reigning Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. An instant sensation, the show captured the heat, the hurt, the camaraderie and the humor of an NFL training camp.

In addition to revisiting memorable moments of the teams – Baltimore, Dallas (twice), Kansas City, Cincinnati and New York Jets – that have been featured on the seven-time Emmy^®-winning series, the special includes new interviews with HARD KNOCKS veterans like Brian Billick, Shannon Sharpe, Chad Ochocinco and Rex Ryan, never-before-seen outtakes and a “Where Are They Now?” segment with updates on players from past episodes.  Liev Schreiber narrates.

“We know football fans are hungry for compelling NFL programming and we think they’ll love this HARD KNOCKS special, which will have a host of new wrinkles,” says Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports.

Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, says, “The first ten years of HARD KNOCKS have been the ultimate fly-on-the-wall NFL training camp experience.  We look forward to taking a look back at those shows and reintroducing the fans to those characters who made the decade of HARD KNOCKS so memorable.”

Embedded in an NFL training camp, the 24-person NFL Films crew would typically shoot more than 1,000 hours of video over the course of each series.  Each year, camera and sound crews were given unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, dormitories and practice fields.

HARD KNOCKS launched with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, followed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2002.  The series resumed in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning a Sports Emmy^®.  In 2008, the series revisited the Dallas Cowboys, receiving a second Sports Emmy^®.  In 2009 HARD KNOCKS spotlighted the Cincinnati Bengals and captured two more Sports Emmy^® Awards, for Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology and Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound.  In 2010 the show featured the New York Jets and attracted an average of 4.6 million viewers per episode, receiving three Sports Emmys^®, including Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology.

Sports Illustrated.com said HARD KNOCKS is the “most entertaining reality show on TV,” while the St. Petersburg Times observed, “HARD KNOCKS is fascinating television,” and the Wall St. Journal noted that the show “looks great and it sounds great, too.”

That’s all.

No New Hard Knocks This Season, But A 10th Anniversary Special Coming In August

Both HBO Sports and NFL Films announced that due to the NFL lockout, there won’t be a Hard Knocks series for this season, but to help fans get their reality training camp fix, both companies have said that there will be a 10th anniversary show that will air in August. The show has featured the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys (twice), Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets over its previous incarnations. To be honest, several teams had turned down having cameras in their locker rooms this season and I think the season would have had to had been canceled anyway, but the lockout is a nice excuse. We have this joint press release from HBO Sports and NFL Films.

HARD KNOCKS UPDATE: 10th Anniversary Special Set for August 31

HBO Sports^®  and NFL FILMS have announced that the five-episode Hard Knocks reality series will not be presented this summer. The uncertainty of the NFL’s summer schedule and the incredibly expedited timetable this month made it impractical for a team to commit. The series is scheduled to return for 2012 training camp.

However, a special 90-minute edition of Hard Knocks, celebrating the past ten years of the seven-time Emmy^®-Award-winning series will premiere Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively on HBO.

“We know football fans are hungry for compelling NFL programming and we think they’ll love the 10th anniversary special,” said Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports.

Said Steve Sabol, President of NFL FILMS, “The first 10 years of Hard Knocks has been the ultimate fly-on-the-wall NFL training camp experience. We look forward to taking a look back at those shows and reintroducing the fans to those characters who made the decade of Hard Knocks so memorable.”

The special will combine flashbacks to memorable moments from the Hard Knocks seasons that featured the Baltimore Ravens (2001), Dallas Cowboys (2002 & 2008), Kansas City Chiefs (2007), Cincinnati Bengals (2009) and the New York Jets (2010); a “Where Are They Now?” element; and never-before-seen out-takes and new interviews.

Additional details and the show’s title will be announced in August.

That’s it for this post. One more press release is coming your way.

Trying To Do A Friday Megalink Session

I’m hoping to get this entire Megalink session finished in one sitting. It’s been a crazy day thus far. Of course, all of your weekend sport and entertainment programming are featured in the Weekend Viewing Picks.

Let’s get to the linkage now.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today speaks with noted baseball announcing author Curt Smith who has written another book about the subject.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy has ESPN’s Desmond Howard criticizing the current college athletics system which does not allow for students to get paid.

Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about the details of the conference’s new TV networks.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Golf Channel and CBS will have the honors of airing Tiger Woods’ return to golf next weekend.

Michael Malone at Broadcasting & Cable criticizes WPRI-TV in Providence for recreating golf highlights and passing it off as it actually happened.

Thomas Umstead from Multichannel News says boxing is still a big part of HBO Sports.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel says ESPN will redesign its live streaming site for Xbox 360 users.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of Dan Patrick joining old SportsCenter partner Keith Olbermann on Current’s Countdown program to talk about casting the potential ESPN Movie.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that ESPN’s John Clayton still hasn’t grasped this Twitter thing yet.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that Rory McIlroy called out a BBC golf commentator and had quite the Twitter battle.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Knicks and Rangers fans will have the opportunity to see their team’s players go from the court/ice to the locker room and vice versa.

The Big Lead speaks with actor Dan Lauria about bringing his Broadway role of coach Vince Lombardi “home” to Green Bay this weekend.

Sports Media Watch says viewership declined for the last week of Copa América on Univision as glamor teams Brazil and Argentina lost before the semifinal round.

SMW notes that the ratings jumped for the WNBA All-Star Game on ABC last weekend.

Joe Favorito says Baseball’s governing body is now using social media to its advantage.

Bob’s Blitz has an interesting story of a former cameraman and ESPN director who got a lucky cell phone and has been living the life of a celebrity.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing notes that the Pac-12 Networks will further fragment sports on cable.

Overseas, this is big news. John Plunkett of the London Guardian says BBC Sport is letting go of most of its Formula 1 contract and satellite provider Sky Sports will pick up a lion’s share of races starting next year. That would be as if Fox decided to allow DirecTV to take over most of the NASCAR contract.

Ben Gallop of BBC’s motorsports division explains why the decision was made.

East & Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe feels melancholy over the loss of HBO’s Hard Knocks, a victim of the NFL lockout this season.

At SB Nation, Kat Hasenauer Cornetta says women are still trying to get a foothold in the Boston sports media.

Newsday’s Neil Best says Derek Jeter finally opened up a bit in the HBO documentary that premiered this week.

At the New York Post, Phil Mushnick warns to be careful what you wish for in wanting replay review in baseball.

Mike Battaglino of the Post notes that there will be no edition of Hard Knocks this season.

Justin Terranova writes that the NFL TV’s partners were never worried about losing games to the lockout.

A couple of more stories from the Post. Tim Bontemps from the Post says Derek Jeter agreed to do the HBO documentary on his quest for 3,000 hits so his future children could see him at work.

Justin has five questions for the producer of the HBO Jeter documentary.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that the premiere of NBC’s Summer at Saratoga series did quite well.

On Thursday, Pete, the lovely Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press and your humble blogger were invited to ESPN to talk to several of the network’s production staff and then interview Norby Williamson, the network’s Vice President of Studio and Event Production. Pete has a story on that visit.

Pete Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News writes about the contentious relationship between NFL Network and NFL Films.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog and Dan Steinberg who notes that local talk show host John Riggins isn’t optimistic about DC NFL team coach Mike Shanahan’s chances this year.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says MLB Network will be all over the Trading Deadline this weekend.

South

Jared Hunt from the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail profiles CBS golf producer Lance Barrow as he helms the network’s broadcasts of the Greenbrier Classic this weekend.

Cindy Watts of The Tennessean talks about country star Kenny Chesney writing and performing the theme song for a new ESPN series.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says NFL Films founder Ed Sabol is deservedly getting the NFL Films treatment in a new documentary celebrating his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

David talks about the lack of a Hard Knocks series this season.

Rick Cantu and Kirk Bohis of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman says ESPN approached several high schools about putting their games on the Longhorn Network.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit about the upcoming season.

Mel finds the real reason why Herbstreit chose to move his family away from his native Columbus, OH to Tennessee.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with former NFL’er and current TV analyst Ray Bentley about the 1987 NFL strike.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finds some interesting Brewers anecdotes in the new Curt Smith book.

Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune interviews ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.

Over to the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin where Paul Christian notes that ex-Minnesota Golden Gopher coaches keep finding their way to television.

West

Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune says former Utah Jazz player Matt Harpring has made the successful transition to the TV booth.

John Maffei of the North County Times understands why Mexican government ads must be played on a local sports radio station, but it doesn’t mean he has to like them.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the new batch of ESPN Films documentaries that will be released later this year.

Tom has Fox Sports/MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal still being wary of Twitter.

Tom talks with Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott about his whirlwind tenure that has left the league with a pocketful of riches.

Tom has more on the Pac-12 Network announcement aftermath.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the father of new Blue Jay Colby Ramus is using the local media to blast St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.

And that will do it for today.

Cranking Out The Sunday Links

Let’s give you some linkage on this Sunday morning. I’m at work again. No rest for the weary here.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that Sports Illustrated’s Peter King broke news this weekend about HBO’s Hard Knocks.

David Whitley of the Sporting News says there’s some hypocrisy in the Big 12′s criticism of the Longhorn Network.

John Taylor at College Football Talk says ESPN.com’s Joe Schad reported a story on a potential LSU violation without giving credit to its original source.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid has video of NESN’s Jerry Remy trashing Mike Lowell during a commercial break, but knowing Remy during commercial breaks and him knowing that the monitors at Fenway Park can be heard, I’m 100% positive he was joking.

Awful Announcing gathered tweets from people watching Fox Saturday Baseball as Dick Stockton and Thom Brennaman were calling separate games. Let’s just say the reaction wasn’t pretty.

Joe Favorito has some tips for anyone using social media.

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe says the Celtics will have a lot of green thanks to its deal with Comcast SportsNet New England.

I’ll break my boycott of Dr. Gloom & Doom, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News for a week. Today, Gloom & Doom has a story filled with backhanded compliments and vitriol on the successful return of Stephen A. “A is for Angry” Smith to ESPN Radio New York. No quotes from Smith though.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes about college hockey games possibly being aired on Versus.

On this Baseball Hall of Fame Day, Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom states that the HOF is barren without two people who made a huge impact on the game.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes that ESPN’s Nicole Briscoe gets a bigger role in the network’s NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage starting next weekend.

Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes about Florida Marlins broadcaster Dave Van Horne being inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend.

Andrew Carter of the Sun Sentinel says the director of the ESPN Films 30 for 30 documentary on Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams plans to film a follow-up.

Berry Tremel of the Daily Oklahoman has former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer weighing in on the Fox Sports/Big 12 alliance.

John Klein of the Tulsa World feels the Longhorn Network controversy is much ado about nothing.

Jeff Korbelik of the Lincoln (NE) Journal-Star writes that the sports radio format is finding its niche in town with a second station launching this week.

Warren Gerds of the Green Bay (WI) Gazette talks about a local reading of “Lombardi” which recently finished its Broadway run, featuring most of the original actors who performed in the play.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the sports calendar for Southern California for the upcoming week.

In the Los Angeles Times, college football writer Chris Dufrense looks at the SEC Media Days event that has become larger-than-life.

Sports Media Watch notes the end of ESPN The Weekend at Walt Disney World.

And that will end the linkage for today.

A Full Tuesday Linkfest! Finally!

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

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

Let’s get started.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sports Media Watch has some news and notes.

And we have some more news and notes from SMW.

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

And there is your full set of links.

NFL Network To Begin Airing “Hard Knocks” With The New York Jets On July 3

On Sunday, NFL Network begins airing the Emmy Award-winning HBO/NFL “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets” this Sunday night following the finale of “The Top 100: Players of 2011″. Then on Monday, NFL Network will run a Hard Knocks marathon to include past seasons of the series which include the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals. Then after NFL Networks runs various episodes separately each night, it will air the entire season of the Jets’ Hard Knocks season on Sunday, July 10. Got it? Good.

Here’s the schedule for you.

HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS MAKES NFL NETWORK DEBUT

2010 Emmy Award-Winning Jets ‘Hard Knocks’ Premieres Sunday, July 3 at 11:00 PM ET, Immediately Following Series Finale of ‘The Top 100: Players of 2011’
Daily 9:00 PM ET Primetime Airing of NFL Films-Produced Series Featuring Gang Green July 4-8
July 4th Programming Features Hard Knocks Marathon with Chiefs, Cowboys and Bengals Series Installments

The Emmy Award-winning Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets makes its NFL Network debut Sunday, July 3 at 11:00 PM ET, immediately following the series finale of The Top 100: Players of 2011.

The sixth season of the ‘Hard Knocks’ franchise chronicling the 2010 New York Jets preseason garnered NFL Films producers a trio of Emmys in 2010, including a repeat win in the Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology category as well as honors for Outstanding Camera Work and Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound.

There was no shortage of storylines surrounding the 2010 New York Jets who, led by head coach Rex Ryan, had high expectations heading into the preseason following a 9-7 finish in 2009 that included a run to the AFC Championship Game led by then-rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. While the Jets fell short of their charismatic head coach’s Super Bowl guarantee, their season on Hard Knocks was one of the most memorable in the series’ six seasons, becoming the most-watched season ever for the NFL Films-produced series.

Following the debut of episode one July 3 at 11:00 PM ET and encore showing July 4 at 8:00 PM ET, the remaining four Jets episodes will debut chronologically, with one episode per night beginning Sunday, July 4^th through Thursday, July 7^th, all at 9:00 PM ET. An encore of the entire season airs Sunday, July 10^th beginning at NOON ET.

The network debut of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets also kicks off the Hard Knocks 4^th of July marathon, re-airing three full seasons of the critically-acclaimed NFL Films-produced series.Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2007 kicks off the marathon Monday at 4:00 AM ET, followed by the 2008 Dallas Cowboys at 9:00 AM ET and the Cincinnati Bengals from 2009 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Hard Knocks documents the daily challenges and interactions that come with a career in professional football. Each season focuses on a specific team, giving viewers a unique and candid glance into the lives of their favorite players and coaches. Episodes offer a captivating behind-the-scenes look into the highs and lows of preseason training, all while displaying the superior film quality and sound of an NFL Films product.

Sunday, July 3
11:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 1 – NFL Network debut

Monday, July 4
4:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs – 2007, Episode 1
5:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs – 2007, Episode 2
6:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs – 2007, Episode 3
7:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs – 2007, Episode 4
8:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs – 2007, Episode 5
9:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys – 2008, Episode 1
10:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys – 2008, Episode 2
11:00 AM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys – 2008, Episode 3
12 NOON ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys – 2008, Episode 4
1:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys – 2008, Episode 5
2:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals – 2009, Episode 1
3:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals – 2009, Episode 2
4:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals – 2009, Episode 3
5:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals – 2009, Episode 4
6:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cincinnati Bengals – 2009, Episode 5
8:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 1
9:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 2 – NFL Network debut

Tuesday, July 5
12 NOON ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 1
1:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 2
8:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 2
9:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 3 – NFL Network debut

Wednesday, July 6
12 NOON ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 2
1:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 3
8:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 3
9:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 4 – NFL Network debut

Thursday, July 7
12 NOON ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 3
1:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 4
8:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 4
9:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 5 – NFL Network debut

Friday, July 8
12 NOON ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 4
1:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 5

Sunday, July 10
12 NOON ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 1
1:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 2
2:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 3
3:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 4
4:00 PM ET – Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – 2010, Episode 5

There you have it.

Bringing Out the Sunday Links

I’ll provide some Sunday links for you.

You want to see a wild ending? Dan Wheldon wins the Indianapolis 500 after rookie J.R. Hildebrand crashed into the wall at the final turn. Amazing stuff. Thanks to Bubbaprog/Mocksession for the video.

Dan Hart at Bloomberg notes that David Einhorn is on track to take a majority stake in the New York Mets

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that MSG Network will present a mixture of sports and entertainment programming this summer.

Muhammed Rahman at SportsGrid has one video of the Fox UEFA Champions League Final pregame show dumbing down soccer, insulting everyone who watched it.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says that ESPN Radio DC is now delaying the publishing of its podcasts of its live show by 24 hours. That’s always good to publish old news.

Marcus says yet another team has turned down HBO to appear on Hard Knocks.

The Sporting News says a new ESPN poll shows that LeBron James’ popularity dropped after “The Decision”.

But David C. Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Delaware notes in the Huffington Post that the results might be skewed.

In his baseball notes column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe  reports that TBS is making a run at NESN Red Sox voice Don Orsillo (scroll to the bottom).

Cafardo adds on Twitter that TBS would attempt to make Orsillo a full-timer. In addition to Red Sox baseball, Orsillo calls Big East basketball on ESPN Regional television and the Beanpot Tournament for NESN. He has called the MLB League Division Series for TBS since 2007.

Maureen Mullen at Comcast SportsNet New England writes that ESPN has allowed NESN to air tonight’s Red Sox-Tigers game after originally saying no.

Eric R. Danton of the Hartford Courant has a feature on ESPN looking for the right music to use on SportsCenter and its many studio shows.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post decides to set his target on SNY’s Keith Hernandez. Whatever, Phil.

Mark Snyder at the Detroit Free Press notes that Big Ten Network is looking to rebrand and change its logo.

The Detroit Free Press tweets that the Fox Sports Detroit will pick up tonight’s Tigers game vs. the Red Sox.

Neal Rubin of the Detroit News catches up with former ESPN’er Karie Ross who has come back into prominence thanks to the ESPN book.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has his take on the ESPN book.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune goes over the ESPN tome.

Neal Justin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reviews the ESPN tome,  “Those Guys Have All The Fun…”

Dusty Saunders of the Denver News looks at the growth of sports talk radio in the Mile High City.

Dusty also profiles long-time Denver sports talk show host Irv Brown.

Sports Media Watch says last night’s third in three straight primetime broadcasts for Fox gave its MLB package the highest ratings in three years.

Jason Garnatz at Iowa Tube Talk feels ESPN caved into Red Sox pressure to air tonight’s Red Sox-Tigers makeup game.

Awful Announcing has the video from Bubbaprog/Mocksession of Hawk Harrelson’s typical homer call from yesterday’s Chicago White Sox-Toronto Blue Jays game.

The Big Lead recounts an interesting conversation between Dan LeBatard and ESPN.com’s Ric Bucher regarding Derrick Rose’s performance in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Steve Michaels of Sox & Dawgs looks at the potential TBS offer to NESN’s Don Orsillo.

And that’s going to do it. This Sunday, especially from 3 – 4:20 p.m. turned out to be a busy sequence for sports media news.

A Very Busy Set of Monday Links

I spent the morning away from the office and after lunch, I’ve been dealing with crazy shit so I’m just getting to the links late this afternoon. I’ll put in as many as I can. This week is shaping up to be very busy so just bear with me as you may not see links for a couple of days. I will post press releases when I can.

The sports blogosphere has been abuzz with the release of the first excerpt from the new book on the Alleged Worldwide Leader, “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside The World of ESPN” co-written by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. I am working on getting James as a guest for the Sports Media Weekly podcast for either next week or the week following.

In any event, the excerpt published in this week’s GQ Magazine looks at the tidal wave known as Keith Olbermann and his time co-anchoring SportsCenter with Dan Patrick.

Of course, Keith already has an opinion on the excerpt and has responded on Twitter. Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page recaps so I don’t have to.

At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Tripp Mickle report that ESPN parent company, Disney, is looking to sweeten the pot for its bid for the 2014/16 Olympic TV rights.

Also from the SBJ, John and Terry Lefton look at the impact of the old XFL on both the NFL and on the league’s TV partners.

Terry also writes about one particular XFL technical innovation that is gone, but not forgotten.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his Media Power List for April.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says the arrest of ESPN’s Matthew Barnaby over the weekend is another example in a long line of bad behavior among the network’s personalities.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs has some of the funniest typographical errors on sports TV.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have turned down an invitation to appear on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer, and say it with me, provided there is an NFL season.

Speaking of which, Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says the NFL has confirmed that there is an option to shutdown the league if the lockout is lifted by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports that several NFL players have been told by their agents not to work out as they won’t be covered by the team if they get hurt.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe confirms that NESN’s Jerry Remy is back in the booth tonight.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says there’s a high anticipation to read the new ESPN tome by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels YES’ Michael Kay is embellishing the truth when it comes to Yankee Stadium’s attendance.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that the NBA’ Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 outrated Red Sox-Yankees in New York.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says fans are getting the short stick.

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

Doug Demmons of the Birmingham (AL) News was surprised to see Fox go split screen during yesterday’s NASCAR coverage.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says the ESPN/ABC crew gave praise to the Oklahoma City crowd during Game 7 of the Thunder-Memphis Grizzlies series.

Bob Wolfley looks forward to the new ESPN book.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says a new charity event will carry the legacy of the late Cubs legend Ron Santo.

In the Kansas City Star, Bruce Dancis reviews the 2nd DVD box set of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary series.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says April 18, 2011 will live forever in the annals of the National Hockey League.

Scott Terrell of the Tucson Citizen talks about the Pac-12 TV contract and what it means for fans.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News has the sports calendar for this week.

Tom looks at the first excerpt of the new ESPN book.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail feels CBC did not do enough reporting on Derek Boogaard’s death.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star tells aspiring sportscasters to be careful what they wish for if they want to enter a new Canadian TV contest.

Sports Media Watch talks about the record NBA ratings for TNT.

In the Huffington Post, Colorado University journalism student Weston Gentry responds to Rick Reilly’s speech to his alma mater.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Versus throughout the NHL Conference Semifinals.

EPL Talk says with it being Survival Sunday, fans should tell both ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel what games they want to see.

I’m going to end it there.

Bringing Out The Monday Linkage

This weekend was a very lost weekend for me and for you on the blog as I was unable to do anything either Saturday and Sunday. I attended a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday in Massachusetts and that took most of the day, then I went to a sports bar that night to see the Manny Pacquaio-Sugar Shane Mosley fight and I’m glad I did not have to pay a cover as Mosley just did not do anything. I fought to stay awake as the fight was very boring.

And on Mother’s Day, I had several errands to run so the blog was very quiet. I was happy nothing broke because I would not have been able to do anything. But we’re back today and let’s get cracking on some overdue linkage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says ESPN/ABC’s NBA analysts were very down on the Los Angeles Lakers’ effort in their series-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

Sports Business Daily has Screamin’ Gus Johnson calling reports of his departure from CBS “premature.”

SBD notes that the NBA Playoffs did very well in the weekend overnight ratings.

SBD also looks at the NFL possibly working under different rules from last year if the lockout is lifted.

Lacey Rose at the Hollywood Reporter writes that Golf Channel is giving CBS’ David Feherty his own primetime show.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says the Pacquaio-Mosley fight will most likely lead to more boxing pay per view events.

Mike goes inside the new Pac-12 Conference media rights deals.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age talks with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about the league and its media rights deal with Comcast/NBC.

Diego Vasquez at Media Life Magazine writes on how sponsors can get true brand activation at the Preakness Stakes.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has video of what Oracle is doing to make the viewing of this year’s America’s Cup more enjoyable to fans at home.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid reviews the silly Captain Blowhard-Keith Olbermann renewal of their Twitter feud over the weekend.

That wasn’t the only Twitter feud this weekend, supermodel Chrissy Teigen and Jay Mohr had one also. Very silly these Twitter fights.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski looks at whether Versus’ Jeremy Roenick crossed the line or was being candid when he said San Jose’s Patrick Marleau was “gutless” following the team’s surprising loss to Detroit last night.

At ESPN Front Row, PR specialist Josh Krulewitz speaks with Hannah Storm on sports and Mother’s Day.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says Animal Kingdom owner Bill Irwin’s candor during NBC’s Kentucky Derby broadcast enlightened an otherwise technical glitch-filled broadcast.

Jonathan Bombulie of The Citizens’ (PA) Voice notes that ESPN’s E:60 newsmagazine will profile the young fan of a minor league hockey team, who has been battling a debilitating disease.

Mark Brown from the Baltimore Sports Report talks with legendary Maryland Terrapins voice Johnny Holliday about Gary Williams’ retirement.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the local ESPN Radio affiliate had egg on its face for reporting a false rumor on Maryland’s coaching situation.

Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times has ESPN’s Herman Edwards giving some advice to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on enduring the filming of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” as the Bucs are a candidate for the series this summer, provided there is a season.

Rodney Page of the Times has a look at the weekend in sports TV.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel says the Pac-12 came out smelling like a rose in its new TV deals.

Bud Withers of the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Pac-12 can no longer be considered a college sports doormat.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business talks with Bulls radio voice Chuck Swirsky.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that fans got to see the Lakers’ fatal flaws yesterday.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News has the SoCal sports calendar for this week.

Steve Gress from the Corvallis (OR) Gazette-Times says Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott definitely delivered for the league.

Eric Degerman of the Tri-City (WA) Herald says MLB Network has a nightly tribute to the late Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail has the ratings for the Fan 590 and TSN 1050 in April.

Raju Mudhar in the Toronto Globe and Mail says the city’s courtship of the NFL through the Ford family has one glaring omission.

Paul Kennedy at Soccer America feels ESPN2′s MLS soccer highlights last Saturday did the league a great disservice.

Daniel Feuerstein at MLS Talk has his thoughts on Fox Soccer Channel’s inaugural Soccer Night in America broadcast.

Sports Media Watch notes that the camera operator is the anonymous person who is a big part of the sports broadcast you watch.

SMW says Bulls-Hawks has been a big draw for TNT.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for Night 23 of the NHL Playoffs.

Joe Favorito says boxing and horse racing are taking baby steps in getting back into the national conscience.

The Big Lead says ESPN’s Erin Andrews was among the beautiful people attending the Kentucky Derby and why not as Erin is a beautiful person.

And I’ll end the links there.

HBO Home To Seven Sports Emmy Awards

HBO Sports won seven Sports Emmy Awards including Outstanding Sports Documentary for Lombardi, Outstanding Sports Journalism for Real Sports, three for Hard Knocks on the New York Jets and one for Outstanding Edited Sports Special for 24/7: Penguins-Capitals. Some good stuff for HBO which continues to get awards for its long-form programming.

HBO SPORTS^® TAKES HOME SEVEN SPORTS EMMY AWARDS

Winners were revealed Monday night at the 32nd Annual Sports Emmy^® Awards in New York City.

HBO garnered seven Sports Emmys, tying the network for first place with NBC.

HBO                            7
NBC                            7
CBS                            6
ESPN                         5
ABC                            3
FOX                            3
MLB Network           2
ESPN2                       2

HBO collected seven Sports Emmy Awards which includes:

OUTSTANDING SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
LOMBARDI

OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL – The Missing Link (Bernard Goldberg)

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SERIES/ANTHOLOGY
HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS

OUTSTANDING CAMERA WORK
HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS

OUTSTANDING POST PRODUCED AUDIO/SOUND
HARD KNOCKS: TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL
24/7 PENGUINS/CAPITALS: ROAD TO THE NHL WINTER CLASSIC

OUTSTANDING EDITING
24/7 JIMMIE JOHNSON: RACE TO DAYTONA

CBS Sports’ press release is next.

Complete Winner’s List of the 32nd Annual Sports Emmy Awards

Ok, I’ve listed the winners in the Sports Emmy Awards. Now time to list the people who were part of the productions that won. First, the breakdown of the networks that won awards tonight. HBO and NBC won the most awards tied with 7 as 2010 was an Olympic year. Turner Sports was shut out.

Winners by Network

And the breakdown of awards by networks:

The 32^nd Annual Emmy Awards for Sports
SUMMARY OF WINNERS BY NETWORK

HBO (7)

Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets ………   3
24/7 Jimmie Johnson Race to Daytona ……………………………   1
24/7 Penguins-Capitals: Road to the Winter Classic ………..   1
Lombardi ……………………………………………………………   1
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel …………………………………………   1

NBC  (7)

XXI Olympic Winter Games  ………………………………………………..   3
Cris Collinsworth  …………………………………………………………………..   1
Bob Costas ……………………………………………………………………………   1
Mike Emrick  ………………………………………………………………………….   1
NBC Sunday Night Football  ……………………………………………….   1

CBS (6)

NFL on CBS – Super Bowl XLIV …………………………………………….   3
Golf on CBS  ………………………………………………………………………….   1
NCAA Basketball on CBS …………………………………………………….   1
US Open Tennis Championship …………………………………………..   1

ESPN  (5)

2010 FIFA World Cup ……………………………………………………………   2
College GameDay……………………………………………………………….   1
Kirk Herbstreit ………………………………………………………………………..   1
Sport Science ……………………………………………………………………….   1

ABC (3)

2010 FIFA World Cup ……………………………………………………………   3

FOX (3)

MLB All-Star Game ……………………………………………………………….   1
NASCAR on FOX …………………………………………………………………..   1
NFL ‘It’s Good to Have a Ring’ …………………………………………..   1

ESPN2  (2)

2010 FIFA World Cup …………………………………………………………….  1
E:60 …………………………………………………………………………………. 1

MLB Network (2)

Bob Costas ……………………………………………………………………………   1
MLB Tonight …………………………………………………………………………..   1

DIRECTV  (1)

NFL  Sunday Ticket Experience on DIRECTV ……………………..   1

NBCOlympics.com  (1)

XXI Olympic Winter Games  ………………………………………………..   1

NBCOlympics.com / NBCLearn.com  (1)

XXI Olympic Winter Games  ………………………………………………..   1

NFL Network  (1)

Sound FX ……………………………………………………………………………….   1

And now, the winners after the jump break.

(continue reading…)

2011 Sports Emmy Awards In Real Time. Well, Kind Of

I’ll be posting the Sports Emmy Awards as they’re being handed out. I’m not there, but thanks to live tweets from ESPN public relations maven Josh Krulewitz and Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, I’ll be posting the awards as I get them.

As I begin this post, some awards have already been handed out including a few upsets. For the complete list of nominations, you can go here.

I’ll be listing these in the order they’re handed out.

Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly
College Gameday – ESPN

Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound
NASCAR on Fox – Fox

The George Wensel Technical Achievement Award
US Open Tennis Championships: 3D at the US Open Tennis Championships – CBS

Outstanding Production Design/Art Direction
NFL on CBS/Super Bowl XLIV: Run This Town – CBS

Outstanding Short Feature
NFL on CBS/Super Bowl XLIV: Wynton Marsalis – 43 Years – CBS

Outstanding Editing
24/7: Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona – HBO

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement/Institutional
MLB All-Star Game: Sand – Fox/The Mill

Outstanding Technical Team Studio
XXI Winter Olympic Games – NBC

Outstanding Graphic Design
TIE
Sport Science – ESPN/Base Productions
XXI Winter Olympic Games – NBC

Outstanding Sports Documentary
Lombardi – HBO/NFL Films

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Event Coverage
XXI Winter Olympic Games: Beyond the Broadcast – NBCOlympics.com

Outstanding Playoff Coverage (New Category)
NCAA Basketball on CBS: The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – CBS

Outstanding Camera Work
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – HBO/NFL Films

Outstanding Edited Sports Special
24/7: Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic – HBO

Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics
TIE
2010 FIFA World Cup: U2 & Soweto Gospel Choir – ESPN
NFL on CBS – Super Bowl XLIV: Run This Town – CBS

Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement/Episodic
NFL ‘It’s Good To Have A Ring’: Booth; Airport; Pool Party – Fox/SMuggler

Outstanding Sports Personality – Play-by-Play
Mike Emrick – NHL on NBC

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Event Coverage
NFL Sunday Ticket Experience on DirecTV – DirecTV

Outstanding Open/Tease
XXI Winter Olympic Games: Discovery – NBC

Outstanding Post Production Audio/Sound
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – HBO/NFL Films

Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Event Analyst
Cris Collinsworth – Sunday Night Football, NBC

The Dick Schaap Writing Award
2010 FIFA World Cup – ESPN

Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst
Kirk Herbstreit – College Gameday, ESPN

Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming – Short Format
XXI Winter Olympic Games – NBC

Outstanding Studio Show – Daily
MLB Tonight – MLB Network

More as I get them.

Lifetime Achievement Award
Al Michaels – NBC

UPDATE: 9:10 p.m. – Back to the awards now.

Outstanding Technical Team Remote
Golf on CBS – CBS

UPDATE: 9:15 p.m. – More awards being handed out.

Outstanding Long Feature
E:60: Survival 1 – ESPN2

Outstanding Edited Sports Series – Anthology
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets – HBO/NFL Films

Outstanding Live Sports Series
Sunday Night Football – NBC

Outstanding Sports Journalism
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: The Missing Link – HBO

Outstanding Live Event Turnaround
Sound FX: Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets – NFL Network/NFL Films

Outstanding Live Sports Special
2010 FIFA World Cup: Final Match – Spain vs. Netherlands – ESPN on ABC

Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Host
Bob Costas – NBC/MLB Network (SHOCKER! Not really, Costas seems to win every year)

There are your awards. I’ll be posting press releases as they come in.

Slinging the Tuesday Links Your Way

Let’s do some linkage while I still can on this Tuesday. Lots of stuff to get to provided I don’t get interrupted.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today writes about Louisville coach Rick Pitino making the media rounds this week.

I may have linked to this so if I have already, I apologize. Nate Davis of USA Today’s The Huddle blog notes that NFL Films President Steve Sabol has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. To send your best wishes to Steve, you can send him an e-mail at sabol.nflfilms@nfl.com.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the NCAA Tournament’s ratings on CBS/Turner have hit an 11 year high, but there are some caveats.

Sports Business Daily looks at the increased ratings for the NCAA Tournament.

Stuart Levine of Variety notes that ESPN leads all networks in Sports Emmy Award nominations.

The Wall Street Journal picks up an Associated Press story on ESPN adding jobs at its Bristol, CT headquarters.

Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a prime candidate to be this year’s subject of HBO’s Hard Knocks, if there’s a season.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN will be all over MLB Opening Week starting at the end of this m month.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Turner Sports’ March Madness on Demand has been a huge hit in the first week of the NCAA Tournament.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life notes the NCAA Tournament has been very good to CBS and Turner.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says WFAN’s Mike Francesa went all Wu Tang on a caller who wanted to talk about the New York Mets owners legal issues over convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser examines how a former New Hampshire Sportswriter of the Year gets convicted for running a prostitution ring.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group says Verizon Fios TV is adding ESPN 3D in time for The Masters.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that LeBron James and Michael Vick have seen their positive perceptions go up while Tiger Woods still remains unchanged.

Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski has announced the subject of his latest book project.

The lovely Jayme Lamm at the Blonde Side recaps the Blogs with Balls panel on sports media at the recently completed SxSW festival in Austin, TX.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism talks about Washington Post DC NFL Team beat writer Rick Maese doing what reporters do when extraordinary circumstances strike.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY has former WCBS-AM sports director Jared Max talking about his sendoff by his former workmates.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Women’s World Cup TV schedule.

Michael Bradley at Philadelphia Magazine says ESPN’s Jay Bilas isn’t as smart as he’s cracked up to be.

Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that Phillies fan favorite Chris Coste will work on Comcast SportsNet this summer.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes that MASN will launch a new baseball TV show at the end of the month.

Avi Miller of the Baltimore Sports Report says reporter Jen Royale is leaving MASN, but staying in the city to remain on radio.

C.L. Brown from the Louisville Courier-Journal has Rick Pitino explaining why he’s making multiple TV appearances during the NCAA Tournament.

Glenn Guilbeau at the Baton Rouge Daily Advertiser say the NCAA Tournament became infinitely better to watch.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says MLB Network picks up another cable TV provider.

Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press notes that viewers like the four network NCAA Tournament strategy.

However, Jamie Samuelson writing in the Free Press wishes we would go back to the old way of CBS having all of the games.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that the two local teams still in the NCAA Tournament will be aired on TBS and CBS respectively.

Frank Rajkowski from the St. Cloud (MN) Times says he has ended up liking CBS/Turner’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament more than he originally thought.

Brad Elliot Schlossman of the Grand Forks (ND) Herald looks at what the announcement of a Big Ten hockey conference will mean to the WCHA and its remaining schools.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News updates us on the Pac 12 TV rights negotiations.

Congratulations to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media who announces that he’s going to be writing for Versus.com for the rest of the NHL season.

Steve’s first two efforts for Versus can be found here.

At Globe St., Jennifer LeClaire writes that Golf Channel is expanding its corporate headquarters in Orlando.

Sports Media Watch has various news and notes on some personalities.

SMW says NASCAR’s winning ratings streak ended on Sunday.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing and the new Big Ten-centric Delaney’s Dozen blog interviews Big Ten Network host Dave Revsine.

Speaking of Awful Announcing, Matt talks with EPL Talk editor extraordinaire Chris Harris, a.k.a. The Gaffer, both here and here.

And I’m going to end it there. Busy day with the Sports Emmy Award nominations.

A Friday Night Megalink Thing

Let’s provide the Friday megalinks. Lots of things to get to.

We, of course, provide the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment weekend programming.

Now let’s get to the linkage from across the country.

National

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age reports that NBC is already seeking $3.5 million for a 30 second spot for Super Bowl XLVI.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today writes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews will be working the red carpet during the Oscars for ABC’s Good Morning America.

Mike and fellow USA Today sport media writer Michael Hiestand debate the pros and cons of airing the NFL Scouting Combine.

George Winslow from Broadcasting & Cable writes that a tennis tournament has decided to use NeuLion’s platform to stream matches online in HD quality.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News discusses Versus’ good ratings for the NHL Heritage Classic.

Multichannel notes that Style Network will be turning a NASCAR wedding into a reality TV series.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has a video of Erin Andrews looking for that perfect dress for the Academy Awards red carpet.

Marcus Vanderberg from SportsNewser says Versus will air its next UFC MMA card in 3-D.

Sports Media Watch writes that MSG saw its highest ratings in 16 years for the New York Knicks with Carmelo Anthony’s debut.

SMW says NASCAR’s Nationwide Series got off to a slower start in the ratings from last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on Versus continues to be red hot in the ratings

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says outsourcing has helped smaller teams stay in contention.

Awful Announcing notices the notorious “Schwab” making a cameo in the new Hooters ad featuring ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

SportsbyBrooks gives the legendary voice of Mississippi State football and basketball Jack Cristil a very nice tribute as he had to step down immediately due to health issues.

In Examiner.com, Evan Weiner looks at the NFL lockout and what it means to the league’s TV partners.

All Access says the embattled Charlie Sheen called into a Fox Sports Radio show to once again rant against CBS, Warner Brothers and Global Warming.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn reviews the week in Boston sports media news.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch notes that WEEI buried the news of the naming of its new midday show late Friday.

In SB Nation Boston, Bruce has a look at the WEEI shakeups and a tumultuous week for the once-dominant sports radio station.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks about a local part-time radio reporter who has been reporting on the Red Sox for almost two decades.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times writes about MSG’s boffo ratings for Carmelo Anthony’s Knicks debut.

Richard discusses how a panel takes over as the ESPN Ombudsman.

Richard and Pat Borzi team up for a story on the NFL Players Association trying to prevent the NFL from collecting its TV rights fee during a potential lockout.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Steven A. “A is for Amiable” Smith who’s happy to be back with ESPN.

Bob Glauber of Newsday says both New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and HBO will not be back on Hard Knocks at least this year.

It’s official. Phil Mushnick from the New York Post really hates Madison Square Garden and Cablevision Chairman James Dolan.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for MLB Network’s Al Leiter.

As of today, I’m am no longer linking to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News over his extreme hate. He went after Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio the other night and that was it. He’s persona non grata as far as I’m concerned.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has ESPN releasing its Big East football schedule.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says the local Fox affiliate will have an extra high school sports highlight show this weekend.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Nicole Pride talks with an ESPN producer who felt a story on paralyzed Rutgers football Eric LeGrand really hit home.

Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Pirates have announced their spring training TV and radio schedule.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt ripping the students of his alma mater once again.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says NASCAR is back in full swing on TV.

South

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says there’s too much speculating in the sports media today.

Erin Barnett of WSLS-TV in Roanoke, VA reports on College GameDay’s visit to the Virginia Tech campus.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald says like them or not, the Miami Heat are among the top of the heap in the local and national NBA TV ratings.

Carlos Frias of the Palm Beach Post talks with Pam Tebow, mother of Tim, about life after the controversial Super Bowl ad she and her son did last year.

Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaking about how he felt Super Bowl XLV went.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with syndicated radio host Paul Finebaum about now infamous confession from the Alabama fan who said he poisoned the Auburn tree. That confession occurred on Finebaum’s show.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman talks with the new TV voice of the Texas Rangers.

In his media notebook, Mel says the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be featured nationally this weekend.

Midwest

Kevin Bull of the Detroit Free Press has highlights of an ESPN.com chat conducted by former Michigan Fab Five standout Jalen Rose regarding the new ESPN documentary on the 1992-93 team.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that a local radio host is making sure that high school sports gets its due.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has former Brewers manager Ken Macha responding on MLB Network Radio to one of his former player’s comments.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

The Des Moines (IA) Register reports that Iowa State’s football game against UConn has been scheduled for a Friday night on ESPN2.

From Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals spring training games will be pre-empting Rush Limbaugh on KMOX.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune has CBS’ Clark Kellogg looking forward to seeing San Diego State and BYU square off tomorrow.

John Maffei of the North County Times says it’s BYU and Jimmer Fredette as to why San Diego State is on national TV on Saturday.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Poynter Institute panel that will play the role of ESPN Ombudsman.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times also looks at the new ESPN Ombudsmen.

Ben Bolch of the Times says Fox Sports Net will honor the late UCLA coach John Wooden during Pac 10 basketball games this weekend.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that TSN continues its TV rights shopping spree, this time at the expense of one of its competitors.

And that is going to do it for the megalinks. Enjoy your sports weekend

HBO To Re-Air Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the New York Jets

This Saturday, a day before the New York Jets take the field in Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship, HBO2 re-airs all five episodes from this past summer’s Hard Knocks program. It was one of the most popular series of the show for Hard Knocks. In this series, we get to see coach Rex Ryan curse a lot. We also see the Jets deal with holdout Darrelle Revis. We also see quarterback Mark Sanchez being aloof during meetings. But the whole series sets the table for the season which led the Jets to the postseason and to the AFC Championship.

The season will re-air in its entirety on HBO2 starting at 3 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday.

HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS ENCORE PLAY SET FOR SATURDAY, JAN. 22 AT 3:00 P.M. ET/PT ON HBO2

            HBO Sports^®, which presented the acclaimed reality series  HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS last summer, will replay all five hour-long episodes back-to-back on the HBO2 service Saturday, Jan. 22 , starting at 3:00 p.m. ET/PT. The five-hour marathon (rated TV-MA) will air the day before the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh between the Jets and the Steelers.

            A 24-person NFL Films crew lived at the Jets training camp last summer, shooting approximately 1,000 hours of video over the course of the series. Camera and sound crews were given unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training facilities, dormitories and practice fields. The Jets trained at the SUNY campus in Cortland, NY and at the team’s Atlantic Health Training Center in Florham Park, NJ. 

You’re done here.

The NFL Season Opening Links

Well, the morning of NFL regular season opener is like Christmas. You’ve been waiting all night to unwrap the presents and you’re high in anticipation. And when the kickoff occurs, it’s like getting that toy or game you’ve been wanting for months. It’s like that with the NFL. The Super Bowl ends, then there’s the anticipation for the season to begin. The waiting is over and the games begin for real tonight.

And the NFL has made the season opener a very good matchup involving the Super Bowl defending champions which is a very good thing. Tonight’s Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints game should do quite well in the ratings. So let’s go to the linkage which has a lot of NFL slants which is understandable.

The great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated provides all of the pregame and game announcing crews for all of the NFL TV partners.

Sports Business Daily’s John Ourand says NBC and DirecTV have teamed up to produce Sunday Night Football promos sponsored by NFL Sunday Ticket. 

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says new Fox Sports NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira will be on TV to help fans understand the league’s regulations.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL will provide a delayed webcast for markets where local games have been blacked out.

Mike says Dan Hampton who apologized for comments about Hurricane Katrina in last week’s Pro Football Weekly show will have to make another apology for another wild analogy in the same program.

The Nielsen Wire blog notes the Dallas Cowboys are still America’s most popular NFL team.

Georg Szalai in the Hollywood Reporter says while an NFL lockout looms next season, the league’s TV partners won’t lose much financially even though they’ll still be paying rights fees if games aren’t played.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse writes local blackouts blot the record of NFL Commish Roger Goodell.

Milton says Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Joe Montana told Dan Patrick that the movie Rudy was not very accurate. I’ve always doubted the validity of some of the events in that overrated movie.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser recaps a CBS Sports NFL Today conference call from Wednesday.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News says despite high interest from consumers, not many people are running out to buy 3-D TV sets. The price is too high and the glasses are a hindrance.

Todd says ESPN will showcase its 3-D programming next week to help sell more TV sets.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at Mr. America, Tim Tebow, creating his own social networking empire. I think we have a new glossary term, but Tim Tebow is not in the sports media.

Darren writes about a $300 pair of athletic shoes.

Andrea Kremer of NBC Sports writes for the Today show that women can get into football too.

Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo’s Cagewriter blog says Mixed Martial Arts fans have trouble seeing some events on TV.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that CBS’ NFL “A” announcing team spends plenty of time calling Patriots games.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says HBO’s Hard Knocks helped to transform the attitude surrounding the New York Jets.

John Martin of the Times wonders if 3-D TV can be used as a training tool for tennis players. 

Neil Best sighting! Neil Best sighting! Newsday’s Neil Best also looks at the season finale of Hard Knocks.

To Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says MSG+ has hired Butch Goring to replace Billy Jaffe on Islanders game broadcasts.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog writes that all regular season Capitals and Wizards games will be aired in HD on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times tells Tampa Bay Bucs fans how they can watch Sunday’s blacked out game.

The Tampa Tribune’s Ira Kaufman talks with Bucs’ cornerback Ronde Barber who remembers the last time the team was blacked out on TV locally.

Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel says a local man beat the Inside the NFL crew to win a visit to the show’s set and NFL Films headquarters in New Jersey.

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes that former Saints coach Jim Mora, Sr. will join a local NBC affiliate’s pregame show in anticipation of today’s season opener. 

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle has the weekly football shows and appearances on local radio for the season.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman recaps the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson’s appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bearcats’ home opener on Saturday will be seen on local over the air TV.

John talks with Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham who’s starting his 25th season in the broadcast booth.

John has more with Dave in his blog.

John says Fox Sports Ohio may not show the entire pregame ceremony honoring Pete Rose on Sunday. 

John Fay of the Enquirer says former Reds announcer George Grande will return to Fox Sports Ohio this month to call 7 games.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business talks with the editor of the latest SB Nation local site.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says Vikings-Saints is true primetime drama.

Over to Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who writes that NFL TV analysts like the progress of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the NFL games on TV in SoCal this week.

Tom says today is the 45th anniversary of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game for the Dodgers against the Chicago Cubs.

Sports Media Watch notes that the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship sank in the ratings from last year.

SMW says Labor Day Weekend didn’t bring viewers to the U.S. Open on CBS.

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

SMW says ESPN saw a slight increase for last Sunday’s NASCAR race.

For some reason, Chris Berman is sporting a porn mustache. 

Joe Favorito notes that Mercedes Benz is getting high brand activation in New York City.

Plenty of linkage on this Thursday. Enjoy the NFL season opener.

The Mid-Week Links

Let’s do your mid-week linkage. I’m stuck at the home office in Rhode Island so while I’m waiting on a few things, I’ll give you links.

Looks like Jay the Rat might have escaped charges as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is declining to press charges against Jay Mariotti. The Big Lead links us to the Beverly Hills Courier which reports that the case has been referred to the LA City Attorney’s Office. Mariotti was arrested last month on charges he allegedly beat up his girlfriend. He has not written for Fanhouse and not appeared on ESPN since then.

SportsbyBrooks explains that Mariotti can still face charges. 

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox NFL Sunday’s studio analysts will be making cameo cut-ins on game broadcasts.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times lectures the WaPo’s Mike Wise on his failure to understand the new age of online journalism. Very good article.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse says NFL Commish Roger Goodell isn’t happy with Jets coach Rex Ryan’s language on Hard Knocks, but won’t go so as far to fine him.

Milton has a short blurb on Rich Eisen’s new duties at NFL Network/NFL.com. 

To Press Coverage where Dan Levy likes the idea of Rich Eisen doing a weekly podcast for NFL.com.

Brian Lowry at Fox Sports feel announcers ramp up the hyperbole way too much. 

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NESN is launching a national version of its channel to Time Warner Cable systems in the Carolinas and is looking to add more markets.

Mike Shields from Mediaweek writes that ESPN and YouTube have teamed up to encourage fans to upload their own highlights that could be aired on SportsCenter.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine says Monday’s Boise State-Virginia Tech game garnered strong ratings for ESPN beating all programming on both cable and network TV.

TV Technology says Sony will sponsor an ESPN 3D college football series.

The great Darren Rovell of CNBC says Boise State continues to hit the marketing jackpot as its football continues to grow in stature.

In Digital Spy, Andrew Laughlin says ESPN UK has hired a new executive to head its channel. 

From All Media Scotland, we find that a Scottish sports reporter is heading across the Atlantic to work for ESPN International in the US.

Michael Bodley of The Australian notes that ESPN International is airing Monday Night Football down under.

All Access reports that Fox Sports Radio’s Tony Bruno and Bay Area sports radio host Gary Radnich will front a new weekly show for Comcast SportsNet California.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch calls out the Curly-Haired Boyfriend, Dan Shaughnessy.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says the director of the 30 for 30 documentary on George and Hal Steinbrenner bit off more than she could chew.

Ken Belson at the Times notes that while some sports arenas and stadiums are just memories to sports fans, their debt remains very much alive to taxpayers.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the NFL Week 1 TV schedule with the games shown in the Capital Region.

The Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun-News’ Coastal Carolina Home & Lifestyle profiles South Carolina native Wendi Nix of ESPN. 

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times doesn’t appreciate a Cleveland Plain-Dealer writer making fun of Tampa.

John Bedell of the South Lake (FL) News-Sun looks at several upcoming film and stage projects on the late Vince Lombardi.

Mark Lorando of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says tonight’s premiere of America’s Game on the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV win will not disappoint fans. 

In the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn has the NFL TV Week 1 schedule for the Metroplex.

Richard Olive of the San Antonio Express-News notes a local resident is part of the new Big Break: Dominican Republic that will start airing on Golf Channel later this month. 

The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rosenthal says the local Fox affiliate has found its sports anchor.

Robert Feder also writes about the Fox Chicago move.

Over to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel where Bob Wolfley tells us that many prognosticators are picking the Green Bay Packers to do well this season.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune begins a new partnership with Fox Sports North for high school sports coverage. 

Helene Elliot at the Los Angeles Times notes that all but one of the Anaheim Ducks games will be available on local television.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says it’s time for the CFL to start building new stadiums.

William Houston at Truth & Rumours returned from a summer hiatus to announce that he’s shutting down. For now. Nice, William.

SportsNewser says NBC News and the National Science Foundation will be teaming up to produce an educational series on the Science of the NFL.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN on ABC’s Saturday Night Football got off to a rough ratings start.

SMW also has more college football ratings news.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that former New Jersey Devil Bobby Holik will be a regular analyst on NHL Network’s On The Fly.

Jared Smith at Awful Announcing can’t believe that there’s another ESPN segment featuring arguing sportswriters.

Brian Packey at AA noticed a boob grab at last night’s Marlins-Phillies game.

Ok, I’ve done all I can to find links. Gotta work. Gotta look productive. Back later.

On The Season Finale of Hard Knocks

If you’re a conspiracy theorist, then the New York Jets’ signing of holdout Darelle Revis on Sunday to make it on the last Hard Knocks of the season is right up your alley. And apparently, NFL Films wrapped up filming at Jets’ camp on Monday, the day of the Jets’ press conference announcing the signing.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but you have to expect HBO to be highly anticipating the final installment of Hard Knocks with the ratings it’s receiving this season. We have the press release previewing this season’s final episode.

HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS

SERIES FINALE DEBUTS SEPT. 8

            HBO Sports, in association with NFL Films and the New York Jets, provides an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League in HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS.  The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround reality series – concludes its five-episode sixth season, presented in HD, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 8 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, with an encore play immediately following at 11:00 p.m.

            Episode #5 (series finale)

            Debut:  WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 8 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)

            Other HBO playdates:  Sept. 8 (11:00 p.m.), 9 (2:30 p.m., midnight), 10 (11:30 a.m., 7:00 p.m., midnight), 11 (10:00 a.m., midnight), 12 (8:00 a.m.) and 13 (9:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m.)

            HBO2 playdates:  Sept. 12 (midnight) and 14 (7:00 p.m.)

            As the preseason comes to a close, the coaches and general manager evaluate player performances in order to make their final roster decisions; All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis agrees to a new contract and reports to the team a week before the regular season opener versus Baltimore.

            A 24-person NFL Films crew is living at Jets training camp, shooting up to 1,000 hours of video over the course of the series.  Camera and sound crews are given unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training facilities  and practice fields.

One more release coming up.

HBO Previews Hard Knocks, Episode 2

Here is HBO’s press release on this week’s episode on Hard Knocks.

HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS

AUG. 18 EPISODE

            HBO Sports, in association with NFL Films and the New York Jets, provides an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League in HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS. The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround reality series – continues its five-episode sixth season, presented in HD, WEDNESDAY, AUG. 18 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other hour-long episodes debut subsequent Wednesdays at the same time, with an encore play immediately following each episode’s debut at 11:00 p.m., culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.

            Episode #2

            Debut:  WEDNESDAY, AUG. 18 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)

            Other HBO playdates:  Aug. 18 (11:00 p.m.), 19 (3:00 p.m., midnight), 20 (noon, midnight), 21 (10:00 a.m., 11:00 p.m.), 22 (11:00 a.m.), 23 (10:00 a.m., 1:25 a.m.) and 24 (8:00 p.m.)

            HBO2 playdates:  Aug. 22 (11:30 p.m.), 24 (7:00 p.m.) and 31 (9:00 p.m.)

            The pace of training camp heats up as the pre-season schedule kicks off with the Jets meeting the New York Giants – their rival and co-tenant – in the first football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium. Defensive lineman Vernon Gholston competes to impress the coaching staff.

            A 24-person NFL Films crew is living at the Jets training camp, shooting up to 1,000 hours of video over the course of the series. Camera and sound crews are given unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training facilities, dormitories and practice fields. The Jets are training at the SUNY campus in Cortland, NY.

We’re done here.

Sunday Night Linkage

Today ended up being one of the busiest weekend days I’ve experienced this year. And they say the weekend is supposed to be for rest. To that I say bullshit! I’ve been driving all over Rhode Island today and it’s kept me from turning on my computer until after 6 p.m. ET. I’m not happy about it, but I’ll do linkage for you, albeit late.

First, Rob Dibble responded to criticisms that what he said during a Washington Nationals game on MASN was sexist. Thanks to my Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff for the info.

And Dibble writes in circles on his MASN blog.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that Universal Sports will provide daily coverage of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

David Goetzl of Mediapost has NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol promising regulators that the big ticket sporting events like the Super Bowl and Olympics won’t go all-cable when Comcast takes over NBC.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk reports that NFL insider Len Pasquarelli has left ESPN.

Ken Lipshez in the New Britain (CT) Herald profiles minor league baseball broadcasters Joe D’Ambrosio (a.k.a Voice of the UConn Huskies) and Jeff Dooley as they call the local Rock Cats.

Lee Lewis at the Waterbury (CT) Republican-American is amazed that preseason football can draw big ratings.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels the New York Jets used HBO’s Hard Knocks to negotiate with holdout Darelle Revis.

Dr. Gloom and Doom at the New York Post gets on golf announcers. Whatever.

In SB Nation New York, Puck The Media’s Steve Lepore has part 3 of ranking the best tri-state area announcers. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner previews tonight’s MLB Network documentary on the 1994 Montreal Expos that paved the way for the team to move to Washington.

Tim Clodfelter in the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal says a Journal copy editor will be part of an ESPN special on the Baseball Hall of Fame this week. 

Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union writes that with Tiger Woods sinking and a TV deal pending, the PGA Tour is at a crossroads.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times feels Hard Knocks got off to a roaring start.

Kyle Veazey of the Clarion (MS) Ledger says Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen will be going through what’s known as the “Car Wash” at ESPN this week. 

The Munroe (LA) News Star notes that ESPN2 will be in town for a boxing card this week.

Larry Vaught of the Danville (KY) Advocate has University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari says only his program would have a three game exhibition trip to Canada televised live to a network of 14 states. 

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer goes behind the scenes with Fox Sports Ohio as it produces 145 Reds games this season.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says “experts” who anointed Ohio State as the winners of the Big Ten might want to hold off just yet. 

Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune has White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen giving his endorsement to MLB Network’s The Club. 

The LA Late blog says Screamin’ Gus Johnson had to refute reports that he was dead.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner looks at Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson being in this season’s Survivor.

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times searches for former NFL bust turned acting bust turned broadcasting bust Brian Bosworth. 

Matthew Coller at the Biz of Baseball has a good feature on the lack of minority broadcasters in baseball.

The Sports Media Watch has his Weekend Ratings Predictions.

Joe Favorito talks about the death of the Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.

In Sports Business Digest, Emmett Jones writes about the Dallas Cowboys signing a sponsorship deal with Yokohama Tires.

And you have your linkage for Sunday.

Saturday’s Linkfest

I have a little bit of time to do some linkage today. Let’s get to it.

In Sports Illustrated, Andy Staples and Stewart Mandel look at the ten trends that will influence college football in this decade including how TV will be involved. 

At Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio says after using HBO’s Hard Knocks to pound their position on holdout Darelle Revis, the New York Jets are now using players as mouthpieces to the media in hopes of getting the player in camp. 

Comcast SportsNet New England has some of the best flubs, one liners and other stuff from the week. Ignore Jon Meterperel’s one brief appearance. 

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News talks with Yahoo NBA writer Adian Wojnarowski on how Yahoo! Sports has become the #1 destination on the web over established brand names like ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports.

Shannon Owens from the Orlando Sentinel has ESPN’s Lee Corso predicting Tim Tebow will the Denver Broncos’ starting QB by Week 6? Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes about the Texas Rangers setting rating records this season.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman has his media notes today. 

Kevin Hoffman of the Minnesota City Pages says Gawker Media, owner of Deadspin, is defending the site’s decision to post the Brett Favre sexting story.

KFBB-TV in Great Falls/Helena, Montana reports that the Big Sky has announced its TV schedule which means most of the conference’s football games will be televised throughout its footprint.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the demise of the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that the launch of Rogers Sportsnet One today means another Canadian cable channel dispute.

TV Squad notes the return of Pat O’Brien to sports broadcasting with his hire by Fox Sports Radio.

Susan Ashworth at TV Technology says CBS is looking at how to employ 3-D TV at the upcoming U.S. Open at Flushing Meadow.

Maury Brown in the Biz of Baseball says the new Texas Rangers ownership is already scoring with fans by lowering prices across the board.

And that’s going to finish our links for today.

Friday Night Megalinks

After playing chauffeur all day today, it’s time to do some linkage for you.

As usual, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks. And now to our links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate the Jim Gray/Corey Pavin dispute.

Fanhouse’s John Walters was able to go inside ESPN’s college football meetings this week.

John writes that ESPN’s College Gameday is a rolling ambassador for college football.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel will be all over the English Premier League for the next three seasons.

Mike says this past Wednesday’s Yankees-Rangers game set a ratings record for Fox Sports Southwest.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek writes about ESPN the Gas Station continuing for a few more years. I actually wrote about this three years ago.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred goes after the Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard. Just a mere few weeks since going after the Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom.

Bill Krueger at the Poynter Institute feels Deadspin betrayed Jenn Sterger by not waiting for her to confirm the Brett Favre sexting story.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with Nike’s president about two of its most embattled clients.

Darren says Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is beginning to reap the benefits of being a star in New York.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says he’s no longer writing for the Sporting News. 

Mike says HBO’s Hard Knocks’ season premiere featuring the New York Jets had a higher viewership than last year’s premiere with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Florio says Green Day will perform at halftime of the opening Monday Night Football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium.

Joe Favorito notes that bloggers are writing better and gaining more notoriety.

Sports Media Watch notices that last Saturday’s Red Sox-Yankees game on Fox actually drew a lower rating than Braves-Reds the week before.

SMW says last weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductions received a huge ratings bump from last year thanks to some star power.

SMW says ratings dropped for ESPN’s NFL preseason opener.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media feels NHL Network should remember some of the league’s teams that no longer exist.

My Twitter trophy wife, Amanda Rykoff, a.k.a. The OCD Chick, has a roundup of reaction to sexist remarks made by MASN’s Rob Dibble earlier in the week.

The always awesome Rebecca Glass in This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes (well, except for the Pinstripes part, but she’s still awesome) tells Dibble to shut up. 

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog notes that baseball local radio ratings don’t often match the local TV numbers.

Emmitt Jones at the Sports Business Digest likes the idea of the University of Oregon soccer scarves doubling as season tickets.

Susan Shan covers a pick-up basketball game between two social media companies. 

Proud Canadian and unabashed Montreal Expos fan Jonah Keri asks us to watch MLB Network’s special on the 1994 Expos on Sunday.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe says there will be plenty of media outlets for new Celtics backup center Shaquille O’Neal to play with this upcoming season.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald writes that NESN is branching out from sports and will carry a program hosted by a former Massachusetts Lt. Governor.

Boston Sports Radio Watch says the local sports radio war is getting even tighter in the ratings.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on the return of Bob Uecker to the Milwaukee Brewers radio booth after heart surgery.

Neil Best sighting! Neil Best sighting! Neil Best of Newsday talks about seeing ads for New York Football Giants tickets, something he never thought would never happen in his lifetime.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News likes how SNY’s Bob Ojeda doesn’t mince words after another clubhouse incident involving the Mets.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post wonders if WFAN’s Craig Carton, a noted critic of MSG head James Dolan, will be willing to still criticize now that his radio show will be simulcast on MSG Network.

Mark Cannizzaro of the Post says the Jets give themselves high marks after seeing themselves on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for MLB Network’s Jim Kaat.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union catches up with New York Giants left tackle David Diehl who took part in the NFL Broadcasting Boot Camp earlier this summer.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the Orioles are beginning to make a ratings dent in the nation’s capital.

Dan recaps DC NFL team owner Dan Snyder’s appearance on Friday night’s preseason game telecast.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks about the DC NFL team’s broadcast teams ready and rarin’ to go for the season.

Dave McKenna of the Washington City Paper profiles sportscaster Grant Paulsen who had to restart his broadcast career after it stalled after high school.

South

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says a local TV station values carrying the DC NFL team, but still isn’t showing the games in HD.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes that Florida coach Urban Meyer has a Twitter coordinator.

Jeff Shain of the Sentinel says the Jim Gray/Corey Pavin tiff is another in a line of Golf Channel strife. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Ray Buck talks football and baseball with former Fox Sports NFL announcer Pat Summerall.

Mike Graham of the Dallas Morning News says Texas Tech is trying to reach more recruits by producing its own reality show and syndicating it to various cable systems in the South. 

To David Barron at the Houston Chronicle who talks with ESPN Radio hack (my words, not his) Colin Cowherd.

Richard Connelly of the Houston Press notes that ESPN Deportes Radio has arrived in town. 

This story is from last month, but I somehow missed it. From the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht talks with ESPN legendary play-by-play man Ron Franklin about his return to the Alleged Worldwide Leader after originally deciding to retire in February.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer isn’t too happy with the Fox Sports Radio hiring of Pat O’Brien when a perfectly good candidate is working in the local area.

Jeff Bell of Business First of Columbus (OH) says the dispute between Time Warner and Disney which could take ESPN off cable systems follows a familiar pattern. 

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus isn’t too concerned over Tiger Woods’ finish in the PGA Championship.

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel is puzzled over three local TV stations focusing on Tiger Woods’ personal life instead of golf.

Tim Cuprisin in OnMilwaukee looks at the off and on coverage of the Brett Favre sexting story.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his weekly winners and losers.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has Fox’s Joe Buck still refusing to take responsibility for getting the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez hurt last Saturday.

Dan says the Gateway City’s top-rated sports radio station is forming a partnership with the market’s CBS affiliate to provide content and reports.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says when Utah heads to the Pac 10/12, finding their games could be just as big an issue as it is currently.

Dick Enberg answered readers’ e-mails for the Denver Post. 

John Maffei at the North County Times writes that even though Fox is picking up the San Diego Padres on Saturday, just the West Coast will see them.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about how Lakers owner Jerry Buss had the vision to realize how forming a cable channel would only help his team expand its fanbase.

Tom has his extensive sports news and notes in his blog (plus a link back to Fang’s Bites, thanks Tom).

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the whole Jim Gray/Corey Pavin story is a “he said, she said” affair.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich warns Blue Jays fans about another potential dispute over a new cable sports channel.

That will conclude the megalinks. We’re done.

Your Thursday Links

Let’s do the Thursday links as I have to leave early to avoid Patriots traffic ahead of their preseason game against the Saints tonight.

Onto the links.

Steve Elling of CBSSports.com reports about a confrontation between Golf Channel’s Jim Gray and Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin over a quote Gray reported earlier this week. 

Stephanie Wei of the excellent Wei Under Par golf blog is reporting on the PGA Championship for the Wall Street Journal and she examines the whole Gray/Pavin shouting match which occurred after a press conference on Wednesday.

Mike Buteau of Bloomberg says Tiger Woods falling play and golf’s falling ratings could lead to more PGA Tour stops going to cable in the next TV contract. 

Golf Digest takes a tour of Golf Channel host Kelly Tilghman’s hometown of Myrtle Beach, SC.

Radio Ink Magazine reports that former CBS Sports personality/Access Hollywood/Entertainment Tonight/The Insider anchor Pat O’Brien is now joining Fox Sports Radio as a co-host of an afternoon drive show. I wonder if Betsy will be there (NSFW).

John Walters of Fanhouse says ESPN’s Pat Forde has transformed from Twitter hater to Twitter lover.

Chris Botta at Fanhouse spoke with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about NHL Network and other matters.

Georg Szalai in the Hollywood Reporter says Verizon will produce the first NFL game in 3-D TV in just a couple of weeks.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable says Samsung is teaming with ESPN to produce an app for “smart TV’s”.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes about a new three year deal between ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel to air English Premier League games on ESPN2.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that when the new expanded SportsCenter begins on ESPNews at the end of this month, it will have fewer ads so more content can be aired.

Ryan Berenz at Channel Guide has the outlets airing this week’s PGA Championship. 

Andrew Laughlin of Digital Spy UK says ESPN is launching an iPhone app which will provide video of all English Premier League goals scored within minutes after they occurred.

Robert Andrews in paidContent talks about ESPN’s English Premier League mobile and streaming rights in both the UK and the US.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog wonders if a “Hard Knocks”-type program would work for the NHL.

Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe writes about colleague Jackie MacMullen who’s being honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at Fox Sports Wisconsin going commercial-free for a Milwaukee Brewers game to raise money for charity.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union notes the passing of former Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Nellie King.

Pete says SNY’s Ron Darling will be honored by Little League Baseball.

Pete also has ESPN’s MLB schedule through Sunday, August 22.

Robert Dvorchak and Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette remember the late Nellie King.

Ron Fritz in the Baltimore Sun has enjoyed listening to Fang’s Bites fave Michelle Beadle subbing on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning.

Jamison Hedley at the Sun notes that the Ravens have formed a TV network that has similar reach to what MASN gave the team.

Fred Bowen in the Washington Post feels women’s sports is getting the shaft on the networks.

Ryan Sharrow writes in the Washington Business Journal notes that Ravens have added DC affiliates to its radio network.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the Ravens have pieced together a new TV network after talks with MASN broke down earlier this month.

Jim says Fox picks up this Saturday’s Orioles-Rays game.

Ben Goessling of MASN says the Washington Nationals will be giving away DVD’s of Stephen Strasburg’s Major League debut during tonight’s game against the Marlins. 

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times says the NHL Network will air the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup clinching game from 2004 on Friday.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Texas Rangers set another ratings record on Fox Sports Southwest which will probably be broken very soon.

Also from the Morning News, Mike Heika reports that Fox is dropping out of the bidding for the Dallas Stars. 

Steve Watkins in the Cincinnati Business Courier says the Reds drew great ratings on Tuesday for its brawl with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

John Kieswetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air three University of Kentucky exhibition games in Canada next week.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business notes that the bank wants to seize memorabilia from the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

Ed says Bulls fans who want to get their LeBron/Miami Heat fix can also go to Milwaukee to see them.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley notes that Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers gave playing tips on the Whistling Straits golf course to ESPN Radio. Whistling Straits is where the PGA Championships is being played this week.

Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel looks at Turner Sports’ 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

Benjamin Wideman of the Sheboygan (WI) Journal goes behind the scenes with Turner Sports on its 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

Dan Caesear of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Tuesday’s brawl between the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds led to record ratings for Fox Sports Midwest.

St. Louis’ KMOV-TV has formed a partnership with the ESPN Radio affiliate. 

The Los Angeles Times has a reporters roundup of opinions regarding the whole Jim Gray/Corey Pavin argument.

Dave Boling of The Olympian says Ken Norton, Jr. was plucked from NFL Network to be Seattle Seahawks linebackers coach.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star notes that MLS is not striking a chord with Canadian viewers.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN could take a ratings and advertising hit if the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats move from its English-speaking to French-dominant Quebec.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wants a Hard Knocks edition for the NHL.

Joe Favorito says baseball really needs to become more global.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann remembers his friend, former Pirates announcer and pitcher Nellie King.

The great Maury Brown at the Biz of Football notes that the Madden NFL 11 video game will be made available for the iPad and iPod Touch.

That’s going to end it for us today. Lots of good links.

The Tuesday Links Or Getting Through Some Stuff

Dealing with work and trying to finish up some stuff, but while I have a break, let’s do the linkage for you.

First, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the ratings from various events from the weekend. 

Mike also writes about Fox NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson being a contestant on CBS’ Survivor: Nicaragua this fall.

Over at FoxSports.com, Brian Lowry says as Tiger Woods goes, so goes golf’s TV ratings.

Former Fox Sports Radio morning host Steve Czaban breaks his own news by informing fans on his blog that he’s going to be the morning host at Sporting News Radio. Thanks to reader “Tuskaloosa” for the tip.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse has CBS President of News and Sports Sean McManus and Jim Nantz talking PGA Championship.

Milton writes that a major reason why the Baltimore Ravens are no longer on MASN is due to Orioles and MASN owner Peter Angelos’ meddling. 

David Goetzl at Mediapost previews Turner Sports’ 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that former Showtime Sports executive Jay Larkin has passed away after a bout with cancer.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel says SportsCenter’s realm is being expanded to ESPNews at the end of this month.

Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine has the national TV NFL preseason schedule.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center where the St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans tells us that without Jets holdout Darrelle Revis, HBO’s Hard Knocks will lose some bite.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the Florida Panthers are taking a page out of Priceline.com.

Darren reports that after a 7 month hiatus, Golf Digest has renewed its relationship with Tiger Woods. 

Darren adds that Frosted Flakes get plenty of free advertising from Shaquille O’Neal.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says the rehiring of the embattled Isiah Thomas by Madison Square Garden couldn’t be a worse public relations move by the company.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News can’t understand it either.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says NBA TV will air the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremonies this Friday.

Pete says TNT gets the Miami Heat’s (and LeBron James’) first visit to Cleveland this season. 

Pete also has the NFL preseason schedule for this week.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says boxing is being showcased on local TV this month.

Leonard Shapiro in the Washington Post notes that golf gets low ratings when Tiger Woods is not in the proverbial hunt. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Steve Czaban about returning to national sports talk radio. 

Jon Solomon in the Birmingham (AL) News says with Tim Tebow in the NFL, CBS might experience a ratings downturn with SEC football this season.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News feels a Cowboys practice would beat New York Yankees-Texas Rangers in the ratings.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle discusses his brief visit to ESPN and also talks about the ESPNews rebranding.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air a softball game featuring local celebrities later this week.

The Enquirer looks at Fox Sports Ohio’s High School Football Game of the Week series. 

Tim Feran of the Columbus Dispatch says the NFL Network was booted off the local cable system due to what? A fee dispute, what else?

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman asks why the White Sox aren’t sold out for an important series against the Twins?

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has CBS’ Jim Nantz talking international golf ahead of this week’s PGA Championship.

Judd Zulgad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Twins have reupped with their radio flagship station for two more years.

Chris Newmaker of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal also writes about the Twins’ renewal with KSTP.

Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times has the video of newly inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith calling NBC’s Al Michaels by a new name.

Sports Media Watch notes Red Sox-Yankees drew well for ESPN, but not as well as in the past.

SMW says this past weekend’s NASCAR race did decently for ESPN, but still lags behind previous editions.

John Daly at The Daly Planet notes that ESPN2 NASCAR Now host Nicole Briscoe took down her Twitter account.

Over to Dan Levy’s new website, Press Coverage, he writes that America really likes football, even the preseason variety.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media concludes his five part series on the future of the NHL on US TV.

Steve also tells us about the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames ending their pay per view outlets after signing a new 10 year deal with Rogers Sportsnet.

The Big Lead speaks with Dr. Lou, ESPN college football analyst Lou Holtz.

That’s going to do it for us today.

HBO’s Hard Knocks Premieres on Wednesday

The new season of Hard Knocks is just about here and HBO is pulling out all the stops to make sure you know. We have the press release previewing the premiere on Wednesday.

HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS KICKS OFF ITS FIVE-EPISODE SEASON AUG. 11, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

          HBO Sports, in association with NFL Films and the New York Jets, provides an all-access look at what it takes to make it in the National Football League in HARD KNOCKS:  TRAINING CAMP WITH THE NEW YORK JETS. The first sports-based reality series – and one of the fastest-turnaround reality series – begins its five-episode sixth season, presented in HD, WEDNESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. Other hour-long episodes debut subsequent Wednesdays at the same time, with an encore play immediately following each episode’s debut at 11:00 p.m., culminating in the Sept. 8 season finale.

         Episode #1

          Debut:  WEDNESDAY, AUG. 11 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)

          Other HBO playdates:  Aug. 11 (11:00 p.m.), 12 (3:00 p.m., midnight), 13 (5:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m., midnight), 14 (noon, midnight ET only, 11:30 p.m. PT only), 15 (10:00 a.m.), 16 (10:00 a.m., 12:30 a.m.) and 17 (6:30 p.m.)

          HBO2 playdates:  Aug. 15 (11:30 p.m.) and 31 (8:00 p.m.)

          Players begin to arrive and settle into their new quarters at Jets training camp in upstate New York. Coaches take the players thru week one of two-a-day drills.

          A 24-person NFL Films crew is living at the Jets training camp, shooting up to 1,000 hours of video over the course of the series. Camera and sound crews are given unencumbered access to the players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training facilities, dormitories and practice fields.  The Jets are training at the SUNY campus in Cortland, NY.

More releases coming up.

A Few Sunday Links

For some reason, Saturday ended up being a very busy day as I was out of the house all day. Not what I had planned, but I’m hoping to get some linkage done today so let’s get to it.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News talks about HBO Sports being very excited about this season’s edition of “Hard Knocks”

John Eggerton of Multichannel writes that the National Association of Broadcasters is asking member stations to help the USA’s bid to get the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says writers who go the extra mile are rewarded. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a mustard company wants Amar’e Stoudamire to put his money where is mouth is.

Billy Witz of the New York Times talks with Dick Enberg about his first season as the full-time San Diego Padres TV voice.

Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News feels MSG’s announcers overgushed on the Knick’s Amar’e Stoudamire’s trip to Israel.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union gets a video tour of Adam Schefter’s bus that he’s using to tour NFL training camps for ESPN.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with Sirius XM’s head of sports programming about the recent launch of a 24/7 Fantasy Sports channel on the satellite radio service.

Michael Casagrande in the Times Daily (AL) says an ESPNU program and a movie on Alabama coach Nick Saban shed an inside look on the Crimson Tide football team. 

Artie Gigantino in the San Francisco Examiner opines on the sad Albert Haynesworth debacle.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekly ratings predictions.

SMW says the X Games’ ratings were down.

SMW also has some ratings news and notes.

That’s it for now. I hope to do some more linkage and post some press releases later on.

Time For Friday Megalinking

Ok, we have time during the time where I can do the Friday media links. Nice to be able to them earlier than late at night.

Before we get to the links, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks and you can see what’s on tap in sports and primetime right here.

National

Starting with USA Today, Michael Hiestand notes that NFL Network’s Steve Mariucci was in the middle of the Brett Favre story.

To Milton Kent at Fanhouse who writes we’re learning more about Versus’ Jenn Sterger thanks to Deadspin’s Brett Favre sexting story.

Jeff Bercovici of Daily Finance says Deadspin betrayed a source’s confidence by trying to push Sterger to come forward and put her name on the story.

In the meantime, Deadspin continues to pursue the story and says a friend of Jenn’s claims she has seen the evidence of Favre in question.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says Madison Square Garden’s TV networks helped to drive the company to a strong financial 2nd quarter.

SportsbyBrooks reports that Keith Olbermann will not be on Football Night in America this season by request of NBC News.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell offers this year’s College Football all-name team.

Darren says a minor league baseball team plans to recreate the moment when the St. Louis Browns sent 3’7″ Eddie Gaedel to bat in an actual Major League game.

Steve Lepore of Puck the Media has part two of his series on the future of NHL TV and he looks at the possibility of bringing ESPN back into the fold.

Part 3 of Steve’s series explores whether Fox and/or CBS/Turner would be a good fit for the NHL.

If you missed Part 1 on NBC/Versus, check it out here.

Joe Favorito compares and contrasts ESPN and Deadspin on the stories the two entities had to deal with.

The Big Lead says the Chicago Sun-Times is not backing down from a story in which it said a Kentucky basketball recruit was offered money.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew will host a show on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio starting this weekend.

East and Mid-Atlantic

In the Boston Globe, Chad Finn talks with Bob Neumeier who has been spending his summer filling in on two competing sports radio stations.

Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant writes about the new media rights deal between the University of Connecticut and SNY for football and basketball games.

Jackie Majerus in the Bristol (CT) Press talks with ESPN’s head of security. 

Neil Ostrout of the Greenwich (CT) Time says the deal between SNY and UConn will last three years.

Mark Nailor of the Ridgefield (CT) Press profiles the lead producer of “This Week in Baseball.”

Sox & Dawgs has the video of Red Sox teammates Marco Scutaro and Victor Martinez conspiring to touch Adrian Beltre’s head after he hit a grand slam home run against Cleveland last night. 

Justin Terranova at the New York Post says NFL Films and HBO have high ratings expectations for this season Hard Knocks.

Also from the Post, here’s Phil Mushnick’s annual anti-Little League World Series on ESPN column.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News gets on Hard Knocks for not spotlighting Darrelle Revis’ holdout from Jets’ camp. Does he want them to focus on it for the entire program?

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with ESPN’s Adam Schefter who’s been traveling by bus to half of the NFL’s training camps.

Evan Weiner of the New Jersey Newsroom says don’t expect to hear criticisms of BP from International Olympic Committee Chairman Jacques Rogge as the company is a huge sponsor.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog talks with the departing CEO for the Dan Snyder-owned sports radio stations.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN/ABC college football analyst Todd Blackledge about … ACC football???

Jim says former DC NFL team great Russ Grimm’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be covered extensively by local TV and radio this weekend.

South

To the Miami Herald where Barry Jackson looks for the unique standouts in South Florida sports radio and TV.

Barry Shlachter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg had to dig deep to finally win ownership of the Texas Rangers.

The Star-Telegram’s Ray Buck talks with Fox Sports/NFL Network analyst Daryl Johnston about his ex-Cowboys teammate Emmitt Smith who’s going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says having Nolan Ryan as an owner of the Rangers means good news for Fox Sports Southwest.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a local TV station will air a one hour special to hype the new Pete Rose movie.

Jeff Rabjohns of the Indianapolis Star writes that Lucas Oil Stadium being the site of the new Big Ten Football Championship in 2011 will be a big economic shot for the city.

The South Bend Tribune notes that former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown is joining ESPN 3D.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals radio rights saga has plenty of intrigue.

West

The Denver Post reports that former Broncos quarterback Brian Griese will join the team’s radio broadcasts this season.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the local ESPN Radio affiliate is changing formats at the end of this month. Jay mentions that today’s sports media column will be his last as he’s taken over as editor of the Union-Tribune’s sports section.

John Maffei at the North County Times notes that after several years, the mtn. is still not carried on Time Warner Cable systems.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game means the NFL is back.

In the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth talks about the dangers of reporting through Twitter.

Tom expresses more of his Twitter concerns along with posting his extensive news and notes in his blog.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says reports of the firing of a legendary Vancouver Canucks analyst are untrue.

That will conclude the megalinks for today.

The Wednesday Links

Let’s do the links for the middle of the week.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says the NFL TV partners are salivating over if and when Brett Favre retires. I don’t want to see him after he retires. Sick of him.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse writes that Darelle Revis’ holdout from New York Jets camp provides some journalism questions for HBO’s Hard Knocks this season.

Milton looks at ESPN selling BASS, LLC to a former Time, Inc. executive and former fishing show host.

In the part two of a four part series, Clay Travis of Fanhouse talks with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive about the conference’s huge TV contract. Part one is here.

One more from Fanhouse. John Waters writes that Mike Mayock has finally made it to Notre Dame.

Jon Lafayette in Broadcasting & Cable says the NBA’s Christmas Day games have been announced.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says HBO is holding a rally in New York’s Time Square to kick off the new season of Hard Knocks.

Ben Leach of the London (UK) Telegraph reports that the BBC will have a woman host its Formula 1 broadcast for the first time in its 60 year history. Thanks to Daryn Kagan for the link.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times notes that the fate of the Big East is in the hands of other parties. 

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the NFL is exploring about installing a computer chip in its game balls to help determine close plays.

Over to the Schenectady Gazette and Ken Schott who talks about the unveiling of the NBA’s Opening Week, Christmas and MLK Day schedules.

Brent Johnson of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger reports that an ESPN computer technician is missing after visiting his mother last week.

Jonathan Takiff from the Philadelphia Daily News mentions that there’s plenty of 3-D TV to watch for the 21 people who own a set. 

Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says TV network was the hot talk of yesterday’s Big East media day.

Corky Blake of the Lehigh Valley (PA) Express Times says it’s time for Little League Baseball to end its relationship with ESPN. Wow, that came out of left field. 

Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County (MD) Times says the Baltimore Ravens are scrambling to piece together a TV network to match the reach of MASN.

D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution catches up with NFL Network’s Deion Sanders as he participated in a local youth football program.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a preview of tonight’s NFL Network special on former Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith.

Kyle Whitfield of the Morning News notes that a local high school football matchup is slated for ESPNU. 

Barry Shlatchter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is covering today’s auction of the Texas Rangers which includes Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban as a potential suitor.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle says with Fox dropping out of the bidding for the Rangers, their actions still have an effect on the Astros.

John Rohde in the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Oklahoma City Thunder and Fox Sports Southwest have agreed to put all 82 regular season games on Fox Sports Oklahoma.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says AT&T U-Verse and Dish Network subscribers are shut out from watching MLB Network and “The Club”.

Mike DeArmond of the Kansas City Star says two Missouri University football games are slated for pay per view. 

Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times says Time Warner Cable subscribers are the losers in the dispute with Disney/ABC/ESPN.

The Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has a look at Versus/NBC’s partnership with the NHL and where it could go beyond the 2010-11 season.

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin notes that Versus’ Jenn Sterger is alleging that Brett Favre sexted her. I have no reason to believe this either way. Just putting out this link.

Joe Favorito says it’s important to give back to the community.

Dave Kohl in Major League Programs looks at the Time Warner Cable/Disney dispute and the MSG simulcast of WFAN’s Boomer and Carton show.

We’re done here.

Friday Night Megalinkage

Ok, time to do the Friday megalinks. Coming at night again after shuffling between two offices and playing chauffeur. So blogging had to take a back seat for a bit.

I thank everyone who sent in questions for the Fang’s Bites mailbag. I will answer the questions this weekend. It’s my hope that the mailbag will become a regular feature on Fang’s Bites, perhaps every two or three months.

For the Weekend Viewing Picks, go here to check out what’s happening in sports and primetime TV.

Time for the links.

National

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy talks about the play about legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi heading to the Great White Way.

Mike Lopresti of USA Today discusses the ESPN Outside the Lines report that has many people buzzing about ballpark food safety.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse is confused as to why a former ESPN executive with a poor track record would be brought on by NFL Network to consult on programming.

Kevin Hench of Fox Sports writes that the spiked LeBron James story by ESPN only raises questions about its relationship with certain athletes.

David Goetzl of Mediapost says Proctor & Gamble will be seen aplenty during Olympics coverage from 2012 – 2020.

John Eggerton at Multichannel News talks about Fox’s Jay Glazer joining NFL Network to compliment his regular job.

The Sports Media Watch says the MLS All-Star Game saw a 50% ratings jump as compared to last year.

Paulsen at SMW has some various MLB ratings news and notes.

SMW has some ratings news on other sporting events.

Joe Favorito wonders if the Pac 10/12′s media blitz in the East will give the conference some juice outside of its normal footprint.

The Big Lead has a quick roundup of media reaction to the ESPN spiking of Arash Markazi’s story on LeBron James’ Boys Night Out in Las Vegas.

SportsbyBrooks notes that Rich Eisen’s contract with the NFL Network expires on Sunday.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs explores how a radio interview with Minnesota Timberwolves President David Kahn got him fined by the NBA.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen writes in SB Nation Boston about the whining by Red Sox beat writers when a player doesn’t speak with them.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says ESPN’s spiking of the LeBron James story on its website raises more eyebrows on its relationship with the Miami Heat player.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post feels USC coach Lane Kiffin is complaining for the wrong reasons.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union reports that Time Warner Sports will produce one hour specials on the Buffalo Bills throughout the preseason.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette continues to shake his head on the ESPN/LeBron James relationship.

Ken McMillan at the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record has the entire NFL TV preseason schedule.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV writes in Press Box of the continued lineup changes at one Baltimore sports radio station.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner says New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is ready for his closeup on this season of Hard Knocks on HBO.

The great Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog discusses some changes with the Post’s beat writers.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the Dolphins are starting a very aggressive multiplatform campaign in South Florida.

Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel writes that ESPN was correct to pull the LeBron James story off its website, but not for the reasons you think.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Ray Buck says former Dallas Cowboy and current sports radio co-host Nate Newton has slimmed down. A lot.

In the Houston Chronicle, David Barron talks with NFL Films President Steve Sabol about the new season of Hard Knocks.

David has an extensive interview with ESPN’s vice president for content John Skipper on a myriad of subjects. It’s at the bottom, but Skipper notes that ESPNews’ viewership is in decline and changes could be coming both ESPN Classic and ESPNews in “30 to 60″ days. Nothing like burying the lede.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with Ray Bentley who will be leaving ESPN2′s warm booth to become a sideline analyst for ESPN 3D’s college football productions.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says MLB Network will have two new episodes of “The Club” on Sunday.

Ed also has his winners and losers.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says Minnesota native Brad Nessler will call the 2nd game of the opening Monday Night Football doubleheader in September.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times says filming on the movie version of “Moneyball” begins this weekend.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has former ESPN’er Roy Firestone looking to get back to his old roots.

Tom explores why ESPN killed the LeBron James story.

Tom has his usual extensive media notes.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star says a new Rogers Sportsnet channel means more money for Canadians to pay on their cable bills.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the new Rogers Sportsnet channel will allow for more live sports for Canadians.

And we’re done with the megalinks.