Fang's Bites

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
St. Peter’s at Rider – ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.
Holy Cross at Lehigh – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

NBA
Charlotte at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England, 7:30 p.m.
Washington at Chicago – ESPN, 8 p.m.
LA Clippers at Denver – ESPN, 10:30 p.m.

NHL
Toronto at Tampa Bay – TSN/NHL Network (US), 8 p.m.

Entertainment
The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular – CBS, 8 p.m.
20/20 – ABC, 9 p.m.
Dateline – NBC, 9 p.m.
World’s Most Amazing Videos – Spike, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – Showtime Xtreme, midnight
Kinky Sex Club – Cinemax, 1:20 a.m.

Friday Quickie

Let’s do a quick Friday update before I end it for the weekend.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady (NY) Gazette says he’ll watch Bob Knight on ESPN just to watch the potential fireworks with Dick Vitale. Chris Pursell of TV Week has a story on the Knight hiring. David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks about the Bob Knight and Cris Carter hirings at ESPN.

Dan Frommer of the Silicon Valley Insider blog says ESPN plans to produce more web-only videos this year.

Robert Feder of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about the 60 year association between the Chicago Cubs and WGN-TV that will be marked with a documentary and a book.

MASN has announced that the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals will each have 96 games aired on the RSN this season. Earlier this week, MASN announced both teams will have 40 games shown in HD.

Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel talks about the two new sports radio stations joining the three existing stations in the area.

Jeff Borden from Business Week magazine writes that the creator of the 1st and 10 line on football broadcasts, Sportvision, plans to expand its market overseas.

Jonathan Oostling of the Michigan Live website recaps an interview with Michigan State Tom Izzo in which he also blames Comcast for the Big Ten Network mess. Earlier in the week, Izzo called BTN, “a PR nightmare”.

Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel says CBS is preparing its CSTV channel to be a big player in the college sports TV negotiations next year.

Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times has a story on the NFL Network commissioning a poll showing most people want to watch their football games on TV.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says FSNY will be rebranded as MSG Plus starting March 10.

Well, I ripped him back in October, but Fang’s Bites non-fave Beau Estes has an interview with TNT’s (and North Carolina alum) Kenny Smith at the Inside Carolina.com website.

Eugenia Levenson of Fortune magazine talks with CBS Sports producer Lance Barrow about his road travels.

David Sweet of MSNBC writes that bowling is getting back into the network TV picture when CBS airs an event in May.

Crash Cameron of the London Free Press in Canada talks with Rogers Sportsnet anchor Martine Gaillard.

I’ll have Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

Our Regular Friday Megalinks

Let’s do our weekly Friday megalinks for today.

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

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

We’ll do our links from East to West.

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

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

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Canada

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

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

I’ll have an update later today.

Bob Knight Joins ESPN for March Madness

Former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight has signed up with ESPN to join the Worldwide Leader for its Championship Week coverage, then he will remain with ESPN throughout March for the NCAA Tournament. Here’s the text of ESPN’s press release:

Bob Knight Joins ESPN as Studio Analyst For Championship Week and NCAA Tournament

Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Knight, the winningest coach in Division I men’s college basketball with 902 victories, will join ESPN as a men’s college basketball studio analyst during the network’s coverage of Championship Week Presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods and through the NCAA Tournament. Knight will begin Wednesday, March 12 from ESPN’s Bristol studios and conclude Monday, April 7 from ESPN’s set in San Antonio, Texas, site of the NCAA Final Four. As part of the agreement, Knight will also appear on select ESPN shows and platforms, including SportsCenter, ESPN Radio and ESPNEWS.

“I think ESPN has been real good for college basketball and I look forward to working with some of their people who I have known a long time,” said Knight.

Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production, added, “Coach Knight is a legend with a depth of knowledge on tournament basketball. Fans have always found him to be a compelling listen and we are delighted to add his insights to our tournament coverage.”

Knight will serve as an analyst on ESPN’s day-long pre-game, halftime and between-game segments Wednesday, March 12 through Sunday, March 16, as well as on ESPN’s Selection Sunday specials: College GameDay Driven by State Farm at 11 a.m. ET and the two ESPNU Bracketology Presented by Staples selection specials at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

He will also appear throughout ESPN’s studio coverage of the NCAA Tournament, including analysis from Bristol for the first and second rounds on March 20-21 and the regional finals on March 27-28. He will appear via satellite at the conclusion of games on March 23 and 30. During the Final Four, Knight will offer analysis on ESPN’s on-site coverage from San Antonio April 5-7. He will be working alongside Rece Davis, John Saunders, Karl Ravech, Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis and others.

Knight resigned from Texas Tech on February 4, 2008. He coached for 47 years, compiling a 902-371 record as a head coach with Army (1965-71), Indiana (1971-2000) and Texas Tech (2001-08). In his career, he won three NCAA championships (1976, 1981 and 1987), a NIT championship (1979), led the 1984 U.S. national team to an Olympic gold medal and a Pan-American Games Gold medal (1979). He is the only coach to win all four championships. During his career at Indiana, Knight led the Hoosiers to 11 Big Ten championships and his 1976 squad remains the last Division I men’s team to go undefeated and win the NCAA championship. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.

- 30 -

We’ll see if this is the start of a new career for Knight, or something temporary.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Notre Dame at Louisville – ESPN, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at St. Joseph’s – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
CIAA Tournament – ESPN Classic, 7 p.m.
Murray State at Tennessee Tech – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
SMU at UTEP (women’s) – CSTV, 8 p.m.
Maryland at Wake Forest – Raycom, 8 p.m.
USC at Arizona – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Michigan State at Wisconsin – ESPN2, 9 p.m.
CIAA Tournament – ESPN Classic, 9 p.m.
Wright State at Butler – ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Washington State at Cal – FSN, 11 p.m.

NBA
Dallas at San Antonio – TNT, 8 p.m.
Miami at LA Lakers – TNT, 10:30 p.m.

NHL
Pittsburgh at Boston – TSN/NESN, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Dallas – HD Net, 8:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Survivor – CBS, 8 p.m.
Lost – ABC, 9 p.m.
Great Performances, New York Philharmonic in North Korea – PBS, 9 p.m.
Eli Stone – ABC, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

Thursday Update

Time to give you an afternoon update.

North Myrtle Beach, SC police say someone placed a noose the sign of the former home of Golf Channel host Kelly Tilghman.

In the wake of today’s announcement of CBS picking up four Mixed Martial Arts events, David Meltzer of Yahoo Sports says this move could change MMA one way or the other.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a tongue-in-cheek look in his blog at how the network would broadcast the sport, although his comparing MMA to the XFL is a bit harsh. And Hoffarth reports that long-time sports anchor Fred Roggin returns to radio as of next week.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes in his Morning Buzz blog that former Sporting News Radio host Tony Bruno is back on KNBR, but for a limited run.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says long-time Royals announcer Fred White appears to be out of the mix for the second time.

Laura Nachman reports that Phillies second baseman Chase Utley will appear with a soap opera star in an ESPN promo for Fantasy Baseball.

A couple of things from CNBC’s Darren Rovell. First, Darren says Will Farrell’s new movie about the American Basketball Association has hit a marketing home run, but has also made a mistake as far as sports gear is concerned. And Darren says UFC’s signing of Budweiser as a sponsor is a big move for both companies.

Joe Favorito’s blog talks about the merger between the Indy Racing League and Champ Car and Tom Izzo’s statements about the Big Ten Network.

Speaking of Tom Izzo’s comments, Steve Grinczel of the Michigan Live website has the transcript of the interview that contained his criticism of the Big Ten Network.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog has an interesting photo feature on the huge production truck used at last night’s Florida-Georgia basketball game.

The Sports Media Watch has some news and notes including some early season college football matchups.

Rob Amen and Adam Brandolph of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review talk about the city’s sports radio talk show hosts who have followed in Myron Cope’s footsteps. Kevin Cope of the Tribune-Review says Cope’s personality came through on the radio. And the Tribune-Review lists some of Cope’s more popular expressions.

Multichannel News reports FSN’s Sports Science show returns for a second season in March.

That’s it for now.

Thursday Thursday

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

Anyway, let’s get to your links.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s all for now.

Your Wednesday Update

As I watch the local news, I’ll give you some links today.

It’s now official. Charles Barkley has signed a long-term deal with Turner Sports to remain as a studio analyst for TNT in its NBA coverage. He’ll also do work for NBA TV. Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has details in his blog.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that Turner Sports has announced its early season slate of Sunday afternoon baseball games on TBS. Neil says New York Giants QB Eli Manning actually got a chance to speak on WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog show.

Tom Singer of MLB.com has more on the slate of Sunday MLB games on TBS.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions site says ESPN has announced its Spring Training schedule all of which will be seen in HD. And MLB.com lists the announcing assignments for each game.

The Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht writes in his blog about a teleconference involving ESPN’s draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch lists the New England winners of the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.

Darren Rovell of CNBC says the injury to the Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming could prove devastating to Reebok.

Dan Gigler of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives us a personal anecdote about the late Myron Cope who passed away this morning. And there will be a tribute to Myron before the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game tonight at the Petersen Events Center. And the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has its own obit of Cope. And this is audio from his last radio show on WEAE radio in 1995. First and foremost, Cope considered himself as a writer and from a piece in 2005, Joe Starkey of the Tribune-Review has some excerpts of Cope’s stories from Sports Illustrated.

ESPN is going to love this story. Linda Haugsted of Multichannel News writes that the all-sports network ranks high among cable operators for helping them gain and retain subscribers.

Nick Jezierny of the Idaho Statesman says basketball coaches in the Western Athletic Conference are dissatisfied with their TV contract with ESPN.

Dave Zirin of SI.com says looking closer at Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s motives on Spygate and the NFL Network shows that something just doesn’t add up.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says that someone wants to revive SlamBall. You may remember seeing it on Spike TV five years ago.

The Puget Sound (WA) Business Journal reports that three regional sports networks in Seattle, Denver and Pittsburgh formerly owned by FSN will combine to form the Liberty Sports Group. And Mike Farrell of Multichannel News has more on the story.

In addition, Liberty has finally completed its year-long purchase of DirecTV.

That’s it for now. I might have an update later tonight. Keep checking back here.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Iowa at Penn State – Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Kansas at Iowa State – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Florida State at NC State – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Tulsa at Memphis – CSTV, 8 p.m.
Mississippi at Kentucky – Raycom, 8 p.m.
Arkansas at Alabama – Raycom, 8 p.m.
Wyoming at Colorado State – the mtn., 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Purdue – Big Ten Network, 9 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Duke – ESPN, 9 p.m.
West Virginia at DePaul – ESPN2, 9 p.m.
St. John’s at Georgetown – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

NBA
Cleveland at Boston – Comcast SportNet New England, 7:30 p.m.

NHL
Toronto at Florida – TSN/NHL Network (US), 7:30 p.m.
Colorado at Vancouver – TSN/NHL Network (US), 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Big Brother 9 – CBS, 8 p.m.
UFC Unleashed – Spike, 9 p.m.
UFO Hunters – History Channel, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

BREAKING NEWS: Legendary Myron Cope Passes Away

The man who was responsible for the “Terrible Towel” in Pittsburgh and broadcast the Steelers during its glory days in the 1970′s, Myron Cope has passed away this morning at the age of 79. He had been in declining health for several years, retiring from the broadcast booth in 2005.

Myron didn’t have the classic broadcasting voice. In fact, it was gravelly, screeching and at times, annoying, but he knew his football and was quite lovable.

Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the story. And Collier has an extensive remembrance of Cope. Steelers fans have always been fond of Cope because he was a fan himself. Several readers of the Post-Gazette have already expressed their feelings about him.

The Steelers have issued a statement on Cope’s passing. And there’s a story on Cope on the Steelers’ website as well.

Before he became an analyst in the broadcast booth, Cope was an accomplished writer for the Saturday Evening Post as well as Sports Illustrated. But he’ll always be known to generations of Steelers fans for his work as a broadcaster. I know that Myron will be missed.

Here’s one of his last interviews with Tunch and Wolf in Pittsburgh.

And finally, here’s Myron talking about the Terrible Towel before a Steelers game.

Our Wednesday Linkfest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s going to do it for now.

Some More Tuesday Links

It’s been a busy Tuesday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s it for tonight.

Say Goodbye to Sean Salisbury

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Awful Announcing gives its take on the news.

Sports by Brooks is pleased to see Salisbury gone.

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

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

BREAKING NEWS: Ruling vs. NFL Reversed

In a move that is just breaking now, the New York Supreme Court has reversed a lower court’s ruling that said Comcast was justified in putting the NFL Network on a sports tier. Newsday’s Neil Best is on top of it giving us the story from John Ourand of Sports Business Daily.

In addition, Patricia Hurtado of Bloomberg News writes that the court reversed a May 2007 ruling that gave Comcast the right to move the NFL Network to a sports tier. Comcast had argued that it had the right to do so after it lost the cable rights to NFL games to the NFL Network.

We’ll continue to monitor reaction.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Ohio State at Indiana – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Southern Illinois at Bradley – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Boston College at Virginia Tech – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Northwestern at Michigan – Big Ten Network, 9 p.m.
Tennessee at Vanderbilt – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Missouri – ESPNU, 9 p.m.
San Diego State at UNLV – CSTV, 10 p.m.
BYU at New Mexico – the mtn., 10 p.m.

NHL
Minnesota at Washington – Versus, 7 p.m.
Ottawa at Boston – TSN/NESN, 7:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Big Brother 9 – CBS, 9 p.m.
Jericho – CBS, 10 p.m.
quarterlife (series premiere) – NBC, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

The Tuesday Links Are Finally Here

I’m finally finished with the proposal and now I can move on to other stuff including the links. There’s been quite a flurry of trades in the last two hours in the NHL. The biggest surprise, the Montreal Canadiens sending goaltender Cristobal Huet to the Washington Capitals for a second round draft pick. Earlier in the day, Brad Richards was sent to Dallas from Tampa Bay and he was the biggest prize out there. Plenty of ways to keep track of the NHL Trading Deadline and I’ve posted the options for you earlier in the day.

Let’s do the links now.

Some Breaking News, John Ourand of the Sports Business Daily writes that the NFL is suing Dish Network’s parent company, EchoStar for moving the NFL Network off a popular tier and reducing the channel’s subscribers .

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks inside the ratings of some of the weekend’s sporting events.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times asks if the incredibly boring Wladimir Klitschko-Sultan Ibragimov heavyweight championship fight last Saturday did more to drive fans away from boxing.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the critics of Joe Torre are now practicing revisionist history. Also from the Daily News, TV and radio critic David Hinckley says 1050 ESPN Radio host Steven A. Smith will host a roundtable discussion tomorrow at the ESPN Zone in New York.

Newsday’s Neil Best says FSNY is going to be rebranded. In his blog, Neil talks about the rising ratings of the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. And Neil says WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton are shifting away from sports on their morning show.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner has a column today about former Ravens coach Brian Billick’s appearance on a sports radio station to discuss his firing. Then Williams went further in his blog about Billick’s media tour on radio and TV yesterday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his blog that MLB is releasing the entire 1988 World Series between Oakland and Los Angeles on DVD.

From the Oakland Tribune, Dave Del Grande talks with a sports radio KNBR producer about the show he’s responsible for and producing San Francisco Giants games. And Del Grande says flex scheduling for the NBA TV partners may leave the Golden State Warriors in the dark.

Staying on the West Coast, John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says ESPN.com jumped the gun when it said Brad Richards was heading to the Sharks.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN is the early winner in the NHL Trading Deadline coverage wars.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says fans, reporters and talk show hosts all like the trades made by the Cleveland Cavs in the last week.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about the cost of naming rights for arenas and stadia.

Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle says ESPN has signed a two year deal to put the Texas-Texas A&M game on Thanksgiving night.

David Goetzl of Media Daily News reports that when ESPN airs a documentary on the Civil Rights Movement and college basketball, it will have two exclusive sponsors.

Keith Groller of the Allentown Morning Call likes the work of Hubie Brown on ESPN’s NBA telecasts.

The Washington Post’s John Feinstein takes another opportunity to blast ESPN in his “Johnnies Award” column. Also from the Post, Leonard Shapiro says HBO’s documentary on Joe Louis shows us what boxing has been missing over the last decade.

Rene Henry of the Huntington (WV) News profiles the only American working for the media relations department for Beijing’s Olympic Organizing Committee.

That’s it for now.

Ways to Monitor the NHL Trading Deadline

I’m trying to finish this proposal, but if you’re at work and want to find out about the latest trades as the NHL Trading Deadline approaches, you can do it in several ways.

First, NHL.com is streaming TSN’s live all-day coverage and you can catch it here. Among TSN’s analysts are Mike Milbury, former Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson and Darren Pang.

You can watch Rogers Sportsnet’s extensive live coverage on-line here.

In addition, Canada’s third all-sports network, The Score, is also streaming live and started its coverage a half hour earlier than the other two networks.

Starting at 1 p.m. ET, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Radio will begin its coverage on Sirius Satellite Radio and continue until 8 p.m. From 1 until 4, the coverage will be on Sirius channel 126, then it will move at 4 to its regular channel, 122. It’s also streaming live at the CBC website.

And if you’re at home, the NHL Network is airing TSN’s coverage all day well.

So there are many ways to keep updated on the NHL Trading Deadline. Later.

Tuesday Links Will Be Late

I’m working on a proposal that is way late, but has to get done today. I’ll put up the Tuesday links sometime in the afternoon.

Late Monday Night Update

Time to give you a few more links on this Monday night.

First, Neil Best of Newsday tells us that the Arena Football League’s New York Dragons will have 1050 ESPN Radio as its flagship station this season.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty writes in his blog about the higher ratings NBC experienced for this year’s WGC Accenture Match Play Championship with Tiger Woods involved in the entire weekend of play.

NBC Sports says the ratings for Sunday was 67% higher than last year’s event which saw Tiger eliminated early in the action. In addition, NBC says Pittsburgh at Washington will its choice for the NHL Game of the Week on March 9.

Greg Tunnicliff of the Flint (MI) Journal says ESPN will do a feature on two high school female wrestlers for Outside the Lines.

Greg Auman of the St. Petersburg Times says the University of South Florida will have four of its football games aired on the ESPN family of networks this fall, matching the most of any Big East Conference team.

The Denver Post reports that ESPN has moved the Colorado-West Virginia game to September 18, making it a primetime Thursday night game.

Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces (NM) Sun-News says coaches in the WAC are concerned about their TV exposure especially in the wake of a majority of their BracketBuster games not being shown on ESPN.

George James Malik of the Michigan Live website writes that NHL.com will stream TSN’s coverage of the Trading Deadline all day Tuesday. Stu Cowan of the Canwest News Service says the Trading Deadline is a big deal for TSN.

The Boston Herald’s Inside Track talks about the NFL Network ending its display of topless men at the Scouting Combine, plus the Track girls compare the ratings for the Oscars to the NFL.

And that does it for Monday. Good night.

Monday Evening Links

Let’s give you some more links this evening.

First, Newsday’s Neil Best notes in his blog that the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship on NBC with Tiger Woods outpaced the NBA game on ABC with Shaquille O’Neal on Sunday. Neil reports that NBC has passed on the Boston Bruins-New York Rangers tilt for its NHL flex game on March 9. And Neil criticizes ESPN’s Dick Vitale for getting distracted during the Tennessee-Memphis game on Saturday.

The Sports Media Watch says the rained out NASCAR race outpaced both golf and the NBA in the ratings. And the blog also notes that while the ratings for the Match Play Championships were up with Tiger winning, viewers may be getting tired of him. But Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Tiger’s appearance last week helped the Golf Channel reach its highest ratings ever.

Craig Dolch of the Palm Beach Post reports in his blog that Golf Channel has cut its early round coverage of this week’s Honda Classic from three hours a day to two.

Steve Cameron of the Merced (CA) Sun-Star says Golf Channel analyst Nick Faldo chose the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship to take a shot at his former sponsor, Nike.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes in his blog that CBS has made its wild card selections for its last weekend of regular season college basketball.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch noticed that the last two Celtics road games on Comcast SportsNet were not shown in true HD as advertised.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes that MASN will air 80 games of the Nationals and Baltimore Orioles in HD.

Jon Lafayette of TV Week says CBS will offer on demand highlights of the NCAA Tournament in HD. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Comcast and Bresnan Communications are the first two cable providers to sign up to distribute the highlights.

Daisy Whitney from TV Week says HBO has launched a YouTube channel that will feature videos from Real Sports and HBO Boxing. The link to the channel is here.

John Consoli of Mediaweek reports that ESPN is producing a civil rights-themed basketball documentary.

ESPN has reached a new two year agreement with FSN to air a handful of Big 12 football games.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports the Alleged Worldwide Leader will air one Arena Football League game involving the Utah Blaze.

Brian Bennett and Brett Lawson of the Louisville Courier-Journal write that the University of Kentucky has turned down an offer from ESPN to play in-state rival Louisville on Labor Day.

Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel reports that the city will host two black college football games, one sponsored by ESPN, but the other is in desperate need of a sponsor.

Jamison Hensley and Edward Lee of the Baltimore Sun talk about former Ravens coach Brian Billick who appeared for three hours on a local radio station today.

Soccer fans will be able to watch all of FC Dallas’ games on TV through various English and Spanish outlets.

Former Philadelphia news anchor Alycia Lane has had her charges reduced stemming from an arrest in New York back in December.

I might have even another update later tonight. Keep checking here.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Ohio State at Indiana (women’s) – Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Marquette at Villanova – ESPN, 7 p.m.
UConn at LSU (women’s) – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Texas Southern at Arkansas Pine-Bluff – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Texas at Kansas State – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Bethune-Cookman at UMES – ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Gonzaga at Portland – ESPN2, 11 p.m.

NHL
Philadelphia at Buffalo – Versus, 7 p.m.

NBA
Boston at LA Clippers – Comcast SportsNet New England, 10:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Fox, 9 p.m.
Jon & Kate Plus 8 – TLC, 9 & 9:30 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight (it was very wild last night with stripping and a nude pool party, you may want to see if the debauchery continues tonight)

A Monday Quickie

Giving you a quick Monday update.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his media winners and losers of the week and CNBC’s Darren Rovell is as one would expect, a winner.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes in his Four DVRs, no waiting blog that the traditional Texas-Texas A&M game returns to ESPN on Thanksgiving night. For two stretches in the 1980′s and 1990′s, ESPN had the game on Thanksgiving night and this is a return to tradition. I like it.

More college football scheduling news. Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star says the Kansas State-Louisville game will be played on September 17, a Wednesday on … ESPN.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about EA’s $2 billion takeover bid for Take Two that was ended being rejected.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about the Oscars and tonight’s release of the Giants Super Bowl DVD.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich suggests golf adopt curling’s open mike policy so fans can hear golfer-caddy conversations.

Gordie Jones of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the Tennessee-Memphis game was overhyped by ESPN.

Jeffrey Flanagan from the Kansas City Star says a former host of a popular sports radio talk show has no plans to return to his old stomping grounds.

That’s it for now. I’ll give you an update tonight.

It’s the Monday Links

Back to work here and my internet is back up here so it’s nice to have right now.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy says ESPN’s Jim Rome is not a fan of the gallery at golf tournaments yelling “You Da Man!” or “Get in the hole!”.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says there’s a lot of crazy talk going on especially on MSG Network.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun reviews ESPN’s production of the Tennessee-Memphis game. Frager writes that MASN is getting ready to produce a handful of Orioles games in HD.

The internet is abuzz over the video of Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl demonstrating holding with ESPN’s Erin Andrews. Awful Announcing has the video, of course.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times also talks about the Bruce Pearl hug of Erin Andrews.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes in his blog that the fans who stayed to watch the Siena game on the scoreboard at the Times Union Center were not served well.

Tom Zebold of The Ledger previews some of the sports on TV this week.

Theresa Howard of USA Today writes advertisers are looking to sports to get their messsage across to viewers.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has TNT’s Charles Barkley liking the trades that the Bucks and the Cleveland Cavs made during the NBA deadline.

The Birmingham (AL) News has a special section on the SEC turning 75 and one story looks at the best announcing voices over the last 75 years. Jon Solomon and Mike Perrin look at how the SEC became a money machine and that includes TV rights revenue from CBS and ESPN.

Fox Sports is asking you to name its gopher that pops up during NASCAR coverage to show that its Gopher Cam is on.

Ron Grillo of the Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram talks with Fox Sports’ Larry McReynolds who has been part of its NASCAR coverage since 2001.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News remembers the late Bob Howsam, the former GM of the Cincinnati Reds who also had an impact on Denver sports and radio.

The Bradenton (FL) Herald says that the Tampa Bay Rays will have 144 games on TV this season.

Steve Wiseman of The State tells us that college basketball fans can keep up with the latest RPI rankings on various websites.

Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer says former KYW anchor Alycia Lane may go free on charges stemming from her arrest back in December.

That’s going to do it for now.

It’s a Sunday Morning Thing

Doing the links this morning on a Dell Dimension XPS T600 Pentium III computer with a dial-up connection from an office where I usually am not based. This is going to be interesting how long this will take. I’m starting at 10 a.m. so take a look at the timestamp below to see how long I need to compile the links. Once you have Verizon Fios DSL at your office and home, you think anything else (especially dial-up) is like molasses. But anyway, you don’t want to read me complaining so let’s get to your links.

If you have yet to see the HBO Joe Louis documentary that premiered last night, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a review for you. Like other HBO fare, the documentary will be repeated several times over the week so if you have the channel, you’ll be able to catch it.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News talks with YES analyst Al Leiter who still is not totally convinced that Roger Clemens took the juice.

The New York Post is not happy that ESPN scheduled a high school basketball at 9 p.m. on a school night.

From Newsday, Neil Best writes about the 100th Anniversary of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” which will be celebrated across Major League Baseball on Opening Day. Neil has a sidebar column on a real-life Katie Casey who feels she lives “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” every day. And Neil expands on his column in his blog. Thus far, it’s taken me 45 minutes to get this many links. Not good.

Continuing on, Dave Weekley of the Charleston (WV) Gazette says ESPN will have two documentaries based on the contributions of African Americans to coaching and college sports while overcoming racial prejudice. In addition, Dave references this site’s intereview with Curt Chapin regarding his Miracle on Ice call (thanks, Dave!). And for those of you coming over to read the post, you can go here.

Jeremy Peter of the Cincinnati Enquirer profiles native Brooke Weisbrod who’s working as an analyst for ESPN. Also from the Enquirer, Rory Glynn talks with former Xavier coach Pete Gillen who’s calling today’s Dayton-Xavier game for CSTV.

Writing a guest column for the Los Angeles Daily News, Sgt. Michael Molinaro, who’s stationed in Iraq, is asking what happened to his sports highlights on ESPN?

Charles Rich of the AOL Fanhouse blog says CBS’ college basketball coverage on Saturday did not inspire much hope for the NCAA Tournament next month.

Craig Dolch of the Palm Beach Post caught up with CBS Sports’ golf analyst David Feherty and they talked about how Tiger Woods is head and shoulders ahead of everyone else on the PGA Tour.

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports.com reports that the NFL Network will no longer show the player weigh-ins at the Scouting Combine due to requests from some participants.

From the Indianapolist Star, Mark Chappell writes how the Combine grew from such a small event into a huge media event.

FSN Florida has announced its schedule for the Tampa Bay (don’t call them the Devil) Rays this season.

That’s going to do it. It took me over an hour and a half on dial-up to find the links for you and another 30 minutes to wait for my boss to leave the area so I could post this. Oh well.

I will probably be back later with an update.

Klitchko is beginning to land his jab with regularity….

In the second round of the so-far incredibly boring Klitschko-Ibragimov fight on HBO, play-by-play announcer Jim Lampley noted that Wladimir Klitschko was beginning to land his left jab with regularity. Two minutes later, boxing charlatan Max Kellerman said, “Klitschko is beginning to land his jab with regularity.” Thanks for the stellar analysis, Max. I hope you spend your HBO paycheck wisely.

Oh, Great!

Just after I was going to write that this has been a tremendous night for sports (Tennessee-Memphis meeting in a #1 vs. #2 matchup on ESPN, the Klitchko-Ibragimov fight, the Joe Louis documentary, Hockey Night in Canada), I find out that boxing charlatan Max Kellerman will be ringside for the heavyweight unification fight on HBO. Just great. I love listening to Max Kellerman as much as I love bathing in excrement.

More later.

Your Saturday Linkage

Before I begin, it’s nice to have some live sports this morning. While watching match play golf isn’t the most appealing thing in the world, it’s assuring to wake up and have the WGC Match Play Championships on the Golf Channel. I’m certainly enjoying having his on my TV this morning instead of the silly infomercials that dot the cable TV landscape. And NESN has live coverage of Red Sox Spring Training as well. Seeing the Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin in the morning is very appealing also. And if I really wanted a stretch, I could turn to Fox Soccer Channel to get a glimpse the English Premier League. If the networks could somehow convince MLB or some college conference to have one early morning game a week, I would be a happy man.

To your links.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar says a feud is brewing between Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa and a sports radio talk show host.

Jerry Garcia in the San Antonio Express-News talks about HBO’s documentary on Joe Louis which premieres tonight.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Joe Louis doc is truly must-see TV. Horn also talks with the very opinionated sports anchor Dale Hansen of WFAA-TV who doesn’t spare any barbs for ESPN’s Stuart Scott and Chris Berman.

Completing the Texas trifecta, Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says HBO’s documentary on Joe Louis kicks off a big night of boxing tonight.

Guy Limbeck of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says a local sportscaster will be involved in a marathon day of callling hockey.

Scott Wright of the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN will follow the Oklahoma basketball team leading up to the NCAA Selection Sunday for the men’s basketball tournament.

Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette writes TSN is going to have marathon coverage of the NHL Trading Deadline on Tuesday.

The Arizona Daily Star has a Match Play Championships notebook and included is a blurb on NBC Sports golf producer Tommy Roy who scouted camera and tower positions for the tournament.

The Winston-Salem (NC) Journal reports that ISP Sports has signed a long term agreement with Notre Dame to produce its football games on radio. ISP replaces Westwood One which had carried Notre Dame football dating back to 1968.

Chip Malafronte of the New Haven (CT) Register writes about Chris Kotsopoulos, a former Hartford Whaler, who’s doing TV work for Quinnipiac College hockey games.

Michael C. Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune says the journey for the mtn. to get on DirecTV was a long, uphill climb. Sean Duff of the Daily Coloradoan says Colorado State University is happy to have its games on a national platform.

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Scouting Combine on the NFL Network is hardly compelling TV.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

The Eye on Sports Media blog has the winners of US Basketball Writers Association Best Writing Contest for 2007.

The 38 Cliches blog wonders if a story on Glenn Geffner in the Miami Herald was spiked.

That’s going to do it today.

Quick Friday Night Update

Giving you some links tonight before I check out some late night TV programming.

The Sports Media Watch notes that the NBA All Star Game ratings dipped below a 4 for the first time ever. However, while the NBA All Stars did not get a great number of eyeballs, the newly named “Big Cactus” did for ESPN.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has his own “sleeper” pick for the NFL Scouting Combine. Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says the once-mysterious Combine can now be seen in its full glory on the NFL Network.

Laura Nachman reports that Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s Michael Barkann has been honored for his work.

The arbitrator who ruled in the Time Warner Cable-MASN dispute has now been removed from the case as John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports. And Eggerton tells us that the NFL has lifted the restrictions on churches that want to show the Super Bowl on a super-sized TV screen.

Roger Van Der Horst of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer writes that the removal of the arbitrator now casts doubt whether MASN will be seen at all in North Carolina.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek writes that SI.com is seeing a spike in traffic thanks to the magazine’s annual swimsuit issue.

No surprise here, Danny King of TV Week reports that LCD TV’s were responsible for more than three quarters of the TV’s people bought for the Super Bowl this year.

Bryan Mullen of The Tennessean says the appearance of ESPN’s College Gameday adds to the hype for the Tennessee-Memphis game.

Brett McMurphy from the Tampa Tribune writes that the University of South Florida will get two Thursday Night Football games on ESPN this fall.

Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Sun says it’s better late than never for the mtn. to get a deal with DirecTV. Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune says the new deal will boost the Mountain West Conference’s image. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the channel will be on DirecTV in time for football season.

While the mtn. scored a big win this week, the Big Ten Network remains in limbo. Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that the standoff between BTN and the major cable providers has yet to be resolved.

The Boston Herald’s Inside Track girls tell us that Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia got some revenge on Comcast SportsNet anchor Gary Tanguay.

I’ll be back in the morning with the Saturday links.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, February 23

Documentary
Joe Louis: America’s Hero … Betrayed – HBO, 8 p.m.

Boxing
Championship Boxing, Wladimir Klitschko vs. Sultan Ibragimov – HBO, 9:30 p.m.

NHL
Ottawa at Pittsburgh – CBC/NHL Center Ice, 3 p.m.
Atlanta at Toronto or Columbus at Montreal- CBC/NHL Center Ice, 7 p.m.
Boston at Tampa Bay – NESN, 7:30 p.m.
Detroit at Vancouver – CBC/NHL Center Ice, 10 p.m.

Golf
PGA -WGC Accenture Match Play Championships, Quarterfinals – Golf Channel, 10 a.m.
PGA - WGC Accenture Match Play Championships, Semifinals – NBC, 2 p.m.
LPGA – Fields Open in Hawaii, Final Round – Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.

NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series, San Bernadino County 200 – Fox, 3 p.m.
Nationwide Series, Stater Brothers 300 – ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Saturday Night Live with Guest Host Tina Fey – NBC, 11:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight
Forbidden Passions – Cinemax, 12:15 a.m.

Sunday, February 24

Golf
WGC Accenture Match Play Championships, Final – Golf Channel, 10 a.m./NBC, 2 p.m.

NBA
Detroit at Phoenix – ABC, 2:30 p.m.
Boston at Portland – Comcast SportsNet New England, 6 p.m.
Chicago at Houston – ESPN, 8 p.m.

NHL
San Jose at Pittsburgh – TSN, 3 p.m.

NASCAR
Auto Club 500 – Fox, 3:30 p.m.

Track & Field
U.S. Indoor Championships – ESPN2, 5 p.m.

Entertainment
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
Big Brother 9 – CBS, 8 p.m.
The 80th Annual Academy Awards – ABC, 8:30 p.m.
The L Word – Showtime, 9 p.m.
Jimmy Kimmel Live – ABC, midnight
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight
Bare Naked Desires – Cinemax, 12:05 a.m.

College Basketball Viewing Picks (All Times Eastern)

Saturday, February 22
College Gameday, live from Memphis, TN – ESPN, 11 a.m.
VCU at Akron – ESPN2, 11 a.m.
UConn at Villanova – ESPN, noon
George Mason at Ohio – ESPN2, 1 p.m.

Arkansas at Kentucky or Army at Navy – CBS, 2 p.m.
Lehigh at Lafayette – CSTV, 2 p.m.
Iowa at Michigan State – ESPN, 2 p.m.
Jackson State at Grambling – ESPN Classic, 2 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech – Raycom, 2 p.m.
Maryland at Miami (FL) – Raycom, 2 p.m.

Creighton at Oral Roberts – ESPN2, 3 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas or Oregon at UCLA – ABC, 3:30 p.m.

Illinois at Michigan – Big Ten Network, 4 p.m.
Kansas at Oklahoma State or St. John’s at Duke – CBS, 4 p.m.
Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount – CSTV, 4 p.m.
Mississippi State at South Carolina – Raycom, 4 p.m.
Georgia at Vanderbilt – Raycom, 4 p.m.

Drake at Butler – ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Arizona State at Washington – FSN, 6 p.m.
Miami (OH) at Valparaiso – ESPN Classic, 6 p.m.
Marist at Cleveland State – ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.

Indiana at Northwestern – Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.

College Gameday, live from Memphis TN – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Tennessee at Memphis – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Rider at CSU-Northbridge – ESPNU, 9 p.m.

Arizona at Washington State – FSN, 10 p.m.
BYU at San Diego State – CSTV, 11 p.m.
Kent State at St. Mary’s – ESPN2, 11:59 p.m.

Sunday, February 23
George Washington at St. Joseph’s (women’s) – CSTV, noon
Michigan State at Purdue (women’s) – ESPN2, 1 p.m.
Penn State at Minnesota – Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
Syracuse at Notre Dame or Alabama at Auburn – CBS, 2 p.m.
Xavier at Dayton – CSTV, 2 p.m.
Texas A&M at Texas (women’s) – ESPN2, 3 p.m.

Wisconsin at Ohio State – CBS, 4 p.m.
St. Joseph’s at URI – Cox Sports RI, 4 p.m.
Notre Dame at DePaul (women’s) – ESPNU, 4 p.m.

NC State at Virginia – FSN, 4:30 p.m.
Wake Forest at North Carolina – FSN, 6:30 p.m.
Wright State at Illinois State – ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.
California at Stanford – FSN, 9 p.m.