Fang's Bites

Cranking Out Friday Megalinks

Let’s do some Friday linkage for you.

MLB Postseason starts up really in earnest with four games on Saturday. College Football in full swing and the NFL completes its first month of games on Sunday. Your Weekend Viewing Picks have everything you need to know in sports and primetime programming.

To the linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that Fox Sports’ NASCAR coverage will be known for having the Brothers Waltrip next year.

Mike Reynolds of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Turner Sports will be all over the League Division Series for the first four days of the MLB Postseason.

Adweek has a graphic showing how much time we spend on watching football.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that TBS and Fox should see good ratings for the MLB Postseason based on an exciting final night of the season on Wednesday.

Nelli Andreeva of Deadline reports that ESPN is developing an ABC sitcom based on Boston sports fans. That’s going to go over well.

Bill Hofheimer in ESPN’s Front Row blog talks with ESPN’s Jon Gruden about calling a “home game” this Monday.

Jim Romanesko of the Poynter Institute looks at the despicable reaction of Buffalo Bills fans to a column written by a female sportswriter at the Albany Times Union.

Bob’s Blitz has video of WFAN’s Mike Francesa attempting to add on the air.

Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group looks at ESPN placing microphones on various players and coaches during the WNBA Finals.

Brandon chronicles a wild Wednesday night at MLB Network.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the advantages or lack of thereof having a bigger payroll in MLB.

The Sports Biz Miss Kristi Dosh tells us that despite not making the playoffs, the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox still get a share of the postseason pie.

The Sports Media Watch looks at how the tumultuous Final Night of the MLB season led to a ratings bonanza for ESPN.

SMW says for the MLB season, ESPN’s ratings went up slightly.

SMW says TBS’ ratings for the MLB regular season were flat compared with last year.

Joe Favorito looks at how Dick Vitale has made himself into a viable brand.

The Daly Planet delves into the changes with the Fox Sports NASCAR crew.

The Influencer Economy has a look into Blogs with Balls 4 and the future of sports media.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn at the Boston Globe (this is the last day I’ll be able to link to Chad as his columns go behind the dreaded paywall starting October 1) writes about NESN viewers unable to see analyst Dennis Eckersley on the last day of the season.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes that Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy shares some blame in the Red Sox collapse.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with TBS’ Brian Anderson who steps into the network’s lead spot for the MLB Postseason.

Justin Terranova of the New York Post has five questions for NBC Football Night in America analyst Rodney Harrison.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a new local sports talk show host isn’t spending any time discussing any local topics.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes about local radio stations picking up MLB League Division Series games.

To the New Jersey Newsroom where Evan Weiner says the college conference shuffle is making fans roll their collective eyes.

In the Allentown (PA) Morning Call, Keith Groller writes that MLB will have a hard act to follow in the postseason after a compelling final night of the regular season.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet will be all over the Phillies in the MLB Postseason.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that sections of the Baltimore Sun’s sports website will go behind the dreaded paywall.

South

The Florida Times-Union reports that the Jacksonville Jaguars have avoided a blackout for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

To the St. Petersburg Times where Tom Jones says Sun Sports got big ratings for the Tampa Bay Rays’ march to the playoffs this week.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that MLB Network was all over the twists and turns from the final night of the regular season.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has his news and notes.

Midewest

John Kieswetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that a local CBS affiliate will provide halftime highlights during Bengals games at Paul Brown Stadium.

John writes that Saturday’s Cincinnati-Miami game will be seen live online and on local TV on tape delay.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with Tigers TV voice Mario Impemba about the team’s chances of advancing in the MLB Postseason.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel speaks with Brewers TV voice Brian Anderson about getting the top gig for TBS for the playoffs.

Bob has a couple of quotes from CBS’ Phil Simms about Sunday’s Denver-Green Bay game.

To Crain’s Chicago Business and Ed Sherman who writes that Nebraska’s addition to the conference can only help the Big Ten Network.

Ed has his winners and losers in sports media and business.

In the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin, Paul Christian talks with former Minnesota coach Tim Brewster who’s now patrolling the sidelines for Gus Johnson and FX’s college football game of the week.

Jennifer Mann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin has been arrested on DUI charges for the second time this year.

Dan Caesar of the Post-Dispatch writes that Fox Sports Midwest has suspended McLaughlin indefinitely.

West

Bill Center in the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres expect to bring back its TV booth, but no word on the team’s radio announcers or new TV contract for next season.

The Union-Tribune says Sunday’s Chargers game against the Dolphins will be blacked out.

John Maffei of the North County Times says the Padres hope to have a new TV deal (with Fox Sports Net) in place by the New Year.

At the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes that Wednesday’s MLB season finale was Must See TV.

Jim says despite being on a losing team, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Matt Kemp is in the center of the MVP debate among TV analysts.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Jenn Brown’s endorsement deal with GNC.

Tom says Bill Macdonald’s full-time days with Fox Sports West are over.

Tom looks at TBS’ coverage of the MLB Postseason.

Tom wonders why the NFL pulled back the 1st half Thursday Night Football package from the table.

Canada

In the Toronto Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin says MLB got a shot in the arm on Wednesday.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog writes that TSN has locked up curling on TV in Canada through the end of the decade.

And that’s going to do it. I may have a few more links later tonight.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, October 1

Australian Rules Football
Grand Final
Collingwood vs. Geelong — ESPN2, midnight

Boxing
World Championship Boxing: Middleweights: Andy Lee vs. Brian Vera & Darren Barker vs. Sergio Martinez — HBO, 10 p.m.

CFL
Saskatchewan at Calgary — TSN/NFL Network, 4 p.m.
Hamilton at Toronto — TSN, 7 p.m.

College Football Viewing Picks

English Premier League
Everton vs. Liverpool — ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.
Blackburn vs. Manchester City — Fox Soccer Plus, 9:53 a.m.
Manchester United vs. Norwich City — Fox Soccer, 10 a.m.
Wolverhampton vs. Newcastle — Fox Soccer, noon (same day coverage)
Sunderland vs. West Bromwich Albion — Fox Soccer Plus, 2 p.m. (same day coverage)
Aston Villa vs. Wigan Athletic — Fox Soccer, 5 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
Champions Tour: SAS Championship, 2nd round — Golf Channel, 7:30 p.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, 3rd round — Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
UFC Live 6: Cruz vs. Johnson — Versus, 9 p.m.

MLB Postseason
MLB on Deck — TBS, 1:30 p.m.

American League Division Series
Game 2: Tampa Bay at Texas — TNT, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Detroit at New York Yankees — TBS, 8:30 p.m.

National League Division Series
Game 1: Arizona at Milwaukee — TBS, 2 p.m.
Game 1: St. Louis at Philadelphia — TBS, 5 p.m.

Inside MLB — TBS, midnight
MLB Tonight – Division Series Edition — MLB Network, midnight

MLS
New England vs. Seattle — Comcast SportsNet New England, 7:30 p.m.
Toronto vs. New York — Fox Soccer, 7:30 p.m.
Colorado vs. FC Dallas — Fox Sports Southwest Plus/Altitude, 9 p.m.
San Jose vs. Sporting Kansas City — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10:30 p.m.
Los Angeles vs. Real Salt Lake — Fox Sports West, 10:30 p.m.

NASCAR
Nationwide Series: OneMain Financial 300 — ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.

NHL
Detroit at Toronto — CBC/NHL Network (US), 7 p.m.
Montreal at Tampa Bay — RDS, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Vancouver  — CBC/NHL Network (US), 10 p.m.

Tennis
WTA Tour: Toray Pan Pacific Open, final– Tennis Channel, midnight
ATP Tour: Thailand Open, semifinals — Tennis Channel, 7 & 9 p.m. (same day coverage)

Entertainment
Easy Chinese: San Francisco: Wok Skills and Simple Stir Fries — Cooking Channel, 1 p.m.
Giada at Home: Have Food Will Travel — Food Network, 1:30 p.m.
Sabado Gigante — Univision, 8 p.m.
Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song — BBC America, 9 p.m.
Weird Al Yankovic Live!: The Apocalypse Tour — Comedy Central, 9 p.m.
Bedlam: Cohabitants (series premiere) — BBC America 10 p.m.
Strike Back — Cinemax, 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Live with host Melissa McCarthy and musical guest Lady Antebellum — NBC, 11:29 p.m.

Sunday, October 2

College Volleyball
women’s
Texas at Iowa State — ESPNU, 1 p.m.
Ohio State at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network, 2 p.m.
Colorado State at San Diego State — CBS Sports Network, 3 p.m.
Vanderbilt at South Carolina — ESPNU, 3 p.m.
Mississippi State at Mississippi — ESPNU, 5 p.m.
Wisconsin at Ohio State — Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.

English Premier League
Bolton Wanderers vs. Chelsea — Fox Soccer Plus, 8:23 a.m.
Fulham vs. Queens Park Rangers — Fox Soccer Plus, 10:30 a.m. (same day coverage)
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal — Fox Soccer, 11 a.m.
Swansea City vs. Stoke City– Fox Soccer Plus, 12:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
Champions Tour: SAS Championship, final round — Golf Channel, 7:30 p.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, final round — Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

IndyCar
Kentucky 300 — Versus, 2 p.m.

MLB Postseason
MLB on Deck — TBS, 4 p.m.

National League Division Series
Game 2: Arizona at Milwaukee — TBS, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2: St. Louis at Philadelphia — TBS, 8 p.m.

Inside MLB — TBS, 11:30 p.m.
MLB Tonight – Division Series Edition — MLB Network, 11:30 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series: AAA 400 — ESPN, 2 p.m.

NFL Viewing Picks

NHL
New York Rangers vs. Bratislava at Bratislava, Slovakia — MSG Network, 11 a.m..
Pittsburgh at Detroit — WPXI/Fox Spors Detroit, 5 p.m.
Chicago at Washington — NHL Network (US)/WGN, 5 p.m.

Rugby World Cup
New Zealand vs. Canada — NBC, 3 p.m. (same day coverage)

Tennis
ATP Tour: Thailand Open, Final — Tennis Channel, 2 p.m. (same day coverage)
ATP Tour: Malaysian Open, Final — Tennis Channel, 8 p.m. (same day coverage)

WNBA Finals
Game 1: Atlanta at Minnesota — ESPN, 8:30 p.m.

Entertainment
CBS News Sunday Morning — CBS, 9 a.m.
Sandra’s Money Saving Meals: Going Global — Food Network, 9:30 a.m.
60 Minutes — CBS, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Race 19: The Sprint of Our Life — CBS, 8 p.m.
Prohibition: A Nation of Drunkards (premiere) — PBS, 8 p.m.
Boardwalk Empire — HBO, 9 p.m.
Snapped: Linda Pedroza — Oxygen, 9 p.m.
Dexter (season premiere) — Showtime, 9 p.m.
Hung (season premiere) — HBO, 10 p.m.
Breaking Bad — AMC, 10 p.m.
Strike Back — Cinemax, 10 p.m.
Homeland (series premiere) — Showtime, 10 p.m.

Fox Sports Media Group’s College Football Games For 10/1

We have the college football games that will be aired on the Fox Sports Media Group’s networks ranging from Big Ten Network to FX. We also have the announcing assignments. Take a look at what’s in store for Week 5 in college football on Fox Sports.

College Football on FOX Advance Programming
October 1
All times Eastern unless otherwise indicated

TIME	GAME	OUTLET	Play by play	Analyst	Sideline
12:00 PM	Minnesota at Michigan	BTN	Eric Collins	Chris Martin	Dionne Miller
12:00 PM	Texas Tech at Kansas	FSN (National)	Bill Land	Dave Lapham	Emily Jones
12:00 PM	Mississippi State at Georgia	FOX Sports South	Bob Rathbun	Tim Couch	Kristina Akra
3:30 PM	Washington State at Colorado	FCS Pacific	Steve Physioc	Yogi Roth	Desmond Purnell
3:30 PM	Towson at Maryland	FOX Sports South	Rich Waltz	Keith Jones	Jenn Hildreth
3:30 PM	Arizona at USC	FSN (National)	Craig Bolerjack	Joel Klatt	Petros Papadakis
6:00 PM	Penn at Dartmouth	FCS Atlantic	Eric Frede	Steve DiOssie	Katy Fitzpatrick
7:00 PM	Washington at Utah	FSN (National)	Ron Thulin	JC Pearson	Jeremy Bloom
7:00 PM	Texas at Iowa State	FX	Gus Johnson	Charles Davis	Tim Brewster
10:30 PM	UCLA at Stanford	FSN (National)	Joel Meyers	Brian Baldinger	Jim Knox
10:30 PM	Oregon State at Arizona State	FOX Sports Arizona/FCS Pacific	Tom Leander	Adam Archuletta	Mark McClune

And those are your games for this week on the Fox Sports Networks.

College Football Viewing Picks For 10/01/11, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

College GameDay live from Madison, WI — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.

noon
Rutgers at Syracuse — Big East Network

Minnesota at Michigan — Big Ten Network

Air Force at Navy — CBS
Tulane at Army — CBS Sports Network

William & Mary at Villanova — Comcast SportsNet New England/The Comcast Network

Texas A&M vs. Arkansas at Arlington, TX — ESPN
Northwestern at Illinois — ESPN2
Penn State at Indiana — ESPNU
Toledo at Temple — ESPN Plus

Texas Tech at Kansas — Fox Sports Net (national)
Mississippi State at Georgia — Fox Sports Net (regional)

Kentucky at LSU — SEC Network (12:21 p.m. kickoff)

12:30 p.m.
Wake Forest at Boston College — ACC Network

Buffalo at Tennessee — CSS

2:30 p.m.
Nevada at Boise State — Versus

3 p.m.
College Football Countdown — ABC

3:30 p.m.
Baylor at Kansas State — ABC/ESPN
Georgia Tech at NC State — ABC/ESPN
Michigan State at Ohio State — ABC/ESPN

Bowling Green at West Virginia — Big East Network
Marshall at Louisville — Big East Network
Western Michigan at UConn — Big East Network

Auburn at South Carolina — CBS
SMU at TCU — CBS Sports Network

Bethune-Cookman at Miami (FL) — ESPNU

Washington State at Colorado — Fox College Sports Pacific
Arizona at USC — Fox Sports Net (national)
Towson at Maryland — Fox Sports Net (regional)

Richmond at James Madison — The Comcast Network

4 p.m.
San Jose State at Colorado State — the mtn.

6 p.m.
Clemson at Virginia Tech — ESPN2

Penn at Dartmouth — Fox College Sports Atlantic

7 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN
Duke at Florida International — ESPNU
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech — ESPN Plus

Washington at Utah — Fox Sports Net (national)
Texas at Iowa State — FX

8 p.m.
Nebraska at Wisconsin — ABC

Alabama at Florida — CBS
North Carolina at East Carolina — CBS Sports Network

Notre Dame at Purdue — ESPN/ESPN 3D

New Mexico State at New Mexico — the mtn.

9:15 p.m.
Mississippi at Fresno State — ESPN2

10:30 p.m.
Oregon State at Arizona State — Fox College Sports Pacific
UCLA at Stanford — Fox Sports Net

NFL Viewing Picks For Week 4, 10/02/11 All Times Eastern

NFL Coverage Maps

Blackouts: Cincinnati, San Diego

NFL GameDay Morning — NFL Network, 9 a.m.
The NFL Today — CBS, noon

1 p.m.
CBS
Buffalo at Cincinnati — Andrew Catalon/Steve Tasker
Pittsburgh at Houston — Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf
Tennessee at Cleveland — Marv Albert/Rich Gannon

FOX
Carolina at Chicago — Thom Brennaman/Brian Billick/Laura Okmin
Detroit at Dallas — Joe Buck/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver
Minnesota at Kansas City — Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Tim Brewster
New Orleans at Jacksonville — Sam Rosen/Chad Pennington
San Francisco at Philadelphia — Ron Pitts/Jim Mora
Washington at St. Louis — Chris Myers/Tim Ryan

4:05 p.m.
FOX
Atlanta at Seattle — Craig Bolerjack/John Lynch
New York Giants at Arizona — Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa

4:15 p.m.
CBS
Denver at Green Bay — Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
Miami at San Diego — Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts
New England at Oakland — Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots

7 p.m.
Football Night in America — NBC

7:30 p.m.
NFL GameDay Highlights — NFL Network

8:15 p.m.
New York Jets at Baltimore — NBC, Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya

midnight
NFL GameDay Final — NFL Network

DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket Channel Assignments
Sirius XM NFL Schedule
NFL RedZone

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

CFL
Montreal at Winnipeg — TSN, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at BC — TSN/NFL Network, 10:30 p.m.

College Football
Utah State at BYU — ESPN, 8 p.m.

Golf
Champions Tour: SAS Championship, 1st round — Golf Channel, 7:30 p.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, 2nd round — Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

Lingerie Football League
Seattle Mist vs. Green Bay Chill — MTV2, 10 p.m.

MLB Postseason
The Rundown Live — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
MLB on Deck — TBS, 4:30 p.m.

American League Division Series
Game 1: Tampa Bay at Texas — TBS, 5 p.m.
Game 1: Detroit at New York Yankees — TBS, 8:30 p.m.

Inside MLB — TBS, midnight
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, midnight
MLB Tonight – Division Series Edition — MLB Network, midnight

NHL
NHL Live — NHL Network (US), 5 p.m.
NHL on the Fly: Atlantic Division Preview — NHL Network (US), 7:30 p.m.

New York Rangers vs. Frolunda at Gothenburg, Sweden — MSG Network, 1 p.m.
Toronto at Detroit — Leafs TV/Fox Sports Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Chicago — NHL Network (US)/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Nashville at Winnipeg — TSN-Jets, 8:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
ESPN First Take — ESPN2, 10 a.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk: Pro Football Talk — Versus, 6 p.m.
CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! — Versus, 7 p.m.

Tennis
WTA Tour: Toray Pan Pacific Open, semifinals — Tennis Channel, midnight & 2 a.m.

Entertainment
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Shadow Warrior — Cartoon Network, 8 p.m.
Nikita — The CW, 8 p.m.
Dateline NBC — NBC, 9 p.m.
Man, Woman, Wild: Message in a Bottle — Discovery, 9 p.m.
Taking Down The Mob — National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
20/20 — ABC, 10 p.m.
Strike Back — Cinemax, 10 p.m.
Chemistry — Cinemax, 11 p.m.
Skin to the Max — Cinemax, 11:30 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — 11:35 p.m.

ESPN Radio Announcing Assignments For 2011 MLB Postseason

I have the ESPN Radio announcing assignments for the entire MLB Postseason from the League Division Series all the way through the World Series.

The announcers assigned to each series will work all the way through to the end.

Here’s the announcing assignments for ESPN Radio starting with the League Division Series.

LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

American League
Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees — Dan Shulman/Orel Hershiser
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers — Gary Cohen/Aaron Boone

National League
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies — Jon Sciambi/Chris Singleton
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks — Dave O’Brien (Games 1 & 2)/Chris Berman (Games 3-5)/Rick Sutcliffe

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

American League
Dan Shulman/Orel Hershiser

National League
Jon Sciambi/Bobby Valentine

WORLD SERIES

Dan Shulman/Orel Hershiser/Bobby Valentine

There are your assignments for the MLB Postseason on ESPN Radio. Why Chris Berman is used on these broadcasts is beyond me. The man can hardly call play-by-play on TV, he’s just awful on radio.

ESPN’s MLB Commentators Talk About Wednesday’s Wild Finish

ESPN has provided a slideshow which you’ll see below on what its MLB announcers are saying about the end of the regular season. We also have ESPN’s coverage plans for the MLB Postseason plus a few other notes about the games.

We have the stuff right here.

ESPN MLB Commentators Reflect on Season; Share Insight Heading Into Postseason

Comprehensive MLB Postseason Coverage Across ESPN Platforms; Every Game on ESPN Radio

ESPN MLB commentators John Kruk, Bobby Valentine, Orel Hershiser, Curt Schilling, Barry Larkin, Nomar Garciaparra, Rick Sutcliffe, Aaron Boone, Chris Singleton, Karl Ravech and Dan Shulman share insight on a variety of topics related to the end of the regular season and start of the postseason:

ESPN’s Comprehensive MLB Postseason Coverage

• ESPN Radio will exclusively broadcast every game of the postseason nationally including the World Series;
• Nightly Baseball Tonight telecasts throughout the postseason;
• SportsCenter – daily highlights, news and information, and analysis including segments with Baseball Tonight commentator and reports from game sites;
• ESPN.com — news coverage, predictions, live chats, blogs and special interactive features including the SportsNation playoff bracket;
• Extensive content on social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter;
• ESPN International – postseason schedules includes all NLCS and World Series games;
• ESPN Classic – memorable World Series games, classic conversations and SportsCentury telecasts.

ESPN MLB Regular-Season Audience Increases Across Platforms

• Entering Wednesday, ESPN was up three percent in viewers (1,434,000 vs. 1,386,000);
• Sunday Night Baseball finished the season up five percent among viewers (2,294,000 vs. 2,177,000);
• MLB content on ESPN’s mobile properties is up 27 percent in total minutes and 20 percent in visits compared to 2010;
• ESPN.com’s MLB section is up 25 percent in total minutes and 17 percent in visits over last year.

That’s all.

TBS Announces League Division Series Schedule From Friday Through Monday

Ok, we’ve been waiting for the League Division Series schedule and this goes from Friday through Monday. The American League Division Series games kick off the MLB Postseason on TBS then all four series will play on Saturday. Three games will air on TBS, one on TNT, then two National League Division Series will play on Sunday and two ALDS games on Monday. Other games will announced as each series progresses.

And we also have the announcing assignments for each series. They’re as follows:

American League
Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees – Brian Anderson/Ron Darling/John Smoltz/Tom Verducci, reporter
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers — Don Orsillo/Buck Martinez/Jaime Maggio, reporter

National League
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies — Dick Stockton/Bob Brenly/Craig Sager, reporter
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks — Victor Rojas/Joe Simpson/Sam Ryan, reporter

Here’s the TBS press release:

TBS Announces Telecast Schedule and Broadcasters for its Exclusive Coverage of the MLB Division Series
Saturday, October 1st to feature three games on TBS and one game on TNT

Following one of the most exciting finishes in Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season history, TBS begins its exclusive coverage of the League Division Series (LDS) on Friday, September 30, with doubleheader action featuring the best of the American League (AL). At 4:30 p.m. (ET), TBS will air the TBS MLB on Deck pre-game show featuring Matt Winer (host), Dennis Eckersley (analyst), Cal Ripken (analyst) and David Wells (analyst). The network will also conclude the day’s action with the post-game show Inside MLB.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 (ALL TIMES ET)

5 p.m.	The Texas Rangers (AL West Division Champions) will host the Tampa Bay Rays (AL Wild Card Champions) in Game #1 at 5 p.m. (ET). Don Orsillo (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst) will call the action with Jaime Maggio reporting.
8:30 p.m.	The New York Yankees (AL East Division Champions) host the Detroit Tigers (AL Central Division Champions) in Game #1 at 8:30 p.m. (ET).  Brian Anderson (play-by-play) will call the game alongside Ron Darling (analyst) and John Smoltz (analyst) with Tom Verducci reporting.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

MLB Postseason action continues on Saturday, October 1 with four LDS match-ups: three on TBS and one on sister-network TNT. TBS MLB on Deck will preview the games with Winer, Eckersley, Ripken and Wells at 1:30 p.m. (ET). Following the final game of the day, Inside MLB will wrap up the day’s results.

2 p.m.	The Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central Division Champions) will host the Arizona Diamondbacks (NL West Division Champions) in Game #1 at 1:30 p.m. (ET).  Victor Rojas (play-by-play), Joe Simpson (analyst) and Sam Ryan (reporter) will call the action.
5 p.m.	The Philadelphia Phillies (NL East Division Champions) host the St. Louis Cardinals (NL Wild Card Champions) in Game #1 at 5 p.m. (ET).  Dick Stockton (play-by-play) will call the game alongside Bob Brenly (analyst) with Craig Sager reporting.
7 p.m.	GAME WILL AIR ON TNT: Tampa Bay Rays @ Texas Rangers, Game #2 Announcers: Don Orsillo (play-by-play), Buck Martinez (analyst) and Jaime Maggio (reporter)
8:30 p.m.	Detroit Tigers @ New York Yankees, Game #2 Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Ron Darling (analyst), John Smoltz (analyst) and Tom Verducci (reporter)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

MLB Postseason action continues on Sunday, October 2 with a doubleheader. TBS MLB on Deck will preview the games with Winer, Eckersley, Ripken and Wells at 4 p.m. (ET). Following the final game of the day, Inside MLB will wrap up the day’s results.

4:30 p.m.	Arizona< Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers, Game #2 Announcers: Victor Rojas (play-by-play), Joe Simpson (analyst) and Sam Ryan (reporter)
8 p.m.	St. Louis Cardinals @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #2 Announcers: Dick Stockton (play-by-play), Bob Brenly (analyst) and Craig Sager (reporter

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3

MLB Postseason action continues on Monday, October 3 with another doubleheader. TBS MLB on Deck will preview the games with Winer, Eckersley, Ripken and Wells at 4:30 p.m. (ET). Following the final game of the day, Inside MLB will wrap up the day’s results.

5 p.m.	Texas Rangers @ Tampa Bay Rays, Game #3 Announcers: Don Orsillo (play-by-play), Buck Martinez (analyst) and Jaime Maggio (reporter)
8:30 p.m.	New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers, Game #3 Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Ron Darling (analyst), John Smoltz (analyst) and Tom Verducci (reporter)

That will do it.

What’s On NFL Network Through Next Monday

I forgot to post this a couple of days ago. I thought this press release from NFL Network was pertaining to something else so I was in no rush to post until I read through it this morning. Here’s the programming schedule for NFL Network through Monday.

NFL NETWORK & NFL.COM PROGRAMMING NOTES (9/27 – 10/3)
REGGIE WHITE & JEROME BROWN: A FOOTBALL LIFE DEBUTS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 AT 10:00 PM ET

‘Sunday Sitdown’ with Lions QB Matthew Stafford on NFL GameDay Morning Sunday, October 2 at 9:00 AM ET
Adrian Peterson, Tim McGraw & Gabrielle Reece on ‘The Rich Eisen Podcast’ Thursday, September 29 at 4:30 PM ET
Green Bay Packers Maintain Top Spot, Bills Move to #5 & Lions up to #3 in NFL.com’s “Power Poll”

Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life Debuts on Thursday, September 29 at 10:00 PM ET
Following the documentary on New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, NFL Network’s new series A Football Life continues with a profile of the lives and legacies of late teammates Reggie White and Jerome Brown Thursday, September 29 at 10:00 PM ET.

For five seasons, White and Brown were the anchors of a dominant Philadelphia Eagles defense. Despite opposite personalities off the field, the two played side-by-side and developed an enduring bond. Through the words of those who knew them best, including teammates Mike Golic and Brett Favre, players who faced them in Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Phil Simms, White’s widow Sara White, and Brown’s sister Cynthia Brown-Jackson, viewers gain an intimate look into their football and personal lives, their unique character traits and how the two legends left an impact that stretched beyond the football field.

To view the trailer for Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life, please click on the following link:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/a-football-life/09000d5d8227a7d9/Reggie-White-Jerome-Brown-A-Football-Life-trailer

Below are quotes from NFL Films President Steve Sabol, and NFL Network analysts Mike Mayock and Jamie Dukes on the two legends:

- “Reggie White and Jerome Brown are football’s version of the ‘Odd Couple.’ In White, you have the preaching defensive end; in Brown, you have the outspoken defensive tackle. In White, you have the guiding influence of a veteran; in Brown, you have the exuberance of youth. Yet when they lined up on the field side-by-side, the perfect chemistry between the two players was unmistakable, the result of which was a defense that was incredible.” – Steve Sabol

- “Big picture, he might be the only defensive linemen I can think of in the history of the game that could line up at all four positions in a four-man front and all three positions in a three-man front and dominate a football game.” – Mike Mayock on Reggie White

- “As players go, I always say this: either you have power guys or speed guys. There were very rarely ever [a player with] both; Reggie was the one guy that had the combination of speed and power from a defensive line perspective where they was just no stopping. I still believe he was the greatest defensive lineman to ever play the game.” – Jamie Dukes on teammate and opponent Reggie White

- “[Jerome] and I, we played against each other in college and we were kind of sown at the hip from that perspective, always battling against each other over the years with Florida State and Miami. The thing about him was he was such a wonderful person; great personality, but what the piece talks about was he lived life fast. He was caught up in the driving of fast cars and all of those things. It was just so unfortunate that his life extinguished because he was such a good person.” – Dukes on Jerome Brown

THIS WEEK ON NFL GAMEDAY MORNING: ‘Sunday Sitdown’ with Lions QB Matthew Stafford & Steve Mariucci
Sunday is GameDay, beginning four hours prior to kickoff on NFL GameDay Morning at 9:00 AM ET. Join host Rich Eisen and analysts Steve Mariucci, Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Warren Sapp and Michael Irvin on the first and most comprehensive pregame show on television, taking viewers straight up to kickoff with the latest news, injury reports, pregame analysis and game previews.

This week, NFL Network analyst Steve Mariucci sits down with Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford to discuss the Lions’ 3-0 start to the season, the rapport he has with wide receiver Calvin Johnson and building a winning team in the Motor City.

NFL Network reporter Steve Cyphers profiles San Francisco 49ers kicker David Akers, who saw his 12-year career in Philadelphia come to a close in a playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers in which he missed two field goals – all while his six-year old daughter was battling cancer.

Also featured on NFL GameDay Morning:

• Albert Breer reports from Philadelphia for 49ers-Eagles
• Stacey Dales reports from Houston for Steelers-Texans
• Steve Wyche reports from Dallas for Lions-Cowboys
• Steve Cyphers reports from Cincinnati for Bills-Bengals
• The best wired sound of Ray Lewis and Rex Ryan
• Does Eagles quarterback Michael Vick receive unfair treatment from the officials?
• Which surprise team is built for the long-haul: Buffalo or Detroit?
• Who is the real Tony Romo?
• Is it time for Christian Ponder to start in Minnesota?

THIS WEEK ON AROUND THE LEAGUE LIVE and NFL TOTAL ACCESS
Thursday, September 29
Around the League Live:

• Melissa Stark reports from New York with the Jets
• Albert Breer reports from Philadelphia
• Lindsay Soto reports from Detroit

Friday, September 30

Around the League Live:

• Albert Breer reports from Philadelphia
• Jason La Canfora reports from Baltimore

Saturday, October 1

NFL Total Access:

• Albert Breer reports from Philadelphia
• Steve Wyche reports from Dallas
• Stacey Dales reports from Houston
• Steve Cyphers reports from Cincinnati
  

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, Musician/Actor Tim McGraw & Gabrielle Reece on ‘The Rich Eisen Podcast’ Thursday, September 29 at 4:30 PM ET
The latest edition of ‘The Rich Eisen Podcast’ airs on NFL Network Thursday, September 29 at 4:30 PM ET and is available for download on NFL.com and iTunes.

The All-Pro running back for the Minnesota Vikings, Adrian Peterson, appears on the podcast to discuss the first three weeks of the season and the team’s upcoming game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Grammy Award-winning country musician and actor in The Blind Side and Friday Night Lights, Tim McGraw joins the podcast from his home in Nashville.

Former professional volleyball  player, fashion model and television celebrity Gabrielle Reece discusses the performance of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo against the Redskins on Monday night, as well as a fitness program for Eisen to prepare for his 40-yard dash at the Combine in February.

Green Bay Packers Unanimous No. 1 in NFL.com Week 4 Power Poll
The defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers maintained their spot atop the NFL.com “Power Poll,” capturing all nine first-place votes for the third time in four weeks.

The undefeated Buffalo Bills shook up the rankings with last week’s win over the New England Patriots, leaping from No. 13 into a tie for fifth place with New England. The New Orleans Saints moved into second place, with the 3-0 Detroit Lions sitting at No. 3

Below are the top 10 teams in the NFL.com Power Poll, with their previous week’s ranking listed in parentheses:

1. Green Bay Packers (1)
2. New Orleans Saints (4)
3. Detroit Lions (T-6)
4. Baltimore Ravens (T-6)
T-5. Buffalo Bills (13)
T-5. New England Patriots (2)
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (9)
8. San Diego Chargers (11)
9. Houston Texans (5)
10. New York Jets (3)

To view the entire poll, visit:
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8229d2e3/article/week-4-packers-unanimous-no-1-eagles-jets-take-falls?module=HP11_cp

THIS WEEK ON PLAYBOOK
Thursday 8:00 PM ET – AFC Playbook with Sterling Sharpe, Brian Baldinger, Joe Theismann and Matt Millen:

• Sterling Sharpe on how the Raiders can shut down the Patriots offense
• Joe Theismann on why the Jets offense will struggle against the Ravens defense
• How the Bills can improve to 4-0
• 2:00 Warning – A look at the fantasy impact wide receivers in the AFC East

Friday 8:00 PM ET – NFC Playbook with Sterling Sharpe, Brian Baldinger, Joe Theismann and Matt Millen:

• Sterling Sharpe on why Eagles running back LeSean McCoy could run wild against the 49ers defense
• Joe Theismann on how the Bears defense can contain Panthers quarterback Cam Newton
• How the Packers can improve to 4-0
• 2:00 Warning – A look at the fantasy impact of NFC quarterbacks

Live CFL Coverage Continues with Edmonton-B.C. on Friday, September 30 & Saskatchewan-Calgary on Saturday, October 1
NFL Network’s live coverage of the Canadian Football League continues this week with two games.

On Friday, September 30 at 10:30 PM ET, the surging B.C. Lions (6-6) look to extend their current five-game winning streak when they host the West Division-leading Edmonton Eskimos (7-5).

On Saturday, October 1 at 4:00 PM ET, the Calgary Stampeders (7-5) look to keep pace atop the West Division when they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders (4-8).

DAY-BY-DAY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE (all times listed are ET)

Thursday, September 29
12 NOON – Sound FX: Week 3, 2011
12:30 PM – NFL Replay: Houston Texans at New Orleans Saints – Week 3, 2011
2:00 PM – NFL Fantasy Live
2:30 PM – Sound FX: Week 3, 2011
3:00 PM – No Huddle
4:00 PM – NFL Films Presents: Star Power
4:30 PM – The Rich Eisen Podcast
5:00 PM – Around the League Live
7:00 PM – NFL Total Access
8:00 PM – Playbook: AFC
9:00 PM – Bill Belichick: A Football Life – Part 2
10:00 PM – Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life – DEBUT
11:00 PM – NFL Total Access
12 MIDNIGHT – Playbook: AFC
1:00 AM – Bill Belichick: A Football Life – Part 2
2:00 AM – Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life

Friday, September 30
12 NOON – NFL’s Top 10: Controversial Calls
1:00 PM – Playbook: AFC
2:00 PM – NFL Fantasy Live
2:30 PM – The Rich Eisen Podcast
3:00 PM – Bill Belichick: A Football Life – Part 2
4:00 PM – Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life
5:00 PM – Around the League Live
7:00 PM – NFL Total Access
8:00 PM – Playbook: NFC
9:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Football Factories
10:00 PM – The Rich Eisen Podcast
10:30 PM – Canadian Football League: Edmonton Eskimos at B.C. Lions – LIVE
1:30 AM – NFL Total Access

Saturday, October 1
9:00 AM – NFL Films Presents: Star Power
9:30 AM – Sound FX: Week 3, 2011
10:00 AM – No Huddle
11:00 AM – Playbook: AFC
12:00 NOON – Playbook: NFC
1:00 PM – The Rich Eisen Podcast
1:30 PM – NFL’s Greatest Games: Oakland Raiders at New England Patriots – 2001 AFC Divisional Round Game
3:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Football Factories
4:00 PM – Canadian Football League: Saskatchewan Roughriders at Calgary Stampeders – LIVE
7:00 PM – NFL Total Access
8:30 PM – Sound FX: Week 3, 2011
9:00 PM – Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life
10:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Toughest Acts to Follow
11:00 PM – NFL Total Access
12:30 AM – The Rich Eisen Podcast
1:00 AM – Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life
2:00 AM – NFL’s Top 10: Toughest Acts to Follow

Sunday, October 2
9:00 AM – NFL GameDay Morning
1:00 PM – NFL GameDay Statzone
4:00 PM – NFL GameDay Scoreboard
7:30 PM – NFL GameDay Highlights
11:30 PM – NFL GameDay Final

Monday, October 3
1:00 PM – Around the League Live
6:00 PM – Up to the Minute
6:30 PM – The Coaches Show
7:00 PM – NFL Total Access
8:30 PM – The Coaches Show
9:00 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Worst Teams
10:00 PM – The Coaches Show
10:30 PM – NFL’s Top 10: Greatest Hands
11:30 PM – NFL Total Access Monday Night Football Presser
12 MIDNIGHT – NFL Total Access Monday Night Football Review

There you have it.

NESN’s Thursday Coverage Plans

Well, in one of the greatest nights in MLB history where four games went down to the wire and in a span of 20 minutes, Atlanta and the Red Sox lose and Tampa Bay wins to complete some of the most epic baseball we’ve ever seen, well, I can’t even complete the sentence, I’m so numb from seeing the Red Sox lose to having them eliminated from the playoffs three minutes and thirty seconds later by the Rays.

Anyway, NESN is covering the Ottawa-Bruins game on Thursday and probably best for me. I still can’t believe what I watched.

Here’s NESN’s blurb on what’s up for Thursday.

1.  NESN’s coverage of Thursday’s Boston Bruins-Ottawa Senators pre-season game will begin at 6:30 PM with WB Mason Bruins FaceOff LIVE. Dale Arnold and Barry Pederson will deliver the show from NESN’s TD Garden studios with Naoko Funayama reporting.
2. NESN’s Bruins play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards is not available to work the pre-season game due to a prior family commitment. Tom Caron (play-by-play) will join Andy Brickley (color analyst) in the NESN broadcast booth to call the action.

That’s it.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Football
Texas Southern at Jackson State — ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.
Houston at UTEP — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
South Florida at Pittsburgh — ESPN/ESPN 3D, 8 p.m.

CONCACAF Champions League
Alajuelense vs. Motagua — Galavision, 10 p.m.

Golf
PGA Tour: Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, 1st round — Golf Channel, 4 p.m.

MLS
Philadelphia vs. DC United — ESPN2, 8 p.m.

NFL
NFL Turning Point — Versus, 10 p.m.
Reggie White & Jerome Brown: A Football Life — NFL Network, 10 p.m.

NHL
NHL Live — NHL Network (US), 5 p.m.

Ottawa at Boston — NESN, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Philadelphia — Versus/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Montreal — NHL Network (US)/TSN/RDS, 7:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Calgary — Rogers Sportsnet West, 9 p.m.
Vancouver at San Jose — NHL Network (US)/Rogers Sportsnet Pacific, 10:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
ESPN First Take — ESPN2, 10 a.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — Versus, 6 p.m.

Tennis
WTA Tour: Toray Pan Pacific Open, quarterfinals — Tennis Channel, 1 a.m., 4 a.m. & 6 a.m.

Entertainment
Big Bang Theory — CBS, 8 p.m.
Charlie’s Angels — ABC, 8 p.m.
Person of Interest — CBS, 9 p.m.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia — FX, 10 p.m.
Prime Suspect — NBC, 10 p.m.
Private Practice — ABC, 10:01 p.m.
Archer (season finale) — FX, 10:31 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Sports Media Weekly Podcast No. 72 — Steven Bennett of Sports-Casters Podcast

Today, Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal took the opportunity to have Steven Bennett, one of the hosts of the SportsCasters podcast on the Sports Media Weekly podcast. But before we get to that, I’ll go over what Keith and I discussed during our News of the Week segment.

We first exchanged our thoughts on Blogs with Balls 4 and talked about what we liked about the conference.

Then we went on to talk about the story of the NFL deciding not to award rights to an 8 game Thursday Night package this year and waiting until next year to do so.

We also looked at the ratings for the NFL which are up again.

In addition, we talked about the announcing teams for TBS for the upcoming MLB Postseason. Then we went on to talk about the NHL Winter Classic, the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick and the ESPN Films doc on Steve Bartman.

Our guest this week is Steven Bennett, one of the hosts of the Sports-Casters podcast. We asked him about his podcast, how he gets the guests for the show, media coverage in Western New York where Steven is from, abuse from Time Warner Cable in Western New York and how social networking plays a role in the popularity of the podcast.

Great stuff. We’ll have Steven on again down the road. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching for “Sports Media Journal” or you can go here.

NFL Games Continue To Rack In The Ratings

Another press release from the NFL touting the ratings for Week 3. Can’t add much to what is being said here. Take a look at the release.

NFL GAMES RANK AS EIGHT OF NINE MOST-WATCHED SPORTING EVENTS SINCE SUPER BOWL

NFL Games Top Local Ratings in 25 Markets

After three weeks of the season, NFL games rank as eight of the nine most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLV.

A pair of Week 3 telecasts topped sports viewership last week (Sept. 19-25) with the FOX national telecast (mostly Packers-Bears) drawing 24.0 million average viewers and the Steelers-Colts Sunday night game on NBC drawing 20.4 million viewers.

Following are the most-watched sporting events since Super Bowl XLV:

Program	Viewers
1. NBC Thursday Night Kickoff Game (Saints-Packers), 9/8	27.2 million
2. FOX Sunday National (mostly Giants-Redskins), 9/11	25.8 million
3. NBC Sunday Night Football (Cowboys-Jets), 9/11	25.8 million
4. FOX Sunday National (mostly Packers-Bears), 9/25	24.0 million
5. NBA Finals Game 6 (Dallas-Miami), 6/12	23.9 million
6. NBC Sunday Night Football (Eagles-Falcons),9/18	23.4 million
7. CBS Sunday National (mostly Chargers-Patriots), 9/18	22.7 million
8. FOX Sunday Single (mostly Chi-NO & Dal-SF), 9/18	22.5 million
9. NBC Sunday Night Football (Steelers-Colts), 9/25	20.4 million
10. NCAA Basketball Championship (UConn-Butler), 4/4	20.1 million

Locally, NFL games topped the ratings in 25 NFL markets. Following is the list of the NFL markets where football was the top-rated program for the week of Sept. 19-25:

Week of 9/19–9/25			HH	HH	RTG
Market	Game	Date	RTG	SHR	Rank
Milwaukee	Packers at Bears	9/25/11	50.4	76	1
Pittsburgh	Steelers at Colts	9/25/11	48.5	67	1
New Orleans	Texans at Saints	9/25/11	47.7	69	1
Indianapolis	Steelers at Colts	9/25/11	40.7	56	1
Baltimore	Ravens at Rams	9/25/11	35.3	57	1
Buffalo	Patriots at Bills	9/25/11	35.3	65	1
Chicago	Packers at Bears	9/25/11	33.2	58	1
Minneapolis	Lions at Vikings	9/25/11	32.4	68	1
Kansas City	Chiefs at Chargers	9/25/11	29.9	51	1
Nashville	Titans at Broncos	9/25/11	28.2	48	1
Philadelphia	Giants at Eagles	9/25/11	28.1	52	1
Cleveland	Dolphins at Browns	9/25/11	27.5	54	1
Boston	Patriots at Bills	9/25/11	27.4	60	1
San Diego	Chiefs at Chargers	9/25/11	27.1	52	1
Detroit	Lions at Vikings	9/25/11	25.8	49	1
Houston	Texans at Saints	9/25/11	25.3	47	1
St. Louis	Rams at Giants	9/19/11	23.4	34	1
Atlanta	Falcons at Bucs	9/25/11	23.1	41	1
Jacksonville	Jaguars at Panthers	9/25/11	23.1	40	1
Carolina	Jaguars at Panthers	9/25/11	22.6	45	1
Denver	Titans at Broncos	9/25/11	22.6	52	1
Seattle	Cardinals at Seahawks	9/25/11	22.2	51	1
Phoenix	Cardinals at Seahawks	9/25/11	21.0	39	1
Washington, DC	Steelers at Colts	9/25/11	17.4	29	1
San Fran-Oakland	49ers at Bengals	9/25/11	14.9	40	1

Source: NFL & The Nielsen Company

That’s going to do it.

Doing Some Quick Wednesday Linkage

Lots of stuff going on here and it’s prevented me from providing links. I’ll do some now while I can.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek reports that the NFL has put the kybosh on a new Thursday Night Football package until next season.

Michael Smith and John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal report that with Pittsburgh and Syracuse joining the ACC, ESPN and the conference are reopening negotiations on the TV contract that took effect just this month.

In Media Bistro, Marcus Vanderberg has part one of his interview with embattled writer Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

And Marcus has part two of his talk with Jay The Rat in Fishbowl LA.

Over to Michael Hiestand of USA Today who writes that a family medical emergency is preventing Ernie Johnson, Jr. from participating in this year’s MLB Postseason for TBS.

Michael looks at the ratings from some of this past weekend’s events.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today tells us about the athletes who will pose nude for ESPN The Magazine’s Body issue.

Erik Malinowski of Wired magazine profiles the great Timothy Burke of the Mocksession site and SportsGrid.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown is now a paid endorser for GNC products.

Deadspin’s A.J. Daulerio is amazed at how Steve Bartman has managed to remain anonymous since his fateful failed attempt to catch a foul ball during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has video of a Dallas TV sports anchor creating the word “shart” on live TV.

The aforementioned Timothy Burke in SportsGrid has video from Germany of a reporter inadvertently trying to out Chelsea soccer star Didier Drogba.

At espnW, Sarah Spain writes about attending this week’s espnW: Women + Sports Summit which had a plethora of superstars from both media and sports.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football hit its biggest audience of the season in NFL Week 3.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell (and now officially a Friend of Fang’s Bites) writes that the toning shoe market could take a substantial hit after the Feds settled a case with Reebok on one its shoe claims.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders if this is the last season for the Yankees on WCBS-AM.

Neil says SNY’s Mets announcers were critical of the team for taking out shortstop Jose Reyes after the first inning of today’s game against the Reds.

Neil says Ron Darling closed out a TBS media conference call with a line that only he picked up.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says the Capital Region’s NFL fans should all be happy with the TV schedule this week.

Pete has this week’s college football TV schedule.

Crossing Broad has a new Philadelphia media feud for us to follow.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon weren’t too enthused by London Fletcher’s pregame speech before the Washington-Dallas Monday Night Football game.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans did well in the local ratings again.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman writes that Oklahoma State has decided against going for pay per view for one of its games next month.

Mel notes that college football topped the local ratings last weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TBS and MLB have yet to announce a time for the Brewers League Division Series game on Saturday.

Bob says Brewers voice Brian Anderson will call the Yankees LDS series for TBS starting on Friday.

Bill Novak of the Capital (WI) Times writes that ESPN’s College GameDay has chosen its location on the Wisconsin to broadcast for this Saturday’s show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at TBS’ announcers for the League Division Series and manages to misspell “Orsillo”

Sports Media Watch says last Sunday’s NASCAR race had better ratings than last year, but not up as it should be.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the number of games each NHL team will have televised locally.

Joe Favorito talks about how sports can be a uniter, not a divider.

Over to Yahoo’s Big League Stew where Duk has some thoughts on the ESPN Films Steve Bartman doc.

From Obsessed with Sports, we have a pic thanks to Sarah Spain of Friend of Fang’s Bites Michelle Beadle sucking rattlesnake venom from Linda Cohn at the aforementioned espnW summit. I believe this really happened.

And that will do it for today.

CBS Sports Network Announces 2011-12 Hockey East Schedule

CBS Sports Network and the Hockey East conference have announced an eight game college hockey schedule that begins next week and ends in March. Overall, Boston College makes the most appearances with 5, Boston University is next with 4, then Maine and Vermont have two appearances. Providence College and UNH have one single appearance and that is a game involving both schools in February.

We have the full press release with the schedule right below.

HOCKEY EAST ANNOUNCES 2011-12 CBS SPORTS NETWORK BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Wakefield, Mass. – Hockey East and CBS Sports Network announced on Wednesday the eight-game broadcast schedule for the upcoming 2011-12 season.

The schedule opens with Boston College hosting WCHA foe Denver University on Friday, October 14 at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The next two games will feature one of the fiercest rivalries in all of college sports, as Boston College faces off against Boston University on November 13 and December 2 at Conte Forum.

“We are pleased to join forces once more with CBS Sports Network,” said Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna. “The need to reach a national audience is greater than ever before and we are happy to continue this partnership.”

CBS Sports Network will televise from Maine’s Alfond Arena on December 10, as the Black Bears host the Boston University Terriers. The Network will also air the rematch on January 28 from Agganis Arena in Boston.

On February 3, the Network will air UNH entertaining Providence College from the Whittemore Center in Durham. The Network schedule concludes with Vermont at Boston College in the final two games of the regular season for each school.

“We’re excited for another season of Hockey East action on CBS Sports Network,” said Ross Molloy, Vice President, Remote Production, CBS Sports Network. “The schedule once again features top conference games and we look forward to providing fans comprehensive coverage throughout the season, including our pregame show which originates from the site of each game.”

The Hockey East Association is a 10-team Division I college men’s hockey conference founded in 1984 and an eightteam Division I women’s league which began play in 2002-03. The men’s league has won seven NCAA championships in the past 19 years.

2011-2012 CBS SPORTS NETWORK BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Date	Game	Time
Friday, October 14	Denver at Boston College	7:30
Sunday, November 13	Boston University at Boston College	4:00
Friday, December 2	Boston University at Boston College	7:30
Saturday, December 10	Boston University at Maine	7:30
Saturday, January 28	Maine at Boston University	7:30
Friday, February 3	Providence at New Hampshire	7:30
Friday, March 2	Vermont at Boston College	7:30
Saturday, March 3	Vermont at Boston College	7:00

 

That’s going to do it.

Blogs With Balls 4 Interviews

At Blogs with Balls 4 in New York this past weekend, Southern New England media mogul Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I conducted interviews with a few of the attendees. Keith brought his camera and we both snagged a few guests.

The first interview has Keith talking with one of the organizers, Chris Lucas from HHR Media Group.

Our second video has Keith and I discussing the whole Blogs with Balls thing and why we attended.

Next, Keith and I interview the great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated.

Then we talk with Mike Hall of NESN.

And here’s an outtake as a very prickly Asian woman comes into the shot. One of these days, I’ll explain why she was prickly.

And that’s it. I hope you enjoyed the videos. Keith and I will have more on Blogs with Balls 4 on our podcast that will be out later tonight.

Turner Sports and MLB.com Bring Back Postseason.TV for MLB Postseason

Think of this as MLB’s online companion similar to NASCAR’s Race Buddy. While it’s not the actual game, it’s an online companion that will compliment the TV coverage on TBS. Like Race Buddy which is also run by Turner Sports, Postseason.TV will have camera angles and be made available for a fee for both the League Division and League Championship Series. They’ll also be seen on MLB.com’s mobile apps for smartphones and tablets. They’re available in the US and Canada only.

We have the joint press release from Turner Sports and MLB.com.

 Postseason.TV Returns as TBS and MLBAM Team Up Throughout the 2011 Division Series and National League Championship Series

Online companion product to feature 10 live camera angles to give fans unique perspectives to Division Series and NLCS action

TBS and MLB Advanced Media are collaborating to bring fans additional access to this year’s Division Series (LDS) and National League Championship Series (NLCS) beginning Friday, September 30, with the return of Postseason.TV, a digital product that complements TBS’ exclusive presentation of each series. The subscription-based Postseason.TV package will once again stream alternate camera angles live for every LDS and NLCS game, allowing fans to customize their own online viewing experiences. Postseason.TV will be available on MLB.com and its mobile app platforms.

Postseason.TV will complement TBS’ coverage with up to 10 different camera angles available throughout each game, which viewers can navigate for different vantage points from their computers or handheld devices. Subscribers can watch one camera angle or view up to four different cameras simultaneously through a multi-screen option. Fans also will be granted access to live batting practice coverage from multiple camera angles, in-progress box scores, video highlights and streaming Tweets from MLB, TBS and fans.

“Postseason.TV gives baseball fans the opportunity to enhance their television viewing experience on TBS with extensive interactive live video on their laptops, tablets and smart phones,” said Matthew Hong, Turner Sports senior vice president and general manager of sports operations. “As more and more fans watch baseball using multiple screens at once, TBS and Postseason.TV combine to provide an immersive and all-access experience which is second to none.”

Postseason.TV is live and blackout-free and available to residents in the U.S. and Canada only. Subscriptions to Postseason.TV are available for a one-time fee of $5.99 for the complete package of LDS and NLCS games or individually for the Division Series ($3.99) and NLCS ($2.99). In addition to the web-based product, Postseason.TV also is available on mobile devices via MLB.com At Bat 11 for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android.

“These offerings embody our collective efforts to ensure baseball fans have access across a variety of distribution points to those emotionally-charged moments that define our Postseason,” said Kenny Gersh, senior vice president, business development, MLBAM. “As enhancements to Turner’s broadcasts, these products will continue to deliver October baseball is a unique way, leveraging the power of interactive media to drive fan engagement.”

There you have it.

TBS Previews The MLB Postseason

Tuesday, TBS held a media conference call with the crew that will call one League Division Series and the National League Championship Series. Milwaukee Brewers TV voice Brian Anderson, Ron Darling of the New York Mets crew along with TBS’ studio analysts David Wells and Cal Ripken, Jr. were on hand to talk with the media to preview the upcoming MLB Postseason.

Turner Sports also sent one of its executives to talk baseball coverage as well. We have highlights of the Tuesday media conference call.

The Turner Sports press release is listed below for you to read in its unadulterated glory.

Notes from the 2011 TBS MLB Postseason Conference Call
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

TBS steps up to the plate on September 30 to begin televising the 2011 MLB Postseason. The network will provide exclusive coverage of all four MLB League Division Series (ALDS & NLDS) and the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

Participants:  Brian Anderson, TBS MLB play-by-play announcer; Cal Ripken, Jr., TBS MLB studio analyst; David Wells, TBS MLB studio analyst; Ron Darling, TBS MLB game analyst; Jeff Behnke, Turner Sports executive producer

Ripken on the Philadelphia Phillies slump: “It is really interesting because when you try to analyze the situations on club, it is really the makeup of your club and if they can turn the switch on or off. Generally speaking, I don’t put a lot of emphasis on losing before you start [the playoffs.] I do think health is a big issue. I will say though I have a little concern for the regular players. You need to get your reps up and keep your hitting going. You want to get one or two at bats before you start the playoffs. I also have a strong feeling about the pitchers. It is a long season and the innings can wear and tear on them but I, personally, don’t think the pitchers will have a problem.”

Darling on the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff: “If you are assuming that Philadelphia (Phillies) is No. 1 as far as pitching staff is concerned, I think Milwaukee Brewers are No.  2. I say that for many reasons. They have guys that can match up, they have something historically that gives them a strange advantage. They had a starting pitcher for them that was undefeated at home in (Zack) Greinke. All the starting pitchers on both squads are tremendous athletes. They can field their position; they know how to get the bunt down and some of them (Brewers) are legitimate threats to Philadelphia to change the game by themselves. Those things involved are all amazing talents.They give the edge to Philadelphia because they have had some guys (Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay) that have tremendous and historical success in the Postseason. If anyone is going to match up with them game-for- game, I think it is the Milwaukee Brewers staff.”

Wells on Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff: “Arizona has come into their own. It just depends on their matchups, how they pitch because anything can happen. I’ve always been a big believer that anything can happen in Postseason. Guys can have a terrible year- (which I did have one of those) – and come into the playoffs and shine. We all know (Justin) Verlander and what he has done this season is incredible. You look at (Zack) Greinke with 10-0 at home, it is incredible. But if he is on the road, will it be something different? So far what it has proven this year is that he is better at home.”

Wells on the Philadelphia Phillies: “You see what Cliff Lee did last year, are these guys going to be able to continue to do that this year? If Philadelphia’s bats don’t wake up than they are not going to win. It is simple as that. I don’t care how good their pitching is. You can’t win, if you don’t score.”

Ripken on the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff: “First you go with the Philadelphia Phillies, they have all the number ones and they get all the credit. They’ve pitched and earned it and they deserve it. I like the depth of the Milwaukee staff. I like the hitting prowess of the Arizona (Diamondbacks) pitchers. Those guys swing the bat pretty good. Especially Daniel Hudson, he’s like a regular player and a hitter.”

Ripken on Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun for MVP: “I do make a distinction between player of the year and MVP. Ryan Braun is a clutch hitter. He has been out there. Ryan is a good all-around player. He does have that component of the stolen base. He is scoring runs and driving in runs and I love his clutch hitting. He seems to be the guy that they need most to come through. That’s why I pick Ryan Braun for MVP.”

Wells on pitching in a zone: “When you are in a perfect game situation it is a lot different. You are feeling the tension and hearing the distractions from the fans, and you get caught up in it sometimes. All you try to do is have tunnel vision and just look at the glove and hit your spots. It is tough to do and the stars have to be lined up. You need eight other guys behind you to really make that perfect. That is something that (Detroit pitcher) Justin Verlander has. He has that stuff every time out. (Phillies pitcher) Roy Halladay is another guy. They are probably the only two guys that have the capability of no hitters in every game.”

Darling on Kirk Gibson and his style as a player and manager and being considered an underdog: “He should say that he played on a team [1988 LA Dodgers] where anything is possible and everyone is going to discount their team.  He will definitely use that to his advantage. He’s an amazing guy, an unbelievable competitor. Here’s a guy with a football mentality that has adapted it to the baseball game. Don’t be surprised…at the end and you have two teams that make you push your cap back on your brow and say, ‘Boy, I never saw this coming.’”

Ripken on Gibson:  “I loved to compete against him, loved the way he played the game. And I would agree with Darling that there is a little bit of a football flashback especially when he came around second base. But when I watch from afar, it’s really interesting. He holds people accountable for playing the game right. And when you look at the whole staff – Alan Trammel, Baylor, and Nagy, Young and Matt Williams – these are good baseball guys who knew how to play the game right and they insist on playing the game right. Kirk Gibson’s personality is perfect for that and he has energized the team in small things like secondary leads, and action pitches and those sorts of things. It’s going to be fun to watch them play and watch them complete in the playoffs.”

Wells on Gibson: “His on the field performance as a manager – dissecting his team his thoughts on the game, what moves he is going to make with the matchups – is how he takes in the game. He’s got a little bit of Sparky Anderson in him, which is one of his mentors, and he will tell you to this day what Sparky brought to the table and what he learned from him flows over to his own philosophies as a manager. He just wants his team to recognize the talent they have.”

Anderson on more wildcard games: “I am all for the extra wildcard round just for the TV drama. The play in games 163 are some of the most compelling TV.”

Darling on the makeup of the Diamondbacks: “When you look at Arizona team, they have players that no one knows about. Justin Upton, of course you know. He is a player that has not lived up to his potential because he is extremely young, rushed to the big leagues and needed someone for guidance. The guy I really like that flies under the radar is the left fielder, Parra. He can easily be the Gold Glove in left field. His defense is impeccable and he catches everything out there. The Arizona team is a team all baseball fans who love the game are going to fall in like with when they watch the postseason.”

Wells on the Yankee Bullpen:  “What they have there is pretty good.  David Robertson has been a tremendous help for Mo [Mariano Rivera]. David Robertson has been great. He has been their guy when you need a strikeout. He has been a great reliever.”

Ripken on Tampa Bay’s emergence: “What has happened in Tampa is amazing. They got great pitching and great pitching is what keeps you in the ballgame. They are the most optimistic, positive, relaxed team and a lot of that has to do with the leadership of Joe Madden.”

Darling on Tampa Bay: “Tampa Bay was the shrinking violet to the Yankees and Red Sox. Those days are over. They just compete every night. What they are trying to pull off here, it gives you goosebumps. You just love watching it.”

That is all.

Dallas Cowboys Help Steer MNF To Its Best Numbers of The Young NFL Season

This in from ESPN, Monday Night Football was definitely helped by the Dallas Cowboys this week as its game with Washington received the highest ratings of the season for the network. While the numbers didn’t beat Two and a Half Men on CBS, they were high enough to beat sister network ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Cowboys-DC NFL Team received a 12.1 rating with 17.1 million viewers. While Monday Night Football didn’t win the overall ratings for the night, it did win them in key demographics. We have the ESPN press release that provides all of the numbers and ratings, plus some other stuff as well.

Monday Night Football Scores Season-Best 17.1 Million Viewers

Redskins-Cowboys Helps ESPN Win the Night among Viewers and Key Male and Adult Demos

This week’s ESPN Monday Night Football game – an 18-16 Dallas Cowboys victory over the Washington Redskins – scored its highest rating and largest audience of the season as ESPN won the night among all networks – broadcast or cable – in viewers and all key male and adult demos. The telecast averaged:

• 12.3 household coverage rating (10.6 U.S. rating)
• 12,173,000 households
• 17,104,000 viewers

Notes:

• ESPN won the night among all networks in viewers and among all key male and adult demos
• MNF led all programs Monday night in the delivery of all key male demos and adults 18-34
• The MNF telecast ranks as the fourth-largest audience on cable television in calendar year 2011 in both households and viewers (behind three other ESPN telecasts – two BCS bowl games and the final MNF telecast of last season)

Local market ratings:

• Dallas-Ft. Worth: 20.4 rating on ESPN and 16.0 on KTXA-IND, for a combined 36.4 rating.
• Washington, D.C.: 22.4 rating on ESPN and 12.6 on WDCA-IND, for a combined 35.0 rating.

MNF season averages (thru 3 weeks/4 games):

• 10.1 household coverage rating (8.7 U.S. rating)
• 9,961,000 households
• 13,731,000 viewers

Source: Nielsen

ESPN Digital Platforms

On Sunday and Monday, NFL content across ESPN digital platforms – including ESPN.com, ESPN Fantasy, the ESPN mobile Web, ScoreCenter and WatchESPN – logged an average minute audience of nearly 188,000 users, a 24 percent increase compared to the same two days last season (source: Adobe/Omniture).  ESPN.com logged an average minute audience of 113,000 users to the NFL section alone, up 11 percent from last year, while NFL content on ESPN Mobile Applications generated an average minute audience of more than 68,000 users, a 55 percent gain.

NEXT WEEK ON MNF

Next week, ESPN’s MNF features quarterback Josh Freeman and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Indianapolis Colts at 8:30 p.m.

That will do it.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Volleyball
Women’s
Purdue at Northwestern — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
Texas at Oklahoma — ESPNU, 8 p.m.

CONCACAF Champions League
Tauro vs. Dallas — Fox Soccer, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles vs. Morelia — Fox Soccer, 10 p.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
UFC Unleashed — Spike, 9 p.m.
The Ultimate Fighter — Spike, 10 p.m.

MLB
American League
Toronto at Chicago White Sox — Rogers Sportsnet/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2 p.m.
Boston at Baltimore — ESPN/NESN/MASN, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Detroit — STO/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at Tampa Bay — ESPN/YES/Sun Sports, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Minnesota — Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Texas at Anaheim Angels — Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports West, 8 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle — Comcast SportsNet California/Root Sports Northwest, 10 p.m.

National League
Cincinnati at New York Mets — Fox Sports Ohio/SNY, 1 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco — Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 3:45 p.m.
Washington at Florida — MASN2/Fox Sports Florida, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta — ESPN2/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/SportSouth, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Milwaukee — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
St. Louis at Houston — ESPN2/Fox Sports Midwest/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at San Diego — WCIU/Cox 4, 8:30 p.m.
Los Angeles at Arizona — Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.

The Rundown Live — MLB Network, 3 p.m.
MLB Tonight Live — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Inside NASCAR — Showtime, 10 p.m.

NFL
Inside the NFL — Showtime, 9 p.m.

NHL
NHL Live — NHL Network (US), 5 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago — Versus/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Carolina at Winnipeg — TSN/TSN-Jets, 8:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Anaheim — NHL Network (US)/Rogers Sportsnet Pacific, 10 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
ESPN First Take — ESPN2, 10 a.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — Versus, 6 p.m.

UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League Pregame — Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Sports Net, 2 p.m.

Valencia vs. Chelsea — Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.
Arsenal vs. Olympiacos — Fox Soccer Plus, 2:30 p.m.
BATE Borisov vs. Barcelona — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

UEFA Champions League Highlights — Fox Soccer, midnight

Entertainment
The Middle — ABC, 8 p.m.
Survivor: South Pacific — CBS, 8 p.m.
Golf in America — Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
Rocket City Rednecks: Bomb-Proof My Pick-Up (series premiere) — National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Rocket City Rednecks: Moonshine Rocket Fuel — National Geographic Channel, 9:30 p.m.
Rocket City Rednecks: Junkyard Iron Man — National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
Rocket City Rednecks: 20,000 Kegs Under the Sea — National Geographic Channel, 10:30 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

ESPN & ESPN2 All Over MLB Wild Card Races

For the last night of the MLB regular season, ESPN could not have asked for anything better by having both the American and National League Wild Card races tied. So ESPN will use both itself and ESPN2. And all four games with Wild Card implications will be aired. ESPN will focus on the American League while ESPN2 will have the National League games. This is how the schedule will shape up:

American League
Boston at Baltimore — ESPN, 7 p.m. (Sean McDonough/Aaron Boone/Rick Sutcliffe) — seen in most of the country
New York Yankees at Tampa Bay — ESPN, 7 p.m. (Steve Berthiaume/John Kruk)/ESPN Radio (Mark Kestecher/Peter Pasciarelli) — Seen in Baltimore and Boston and in Memphis on ESPN2.

National League
Philadelphia at Atlanta — ESPN2, 7 p.m. (Dave O’Brien/Nomar Garciaparra/Orel Hershiser) — seen in most of the country.
St. Louis at Houston — ESPN2, 8 p.m. (Mark Neely/Doug Glanville) — Seen in Atlanta and Philadelphia and in Hartford on ESPN.

The Baseball Tonight studio with Karl Ravech and Bobby Valentine will update all games throughout the night. Baseball Tonight will air at the conclusion of all of the games.

TBS To Air Wild Card Tiebreaker Games

There could be as many as two Wild Card Playoff games on Thursday. Both games have already been slotted. If the Red Sox and Rays end up tied, that game will be played Thursday afternoon in St. Petersburg at 4 p.m. ET.

And if the National League requires a tiebreaker between Atlanta and St. Louis, that game will start at 8 p.m. in the Gateway City to the West.

TBS will have both games.

And then the next day, Friday, the American League Division Series begins. We have the schedules from TBS for the games on Thursday and Friday. The press release is below.

TBS TO AIR POTENTIAL WILD CARD TIEBREAKER GAMES, ANNOUNCES FRIDAY’S ALDS SCHEDULE OF GAMES

TBS, the exclusive home for the four Division Series and National League Championship Series, is scheduled to air both potential wild card tiebreaker games on Thursday, Sept. 29.

If a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays is necessary to determine the American League Wild Card, then Thursday’s first pitch at Tropicana Field will be scheduled for 4:07 p.m. (ET) on TBS.

If a game between the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals is necessary to determine the National League Wild Card, then Thursday’s first pitch at Busch Stadium will be scheduled for 8:07 p.m. (ET)/7:07 p.m. (CT) on TBS.

Friday’s ALDS Game Ones are set to open up on TBS with the first pitch times of 5:07 p.m. (ET) and 8:37 p.m. (ET). The 5:07 p.m. (ET) game will feature either Boston or Tampa Bay playing at either Texas or Detroit. The 8:37 p.m. (ET) game will feature either the Rangers or the Tigers playing the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

The complete Division Series schedule will be released when it is available.

Thursday, September 29^th

4:07 p.m. (ET) A.L. Wild Card Tiebreaker, BOS @ TB*
8:07 p.m. (ET)/7:07 p.m. (CT) N.L. Wild Card Tiebreaker, ATL @ STL*
* if necessary

Friday, September 30^th

5:07 p.m. (ET)/4:07 p.m. (CT) ALDS Game 1, BOS/TB @ TEX or DET
8:37 p.m. (ET)/7:37 p.m. (CT) ALDS Game 1, DET or TEX @ NYY

That’s it.

Quick Tuesday Linkage

I’ll provide a few links now, then as I’m watching Catching Hell on ESPN, I’ll attempt a few more links to complete the set.

Earlier today, I wrote a recap of Blogs with Balls 4. Check it out.

One of the stars of BWB4 was Bomani Jones of BomaniJones.com. He wrote why he feels there’s a lack of black representation in the sports blogosphere.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson, Jr. will miss the MLB Postseason due to a pressing medical emergency with his son.

To Sports Business Journal and Fred Dreier who speaks with a few NHL players to get their takes on the league’s marketing and new TV contract.

John Lombardo of SBJ writes that the Phoenix Suns will hire a social media sideline reporter to track what’s trending among fans during the game.

Daniel Kaplan from SBJ reports that the NFL plans to keep its London regular season game on its schedule for the next few years.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says that the concept for DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel and NFL RedZone was based on a soccer channel in Italy.

Midwest Sports Fans has the video of NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes practically sexually harassing host Lindsay Soto live on NFL Total Access.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that MillerCoors is suing the New England Patriots alleging the team reneged on an exclusive deal.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says an FCC judge has thrown out a supplemental filing by Comcast in response to Tennis Channel’s complaint against the cable provider.

John writes that Time Warner Cable wants the FCC to allow a rule to lapse that calls for regional sports network programming as “must-carry” on cable systems.

Newsday’s Neil Best has the local Super Bowl logo for when the Big Game is played at the New Meadowlands in 2014.

Neil reviews the ESPN Films documentary on Steve Bartman that airs tonight.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY talks with the new New Jersey Devils voice Steve Cangialosi.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Barry Melrose will be joining NHL Network.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record looks at TBS’ MLB Postseason announcing teams that won’t include Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and CBS’ Boomer Esiason are on Maryland football’s placards. Both are Maryland alums. How about Tina Cervasio and Bonnie Bernstein too?

This will disappoint many fanboys. Busted Coverage has discovered that ESPN’s Jenn Brown is engaged.

I’ll leave it there for now. More linkage tonight.

Fox Touts Its Ratings For Packers-Bears

With the ratings for the NFL 4:15 p.m. late window, Fox is crowing about being the #2 top rated show for last week. As Green Bay-Chicago went to most of the nation, Fox received a 14.1 rating with a 26 share, beating Sunday Night Football on NBC which was in primetime and faced stiffer competition. However, Fox says the late NFL games on Sunday finished just behind the #1 rated show of the week, the season premiere of Two and A Half Men on CBS.

In addition, Fox is touting the fact that The OT, its postgame show that airs after the late games finished ahead of NBC’s Football Night in America by a wide margin. But that is dependent on the NFL lead-in while NBC has news in the East and Central time zones.

Here’s the Fox Sports blurb which is must shorter than my introduction

That will complete this post.

NFL GameDay Final Quotage Plus NFL Replay Games

We have some quotage from NFL Network from GameDay Highlights and Final from Sunday. Let’s check it out.

Week 3 (09/25/11) – Quotable from NFL GameDay Highlights & NFL GameDay Final on NFL Network
(Airs Sundays at 7:30 & 11:30 PM ET)

“Don’t sleep on the Buffalo Bills. They can beat anybody right now.”
– Steve Mariucci on the Buffalo Bills, who sit atop the AFC East at 3-0

“You can’t say enough about the guys on our football team – grinding it out, fighting, never quitting. We talked about it all week: we’re not scared and we’re going to play as hard as we can for 60 minutes and then see where the chips fall.”
– Bills DT Kyle Williams to NFL Network’s Albert Breer following 34-31 victory over the New England Patriots

“When you heard [Bills defensive tackle] Kyle Williams talk, he talked like they were hoping they could win. Today, they found out they actually can.”
– Michael Irvin on the Buffalo Bills ending a 15-game losing streak against New England Patriots

“This is Mr. Do Everything; he’s a short-yardage runner, he goes out as a receiver and he will block you.”
– Steve Mariucci on Bills RB Fred Jackson, who had 74 yards rushing and 87 yards receiving against New England

“If you’re a fan of New England you can be in an uproar, you can be upset. But to be in a football game [and] your quarterback threw four interceptions and a pick-six, you’ve got something to be happy about.”
– Deion Sanders on the New England Patriots

“Is it time to panic? I would say yes to the question because of what was expected at the genesis of this year.”
– Michael Irvin on the Philadelphia Eagles at 1-2 

“Only a million times have we seen this, especially late in the game for a game-winning drive. This is what he does.”
– Michael Irvin on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger running for a first down on the game-winning drive

“They have an attitude. Ndamukong Suh, he’s leading this team with an attitude. They have great leaders on both sides. Offensively, you can point to one guy and say, ‘he won’t let us lose;’ defensively, you can point to those guys and say, ‘he won’t let us lose.’ When you get that, you have something on your team.”
– Michael Irvin on 3-0 Detroit Lions

“He wasn’t around for that Super Bowl run, but he’s back and look out.”
– Steve Mariucci on Packers TE Jermichael Finley, who had 85 yards receiving and three touchdowns

“The refs do a great job I think in the sense of allowing all of Mike Vick’s talents to get a chance to operate. Mike Vick is different in this way: some quarterbacks, you go by them and a good blow of wind will make them fall, but Michael Vick becomes Houdini. You have to give him the opportunity to be that.”
– Michael Irvin on Eagles QB Michael Vick

“He is a running quarterback. But when he chooses to sit in the pocket like everyone wants him to do, to sit in the pocket and be that prolific passer like he showed us when he was up for MVP consideration last year, call it like you would call those guys because he’s getting hit just like those other guys. Don’t penalize him just because he’s that versatile quarterback that no one has ever seen.”
– Deion Sanders on Eagles QB Michael Vick regarding his postgame comments

“They’re a legit football team. They have good players all around making plays, coming from behind down by 20-0. They didn’t blink; they just kept winging it and they stayed with the gameplan.”
– Steve Mariucci on the Detroit Lions following a 26-23 overtime victory over Minnesota

“The reason I’m window-shopping – I’m not buying, I’m window-shopping – is because they had 19 rushes for 20 yards. I don’t see a really established running game that is going to take them deep in the playoffs.”
– Deion Sanders on the 3-0 Detroit Lions

“We were trying to find out if the Texans were a legitimate contender here. This was a game that would show us whether they could compete with the league’s best, and they just didn’t have enough.”
– Fran Charles on the Houston Texans, who lost to New Orleans 40-33

“These are the Colts that you see with Peyton Manning at quarterback: a close game and those guys are relentless rushing the passer.”
– Deion Sanders on the Colts defense which forced two fumbles and scored a touchdown

“Let’s stop playing: from this perspective, the reality is we all know the Colts aren’t going anywhere this year. You know there will be no reason to bring back Kerry Collins; you might as well see what [Curtis] Painter has and give him a shot.”
– Michael Irvin on the 0-3 Colts and quarterback Curtis Painter

“You can’t outsmart yourself right here. I don’t care what you’ve got, give the ball to the best player on the field [Adrian Peterson].”
– Michael Irvin on the Vikings not converting on a 4th-and-1 with a run by Toby Gerhart

“This guy is not just a deep-threat anymore, a speed guy. This guy, he’s a route-runner, he’s a do-it-all wide receiver. He has become [Ben Roethlisberger’s] favorite target.”
– Steve Mariucci on Steelers WR Mike Wallace, who had 144 yards receiving and a touchdown

Who’s Better: Lions or Bills?
Michael Irvin:             Detroit Lions
Deion Sanders:         Buffalo Bills
Steve Mariucci:         Detroit Lions

On NFL.com the following video clips from NFL GameDay Final are available for viewing:

Let’s Go Primetime – Deion Sanders checks in from the corner of 21st and Prime to present the top 10 players from Week 3.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/09000d5d82293613/Let-s-Go-Primetime

Time to Panic in Philly? – Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders discuss quarterback Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles sitting at 1-2 after a Week 3 loss to the New York Giants.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/09000d5d82293536/Time-to-panic-in-Philly

GameDay Express – Recap all of the day’s action on the GameDay Express, providing highlights from every game.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/09000d5d8229345b/Week-3-GameDay-Express

Breaking Down the Bills – Steve Mariucci examines how the Buffalo Bills have started the season 3-0 following a win over the New England Patriots
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/09000d5d82293355/Breaking-down-the-Bills

Can the Detroit Lions Win the NFC North? – NFL GameDay Morning crew discusses if the 3-0 Detroit Lions can win the NFC North.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/09000d5d82292d05/Can-the-Lions-win-the-NFC-North

7:30 PM ET: NFL GameDay Highlights

Host: Rich Eisen Analysts: Steve Mariucci and Deion Sanders

NFL GameDay Highlights offers a fast-paced recap of the afternoon games, providing highlights, post-game press conferences, player interviews and instant analysis leading up to the Sunday night primetime matchup.

11:30 PM ET: NFL GameDay Final
Host: Fran Charles Analysts: Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders, and Michael Irvin

NFL GameDay Final is the definitive exclamation point on Sundays providing unlimited highlights of all the games, plus post-game press conferences, interviews from the field and locker room, audio captured throughout the day and expert analysis.

NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only television network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football.  For more information, log on to www.nfl.com/nflnetwork.  NFL.com is the exclusive Internet home of NFL videos and NFL Network.

We have a jump break and following that are the games you’ll see on NFL Replay both tonight and tomorrow.

(continue reading…)

Just Over 20 Million Watch Pittsburgh-Indy on Sunday Night Football

NBC sends a press release touting the viewership numbers for Sunday Night Football. Still, they were the lowest of the season as an average of 20.4 million people watched the Pittsburgh-Indianapolis game. It received a 12.2 rating with a 19 share.

Compared with Week 1 which had 25.8 million people and was the most watched Sunday Night Football game ever and Week 2 which garnered an audience of 23.4 million, the Steelers-Colts was not as attractive going into this past week as it would have been had Peyton Manning not been hurt prior to the season.

Still, the game did better than last season’s Week 3 matchup between the Jets and Dolphins which had an 11.3/19 and 18.1 million viewers. And of course, SNF won the primetime network ratings over all competition.

We have the press release.

20.4 MILLION WATCH STEELERS-COLTS ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON NBC

Viewership and National Rating Both Up From Last Year’s Week 3 Game

NEW YORK – Sept. 27, 2011 – The Steelers-Colts Sunday Night Football game on NBC was seen by an average of 20.4 million people and registered a national rating of 12.2 and a 19 share, according to official national ratings data released today by The Nielsen Company. The game led NBC to another Sunday night win while facing competition from network season premieres.

The viewership and household rating for Sunday night’s game (8:31-11:35 p.m. ET), in which the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts, without their star quarterback Peyton Manning, 23-20, is up 13 and eight percent, respectively, from last year’s Sunday Night Football Week 3 contest (Jets-Dolphins, 18.1 million, 11.3/19).

SNF IS NO. 1 SHOW OF SUNDAY NIGHT, DEFEATS DEBUT COMPETITION: The Steelers-Colts broadcast was the No. 1 show of Sunday night in households, total viewers and all key adult and male demographics (excluding NFL overruns) while facing network premiere programs.

• Sunday Night Football powered NBC to a Sunday night primetime win, averaging 17.0 million viewers from 7:30-11 p.m., 52 percent ahead of second-place Fox (11.2 million from 7-10 p.m.), which benefited from an NFL overrun.

SNF 4-FOR-4: With 20.4 million viewers for Steelers-Colts, Sunday Night Football starts the season four-for-four versus its competition. This continues a trend for SNF dominating Sunday nights. Last season, “Sunday Night Football” was the No. 1 show all 18 nights (100 percent) vs. its competition (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday).

• 2011 – 4 of 4 (Three Sundays, one Thursday – 100 percent)
• 2010 – 18 of 18 (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday – 100 percent)
• 2009 – 15 of 16 Sundays (94 percent)
• 2008 – 13 of 16 Sundays (81 percent)
• 2007 – 11 of 16 Sundays (69 percent)
• 2006 – nine of 16 Sundays (56 percent)

SNF STARTS STRONG: NBC’s four-game average viewership of 24.2 million is up four percent over last year’s 23.3 million for NBC’s opening three weeks of the NFL season, the best start in the six-year history of Sunday Night Football.

• The four-game average household rating of 14.5/23 is up four percent from last year (14.0/23).
• The critically acclaimed Football Night in America is averaging 10.0 million viewers and a household rating of 6.1/10 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through the first three weeks, both up 13 percent from last year’s first three weeks.

TOP 10 METERED MARKETS FOR STEELERS-COLTS:

1. Pittsburgh, 48.5/67
2. Indianapolis, 40.7/56
3. Richmond, 20.0/29
4. Norfolk, 19.7/27
5. New Orleans, 18.8/25
6. Nashville, 18.7/26
7. Las Vegas, 18.5/29
8. Memphis, 17.8/25
9. Washington, D.C., 17.4/29
10. Baltimore, 17.2/26

NBC should get better numbers this Sunday with the Jets from the number one market taking on Baltimore. There you have it.

Turner Sports Unveils Coverage Plans & Announcing Teams for MLB Postseason

Just announced by Turner Sports, the announcing teams for the League Division and National League Championship Series on TBS. The playoffs begin on Friday. We still don’t know the actual matchups, but we’ll know them after the regular season end on Wednesday.

Ernie Johnson, Jr. will not be working the MLB Postseason this year as his son is in intensive care. Milwaukee Brewers voice Brian Anderson will be the lead announcer working one LDS series as well as the National League Championship Series.

The announcing teams are as follows:

• Brian Anderson/Ron Darling/John Smoltz
• Dick Stockton/Bob Brenly
• Don Orsillo/Buck Martinez
• Victor Rojas (yes!)/Joe Simpson

Reporters: Craig Sager, Tom Verducci, Jaime Maggio and Sam Ryan

Studio: Host, Matt Winer/Analysts, Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken, David Wells

Coverage will usually begin a half-hour before the first game with MLB On-Deck.

Here’s the Turner press release.

Turner Sports Steps up to the Plate on September 30 with Multiplatform Coverage of the 2011 Major League Baseball Postseason Including TBS’ Exclusive Presentation of the LDS and NLCS

Turner Sports leads off its coverage of the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) Postseason for the fifth consecutive year on Friday, September 30, with extensive multiplatform coverage including TBS’ exclusive presentation of the Division Series (LDS) and National League Championship Series (NLCS). Ernie Johnson, the long-time voice of Turner Sports, will not be a part of TBS’ postseason coverage with Brian Anderson replacing him as lead play-by-play announcer for the network’s exclusive presentation of the LDS and NLCS. Johnson will step aside from his play-by-play duties this postseason due to the illness of his son.

“My son Michael has muscular dystrophy and he has been in intensive care for the last two weeks and is expected to remain hospitalized for several more weeks,” said Johnson. “At this time, my job is to be with Michael and my family. Cheryl and I have a positive attitude, a strong faith and amazing support system especially within Turner Sports.”

“Turner Sports is extremely supportive of Ernie and Cheryl during this time and we send our best wishes to Michael,” said David Levy, President of Sales, Distribution and Sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Anderson, who has been the lead play-by-play announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers since 2007, has called MLB Postseason games nationally for TBS for the past three years. He has also been a part of the network’s “Sunday MLB on TBS” regular season coverage since 2010. No stranger to big moments, Anderson was behind the mic for TBS during Roy Halladay’s historic no-hitter during the 2010 NLDS. Please click on the following link to view Anderson’s call of the final out of the no-hitter: TBS’ Brian Anderson’s call of Roy Halladay’s LDS No-Hitter.

“Brian is one of the most versatile baseball announcers in the game today and will be joined in the booth by the expert analysis of John Smoltz and Ron Darling,” said Jeff Behnke, Turner Sports senior vice president and executive producer. “Brian, Ron and John will provide fans who tune into the LDS and NCLS with extensive insight and informative analysis for the next three weeks of our coverage.”

TBS’s exclusive coverage of the ALDS and NLDS will be handled by a quartet of veteran announce teams:

• Anderson will handle play-by-play alongside analysts Darling and Smoltz during the LDS and the network’s exclusive coverage of the NLCS.
• Veteran play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton will be joined in the booth once again by former MLB manager and long-time analyst Bob Brenly.
• Don Orsillo (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst) will return to TBS for their fifth and fourth Postseason, respectively, with the network.
• Play-by-play announcer Victor Rojas, who has called games for the Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, will join veteran analyst Joe Simpson in the booth for the LDS.This is Simpson’s 25th year as a MLB analyst and his fifth Postseason with TBS.
• Reporters for the LDS will include MLB insider and Sports Illustrated/SI.com senior baseball writer Tom Verducci who will also provide reports from the American League Championship Series (ALCS).  Craig Sager returns to the MLB Postseason on TBS for his fifth year as a reporter and also will work the NLCS for the network. Jaime Maggio, who has served as a reporter for the NBA Playoffs on TNT and Turner Sports’ presentation of the NCAA Tournament will join the MLB on TBS crew. Sam Ryan, who also worked with Turner Sports during the NCAA Tournament, will serve as a reporter for TBS during the LDS.

The TBS MLB On-Deck pre-game show and Inside MLB post-game show will have in-depth game reports and post-game interviews from every LDS game, as well as the ALCS and NLCS coverage on TBS. Matt Winer will return as studio host alongside analysts Dennis Eckersley, Cal Ripken and David Wells.

The network’s production plans will utilize state-of-the-art technology to bring fans unique insights into each game including new graphics, the U.S. television debut of Bloomberg Stats and the innovative Liberovision to provide baseball fans with more information and perspective:

• Bloomberg Stats: TBS will be the first U.S. network to utilize Bloomberg Sports’ vast resources and cutting-edge technology as they integrate comprehensive statistical information into each telecast. The network’s team of expert game and studio analysts will have the ability to delve deeper into every pitch of each game to spot trends and pick out tendencies.
• Liberovision: The network will utilize an innovative 3D interactive telestrator which will give fans a new perspective of instant replays as TBS’ analysts breaking down select key moments throughout the Postseason.
• New Graphics: TBS will have a new graphics package for games and the studio show that feature improved functionality with a nostalgic feel.
• Pitch Trax: The in-game technology that illustrates pitch location throughout the game will return to TBS for the Postseason.

Turner Sports’ online plans will feature a variety of postseason content on SI.com including breakdowns and predictions of games and series, video highlights, player interviews and photo galleries. The site’s team of experts, including Verducci, Jon Heyman, Joe Lemire, Joe Posnanski and Albert Chen will provide their exclusive analysis, both written and video, on all aspects of the postseason.

Additionally, Turner Sports also will get fans involved by allowing them to communicate with each other as well as react to the action on the field through social media:

• Twitter: @MLBonTBS and @TurnerSportsPR will provide game alerts, programming information and behind-the-scenes photos throughout the Postseason. Also, TBS MLB broadcasters will periodically answer questions from fans via Twitter Chats. Fans can use #Postseason to join the conversation throughout the LDS, NLCS and ALCS.
• Facebook:  Fans can also check out the MLB on TBS Facebook page (facebook.com) to find the latest schedule information, behind-the-scenes photos and other special features.

That will do it. Matchups and announcing assignments will be made later this week. They will be posted when they’re made available.

Recap of Blogs With Balls 4

On Saturday, September 24, the 4th incarnation of Blogs with Balls was held at the ultramodern, ultragreen and überchic Bloomberg Tower in New York City. This was the first BWB I was able to attend since the inaugural event in 2009. Having been unable to attend Blogs with Balls 2 in Las Vegas, Blogs with Balls 3 in Chicago and the Blogs with Balls panel at SXSW over the last two years, it’s amazing to see how the whole thing has grown. After being in the basement of a New York sports bar for the first event, to see Blogs with Balls held in the headquarters of a huge media empire made me quite proud.

And the turnout had over 250 men and women including bloggers and mainstream media. This is not just an event of blogs seeking acceptance and access, it’s more than that. The first BWB had bloggers asking why they weren’t being accepted by the mainstream media and why sports leagues weren’t acknowledging them. This year, the attendees were told that ESPN’s morning SportsCenters were an admission that not only the sports blogosphere exists, but that blogs can break stories.

As with the first edition, there were panel discussions to look at the progress of blogs and how far they’ve grown. My favorites included Women Talk Sports which was rather self-explanatory, Beyond the Big 3 which looked at sports outside of baseball, football and basketball and finding stories that will gain interest with readers; Brands with Balls which had panelists discussing the best brands that went to social media to reach an audience; and the Rising Stars panel where some of the brightest and youngest social media stars discussed their rise to the top.

Some of the rock stars of the panels included Amanda Rykoff of espnW, Tina Cervasio of MSG Network, Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo!, Jane McManus of ESPN New York, Josh Elliot of ABC’s Good Morning America, Bomani Jones of BomaniJones.com, Jonah Keri of Grantland, Kathleen Hessert from Sports Media Challenge, and Phil Van der Vossen of Gunaxin Media.

Deadspin had its own panel featuring A.J. Daulerio, Tommy Craggs, Barry Petchesky and Emma Carmichael among others. This was quite the funny panel which somehow got focused on male genitalia, but as we know, Deadspin has published photos of athletes texting their schlongs so it was only natural that the issue was raised, but it was surprising how long the discussion lasted. It definitely had some staying power. Some news was broken during this discussion. Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who was part of the Women Talk Sports panel asked Daulerio if there was a big hire in Deadspin’s future and he admitted that Jay “The Rat” Mariotti was being considered for all things, to pen a sports media column.

And at the Rising Stars panel, former ESPN’er Josh Elliot was rather candid about his time at ESPN saying that he understood why people criticize the sports behemoth and it has a responsibility to its viewers. Also, Bomani Jones talking about why people don’t make money off blogging and the attitude bloggers need to bring to writing were words we needed to hear. When I grow up, I want to be Bomani Jones.

Also interspersed throughout the day were the handing out of the Untitled Sports Media Awards Project or USMAP Awards. A pet project of Bleacher Report’s Dan Levy and HHR Media Group’s Don Povia, this honored all facets of sports media including online, TV and traditional sportswriting. Dan explains the whole concept behind the USMAP Awards.

One of the main impressions I carried out of Blogs with Balls 4 was the room was seeing the increase in female bloggers, writers and reporters from the 1st event. These are not “pink hats”, the women are just as hardcore fans as men, are just as knowledgeable or in some cases, more and they’re very much into fantasy sports. It’s great to see so many women at BWB and I was happy to talk to many of them.

Another impression albeit negative, I was disappointed not seeing representation from the sports leagues. They’re located in New York, it would have been perfect for one or all of the major leagues to send someone to see what the bloggers are saying. It’s also a way to show that the leagues are approachable to fans. Bloggers are fans first. Many started their sites to show their love for a team, a sport, an industry or a league. They missed an opportunity to show that they get it. The fans are what help to drive their popularity. Social networking is a big part of that, but alas, no representatives came.

I was very happy to meet some of the people I’ve followed on Twitter such as CNBC’s Darren Rovell, ESPN’s Amy K. Nelson, Julie DiCaro of Aery’s Sports, Phil Van der Vossen of Gunaxin, Jane McManus from ESPN New York, Tina Cervasio of MSG Network, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, Keith Stewart of The Cycle, Andrew Bucholtz of Yahoo! Canada, Heather Zeller of A Glam Slam, King Kaufman from Bleacher Report, and one of the BWB organizers, Kyle Bunch.

It was wonderful renewing acquaintances with my Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff, Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal, James Quintong of ESPN, Dan Levy of Bleacher Report, Jimmy Traina of Sports lllustrated, Don Povia and Chris Lucas from HHR Media Group, and Kat Hasenauer of Sports Girl Kat.

One highlight was seeing Kobayashi drinking a milk jug right before lunch. The man has an iron stomach.

And lastly, ESPN Front Row has a video showing the ESPN representation at Blogs with Balls. At 2:26, you can see my back and at 3:12, there’s a fleeting shot of me as Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch tries to avoid being seen.

Overall, a great event and one which I encourage all spots bloggers, young and old alike to attend. I can’t wait for the next one.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

CONCACAF Champions League
Toronto vs. Pumas — Fox Soccer/Galavision, 8 p.m.
Communicaciones vs. Seattle — Fox Soccer, 10 p.m.
Monterrey vs. Herediano — Galavision, 10 p.m.

MLB
American League
Boston at Baltimore — MLB Network/NESN/MASN, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Detroit — STO/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at Tampa Bay — WWOR/Sun Sports, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Minnesota — Fox Sports Kansas City/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Toronto at Chicago White Sox — Rogers Sportsnet/WCIU, 8 p.m.
Texas at Anaheim Angels — Fox Sports Southwest/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle — Comcast SportsNet California/Root Sports Northwest, 10 p.m.

National League
Cincinnati at New York Mets — Fox Sports Ohio/SNY, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta — MLB Network/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/SportSouth, 7 p.m.
Washington at Florida — MASN2/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Milwaukee — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
St. Louis at Houston — Fox Sports Midwest/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona — KCAL/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at San Diego — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Cox 4, 10 p.m.
Colorado at San Francisco — Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 10:15 p.m.

The Rundown Live — MLB Network, 3 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight Live — MLB Network, 10 p.m.

NHL
NHL Live — NHL Network (US), 5 p.m.

Toronto at Ottawa — Leafs TV, 7 p.m.
New York Islanders at Calgary — NHL Network (US)/TSN, 9 p.m.

Rugby World Cup
Italy vs. United States — Universal Sports, 2:15 a.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
ESPN First Take — ESPN2, 10 a.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — Versus, 6 p.m.

UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League Pregame — Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Sports Net, 2 p.m.

Manchester United vs. Basel — Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.
Bayern Munich vs. Manchester City — Fox Soccer Plus, 2:30 p.m.
Napoli vs. Villarreal — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

UEFA Champions League Postgame — Fox Soccer, midnight

WNBA Playoffs
Eastern Conference Finals
Game 3: Atlanta at Indiana — ESPN2, 8 p.m. (Series tied 1-1)

Entertainment
NCIS — CBS, 8 p.m.
Catching Hell — ESPN, 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles — CBS, 9 p.m.
Ringer — The CW, 9 p.m.
24 Hours in the ER (series premiere) — BBC America, 9 p.m.
Big Break Ireland — Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
New Girl — Fox, 9:01 p.m.
24 Hours in the ER — BBC America, 10 p.m.
United Tastes of America: Beer — Cooking Channel, 10 p.m.
Sons of Anarchy — FX, 10 p.m.
Body of Proof — ABC, 10:01 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.