Fang's Bites

Hunting Down Some Tuesday Links

I don’t have anything cute to write as an introduction this morning. Let’s just get to the links.

Matthew Futterman and Suzanne Vranica of the Wall Street Journal report that NBC plans to charge $3 million per 30 second spot for Super Bowl XLII.

Neil Best of Newsday has a column today about the opening of the Sports Museum of America which is located at near Ground Zero. Neil also talks with Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman about Roger Clemens, a year after he announced he was returning to the Yankees. Neil pastes a story from the Sports Business Journal about how the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium is a big deal. And Neil says Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has secured a fellowship at the University of Michigan (Congrats, Richard!).

The Big Lead has an interview with Buzz Bissinger, another part of the author’s massive apology tour.

Keith Groller of the Allentown Morning Call says Bob Costas is this generation’s Jim McKay.

The Sports Media Watch reports that CBC’s Don Cherry has been hired by ESPN do some analysis work for the NHL Conference Finals. This is a good move. William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has more on the story.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News says if fans want to watch the Stars in the NHL Western Conference Finals, they’re going to have to request their cable provider pick up Versus.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News writes that Game 6 of the San Jose-Dallas series rated very high in the Bay Area.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup playoffs are getting more TV exposure in upstate New York.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News has some more vitriol and today it’s aimed about the Joe Girardi Show on YES.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Kentucky Derby ranked #1 with viewers from the weekend sporting events.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune says the NBA will now be focus of the sport viewing and he adds that he supports NBC’s decision not to show Eight Belles suffering on the Churchill Downs track.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says the Cleveland Cavaliers are rating well during the NBA playoffs.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Wachovia Bank’s promotion tied to the champion’s margin of victory from this past weekend’s Wachovia Championship could end up losing money for the bank.

The Boston Herald’s Joe Fitzgerald has a story on former sports anchor Bob Lobel.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notices that the Dodgers are playing Indiana Jones on May 22, but so are the Blue Jays, the Nationals, basically every MLB team and he notes why Indy is on every team’s schedule. Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball goes further into the MLB promotion with the latest Indiana Jones movie.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says FSN broke away from the Royals game on Saturday for 7 minutes almost missing a dramatic comeback.

Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News says June 1 is when Rick Reilly gets back to work … for ESPN.

Nick Bowton of the Salisbury (NC) Post says thanks to TV, the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan is more recognizable than ever.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times looks at the traveling roadshow that is the Fox Sports NASCAR production unit.

Mike Joy of Fox Sports says the network has unveiled a new ticker revealing real-time information during NASCAR races.

Gare Joyce of the Financial Post profiles Keith Pelley, the man who will oversee the CTVglobemedia-Rogers consortium which will broadcast the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

That’s going to do it for now.

The Friday Megalinks Are Here

Have had to deal with a few work-related issues today so the Friday megalinks are late, but I’ll give them to you in one fell swoop.

Starting as usual with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, he discusses Fox Sports’ coverage of the Daytona 500 this Sunday.

Let’s do the links starting in the East, then to the West Coast and filling in the links in-between.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has a look inside Entercom’s choice of Dale Arnold to replace Glenn Geffner in the Red Sox broadcast booth.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes about NESN’s increase of Red Sox Spring Training coverage as compared to last year.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says USA Network saw an uptick in the ratings for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

New York Post media curmudgeon Phil Mushnick says it’s sad when Brian McNamee, Kirk Radomski, Jose Canseco and even John Rocker have more credibility than MLB. Also in the Post, Justin Terranova has five questions for SNY Mets analyst Keith Hernandez. And Terranova has quotes from ESPN’s Rusty Wallace and Fox’s Darrell Waltrip about the Daytona 500 and the new NASCAR season.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News talks with Yankees radio analyst Suzyn Waldman who knows both Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes about the Islanders attendance problems. In his blog, Neil says Islanders fans are responding to his column. Neil also has ESPN deciding not to respond to NBC’s shots about Monday Night Football. Finally, Neil links to the WCBS website in which Suzyn Waldman talks about the Roger Clemens testimony in front of Congress.

In Laura Nachman’s Philadelphia TV and radio blog, she reports that one Philly TV station will not cover the Phillies’ Spring Training this year.

From the Baltimore Sun, Ray Frager’s news and notes include WHFS-FM’ plans for Orioles Spring Training games. From his Medium Well blog, Ray has highlights from a Fox Sports conference call on its Daytona 500 coverage.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the NBA and NASCAR dominate the sports viewing weekend.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News says Roger Clemens didn’t do himself any favors this week.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News talks with one Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model who’s from the local area. And in his Morning Buzz blog, Ryan gets a tip that Clemens has his own Institute for Sports Medicine.

In her Sound and Vision column, the Los Angeles Times’ Christine Daniels says TNT and the NBA are finding new ways to present the All Star Game.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about former Apprentice: LA contestant Heidi Androl now doing work for the LA Kings website filing videos and features, plus Hoffarth has his Top 10 Best/Worst LA TV Anchors/Reporters. And he expands on his column with news and notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star talks with Fox Sports’ NASCAR crew about the sport loosening the reins on its drivers.

John Maffei in the North County Times looks at Fox’s coverage for the Daytona 500.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says ESPN2 expects an electric atmosphere for the Gonzaga-University of San Diego game on Monday. Posner has his news and notes column which includes a look at the gadgets that will be used in Fox Sports’ coverage of Daytona. And Jay has the TV ratings from the weekend in San Diego.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that it was very hard to miss the Roger Clemens appearance on Capitol Hill this week.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel says it’s the rivalries that make NASCAR what it is.

Barry Jackson in today’s Miami Herald profiles Heat TV play-by-play announcer Eric Reid (who has a Providence connection), one of only 8 original Heat employees still with the team.

Doug Nye of The State says baseball suffered a black eye during the Congressional Steroids hearings this week. And Doug’s TV Best Bet this weekend is Daytona.

Midwest

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star looks into the rumors (started in Rhode Island College’s student newspaper) that the ghost of wrestler Owen Hart haunts Kemper Arena.

In the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin, Paul Christian writes about a fitness show being broadcast live on the local PBS affiliate.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Judd Zulgad talks with Minnesota native Michele Tafoya about her changed role on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. And Judd has the ratings for the Twin Cities from last weekend.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley feels ESPN should get rid of the celebrity interviews from Monday Night Football, not Tafoya and fellow sideline reporter Suzy Kolber.

Robert Feder in the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Comcast SportsNet will devote 12 hours on Monday to the late Harry Caray.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune has his five viewing picks for the weekend.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Jim Hughson will make a choice between his two current employers, CBC and Rogers Sportsnet this summer.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says ratings for Raptors games are up this season.

Blogs

Christopher Bryne of the Eye on Sports Media blog looks at Think Pink night during the Florida-Georgia women’s basketball game on Thursday.

Joe Favorito’s blog on sports marketing looks at the NASCAR marketing machine.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell (who’s Nike documentary is getting big praise across the country, by the way) says NASCAR needs Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to start winning and fast.

The Sports Media Watch blog says at the All Star break, the NBA can look at a ratings increase from last year.

Bruce Allen in the Boston Sports Media Watch blog has the five worst mainstream sports media blogs in Boston.

Network Press Releases

ESPN says Dick Vitale is once again a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

NBC Sports tells us coverage of the Short Track Speedskating World Cup will be broadcast on Universal HD only.

CBS Sports previews its weekend golf coverage.

And there you have it for now.

Sunday Linkage

Good morning. Time to bring you some links from the Sunday papers.

Starting with Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, he wonders if the YES Network will continue to use loaded questions sent from the front office to ask the manager about strategy during post game press conferences.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post must have been in a good mood when he today’s column as he gives massive praise to Fox for its use of the “Voices of the Game” segment when it caught umpire Gary Cederstrom cooling down a potentially volatile situation during Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

In Newsday, Yankees broadcaster Suzyn Waldman writes a piece where she fires back at the criticism for her crying during the ALDS Game 4 postgame show. I must say it’s rather well written. Neil Best writes a companion piece for the paper. And in his regular Sunday column, Best says former Yankees manager Joe Torre has a bright future and can probably have his choice of gigs. In his blog, Best has a roundup of the Torre story and also links to his friend, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated who writes that Torre turned down an offer to join the Fox broadcast of the World Series. And the New York Daily News has that story as well.

Now some stories about ESPN College Gameday’s appearance at the University of Kentucky on Saturday which seems to have gone over quite well. Amy Wilson of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader has an article showcasing 10 things Wildcat fans did not know about ESPN’s College Gameday. C. Ray Hall of the Louisville Courier-Journal writes about Lee Corso who didn’t make friends with his pick against Kentucky. And Hall has a companion piece about the “Gator gumbo” that was served to the ESPN crew. Finally, Hall writes that Gameday hosts Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit were asked to analyze a local high school game for a Lexington TV station with little info to go on and passed with flying colors.

The Rick Reilly leaving Sports Illustrated for ESPN story is picking up some legs. The Denver Post’s Bill Husted wonders if the Denver-area native will leave for the bright lights of the East Coast with this move. And Deadspin has its take on the move.

Steve Wiseman of The State writes that ESPN.com and CBS Sports.com are engaged in a battle over site visits.

Mark Berman of the Roanoke (VA) Times writes about Marty Smith, ESPN’s NASCAR Insider.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that there were some key factors that led to low ratings for TBS in the National League Championship Series.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News previews the NFL on TV in the Bay Area.

And there you have it for today. Videos of the Week come up later today.

Here Are Your Thursday Links

Let’s give you your links for this morning.

We start off with Neil Best of Newsday who writes in his blog that Suzyn Waldman is angry at WFAN’s Craig Carton who apparently has been quite critical of her.

To some weekly Thursday columns starting with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Bill Doyle. He talks with Fox’s Tim McCarver who will call the American League Championship Series with Joe Buck. McCarver tells Doyle that Red Sox manager Terry Francona deserves AL Manager of the Year honors.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News has an e-mail conversation Alyssa Milano whom as regular readers of this blog are aware, is working with TBS on its Hot Corner site both as a blogger and an internet reporter.

To the Oklahoman where Mel Bracht says ESPN/ABC’s Kirk Herbstreit won’t be traveling after College Gameday on Saturday. Bracht also has his “What to Watch” feature this week. And Bracht has his media notes column.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about ESPN beating TNT to air the first two rounds of the Masters next year.

Larry Stewart of the Los Angeles Times writes in the Morning Briefing that there’s a lot of college football on recently.

John Faherty of the Arizona Republic writes that the National League Championship Series between the Diamondbacks and Rockies doesn’t seem to carry a lot of juice for TBS which is carrying the series starting tonight. Joanne Ostrow of the Denver Post feels bad for those without cable or satellite who won’t be able to see the series. Dusty Saunders in the Rocky Mountain News writes that FSN’s Drew Goodman and George Frazier remain hopeful about the Rockies’ chances. Michael Smerconish writes in the Philadelphia Daily News that MLB messed up when it and TBS scheduled the Phillies for late afternoon and late night games in its series with the Rockies last week. Get over it, Michael.

Speaking to the HD World Convention in New York, Executive Vice President for NBC Olympics, David Neal, said the 2008 Summer Olympics will be broadcast entirely in HD.

Wayne Fish of the Bucks County Courier Times says former Versus and NBC NHL host Bill Clement misses his old roles.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about golfer Michelle Wie who recently said she would not have played this year in the wake of her injuries. And Darren answers some e-mails from readers.

Those are your links for now.

Suzyn Says It’s Alright to Cry

Well, this Suzyn Waldman story just keeps growing legs. Yes, she cried in the Yankees locker room after Game 4 of the American League Division Series. Yes, it was unprofessional. Yes, it was not the time to cry. Yes, it was not appropriate of a broadcaster to do so. Here’s the clip again if you want to be reminded of what happened.

But Suzyn is coming out swinging, defending her actions to Neil Best in a column that will be published tomorrow in Newsday. And Best has a sidebar in his blog about the story with Suzyn calling the criticism sexist.

It reminds me of the 1974 children’s TV program “Free to Be … You and Me” when football player Rosey Grier sang “It’s Alright to Cry”. I think that’s what Suzyn is trying to tell us.

Wednesday Afternoon Update or the ESPN Ombudsman is in a Bad Mood

Let’s start this update with ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber’s latest piece which has come out today. Already the blogosphere is busy dissecting it.

Schreiber goes after ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Gregg Easterbrook for what she feels is slanted reporting of rumor as fact in the Bill Belichick Cameragate scandal. In addition, she says viewers may mistake the number of opinions in this story and the Mike Gundy screamfest as actual fact. And she says ESPN fed off the Donovan McNabb controversy which began on HBO’s Real Sports. Schreiber says too often, ESPN reporters fall into the same trap, giving opinions rather than report, sometimes ending with erroneous results.

This is Schreiber’s longest piece and a very thought provoking one. I think this is her best column in her short tenure as Ombudsman.

Let’s get to some other links. SI’s Richard Deitsch says despite some record ratings for fellow Time Warner corporate partner TBS, the network did get skewered by the critics for its coverage of the League Division Series.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks into Agent Scott Boras’ claim that Alex Rodriguez would be worth $500 million to the YES Network over the next ten years. Rovell correctly calls the figure “fuzzy”.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball site says MLB and TBS changed the times of the National League Championship Series to later starts in part to appeal to the West Coast fans of the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks to Fox’s Joe Buck about his late night show pilot.

The Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager writes in his Medium Well blog that Dennis Miller joins the rarely seen Versus next month. I guess I missed this and probably you did as well, Versus is moving 100 of its employees from Connecticut to Philadelphia according to Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post says NFL studio analysts sometimes overstate the obvious and he adds at the bottom of his column that Post colleagues Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser are risking overexposure with the Pardon the Interruption halftime segment on Monday Night Football.

Neil Best in his Newsday blog has been mostly quiet this afternoon, but he did have an entry regarding Suzyn Waldman of the Yankees broadcast team.

That’s it for now. Primetime Viewing Picks next.

It’s the Wednesday Links

Let’s get to your Wednesday links this morning.

The Sports Media Watch says Game 4 of the Indians-Yankees LDS on TBS was the highest rated MLB playoff game on cable, but still got beat by ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks about the pilot Fox’s Joe Buck shot for a potential late night show.

Tom Morgan of Voices.com raves about TBS’ coverage of the League Division Series saying it’s much more superior than anything Fox has to offer.

Richard Sandomir in today’s New York Times talks with WCBS’ Suzyn Waldman about her crying after Monday’s Game 4 of the Yankees-Indians series.

Neil Best of Newsday also writes about Suzyn’s crying. And Best’s column talks about the melancholy mood on YES following Monday’s game.

Jim Williams in the DC/Baltimore Examiner talks about Cal Ripken ramping up on the TBS set during the League Division Series.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes about the continuing dispute between Comcast and the Big Ten Network.

In the Los Angeles Times, Christine Daniels says LA football fans will get stuck with the Oakland-San Diego game this Sunday instead of the Patriots-Cowboys game.

Bob McManaman in the Arizona Republic catches up with Steve Beuerlein who does NFL games for CBS Sports.

Over to the Kansas City Star and Jeffrey Flanagan’s Top of the Mornin’ column. Scroll down and you’ll see that Kansas-Baylor will be on Fox College Sports and FSN Midwest plans to air 30-40 Royals games in HD next season.

I’ll monitor reaction to ESPN getting the Masters which broke just in the middle of the morning. We’ll have more later. Check back often.

The Suzyn Waldman Clip

Here’s the clip of Suzyn Waldman crying on WCBS Monday night. It’s already a classic.

Poor Suzyn’s been ripped on WEEI in Boston to no end.

Tuesday Update or "I Cry at Cinderella"

I’ll explain the title in a moment. Time to give you a few links this afternoon.

Last night, WCBS Yankees announcer Suzyn Waldman was doing the postgame show and what she did has become fodder on blogs and sports radio stations across the country. And it’s unbeknownst to me why WCBS put this on its website as a podcast. But it’s great for you the reader. You can listen to Suzyn as she literally breaks down in the locker room as she describes the Yankees coaches crying at Joe Torre’s statements in the postgame press conference. Yankees coaches crying? I can understand because they feel it’s the end of a long run. But a broadcaster crying on the air? There’s a time and a place and that’s not the place for it. Awful Announcing has its take on the whole thing.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at the Roger Clemens deal with the Yankees now that their season is over.

Those of you visiting in the new NHL Store in New York may notice a new studio there. It will be used for XM Satellite Radio to air live shows and interviews. The Orbitcast satellite radio blog has the story.

Neil Best of Newsday has an anecdote of TBS’ Chip Carey being the batboy for the Atlanta Braves in the early 1980′s during which time Joe Torre was the manager.

Brian Davis of the Dallas Morning News says the Big 12 is in a holding pattern for October 20 because ESPN has yet to decide which games it wants to televise leaving FSN and Versus in the lurch.

Hall of Fame Houston Astros broadcaster Milo Hamilton is recovering from a heart attack over the weekend. Hamilton has called games in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Chicago.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the new Hockey Night in Canada had a low key debut last Saturday.

Among the things Gregg Easterbrook is discussing in his Tuesday Morning Quarterback are using the tight end more, the problems with the Buffalo Bills, democratizing the skies, the hypocracy of the movie industry and suspending players who are no longer in the NFL.

That’s it.

Sunday Stuff

A few things for you today. First, I went to my favorite bar in Seekonk, MA to find it had been sold and taken over by new management. Now, I had heard this was a possibility, but two weeks ago, the old owner had told me that the new liquor license for the potential buyer was rejected and he was going to stay on. This was good news to me because I’m friends with the owner and in general, I don’t like change in my drinking establishments. But last night, I went in and found the new owner there. Luckily, the bartenders I have known for many years were still there. Many of the wait staff were there, but overall, it was a different feeling.

While the new owner had just taken over that week, there was this sad sentiment that an era was over. The new owner will probably clean up the place and give the place the injection it needs, but it was also a feeling that my favorite place will just be a memory now.

As I told the bartenders who have no idea if they’re going to stay, as long as they’re in place and the beer is cold, there’s no reason for me not to come. But it’s also strange to see my friend not in his usual place.

I have had my favorite bars come and go. It’s been said once your home bar closes, you become lost until you find a new one. It’s happened to me three times and it’ll probably happen again before I die. But as long as this place in Seekonk remains and the bartenders remain, I still have a place to go on Saturdays.

Ok, there are a few links to get to today.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says Yankee radio broadcasts have gotten out of hand with in-game ads. Not the ones played in-between innings, but ones that John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman have to read in-between pitches.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News gives it to the NBA for signing a cable-heavy TV contract at the expense of network games. He says it’s resulted in lower ratings for the NBA Finals.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the New York Islanders are pioneers for giving a section at their games for bloggers. And in his blog, Best says while sports leagues hate short series, sportswriters love them.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks into the NBA ratings.

Roger Brown of the News-Herald (OH) gives his grade to the NBA Finals coverage.

Diverse Education magazine has a profile on CBS’ James Brown.

I keep forgetting to link to this. ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber says viewers are a bit fed up of being force fed storylines.

And one last word. Saw ESPN’s College World Series coverage last night. Oregon State took on Cal State Fullerton. Erin Andrews looked very lovely. That’s all you need to know.

How not to make a call….

Suzyn Waldman is in her third year as an announcer for the Yankees Radio Network. I try to give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s survived breast cancer. She was the first voice heard when WFAN in New York signed on in 1987. Suzyn is a survivor.

But she was at the mike when Roger Clemens made his announcement that he was coming back to the Yankees. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.