Fang's Bites

Wringing Out Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do your media megalinks since last week you did not get any.

Hard to believe that college baseball, college lacrosse and NASCAR seasons are starting up, but they are and they’re included in the Weekend Viewing Picks along with the regular Golf, NBA, NHL, Skiing, Soccer, Tennis and Entertainment recommendations.

To your links now.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jeremy Lin will make his nationwide broadcast network debut this weekend.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable notes that Floyd Mayweather’s next pay per view fight has been set by HBO for the spring.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Jeremy Lin continues to drive the MSG Network ratings engine.

Mike Shields of Adweek looks at CBS/Turner Sports’ plans to charge to view the NCAA Tournament online.

Ted Johnson of Variety talks with Ken Solomon of Tennis Channel on his ongoing battle to get a better footing with Comcast.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says the Jeremy Lin media coverage is over the top.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased viewership for the NHL on NBC Sports Network.

SMW says Pardon the Interruption’s Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have lent their voices to a Disney XD cartoon series.

Andy Hall at ESPN Front Row PR blog celebrates the 5th anniversary of NASCAR’s return to the network.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with Jeremy Lin’s agent.

Andrew Bucholtz writing his first article for Awful Announcing looks at the reaction to Jeremy Lin in Canada.

Mat Yoder at AA says the ratings for last weekend’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am show fans are still interested in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Joe Favorito explores the steady growth of college lacrosse.

Mark J. Miller of Brandchannel says NASCAR fans don’t like it when drivers juggle sponsor logos throughout the Sprint Cup season.

The Big Lead has ESPN’s Erin Andrews out and about during New York’s Fashion Week.

Chris Chase at Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner notes that ESPN has been coaching Jon Gruden to use his words judiciously.

Harrison Mooney of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy says Jeremy Lin’s drawing power might indirectly benefit the New York Rangers, Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils which have been missing from Time Warner Cable systems in addition to the Knicks.

David B. Wilkerson at MarketWatch wonders if the MSG/Time Warner Cable feud will eventually push sports into a premium tier.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn gets some advice for new NESN Red Sox field reporter Jenny Dell from MSG’s Tina Cervasio.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch pays tribute to Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan who announced he’s retiring after the London Olympics.

Surviving Grady has a podcast with Jen Royle.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the new charge for viewing the NCAA Tournament online.

Richard writes about the increased ratings for Knicks games since Jeremy Lin arrived on the scene.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post is in rare form today even for him.

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post has five questions for CBS college basketball analyst Bill Raftery.

The Post’s David Seifman reports that the New York City Council is pressuring MSG Network and Time Warner Cable to work out a deal.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News writes that ESPN bumped tonight’s Hornets-Knicks game not realizing it would be another opportunity to showcase Jeremy Lin.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl NY has reaction from various NYC sports anchors to the death of former Mets catcher Gary Carter.

Mike Silva at the Sports Media Watchdog feels hockey coverage in New York is woefully inadequate.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports TV reporter received a New York Emmy nomination.

Pete lists his top studio analysts.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes has the latest in Baltimore-Washington DC sports media news in Press Box.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has a clip of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon as cartoon characters.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says talks with sports business writer Evan Weiner about the NFL’s antiquated blackout rules.

South

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald has some thoughts on Shaquille O’Neal’s rookie season at TNT and ESPN’s decision to remove Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Astros plan to bring in former players to their radio booth to celebrate the team’s 50th season.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes the first network appearance of Jeremy Lin is this Sunday.

Midwest

The Detroit Free Press notes that all of the Tigers games will be on TV this season.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Dick Enberg told a captive audience at Marquette University about the art of the pause and when to use it in broadcasting.

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

To the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin where Paul Christian writes that Fox Sports North will be all over the Minnesota Twins this season.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals have mostly put the kybosh on late afternoon games at Busch Stadium this season.

Dan says a local sports radio host is recovering after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the new Fox Sports San Diego is set to launch next month.

Jay writes the San Diego Padres stand to double their rights fees from Fox as compared to Cox a year ago.

John Maffei at the North County Times says the official announcement between Fox Sports San Diego carrying the Padres is due any time now.

At the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle says NBC and the NHL have become very good partners.

Jim feels ESPN should not have jettisoned Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times notes that ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham is up for a Best Documentary Oscar.

Bill Shakin of the Times says Frank McCourt’s legal problems are holding up Fox’s announcement with the Padres.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News recaps a lecture from three noted network broadcasters discussing TV coverage of the Olympics.

And that’s going to conclude the megalinks for today.

Back For Monday’s Linkage

After not being able to provide linkage for a few days, let’s get back to it. I probably won’t be able to do the links as I have to undergo a medical procedure. Nothing serious. I should be back on Wednesday.

Let’s do your links.

Sports Business Daily looks over the reviews of ESPN’s handling of Penn State’s first game since the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke.

Tripp Mickle and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal say YouTube is now entering the sports media rights landscape.

Tripp says Versus will air over 30 hours of action sports programming as NBC Sports retakes ownership of the Dew Tour

Jason Belzer and Darren Heitner of Collegiate Sports Advisors write in Sports Business Journal that colleges and universities should not force a social media blackout on their student-athletes.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy says the NFL pregame show analysts either praised or criticized Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson depending on their former positions.

Mike writes Saturday’s Nebraska-Penn State game got higher ratings for ESPN.

Ben Grossman at Broadcasting & Cable says a quick knockout in Fox’s airing of its first UFC bout wasn’t as bad as originally thought.

At Yahoo! Sports, Maggie Hendricks reviews Fox’s first production of a UFC card.

Dave Meltzer of Yahoo says UFC on Fox delivered a ratings punch.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski tells us what the NHL’s hiring of Ross Greenburg, formerly of HBO Sports, will mean for the league.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Saturday’s Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez might have set up a big payday for the Pacman to fight Floyd Mayweather on pay per view next year.

Mike says NFL Network received the most viewers ever for a Thursday Night Football season opener.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter says Sunday Night Football won the ratings for NBC.

The Reporter notes that several advertisers have pulled their ads from upcoming Penn State football games on ESPN’s networks.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says sports continues to draw viewers on what normally are dead Saturday nights.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says Gus Johnson was being Gus when USC pulled off a fake punt during its game against Washington on Saturday.

Sports Video Group says NBC will air the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials later this year.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has what former Penn State coach Joe Paterno should have said last week.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at UFC on Fox’s preliminary ratings.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post feels it’s hard to love college football.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 11 NFL TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Pete says Time Warner Cable will carry all local high school football regional playoff games.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that Versus and HDNet will combine for a Thanksgiving holiday college basketball tournament.

Deborah Ann Tripoldi of the Nutley (NJ) Sun writes that Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio was inducted into a local Hall of Fame.

Laura Nachman says a Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia reporter is now engaged.

The Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News has the remarks of ESPN’s Jon Ritchie about accused child molester Jerry Sandusky. Ritchie grew up near Penn State.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun is still not a fan of CBS’ Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf especially when they call Ravens games.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with an official with NCAA.com about the streaming of over 20 championships.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says ESPN got the job done for Nebraska-Penn State on Saturday.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says Texans fans wanting to watch yesterday’s game against the Bucs in the Rio Grande Valley of the Lone Star State were SOL.

Fang’s Bites welcomes back Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News as we have not linked to him in a very long time. Jerry reports on a sudden switch on the local CBS affiliate that left Cowboys fans angry.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that the ESPN on ABC crew assigned to Texas Tech-Oklahoma State had plenty of time to fill.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football open for tonight’s Packers-Vikings game will honor the military.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the Big Ten Conference has removed Joe Paterno’s name from its championship trophy.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a lengthy conversation with embattled Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin about his two drunken driving arrests.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with a local news anchor who would like to return to his old sports roots.

Sad story out of Reno, NV as KTVN sports anchor JK Metzker died Sunday after being hit by a car. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.

Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal rememebers Metzker as a friend outside of the newsroom.

Lenita Powers of the Gazette-Journal says Metzker was loved in the local market.

Powers writes that KTVN canceled its newscasts on Sunday to grieve over Metzker’s death.

KTVN meteorologist Mike Alger says Metzker was a true friend.

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

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says UFC isn’t leaving the sports landscape anytime soon.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says it’s time for the NHL to have a Red Zone Channel. I agree.

Sports Media Watch says NBA TV will premiere a new roundtable discussion program as the 2011-12 season looks more in doubt.

SMW says ABC’s Saturday Night Football received a record ratings low opposite LSU-Alabama on CBS.

The Big Lead has NBC’s Al Michaels talking the Penn State story with Sirius XM’s Howard Stern.

And we’ll leave it there. Lots of links for you to digest today.

Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote — 2011

Time to bring the annual Hot Chicks Post back again. The original post in 2007 had what can be considered a Mount Rushmore of Women on TV. In 2008, we had another strong list featuring Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson and Heidi Watney. The 2009 list had Olivia Munn, Trenni Kusnierek and NFL Network’s Lindsay Soto. And last year had Trenni, Michelle Beadle and Kate Walsh.

This year, we have a new list. I like the women we have for 2011.

5. Jaime Maggio — CBS/Turner Sports

Had her coming out party during the NCAA Tournament this year on CBS and Turner Sports. She’s also working for Turner in the League Division Series. We certainly welcome more national assignments for Jaime. She’s currently working full-time with KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. Does a great job reporting on the sidelines and would love to see Jaime more in 2012.

4. Erin Sharoni — CNBC SportsBiz: Game On!

In just four shows of the new series hosted by Darren Rovell, Erin hits this list. Previously a sideline reporter for St. John’s basketball on RedStormSports.com, Erin has made quite the impression on viewers to NBC’s new sports business show on Versus. I’m quite impressed with her on-air style and her rapport with Darren. I was told that Darren wanted to get someone new and fresh for his show and he certainly did that. I predict big things for Erin down the road.

3. Jen Royle — 105.7 The Fan, Baltimore

Ok, technically Jen is not on TV right now, but she was earlier this year on MASN. She left the regional sports network before this baseball season, so in the range from last year to this year’s list, she qualifies as having been on TV. As she hosted an Orioles pregame show on 105.7 FM The Fan this season and is currently covering the Ravens, Jen is also a candidate to return to her native Boston possibly on NESN and perhaps one of the sports radio stations. New England would certainly welcome her back with open arms. And if NESN wants to bring her in to possibly replace Heidi Watney on Red Sox broadcasts (more on that in another post down the road), that would be welcomed too!

2. Tina Cervasio, MSG Network

Tina returns to the list after being on the original list in 2007. After leaving NESN in 2008, she joined MSG Network where she’s the reporter for both the Knicks of the NBA and the Red Bulls of MLS. Tina is also doing work for CBSSports.com on college football. Tina has been anchoring sports at WNYW-TV and sister station, WWOR-TV. I’ve heard rumors that Tina is about to get another gig. I don’t know where it is, but if it’s national, it’s well deserved. And Tina is lovelier than ever having seen her at Blogs with Balls 4 this year.

And here’s a pic of our #2 and #3 picks together. This comes courtesy of Jen so I thank her for giving me permission to post this.

Very lovely pic of Jen and Tina together.

1. Maggie Q — Nikita

Last year, we had our first Asian representation with Betty Nguyen of CBS News. This year, it’s Maggie Q of The CW’s Nikita. Trained in Hong Kong by Jackie Chan to become an action star, Q had a rather meteoric rise and now is the star of her own series. Not only is Maggie gorgeous, but she can also kick your ass. I respect that. In addition, she’s a strict vegetarian and a member of PETA. I’m glad in the 5th edition of this list that an Asian sister is finally number one.

And that will conclude the list for this year. Back again next year.

Bringing Out Some Saturday Links

I started to do the Megalinks last night, but I fell asleep at my computer while doing them. I was out for most of the Friday so it prevented me from sitting down and pounding out the linkage yesterday. I’ll do it now to get you going for the 4th of July weekend. There’s a lot of sports happening so the Weekend Viewing Picks provides you with the programming that you may want to watch.

Let’s do the linkage.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with multiple network tennis analyst John McEnroe on how to spice up tennis’ ratings.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that an extended NBA lockout will hurt TV partners ESPN and TNT.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk didn’t like Jon Gruden’s gushing over former Ohio State quarterback Tyrelle Pryor during ESPN’s QB Camp.

Brooks Peck of Yahoo’s Dirty Tackle blog notes that ESPN.com lifted some of his fictitious quotes over Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi.

At Baseball Digest, Jerry Milani profiles MSG Network’s and Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that a Southern California radio host’s firing from the Anaheim Angels was racially motivated.

Dave Levy from SportsGrid looks at the future of the Pac-12 Conference.

Adam Watson of Yahoo’s The PostGame talks with Renée Herlocker who will be the sideline reporter for the Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group notes that TSN wants to bring CFL viewers even closer to the game.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group says distributing Wimbledon in 3-D to movie theaters shows the need for one standard for the format.

Beth Healy of the Boston Globe writes that the newspaper’s parent company, the New York Times has sold part of its 17% stake in the Red Sox for a sizable profit.

Taryn Luna of the Globe says watering holes in the vicinity of the TD Garden are worried about losing business in the wake of the NBA lockout.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that sports radio talk in New York actually turns 90 years old today.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has Lindsay Czarniak saying when she’ll be moving to ESPN and what her duties for the Alleged Worldwide Leader will be.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune notes that the Big Ten Network came to fruition thanks to an ESPN lowball bid back in 2004.

And Jessica Guyin and Dawn C. Chmielski of the Los Angeles Times look at Google’s potential bid to buy Hulu which has NFL Films videos.

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

SMW notes that Nike has re-signed Michael Vick.

I’m going to end it there.

Cranking Out Some Saturday Links

Let’s do some linkage. I couldn’t get to them yesterday as I was racing in between two offices and by the time I got home, I wasn’t in the mood to sift through media links. I’ll do some now and include some Friday stories.

First, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the old ABC’s Wide World of Sports getting some attention from ESPN next week.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal explores the battle over the Los Angeles Dodgers’ media rights between two big media giants.

Ronald Grover and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg News says the Dodgers’ agreement with Fox for the team’s rights must be approved by MLB.

Stu Hackel of Sports Illustrated says the NHL deal with NBC Sports Group is a win-win for both parties and for fans.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says MSG Network is seeing high ratings for the New York Rangers.

Mike notes that Comcast SportsNet Chicago garnered record ratings for both the Bulls and Blackhawks on Thursday.

Mike says the soon-to-be renamed Versus will really be known as the Home of the NHL under the new NBC Sports Group contract with the league.

Mike reports that on Monday, an FCC Administrative Law Judge will hear the case of Tennis Channel’s carriage complaint against Comcast.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred remembers a Virginia sportswriter who gave it all for his paper and his love of Duke basketball.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser notes that the agent of former New York Football Giants running back Tiki Barber knew his media career was doomed from almost the beginning.

Dashiell Bennett at the Business Insider Sports Page has Josh Elliot’s emotional farewell to SportsCenter. Josh heads to become the news reader on Good Morning America.

Cork Gaines of the Business Insider explains why MLB won’t repeal its silly and archaic blackout rules.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with Ticketmaster’s CEO about bringing dynamic pricing into ticket sales.

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe speaks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Tina Cervasio of MSG Network and Chad also reviews the ratings of the two local sports radio stations.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wonders if the NHL should have taken less money to get on ESPN.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com takes a look at the Baltimore Orioles’ TV ratings as well as other Baltimore-DC sports media news.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner writes that there will be plenty of coverage for Rangers-Caps today.

Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times says Navy jumped at the chance to air its spring football game on CBS Sports Network today.

Dave Poe of the Parkersburg (WV) News and Sentinel notes that ESPN will pick up the annual “Coal Bowl” matchup.

Ken Tysiac of the Charlotte Observer says the college football game formerly known as the “Meineke Car Care Bowl” will get a new sponsor this year.

Barry Jackson in the Miami Herald says ESPN is streamlining its NFL Draft coverage next week.

Creg Stephenson of the Mississippi Press says local Atlanta Braves fans after being able to watch TBS for years, are now scrambling for ways to watch games.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has some sports media news and notes.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says a local sports radio host is leaving the area for a new opportunity elsewhere.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that former Reds shortstop and current ESPN analyst Barry Larkin could make his way into the team’s broadcast booth in the future.

John also talks with Barry who jumped ship from MLB Network to ESPN’s Baseball Tonight this season.

Rob Oller at the Columbus Dispatch says TV has changed the spring college football game into big business.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Bucks’ TV ratings fell this season.

Bob says giving Bill Parcells his own pre-NFL Draft show on ESPN could lead to some good television.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says despite having throat ailment, Joe Buck continues to call MLB games for Fox.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says it appears likely that Cox Cable won’t be airing Padres games after this season.

John Maffei of the North County Times reports that Fox Sports Net appears to have won the Padres’ TV rights although nothing is official.

John says the NFL lockout has put the Draft into an bigger spotlight.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star is not a fan of the NFL Draft.

Jim talks about the NHL landing big money in its new TV contract.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times looks at Fox and Time Warner Cable fighting over the Dodgers’ media rights.

Diane Pucin of the Times goes into detail on Fox’s personal $30 million loan to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt that led MLB to take control of the team.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says ESPN’s Jon Gruden is showing himself to be a deft developer of young quarterbacks.

Tom goes over the week in sports media.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that those bidding for the US rights to the NHL took losing Phoenix into account.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore has the most watched NHL Playoff games on Versus through the first week of play.

And that’s going to do it for links today. I might be back with some press release posts throughout the day.

Sports Media Weekly Podcast No. 41 – Tina Cervasio, MSG Network

Today’s podcast was a whole technical clusteryouknowwhat thanks to my Skype issues and bad AT&T connection. But Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I managed to plow through.

During the news of the week segment, Keith and I talk about ESPN Ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer’s assessment of LeBron James’ decision that was aired for 73 minutes on the Mothership. We also talk about the misquote of the Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade that could have been very costly to him down the line. And we also explore the deal that led to the sale of The Sporting Blog from the Sporting News to SB Nation.

Then we talk with the always lovely Tina Cervasio of MSG Network.

This is where my crappy phone comes into play and I cut out twice during this segment. Anyway, we talk with Tina about her career and how she landed at MSG. Before she went to MSG, Tina was known throughout Red Sox Nation as the sideline reporter for NESN and she talks about the passionate fanbase in New England and one of her more interesting interactions with a young fan. And Tina describes July 8, the day of “The Decision,” and how she had to cover one of the more hectic days in sports.

Another good podcast, not me withstanding. Of course, you can subscribe to the Sports Media Weekly podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Sports Media Journal”. Or you can go right here to listen.

Saturday Linkage

Let’s do some links right now while I can.

We’ll start with Stephen Wilson of the Associated Press who writes that the International Olympic Committee plans to start the US TV rights bidding for the 2014/2016 Games after the Vancouver Winter Olympics next year.

Joe Lemire of Sports Illustrated says umpires can blame increased scrutiny on bad calls right on TV and the internet.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban explains why sports TV ratings are up.

Johnny Diaz of the Boston Globe says Comcast is planning to beef up sports programming at New England Cable News and hiring more writers for Comcast SportsNet New England’s website.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times watched World Series Game 2 with TBS/SNY analyst Ron Darling.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News lists some of his pet peeves from the first two games of the World Series.

The Columbus (SC) Ledger-Enquirer caught up with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge.

Jeff Elliot from the Florida Times-Union previews today’s Florida-Georgia game on CBS and local radio.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News speaks with ESPN/ABC football analyst Matt Millen.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle says ratings for Game 2 of the World Series fell a bit in Houston.

Jerry Garcia in the San Antonio Express-News says Sunday is going to be a rare harmonic convergence for sports fans.

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times says NBC will be going all out to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics starting next week.

Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune says Comcast SportsNet Chicago is putting its morning show out to pasture at the end of the year.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a look back at the week in blogging.

Tom says the San Diego market just barely avoided a blackout, but also took out Minnesota- Green Bay in the process.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tries to explain the NFL TV policy.

Pete Toms in the Biz of Hockey looks at a potential NBC-Versus alliance being a possible alternative to ESPN.

Some posts from the Sports Media Watch. First, we find that the World Series is draining the NBA’s ratings.

The SEC drew well while Notre Dame dropped.

Ratings for college football on ABC continue to go up.

SMW also has some ratings odds and ends.

And in a well researched post, SMW finds that of the lowest-rated World Series games since 1972, most of them were played during the day.

Joe Favorito writes that baseball inspires giving back to the community.

ESPN tells us that an X Games host is running the New York City Marathon this week to raise money.

Also, Tina Cervasio of MSG Network is also running the marathon tomorrow and she’s raising money for the Garden of Dreams Foundation. Help her to hit her goal and to help make some dreams come true.

And that’s going to do it for our links today. I’ll do one more post before calling it a day, but I need to get outside and stop looking at my computer screen.

Sunday’s Linkage

I’ve been meaning to give you linkage today, but I got engrossed in the Wimbledon Men’s Final between Roger Federer-Andy Roddick and then ran more errands than I expected so I’m now doing the links in the evening.

Let’s do some links.

Sports Illustated tennis writer Jon Wertheim has some thoughts on the media coverage of Wimbledon (scroll down to 21-30).

Larry Mahoney of the Bangor (ME) Daily News profiles local native Andrea Pelkey who’s an ESPN producer on its NASCAR coverage.

Eric Pfanner of the New York Times writes that ESPN is attempting to win the hearts of British soccer fans after winning the rights to the English Premier League.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels NBC should get out of tennis. That’s harsh. Just show the matches live and we’ll be happy.

The Daily News’ Richard Huff writes about ESPN2′s new show, SportsNation, that premieres tomorrow.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Daily News is still bitter over his cable system screwing up Dave Righetti’s no-hitter against the Red Sox on the 4th of July, 26 years ago. Let it go, Phil.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz.

Dave Weekley of the Charleston (WV) Gazette writes that West Virginia coach Bob Huggins still casts a big shadow over his former home of Cincinnati as programming on Fox Sports Ohio indicates.

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press has some suggestions for summer sports TV viewing for the bored fan.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers are rising on ESPN’s Ultimate Franchise list.

Kevin Haskin from the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal profiles a local resident who works for ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike show.

Bill Dwyer of the Austin Statesman-American says John McEnroe of BBC/CBS/NBC/7 Network and this fall, ESPN2, is a great ambassador for tennis.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News spent some time at Dodger Stadium’s Bleacher Beach. Tom has some pictures of Bleacher Beach in his blog.

Artie Gigantino of the San Francisco Examiner enjoys listening to Sacramento sports radio host Grant Napear who is also the TV voice of the Kings.

Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle is fed up of delayed Wimbledon coverage.

Shiwani Srivastava of the Seattle Examiner is not happy about NBC’s Wimbledon tape delays to the West Coast.

The Sports Media Watch has its usual weekend ratings predictions.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann writes in his MLB.com blog that he’s disgusted that the baseball media focused on Manny Ramirez instead of the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous speech.

Yesterday, Fang’s Bites fave Tina Cervasio returned to NESN to make a special guest appearance.

Nice to see her again. She’s on MSG Network covering the Knicks and other New York sports.

That’s going to do it for now. Back tomorrow at an earlier time. I promise.

Follow Friday V

This is another edition of Follow Friday, originally started on Twitter. If you’re a regular reader, you know how it works. If not, you can find out how it began at Mashable.

Anyway, I don’t feel like explaining it right now so I’m just going to go into the feature. Here are several blogs and sites you should visit more than once.

He has become a giant on Twitter and he’s already a giant in blogging. Robert Littal’s Black Sports Online is a very fascinating site and he has a very good take on hoops, boxing and all things sports business. And when the BET Awards were on the air, his take on the entire affair was laugh out loud funny.

I’ve linked to Wrap Around Curl when she’s written a post for Steve Lepore’s NHL-centric Puck The Media site. Wrap has her own blog which is naturally called Wrap Around Curl. Wrap follows hockey, hockey fashion and she’s quite snarky. I find her blog quite funny and her Tweets are even snarkier, if that’s possible. But she knows her hockey which is more I can say about Carrie Milbank, who is a host for NHL.com.

If you’ve ever watched the daily morning editions of SportsCenter, you’ll know of a feature called “BlogBuzz” which measures what are the hot topics on sports blogs. The company that provides the information for ESPN is Sports Media Challenge which is a consulting firm for athletes, coaches and executives. Among their clients are Shaquille O’Neal, Derek Jeter, Geno Auriemma as well as various college programs, professional sports teams and sports leagues. According to its website, the firm helps its clients “maximize public exposure while minimizing its risks”. It was one of the first firms to suggest to its clients to use Twitter to reach a new audience and it’s working.

Ian Bethune runs Sox & Dawgs, a New England sports blog. Not only does it follow the Red Sox, but also UConn sports, the Patriots and the Celtics. Ian was one of the first blogs to follow Fang’s Bites regularly and he was a traveling companion to the Blogs With Balls conference in New York last month. Ian shows that a good New England sports blog doesn’t have to based in Boston to keep track of the area sports teams. Ian does a great job on Sox & Dawgs and I can safely say he’s become a very good friend.

I’ll run the next three sites in quick succession. All are TV reporters and all are Fang’s Bites faves. First, is former NESN Red Sox on-field reporter Tina Cervasio, currently of MSG Network in New York. She also Tweets as well.

Next is ESPN’s Bonnie Bernstein who made an appearance on IFC’s Z Rock series last month.

Last but not least is Charissa Thompson who is a rising star on Fox Sports and was a co-host on Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Bonnie and Charissa both have blogs at their sites.

As usual, two non-sports sites. For the latest and greatest in TV and Entertainment news, there’s The Ausiello Files headed by Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello.

And to keep up with the latest on Reality TV including Survivor, The Amazing Race and Big Brother, head on over to Reality Fan Forum. Headed up by Rob and my sweetheart, puddin, this is the best site to find out the latest on the above mentioned shows. Plus, the site also discusses other reality shows. The site has the best information on The Amazing Race and over the last three seasons, has been able to determine the actual route of the show. The TAR Detectives as they’re known are a very smart bunch and nothing get past them. So if you’re a fan of The Amazing Race, head on over to RFF and sign up.

That is it for this edition of Follow Friday.

Friday Night Megalinks or How I Wish I Could Blog During the Day

Wow, this work schedule is really killing me. I’m at the point when I’m in the home office without any internet access, I really feel like I’m in a vacuum not knowing what the hell is going on. Total news blackout and even though I can check e-mail thanks to my iPhone, I still feel lost. I do feel after Saturday (and yes, I’m working all day Saturday as well), that I’ll be able to get back on track with blogging. You know when I don’t have a Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks entry that I’m not in my regular schedule.

Ok, let’s do your Weekend Viewing Picks.

Now that baseball season is over, we can totally focus on football, both college and professional.

One of the featured college games on Saturday will be the World’s Largest Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida in Jacksonville, FL. CBS will carry that game at 3:30 p.m. ESPN’s College Gameday will be live from Lubbock, TX meaning that ABC will have coverage of the Texas-Texas Tech game later that night at 8. The College Football Viewing Picks have the entire national TV schedule for Week 10.

Green Bay at undefeated Tennessee and Dallas at the Giants are the featured games for Week 9 in the National Football League. Then as Sunday Night Football returns after a week off, NBC and the Maddencruiser visit Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis as the New England Patriots take on the Colts. You can check out the NFL Viewing Picks with coverage maps, DirecTV, XM and Sirius channel assignments.

You know it’s slim pickings when the next big weekend event I can cite after football is the New York City Marathon which NBCSports.com and UniversalSports.com will both stream live online Sunday morning starting at 9. NBC Sports will have a one hour highlight show at 3 p.m.

For gearheads, NASCAR fans can watch the Nationwide Series race called the O’Reilly Challenge on ESPN2, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Then on Sunday, the Sprint Cup Race at Texas Speedway known as the Dickies 500 will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

The Formula 1 series goes to South America for the Grand Prix of Brazil which Speed will carry Sunday morning at 11:30.

The PGA Tour has something called the Ginn sur Mer Classic this weekend on the Golf Channel.

And both the NBA and NHL are both early into their seasons, and the NHL Network again carries the CBC Satutrday Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader with New York at Toronto and Calgary at Los Angeles.

Now let’s get to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about flag waving on the ESPN College Gameday set. And Michael discusses the expansion of ESPN360′s online programming.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with New York Jets owner Woody Johnson about his team’s Personal Seat License auction. Darren writes about the battle between athletes and staph infections. Darren has the story about a 68 year old student athlete who eventually became the captain of his tennis team.

The Sports Media Watch says it’s official. The 2008 World Series was the lowest rated ever. And the blog has some bad news for MLB. The SMW also has some ratings news and notes.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine looks into the World Series ratings.

Although Mike Flaherty of Variety says Wednesday night’s three and a half inning conclusion to World Series Game 5 did well for Fox.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog wonders what’s up with CBSSports.com/Sportsline.com.

Multichannel News reports the NHL Network has signed with four conferences to show college hockey games on Friday nights into March.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia scored with its coverage of the Phillies during the World Series.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel reports that the fans have spoken for the game NBA TV will carry on Election Night.

Vlada Gelman of TV Week says last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup attracted almost 20 million viewers over three networks.

Joe Favorito looks at a stunt that USC supporter Will Ferrell and USC coach Pete Carroll pulled off.

Midwest

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News says Time Warner Cable and the local NBC affiliate have resolved their dispute meaning NBC Sports programming will be back on TV.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer remembers when the Bengals were actually good.

Michael Zuidema in the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with Fox Sports Detroit Pistons analyst Greg Kelser.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald speculates on who could replace Cubs TV analyst Bob Brenly if he decides to go back to managing.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune suggests that Cubs radio analyst Ron Santo move to TV if Brenly leaves.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the mixture of sports and politics.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says Charter Communications customers will have access to 17 Wild games that had been blocked previously.

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that a management shuffle at a local sports radio station could lead to some on-air changes.

West

To the Deseret (UT) News where Scott D. Pierce tells soccer fans that it will be tough to watch Real Salt Lake on TV over the next few days.

In the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jay Posner talks with NBC’s Football Night in America co-host Cris Collinsworth. And here are the ratings from last weekend in San Diego.

To the North County Times and John Maffei who has comments from Cris Collinsworth about the NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football schedule.

Completing the Collinsworth West Coast Trifecta, Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Times has a feature on Collinsworth’s network shuffling since becoming a TV analyst.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times breaks the Collinsworth trend and praises ESPN/ABC for naming Rhode Island’s own Doris Burke as its main sideline reporter for NBA games.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth profiles West Coast media phenomenon (some say media whore) Petros Papadakis. In his blog, Tom has a blurb on FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show Halloween party. I’m warning you now, don’t click on this link unless you want to see Petros Papadakis in drag. Tom has a look at the total viewers for the Breeders’ Cup. Apparently former 49ers QB Steve Young is against gay marriage.

South

Late Thursday, the FCC ordered Time Warner Cable to pick up MASN in North Carolina and the Raleigh News & Observer’s Roger van der Horst was all over it. And Roger writes what will be the next step for Time Warner Cable.

Doug Nye of The State talks to a local native who now runs ESPNU.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that Sun Sports got off to a bad start with the Miami Heat season opener.

Dave Darling from the Orlando Sentinel looks at athletes’ endorsements over the years.

Over to David Barron of the Houston Chronicle who also decries MLB’s low ratings for this year’s World Series.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News performs an autopsy on the World Series ratings. I have a sneaking suspiscion that Barry copied and pasted the CBS, Fox and NBC announcing assignments from my NFL Viewing Picks for his NFL announcing assignment post.

Mel Bracht of The Daily Oklahoman says the Sooner State gets its own Fox Sports Net affiliate. And Mel has his media notebook.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Nancy Marrapese-Burrell has Cris Collinsworth spouting thoughts on Patriots QB Matt Cassell in anticipation of Sunday night’s matchup with the Colts.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette speaks with Comcast SportsNet New England Celtics road analyst Donny Marshall.

Over to the Sox & Dawgs blog which finds a hockey play-by-play opening, provided you speak Mandarin Chinese.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has the postmortem on the World Series ratings.

The grumpy Phil Mushnick of the New York Post pretends to be an advocate for the nation’s children regarding the World Series. Please.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with Fox Sports’ Michael Strahan about this Sunday’s Cowboys-Giants game. And Justin has five questions for TNT’s Kenny Smith.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is writing in tongues.

Newsday’s Neil Best joins the chorus of sports media writers pleading for earlier start time for the World Series. Because of my lack of blogging, I have quite a few posts from Neil to catch up and here’s one noting that Fang’s Bites fav Tina Cervasio is running the New York Marathon. Neil transcribes Sirius XM’s Chris Russo’s interview with Fox Sports Head Honcho Ed Goren about running a World Series game in the afternoon, for a reduced rights fee. Neil speculates on NBC’s Sunday Night Football flex schedule. Neil notes that the Knicks season opener did relatively well for MSG Network. Neil has video of legendary Phillies voice Harry Kalas calling the final out of the World Series. And Neil says WFAN has yet to decide on who will co-host Mike Francesa’s show. And we get a preview of Neil’s Sunday column in which Michael Strahan admits he’s biased towards his New York Giants.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette, an unabashed Phillies fan, has his reaction to the team’s first championship since 1980.

Laura Nachman says Phillies fans have a second chance to watch Friday’s victory parade. And Laura names the best sports reporter during the parade.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun looks at bias in sports reporting. In his blog, Ray transcribes Randy Cross’ thoughts on the NFL from a CBS Sports press release (which I have to receive, what’s going on, CBS Sports?).

Jim Williams from the DC Examiner says Florida-Georgia and Texas-Texas Tech are the big games for College Football Saturday.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes Canadian regulators have eased restrictions on TSN and Rogers Sportsnet.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the new voice of the Raptors is looking forward to a new season and a new team.

That will do it. I hope to have more posts coming up later.

Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote – 2008

Last year, I had an entry, Five Women Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote. Every once in a while, I notice people doing a Google search for the women on that list will stop on that page and look at what I came up with. If you don’t want to click on the link above, the list from last year is as follows:

1. Giada De Laurentiis – Food Network
2. Erin Andrews – ESPN
3. Tina Cervasio – formerly of NESN, now of MSG Network
4. Nigella Lawson – Food Network
5. Stacey Dales – ESPN/ABC

A very strong list. But I figured it was time to revise the list after watching some college football and the Food Network today. It’s a completely new list so there are no carryovers from last year. As I did in 2007, I go in reverse order.

5. Trenni Kusnierek – FSN Wisconsin

Trenni is looking like she’s smirking here. I don’t know the circumstances behind the pic, but it’s what I could find because she’s not listed at the FSN Wisconsin website. She’s the sideline reporter for the Milwaukee Brewers games and also does freelance work for the Big Ten Network. Her work is quite strong and she’s well liked by BTN to possibly do some work during college basketball season. We certainly hope we see more of her.

4. Aida Mollenkamp – Food Network

Who can resist that smile? The host of Ask Aida on Food Network answers questions on recipes, ingredients, food, you name it. Get rid of her tool tech guru on the show and it would be perfect. The show is great to watch and she can certainly whip up Pasta Bolognese in no time. And I’m getting hooked on the show every Saturday. And it’s just before Everyday Italian with last year’s number one Woman Who Can Make Me Stop Flipping The Remote, Giada!

3. Robin Meade – CNN Headline News

Host of Morning Express with Robin Meade, mornings on CNN Headline News, this is the show I turn on every morning before I go to work. She just doesn’t make me stop the remote, she’s the first face I see as I get ready to leave my house. And it’s not a bad thing at all. The news is presented very well on Morning Express and whenever Robin is on vacation or is on assignment, the very capable Christi Paul substitutes for her so the show doesn’t miss a beat. In my opinion, Morning Express is the best morning news program on TV.

2. Heidi Watney – NESN

Sideline reporter on NESN for Red Sox games, Heidi replaced the lovely Tina Cervasio this year after the Jersey girl decided to return home. While Heidi hasn’t made Red Sox Nation forget about Tina yet, she is very lovely and when she’s on with Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe on the NESN multi-sponsored pregame show, ratings for their segment go up (ok, I have nothing to base this on, I’m just saying). There are rumors that NESN will cut her loose after this season, but I certainly hope she’s given at least another year.

1. Charissa Thompson – Big Ten Network/Fox Sports/FSN

I keep using this picture for Charissa, we really need a new one, but that’s ok, it will suffice. Charissa’s star is rising at Fox. Last year, she hosted the FSN Baseball Report and did the sidelines for the Big Ten Network. I still maintain that Fang’s Bites was one of the first blogs to sing her praises before she began to get notices. And this year, Fox made her as one of the hosts on Best Damn Sports Show Period and added NFL sideline duties to her resume. She’s getting more notice and for good reason, being compared to Erin Andrews. I’ll be honest, I think she’s better than Erin and I feel that by the end of next year, she’ll surpass Erin in popularity. You heard it here first.

And that’s the list for this year.

A Saturday Linkfest

Well, it’s a drab day in Southern New England, lots of rain and plenty of overcast skies, plus people all go to the Post Office at the same time to send out packages. It’s never fun waiting at the Post Office.

Anyway, time to get to our links.

Starting off with Friend of Fang’s Bites, Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette, he says NBC is hoping the Olympics ratings success will rub off on the rest of its primetime lineup.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says NFL fans in the New York State Capital District should be happy with the lineup for Week 1.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says he’ll be watching the reunion of Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann next Sunday on Football Night in America.

Justin Terranova of the New York Post writes in the TV Sports blog that Giants fans get a chance to remember the Super Bowl victory over the Patriots twice this weekend.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that Western New Yorkers love their Bills, even with the Olympics on opposite their games twice during the exhibition season.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks to NFL Films’ Steve Sabol who says this year’s edition of Hard Knocks was the hardest for him to produce.

Jerry Garcia from the San Antonio Express-News says FSN Southwest will show plenty of Texas high school football games this season.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer talks with ESPN’s Mike Tirico about the Seahawks.

This week, NBC relaunched its “microsite” for Sunday Night Football. There are plenty of bios and other features there.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says Chiefs number one draft pick Glenn Dorsey will be part of an ESPN special this weekend.

My good friend, John Crowe of The Crowe’s Nest blog talks with Fang’s Bites fav Tina Cervasio of MSG Network and formerly of NESN.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says with its new cable deals this week, the Big Ten Network is now in 90% of households in its conference footprint.

Andy Piper of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald talks about the Big Ten Network’s long-awaited arrival on Mediacom systems in Iowa.

But Chris Johnson of the Fort Dodge Messenger says BTN is not in a small part of northwest Iowa because it has not been included in that agreement.

Rivals.com looks at what impact the ESPN-SEC deal will have on the basketball part of the conference.

Ron Judd of the Seattle Times wraps up the Communist China Olympics and looks forward to Vancouver in 2010.

Linda Moss of Multichannel News reports that due to Michael Phelps and the Olympics, cable lost viewership in the summer.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has a video of him shadowing Olympics gold medalist Michael Phelps. Darren was amused by a blog written by the chairman of Marriott International praising Michael who is a spokesman for Hilton Hotels. And Darren feels the NCAA should be compensating players for uniform sales.

Anna Marie De La Puente of Variety says thanks to the Olympics, ratings for NBC Universal’s Telemundo went way up.

Diane Barrett of Variety says by withholding some of its bigger events for primetime, NBC did not get as much revenue online as it might have hoped. I agree with this.

Jim Cota of the Indianapolis Business Journal liked the job NBC did with the Olympics.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star writes that if you watched the Olympics at one time or another, you were part of US history.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks about NBC’s Dan Hicks going from the Olypmics to call the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, MA this weekend.

Going back to the New York Times, good story by Marv Salter on tennis players making the transition from the court to the broadcast booth, citing Justin Gimelstob and Chanda Rubin as examples.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog says John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is a former TV sportscaster.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable can only confirm that Governor Palin was an intern at TV station KTUU in Anchorage.

But Newsday’s Neil Best who worked in Alaska in the 1980′s provides a little insight on Governor Sarah Palin.

John Lewis of the Sportscaster Chronicles site has a two part interview with Los Angeles Lakers announcer Joel Myers. You can hear the first part of the interview here and part two is here.

The Baltimore Sun says MASN and the Orioles are teaming up to offer $1 tickets in the upper deck of Camden Yards throughout the month of September.

I’ve been working on these links for a while so it’s time for me to do other things.

I do have a Videos of the Week feature coming up for Sunday morning. Since I have my day planned for me tomorrow, don’t expect links until the evening.

Some Wednesday Night Links

I’ve got to get up really early on Thursday so I won’t have the links for you right off the bat so you’ll have to make due with my Wednesday night links for now.

I’ll start with the NBA since the Association released its schedule today. I’m not a huge NBA fan so I was not into posting schedule-related links this afternoon. But I’ll give you some stuff now so you can peruse the games and plan your viewing accordingly.

I’ll go West Coast first as Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the Lakers and Celtics have the maximum amount of national appearances on ESPN, ABC and TNT.

Awful Announcing has the ESPN/ABC schedule for 2008-09.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record notices that the Knicks and Nets have been omitted from TNT’s schedule. And Ken tells us the Knicks aren’t on ESPN/ABC’s schedule either.

The Sports Media Watch says there are five, count ‘em, five NBA games on Christmas Day, all to be shown nationally. And the SMW breaks down the national appearances for each team.

And the Crowe’s Nest has a link to the defending champions Celtics schedule.

Moving from the NBA to the Olympics, where we go back to Ken McMillan who writes that WFAN will have hourly updates from Westwood One Radio. And Ken says 1050 ESPN Radio will air Westwood One’s nightly Olympics show.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a guide of NBC’s hosts and announcers for the Olympics.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times says despite what you heard about live coverage, a lot of NBC’s primetime Olympics programming will be delayed.

The following link comes courtesy of Awful Announcing. Ina Fried of CNET goes into the huge effort NBC is undertaking to bring you the Olympics from its New York headquarters to your computer.

Pip Bulbeck of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Australia’s 9 Network is being banned from filming in and around Olympic venues at Beijing after rightsholder 7 Network caught a 9 Network photographer at the Water Cube and complained to the International Olympic Committee.

Stephanie Levitz of the Canadian Press says CBC is going all out for its last Olympics games for at least six years.

Scott Greczkowski of Multichannel blogs that both DirecTV and Dish Network have signed up to provide NBC Universal’s HD Olympic Networks as well as having foreign language coverage.

Lisa Snedeker of Media Life Magazine reports that ad buyers are nervous about protests at the Olympics.

Variety’s Brian Lowry and Clifford Coonan write that the Olympics are shrouded in secrecy over the Opening Ceremonies.

Broadcasting & Cable reports that the Daily Show will be sending Rob Riggle to Communist China to file reports from the Olympics.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels the start of the English Premier League on Setanta Sports later this month will hold its own against the Olympics on CBC.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says an FCC test of white spaces using unlicensed mobile devices will take place at the August 9th Bills-Redskins game.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch remembers the time when the Boston Globe’s Will McDonough punched out Raymond Clayborne of the New England Patriots. True story.

And speaking of the Patriots, WBCN, the flagship of the Patriots Rock Radio Network has listed the four games it will stream for free at its website.

John Consoli of Mediaweek reports that Gillette will sponsor ESPN’s college football Kickoff Week which begins on August 28.

Back to Awful Announcing which shows that ESPN’s Erin Andrews is undaunted after being criticized for wearing a quote-unquote revealing dress last week.

Here’s a transcript of a chat Hannah Storm conducted on ESPN.com in advance of the premiere of the live morning SportsCenter block next week.

Barstool Sports was happy to see the lovely Tina Cervasio back on NESN covering the Little League World Series Regionals.

The 38Cliches blog finds a video of former Red Sox announcer Jerry Trupiano being interviewed on local access cable.

Joe Favorito says it’s important for an athlete to be involved in their own branding and marketing campaign.

Britt Braudo of the Detroit News talks with CBS’ Ian Baker-Finch who’s part of the crew calling the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills this week.

Barry Silverman of the Maryland Press Box site looks at the week in sports media from the Baltimore perspective.

That’s it until Thursday links later in the day. See you then.

Friday Megalinks – Part I

I’m back from my trek to Western Massachusetts. It will take me quite some time to compile the links so let me give them to you in multiple parts, perhaps two or three installments.

This weekend, the NBA Playoffs begin and the NHL Playoffs continue. Baseball concludes its third weekend of play. The PGA Tour chugs into Hilton Head, South Carolina without Tiger Woods while NASCAR goes to Mexico for the Nationwide Series.

ESPN and ABC kick off the NBA Playoffs with four games on Saturday. Then TNT and ABC will combine for four more games on Sunday.

NBC Sports will carry two NHL games this weekend, Game 5 of the Philadelphia Flyers-Washington Capitals series on Saturday, then Game 6 of the Detroit-Nashville series on Sunday. Versus will also carry games throughout the weekend. I’ll keep you updated here on the schedule.

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series takes the weekend off, but the Nationwide Series stops in Mexico City for the Corona Mexico 200 which will be seen on ESPN this Sunday at 2 p.m.

Fox Sports’ Saturday Baseball Game of the Week will have coverage of three games, Mets at Phillies, Cleveland at Minnesota and Dodgers at Braves starting at 3:55 p.m. TBS will goes back to its roots by showing Dodgers-Braves, Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball will have Mets at Phillies at 8:05 p.m.

The PGA Tour’s Verizon Heritage Open will be on CBS on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. CBS also has coverage of the LPGA Ginn Open both days starting at 1 p.m.

HBO’s World Championship Boxing has a Light Heavyweight Bout with Bernard Hopkins taking on Joe Calzaghe live from Las Vegas, Saturday night at 9:45.

And the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will be in Charleston, South Carolina for the Family Circle Cup which ESPN2 will carry this Sunday at 1 p.m.

The complete listing of sporting events and times can be seen at USA Today’s Sports on TV page.

I’ll start with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand as usual. He writes about CBS College Sports getting involved in competitive eating.

Now I’ll start in the East and Mid-Atlantic Regions.

East and Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch wonders when NESN will finally make its decision to replace Tina Cervasio. The season is almost three weeks old and so far, no sideline reporter in place for Red Sox games.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Bill Doyle has some quotes from TNT’s Charles Barkley in advance of the NBA Playoffs.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says a player like Sean Avery (?) is good for the National Hockey League.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that despite the New York Knicks not making the NBA playoffs, they’re still making an impact from the broadcast booth. Neil notes in his blog that two SNY shows predicted the Mets sweep of Washington this week. Also, Neil says the visit of Pope Benedict will push the Detroit-Nashville NHL playoff game from WNBC-TV to its secondary digital channel.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick rips into ESPN’s Joe Morgan. Again. Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for former Yankees, Rangers and Diamondback manager and current ESPN MLB analyst Buck Showalter. And Justin talks with TNT’s Charles Barkley about the NBA playoffs.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks into the possible move of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.

Paul Vigna of the Philadelphia Daily News writes the Phillies have become the first sports team to sign up for a service to measure people’s listening habits.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says three of TNT’s NBA analysts do not agree when it comes to handing out their end of season awards. Ray warns to blog at your risk, especially if you’re a Washington Post reporter.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says it will be busy this weekend as the Orioles, Nationals, Capitals and Wizards will all be in action and on TV and mostly in HD.

I’ll have the South coming up later.

It’s a Monday Thing

Back to the work grind. Not fun, but gotta do it. And it also means some more links for you today.

I’ve updated the NHL Playoff Series post through today. The NHL has not updated times for the upcoming weekend as Games Five and Six would be played for the first round series. Once they do, I’ll update it.

Giving you some linkage for today, we’ll start with the always lovely Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe who writes about the sudden Fox switch from the Yankees-Red Sox to NASCAR on Saturday. Red Sox fans are still buzzing about that switch today.

The Schenectady Gazette’s Ken Schott writing in blog says Fox committed a major error by switching away from the game to the race.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball also talks about the awkward Fox switch from MLB to NASCAR. Maury also has quotes from Buck Martinez who called yesterday’s Cubs-Phillies game on TBS.

Steven Hart of the Staten Island (NY) Advance says last night’s marathon Yankees-Red Sox game on ESPN takes the fun out of the rivalry.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are making Randy Johnson’s season debut against the San Francisco tonight available for free on its website.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand also discussed the Fox switch further down in his Monday column which focuses on how CBS seemed to root for Tiger Woods during The Masters on Sunday despite him not being able to mount a charge against eventual winner Trevor Immelman.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post also talks about how CBS kept focusing on Tiger Woods during The Masters.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says CBS’ crew gushed too much over Augusta.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that The Masters was a big ratings hit for ESPN. The Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune also discusses the excellent ratings for ESPN.

Alan Fraser of the Daily Mail in the UK has an article on CBS’ David Feherty.

Newsday’s Neil Best has excerpts of an interview conducted at The Masters with NBC’s Tom Brokaw ripping the New York Knicks.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir has an interesting feature on a group of New York Baseball Giants fans who miss their team as much as Brooklyn Dodgers fans do, but aren’t as vocal and are just as passionate.

The Sports Media Watch has the tentative NBA playoff schedule.

A couple of things from Ray Frager’s Medium Well blog at the Baltimore Sun. He seconds Neil Best’s nomination that Tom Hammond replace Bryant Gumbel at the NFL Network. And he has readers comments about biased commentators.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner says the great Bryant Gumbel experiment at the NFL Network is over.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News previews tomorrow’s Real Sports program on HBO.

Sam King of the Lafayette (IN) Journal and Courier feels ESPN showed its favortism towards Florida by showing its spring football game live on Saturday.

Brandweek talks about how the NFL Draft is becoming a big priority for the league and how MLB plans to shoot for the stars at the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium in July.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal writes that NESN and MSG Network are teaming up to produce Little League Baseball’s New England and Mid-Atlantic tournament in advance of the Little League World Series. The deal is for two years and for at least five games to be televised. I can’t link to the story because it requires a subscription, but when more information comes out, I’ll be sure to link to it.

By the way, here’s Tina Cervasio’s bio at MSG.com.

That’s all for now.

Back to Work Linkage

Let’s give you some links as we get back to work after the Easter holiday.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy says CBS Sports’ analyst Seth Davis nailed the Davidson game yesterday.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says CBS Sports went mad in its NCAA Tournament coverage.

However, Dusty Saunders from the Rocky Mountain News feels CBS was on top of the games.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek says there was a 122% increase in subscriptions to March Madness on Demand.

Fritz Nelson of InformationWeek says you can create your own highlights to “One Shining Moment” thanks to CBSSports.com’s mashup program.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News feels CBS made the right moves in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

However, John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says CBS made too many switches.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star the CBS announcers hyped the NCAA Tournament way too much.

Roger Van Der Horst of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer has a profile of CBS Sports analyst Billy Packer.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times gives his Two Cents worth on the NCAA Tournament, CA Championship and ESPN’s coverage of the UConn-Tennessee women’s basketball rivalry.

Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse blog says Elite XC on CBS could spark a bidding war between that organization and UFC. And Smith says Dick Vitale wants to get rid of the fouling out rule in college basketball.

David Kaplan of PaidContent says ESPN has ended a relationship with an ad network.

If you’re watching the NCAA Women’s Tournament on ESPN2 tonight, here’s the coverage map for all of the second round games.

Glenn Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable talks about ESPNews going HD later this month. Marisa Guthie of B&C interviews NBC Sports’ David Neal about producing the Summer Olympics in Communist China.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says ESPNU will carry the Northeast Regional Finals of the NCAA Hockey Tournament which will cause fans to scramble to watch the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Can Inman of the Contra Costa (CA) Times says Oakland A’s fans will have to wake up really early to watch their season opener with the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post gives praise to the FSN Rocky Mountain documentary on the Colorado Rockies rush to the World Series.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website says the San Diego Padres will provide all of its games on Cox 4 in HD.

The Hartford Courant has the broadcast schedule for the Red Sox-A’s season opener games in Japan this week on NESN and ESPN2. One thing of note, long-time Red Sox radio affiliate, WTIC in Hartford has shuffled the games to its HD affiliate, WTIC-FM HD2 which only 3 people can access.

The Toledo Blade reports on a local TV sports anchor who was tragically killed in a car accident last week.

The Sacramento Bee’s Scott Howard-Cooper talks with Kings announcer Gary Gerould.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Costas Now returns to HBO with a live show on April 29. And Reynolds has a story on the lovely Tina Cervasio joining MSG Network.

Timothy Scott of the Vallejo (CA) Times-Herald feels sports on TV has yet to be perfected.

Brandweek says the NHL will launch a new push for the Stanley Cup playoffs later this week.

That’s it for now. I’ll have updates throughout the day.

Weekend Links

Sorry for not updating the blog this weekend. I have been only been able to give you viewing picks and I’ve basically had my weekend planned out for me as I’ve had to work both Saturday and Sunday (yes, I had to work on Easter Sunday). That’s what happens when you’re involved in a family-run business, you have to work on days you’d normally have off. This is why I’m a very bitter and angry person, but you don’t want to hear about that. You want links. I’m here to give them to you.

I’ll start with Saturday links and then go on to the Sunday links.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn talks about some of the best and worst announcing of the NCAA Tournament through Friday.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News says there are other things to watch besides the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about a dispute about Belo Broadcasting and Charter Communications which has left viewers without the NCAA Tournament in HD.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette was busy covering the ECAC Hockey Tournament final in Albany so he did not have a column yesterday. I told him that I would give him a plug for his college hockey coverage, so you can always go to his Parting Schotts blog which always has updates on the sport and the sports media.

Let’s now move to the Sunday columns.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News gives praise to regional sports network SNY for the premiere of two shows. While he only gives it fleeting mention, Raissman should have given more prominence to the fact that the Daily News has a show on SNY and he appears on the network regularly. It stinks of a Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest. Raissman is quick to point out Conflicts of Interest. He should have declared his own before giving praise to SNY.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News has more about the new shows on SNY.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick wasn’t too happy over CBS’ choices during first round coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter says March Madness on Demand got off to a hot start on Thursday.

Howard Herman of the Berkshire (MA) Eagle chronicles his day at the CBS Broadcast Center taking in the NCAA Tournament.

Neil Best in today’s Newsday has a conversation with Bob Knight. In his blog, Neil talks about how Knight in just a short few stints on the Alleged Worldwide Leader has been more coherent than his partner, Digger Phelps who has been on ESPN for almost ten years. And Neil notes that there’s a reason why ESPN has been showing short clips for the NCAA Tournament highlights.

Paul Doyle of the Hartford Courant says ESPN’s college basketball analysts go from Bradley Airport in Hartford to their hotels to ESPN and back again during the NCAA Tournament.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes about ESPN televising the NCAA Women’s Tournament. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks about the ESPN family of networks televising all 63 games of the Women’s Tournament on one platform or another.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekly ratings predictions. And Paul Sen says ESPN/ABC is improving on its NBA coverage, but still has a ways to go.

Tom Hoffarth in his Farther Off the Wall blog picks up an Associated Press story which states that Communist China may censor Olympic broadcasters from showing live shots of Tienamien Square for fears it may bring back memories of the 1989 crackdown that killed hundreds of pro-democracy students and the recent Tibet crackdowns that killed many protestors.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the ESPN documentary Black Magic scored in the ratings.

The Chicago Tribune’s Olympic reporter Philip Hersh has a couple of good items in his Globetrotting blog. First, he mentions that because the International Skating Union is lax, he was able to watch the World Figure Skating Championships off the internet without paying a dime. And Hersh pays tribute to Doug Wilson who probably directed his last Figure Skating event for ESPN/ABC in a career that spans five decades.

Tom Perrotta writes in the New York Sun that FSN’s coverage of the Pacific Life Tournament needs a lot of improvement.

Al Norton of BostonNOW talks with NESN’s popular Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy. Lenny Megliola of the MetroWest (MA) Daily News says he’s not ready to watch a Red Sox game at 6 a.m.

And the lovely Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald talks with the lovely Tina Cervasio about her departure from NESN.

That’s it for the weekend. I’ll have a quick recap of my thoughts on the first weekend of coverage of the NCAA Tournament on both TV and radio coming up.

Thursday Quick Links

Just a few links for this afternoon.

It appears CBSSports.com has fixed its glitches for the second games this afternoon. No audio problems or buffering. And even though I wanted to dislike Carter Blackburn in his NCAA Tournament debut, he’s doing a pretty decent job in the Anaheim subregional working with Jay Bilas. Not bad at all. I wouldn’t mind him working over Craig Bolerjack at this point.

To your links.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that Tina Cervasio has officially signed with MSG Network where she will be a studio co-anchor of MSG, NY and do some sideline reporting. Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch has the press release from MSG Network.

The Sports Media Watch says if you think CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament has an ESPN feel, you would not be far off.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says UCLA’s internet radio station is not allowed to call the NCAA Tournament games involving the school even though it did for the regular season and PAC 10 Tournament nor did it get a press credential. However, in an update in his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth says the station did get a credential, but is still not allowed to call the games.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle is asking you to give your assessment of March Madness on Demand.

John Consoli of Mediaweek tells us that ESPN has a host of returning sponsors for the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Consoli says CBS will air its first Mixed Martial Arts bout on May 31.

Dan Gross of the Phildelphia Daily News says a long-time sports talk show host is returning to the airwaves. And Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the host’s return also marks the renewal on an on-air feud with another talk show host. And Laura Nachman has more on the story.

The Murfreesboro (TN) Daily Journal says the Nashville Predators will be featured on Versus on April 1.

Geoffrey Fattah of the Deseret (UT) Morning News writes that a freelance producer for ESPN and ABC has been arrested for the second time on child pornography charges.

That will do us for now. I might have an update tonight.

The Thursday Linkage

With this being Thursday, I have a lot of stuff to do and there’s the NCAA Tournament to keep track of so let’s get to some links now.

From the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Bill Doyle talks with ESPN’s Steve Phillips who’ll be traveling to Japan to call the Red Sox-A’s games next week.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald has a story on WEEI’s Glenn Ordway who’s daughter seems to be fine after a harrowing ordeal at childbirth. We’re happy to hear that she’s recovering nicely.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch has an update on NESN’s search for Tina Cervasio’s replacement and other related stuff.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks with Screamin’ Gus Johnson of CBS Sports and has a mention of legendary Tribune NBA reporter Sam Smith deciding to leave the paper.

Tom Dorsey from the Louisville Courier-Journal says March Madness takes over the TV and workplace for the next couple of days.

Matt Huggins of the Mitchell (SD) Daily Republic says this is the most wonderful time of the sports year.

Julia Boorstin of CNBC says no matter how you watch the NCAA Tournament whether it be online, on TV or through satellite, CBS wins.

Christine Brennan of USA Today suggests to have the Men’s and Women’s Final Fours at the same site on the same day. Not a bad idea and it would cost less for the NCAA to have one site instead of two.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is in Day Nine of his Minor League Baseball logo contest.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News says WPEN will take on ESPN Radio’s programming for most of the day.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that CBS/WFAN’s Boomer Esiason has joined USA Football as a spokesman and contributor.

The Sports Media Watch has some news and notes.

Chris Hogg of Digital Journal says the NBC Sports website got hit by a malicious attack yesterday.

That’s it for now. Back after the late afternoon games.

Your Sunday Morning Blog

As we get ready for Selection Sunday, let me give you some linkage. And thanks to The Big Lead for linking to this site yesterday. Patrick Imig wrote about the Sports Emmy Award nominations and he had a problem with a few of them. Much appreciated. Any time a major sports blog links to here, the traffic is always welcome. Thanks, Patrick. And don’t forget to visit The Big Lead which is listed in the Friends of Fang’s Bites section.

Let’s get to your links, shall we?

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times is another media critic who praises ESPN’s Black Magic documentary.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman talks with Steven A. Smith who has put his fate in ESPN’s hands.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with tennis analyst extraordinaire John McEnroe and former U.S. soccer star Julie Foudy about their second careers in TV. Very good article (not that Neil needs my praise). And Neil has more from Julie in his blog. Neil also has some quotes from NBC Sports’ golf analysts on Tiger Woods. Finally, Neil has a transcript of an old Kiner’s Korner interview with Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra and his mom.

SI.com picks up an Associated Press story which says CBS almost moved the Big Ten Tournament final up to 1 p.m. ET today to accomodate the SEC Final. As you know, it didn’t happen.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner previews today’s action starting with the SEC Final on ESPN2.

Steve Edelson of the Ashbury Park (NJ) Press writes about ESPN basketball analyst Doris Burke who does great work whether it be on the sidelines or analyzing a game at mid-court.

Barry Janoff of Brandweek writes that the NCAA Tournament has become a marketer’s dream.

From the Daytona Beach (FL) News Journal, Bright House cable has come to an agreement with a local CBS affiliate in time for March Madness.

The Topeka (KA) Capital-Journal talks with broadcaster Fred White about what could be his last gig ever, the Big 12 Tournament.

Mike Tankersley from the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says it’s still not known if the 45 Atlanta Braves games that will be carried by Peachtree TV will be seen on all cable systems in Alabama.

The Surviving Grady blog laments the loss of Tina Cervasio from Red Sox broadcasts.

Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune talks with Alyssa Milano about her MLB clothing line and her work for TBS Hot Corner during the playoffs last year. Don’t mind the headline, it’s a bit misleading.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says FSN Bay Area had one of those no-win situations when it switched from a girls high school championship game to a Sharks-Blues game.

Newy Scruggs (yes, that’s his name) has a transcript of his interview with TNT’s Charles Barkley in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

David Exum of the Boston Herald writes that after today’s Food City 500 race, Dale Jarrett will be moving over to ESPN permanently. He’s already called some races for the network last month.

That’s all for now. Enjoy Selection Sunday

Post Holiday Links

Back to work for some of you. For those of us who have worked yesterday, it’s just another day of the grind.

Some FYI. I’m working on a feature story that I’ll be bringing to you in the next day or two. You can look for that here either later tonight or first thing tomorrow.

Let’s get to the links now.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with new New York Mets announcer Wayne Hagin who replaces Tom McCarthy. Hagin has a long, distinguished career, well into his third decade of calling baseball games. In his blog, Neil talks about the challenges Wayne faces as a newcomer to the Mets. And Neil posts a picture of the lovely Stacy Kiebler in discussing the new cast of “Dancing with the Stars.” And Newsday’s Bob Glauber gets on Neil’s case for posting that pic of Stacy.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir writes about the new movie, Semi-Pro, a fictional movie about the old American Basketball Association, and its commercial tie-ins.

The angry Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says the saga isn’t over for Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times gives his thoughts on the last weekend of televised sports in his Two Cents blog.

Geoff Larcom of the Ann Arbor News writes about his mother-in-law’s difficult experience trying to get ESPN on her cable system.

The Jossip blog says ESPN is pretending that ESPN the Magazine is its own entity.

Jim Alexander of the Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise says we should be thankful for having so many choices for sports on TV.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune says it’s not good when sports announcers become part of the action either on the field or the court.

Brian VanOchten of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes in his Two Minute Drill blog that the NFL Network will be all over the NFL Scouting Combines this week.

The Kansas City Star’s Jeffrey Flanagan says football writer Bob Gretz is puzzled over the choice of his fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame voters for the Class of 2008.

George Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says two Cleveland Cavs shined during NBA All Star Weekend on TNT. He also mentions at the bottom of the article that regional sports network Sports Time Ohio will be aired entirely in HD.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune posts the final interview ever conducted with the late Cubs announcer Harry Caray.

From Sunday’s Boston Herald, the Inside Track girls say NESN’s Bruins studio host, Kathryn Tappen is the leader in the clubhouse for the Red Sox field reporter gig that Tina Cervasio had for the last two seasons.

I’ll have more later.

The Monday Links

Here we are, back to work and time to give you some links.

First, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch tells us that Tina Cervasio was seen on NBC Sports this weekend. I wish I had seen her. By the way, Boston Sports Media Watch is going through a redesign and a new server. The new web page looks quite good and Bruce Allen who runs the site does a fantastic job running the site and was the first to provide links to stories relating to Boston sports. He’s the website that many of us amateur bloggers aspire to be.

Next, Michael Hiestand of USA Today tells us that the roles of sideline reporters Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya on Monday Night Football are going to be reduced.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website says ESPN plans to expand its HD coverage in 2008.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says it was wrong of several Congressmen to have had their picture taken with Roger Clemens, several days before he was to testify in DC this week.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun gives us a couple of recommended links in his Medium Well blog.

Rocky Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News laments the end of Inside the NFL on HBO.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell gives us the top selling NFL jerseys.

CBS Sports says all 63 games of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will be available online for the first time ever.

John Dempsey of Variety says Oxygen will air 20 hours of gymnastics coverage during the Summer Olympics.

You may have seen the video and Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union certainly has, but he says ESPN used restraint when showing the horrific moment when Florida Panthers defenseman Richard Zednik had his throat accidentally cut during the game against the Buffalo Sabres last night.

Laura Drake of the Ottawa Citizen writes that a Canadian band is trying to confirm one of its songs was used in the Fox Super Bowl pregame show.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says NBC is looking to produce a new reality show on curling featuring rock stars. You read that right. And Zelkovich says CBC was on its game during Hockey Day in Canada.

However, William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels CBC went too far. The Globe and Mail reports that Red Wings TV analyst Mickey Redmond is going surgery to remove a tumor on his lung.

That’s going to do it for now.

Tuesday’s Links

Now that North Carolina-Duke is coming tomorrow, I’m officially getting into college basketball mode, plus pitchers and catchers report in a couple of weeks so I’m getting out of football mode.

Let’s get to some links. Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald writes in her Messenger blog that Fox 25 in Boston garnered great ratings on Super Bowl Sunday.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Bill Belichick’s leaving the field with one second left in the Super Bowl was not as big a deal as the media is making it out to be.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the Super Bowl set a viewing record.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that the Fox production crew is proud of its effort for the Super Bowl.

The Chicago Tribune’s Ed Sherman says the Super Bowl just fell short of the all-time viewing record.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Super Bowl XLII is 5th in viewing all-time in the Gateway City.

And the Houston Chronicle’s David Barron tells us that the game also set a record in total viewers.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says this year, fourth quarter ads in the Super Bowl reached their target audience.

Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette writes that the Super Bowl set a viewing record in the U.S. and in Canada.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail also talks about the viewing numbers for the Super Bowl both in the U.S. and Canada.

In his Medium Well blog, the Baltimore Sun’s Ray Frager says ESPN’s Digger Phelps forgot that he’s part of the media when he talked about Bob Knight’s retirement.

Dick Vitale writes that he’s happy to be coming back to work tomorrow. Actually, Dick was on Mike & Mike on ESPN radio this morning. Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer is also happy to have Vitale back. Jerry Brewer of the Seattle Times also writes about Dickie V’s return.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon-Journal says four networks will have live coverage of National Signing Day on Wednesday.

The Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown tells us that Dodger broadcaster Rick Monday will be inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

This story is from last week and got buried in the avalanche of Super Bowl stories, but the Inside Track girls from the Boston Herald write that Tina Cervasio’s departure from NESN remains a mystery. And Caroline Roberts in the Bostonist says Red Sox fans are mourning the loss of Tina.

Turner Sports has announced that 45 Atlanta Braves games will be seen on Peachtree TV, formerly WTBS in Atlanta.

Ok, that will do it for now. I’ll be back later with an afternoon update.

Our Mid-Week Links

I don’t think I’ll be blogging as much as I did yesterday, but we’ll keep an eye on developments from the Super Bowl. If anything happens, we’ll put it here. In the meantime, your links for today.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy talks about the incessant coverage of Tom Brady by both the sports and entertainment media.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about the departure of Tina Cervasio from NESN.

Here’s ESPN’s schedule for Super Bowl programming on radio and TV from Arizona today.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that Giants coach Tom Coughlin looked like he was enjoying Super Bowl Media Day. Neil writes in his blog that he tried to get a Super Bowl pick from former American Idol participant Kellie Pickler. Neil says Ines Sainz whom I thought was the one asking questions in a wedding dress was at Media Day as well. And as a follow up to his column today, Neil says Coughlin aced his first media test this week.Finally, Neil has Fox Sports analyst Troy Aikman stating that he’s not biased against the Giants despite what Big Blue Nation thinks.

Jon Friedman of Marketwatch talks to ESPN’s Chris Berman about how the New York Football Giants could beat the Pats in the Super Bowl. Before the Patriots fans get up in arms, Friedman clearly states he’s a Giants fan so don’t kill him.

Barbara Yost from the Arizona Republic sets the scene of ESPN’s Super Bowl command post at SouthBridge. Yost also writes that there are plenty of chances for fans to get on TV during Super Bowl week.

Karen Crouse of the New York Times writes about Tom Brady having to deal with the Paparazzi.

David Bauder of the Associated Press says the ratings for the Super Bowl could set a record.

Karl Greenberg of Mediapost says Taco Bell plans to unveil a new meal deal during the Super Bowl.

The Buffalo News’ Alan Pergament talks about hack Ryan Seacrest hosting the red carpet portion of the Fox Super Bowl pregame show.

The Cherry Hill (NJ) Courier Post picks up a story from Mike Hughes of the Gannett News Service describing what Fox will air on Super Bowl Sunday.

David Thomas from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks about yesterday’s Super Bowl Media Day.

Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch talks about CBS and ESPN adding Ohio State basketball games to their schedules.

Jeff Eisenberg from the Press-Enterprise in California says ESPN’s telecast of the USC-Arizona game this Saturday is not a precursor for the Worldwide Leader to get into the Pac 10 long term.

Morgan Unger of the Marshall University student newspaper writes that the date of the rivalry football game between Marshall and West Virginia has been changed to accommodate ESPN.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell asks what does the internment of Barbaro’s ashes at Churchill Downs means for the track.

Nancy Stockdale of the Des Moines Register writes that NBC Sports and several companies are trying to get on the train of world champion gymnast Shawn Johnson who’s expected to do well at the Olympics in Communist China this summer.

There you have it for now. More later.

Tina Cervasio Is Leaving NESN

From the Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen reports that Fang’s Bites fav, Tina Cervasio is leaving NESN when her contract expires in March (scroll down). Remember earlier this month, we linked to a story in the Boston Herald that Tina was talking to New York TV station, Fox 5. Tina will be working closer to her New Jersey home.

The Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam has the story in her Messenger blog. Eric Wilbur of Boston.com has a version of the story in the Red Sox Extra Bases blog. And the Boston Business Journal reports on Tina’s departure as well.

She’ll definitely be missed in New England.

Le Monday Links

It’s snowing in New England. Luckily, I waited to go into work today so the roads were clear coming into work, but when I leave in about an hour, I’m sure there will be more people on the highways. The last time it snowed in this area in December, there will delays of more than 6 hours on the roads in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Here’s hoping the idiots in both states have learned their lessons to make sure the roads are all clear.

First, some potentially bad news for Red Sox fans. The Inside Track girls of the Boston Herald report that NESN’s Tina Cervasio may be leaving for a job closer to home (she’s a Jersey Girl) with Fox 5 in New York. Red Sox fans have come to love Tina who does great work on the sidelines on Red Sox games, but NESN is notorious for not stepping up and paying talent. Tina’s contract is up and I hope that she remains in Boston. Stay tuned.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand tells us that Fox is going to use its Super Bowl pregame show to hype American Idol. If you have the NFL Network, turn over there to watch a real pregame show. And it’s true, Paula Abdul will have a role on the Fox pregame. Don’t watch.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick picks on a lot of minute things in the Fox and CBS playoff broadcasts.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a bunch of blog posts today. I’ll link to a few. First, he reports that ESPN has invested in the new NBA China. Great. Neil writes that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman did not mention Jessica Simpson once during the Giants-Cowboys broadcast.

More on that NBA China venture from Michael de la Merced of the New York Times.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speculates how much Super Bowl tickets could cost based on the potential matchups of the four remaining teams.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says the best announcing voices were missing from the NFL Divisional Playoffs this past weekend.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his blog about ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel teaming up for extensive coverage of the Australian Open.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany (NY) Times Union says in his blog that the matchups in the NFL Conference Championships are not what CBS and Fox had hoped for.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says the NFL had a very good weekend.

The Sports Media Watch looks at both conference matchups and Paulsen says San Diego robbed CBS of extremely high ratings by winning the AFC Divisional playoff game against the Colts. And the Sports Media Watch looks at how the Giants threw a monkey wrench into Fox’s plans for the NFC Championship. Paulsen also has a story on the NBA and ESPN teaming up on the new NBA China venture.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich hates two things, Terrell Owens and the way Fox covered Terrell Owens during yesterday’s Giants-Cowboys game.

ESPN has announced that Dick Vitale plans to return to the airwaves on February 4th on the Mike & Mike show on ESPN Radio, then return to game announcing during the Duke-North Carolina game two days later.

More reason to hate ESPN, Mike Shields of Mediaweek writes that the giant behemoth has signed with Major League Gaming for something. You can read it. Also from Mediaweek, Steve McClellan writes that NBC may hit a sales record for the Summer Olympics.

Scott Cronick of the Press of Atlantic City reviews the roast of ESPN Radio’s Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic from the weekend.

In advance of the start of the NASCAR season, United Press International talks with Fox Sports’ Darrell Waltrip’s concerns about the falling ratings for the sport.

That’s it for now.

Wednesday Night Linkage

Some links to give you here tonight.

Chris Pursell of TV Week updated his Pressbox blog and he talks with Fox Sports’ Joe Buck. Included in the blog entry is part of Buck’s Fox late night show pilot.

The lovely Tina Cervasio of NESN has posted some pictures of her experiences during the ALCS and World Series.

John Daly of the Daly Planet blog which follows motorsports on TV has an entry on ESPN making some much needed changes to its “NASCAR Now” show.

Time Warner Cable has added the NHL Network to its sports and high definition tiers in San Antonio.

The Bloomington (IL) Pentagraph says the Today show will profile Michael Jordan’s son, Jeffrey tomorrow.

From the San Jose Mercury News, John Ryan says the Patriots-Colts game pulled a higher rating in the Bay Area than the season average for both the 49ers and the Raiders.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley writes that ESPN’s Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps are bullish on Wisconsin and Marquette for this college basketball season.

In his Medium Well blog in the Baltimore Sun, Ray Frager writes that in the early going, Stephen “A is for Acrimony” Smith and Bill Walton are not meshing well in the ESPN NBA studio.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal writes that problems seen during Saturday’s Big Ten Network telecast of Wisconsin-Ohio State were limited to Dish Network only.

The Canyon Lake (TX) Times Guardian has an article regarding Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones visit to Guadelupe Valley Telecommunications Cooperative headquarters, a small cable TV company in the San Antonio area that carries the NFL Network.

TSN will air the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies this coming Monday.

Those are the links for now. Thursday links will be late as I’ll be out of the office for most of the day. I’ll put them up when I can.

Sunday Morning Linkage

Let’s give you some links this morning and sometime before the World Series, I’ll do the Videos of the Week. I still haven’t decided the theme as of yet.

First, Neil Best is not happy over the length of Saturday’s World Series Game 3 which went four hours and nineteen minutes (a full nine innings!) and ended about 1 a.m. ET. Thanks, Fox for a pregame show that went too long and filling commercial time that went 2:20 in between innings. And in his column, Best gives praise to former Jets QB Ray Lucas who has been doing studio work with SNY on its Jets programming. In the Watchdog blog, Best adds some things that didn’t make it into the column. You want more Ray Lucas stuff? Neil is only happy to oblige. Finally, Neil posts one more addendum to his Friday column in which he praised SNY for its commitment to newsgathering (I only link to it because there’s a picture of the lovely Bonnie Bernstein of ESPN).

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says MSG Network has finally taken the gloves off on New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, but still won’t mention owner James Dolan.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post feels ESPN won’t discuss the Travis Henry story in its NFL pregame shows today or tomorrow. Henry of the Broncos is facing a second drug suspension and reportedly has fathered nine children with nine women. Nothing like spreading your gene pool.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes that it’s a good time to be a Boston sports fan and mentions that the Bruins moved their game time yesterday so not to compete with the Red Sox.

The Sports Media Watch blog talks about ESPN/ABC butchering its NASCAR coverage.

In his Four DVRs, no waiting blog, the Houston Chronicle’s David Barron writes about ESPN’s Darren Woodson using an unfortunate choice of words in regards to the Houston-San Diego game.

We haven’t done this in a while so let’s give you a bunch of links on the Big Ten Network. Bob Heisse of the Centre (PA) Daily Times writes in his blog that Comcast is updating subscribers on why it’s not carrying the Big Ten Network. Drew Sharp and Shannon Shelton of the Detroit Free Press report that BTN is setting a deadline for next month for Comcast and Time Warner Cable to pick it up in time for basketball season. Michael Rosenberg also of the Free Press puts the blame squarely in Comcast’s corner. Rosenberg says the Comcast-BTN feud is getting close to Michigan-Michigan State proportions. Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi and Big Ten Conference President Jim Delaney co-author an editorial in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune stating that Comcast is the culprit in the dispute. Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer says this fight involving BTN and the NFL Network against Comcast is much ado about nothing. The Capital Times of Wisconsin says that long-time state broadcaster Jay Wilson joins BTN to call women’s basketball games. And Ohio State fans will have to scramble to see the Buckeyes’ game vs. Illinois on November 10 as Doug Harris of the Dayton Daily News writes it will most likely be on the Big Ten Network.

Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News talks about the NFL turning to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to get the NFL Network on cable. Todd Mavreles of the Brownsville (TX) Herald writes that two Cowboys games scheduled for the NFL Network won’t be available in the area on Time Warner Cable.

Joanne Ostrow of the Denver Post spent last night in the Fox Sports production truck as it produced Game 3 of the World Series.

The lovely Tina Cervasio of NESN has been writing a blog for MLB.com about her experiences covering the World Series. I like it.

Steve Wiseman of The State writes that a lucky fan who produces a winning video could see a BCS game.

Guy Cipriano of the Centre Daily Times chronicles ESPN College Gameday’s day at Penn State.

Those are your links for today. Videos of the Week will come later today.

Some Saturday Links

Good morning and I’m in a bit of a rush as I’m trying to do this before I have to head out.

First, Chris Pursell of TV Week in his Pressbox blog gives us his NFL Week 7 broadcast preview.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Cowboys are truly a ratings giant. And there’s an editorial in the Morning News denouncing the silly NFL rule allowing only 45 seconds of video on non-NFL approved websites.

Soon, there will one city with every radio station doing a sports format. Don’t laugh. It’s going to happen. Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Gateway City is getting its 4th all-sports station.

Long time Miami sports radio talk show host Hank Goldberg is leaving WQAM at the end of his contract according to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel also has the story. You know Hammerin’ Hank from his work on ESPN on both the NFL and horse racing.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News shares some of his thoughts on the Bills’ appearance on Monday Night Football two weeks ago (he was on vacation).

Eric Hansen (no, not the creepy reporter of Dateline NBC) of the South Bend (IN) Tribune writes that even though Notre Dame football is garnering low ratings this season, NBC is still happy with its deal to broadcast its home games.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that in a convergence of sports on both network and cable TV last Monday night, the networks won. John Consoli of Mediaweek says Game 4 of the American League Championship Series garnered 12.3 million viewers for Fox.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball website talks with Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal.

Alan Schmadtke of the Orlando Sentinel writes even though Monday Night Football doesn’t have as many viewers on ESPN as it did on ABC, the players still feel it’s special.

The Inside Track girls at the Boston Herald wrote a blurb on Thursday about NESN’s Tina Cervasio and her stiletto boots.

Continuing with some more gossip, Fang’s Bites fav Alycia Lane, you know the Philadelphia news anchor who sent sexy swimsuit pics to NFL Network host Rich Eisen, has split up with New York news anchor Chris Wragge.

That’s going to do it for now. I’ll have NFL Picks for Week 7 sometime today. Coming up tomorrow, your Sunday links and Videos of the Week.

Saturday Morning Linkage

As I celebrate the Red Sox winning the American League East, Friday night was truly a great night of baseball. The Chicago Cubs clinched the National League Central, but they had to wait until Milwaukee lost to San Diego to celebrate. The Arizona Diamondbacks clinched a playoff spot, but didn’t find out until manager Bob Melvin told them. And the New York Mets continue to crumble in the National League East and the Philadelphia Phillies, counted out a week ago have now taken the lead by one game.

Following the Red Sox, NESN followed all angles of the game with the Twins, constantly updating the Yankees-Baltimore game. And after the Red Sox won, NESN remained in the studio with Tom Caron and Dennis Eckersley, showing shots of the Jumbotron which was showing the Yankees on the screen and cutting to shots of the crowd at Fenway Park which mostly stayed to watch the game as it went into extra innings. And when the O’s won on a strange bases loaded bunt by Melvin Mora, the Red Sox and the fans who stayed got to celebrate. NESN gets extra points for blowing away plans to air a taped debate of “candidates” for President of Red Sox Nation. Instead, NESN covered the celebrations in the locker room and the field (reporters Tina Cervasio and Kathryn Tappen deserve hazard pay for enduring champagne and beer showers). This was a night for the fan who had either the MLB Extra Innings package or ESPN which also updated the scores during the Padres-Brewers game. Fun night to watch.

Ok, let’s go to some links.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News writes that baseball is coming down to the wire on its final weekend and TBS is getting ready to air its first MLB postseason.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn also writes about TBS and the MLB postseason, but he also laments the passing of the Braves on TBS era and also has an interesting story on how the Texas Rangers almost became the third MLB team to air on a superstation.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about TBS snubbing Skip Carey for the playoffs and also goes into the channel’s plans for the League Divisional Series.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Tony Gwynn is just getting started on a whirlwind tour that begins this weekend for Cox Channel 4, then TBS.

Jonathan Okanes of the Contra Costa (CA) Times says TBS is stepping up to the plate for the playoffs.

In his Newsday blog, Neil Best reports that Time Warner Cable in New York and New Jersey will pick up TBS HD so fans of the Yankees (and possibly the Mets) can watch the MLB playoffs.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek says MLB.com and FoxSports.com will increase the online content for the MLB postseason with new pre and postgame shows involving talent from both sites. However, I don’t see anything on streaming games online for the US audience. I know that MLB streams games for International fans, but nothing yet for the United States.

TV Week provides the national sports ratings for the week of September 17-23.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the Yankees bringing Roger Clemens to pitch was almost worth the price of his salary.

On Sunday, 60 Minutes will have an interview with Tennessee Titans QB Vince Young and he’s still bitter over losing the Heisman Trophy to Reggie Bush.

John Dempsey of Variety has a feature of ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune reports that city residents can now see the Big Ten Network on RCN Cable. Greenstein says the deals with RCN and Wide Open West (WOW) Cable signed Friday have now put the number of subscribers for BTN at 30 million. The Evansville (IN) Courier & Press says WOW will put BTN on its expanded basic tier.

Laura Nachman of the Bucks County Courier Times marks the 10th Anniversary of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

From the “Don’t They Have Anything Better To Do” Department comes this story from Stephanie Struglinski of the Deseret (UT) Morning News that five Western U.S. Senators are appealing to DirecTV and Dish Network to pick up the mtn. and get Mountain West games on TV. Tony Pizza (I guess that’s his real name) of the Daily Utah Chronicle, the University of Utah’s student newspaper writes about the mtn. picking up more cable carriage, albeit slowly.

Don’t call it a comeback, Mama said knock you out. SI’s Richard Deitsch talks with LL Cool J about his love for boxing.

On Friday, I linked to two stories about Boston’s WCVB-TV launching a new Sunday sports show. Here’s the station’s own story on the premiere this Sunday night. The show will be called SportsCenter 5 OT.

Those are the links for Saturday. When I started, I thought I would only have three or four, but I ended up having more than I expected which is a good thing. I’ll have NFL Picks coming up later today.