Fang's Bites

Bringing Out Some Saturday Links

Been battling the stomach flu over the last 24 hours which is why you haven’t seen new posts since the Weekend Viewing Picks. My apologies for that. Still feeling a bit blue over the flu and running to the bathroom every 15 minutes, but I’m getting better now. Been a tough winter for me getting sick, but hopefully, the spring will bring better health.

Let’s bring you some overdue linkage.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today says lucrative TV deals have emboldened the Anaheim Angels and Texas Rangers in the free agent market.

Brian Lowry at FoxSports.com rates the Super Bowl ads.

The Nielsen Wire blog says one particular Doritos Super Bowl ad is the Most-Liked.

Fred Frommer of the Associated Press has a feature story on how President Richard Nixon offered to keep the old NFL blackout rule in place if it lifted the local blackout on a home DC NFL team.

Alec Banks of Complex has the “20 Hottest Women in the History of ESPN” and I totally disagree with the list. If you’re going history, no Karie Ross? No Melissa Stark? This list is faulty.

The new radio voice of the Pawtucket Red Sox, Aaron Goldsmith goes behind-the-scenes of taping a new radio spot.

Multichannel News says NBC Sports Network has hired an ESPN executive to head up its original programming department.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley feels the media coverage of Gisele Bündchen’s comments after the Super Bowl were much ado about nothing, but he feels it could be the future of sports media.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has video of Jeremy Lin’s insane spin move on Derek Fisher during last night’s Lakers-Knicks game.

Dan notes that Fox Sports Jason Whitlock made a racist penis joke about Jeremy Lin and Twitter responded.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen writes in SB Nation Boston that sports can be fun, except with the Boston Sports Media.

The Connecticut Post reports that YES Network Nets and Yankees studio host Bob Lorenz was arrested this week on DUI charges.

The New York Times’ Melissa Hoppert spends 30 seconds with NHL Network host Kathryn Tappen.

Richard Sandomir of the Times says not even Linsanity can get the Knicks back on Time Warner Cable.

Richard says the Mets have hired a replacement for radio announcer Wayne Hagin.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union talks with CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Nanci Donnellan, a.k.a. The Fabulous Sports Babe, is in very bad health.

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune talks with a former local sports talk show host who was fired from his job for making several derogatory remarks about a women’s college basketball analyst.

NBC San Diego also has an interview with the host who originally did not apologize for his remarks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News laments the shrinking number of sports media reporters in Southern California.

Tom has a couple of notes that didn’t make his column.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing is fascinated by ESPN’s extensive film library.

Sports Media Watch says the audience for Fox’s second live English Premier League broadcast grew slightly, but had the same rating.

SMW says this week’s Duke-North Carolina game had higher ratings from last year.

Lorenzo Arguello has video of ESPN’s Erin Andrews getting chatty with Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model Brooklyn Decker at last week’s GQ Super Bowl party.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBCSports.com will stream all of the out-of-market early games from next weekend’s Hockey Day in America.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth says sports radio hosts getting personal is when they cross over the line.

We’ll end the linkage there.

NHL Network Unveils New Logo, New Show, New Ad Campaign

Just received this from NHL Network and it’s an announcement about the unveiling of a new logo which is pretty sharp, a new nightly 10 p.m. ET show hosted by former NESN Bruins studio host Kathryn Tappen, and a new ad campaign which gives viewers a sense that the NHL Network is no longer stuck in a broom closet.

Starting Monday, NHL Network launches NHL Tonight which will air at 10 p.m. and is a spinoff of NHL on the Fly. For the first week, NHL Tonight will air immediately following coverage of the IIHF World Junior Championships.

In addition, NHL Network will ramp up its coverage for the NHL Winter Classic by locating its NHL Live show at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia, plus it also unveils a new ad campaign for the network next week.

I have the new logos for you plus the press release below.

NHL NETWORK GETS A JUMP ON 2012 WITH NEW SHOW, AD CAMPAIGN AND LOGO

Highlight Show “NHL TONIGHT” Launches on Dec. 26 Showing Every Highlight,Every Game, Every Night
NHL Network Begins On-Site Coverage of the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Dec. 29
Dish Network, Verizon FiOS and Charter Communications Subscribers Can Watch A Free Preview of NHL Network Dec. 29 – Jan. 2

NEW YORK (December 22, 2011) – NHL Network will get a jump on the New Year with a number of new enhancements including a new network logo, re-branded highlight show and new ad campaign. The Net will also begin broadcasting from Citizens Bank Park™ in anticipation of the 2012  NHL Winter Classic on Dec. 29, providing fans more with more hours of original programming around the annual event than ever before.

On December 26, NHL Network will officially switch over to its new logoand launch NHL Tonight – an evolution of the 10 p.m. edition of NHL On the Fly – airing seven days a week. Kathryn Tappen, host of NHL Tonight, will be joined by a rotating lineup of hockey insiders and analysts that will serve fans with every highlight, every game. NHL Tonight will re-air the following morning for fans to catch up on all the games from the previous night. For its first week, NHL Tonight will air  immediately following the live coverage of the IIHF World Junior games. Otherwise, NHL Tonight will air nightly at 10 p.m. NHL on the Fly will continue to air nightly from 7-10 p.m.

The national advertising campaign for NHL Tonight also will debut on Dec. 26, positioning the show as the source for all of the night’s highlights from around the NHL using the new show slogan “Every Highlight. Every Game. Every Night.” The TV spot features NHL players watching NHL Tonight in their everyday life – at home, in arenas, working out, taping sticks, on the road and relaxing in hotel rooms. Including the new NHL Network tagline “Where the NHL Gets Hockey,” the campaign aptly features a number of the NHL’s biggest names including New Jersey’s Zach Parise, Carolina’s Jeff Skinner, Toronto’s Dion Phaneuf, Montreal’s Brian Gionta, Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler, Anaheim’s Corey Perry, Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, and New York’s Brad Richards and Henrik Lundqvist.

The NHL Tonight advertising campaign will run across the US and Canada, and includes TV, online, radio, print, in-arena, mobile and social media executions.

NHL Network at the 2012 NHL Winter Classic
On Dec. 29, NHL Network will set up stage in Philadelphia to provide fans with daily coverage live from the site of the 2012 NHL Winter Classic – adding up to more than 25 hours of original programming around the event. From the transformation process turning the famed ballpark into an ice rink, to daily press conferences and weather reports provided in collaboration with the Weather Channel™, NHL Network becomes the destination for fans to keep apprised of everything happening in Citizens Park Bank™ leading up to and following the fifth annual outdoor game.

Deb Placey, EJ Hradek and Bill Pidto will bring the popular daily afternoon show NHL LIVE to Philadelphia along with the rest of the NHL Network broadcasting team from field level at Citizens Bank Park including host Kathryn Tappen, analysts Barry Melrose, Jeremy Roenick and Kevin Weekes. Reporter Heidi Androl will check in from Spectator Plaza, a free, three-day fan festival just outside the gates of Citizens Bank Park. NHL Network talent also will provide intermission reports from Citizen Bank Park during the U.S. broadcasts of the 2012 World Junior Championship on the Network. Joining the NHL Network team as special guest analysts for the Network’s Winter Classic coverage is former NHLer Mark Recchi, who will bring unique insight to the event. Recchi played in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic in Boston as a member of the Bruins. He finished his 22-season NHL career by winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins last season.

On Dec. 31, Broad Street meets Broadway in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game, featuring some of the biggest names from Rangers and Flyers past including former Blueshirts Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney and Mike Gartner and Flyers Bob Clarke, Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Mark Howe, Jeremy Roenick and Reggie Leach. NHL Network will air a 90-minute special providing a detailed account of the game and reliving all of the memorable moments.

As the current Rangers and Flyers take to the open-air ice for the first time on January 1 for team practices, NHL Network will be there broadcasting it live beginning at 11 a.m. ET. On game day, January 2, beginning at 10 a.m., NHL Network will provide live coverage from field level in the lead-up to puck drop as the ultimate pre-game show. The 2012 NHL Winter Classic Post-Game Show will air immediately following the game’s conclusion.

Digital customers in participating systems of Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, and Charter Communications will be offered a free preview of NHL Network beginning Dec. 29 through Jan. 2. (Not available in all areas.) The complete schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):

Thursday, December 29
5:00-7:00 p.m. — NHL LIVE
7:00-8:00 p.m. — NHL Network at the 2012 NHL Winter Classic
8:00-10:00 p.m. — 2012 World Junior Championship – Canada vs. Denmark (U.S. only) (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
10:00 p.m. — NHL Tonight

Friday, December 30
2:00-3:30 p.m. – NHL LIVE
3:30-6:30 p.m. – 2012 World Junior Championship – Czech Republic vs. U.S. (U.S. only) (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
6:30-7:00 p.m. – NHL LIVE
7:00-8:00 p.m. – NHL Network at the 2012 NHL Winter Classic
8:00-10:00 p.m. – 2012 World Junior Championship – Finland vs. Denmark (U.S. only) (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
10:00 p.m. – NHL Tonight

Saturday, December 31
3:30-5:00 p.m. – 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game Recap
5:00-5:30 p.m. – NHL Plays of the Year Special
5:30-8:00 p.m. – NHL Network at the 2012 NHL Winter Classic
8:00-10:00 p.m. – 2012 World Junior Championship – U.S. vs. Canada (U.S.only) (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
10:00 p.m. – NHL Tonight

Sunday, January 1
11:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m. – 2012 NHL Winter Classic Practice Day
5:00-6:00 p.m. – 2012 NHL Winter Classic Practice Day Recap
6:00-9:00 p.m. – Calgary Flames @ Nashville Predators (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
9:00-10:00 p.m. – NHL Tonight from the 2012 NHL Winter Classic

Monday, January 2
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – 2012 NHL Winter Classic Pre-Game Show
4:00-5:00 p.m. – 2012 NHL Winter Classic Post Game Show
5:00-8:00 p.m. – 2012 World Junior Championship – Quarterfinal #1 (w/ Intermission reports from Philadelphia)
8:00-9:00 p.m. – NHL On The Fly
9:00-11:00 p.m. – 2012 World Junior Championship – Quarterfinal #2
11:00 p.m. – NHL Tonight

That will do it.

Some Quick Monday Links

Don’t know how work turned out to be so busy, but it’s cutting into blogging which I hope hasn’t discouraged you from visiting. The weekend also turned out to be unnecessarily busy as well. Anyway, this won’t be a whole set of linkage. I’ll do what I can.

Sports Business Daily looks at the 8.6 overnight rating the Women’s World Cup Final received on ESPN.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and John Lombardo break news that the Boston Celtics will purchase a 20% stake in Comcast SportsNet New England and keep its rights on the regional sports network for many years to come.

While Peter King is on vacation, NBC’s Al Michaels guest writes the Monday Morning Quarterback column in Sports Illustrated and raises some tremendous points. Someone should give Al a weekly or monthly column. I love this.

SI’s Richard Deitsch evaluates ESPN’s coverage of the Women’s World Cup.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today praises ESPN for not cheerleading during yesterday’s Women’s World Cup Final.

The Hollywood Reporter looks at one of the big sports media stories to break over the weekend, that HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg is out.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports analyzes what led to Greenburg’s  ouster from HBO after 33 years.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid is amazed at the Women’s World Cup ratings.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says the Women’s World Cup set a record on Twitter.

Advertising Age says yesterday’s loss in the Women’s World Cup cost the US Women’s Soccer Team millions in endorsements.

SportsbyBrooks says ESPN irrevocably harmed Bruce Feldman’s reputation.

At SBNation, Rob Neyer explains how he was suspended from ESPN.

The Sportscasters Talent Agency of America notes that Kathryn Tappen has left NESN for the NHL Network. She will be missed on NESN. Very good host.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the interesting audio of a minor league baseball announcer quitting his job on the air noting the bad ownership of the team.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at how the #freebruce story snowballed on Twitter and forced ESPN to respond.

Bobby Cassidy at Newsday has HBO’s official statement on the Ross Greenburg departure.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about the Women’s World Cup ratings.

I will have to end it there for now. I hope to have more links later.

The 3rd Annual Fang’s Bites NHL TV Awards

Ok, time for this year’s NHL TV Awards. There’s a lot to get to. Starting this year, I will add Jack Edwards moments in this year’s Awards because there’s only one Jack Edwards and to be honest, he’s added a lot to the blogosphere this year.

Let’s get going on these. Not enough time to get to everything.

The Dan Kelly Award For Best Play-by-Play: Jim Hughson, CBC. Tough to give this to anyone than Mike Emrick, but Jim was very good this year. He’s in his element and in his third year as top man on CBC, he’s very comfortable in the role. I know Toronto Maple Leafs fans aren’t thrilled with him as they associate Hughson with his many years calling the Vancouver Canucks on Rogers Sportsnet, but he calls a very good game. As long as CBC has the main NHL contract (which may not be for much longer), Hughson will be the main voice of Hockey Night in Canada. If CBC ever gets the Olympics back, I’d love to hear him call the 2014 Games in Sochi. He would be so good.

Conference Finals: Mike “Doc” Emrick, NBC; Jim Jackson, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia; Rick Jenneret, MSG Buffalo

Honorable Mentions: Chris Cuthbert, TSN; Pat Foley, Comcast SportsNet Chicago; John Shorthouse, Rogers Sportsnet Pacific

The John Davidson Award For Best Game Analyst: This goes to Ed Olcyzk of NBC/Versus for the second consecutive year. I thought Ed did very well during the Stanley Cup Final, although he stepped back from really criticizing some late hits like Aaron Rome’s on Nathan Horton. Still, Edzo was on top of trends and was very good in taking both the Bruins and Canucks to task for defensive holes. I feel Ed is very close to John Davidson’s level on analysis and it’s one of the reasons why NBC and Versus hired him to replace JD when he went to the St. Louis Blues.

Conference Finals: Daryl Reaugh, Fox Sports Southwest; Andy Brickley, NESN; Craig Simpson, CBC

Honorable Mentions: Ray Ferraro, TSN; Kevin Weekes, CBC

Best Studio Show: Yes, NHL on the Fly, NHL Network. Expanded this year for the Stanley Cup Playoffs to include pregame and postgame programming, NHL on the Fly has grown by leaps and bounds. It used to be just a highlight program, but now, the show has become more than that by offering real analysis of upcoming games and providing fans with features and interviews. Brian Duff and David Amber are very competent hosts. Gary Green, Kevin Weekes and Craig Button have added to the show. I also liked seeing the show hosted in Boston and Vancouver with Deb Placey hosting. Very good move.

Conference Finals: Hockey Central, Versus; Hockey Tonight, CBC

Best Studio Host: Bill Patrick, Versus. Bill has become a very good host for Versus and given a the role as main host, he shined this year. In addition, with NBC Sports taking over Versus, it punched up Hockey Central, allowed for more debate, gave it a new set and allowed Patrick to do show a little more personality this season. There’s really good potential for Versus and Hockey Central and as long as Bill Patrick remains, Hockey Central has a chance to become a signature program for the network.

Conference Finals: Liam McHugh, NBC/Versus; James Duthie, TSN; Kathryn Tappen, NESN
Honorable Mentions: Ron MacLean, CBC; Brian Duff, NHL Network

Best Studio Analyst: Keith Jones, NBC/Versus. His role was expanded under the new NBC Sports Group to main studio analyst and Keith has shined. He’s not afraid to give opinions and mix it up with Jeremy Roenick or Mike Milbury or whomever Versus partnered him with. In addition, NBC/Versus ended the silly three analysts in the studio on Hockey Central and whittled it to two making it easier for more debate and allowing Keith to bounce off opinions. Jones barely got a mention in the previous two NHL TV Awards, but he jumps to the Head of the Class this year.

Conference Finals: Kelly Hrudey, CBC; Craig Button, NHL Network
Honorable Mentions: Kevin Weekes, NHL Network; Mike Milbury, CBC/NBC/Versus

Best Inside The Glass Analyst: We’ll rename this award since NBC/Versus, CBC and TSN are all using an ice-level analysts on games. I’ll name Darren Pang as the best Inside the Glass analyst for this season. While he wasn’t used all season by NBC/Versus, when he was utilized like during the NHL Winter Classic and on selected postseason games, Panger shined. As a former goaltender, Darren was able to pick up on trends and see things that the overhead analyst could not. I wish he would be the main Inside the Glass analyst for NBC/Versus, but that appears to be out of the cards. I feel he has a better chemistry with Doc Emrick and Ed Olcyzk, but that’s me.

Conference Finals: Brian Engblom, NBC/Versus; Glenn Healy, CBC

Best Game Coverage: NBC/Versus over CBC by a hair. I acknowledge CBC set the standard for hockey coverage and its production is at gold medal level, but NBC has done a great job in stepping up its camera angles and replays. There were times when NBC failed to get one or two overhead replays during goal reviews, but other than that, it’s done a very good job on its productions. With NBC Sports Group producer Sam Flood now overseeing Versus’ NHL coverage, that network’s production has improved to the point where it can be considered close to CBC’s coverage as well. Altogether, I feel NBC/Versus has the potential to become the standard for hockey coverage as long as the present production team remains together.

Conference Finals: CBC; TSN

Best Debut: Liam McHugh, Versus. Who knew when he was hosting the mess called “The Daily Line” on Versus that McHugh could become such a competent studio host? Inserted on NBC as its main host during the Game of the Week and during most of its postseason coverage, McHugh actually showed me something. And as the secondary host for Versus, he meshed with Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick. With NBC/Versus being the home of the NHL for the next ten seasons, here’s an opportunity for McHugh to be associated with sport for a very long time.

Best Move: NBC Sports Taking Over Versus and Cleaning Out Some Deadweight. When the Comcast takeover of NBC was made official in January, NBC had the opportunity to take over Versus and put its stamp on the network. Some good moves, taking out Joe Beninati from the play-by-play position and allowing him to focus on the Washington Capitals, moving Brian Engblom from the studio to an Inside the Glass analyst, bringing in Liam McHugh, making Keith Jones main studio analyst, expanding Hockey Central and giving more time for hockey highlights. One bad move was jettisoning reporters Bob Harwood and Charissa Thompson, but overall, the moves by NBC mostly positive.

Conference Finals: NBC/Versus Signing 10 Year Contract for NHL Rights; NHL and HBO bringing 24/7 to promote the NHL Winter Classic

Best Jack Edwards Moments: Jack Edwards of NESN is truly one of a kind. Yes, he’s a homer on Bruins broadcasts. Yes, he makes headscratching comments. Yes, he can stray from play-by-play to yell at opposing players. However, the main thing is that he’s quite entertaining. I’ve gone from calling him Worst Play-by-Play in the first NHL TV Awards to giving him Most Bizarre Moment in last year’s edition to giving him his own permanent category. So I give you some of his best (some of you can say his worst if you’re a hater) moments from this season. I count down from #3.

3. Jack taunts Chad LaRose of the Carolina Hurricanes. When LaRose elbowed Zdeno Chara, Jack mocked LaRose’s jawing at the officials for calling a penalty by saying he was “yapping, yapping, yapping all the way to the box.” And then Jack did a strange gargling noise going to break.

2. Jack yells “GET UP!” at Roman Hamrlik. During the Bruins-Montreal 1st round playoff series, Hamrlik went down on a hit that Jack felt was a blatant dive after a Michael Ryder hit. The rest is pure comedy.

1. Jack Edwards’ strange postgame commentary. When the B’s-Montreal series ended, NESN allowed Jack to do a commentary at the end of the broadcast where he compared the Canadiens to hockey royalty looking down on the Bruins and … and.. it was just bizarre.

With the B’s going into a Defending Championship season, expect Jack to crow a whole lot more next season and even more Jack Edwards moments.

Worst Play-by-Play: Joe Beninati, Versus. Before NBC took over Versus, Beninati called many games and for some reason, his style did not mesh nationally. He’s very good on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic on Washington Capitals games, but he was very annoying on Versus games. Don’t know how that happened, but it did.

Worst Analyst of All-Time: Pierre McGuire, TSN/NBC/Versus. The man is everywhere, he’s overexposed, he’s just awful. He adds nothing, he says nothing, he comes off as a big, fat zero on TV. The man is a charlatan, pure and simple, yet NBC is about to give him a huge contract for what I’ve heard is the life of its NHL contract. That’s just horrible. I wish there was a way to prevent this pain and suffering on US hockey fans.

And that concludes the NHL TV Awards for this year.

Doing Some Friday Megalinkage

Now that I’ve learned that I don’t have to travel in between two offices today, I’ll do some megalinks for you.

You can check out the Weekend Sports and Primetime Viewing Picks here. Now to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with TNT’s Steve Kerr on the similarities he sees between the Chicago Bulls teams he played on with Michael Jordan and the Miami Heat of today.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News breaks news that TNT’s Marv Albert is in talks with CBS to possibly replace Gus Johnson for the NCAA Tournament. Bob isn’t national, but it’s big enough news to be placed here.

In Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Michael Smith report on how ESPN and Fox came together for the Pac-12 TV contract.

Kimberly Nordyke of the Hollywood Reporter says Oprah Winfrey’s booking of the United Center for her overblown farewell shows has forced the NBA to juggle the schedule for the Eastern Conference Finals.

To Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News who writes that TNT is on a fast track to have its highest-rated NBA postseason in its history.

Mike has a story on the NBC Sports Group signing Saratoga Race Course for horse racing programming in the summer.

Noted FoxSports.com basketball writer Jeff Goodman announces that he’s leaving for CBSSports.com.

Also writing his farewell column is noted hockey reporter E.J. Hradek who’s leaving ESPN.com for the NHL Network.

At the Business of College Sports, Kristi Dosh says despite what rivals’ complaints, there’s nothing unfair about the new Longhorn Network.

Matt Hinton at Yahoo’s Dr. Saturday college football blog notes that ESPN.com really messed up in reporting the death of Alabama offensive lineman Aaron Davis.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem about a faltering Tiger Woods and what it means to the Tour.

Darren explores the new magazine put forth by energy drink distributor Red Bull.

Darren notes that Nike is coming under fire again for factory conditions in Asia.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the ratings for nights 25-28 of the NHL Playoffs.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has audio of a Captain Blowhard call into the Tony Korneheiser show this week.

Dan also has video of a deeply subdued Gus Johnson talking to Dan Patrick about his move to Fox.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that Versus’ Jeremy Roenick gave praise to Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks, two games after calling him “gutless”.

In Publiside, the lovely Gail Sideman advises athletes to keep using social media despite some recent incidents where some did not think before tweeting.

In Major League Programs, Dave Kohl reviews the sports media news of the week.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe quotes a WCVB-TV interview with NESN’s Jerry Remy in which he states he expects to return to analyzing Red Sox games on Monday. Remy has been out with pneumonia. Chad also breaks news that NESN’s Kathryn Tappen is being targeted by NHL Network as a possible studio host.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen says the Bruins now have the Hub’s attention all to themselves.

NESN has Heidi Watney visiting the MLB Fan Cave.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee actually saw Tiger Woods’ implosion at the Players Championship coming before it happened.

Melissa Hoppert of the New York Times discusses NBC Sports Group bringing Saratoga horse racing into the fold.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick hates everything and everybody today, but when is that different from any other day?

Justin Terranova at the Post has five questions for NBA TV’s Kevin McHale.

Ken Belson from the New York Times writes that the famed Melrose Games may leave its Madison Square Garden home where it’s been held for almost a century.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Siena lacrosse fans have a few ways to monitor their team’s NCAA Tournament game against Syracuse this weekend.

Ken says an NCAA Division III Lacrosse Tournament game will be online for fans to listen.

Patrick Berkery from the Philly Burbs papers talks with Comcast SportsNet Phillies analyst Chris Coste.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Nationals’ ratings on MASN are way up from this same time last year.

Dan says the DC sports media is firing shots at each other over whether DC NFL Team quarterback Donovan McNabb refused to wear a wristband to help him calls plays because it didn’t look good.

Dan says one DC radio show is sending barbs at Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic over its reporting on the McNabb wristband.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says NBC will be all over The Players Championship this weekend.

Jim notes that NASCAR is coming to the Mid-Atlantic region this weekend.

And Jim says the NBA is heating up on both ESPN and TNT.

South

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks at the latest sports media news.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle talks with the man who’s spearheading ESPN’s Longhorn Network and getting it ready for launch this summer.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has a chat with NBA TV’s Kevin McHale over Oklahoma City’s win over Memphis the other night.

Mel says the Thunder are setting local ratings records.

Mel also has his media notebook.

Midwest

Jeff Bell of Columbus Business First writes that Fox Sports Ohio will be a corporate sponsor of the local sports commission.

The Detroit News says last night’s wild Game 7 between the Red Wings and San Jose Sharks set a ratings record for Fox Sports Detroit.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about ESPN getting all hands on deck for a special college basketball game on Veterans Day.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman lists his weekly winners and losers.

Erin Meyer of the Chicago Tribune says the staff of WMAQ-TV is shocked over the death of sports anchor Daryl Hawks who was found in a hotel room as he was to cover last night’s Bulls-Hawks game.

Maudlyne Ihezjerika of the Chicago Sun-Times says another WMAQ-TV sportscaster died under similar circumstances almost a decade ago.

NBC Chicago has a slideshow of Daryl’s career not only at the station, but before he came to the Windy City.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a local sports radio executive’s tumultuous tenure is coming to an end.

West

The Phoenix Business Journal reports that the Arena Football League’s Arizona Rattlers now have a local TV deal.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks about announcers shuffling back and forth between networks.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says TNT’s Charles Barkley’s premonition about the Lakers ended up coming true.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News answers real sports media questions from fake readers.

Tom looks at an organization that aids reporters and writers in need of assistance.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin says golf viewership is getting out of red numbers.

We’re going to end it there. Enjoy your sports weekend

Another Late Wednesday Night/Early Thursday Morning Blog

Well, I just finished watching Sarah Palin speak at the Republican National Convention. Since this is not a political blog, I won’t give my opinion here, but it was quite fascinating to hear her speak. That’s all I’ll say. Just to let you know, I gave Barack Obama my undivided attention as well so don’t think I’m one-sided here. I’m Switzerland.

Anyway, let’s give you some links now.

Newsday’s Neil Best who never stops covering the Mike & the Mad Dog beat even though they’ve splitten up, says both Mike Francesa and Chris Russo will previewing the NFL season for their respective companies on Thursday. And Neil writes about the Tennis Channel’s attempts to gain wider distribution.

Thanks to Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News for the following link, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Hoffer has an appreciation for the long-time Voice of the Dodgers, Vin Scully.

And Tom who is against the use of maple bats because of the danger they pose, looks at one particular bat that shattered during the Dodgers-D’Backs game on Sunday.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says MLB Advanced Media is putting its MLB.TV up for purchase on a per day basis for the rest of the season.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal talks with NFL Commish Roger Goodell about a host of issues including TV coverage and live internet streaming.

The San Francisco Chronicle looks at the state of NFL TV coverage this season.

One complaint about CBS’ NFL coverage was that all games were not shown in HD. Over the last three seasons, CBS would air two to three games a week in crystal clear high definition. Well, Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog tells us that CBS Sports will produce all of its games this season in HD, but you won’t necessarily see them in high def. Hoo boy.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post likes the back-to-basics approach ESPN is taking with Monday Night Football.

Rick Bentley of the Fresno Bee notes that NBC Sports will have the first game of the NFL regular season and the very last game of the NFL postseason.

And Paul Farhi of the Post writes that the Republicans are fearful that Thursday night’s NFL season opener between the Washington Redskins and the New York Football Giants could cut into John McCain’s acceptance speech.

It’s not as earthshattering as its 15 year deal with the SEC, but on Wednesday, ESPN signed a long-term deal with the WAC to show football, basketball and women’s sports. That is a big blow to the Mountain West Conference which has been struggling for exposure since starting up the mtn. I’ll have details of the contract in a separate post.

Mark Harden of the Denver Business Journal says FSN Rocky Mountain received great ratings for the annual Colorado-Colorado State game last Sunday.

Kim Shugart of the Mobile (AL) Press-Register reports that the Senior Bowl, currently shown by the NFL Network, will be played at night for the first time coming in January.

We may be into Week 2 of the college football season, but it’s never too early to think about college basketball. The Big Ten has announced its conference TV schedule.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says now that it has signed the major cable companies to deals, the Big Ten Network can now focus on improving its programming.

The Sports Media Watch brings us the final wekend ratings, a bit later than usual. And the SMW says the US Open is not doing any favors for USA Network.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes that a local sports anchor has given his notice.

After losing Fang’s Bites favs Tina Cervasio and Hazel Mae, NESN has done the right thing and signed Bruins studio host Kathryn Tappen to a contract extension.

Friend of Fang’s Bites, Steve Michaels over at the the Sox & Dawgs blog feels WEEI’s “contest” to find the next great blogger is bogus and so do I. This smells of similar stunts like the “audition” that led to Bob Neumeier’s hiring to co-host middays with Dale Arnold and the “sit-in” that gave us Mike Adams. I’m not endorsing this contest, but if you feel so motivated to enter, you can go here. Don’t worry, I’m not going to Rick Roll you.

Daisy Whitney of TV Week writes that despite Yahoo winning the internet wars over the Olympics, a new study shows that Olympic viewers flocked to NBCOlympics.com.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says former tennis star Monica Seles will host a five week show on Sirius starting Thursday on Sirius Stars, channel 102.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun answers the question of WBAL radio’s affiliation with Fox Sports Radio now that newcomer WVIE becomes a full-time FSR affiliate.

The Phoenix Coyotes have announced their TV schedule.

The Detroit Red Wings have announced their TV schedule as well.

The lovely Tracey Myers of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Dallas Stars will have most of their games carried on FSN Southwest.

The Detroit Free Press says all of the Detroit Pistons’ games will be shown on TV, but just three on over the air television.

A lot of links. That will do it for now.

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.

Hot Chicks in Sports Broadcasting

1. Erin Andrews – ESPN
2. Shana Hiatt – Poker After Dark, NBC
3. Bonnie Bernstein – ESPN
4. Tracy Wolfson – CBS
5. Kathryn Tappen – NESN
6. Hazel Mae – NESN
7. Tina Cervasio – NESN
8. Suzy Kolber – ESPN (I’ll admit Suzy has looked better)

Edited at 10:10 p.m. Pictures and links added.