ESPN Loves The Confed Cup Ratings

Got a press release in the last hour from Bristol, CT on the ratings ESPN garnered for last Sunday’s Confederations Cup. ESPN is very happy about the interest in the game and moving the final between the US men’s soccer team and Brazil to the Mothership at the last moment, having originally been scheduled for ESPN2.

Here’s the word.

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Final – U.S. Men’s National Team’s Biggest Audience Outside the World Cup

Sunday’s 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final live on ESPN from Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa, – a 3-2 victory for Brazil over the United States – was the most-watched non-FIFA World Cup match featuring the U.S. Men’s Soccer National Team on the network, with an average of 3.945 million viewers. The telecast, aired Sunday, June 28, at 2 p.m. ET, was seen by an average of 2.556 million television homes, based on a 2.6 rating.

The match, in which Brazil, No. 5 in the FIFA World Rankings, overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first half to defeat the 14^th ranked U.S. Team, also delivered the third largest audience for a U.S. Men’s National Team match on ESPN, trailing two World Cup matches – June 21, 2002, Germany vs. U.S., seen by 5.335 million viewers, and June 22, 1994, U.S. vs. Colombia, seen by 4.810 million viewers.

The five most-viewed U.S. Men’s Team matches:

Date	Event	Matchup	Viewers (P2+)	HH Imps	Rating
June 21, 2002	2002 World Cup-Qtr-final	Germany vs. U.S.	5,335,000	3,772,000	4.4
June 22, 1994	1994 World Cup-1st RD	U.S. vs. Colombia	4,810,000	2,686,000	4.3
June 28, 2009	FIFA Confed Cup-Final	U.S. vs. Brazil	3,945,000	2,556,000	2.6
June 22, 2006	2006 World Cup-1st RD	Ghana vs. U.S.	3,819,000	2,902,000	3.2
June 16, 2002	2002 World Cup-2nd RD	Mexico vs. U.S.	2,935,000	1,983,000	2.3

Can’t blame ESPN for crowing about its soccer ratings considering it hardly gets viewership for the MLS.

Mayne Street – Cutbacks

The newest webisode of Mayne Street has Kenny and Video Cowboy dealing with cutbacks at ESPN. Check out cameos from Brian Kenny and Jeremy Schaap.

And we get our first appearance this season from Evan Mintz.

Still, not enough Alison Becker. We want more of Alison. Less of Evan Mintz.

The best part for me was Video Cowboy chucking the miniature camera down the hallway.

A Head Exploding Tuesday Links

Head exploding describes me right now. I’m not in the greatest of moods right now. All of it is work-related so I’ve decided to blog to calm down. I have BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon on in the background so hopefully I’ll be able to get back to work after this without blowing up.

Ok, you don’t care about my mood, you want linkage so I’ll give it to you.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at the ratings of some of the major events from the weekend.

Michael McCarthy of USA Today writes that in the tough economy, not even broadcasting gigs are safe especially for ex-athletes trying to make a second career. Thanks to Newsday’s Neil Best for the link.

In a related note, Mike Donaghue of the Burlington (VT) Free Press reports that former Vermont basketball coach Tom Brennan won’t be returning to ESPN this upcoming season due to budget cuts.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a good feature on how Michael Jackson forever changed the Super Bowl halftime show.

Speaking of halftime shows, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL’s Hall of Fame game is expecting to announce its first ever halftime act “soon”.

The perpetually pissed off Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News says the Mets are driving viewers away from SNY.

Newsday’s Neil Best must really be on vacation because he blogs about the Knicks City Dancers auditions. Neil says you can buy old Giants Stadium seats for just under $500 a pair.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says former NHL Live host Don LaGreca returns this week for the final show of the season.

Frank Seravalli from the Philadelphia Daily News chronicles a typical day at the NFL Broadcasting Boot Camp.

Keith Groller from the Allentown (PA) Morning News looks at a new book written by ESPN’s Jayson Stark about the 2008 World Champion Phillies.

Washington Nationals TV voice Bob Carpenter blogs about the announcing switches that took place on MASN and MASN2 for the Orioles-Nats series this past weekend.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers set the standard for small market teams.

Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes that a legendary local sports anchor is retiring as of today and won’t be replaced by his station.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News recaps last night’s 4th and Long episode on Spike.

Nick Jezierny and Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman write that a local TV station will pick up Boise State football, but no basketball games.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL Entry Draft led the ratings last week in Canada.

Katherine Rushton of Broadcast Now in the UK writes that ESPN is about to outsource its production of English Premier League games to British Sky Broadcasting.

Leo Barraclough of Variety says last night’s Andy Murray-Stanislas Wawrinka match at Wimbledon pulled in great numbers for the BBC.

Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable writes that HBO is unveiling a new edition of its 24/7 series.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at the San Diego Padres’ deal to stream their games online within their local market.

Mike writes about ESPN’s plans to originate its studio shows for next year’s World Cup from South Africa.

National Public Radio’s Tell Me Now had the Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon as a guest to talk about his heart attack.

Jerod Morris from the Midwest Sports Fans blog speaks with Hannah Patrick of Sports Media Challenge who provides ESPN with its “Blog Buzz” feature that airs every morning on SportsCenter.

Joe Favorito says the Miami Dolphins try to keep themselves the media forefront as much as possible. Joe says the College of William & Mary opening up their mascot contest to the entire country is giving the school some massive brand recognition.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch is asking readers to vote for the All-Time Boston sports columnist.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media writes that NHL Network plans to celebrate some of the United States’ best contributions to hockey on July 4.

That’s going to do it for now.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB

American League
Red Sox at Orioles – NESN/MASN, 7 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/STO, 7 p.m.
Seattle at New York Yankees – FSN Northwest/YES, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto – Sun Sports/TSN, 7 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Texas – Fox Sports West/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City – Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Detroit at Oakland – Fox Sports Detroit/Comcast SportsNet California, 10 p.m.

National League
Arizona at Cincinnati – Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh – Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Peachtree TV, 7 p.m.
Washington at Florida – MASN2/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
New York Mets at Milwaukee – SNY/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
San Francisco at St. Louis – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Midwest, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Rocky Mountain/KCAL, 1o p.m.
Houston at San Diego – Fox Sports Houston/Cox 4, 10 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd – MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final – MLB Network, 10 p.m.

Tennis
Wimbledon/Ladies’ Quarterfinals – ESPN2, 7 a.m./NBC 10 a.m./ESPN2, 1 p.m.

Wimbledon Primetime – Tennis Channel, 7 p.m.

Wimbledon Update – NBC, 11:35 p.m.

Entertainment
The Superstars – ABC, 8 p.m.
America’s Got Talent – NBC, 9 p.m.
Deadliest Catch – Discovery, 9 p.m.
Primetime: Family Secrets – ABC, 10 p.m.
Golf in America – Golf Channel, 10 p.m.
Rescue Me – FX, 10 p.m.
Saving Grace – TNT, 10 p.m.

Monday’s Press Releases

I have quite a few releases to post tonight so let’s get to them and hopefully, I won’t fall asleep with the computer on.

I’ll begin with Fox Sports which says it will be Tweeting during the All-Star Game on July 14th.

FOX SPORTS ALL A-TWITTER AT 80^TH MLB ALL-STAR GAME

MLB on FOX Plans Extensive Coverage via Tweets from St. Louis;

Reporter/Insider Rosenthal to Answer Questions In-Game

New York – There’s no way to be 100% sure without checking each of MLB on FOX’s 10 prior MLB All-Star Game broadcasts, but it’s unlikely you’d find the words “Twitter” and “tweet” anywhere in the coverage. That’s about to change.

As communication via Twitter continues to grow, MLB on FOX plans extensive coverage of the 80^th MLB All-Star Game via the Internet-driven messaging service, it was announced today by FOX Sports president, Ed Goren. FOX Sports’ coverage of the Mid-Summer Classic begins at 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, July 14, live from Busch Stadium in St. Louis. In addition to “tweets” generated by the MLB on FOX on-air team and FOXSports.com in the days and hours leading up sports’ most-popular all-star event, MLB on FOX reporter and FOXSports.com MLB Insider extraordinaire Ken Rosenthal answers Twitter-submitted questions from fans as the game progresses.

“There’s no denying that Twitter is a communications phenomenon that continues to grow, and our hope is that those who follow us on Twitter will use it to deepen their enjoyment of the All-Star Game broadcast,” said Goren. “Ken is the best connected writer following the game today, and he’s been our biggest single tweeter. Our hope is that fans will have fun tweeting with him during the game, which in turn will make their All-Star Game experience more enjoyable.”

“I’m all about reaching fans with the information I gather, be it on-air, through FOXSports.com, via Twitter or our Facebook and Myspace pages,” added Rosenthal. “I’m sure time will permit me only a few on-air opportunities during the game, so this gives me a forum to answer as many questions from fans as possible and report more of what I learn and observe.”

Initiated as a complement to MLB on FOX on-air coverage to engage viewers more deeply, www.twitter.com/mlbonfox has broken news, provided in-game observations and insights, guided fans to exclusive columns at FOXSports.com, sent out dozens of exclusive photos and issued programming alerts and tune-in information. The twitter.com/mlbonfox page was launched at 12:52 PM ET on April 7, 2009 with a link to Rosenthal’s 2009 predictions, and since then over 9000 fans have become followers, with access to over 400 updates issued. A prolific contributor, Rosenthal is responsible for generating over 100 tweets, thus far this season. Besides Rosenthal, also contributing from St. Louis throughout All-Star festivities will be play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, game analyst Tim McCarver and dugout reporters Eric Karros and Chris Rose, who also serves as pre-game host.

Twitter reportedly has more than 10 million followers around the world at present, doubling its number over the last few months. Users exchange messages of no more than 140 characters, instantaneously.

Next, HBO Sports debuts Mayweather/Marquez 24/7 in August leading up to the Floyd Mayweather/Juan Manuel Marquez fight in September.

HBO SPORTS’ MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7,

A FOUR-EPISODE ALL-ACCESS SERIES LEADING UP TO THE PAY-PER-VIEW SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TWO BOXING SUPERSTARS,

DEBUTS AUG. 29, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

NEW YORK, June 29, 2009 – With the intriguing showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez rescheduled for Sept. 19 in Las Vegas, HBO Sports’ groundbreaking “24/7” reality franchise, which has captured seven Sports Emmy^® Awards, will premiere MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 on SATURDAY, AUG. 29 (10:15-10:45 p.m. ET/PT), it was announced today by Ross Greenburg, president, HBO Sports. The all-new, four-episode, all-access series spotlights a host of intriguing storylines, with Floyd Mayweather, the sport’s most irrepressible superstar, returning after a year-and-a-half absence to face Juan Manuel Marquez, one of boxing’s most accomplished performers, as they prepare for their September pay-per-view showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Noted Greenburg, “Now that the fight has been rescheduled, we are excited to resume production. This latest edition of ‘24/7’ features all the ingredients that we look for in greenlighting the ‘24/7’ franchise: big-time boxing stars, engaging storylines and in Floyd’s case, a larger-than-life personality that is tailor-made for reality television.” Episodes two and three of MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 debut on subsequent Saturdays – SEPT. 5 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) and 12 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) – while the finale debuts FRIDAY, SEPT. 18 (9:30-10:00 p.m.), just one night before the fight. All four episodes will have multiple replay dates on HBO, and the series will also be available on HBO On Demand.

MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 will provide exclusive behind-the-scenes access, along with in-depth interviews, as these determined warriors prepare for their mega-fight. This is Mayweather’s third “24/7” appearance, while Marquez is making his HBO reality series debut. Regarded as the best boxer of his era, the undefeated Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) is back after a brief self-imposed retirement. A training camp injury forced the fight date to be reset to Sept. 19.

Marquez is a dynamic fighter (50-4-1, 37 KOs) from Mexico City who shares at least one thing with his flashy opponent: They’re both willing to fight anybody in the sport, regardless of division. Marquez is moving up from the lightweight ranks to challenge boxing’s most provocative star.

Storylines for this fast-paced series will include the interaction between Mayweather and his uncle/trainer, Roger Mayweather, and Marquez’s rock-solid relationship with his longtime trainer Ignacio Beristain.

MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 is the latest installment of the widely acclaimed “24/7” franchise that began in 2007 on HBO with “De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7” and “Mayweather/Hatton 24/7.” The series continued in 2008 with “Calzaghe/Jones 24/7” and “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7,” and resumed in 2009 with “Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7.”

Newsday.com has observed, “HBO’s 24/7 series is the best sports program on television. Bar none.”

At the 2009 Sports Emmy^® Awards, “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7” was honored in the category of Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthologies, while “Calzaghe/Jones 24/7” was honored in the categories of Outstanding Edited Sports Special, Outstanding Editing and Outstanding Post Produced Audio/Sound. At the 2008 Sports Emmy^® Awards, “De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7” was honored in the category of Outstanding Edited Sports Special, while “Mayweather/Hatton 24/7” was honored in the categories of Outstanding Camera Work and Outstanding Writing.

On Saturday, Sept. 19 at 9:00 p.m. (ET)/6:00 p.m. (PT), HBO Pay-Per-View presents “Mayweather vs. Marquez,” live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The executive producers of MAYWEATHER/MARQUEZ 24/7 are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; coordinating producer, Dave Harmon. Liev Schreiber narrates.

ESPN previews the next webisode of Mayne Street.

Fresh Mayne Street Hits the Web(Tues. 9 a.m.): Kenny Experiences the Economic Wrath

This week, ESPN.com’s original scripted series Mayne Street (Tuesdays at 9 a.m.) features Kenny and his crew dealing with the current recession. Fans also learn the fate of Kenny’s boss Evan Mintz. ESPN personality Kenny Mayne stars as himself in a fictionalized version of life at a sports television network.

Mayne, known for his dry wit and offbeat sensibilities, maneuvers through each of the three- to five-minute Webisodes, six overall, in the clever and entertaining style that has made him one of ESPN’s most popular personalities. Mayne’s reoccurring foils consist largely of his fictional production crew, which includes his producer Sarah (Alison Becker); Video Cowboy (Jon Glaser); production assistant Chris (Chris Smith); network executive Evan Mintz (Ben Schwartz), as well as ESPN personalities Jeremy Schaap, Linda Cohen and others.

Mayne Street joins a lineup of video that is among the most popular online. ESPN.com captures nearly 50 percent of the total minutes spent by users viewing online sports video. In April, ESPN.com came in No. 1 in the Sports category with 72.3 million total streams, 59 percent more than the closest competitor for the month.

Golf Channel previews the tournament action you’ll see this week.

GOLF CHANNEL TOURNAMENT COVERAGE

June 29 – July 5, 2009

AT&T National

Dates: 7/2 – 7/5

Venue: Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Md.

Airtimes (Eastern):

Thursday 3 – 6 p.m. (Live)/ 8:30 – 11:30 p.m. (Prime Replay)

Friday 3 – 6 p.m. (Live)/ 8:30 – 11:30 p.m. (Prime Replay)

Saturday 1 – 2:30 p.m. (Live) / 8 – 9:30 p.m. (Replay)

Sunday 1 – 2:30 p.m. (Live) / 8 – 9:30 p.m. (Replay)

GOLF CHANNEL On-Air Talent:

Kelly Tilghman (Play by Play)

Nick Faldo (Analyst)

Peter Oosterhuis (Tower)

Frank Nobilo (Tower)

Bobby Clampett (On Course)

Billy Ray Brown (On Course)

Steve Sands (Reporter)

Broadcast Notes: Thursday – Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET, PGA TOUR Primetime will re-air the opening rounds of the AT&T National with special bonus coverage not seen during the live telecast… In addition to Thursday and Friday’s coverage, GOLF CHANNEL will air live early round action on the weekend beginning at 1 p.m., and will re-air CBS Sports’ live tournament coverage at 9:30 p.m… Mutual of Omaha Putting Line powered by Aimpoint, a graphics technology that predicts the break of a putt and suggests where a player must aim to hole out, will be used during the telecast on holes No. 9 and 17 at Congressional Country Club… GOLF CHANNEL reporter Steve Sands is a native of Washington D.C. and will cover his hometown event.

Open de France ALSTOM

Dates: 7/2 – 7/5

Venue: Le Golf National, Paris, France

Airtimes (Eastern):

Thursday 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Live)

Friday 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Live)

Saturday 8 – 11 a.m. (Live)

Sunday 8 – 11 a.m. (Live)

Hank Haney and PGA.com Sign Development Deal for Exclusive Golf Instruction Series

One of golf’s top instructor to provide tips on all facets of the game in webisode series on the Official Site of The PGA of America

PGA.com, the Official Site of The PGA of America, announced today a development deal to air an exclusive online series of golf instructional segments from world renowned golf coach and 25-year PGA member Hank Haney. As part of this Hank Haney-branded instructional platform, this webisode series is expected to begin production in the next few months and will include golf tips on all aspects of the game, both mental and physical.

Haney, the 1993 PGA Teacher of the Year, is the golf coach to the world’s #1 player Tiger Woods. He has taught golf since 1976 and given over 40,000 lessons around the world. Haney has also given instruction to over 200 touring professionals from the PGA TOUR to the LPGA, Champions, European, Japanese, Australian and Asian Tours. Haney, who is represented by Octagon, also has his own television series on The Golf Channel called “The Haney Project” which, in its inaugural season, featured his personal insight and golf instruction to NBA legend and TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley.

“PGA.com is a leading resource for golf instruction and I am excited to incorporate some of the tips and practice methods I use on a daily basis into their site,” said Haney. “I am really excited about this partnership as the instructional content we will be releasing will help golfers of all ages and abilities with many aspects of their game.”

“Hank is a great motivator with a great work ethic,” said Barkley. “He has helped me understand my swing better and I’m confident his online lessons will do the same for many other golfers of all ages.”

“PGA.com is proud to partner with a teacher as accomplished and well-respected as Hank Haney, one of the world’s pre-eminent golf instructors and a long-time PGA Professional,” said Matthew Hong, vice president and general manager of sports digital at Turner Sports. “The addition of instructional video from Hank to the existing industry-leading content at PGA.com will continue to make the site a premier destination for golfers of all levels looking to improve their game.”

ESPN previews its week in motorsports on its family of networks.

Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

NASCAR Nationwide Series on ESPN in Prime Time from Daytona

A high-speed, Friday night shootout in prime time is expected when the NASCAR Nationwide Series makes its second visit of the season to Daytona International Speedway this weekend. ESPN will have a live, high definition telecast of the Subway Jalapeno 250 on Friday, July 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season, with selected races on ESPN and ABC. The race re-airs Saturday, July 4, at 3 a.m. on ESPN2 and again at noon on ESPN Classic.

Also this weekend, live coverage of NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying airs Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2, while coverage of final practice airs Thursday, July 2, at 5:30 p.m.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN on ABC’s coverage, with analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Reporting from the pits will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake, with two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Craftsman Tech Garage.

Allen Bestwick will host the pre-race NASCAR Countdown program with analysis by Jarrett and Brad Daugherty, owner of a winning team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, in the ESPN pit studio.

In other NASCAR-related programming this week, ESPN Classic airs the 1995 Save Mart Supermarkets NASCAR Cup race from California’s Infineon Raceway on Monday, July 6, at 6 p.m. In addition, ESPN Classic will air an episode of the award-winning series SportsCentury earlier that day at 8 a.m. The episode features NASCAR star Tony Stewart.

Craven, LaJoie, Newton on NASCAR Now Roundtable

ESPN NASCAR analysts Randy LaJoie and Ricky Craven and ESPN.com reporter David Newton will be panelists on NASCAR Now’s weekly roundtable discussion program airing Monday, July 6, at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Allen Bestwick will host the edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program.

Mike Massaro slides into the host role for a half-hour episode of NASCAR Now airing Tuesday, June 30, at 5 p.m., while Nicole Manske hosts the remainder of the week, with shows Wednesday and Thursday at 5 p.m. and Friday at 7 p.m. Manske also hosts the one-hour weekend edition that airs Saturday, July 4, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. Craven will join Manske on the set, while Massaro and Angelique Chengelis will report from the track.

NASCAR Now originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said, Ricky Craven and Randy LaJoie, and ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton. The NASCAR on ESPN team event coverage team of Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Spake and Vince Welch also make frequent contributions to NASCAR Now.

IndyCar Series Races at Watkins Glen Live on ABC

The IndyCar Series goes road course racing at one of America’s historic venues this weekend when it competes Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y. ABC will have live coverage of the event on Sunday, July 5, at 1 p.m. ET.

Watkins Glen has hosted the IndyCar Series annually since 2005, when Scott Dixon won the inaugural event and went on to win three consecutive years. Ryan Hunter-Reay scored an upset victory last year.

Marty Reid will call the race for ESPN on ABC’s coverage with analysis by former IndyCar Series star Scott Goodyear. Reporting from the pits will be Jack Arute, Brienne Pedigo and Vince Welch.

NHRA Programming Includes Classic Sonoma Event, Sportsman Series

Four hours of NHRA drag racing programming will air on ESPN Networks this week, including a classic event with the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and three hours of action with the Lucas Oil Sportsman Series.

ESPN Classic airs highlights from the 2003 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on Monday, July 6, at 1 p.m. ET.

Action from the recent event at Norwalk, Ohio, will be featured in an hour-long program of Lucas Oil Sportsman Series competition on Saturday, July 4, at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

ESPN Classic airs two hours of Sportsman competition on Monday, July 6, at 2 p.m. The first hour features action from Baytown, Texas, while racing from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway airs at 3 p.m.

Featuring race vehicles that range from 5-second Top Alcohol Dragsters and Top Alcohol Funny Cars to 15-second Stockers, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series is the premier Sportsman series in drag racing. Eight categories are included in the series, which is showcased at select NHRA national events. ESPN’s Dave Rieff will anchor the coverage from Norwalk.

And Comcast SportsNet New England is asking fans to predict which young athlete will be the next big thing in Boston.

PREDICT WHICH BOSTON YOUNG GUNS WILL BE THE NEXT “GREATS” BY RATING THE TOP 20 UNDER 25 AT CSNNE.COM

BURLINGTON, MA – The general managers of the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots pride themselves on player development and the results – 6 combined league titles – speak volumes. Some next generation players like Dustin Pedroia and Vince Wilfork are well on their way to prolific careers, while an even younger crop is quickly rising to the big leagues.

Comcast SportsNet asks fans to rate its select list of the “Top 20 Under 25” to predict which players are the next hall of famers, all-stars, consistent starters, role players or busts. Fans can rate CSN’s Top 20 Under 25 at CSNNE.com through Thursday, July 2. The results will be unveiled that night on the 6:30 and 10 p.m. editions of Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight.

The Top 25 Under 25:

Name Age Stats

Clay Buchholz, Red Sox 24 5-1, 1.9 ERA, 80.2 IP (Pawtucket 2009)

Kendrick Perkins, Celtics 24 5.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 4.3 BPG (career)

Laurence Maroney, Patriots 24 30 G, 1,673 YDS, 4.3 AVG, 13 TD (career)

Justin Masterson, Red Sox 24 8-7, 3.36 ERA, 147.1 IP, 118K (career)

Matt Hunwick, Bruins 24 66 GP, 6 G, 22 A (career)

Kevin O’Connell, Patriots 24 2 G, 23 YDS, 3.8 AVG/ 0 TD (career)

Daniel Bard, Red Sox 23 0-0, 3.44 ERA, 17 SO (career)

Patrice Bergeron, Bruins 23 303 GP, 80 G, 148 A (career)

Glen Davis, Celtics 23 5.58 PPG, 3.5 RPG (career)

Rajon Rondo, Celtics 23 9.7 PPG, 5.7 APG, 1.7 SPG (career)

Jerod Mayo, Patriots 23 16 G, 128 TT, 100 SOLO (career)

David Krejci, Bruins 23 144 GP, 28 G, 72 A (career)

Junichi Tazawa, Red Sox 23 7-4, 71 K, 2.92 ERA, 77 IP (Minor career)

Blake Wheeler, Bruins 22 81 GP, 21 G, 24 A (career)

Michael Bowden, Red Sox 22 3-4, 3.11 ERA, 49 SO (Pawtucket 2009)

Tuukka Rask, Bruins 22 5 GP, 3-1, 2.46 GAA, 1 SO

Lars Anderson, Red Sox 21 .257 AVE, 7 HR, 35 RBI (Minor career)

Phil Kessel, Bruins 21 222 GP, 66 G, 60 A (career)

Bill Walker, Celtics 21 3 PPG, 1 RPG, (career)

Milan Lucic, Bruins 21 149 GP, 25 G, 44 A (career)

CSN’s list of Top 20 Under 25 was complied from the collective expertise of CSN’s on-air and on-line contributors including hosts Gary Tanguay and Michael Felger, producer Kevin Miller, and Wicked Good Sports contributors Rich Levine and Jason Levine.

That’s going to do it for the press releases. Back tomorrow.

Monday’s Links, Finally

Time to do the links for Monday. There are quite a few to give you. And if you see the links at night over the next few days, just know that it’s the end of the month/beginning of the month type of thing at work where I have more items to do than normal. If you’ve visited here more than once today, you’ll notice that I’ll post press releases as they come in, but links have to wait.

But I’ll do them now.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he tells us that Paul Maguire will have a reduced role for ESPN/ABC when college football season begins.

Over to the Sports Business Journal where we have a few stories from this week’s issues for you.

Terry Lefton writes that the the NFL has added IHOP as a sponsor for the 2009 season.

Eric Fisher says this year’s MLB All-Star Game will be toned down compared to previous years.

Eric looks at Michael Weiner, the man tabbed to replace Donald Fehr as head of the MLB Players Association.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball conducts an interview with Dr. Harvey Schiller, the President of the International Baseball Federation about his efforts to reinstate his sport into the Olympics.

Ben Klayman of Reuters says sports leagues risk losing money from the TV networks if they depend on their in-house cable channels. Reuters adds the viewer stats for the league-owned channels.

Justin Rice of the Nieman Journalism Lab looks at the league-owned channels covering their own athletes when they make news.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has some thoughts on the passing of famed pitchman Billy Mays. Darren takes a look at a high stakes poker event that hopes to buck the recession.

Newsday’s Neil Best who is supposedly on vacation, but will continue to blog regularly (that’s been his pattern ever since he began his Watchdog blog back in May 2007), learns that WFAN’s Mike Francesa will continue hosting his Sunday night TV show on WNBC-TV for at least the next two years. Neil has an anecdote from former Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy about Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks with the author of a new biography on the late Thurman Munson.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette chronicles his visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame complete with links to videos that he took.

Laura Nachman has heard from former Fox NFL analyst Brian Baldinger. Laura speculates on who will replace the late Gary Papa.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal isn’t too happy that the Baltimore ESPN Radio affiliate taped delayed some programming complete with dated scores.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times writes about an NFL antitrust case that has reached the Supreme Court.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner enjoyed watching nighttime tennis at Wimbledon today. Jim says MASN and Versus were his winners in sports TV over the weekend.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog noticed a spelling error on MASN. Dan chronicles an interview that MASN’s Debbie Taylor conducted with a confused Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks back at the weekend in televised sport.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says a local TV sports reporter feels there’s too much talking on sports broadcasts. Barry feels Texas Rangers radio voice Eric Nadel might have come back from eye surgery too soon.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business talks with sports radio talk show host Dan McNeil who has returned to the local scene after losing a gig earlier this year.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says it was refreshing to watch the U.S. men’s soccer team in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders about “women’s problems”.

Ed Sealover of the Los Angeles Business Journal says Denver’s ESPN Zone shut down on Monday.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels TSN’s NHL Draft coverage was a long journey into night.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says Canada’s Olympic broadcasting consortium for the Vancouver Winter games will be ready when they get underway next February.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says TNT is lining up sponsors for this Saturday’s NASCAR race.

The Sports Media Watch says the US-Brazil Confederations Cup final drew good ratings for ESPN. SMW says Wimbledon on NBC rated very low this past weekend. And SMW has some various news and notes.

Staci D. Kramer of paidContent says NBCSports.com is streaming Wimbledon for free this week.

Congratulations to Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media for being part of a regional Emmy Award winning crew. Chris has the TV schedule for this year’s Southland Conference football season. And Chris says big events aired on or produced by ESPN don’t have that special feel.

Dan Lamonthe of the Red Sox Monster blog has video of someone at Sunday’s Red Sox-Nationals game getting arrested for hopping the fence.

Dan Levy writing for the Sporting News has some suggestions for ESPN for next year’s World Cup.

That’s going to do it for tonight.

ESPN’s Plans for the 2010 World Cup

It’s less than a year away. It’s got some buzz now that the U.S. finished second in the FIFA Confederation Cup. And looking at the potential field, the competition appears wide open. Of course, it’s a long time until the first ball is kicked, but still, after the U.S. did so well in a FIFA tournament with the high level of competition, this leads you to believe that the Americans are indeed ready to take the next step when the World Cup begins next year.

ESPN which brought the rights to next year’s WC is actually making a big commitment. It’s sending studio crews to South Africa unlike in the past when the hosting was done at the ESPN studios in Bristol, CT. And unlike the past two World Cups, ESPN actually purchased the rights so it feels it has a stake in the action. In 2002 and 2006, an independent party purchased the U.S. rights and bought time on ESPN so this time around, ESPN will give this a big event feel.

Here’s the press release outining coverage. Announcing crews will be made public at a later date.

ESPN Plans Month-long Coverage from South Africa for 2010 FIFA World Cup

SportsCenter FIFA World Cup Segments, Nightly World Cup Live, and Pre-, Halftime and Post-Match Programming to Originate from Site with Hosts Chris Fowler, Bob Ley and Mike Tirico; and World Cup News and Analysis on 14 Localized Editions of SportsCenter Across the World

ESPN will present all of its 2010 FIFA World Cup television studio programming from site in South Africa, offering U.S. sports fans the most comprehensive news and information coverage throughout the month-long soccer showcase (June 11 – July 11, 2010). Coverage of the quadrennial global event will include SportsCenter segments, nightly World Cup Live, and pre-, halftime and post-match shows, with additional studio programming and World Cup-branded segments, totaling more than 65 hours of coverage, originating from two sets in and around Johannesburg.

A trio of top-tier ESPN hosts, Chris Fowler (college football, Grand Slam tennis), Bob Ley (SportsCenter, Outside the Lines), and Mike Tirico (Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Final Four, major golf championships), will serve as on-site FIFA World Cup studio hosts. ESPN’s “game around the game” approach to South Africa 2010 will include live and taped segments that will air on ESPN International’s 13 localized versions of SportsCenter in eight different languages across the world.

“Presenting all live studio programming from site in South Africa during the World Cup will allow us to fully capture the event’s key storylines and provide the right context for fans to experience the world’s most popular sport on its biggest stage,” said Mark Gross, senior vice president and managing editor, ESPN studio production. “Much like our on-site coverage of the Super Bowl, NBA Finals and other marquee events, this month-long commitment reflects the popularity of the FIFA World Cup in the U.S. and globally, and the historic nature of this event in Africa for the first time ever.”

South Africa 2010 will mark the first time in ESPN’s 30-year history that the entirety of its FIFA World Cup studio programming will originate on location from the site of the host country. Highlights of planned programs and 2010 FIFA World Cup-branded segments:

• SportsCenter at the FIFA World Cup;
• World Cup Live – the daily, 30-minute news, highlights and analysis program (30 episodes) aired each night of the tournament on ESPN or ESPN2;
• Live 30-minute pre-match, halftime (15 min.) and post-match shows on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2;
• World Cup segments on ESPNEWS, First Take on ESPN2, and Outside the Lines.

In the United States, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will combine to present high definition coverage of all 64 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa June 11 – July 11, 2010. Beyond its English-language exclusive coverage in the U.S., ESPN Inc. is a World Cup rights-holder in Brazil (ESPN Brazil) and in the ESPN Star Sports (ESS) territories of India, Pakistan, The Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Middle East.

ESPN, through the 14 localized editions of SportsCenter, the network’s flagship sports news and information brand, also provides the most comprehensive coverage of marquee sports events around the world. Each SportsCenter edition will provide extensive coverage of 2010 FIFA World Cup for fans in their respective markets, including:

• U.S. (English)
• ESPN 2 (Dos) serving the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean (Spanish)
• ESPN’s pan-regional network in Latin America (Spanish)
• ESPN+ serving the Southern cone of Latin America (Spanish)
• ESPN Brasil (Portuguese)
• TSN Canada (English)
• ESS pan-Asia (English)
• ESS India (Hindi)
• ESS Hong Kong (Cantonese)
• ESS Taiwan (Mandarin)
• J Sports ESPN (Japanese)
• ESS Malaysia (Malay)
• ESPN South Africa, Israel (English)
• ESPN Australia (English)

ESPN Inc.’s FIFA WORLD CUP HISTORY in the United States

FIFA World Cups (Men’s)
Germany ’06 – All 64 matches live and in high definition
Korea/Japan ’02 – 58 ESPN and ESPN2 matches live (six tape-delayed broadcasts on ABC)
France ’98 – ESPN 27, ESPN2 23 and ABC Sports 14 – all 64 matches live
USA ’94 – ESPN, 41, and ABC, 11 – all 52 matches
Mexico ’86 – ESPN, 15 matches (U.S. cable television rights)
Spain ’82 – ESPN, 7 matches

FIFA Women’s World Cups
China ’07
USA ’03
USA ’99 – unprecedented coverage – all 32 matches
Sweden ’95

I’m glad to see that ESPN’s plans for the World Cup are taking shape. Bob Ley is a soccer guy and Tweeted about the Confed Cup while it was underway. He’s currently in South Africa to do stories on the country’s preparation for the World Cup.

We’ll have more on ESPN’s coverage of the World Cup in the days and weeks leading up to the event.

BREAKING NEWS: Padres Announce Deal to Stream Games Online in July

This has become an MLB-centric day thus far. Here’s a release from MLB Advanced Media, the San Diego Padres and Cox Communications officially announcing the move to stream games online in the local market. I note the price is the same as the Yankees for online streaming. Look at the release.

COX COMMUNICATIONS, SAN DIEGO PADRES AND MLB ADVANCED MEDIA REACH AGREEMENT ENABLING CUSTOMERS TO PURCHASE AND WATCH PADRES TELECASTS LIVE OVER BROADBAND

Product Scheduled To Launch For Rockies-Padres Game On July 16, 2009

SAN DIEGO AND NEW YORK, June 29, 2009 – Cox Communications, the San Diego Padres and MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, today announced an agreement that will allow customers who subscribe to Cox’s High Speed Internet service to purchase a package of San Diego Padres game telecasts for live in-market online viewing. This landmark agreement signifies an innovation in the way viewers can watch live professional sports, by offering a live in-market streaming product that includes games with local television rights.

Using an authentication process that will be enabled and managed by MLBAM and Cox, Cox High Speed Internet customers can watch Padres games live on their computer anywhere in the Padres television market, including at work or at home.

Padres fans can learn more about the product and purchase the package on web pages accessible from Padres.com and Cox.com. The Padres.TV product, available for a one-time fee of $49.95 for the remainder of the season or $19.95 for any 30-day period, is scheduled to launch on Thursday, July 16 at 7:00 p.m. (PT) with Channel 4 San Diego’s Rockies-Padres broadcast. Where available, games will be delivered with high definition quality picture, using the highest quality live streaming pioneered by MLBAM this year in its MLB.TV Premium package.

“We are very pleased to partner in this important joint effort to deliver greater access to Padres fans within their local market,” said Bob DuPuy, President and COO, Major League Baseball. “The agreement presents additional opportunities for fans to stay connected to the Padres while providing them the flexibility and convenience to do so when they cannot be at Petco Park. San Diego also marks the second franchise to take this significant step by offering in-market streaming and I expect additional Clubs to follow in the near future.”

“We’re proud to be at the forefront and breaking new ground among professional sports franchises by offering live in-market online viewing to our fans,” said Tom Garfinkel, President and COO of the San Diego Padres. “We’re committed to creating more choices for how our fans experience Padres baseball here at Petco Park and beyond.”

“Now Cox customers have another convenient way to enjoy Channel 4 San Diego’s award-winning coverage of Padres baseball,” said Craig Nichols, Vice President and General Manager of Channel 4 San Diego.

Thus far, the Yankees and the Padres are the only teams to announce a deal for online streaming. According to MLB, other agreements will most likely take place next season.

THIS JUST IN: Ken Rosenthal Joins MLB Network

This doesn’t deserve the “BREAKING NEWS” banner, but this news can certainly stand alone. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal joins MLB Network as an insider. He joins Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman on a very deep bench.

MLB NETWORK ADDS KEN ROSENTHAL TO ON-AIR TALENT ROSTER

FoxSports.com Senior Writer Joins Studio Team as “Baseball Insider”

Secaucus, N.J., June 29, 2009 – MLB Network today announced that Ken Rosenthal has joined its roster of on-air talent. Rosenthal will join the cast of MLB Tonight beginning Tuesday, June 30 at 6:00 p.m. ET. Rosenthal, who will continue his reporting for FoxSports.com and MLB on Fox, joins Sports Illustrated senior writers Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman as Baseball Insiders on the MLB Network team.

“Ken brings a wealth of on-air reporting experience and insight into the game and we’re excited to welcome him to MLB Network,” said Tony Petitti, president and CEO of MLB Network. “As we grow as a network, it’s important that we continue to bring fans the most up-to-date information from the best resources in the business.”

Rosenthal has served as lead field reporter for MLB on Fox since 2005. Prior to joining Fox Sports, Rosenthal worked as the national baseball writer for The Sporting News and as a sportswriter at the Baltimore Sun, where he was named Maryland Sportswriter of the Year five times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He is a voting member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Good move by MLB Network. I think Rosenthal is quite good, although I know Washington Nationals fans won’t be sending him Christmas cards.

Community All-Stars Announced & To Be Honored at MLB All-Star Game

Here’s a release on the 30 people who will be honored at the MLB All-Star Game next month for their work in the community. Each person represents one Major League team. You can click on the images below to get a better look at who’s who.

Take a look at the press release.

MLB AND ‘PEOPLE’ ANNOUNCE 30 COMMUNITY “ALL-STARS”

TO BE HONORED AT ALL-STAR GAME

Winners to be Featured in Special Pre-Game Ceremony on FOX — July 14^th, 8:00 p.m. ET

Nearly Three Quarters of a Million Votes Cast Across the Nation

Major League Baseball and PEOPLE today announced the 30 winners of the “All-Stars Among Us” campaign, which recognizes individuals who are serving their communities in extraordinary ways. The winners will be honored during the pre-game ceremony at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis on July 14 on FOX, at which President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The “All-Stars Among Us” program is central to the 2009 MLB All-Star Summer events dedicated to charitable initiatives and recognition of the important role of community service. Nearly three quarters of a million votes were cast at PeopleAllStars.com by fans across the nation to select the 30 “All-Stars Among Us” winners (one per MLB Club) out of the pool of 90 finalists who are serving as leaders within their communities.

The 80^th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, with pre-game ceremonies beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised in more than 200 countries and territories by Major League Baseball International. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage.

Major League Baseball dedicated its 2009 All-Star Game and surrounding events to raising funds and awareness for charitable initiatives and celebrating the importance of community service. The charity and community service initiatives, which are themed “Going Beyond,” will be the most extensive in Major League Baseball All-Star history. In addition, Major League Baseball is supporting President Obama’s call for community service through “United We Serve,” a program which encourages Americans to engage in sustained and meaningful community service. President Obama is encouraging all Americans to visit www.serve.gov to find service opportunities in their area.

The 30 winners (summarized with photos and bio information on the following pages) include inspirational stories of the selfless work of individuals who dedicate their time and energy to helping others and improving the lives of those around them.

“The All-Stars Among Us winners are making a significant impact in their communities with a selfless dedication to very important causes,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “Major League Baseball is proud to honor this impressive group of people whose achievements demonstrate the renewed sense of community service that will make our nation an example for the world.”

“Celebrating the ‘Heroes Among Us’ has been an important part of PEOPLE editorial throughout its 35-year history,” said PEOPLE Managing Editor Larry Hackett. “43 million weekly readers look to PEOPLE for these stories of everyday individuals who dedicate their lives to making a difference.” Time Inc Style & Entertainment Group President Paul Caine adds: “We are thrilled to partner with MLB to shine a spotlight on the inspiring work of these “All-Stars Among Us”, and to salute these individuals in front of a nationwide audience.”

One winning “All-Star Among Us” will be featured in PEOPLE the week of the All-Star Game. For the last 35 years, PEOPLE has told stories of everyday ‘heroes’ whose acts of courage, commitment, strength and compassion are changing the lives of others. The “PEOPLE All-Stars Among Us” campaign extends the PEOPLE “Heroes Among Us” franchise.

Definitely nice to see and all are quite deserving.

And one more release from MLB in regards to the All-Star Game. Voting is getting quite tight in several positions.

CLOSE RACES IN BOTH LEAGUES TO BE DETERMINED IN FINAL DAYS OF ALL-STAR GAME SPRINT ONLINE BALLOT EXCLUSIVELY ON MLB.COM

NEW YORK, June 29, 2009 – Every single vote will matter in each League’s tightest races – Teixeira, Youkilis or Morneau? Pedroia or Kinsler? Hamilton, Hunter or Crawford? Molina or McCann? Ramirez or Rollins? Beltran or Soriano? – as fans cast their final ballots exclusively online via the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Online Ballot on MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball. Online ballots for the 16 starting position players in the 2009 All-Star Game will be available through 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 2.

Entering the final week of balloting, MLB.com has recorded 163 million votes in the All-Star Game Sprint Online Ballot, a 15 percent increase over the comparable 2008 vote total. With millions of votes coming over these last days, fans will determine which players will earn the title of All-Star starter for the 80th Midsummer Classic at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 14.

“With fans casting votes on MLB.com at a record pace, we look forward to a historic and exciting conclusion to this year’s All-Star balloting for the elected starters,” said Dinn Mann, Executive Vice President, Content, MLB.com. “These close races have been fascinating to watch each week and leave us eagerly anticipating the second leg of online balloting when the final roster spot for each All-Star Team will be determined exclusively on MLB.com.”

That’s it for this release.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB

American League
Red Sox at Baltimore – NESN/MASN, 7 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/STO, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto – Sun Sports/TSN, 7 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Texas – Fox Sports West/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City – Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Detroit at Oakland – Fox Sports Detroit/Comcast SportsNet California, 10 p.m.

National League
Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh – WCIU/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
New York Mets at Milwaukee – ESPN/SNY/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
Washington at Florida – MASN2/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
San Francisco at St. Louis – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Midwest, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Rocky Mountain/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.
Houston at San Diego – Fox Sports Houston/Cox 4, 10 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd – MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final – MLB Network, 10 p.m.

Tennis

Wimbledon, Round of 16 – ESPN2, 7 a.m./NBC, 10 a.m./ESPN2, 1 p.m.

Wimbledon Primetime – Tennis Channel, 7 p.m.

Wimbledon Update – NBC, 11:35 p.m.

Entertainment
Secrets of the Founding Fathers – History Channel, 8 p.m.
The Closer – TNT, 9 p.m.
Big Break: Prince Edward Island (season finale) – Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
Raising the Bar – TNT, 10 p.m.
Dateline NBC – NBC, 10 p.m.
Hooked (season premiere) – National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
Weeds – Showtime, 10 p.m.
Nurse Jackie – Showtime, 10:30 p.m.

TNT Quotage for Today’s NASCAR Race at Loudon

I have to hand it to the people at Turner Sports. Getting quotage done this quickly is always appreciated. For the last three weeks, Turner has churned out a press release outlining the quotage from their race within an hour from signing off. It allows me to post this quickly and you can either relive what was said or look to see what you missed from the broadcast. Thanks to the fine people at Turner Sports’ for sending this over so quickly.

Notes from TNT’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coverage – Sunday, June 28, 2009

TNT’s coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues on Saturday, July 4 with Wide Open coverage from Daytona, FL at Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR on TNT Live! begins at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by Countdown to Green at 7:30 p.m. ET. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing begins at 8 p.m. ET.

NASCAR on TNT Live! from New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, NH

Marc Fein (host), Larry McReynolds (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst)

McReynolds on the parody in the Sprint Cup Series this season: “It’s been a very unpredictable season. When we were at this point last year, it was pretty obvious that the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) and the No. 99 (Carl Edwards) were the dominant forces. If you go back to 2007, no question it was the Hendrick group with No. 24 Jeff Gordon and No. 48 Jimmie Johnson. But right now, I just don’t see anyone that’s dominating our sport, which is a great thing.”

Petty on this week’s Pride of NASCAR series featuring a profile of the Wood Brothers: “It’s all about family with (the Wood Brothers). Ford is their family and their family is the center of their life. Everyone who has driven for them is a part of their family. I’m proud to say that I was a part of their family for a while and I still consider myself (part of their family).”

Petty on the rumors that Richard Petty Motorsports is exploring options on manufacturers for 2010: “If you’re Richard Petty Motorsports and you are going to explore your options, explore them after you win a race like they did last week (in Sonoma) because that’s when there is the most interest. I do think that because of everything that’s going on in Detroit right now in the automobile industry, there are a lot of teams that are exploring options right now.”

Petty on a comment No. 99 Carl Edwards made during Lindsay Czarniak’s Lindsay on Location behind-the-scenes piece: “(Carl Edwards) said that ‘racing is 80% mental.’ So if I look at No. 14 Tony (Stewart), it’s got to be 98% mental because he’s kickin’ butt out there and he doesn’t look like Carl Edwards.”

No. 2 Kurt Busch joined Fein, McReynolds and Petty on the TNT set.

Busch on the incident at Sonoma involving him and No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: “We talked and it and felt like a championship-type discussion where we were both going for the same spot at the same time and we’re going to handle it like championship drivers. We both know to give each other room next time. I was really upset when it initially happened, but we went from 38th (position) to 15th in the last 20 laps and that really camouflaged it in my mind. At worst, I thought we were going to finish seventh at Sonoma but we’ll take 15th and get out of there.”

Busch on if he feels the Penske Racing Team has turned the corner from last year to this year: “It’s all about taking those bad days that have turned rough and turning it into a solid finish. In the past, when things went wrong, it would snowball. I feel that the way Pat Tryson has led this team, we’ve got Dave Winston as our team engineer, everybody at Penkse (Racing), the new engine, the cars in general are handling better and when you’re handling better, you’re going to drive to better finishes.”

Busch on his hobby of hunting: “I’ve gotten big into hunting and I’ve found it refreshing to go out into the woods, think about things and get into the hunting mode then switch back into racing.”

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ******

Countdown to Green

Marc Fein (host) and Wally Dallenbach (analyst)

TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed No. 11 Denny Hamlin prior to the race.

Hamlin on if he drives better on flat tracks: “I think so because I’ve got a lot of laps on the flat tracks. This weekend we’ve got an experimental set-up and we don’t know what we have. It could be hero or it could be zero, you never know.”

Dallenbach on what goes through the mind of a driver who is in a slump: “Most drivers who are in (a slump) are very insecure. You go to the racetrack and you don’t know what you’re doing different. It doesn’t matter how many championships you’ve won or how many races you’ve won. It’s really hard and you beat yourself up when you’re not running well. It’s a little bit easier like in the (Richard) Childress situation where your teammates aren’t running as well. Then the focus is more on the team because none of the drivers are running well. That helps the driver keep his confidence. In the situation that Dale Earnhardt is in, he’s in a tough situation because his teammates are running well and he’s not. You don’t sleep at night because you are trying to figure out what you need to do differently and if the team is completely confident in you, you can tell. But if the whispers start happening, as a driver, you can sense that too and that makes it worse.”

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ******

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 from New Hampshire International Speedway

Announcers: Ralph Shaheen (play-by-play), Wally Dallenbach (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst); Larry McReynolds (analyst) contributes from the in-field at the TNT Off-track Robotic Car (TORC)

Pit reporters: Lindsay Czarniak, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum

Dallenbach on the importance of the double-file restart at New Hampshire International Speedway: “This is one of those places where if it goes green, and you haven’t hit the setup right off the bat, the way the double-file restarts are now, if you go a lap down, you’re pretty much history.”

Petty on the unsung heroes in the pit crews: “Those guys on pit row are unsung heroes. To go out there and turn your back on a car, these guys do an incredible job. Drivers can’t do what they do without these guys.”

Dallenbach on how good No. 48 Jimmie Johnson has been: “These guys are just so darn good. Everyone has to step up their game to catch No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) but the problem is No. 48 keeps moving their game forward.”

Petty on drivers working hard to stay in contention and not get down a lap: “These guys are driving twice as hard as (No. 48) Jimmie Johnson. They are driving to stay on the lead lap and stay in contention. The cars just aren’t driving properly and you see the guy go past you 20 miles-per-hour faster and he’s got his arm out the window waving at you as he goes by. Nothing makes you madder than that. These guys are really driving hard.”

Dallenbach on the importance of keeping up with the leader: “You don’t want to lose (time on) the leader. If you lose five or six seconds on the leader before your car comes in (to the pits), it’s really hard to make that gap up. You almost have to be good for the whole run, you can’t give up.”

Petty on the multi-car crash at lap 175: “If you look at this at face value and all the people that are No. 18 Kyle Busch haters out there will say that Kyle Bush caused this (accident). He didn’t, this was a chain-reaction. This wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed No. 1 Martin Truex Jr. who was eliminated from the race in a multi-car accident

Truex Jr. on what happened in the accident that involved No. 18 Kyle Busch: “I’m not sure what happened in front of us, either the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr) or No. 2 (Kurt Busch) spun their tires, I’m not sure who it was. I was trying to do what I need to do to get going. You can’t pass before the start/finish line and I guess No. 18 Kyle (Busch) decided he didn’t want to do it. I’m just an innocent victim today.”

TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed No. 31 Jeff Burton who was eliminated from the race in a multi-car accident

Burton on if the accident that eliminated him from the race was the result of a double-file restart: “Everything you do has a positive and a negative and you hope there are more positives. There’s no question that the double-file restarts are going to make it more exciting and make more aggressive racing. When you have more aggressive racing, you’re going to have more wrecks. That’s just how it is. We’ve wrecked here on single-file restarts, let’s be clear about that. That’s what racing is all about and it was our turn today to get in it.”

Dallenbach on double-file restarts: “I like the double-file restarts and I think everybody else does. I think most of these drivers have to like it especially if you’re in the eighth or ninth spot.”

Petty on No. 20 Joey Logano: “(Joe Gibbs Racing’s) goal right now is to get this kid to race in the top ten or fifteen. Has he done that today? I’m not sure, we could argue that point. At the same time, he’s with a great organization in the Gibbs organization. He has a ton of talent. Whether it’s matured to that point yet, it doesn’t matter because he’s going to win races in the future, that’s a given. But the point is he’s with a great organization and team and they are giving him the time to learn.”

TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed No. 2 Kurt Busch during the rain delay

Busch on his intense double-file restarts with No. 24 Jeff Gordon: “When you inject (double-file restarts) into our racing, it seems like it changed the whole game. There’s more to think about and after lap 150, you don’t know when the rain is going to come. To me, that’s the whole race and you better go get what you can. I stepped over the line a little bit but that’s the excitement. I think Jeff (Gordon) can have a smile on his face right now. It’s great, this sport has been clean and these guys you race with are clean and you can rub a little like that and still finish second or third, that’s alright.

TNT’s Lindsay Czarniak interviewed Lenox Industrial Tools 301 winner No. 20 Joey Logano.

Logano on his first Sprint Cup win: “I never thought that I’d be the one. It kind of bit us in Charlotte when we had the same opportunity to do this and we didn’t. This was the opportunity we had and we had nothing to lose. This is a dream come true and the best race track that it could happen at.”

Logano on what it means to win his first race at his home track: “It makes it that much more special, belive me. We struggled a little bit in practice and I was starting to figure it out and we were where we needed to be. Luckily we had enough fuel and we made a pit stop at the end before the last green flag so we had a little bit more fuel than everyone else. That’s what it took.”

Unofficial Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Results:

1. No. 20 Joey Logano

2. No. 24 Jeff Gordon

3. No. 2 Kurt Busch

4. No. 00 David Reutimann

5. No. 14 Tony Stewart

6. No. 09 Brad Keselowski

7. No. 18 Kyle Busch

8. No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.

9. No. 48 Jimmie Johnson

10. No. 9 Kasey Kahne

Once again, thanks to Turner Sports.

If you watched today’s coverage, you may have noticed that Bill Weber was not in the booth to call the race. As broached in today’s links, John Daly of the Daly Planet NASCAR blog said Weber was suspended due to an unspecified incident on Friday. Turner made this statement in regards to Weber:

“Bill Weber will not be part of TNT’s NASCAR coverage of the Cup Series from New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. As this is a private issue, it’s the policy of the company not to discuss personal matters involving our employees.”

Nothing else was said and Weber’s expected to return next week.

Doing a Sunday Link Thing

Time for some links on this Sunday. I watched a fun South Africa-Spain match in the 3rd place game at the Confederations Cup on Univision this morning and kept up through Twitter with the coup in Honduras that CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are all ignoring today. News never stops just because it’s the weekend. I’m surprised not to hear any mention of it.

Anyway, time for some links.

Dave Solomon of the New Haven Register talks with CBS Sports’ Peter Kostis about golfer Kenny Green who had part of his leg amputated following a serious car accident two weeks ago.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the YES crew did a good job of filling time during last night’s Yankees-Mets blowout.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman didn’t like Greta Van Susteren’s visit to the Fox Sports booth during last week’s game between the Mets and Tampa Bay.

Paul Mrozek of the Batavia (NY) Daily News speaks with author Curt Smith about his book on Vin Scully.

Laura Nachman says Brian Baldinger will no longer be an NFL analyst with Fox Sports.

Brian’s brother Richard who has done work for CBS Sports, was involved in a fatal car accident in the Kansas City area.

Joe Logan in the Philadelphia Inquirer reviews a new book that NBC’s Jimmy Roberts has written about golf slumps.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot looks at one sports radio talk show host who’s firmly entrenched at his radio station.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the University of Georgia is expanding its football game coverage on radio.

In a related note, Chip Towers of the AJC says the Bulldogs will have two primetime games this fall on ESPN.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times lists the Top 10 Most Influential Figures in Sports and there are sports TV executives included.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News previews the next episode of “4th and Long” and has found out an interesting spoiler.

Howard McEwen of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a college student announcer is being recognized for his work.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale about last week’s NBA Draft.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth looks at some of the intersting blog posts on various SoCal sports issues. And Tom provides some links to said blog posts.

Andrew Malcolm of the Los Angeles Times says it didn’t take long for Conan O’Brien to make fun of the Clippers.

From the San Francisco Examiner, Artie Gigantino has some observations on various sports TV topics.

James Robinson of the London Observer says the worldwide credit crunch led to the downfall of Setanta Sports in the UK.

The Sports Media Watch has the ratings for three sports series. And the SMW has its usual weekend ratings predictions.

The great Maury Brown looks at the second MLB team that will be streaming its games online in-market.

Joe Favorito looks at how teams and athletes can use the Draft to their branding advantage.

The Daly Planet NASCAR blog says TNT’s Bill Weber was suspended for today’s race at Loudon, NH over an incident at his hotel on Friday. No specifics are available. John says Ralph Shaheen will call the race in his place.

The Bundesliga Talk blog talks with ESPN’s soccer announcer extraordinaire Derek Rae about the German soccer league and international football in general.

I’ll end it here for now. I might be back later. Keep it here.

Videos of the Week – Farrah Fawcett

Thanks to Ian Bethune over at Sox & Dawgs for suggesting this edition of Videos of the Week.

I was going to post Michael Jackson videos, but with everyone doing some type of tribute, I decided to go in another direction and I was stuck for a subject, then Ian tweeted me with the idea so thanks to him, I’ll take the opportunity to remember the person who had the misfortune of passing away on the same day as Michael, Farrah Fawcett.

As a kid growing up in the 1970′s, Farrah was the most beautiful woman on whom I had ever laid eyes. Most of my friends had this famous poster tacked up on their wall.

Gorgeous naturally, but I had to be different. I looked in a catalog and found this poster and tacked it up on my wall.

To me it was just as good. But the shot above it was the iconic one and became the best selling poster of all time. What can you say? It was great.

Farrah became famous during her one season on Charlie’s Angels in 1976-77. She was the reason that most people watched. And her hairstyle was copied all over. She left the show for a movie career that did not pan out, but she remained famous and after doing “The Burning Bed” and “Extremities,” she got the respect she was looking for.

I would give you clips of Farrah in Charlie’s Angels, but I can’t because they’re copyrighted. You can see entire episodes of the first season of Charlie’s Angels on YouTube. All of them are there. So you can see them at your leisure.

What I will do is embed some commercials and appearances that Farrah did before she hit it big and you will see how absolutely stunning she was.

This is the famous Noxema commercial she did with Joe Namath, I want to say this was done around 1970 or ’71.

This is from 1970 and there’s that famous smile in an Ultra Brite toothpaste commercial. You can hear a trace of Farrah’s Texas accent.

Also from the early 1970′s is an ad Farrah did for Lady Shick’s Speed Styler hair dryer. Angela Cartwright who was in the “Lost In Space” TV series is also in the ad.

The one ad that really got people’s attention was this ad Farrah did for the Mercury Cougar. This came out in 1975, the year before Charlie’s Angels debuted. And she still did Mercury Cougar ads until 1977.

After she hit it big with Charlie’s Angels, a lot of focus was on Farrah’s hair. So she signed with Faberge and naturally endorsed shampoo.

Do you want to see Farrah on a TV show before Charlie’s Angels? Here she is in an episode of “The Partridge Family”. Note a very young Danny Bonaduce before he became extremely crazy. And Farrah is gorgeous, of course.

And here’s Farrah from the Dating Game back in 1969. The host is Jim Lange. Note the three losers who try to get a date.

Finally, this is a CBS segment from some type of retrospective for 1978. The late Telly Savalas narrates and you’ll see Farrah’s ex-husband Lee Majors in there as well.

Farrah will definitely be missed. She exuded class and grace. It was sad to hear the news of her cancer and even sadder to hear of her passing. At 62, she still looked good. That concludes this look back at Farrah Fawcett’s early work.

BREAKING NEWS: Padres to Stream Games In-Market

Give credit to the Sports Business Journal for making this available at 8 p.m. on a Saturday. It also shows that I have no life monitoring Twitter for things like this.

John Ourand and Eric Fisher report that the San Diego Padres will become the second MLB team within a week to announce that they will stream games online in the local market. Earlier this week, the Yankees released plans to stream games through Cablevision for $49.95 for the rest of the season.

John and Eric write:

A second in-market streaming deal set to be announced this week involves the San Diego Padres and Cox Communications, according to industry sources.

In addition, the story says MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig has sent a memo to all of the 30 teams outlining the plans to divide the money between each organizations, their regional sports networks and the main cable provider in the market.

John and Eric add:

Other teams do not appear to be close to deals for in-market streaming on the heels of the Yankees and Padres, but MLB President Bob DuPuy last week said while announcing the Yankees’ deal that he expects “a majority” of teams will have such deals in place sometime next season.

Certainly big news and once again, MLB remains on the forefront of online streaming having been the first league to put its games online out of market. Now, it’s doing it in-market.

A Saturday Link Day

As I’m in the home office today and also keeping track of Wimbledon thanks to the BBC, I’ll do some links for you.

Newsday’s Neil Best says his newspaper’s website was all over the U.S. Open as well as the NBA and NHL Drafts this week.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette feels the NBA Draft dragged on too long on Thursday.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News laments the disappearing local TV sports report.

Daniel Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes about a 94 year old Phillies fan who can’t watch her team because her senior citizens residence has DirecTV which is not allowed to pick up Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says FSN Pittsburgh has set its high school football schedule.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writing in the Baltimore-centric Press Box website says Comcast is going to strengthen its web presence for its Mid-Atlantic channel.

Les Carpenter of the Washington Post looks at this year’s crop of players in the NFL Broadcast Boot Camp.

Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe says New England Patriot Matt Light was one of those involved in the Boot Camps.

The Gamecocks on TV blog has done a great job keeping up with the changing affiliates for SEC football and basketball due to the change in TV contracts to ESPN. It has news on another station change in the SEC footprint.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News talks with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla about the Mavericks’ top draft pick.

Ameet Sachdev of the Chicago Tribune says the negotiations between the Tribune Company and the Ricketts family for the sale of the Cubs is now gaining momentum.

The INDenver Times spoke with Colorado Rockies TV voice Drew Goodman.

The Los Angeles Times has removed a blog post on The Superstars due to a similarity with a post on the same subject at ESPN.com.

The Sporting News picks up an article from Tripp Mickle of sister publication Sports Business Journal stating that the NHL made huge strides in the national TV ratings this past season.

The London Daily Mail reports John McEnroe, doing commentary at Wimbledon for NBC and the BBC, is perturbed at not being allowed access to the men’s locker room.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Fox Sports Ohio and STO will be locked in a fantasy baseball battle during tonight’s Reds-Indians game.

Mike also speaks with a departing FSN executive about his long career running a regional sports network.

Two Tweets from sports figures making news.

Red Sox owner John W. Henry said, “Beautiful day for a wedding!” Today is his wedding to Ms. Linda Puzzuti. Congratulations, Mr. Henry and Ms. Puzzuti.

Jerry Remy said about his potential return to NESN, “I appreciate all your support-doing well-going to gym-gained weight back-no issues-have not set return date yet-anxious to get back-Jerry“. Apparently, no rush to bring Jerry back at this time.

Those are the links for today. I’ll be back tomorrow.

A Few Press Releases For You

I did not post these releases last night, I got quite busy as you can imagine. I do have some time now.

Here’s quotage from NBA TV’s coverage of the NBA Draft.

Notes from NBA TV’s 2009 NBA Draft Review presented by EA SPORTS – Thursday, June 25, 2009

**** **** **** **** *****

2009 NBA Draft Review

Announcers: Rick Kamla, Kenny Smith, David Aldridge, Steve Smith, and Bruce Pearl

Aldridge on L.A. Clippers’ No. 1 Draft pick Blake Griffin: “He is a franchise level power forward in my opinion. He’s a guy you can pencil in for multiple All-Star Games, and you can build a Championship team around him.”

Smith on the L.A. Clippers as a franchise: “People say the past doesn’t matter, but I disagree. The history tells you the direction of a franchise. A lot of players view the Clippers as a stepping stone, to get a contract or to get noticed. Once they (Clippers) get out of the stepping stone mentality is when they can change. You have to look at the history.”

Pearl on why Blake Griffin is the No. 1 pick in the draft: “I think he is the No. 1 pick in the draft because he is 6’10”, and for a man his size there isn’t a better athlete in the draft. He’s a tough guy and he can keep his composure.”

NBA TV’s Craig Sager interviews L.A. Clippers’ No. 1 draft pick Blake Griffin.

Griffin on the pressure he faces to turn around the Clippers: “I know it’s not all on me to turn it around. They have a lot of great players and I just hope to come in and help out.”

Kamla on Memphis Grizzlies’ No. 2 pick Hasheem Thabeet: “I think it’s consensus among all of us that this (Thabeet) was the right pick for that team (Memphis).”

Aldridge: “The Memphis Grizzlies were one of the worst defensive teams in the league for the past few years, and Thabeet gives them real size now.”

Smith: “I think if UConn had won the NCAA National Championship, Thabeet would have been the No. 1 pick. A guy like him, 7’3” and athletic, doesn’t come along but every six years or so.”

Pearl: “He’s a game changer and he could be a team changer.”

Smith on Oklahoma City Thunder’s No. 3 pick James Harden: “James Harden is the least talked about pick in the NBA Draft, and he was the third pick, the same as Michael Jordan.”

Aldridge: “He’s going to be Rookie of the Year, in my opinion, because he can score the ball.”

Steve Smith: “I love James Harden, because of his talent, but I don’t know if he will fit in with a guy like Kevin Durant.”

Aldridge on Sacramento Kings’ No. 4 Draft pick Tyreke Evans: “I love this pick. I think Tyreke Evans has the chance to be a star in this league. I think he has the size and the temperament.”

The NBA TV crew interviewed Minnesota Timberwolves General Manager David Kahn.

Kahn on picking two back-to-back point guards in Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn: “I think when you are picking that high in the draft, you need to pick players that you believe have a chance to be great, and I believe (Rubio and Flynn) do. Ricky Rubio has been great for several years. I also think they both can play well together.”

Kahn on his vision for the Timberwolves: “This is a new day. We are going to build a team that is a Championship contending team.”

Kahn on developing his young Timberwolves team: “We are in a different world. We are in the player development business now. Because these kids are so young, we have to have a program to make them the best players they can be.”

Aldridge on the Timberwolves picking four point guards in the draft: “I think what the Timberwolves are doing, and it’s not an unintelligent thing, is they are saying ‘If you want a point guard on July 1^st, you’ve got to come to us and make us an offer, because we’ve got them.’”

Smith: “I think that you are right David, but I also know on June 25^th a guy looks great, on July 1^st he doesn’t have the same value. Meaning teams have made their picks, they have to live with those picks somewhat, and they are usually happy. The thing that baffles me is when (Kahn) said Ricky Rubio was a starting point guard and Jonny Flynn wasn’t. To me, the No. 6 pick in the Draft is a starting point guard. I know that the No. 6 pick does not think the No. 5 pick is a better player.”

Aldridge: “You’re absolutely right. If you think about everything that had to happen just to get Ricky Rubio over here; all the complicated negotiations they had to with the Spanish Basketball League and his team; you don’t then bring in another point guard to play with him.”

Pearl on the Timberwolves’ draft process: “I think Ricky Rubio is a better player. I think there’s a chance that the Timberwolves didn’t expect Rubio to be around for pick No. 5. I think there is a chance that they thought Flynn was going to be the best point guard available. I think they got caught off guard.”

NBA TV’s Craig Sager interviews Timberwolves’ No. 5 Draft pick Ricky Rubio.

Rubio on being ready to play in the NBA: “When I was playing in the Olympics, I thought, if I can play against the best players in the world, then I am can play in the NBA.”

Kamla on speculation about Golden State’s No. 7 pick Stephen Curry: “There is a report in the Arizona Republic by Paul Coro that says likely Golden State’s selection of Stephen Curry as the No. 7 pick was made for the Phoenix Suns as part of an Amar’e Stoudemire trade that can’t be completed until July 1^st.”

Smith: “It’s obvious he fits in, he’s probably too explosive to trade, but bringing Amare Stoudemire in changes the dynamic of your team. If he stays (with Golden State) he will be unleashed.”

Pearl on Indiana Pacers’ No. 13 Draft pick Tyler Hansbrough: “(Hansbrough) dominated as a freshmen, sophomore, junior (and senior). He is going to go against all these players in the NBA that he already outplayed (in college). I don’t know why people are worried about how he will do at the next level. I think it was a great pick-up (by Indiana) and I’m glad he was a lottery pick as a four-year player.”

Pearl on whether Detroit Pistons’ No. 15 draft pick Austin Daye will be immediately effective with the Pistons: “No, he is not. Austin Daye is not about today, it’s about tomorrow, because Austin Daye can not play today in the NBA. He is not tough. He has a lot of upside, but he is a couple years away, physically, from being able to play. This was a reach for the Detroit Pistons.”

Aldridge on Sam Young being available at No. 36 for the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the draft: “It makes no sense to me at all. All everybody talked about was how tough and athletic Sam Young was. I’m stunned New Orleans didn’t take him at No. 21.”

Pearl: “I’m surprised New Orleans didn’t take him, they could have used a player like him, but Memphis got an absolute steal.”

Aldridge on Orlando Magic trade with New Jersey Nets for Vince Carter: “It’s going to be very difficult for (Magic) to resign Hedo Turkoglu, unless he is willing to take a huge pay cut, which I don’t think he will do.”

Pearl on the Orlando Magic’s trade with New Jersey Nets for guard Vince Carter: “I think when you lose in the NBA Finals, you look at the team that beat you. The L.A. Lakers beat Orlando, so Orlando looked at how and why. Kobe Bryant is now going to cover Vince Carter and vice versa. Orlando didn’t have anyone who would even bother Kobe, so I think their trade has to do with that.”

Aldridge on center Shaquille O’Neal being traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Cleveland Cavaliers: “I don’t think it’s a bad move, but I don’t see it as Cleveland automatically getting to the Finals and winning the Championship. It could work out that way, but not necessarily. I think LeBron James will have to adjust some things in his game and I don’t think it does anything for the Cavaliers on the defensive end.”

Smith: “Shaq is better than Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. The Cavaliers gained in terms of talent level. However, they need to figure out how to implement Shaq on the offensive end.”

Aldridge on teams that helped themselves the most in the 2009 NBA Draft: “I think the Memphis Grizzlies had the best night. They got three players that can change the culture of the team.”

Pearl: “I like Charlotte’s draft. I think they had a really good night.”

Next, here’s next week’s programming for Golf Channel.

COMING UP ON GOLF CHANNEL… June 29 – July 5, 2009

19^th Hole, the network’s fast-paced half-hour talk show, features debates on the hot topics in golf.

$100,000 Up for Grabs on Big Break Prince Edward Island Finale

Tilghman/Feherty Bike Ride for Wounded Warriors Featured on Golf in America

Original Programming Premieres

(All times eastern)

Big Break Prince Edward Island (Finale)

Time: Monday 9 – 10 p.m.

Host: Stina Sternberg and Charlie Rymer

The finale of Big Break Prince Edward Island features Blair O’Neal and Derek Gillespie competing in a nine-hole stroke-play match for $100,000.

Golf in America

Time: Tuesday 10 – 10:30 p.m.

Host: Anthony Anderson

The second episode of the 10-week series will feature:

· Prison View Golf Course, located inside the prison walls of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where inmates learn real-world trades such as landscape architecture and horticulture.

· Pete and Alice Dye share the story of the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, one of the most recognizable and difficult holes in golf.

· CBS Sports’ David Feherty hosting an annual weekend for wounded American war veterans that includes hunting and cycling. Join Feherty and Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman as they take a practice ride to prepare for the event.

Golf in America takes viewers coast-to-coast to discover never-before-told stories, larger-than-life characters and inspirational people in capturing the spirit of the game of golf. The series, hosted by film and television actor Anthony Anderson, chronicles stories in stunning HD from celebrities, such as Justin Timberlake and Donald Trump to everyday people across the country that are unified by the sport.

Playing Lessons from the Pros

Time: Monday 10 – 10:30 p.m.

Actor Luke Wilson joins PGA TOUR winner Charley Hoffman for an exciting lesson on the Vegas strip at Wynn Golf Club. Hoffman shares his insight to astonishing distance and demonstrates short game tips that include a fairway bunker lesson.

PGA TOUR Primetime

Time: Thursday 8:30 – 11:30 p.m.

Friday 8:30 – 11:30 p.m.

Host: Ian Page

GOLF CHANNEL’s coverage of the first two rounds of the National re-airs on PGA TOUR Primetime.

News and Talk Show Programming Highlights

Golf Central

Live Airings: Mon – Wed 6 – 6:30 p.m.

Thursday 6 – 6:30 p.m./11:30 p.m. – Midnight

Friday 6 – 6:30 p.m./11:30 p.m. – Midnight

Saturday 6 – 6:30 p.m./11:30 p.m. – Midnight

Sunday 6 – 7 p.m./11:30 p.m. – Midnight

Golf Central will deliver the latest golf news from the National and all of the major golf tours.

Golf Central Pre Game

Time: Thursday 2:30 – 3 p.m.

Friday 2:30 – 3 p.m.

Saturday 12:30 – 1 p.m./2:30 – 3 p.m.

Sunday 12:30 – 1 p.m./2:30 – 3 p.m.

GOLF CHANNEL’s Golf Central team offers a preview of the AT&T National before each round. Following the 12:30 edition of Golf Central Pre Game on Saturday and Sunday, GOLF CHANNEL will air live coverage of the National from 1- 2:30 p.m.

The Golf Fix

Time: Monday 8 – 8:30 p.m.

Host: Michael Breed

Shot at the PGA Professional National Championship in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., The Golf Fix, GOLF CHANNEL’S fast-paced interactive instructional show, will feature tips from the competing pros as well as lessons on bunker play.

The Approach

Time: Tuesday 8 – 8:30 p.m.

Hosts: Kraig Kann/Analysts Andrew Magee and Alex Miceli

Highlighting the top storylines in golf from different perspectives, analysts from The Approach will preview the AT&T National and review the Travelers Championship in an entertaining and informative manner.

19^th Hole

Time: Wednesday 8 – 8:30 p.m.

Host: Vince Cellini/Analysts Jeff Rude and John Hawkins

Carl Edwards Makes Visit to ESPN Campus

With two NASCAR races on tap for him this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Carl Edwards paid a visit to ESPN’s campus in Bristol, Conn., on Thursday and appeared on a variety of ESPN platforms.

Edwards will compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at NHMS on Saturday, a race that will be televised by ESPN on ABC at 2:30 p.m. ET. He also competes in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the 1.058-mile track.

On Thursday, Edwards appeared on the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN’s flagship program SportsCenter with anchor Jay Harris, shortly after co-hosting the 5 p.m. edition of NASCAR Now on ESPN2 with Mike Massaro. He also did live interviews on ESPNEWS with anchor Michelle Bonner and ESPN Radio with Doug Gottlieb.

In addition, Edwards taped interviews for ESPN International and ESPN Deportes during his three-hour stay in Bristol.

Selected quotes from Edwards from his appearance on NASCAR Now:

On his season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:

“I want to win this (Sprint Cup) championship more than ever. Considering last year and how close we got, I did figure we’d start this season a little stronger. I think the thing that surprises me is the level of competition on the racetrack. These fans, I don’t know whether they know it or not, but they’re seeing Carl Edwards drive harder than he ever has. They’re seeing exciting finishes. The biggest surprise to me is just how tough it is right now in this sport.”

On driver rivalries in NASCAR:

“I think rivalries are good for the sport. They’re actually fun to be a part of and they’re motivating. Kyle (Busch) and I have the potential to have a really good battle in the Nationwide Series, and with the Chase, you could see anything. It could come down to some wild stuff at the end of the year. So I’d just stay tuned and you might see something.”

On the possibility of IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick coming to NASCAR:

“I’ve only had the chance to meet her once, but she seemed cool. If she could come here to NASCAR and create the excitement that she’s created in the Indy cars that would be huge for NASCAR. And I think anyone would welcome her as a teammate, and I know she’s talked to a lot of teams. It could be big. “

On auto manufacturers involved in NASCAR:

“The people that I’m around, the people that I grew up with, we have a lot of pride in our cars. I just hope that our domestic car manufacturers stick with it and enjoy the racing like they have in the past. It’s up to the fans really to go out there and give all of these cars a fair shot. Sit down in a Ford and drive one. That’s all we can hope for.”

I’ve caught up with the press releases for now.

Another Friday Night Megalinks Post

In the euphoria of my joining Boston Sports Media Watch, I got stuck doing a few things and did not do the megalinks. Time to do them now.

As usual, it’s time for the Weekend Viewing Picks.

Interleague baseball’s last games of the season takes center stage this weekend. Games such as Yankees-Mets, Red Sox-Braves, Cubs-White Sox get national attention. MLB Network and ESPN will take Yankees-Mets on Saturday and Sunday nights respectively. Fox and TBS will air Red Sox-Braves on consecutive afternoons. Fox also has Cubs-White Sox Saturday, then WGN has the matchup on Sunday. The national MLB schedule with announcing assignments and regional splits in the case of Fox can be seen at the MLB This Weekend section of Fang’s Bites.

Wimbledon resumes Saturday and then takes the middle Sunday off as is tradition with the tournament. ESPN2 has live coverage Saturday morning at 8, then moves over for NBC at 3 p.m. Then on the rest day, NBC has taped coverage of the best matches of the week at 1 p.m.

NASCAR heads to Loudon, NH for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. TNT has that race Sunday at 2 p.m.

The IndyCar circuit is in Richmond for the SunTrust Indy Challenge that Versus will bury Saturday night at 8.

In soccer, the US is in the finals of the Confederations Cup against Brazil and after its upset of Spain on Wednesday, interest will be a bit higher for the match played on Sunday. ESPN has the game starting at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The PGA Tour is in Cromwell, CT for the Travelers Championship and CBS has weekend coverage at 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

And boxing fans have their choice of bouts to watch Saturday on Showtime at 9 p.m. and HBO at 10 p.m.

The full Weekend Viewing Picks are over here.

Now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy says TBS feels Ron Darling is in the upper echelon of MLB TV analysts.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal writes that MLB remains in a ratings malaise.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says his readers have spoken and chosen a new nickname for Shaquille O’Neal. Darren reports that Vijay Singh was willing to post bail for embattled Stanford Financial CEO Allen Stanford. Darren also projects the contracts for the first round picks of the NBA Draft.

Joe Favorito wonders if soccer can take advantage of the US’ performance at the Confed Cup.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says MASN is mixing and matching its announcing teams for the Orioles-Nationals series. Mike writes that ESPN and ESPN2 saw record viewership for the College World Series.

The Sports Media Journal’s Ray Frager says he prefers watching the NBA Draft over the NFL Draft.

Deadspin says HBO plans to ditch the comedy for the next edition of Joe Buck Live.

The Sports Media Watch says ESPN has chosen its hosts for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Andrew Laughlin of Digital Spy says ESPN may use one its existing UK channels to show recently acquired English Premier League gamese.

Len Berman gives us his top 5 sports stories of the day at the Huffington Post.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says Dennis Eckersley is gaining his own legion of fans while sitting in for Jerry Remy on NESN.

Good friend LC at the 38Cliches blog is impressed with Dave O’Brien’s work ethic on Red Sox radio broadcasts.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times chronicles how NBC’s Breakfast at Wimbledon began.

Here’s a Phil Mushnick column I can actually agree with. The New York Post columnist rips WFAN’s Craig Carton for sexually harassing tennis star Jennifer Capriati earlier this week.

The Big Lead also weighed in on Mushnick’s column.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with YES’ Al Leiter about the Subway Series which has lost some luster this year. And Justin has five questions for MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams about his former Phillies team.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with WFAN’s Mike Francesa one year after his split with former partner Chris Russo. Neil has more with Mike Francesa in his blog. Neil says Mike is in no rush to find a new partner for his show. Mike has some choice words for former CBS Radio and now Sirius XM chairman Mel Karmazin. And Neil has some more from Mike regarding Russo and ESPN. Neil writes about former WFAN midday co-host Sid Rosenberg whether his future is in the Big Apple or South Florida. Neil wonders why the TSN-produced NHL Draft show carried on Versus did not have a continuous scroll.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman goes after ESPN and MLB for “celebrating” the return of Manny Ramirez.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes about the Yankees’ deal to stream games online and in-market for a hefty price. Pete adds that ESPN was really happy about its College World Series ratings.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner gives us his weekend viewing picks. And Jim says the USA-Brazil final in the Confederations Cup is a highlight of the weekend.

South

The Munroe (LA) News Star says CBS’ Tim Brando was honored by the nation’s Sports Information Directors.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News says Terrell Owens and supermodel Joanna Krupa get to return to The Superstars on Monday.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle writes that Sporting News Radio gets a new affiliate in town.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes about a local sports radio host who’s happy he can see again. In his media notebook, Mel talks about ESPN NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson branching out from his football roots.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids Press is another who prefers the NBA Draft over the NFL’s.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has quotes from ESPN’s basketball analysts about the NBA Draft.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers of the week.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin is already looking forward to college football season on ESPN and the Big Ten Network.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with former Blues voice Ken Wilson about Brett Hull who will be inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame this year.

West

A local sports talk show host switches places with the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner and writes this week’s media column in the newspaper.

John Maffei from the North County Times says rain put a damper on the U.S. Open and its ratings.

Mike Penner of the Los Angeles Times says the NBA Draft lent itself to a lot of trade talk on ESPN.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Manny Mania swept Albuquerque and the media in both New Mexico and SoCal.

Tom has other sports media news in his blog. Tom goes over the week in blogging.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star bids farewell to a different type of sports radio show.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN NHL analyst Ray Ferrarro will have to wait and see where his son will be picked in the Entry Draft.

And that’s it. I’ll be back with more links Saturday.

Follow Friday IV

Time for another edition of Follow Friday. This is the weekly Twitter tradition in which members suggest others to follow and if you like what that person, you hit the “follow” button. I’ve written three previous Follow Friday’s here so you can take a look at what has been recommended here.

I’ll do bloggers first.

Jason Clinkscales is a writer for the New York Beacon newspaper, a publication geared towards the African American community. Jason also maintains an excellent blog, A Sports Scribe. He can delve into stories and issues that he cannot in the newspaper. I’ve come to know Jason both through e-mail and Facebook. He’s a very good writer and he’s good enough to be writing for a major newspaper. This is my call for an editor to hire this man.

Steve Scafa is the man behind I Had To Turn It Off When…. Some interesting background on Steve. He was involved in the famous college baseball game between St. John’s and Yale in which Frank Viola and Ron Darling pitched. Steve got the first hit against Darling after St. John’s was no-hit for 11 innings! Steve now looks at New York TV and radio from a former athlete’s point of view. Go visit Steve’s excellent blog.

One of the growing number of sports humor blogs is tonyblogs. This gives a humorous look at sports and also gives picks on certain games. Tony Arnoldine definitely has a different take on sports and it’s quite funny.

If you want to keep up with women’s tennis or just want to keep up to date on what the women on the WTA tour are wearing, head on over to the Women’s Tennis Blog which has gained quite a bit of notoriety over the last few years for its no-nonsense reporting of the WTA. This is run out of Serbia by Marija Sivlak and her writing is quite good. English is not her first language, but you would not know it when you read her posts. The WTA rankings are there along with the latest tournaments. I found the blog when I did a couple of posts on Bethanie Mattek’s attire two years ago (When Female Players Attack and Bethanie Mattek as a French Nanny?) at the U.S. Open. It’s been one of my favorite destinations ever since and you’ll notice it in “My Favorite Blogs” listed on the left as you scroll down.

Not related to women’s tennis is Sharapova’s Thigh which is a mix of sports, entertainment and women. Ever since Blogs With Balls which creator Matt Clapp did not attend, I’ve had the opportunity to exchange tweets with him and he’s a very sharp guy.

To get a good perspective on the Philadelphia sports scene, the 700 Level blog is one of the better blogs out there. The blogs loves all things Philly, the Phillies, the Eagles, the Sixers, the Flyers as well as its college teams. I love what Enrico, Matt and Kulp do there. Before Boston teams started winning, I felt a kinship with Philly with the suffering it endured with its sports teams. And now that the Phillies have won, you have a feeling that the tide is turning in the City of Brotherly Love. But the edge Philly sports fans have is nothing like anywhere else in the country.

Three sports media writers you should follow are Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette, Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union and Ken McMillan from the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record. All three are from outside the New York Metropolitan area, both Ken and Pete write with an upstate New York perspective. Ken Schott is a big Philadelphia Flyers fan and also covers college hockey quite well. Ken McMillan has been in TV and radio and offers that perspective in his writing. Add all of their blogs to your RSS readers.

To get the latest on the Celtics and the NBA, Jessica Camerato does a bang up job following both for WEEI.com. She’s also on Twitter so you can catch up with her posts there as well. I had the opportunity to meet the lovely Jessica at the Blogs With Balls conference in New York earlier this month and she’s very delightful. Besides my thoughts on Jessica, she’s a very good writer as well so make sure you read her reports on the Celtics at WEEI.com.

I mentioned the Play Ball podcast at ESPN Radio’s website last week, and I’m going to mention it again this week. In this week’s podcast, Amanda and Melissa interview ESPN Radio Los Angeles host Dave Dameshek and they also read an e-mail sent in by yours truly, but they also misidentify me. They get the name of the blog right, but for some reason, I’m named “Paul” despite me signing “Ken” on the e-mail. I don’t know where they got Paul, but it’s not important. The mention is after the interview just to give you a heads up. Visit their site and download their podcast every week.

Don’t forget to visit my new site at Boston Sports Media Watch. Follow that every day, not just on Fridays.

Two non-sports sites, for the latest and greatest in lesbian entertainment and media, head over to AfterEllen. This is the best site to find out what’s going on in lesbian culture. I would not have found the best web series on the net, B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye if it were not for AfterEllen. Editor Sarah Warn leads a great team of writers and bloggers who give their opinions on TV, movies and the media.

The next site has not been updated since February, but anything on one of my favorite TV actresses, Kate Walsh, deserves a mention. Kate-Walsh.com is a fansite and has a very nice photo gallery of the star of Private Practice. I can look at Kate Walsh all day. In fact, I’m looking at her picture .. never mind.

Ok, that’s it for this edition of Follow Friday. Make sure you visit each site.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, June 27

Boxing
ShoBox/Arthur Abraham vs. Mahir Oral, IBF Middleweight Title – Showtime, 9 p.m.
Boxing After Dark/Victor Ortiz vs. Marcos Rene Maidana – HBO, 10 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour/Wegman’s LPGA, 3rd round – ESPN2, 3 p.m.
PGA Tour/Travelers Championship, 3rd round – CBS, 3 p.m.

IndyCar
Sun Trust Indy Challenge – Versus, 8 p.m.

MLB

Interleague
Minnesota at St. Louis – Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Midwest, 1 p.m.
Philadelphia at Toronto – WPHL/Rogers Sportsnet, 1 p.m.
Red Sox at Atlanta – Fox, 4 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Arizona – Fox, 4 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox – Fox, 4 p.m.
Cincinnati at Cleveland – Fox Sports Ohio/STO, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Houston – Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Houston, 7 p.m.
Florida at Tampa Bay – MLB Network/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh – Fox Sports Kansas City/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at New York Mets – MLB Network/YES/WPIX, 7 p.m.
Washington at Baltimore – MASN2/MASN, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Texas – Cox4/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Oakland – FSN Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet California, 9 p.m.
Seattle at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Northwest/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.

National League
San Francisco at Milwaukee – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/WMLW, 7 p.m.

Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 9:30 p.m.
MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd – MLB Network, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Nationwide Series/Camping World Whatever 200 – ABC, 3 p.m.

Track & Field
U.S. Outdoor Championships – ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Tennis
Wimbledon, 4th round – ESPN2, 8 a.m./NBC, 3 p.m.

Entertainment
Giada at Home – Food Network, 1 p.m.
Kings – NBC, 8 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back – Fox, 9 p.m.
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor – BBC America, 9 p.m.
National Geographic’s Most Incredible Photos: Lava Hunter – National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Ellen’s Bigger, Longer, Wider Show – TBS, 9 p.m.
Eli Stone – ABC, 10 p.m.

Sunday, June 28

Golf
LPGA Tour/Wegman’s LPGA, final round – ESPN2, 5 p.m.
PGA Tour/Travelers Championship, final round – CBS, 3 p.m.

MLB

Interleague
Cincinnati at Cleveland – Fox Sports Ohio/WKYC, 1 p.m.
Philadelphia at Toronto – WPHL/Rogers Sportsnet, 1 p.m.
Red Sox at Atlanta – TBS/NESN/Fox Sports South, 1:30 p.m.
Florida at Tampa Bay – Fox Sports Florida/Sun Sports, 1:30 p.m.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh – Fox Sports Kansas City/FSN Pittsburgh, 1;30 p.m.
Washington at Baltimore – WDCW/MASN, 1:30 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox – WGN America/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2 p.m.
Detroit at Houston – Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Houston, 2 p.m.
Minnesota at St. Louis – WFTC/KSDK, 2 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Arizona – KCOP/Fox Sports Arizona, 4 p.m.
Colorado at Oakland – FSN Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet California, 4 p.m.
Seattle at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Northwest/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 4 p.m.
New York Yankees at New York Mets – ESPN, 8 p.m.
San Diego at Texas – Cox4/KDFI, 8 p.m.

National League
San Francisco at Milwaukee – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 2 p.m.

Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Inside Studio 42 with Bob Costas featuring Tony LaRussa – MLB Network, 7 p.m.
The Pen – MLB Network, 8:30 p.m.
Quick Pitch – MLB Network, 11 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series/Lenox Industrial Tools 301 – TNT, 2 p.m.

Soccer

Confederations Cup
Final/USA vs. Brazil – ESPN, 2 p.m.

Track & Field
U.S. Outdoor Championships – NBC, 4 p.m.

Tennis
Wimbledon, 1st week review – NBC, 1 p.m.

Entertainment
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
Million Dollar Password – CBS, 8 p.m.
Prehistoric New York – Discovery, 9 p.m.
Ice Road Truckers – History Channel, 9 p.m.
True Blood – HBO, 9 p.m.
Hitler’s Stealth Fighter – National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Hung (series premiere) – HBO, 10 p.m.
Army Wives – Lifetime, The Network That Hates Men, 10 p.m.
In Plain Sight – USA Network, 10 p.m.

Fang’s Bites On Boston Sports Media Watch

On Tuesday, I mentioned that David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch was leaving the blog for other interests and I hoped to have an announcement on who would take his place. Well, that person “replacing” David is yours truly. Bruce Allen of BSMW was kind enough to ask me to join his site and I accepted.

David was an entertaining read who added some snark to his writing on the Boston sports media. I won’t be as snarky, but I certainly hope to entertain and inform.

I’m not leaving Fang’s Bites. This is my site and I’ve invested a lot to gain your loyal readership over the years. The links will be posted here first and then brought over to the BSMW site. To make the two sites different, I will write on the Boston and Providence sports media at the Fang’s Bites on BSMW site only. When I write something there, I’ll add a link here so you can go over to read it. In addition, I will add the BSMW site to my Twitterfeed so if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll be updated on both sites.

I’m excited about this opportunity to join Bruce. We’ve exchanged e-mails over the years and he was a guest on my Computer and internet-centric talk show on WHJJ in Providence a few years back.

Please visit Fang’s Bites both here and at Boston Sports Media Watch and I will continue to bring you the latest and greatest in sports media news. Thanks for your continued and loyal readership.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Golf
LPGA Tour/Wegman’s LPGA, 2nd round – ESPN2, 5 p.m.
PGA Tour/Travelers Championship, 2nd round – Golf Channel, 3 p.m.

MLB

Interleague
Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox – Comcast SportsNet Chicago/WGN America, 4 p.m.
Cincinnati at Cleveland – Fox Sports Ohio/STO, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Pittsburgh – Fox Sports Kansas City/FSN Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
New York Yankees at New York Mets – WWOR/SNY, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Toronto – Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Rogers Sportsnet, 7 p.m.
Washington at Baltimore – MASN2/MASN, 7 p.m.
Red Sox at Atlanta – NESN/Peachtree TV, 7:30 p.m.
Florida at Tampa Bay – Fox Sports Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Detroit at Houston – Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at St. Louis – Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Midwest, 8 p.m.
San Diego at Texas – Cox 4/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Arizona – Fox Sports West/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Colorado at Oakland – FSN Rocky Mountain/Comcast SportsNet California, 10 p.m.
Seattle at Los Angeles Dodgers – FSN Northwest/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.

National League
San Francisco at Milwaukee – Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.

MLB Tonight: 1st to 3rd – MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 10 p.m.
MLB Tonight: Roundtripper Final – MLB Network, 10 p.m.

NHL
NHL Entry Draft – TSN/RDS/Versus, 7 p.m.

Tennis
Wimbledon, 3rd round – ESPN2, 7 a.m.

Wimbledon Primetime – Tennis Channel, 7 p.m.

Track & Field
U.S. Outdoor Championships – ESPN, 8 p.m.

Entertainment
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – BBC America, 8 p.m.
Dateline NBC – NBC, 9 p.m.
World’s Funniest Commercials – TBS, 9 p.m.
20/20 – ABC, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Co-Ed Confidential 3: Spring Break (series finale) – Cinemax, 12:30 a.m.

The Next Studio 42 with Bob Costas

Coming up this Sunday, MLB Network airs a new edition of “Studio 42 with Bob Costas” with guest, Tony LaRussa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. The previous edition when Bob interviewed former umpires Steve Palermo, Don Denkinger and Bruce Froemming was absolutely fascinating. I’m not a fan of LaRussa, but I think Bob can make him interesting for an hour.

MLB NETWORK’S BOB COSTAS TO HOST Q&A WITH ST. LOUIS CARDINALS MANAGER TONY LARUSSA ON JUNE 28

Interview to discuss Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire, his World Series experiences and his managing philosophy

June 25, 2009 – MLB Network’s Studio 42 with Bob Costas will host a conversation with St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa on June 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET on MLB Network. The conversation includes LaRussa’s thoughts on Albert Pujols, Mark McGwire, the ’88 World Series and his managing philosophy. LaRussa, who, at 2500, has the most wins of any St. Louis Cardinals manager in history, was recently named as a coach for the National League team at the 80^th All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Highlights of the LaRussa interview include:

ON ACQUIRING NEW PLAYERS:

“If you really start talking too much about what you need, what does your team think? ‘Oh, unless we get that need, then we can’t compete.’ That is the exact wrong message that you send your team. Because, first of all, our guys deserve more respect than that. We are competitive. But you always acknowledge that you’re not perfect and you are always trying to get better.”

ON ALBERT PUJOLS AS A PLAYER:

“This guy works and works. He is smart, he knows his strokes, he studies the game between him and the pitcher and he’s got great courage at the plate. And then you tie that into his number one quality: He is just trying to win the stinking game. …This guy is a winning player. He’s the best player I have ever been around.”

ON HIS DEFENSE OF MARK MCGWIRE:

“We ran an intense program of strength and fitness in Oakland and in St. Louis. It was monitored and it was supervised. … There wasn’t anything illegal happening in the official Oakland or St. Louis program. And that’s what I have defended because I saw all our guys in both those places work their butts off and get strong legally. … Away from the ballpark, I am not a policeman, we were not policemen. Did something happen? I don’t know. I just know in Mark’s case, I watched him from his first year through his rookie year, and many years subsequent, religiously working to get stronger and also being very careful with his diet and stuff. So I believe everything that I know about him was legitimate. If he strayed, I don’t think he strayed much at all, or I never saw it. I think he is a guy that I should speak up and for in favor of and I continue to do so.”

ON MCGWIRE’S CONGRESSIONAL HEARING:

“Well, what I think of the congressional appearance was a disappointment. I’ve said, and I believe – I know he told me going in – he hired these lawyers. I think he was coached. Mark has never been comfortable in the spotlight. I don’t think he thought very well on his feet or in his seat that day. And he just fell back on that one answer.”

ON HIS MANAGING PHILOSOPHY:

“I think that I’m a product of what I have been taught. And I think I have had great teachers. And they all tell you that you are better off making a move that you think makes sense than sitting around and not making a decision.”

Before the interview, MLB Network will air the third episode of its original reality series The Pen, featuring members of the Philadelphia Phillies’ bullpen, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Following the interview, MLB Network will replay the “Studio 42 with Bob Costas” conversation with former Major League Baseball umpires Don Denkinger, Bruce Froemming and Steve Palermo at 10:00 p.m. ET.

Here’s a quick video preview of the interview.

Thursday Press Release Reading

Here are some press releases for you to go over.

NBC Sports goes over its schedule for Wimbledon starting this weekend and into next week.

FEDERER SEEKS RECORD 15TH GRAND SLAM AS NBC SPORTS PRESENTS 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF BREAKFAST AT WIMBLEDON

“Only a few months ago people were writing him off.” - NBC’s McEnroe on Federer going for record


“There’s no question that Venus is the queen at Wimbledon.” - NBC’s Robinson

NEW YORK – June 25, 2009 – The 30th anniversary of "Breakfast at Wimbledon," one of the great traditions in sports, highlights NBC Sports extensive coverage of The Championships, Wimbledon beginning this Saturday 3-6 p.m. ET and continuing this Sunday 1-4 p.m. ET with early round action. The network will present high definition coverage of more than 38 hours over nine days concluding with live high definition coverage of "Breakfast at Wimbledon" with the Ladies' Final Saturday, July 4 at 9 a.m. ET and the Gentlemen's Final, Sunday, July 5 at 9 a.m. ET.

Host Ted Robinson anchors NBC Sports coverage from Wimbledon, joined by three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe and Mary Carillo, with interviews and essays from Jimmy Roberts.

For NBC Sports, this is the 30th anniversary of "Breakfast at Wimbledon" and the 40th anniversary of NBC's Wimbledon coverage from the prestigious grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

On the men's side, Roger Federer is seeking his record 15th Grand Slam singles title and sixth Wimbledon title. With Rafael Nadal out with a knee injury, among Federer's competition could be No. 3 seed Andy Murray of Great Britain and two-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick.

JOHN McENROE ON ROGER FEDERER: "Obviously Roger is playing incredible tennis but it looks like his draw will be difficult. He could play either Robin Soderling or Ivo Karlevic in the Round of 16 and Fernando Verdasco or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals. All four are difficult and are contenders at Wimbledon.

JOHN McENROE ON ROGER FEDERER ATTEMPTING TO BREAK GRAND SLAM RECORD: "I think it is great for tennis that it is happening here at Wimbledon. He says this is his favorite surface and he says he loves it here. It just shows you how quickly things can change because it was only a few months ago that people were writing him off, and then he wins the French for the first time and he is on his way to breaking the record."

TED ROBINSON ON EXPECTATIONS FOR ROGER FEDERER: "Having won five Wimbledons already and losing his sixth in what was the greatest match ever last year, Roger is going to enter this Wimbledon as an odds on favorite to win his record breaking 15th major. It puts a little more pressure on his shoulders."

JOHN McENROE ON OTHER CONTENDERS: "Andy Murray has potentially two difficult and tricky matches but if he gets by he has a good chance to go to the finals. With Nadal out of the tournament it leaves potentially an opportunity for Roddick, if he is healthy and plays well."

TED ROBINSON ON ANDY RODDICK: "He is playing much better this year than he has in the last few years. He is coming off his best French Open and that should help his confidence. If they ever do get to meet, he has played Roger better the last couple of times, so that at least gives Roddick some glimmer of hope."

JOHN McENROE ON ANDY MURRAY: "Murray has beaten Roger the last four times they have played and he is the most likely candidate to take him if they are to meet in the final."

TED ROBINSON ON ANDY MURRAY: "Murray has had a great year, he is up to No. 3 in the world and the obvious story of a Brit trying to win again - which hasn't happened in 70 years since Fred Perry won - will have massive repercussions. If Murray makes it into the second weekend he is going to become an incredible story there."

TED ROBINSON ON WHO ELSE TO LOOK FOR: "I don't really know how his game is going to translate to grass but Del Potro was ridiculously close to playing in the finals of the French Open. He had Federer completely backed into the corner in the semis and wasn't able to finish him but there is clearly a lot of talent there. The other guy that I would think to have a really good chance to make a mark at this Wimbledon is Fernando Verdasco, who is just an incredibly talented.  He played one of the greatest matches in the history of the sport against Nadal at the Australian Open this year."

TED ROBINSON ON RAFAEL NADAL'S ABSENCE: "It's definitely disappointing and the crucial question is, is it short term or long term? The sport and tennis fans will all be able to absorb a short-term absence from Rafa but if its long term then is obviously severely damaging to the sport, to the fans, to the incredible rivalry that he and Federer have crafted the last three years in particular. If it's a significant knee problem then we all are concerned about that because no one wants that and tennis can't afford a long-term absence of Nadal."

JOHN McENROE WEIGHS IN ON TOP WIMBLEDON MATCHES EVER: "My match vs. Bjorn Borg in the 1980 final is the best match I have played in."

The best matches McEnroe has seen:
1) Nadal vs. Federer in last year's final
2) Ivanisevic vs. Rafter in the 2001 final
3) Gerulaitus vs. Borg in the 1977 semifinal
4) Sampras vs. Agassi in 1999 final

On the ladies side, defending champion Venus Williams is seeking her sixth Wimbledon singles title, her third straight and her fourth in five years. Since her first title in 2000, Venus has appeared in seven of the nine Wimbledon finals. Her main competition will come from her sister Serena, a two-time champion who Venus defeated in the final last year in straight sets and the No. 1 seed Dinara Safina of Russia.

TED ROBINSON BREAKS DOWN THE LADIES: "On the ladies side it's two people, Venus and Serena in that order. There's no question that Venus is the queen at Wimbledon, having won here five times. She steps on that court as if this was where she was born to play tennis. Venus and Serena have been so dominant at Wimbledon that it's difficult to see anybody derailing that. When they are focused, fit and healthy they are the dominant players on the woman's tour at the majors. I would be shocked if they don't make it to the final."

LIVE AT WIMBLEDON: NBCSports.com is your online companion for NBC Sports coverage of Wimbledon. Live at Wimbledon a joint venture of NBC Sports and the All England Lawn Tennis Club and powered by Microsoft Silverlight will offer live streaming of up to four concurrent courts, on-demand replays of the best matches from every day of The Championships, alternate camera angles for NBC Sports semifinal and final match coverage, daily video highlights, and Golden Moments from the Wimbledon archive.

Live at Wimbledon is available throughout The Championships, Wimbledon with on-demand coverage. Live streaming of NBC Sports coverage and additional matches will begin this Saturday, concluding with the Ladies' Final on Saturday, July 4 at 9 a.m. ET and the Gentlemen's Final on Sunday, July 5 at 9 a.m. ET.

WIMBLEDON ON NBC SPORTS MOBILE: Again this year, NBC Sports provides live mobile coverage of The Championships, Wimbledon. Starting Saturday, June 27 (3-6 p.m. ET) and extending until the end of the championships, tennis fans can watch NBC's coverage on either NBC 2Go or NBC Sports Mobile, including live coverage of every exciting point of the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Finals. Plus, tennis fans will be able to get news and scores right on their cell phones with the NBC Sports Mobile Web site or exclusive text alerts; users can just text the word TENNIS to 51515 or visit http://mobile.nbcsports.com.

NBC's Wimbledon Broadcast Schedule

Saturday, June 27 - 3-6 p.m. ET, 3rd Round, (live and same-day tape)

Sunday, June 28 - 1-4 p.m. ET, No Sunday matches, (tape)

Monday, June 29 - 10 a.m.-1 p.m., all time zones, Round of 16 (live and same-day tape)

Monday, June 29 - 11:35-11:50 p.m. ET/PT, Wimbledon Update

Tuesday, June 30 - 10 a.m.-1 p.m., all time zones, Ladies' Quarterfinals (live and same-day tape)

Tuesday, June 30 - 11:35-11:50 p.m. ET/PT, Wimbledon Update

Wednesday, July 1 - 10 a.m.-1 p.m., all time zones, Gentlemen's Quarterfinals, (live and same-day tape)

Wednesday, July 1 - 11:35-11:50pm ET/PT, Wimbledon Update

Thursday, July 2 - Noon- 5 p.m., all times zones, Ladies' Semifinals, (same day tape)

Thursday, July 2 - 11:35-11:50 p.m. ET/PT, Wimbledon Update

Friday, July 3 - Noon- 5 p.m., all time zones, Gentlemen's Semifinals, (same day tape)

Friday, July 3 - 11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET/PT, Wimbledon Update

Saturday, July 4 - 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET, "Breakfast at Wimbledon", Ladies Final, (live)

Sunday, July 5 - 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, "Breakfast at Wimbledon", Gentlemen's Final, (live)   

*All telecasts are subject to change due to rain delays.

NBC will have live Track & Field on Sunday.

“More first-time national champions will be crowned at this event than ever before.”- NBC’s Ato Bolden

NEW YORK- June 25, 2009-NBC Sports presents live coverage of the U.S. Track and Field Championships, this Sunday from 4-6 p.m. ET from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The event will feature the best professional track and field athletes competing for spots on the Team USA roster for the 2009 IAAF World Outdoor Championships, August 15-23 on NBC from Berlin, Germany.

After a stunning sweep at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 400m men's hurdlers Angelo Taylor, Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson will look to take gold, silver and bronze once again, this time in Eugene. Headlining the men's middle long distance is reigning world 1,500m & 5,000m champion Bernard Lagat (Kenya). Also, competing this weekend in the men's championship is 100m double world champion Tyson Gay; 2004 Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Outdoor long jump champion Dwight Phillips; 2008 Olympic Trials high jump champion Jesse Williams; and reigning World Outdoor champion and the 2006 World Indoor Championships gold medalist pole vaulter Brad Walker.

Headlining the women's competition in the 100m and 200m are two-time Olympic silver medalist and World Outdoor champion Allyson Felix and two-time World Outdoor 100m medalist Lauryn Williams. Competing in the women's 100m hurdles are 2008 Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper and fellow Olympians Lolo Jones and Damu Cherry. Cherry currently has the fastest time by an American this year and Harper is coming off wins in Jamaica and at the Adidas Track Classic. Also competing this weekend in the women's championship is three-time USA Outdoor and 2008 Visa Outdoor pole vault champion Jenn Stuczynski, who is looking to win her fourth consecutive USA Outdoor title and the top three finishers from the 2008 Olympic trials in triple jump: two-time Olympic Trials runner-up Shakeema Welsch, three-time USA Outdoor champion and two-time USA Indoor champion Shani Marks and 2008 NCAA champion Erica McLain.

Commentary provided by Tom Hammond, Ato Boldon, Lewis Johnson, Dwight Stones, and Bob Neumeier.

ALLI DEW TOUR NIKE 6.0 BMX OPEN, 2 PM ET
NBC Sports presents the Alli Dew Tour Nike 6.0 BMX Open live from 2 p.m. ET from Chicago, Ill. where the world's top BMX freestylists  will compete in the BMX Dirt final .

Competitors include Australia's high-flying Cameron White who is looking to become the first athlete to defend his Dew Cup crown along with USA veteran Ryan Nyquist and teenage sensation Dennis Enerson in the rough and tumble BMX Dirt event.

Kenan Harkin, Jamie Bestwick and Tiffany Simons will provide commentary.

TNT continues its NASCAR coverage on Sunday.

TNT’s NASCAR Coverage Continues with Sprint Cup Series Racing from Loudon on Sunday, June 28

Pre-race coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET; green flag drops at 2 p.m. ET

TNT continues its exclusive coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from Loudon on Sunday, June 28^th live from New Hampshire International Speedway. The network will air the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 beginning at 2 p.m. ET with play-by-play announcer Bill Weber calling the race alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth. In addition, analyst Larry McReynolds will make frequent contributions from the in-field as he breaks down crew strategy and analyzes car adjustments.

The network will rev up its pre-race coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET with NASCAR on TNT Live! with Marc Fein (host), Petty and McReynolds. No. 2 Kurt Busch will join TNT’s infield rig for an interview prior to the race.

TNT’s acclaimed Pride of NASCAR series will feature the legendary NASCAR owners Wood Brothers who hold one of the longest and richest legacies in the sport, developing great drivers such as Junior Johnson, Dan Gurney, Donnie Allison, Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, Dale Jarrett, David Pearson, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Salder and TNT’s Kyle Petty. In 1976, the Wood Brothers won the coveted ‘Triple Crown’ of NASCAR with wins at the Daytona 500, World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

NASCAR on TNT Live! will be followed by Countdown to Green at 1:30 p.m. ET with Weber (host), Dallenbach (analyst) and Petty (analyst) with reports from pit reporters Marty Snider, Matt Yocum, Ralph Sheheen and Lindsay Czarniak.

During Countdown to Green, Sheheen will have an exclusive interview with No. 48 Jimmie Johnson to talk about a shared history between the two of them. Johnson began his career in off road racing and Sheheen was part of the broadcasting crew that covered the sport, including during Johnson’s teenage years. Johnson speaks about the impact of off road racing on his NASCAR career as well as his motivation to continue to succeed in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing.

Also, an interview with veteran crew chief Greg Zipadelli and his rookie driver No. 20 Joey Logano will air during the pre-race show.

Countdown to Green leads into coverage of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Loudon at 2 p.m. ET with Weber, Dallenbach and Petty calling the action with frequent interaction with McReynolds (analyst) who will man the TNT Offtrack Robotic Car.

Throughout this year’s NASCAR on TNT Summer Series, the network will join forces with NASCAR.COM, the official site of NASCAR, to provide TNT RaceBuddy a multiplatform experience for race fans which features live feeds from the racetrack including pit road and in-car cameras, as well as live chats and polls.

REMAINING 2009 NASCAR ON TNT SCHEDULE:

(All times ET)

SUNDAY, JUNE 28

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live!

1:30 – 2:00 p.m. Countdown to Green

2:00 – 5:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Loudon (from New Hampshire Intl. Speedway)

SATURDAY, JULY 4

6:30 – 7:30 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live!

7:30 – 8:00 p.m. Countdown to Green

8:00 – 11:15 p.m. Coke Zero 400 at Daytona from Daytona Intl. Speedway)

SATURDAY, JULY 11

6:30 – 7:30 p.m. NASCAR on TNT Live!

7:30 – 8:00 p.m. Countdown to Green

8:00 – 11:30 p.m. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago (from Chicago Speedway)

ESPN says its ratings for the College World Series were the most viewed ever on ESPN and ESPN2.

NCAA Men’s College World Series: ESPN and ESPN2’s Most-Viewed Ever, Including Best-of-Three Championship Series

ESPN’s 30th consecutive NCAA Men’s College World Series was the most-viewed and highest-rated in ESPN and ESPN2 history — including the best-of-three Championship Series won by LSU over Texas — while posting significant audience increases over last year.

• Overall, ESPN averaged 1,450,000 households, 1,928,000 viewers and a 1.5 rating, marking increases of 33% (vs. 1,091,000), 37% (vs. 1,408,000) and 36% (vs. 1.1), respectively, over 2008.

• ESPN’s three Championship Series telecasts averaged 2,059,000 households; 2,762,000 total viewers; and a 2.1 rating, making it the most-viewed and highest-rated Series finals since the tournament expanded to the best-of-three format in 2003. This season’s games marked increases of 24% (vs. 1,664,000), 26% (vs. 2,193,000) and 24% (vs. 1.7), respectively, over last year.

• The Championship Series produced three of ESPN’s top four most-viewed NCAA College World Series telecasts ever, highlighted by the most-viewed and second highest-rated for the decisive Game 3 which averaged 2,303,000 households; 3,160,000 viewers; and a 2.3 rating.

• Game 2 stands as the third most-viewed with 1,964,000 households, 2,620,000 viewers and a 2.0 rating.

• Game 1 delivered 1,905,000 households, 2,500,000 viewers and a 1.9, making it the fourth most-viewed in ESPN history.

• ESPN2 averaged 821,000 households and 1,043,000 viewers for increases of 6% (vs. 771,000) and 6% (vs. 988,000), respectively, over last year. The network averaged a 0.8 rating, the same as last season.

• In addition, ESPN2 delivered two of its top five most-viewed and highest-rated NCAA College World Series games ever: the Game 12 telecast (June 19) ranks fourth with 1,064,000 households; 1,396,000 viewers; and a 1.1 rating, while Game 9 coverage (June 17) stands as the fifth averaging 1,049,000 households, 1,298,000 viewers and a 1.1 rating.

ESPN/ABC NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy had some interesting things to say on Mad Dog Live about college basketball.

Today (June 25, 2009) on SIRIUS XM Radio, Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo hosted his daily show, “Mad Dog Unleashed,” from outside Madison Square Garden before the NBA Draft.

Former Knicks coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy joined Russo on air. When asked by Chris about his future, Van Gundy said he sees himself coaching again but only in the NBA, not the “cesspool” of major college basketball.

Chris Russo: “Where do you stand now with your career? If somebody called would you be interested? Are you ok with what you are doing right now with broadcasting? Where does Jeff Van Gundy stand right now?”

Jeff Van Gundy: “ESPN committed long term to me and I committed long term to them. Do I see myself coaching in the future? Absolutely.”

Russo: “You do. NBA, not college?”

Van Gundy: “Not college. You know what, Chris? That’s a cesspool. The agents have overtaken major college basketball. At least in the NBA we all pay our players and it’s above board. I have no interest in coaching college.”

Golf Channel will show the PGA Professional National Championship starting on Sunday.

2009 PGA Professional National Championship

Sunday – Wednesday on GOLF CHANNEL

Michael Breed Makes Analyst Debut

ORLANDO, Fla. (June 25, 2009) – Contested for the first time Sunday – Wednesday, a field of 312 PGA Professionals will compete for spots in the PGA Championship field when the 2009 PGA Professional Championship returns to New Mexico.

GOLF CHANNEL will air more than nine hours of live tournament action from Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Clubs in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M. Sunday’s opening round action will air live from 4-6 p.m. ET, followed by live action Monday – Wednesday from 3:30 – 6 p.m. ET.

PGA Professional Michael Breed will make his debut as lead analyst at the PGA Professional National Championship. Breed will be joined by play-by-play host Brian Hammons, Donna Caponi-Byrnes and Mark Lye reporting from the course and Dave Marr handling interviews.

Featuring a $550,000 purse, the low 70 scorers and ties will advance to the third and final rounds, contested at Twin Warriors Golf Club. The low 20 scorers following the tournament’s conclusion will earn a berth in the PGA Championship, Aug. 13-16, at Hazeltine National Golf Club Chaska, Minn. The tournament also will determine the 10 members of the U.S. PGA Cup Team when it battles Great Britain and Ireland in the PGA Cup., Sept. 18-20 in Scotland.

I have one more post before calling it a night.

Interview with Len Berman

This is an interview Obsessed TV did with former WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman. In this interview, Len talks about his final months at WNBC, his departure and sports fans in general.

It lasts about 20 minutes. Enjoy.

Thanks to the people at Obsessed TV for sending this over.

Michael Jackson, RIP

MLB This Weekend

Ok, we have three press releases out of four for the network MLB TV schedule this weekend. Let’s take a look at what Fox has in store for Saturday.

FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES

MLB on FOX: Cubs/White Sox Battle in Windy City Showdown

President Obama To Throw Out First Pitch At 2009 All-Star Game On FOX

Rosenthal: “Fehr’s Legacy Remarkable If Not For Steroid Issue”

MLB ON FOX WEEK 12: RED SOX/BRAVES, CUBS/WHITE SOX, ANGELS/DBACKS FACE OFF – FOX Sports travels to Chicago for the latest installment of the Windy City Showdown Saturday, June 27 (4:00 PM ET). Derek Lee leads his Northsiders into U.S. Cellular Field to take on Paul Konerko and the White Sox. In Atlanta, Kevin Youkilis and the AL East-leading Red Sox face Chipper Jones and the Braves. Also, it’s an AL West/NL West matchup as Mark Reynolds and the Diamondbacks host Torii Hunter and the Angels. This week, pregame originates live from Chase Field in Phoenix with host Chris Rose. Once game action begins, Rose joins the game crew of Kenny Albert and Mark Grace as a field reporter. For instant updates during the week and games from the entire MLB on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MLBONFOX.

Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves, Thom Brennaman & Eric Karros, going to 47% of USA

Turner Field – Atlanta, GA

MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, San Antonio, Tampa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox, Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal, going to 38% of USA

U.S. Cellular Field – Chicago, IL

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tulsa

Los Angeles Angels at Arizona Diamondbacks, Kenny Albert & Mark Grace, going to 14% of USA

Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ

MARKETS INCLUDE: Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THROW OUT FIRST PITCH AT ALL-STAR GAME – Major League Baseball and The White House announced that President Barack Obama will offer the ceremonial first pitch at the 2009 MLB All-Star Game Tuesday, July 14 on FOX (8:00 PM ET) live from St. Louis. “The central theme of the 2009 All-Star Game is community service, celebrating the extraordinary work being done by ordinary people. We are thrilled that we can come together with President Obama, who has encouraged a renewed spirit of national service, and illustrate a call to action in our communities. President Obama will continue a great tradition that joins our nation’s leader and the national pastime,” said baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

ROSENTHAL: “FEHR’S LEGACY REMARKABLE IF NOT FOR STEROID ISSUE” – With the news of MLBPA’s Donald Fehr’s retirement on Monday, MLB on FOX’s Ken Rosenthal, on FOXSports.com, looks back at the 25 years he served as the union’s executive director. “Don Fehr might rightly be hailed as one of the greatest leaders in the history of American labor if not for one issue; steroids.The sad part is that Fehr accomplished so much in more than 25 years as the union’s executive director. He resisted a salary cap, unlike the unions of every other professional sport. He won the collusion cases, fought contraction — and finally, by the end of the current labor agreement in 2011, will have helped achieve 16 years of unprecedented labor peace. It would be a remarkable legacy if not for one issue – the steroid issue – the issue that brought the entire sport shame.”

MCCARVER & BUCK HOST FX’S “ALL-STAR SUNDAY” – On Sunday, July 12^th beginning at 8:30 AM ET, FOX Sports’ sister network FX, airs “All-Star Sunday” hosted by MLB on FOX’s lead broadcast team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. The marathon features five baseball themed movies including the world broadcast premiere of Everyone’s Hero (animation) and the FX premiere of Hardball concluding with Mr. 3000, Feverpitch and The Benchwarmers. The baseball-themed movie event also takes viewers through the “Top 10 All-Star Plays” and concludes at 7:00 PM ET with Buck and McCarver at the helm.

MLB Network will have Yankees-Mets Saturday night. For the second straight week, MLB Network will bring its own crew to televise the game.

MLB NETWORK TO TELECAST NEW YORK YANKEES AT NEW YORK METS ON SATURDAY, JUNE 27

MLB Network’s Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds to call the game

June 25, 2009 – MLB Network will telecast the Subway Series featuring the New York Yankees at New York Mets on Saturday, June 27, with live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET from Citi Field in Flushing, NY. MLB Network’s Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds will call the game, a special edition of Saturday Night Baseball. MLB Tonight, the signature program of MLB Network during the regular season, will air after the game, followed by Quick Pitch, MLB Network’s daily highlight show.

MLB Network’s telecast of the Subway Series will be blacked out in the New York Yankees and New York Mets home television territories. Viewers in areas subject to blackouts will be provided with a simulcast from a local telecast of the Florida Marlins at Tampa Bay Rays at 7 p.m. ET.

This is what ESPN is covering from Sunday through Wednesday.

Subway Series on Sunday Night Baseball

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball goes to New York for the “Subway Series” when the Mets host the Yankees at 8 p.m. Jon Miller will call the game with analysts Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips. The matchup will also be available via ESPN HD, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

The next night, Monday, June 29, the Mets will also appear on ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball, visiting the Milwaukee Brewers at 7 p.m. Dan Shulman will provide commentary with analysts Orel Hershiser and Steve Phillips. The game will co-exist with local coverage in both markets. The Mets/Brewers tilt will also be available via ESPN HD, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

Sunday Night Baseball (June 28)
New York Yankees at N.Y. Mets
at 8 p.m. ET
(ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile TV)
Commentators: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips

Monday Night Baseball (June 29)
N.Y. Mets at Milwaukee*
at 7 p.m.
(ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile TV) *available locally in both markets
Commentators: Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser

Wednesday Night Baseball
(July 1)
San Francisco at St. Louis
at 8 p.m.
(ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile TV)
Commentators: Dave O’Brien, Rick Sutcliffe

And when TBS has its matchup for Sunday, you’ll see it here.

UPDATE, 6/26, 12:40 p.m.: And here is that TBS press release. The Braves return to TBS for Sunday only with a game against the Red Sox.

“Sunday MLB on TBS” Features Interleague Rematch

Red Sox @ Braves face off at 1:30 p.m. ET

“Sunday MLB on TBS” continues on Sunday, June 28th at 1:30 p.m. ET with an interleague rematch featuring Dustin Pedroia and the Boston Red Sox of the American League heading south to battle Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves of the National League at Turner Field. The Red Sox defeated the Braves 6-5 on Nick Green’s walk-off home run on “Sunday MLB on TBS” last week. Braves rookie pitcher Tommy Hanson is scheduled to take the mound against veteran Brad Penny of the Red Sox. Chip Caray (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst) will call the action from the broadcast booth.

“Sunday MLB on TBS” includes match-ups on TBS every Sunday afternoon throughout the regular season. The network will also exclusively televise the MLB All-Star Selection Show on Sunday, July 5 at 1 p.m. ET. Additionally, beginning in October TBS will once again provide exclusive coverage of the Division Series and the National League Championship Series (NLCS).

TBS has broadcast MLB coverage for more than 30 years serving as the exclusive home of the MLB Division Series (DS) and one League Championship Series (LCS) since 2007 and home of Atlanta Braves coverage from 1977 to 2007.

SUNDAY MLB ON TBS SCHEDULE:

Sun., June 28

1:30 p.m. Boston Red Sox @ Atlanta Braves

Announcers: Chip Caray (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst)

SUNDAY MLB ON TBS UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

Sun., July 5

1 p.m. MLB All-Star Selection Show

Ernie Johnson (host), Dennis Eckersley (analyst), Cal Ripken (analyst) and David Wells (analyst)

2 p.m. Milwaukee Brewers @ Chicago Cubs

Announcers: Chip Caray (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst)

Sun., July 12

2 p.m. Los Angeles Dodgers @ Milwaukee Brewers

Announcers: Chip Caray (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst)

That concludes your look at MLB This Weekend.

Thursday’s Linkage

Time to do a Thursday link thing for you. There will be a major announcement about Fang’s Bites and its future coming in the next day or two. I’ll give you that when the time is right. In the meantime, let’s get to the links.

Starting off with the Nielsen ratings Wire blog, it says EA Sports will have a major impact on the NBA Draft tonight.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the new in-market online streaming deal between the Yankees, YES, MLB.com and Cablevision. Neil feels other teams will most likely follow suit. Neil previews a new SNY documentary on the 1969 Miracle Mets.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times also looks at the Yankees-Cablevision deal.

David Kohl of the Major League Programs Blog tells us what’s wrong with the deal.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says you can buy actual U.S. Open scorecards at auction. Darren wants to come up with a new nickname for Shaquille O’Neal now that he’s a Cleveland Cav. Darren notes that golfer Vijay Singh still stands by Stanford Financial despite the company’s CEO being in tremendous legal trouble.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says TNT will continue airing the PGA Championship through most of the next decade.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says Terrell Owens and supermodel Joanna Krupa will see another day at The Superstars. Apparently T.O. has shot a mock apology for his performance.

Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the Steel City watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in record numbers resulting in a 42.2 rating! Thanks to Steve Lepore at Puck The Media for the link.

From Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman talks with former Bear Steve McMichael about being a part-owner and coach of a local indoor football team.

Bob Wolfley in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about Packer Al Harris’ interview on Sirius NFL Radio.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News advises us that ESPN and TNT will air the Cleveland Cavaliers as much as possible next season.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has ESPN.com’s mock top five NBA Draft choices.

Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times looks at the first episode of The Superstars.

Chris Zelkovich from the Toronto Star says Setanta Canada is safe for now, but what about in years to come?

Steve Clarke of Variety says ESPN is considering launching a new UK channel in the wake of obtaining the rights to the English Premier League this week.

Kevin Downey from Media Life Magazine writes that the NCAA baseball postseason drew well for the ESPN networks.

The Sports Media Watch says the U.S. Open’s ratings were washed away this past weekend. Paulsen has some various ratings news and notes. SMW says Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will host a baseball movie marathon on FX on the Sunday before the MLB All-Star Game. SMW also has the NBA Draft ratings since 1999.

Chris Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media has the Mid-America Conference’s football TV schedule for this season. Chris also has the early TV schedule for the Big East Football Conference.

The Gamecocks on TV blog has found another affiliate for ESPN Regional TV’s syndicated SEC football and basketball package.

My phone is ringing off the hook for some reason. It’s driving me crazy so I’m leaving the office and shutting off my iPhone. See you later.

TNT Renews Rights for PGA Championship

After losing the rights to the Open Championship to ESPN last year, TNT has ensured it will hold onto the last major tournament on the golf calendar, the PGA Championship through 2019. That’s a long time. And the Cartoon Network gets a role in marketing the tournament to children. Check out the press release from the fine people at Turner Sports.

PGA OF AMERICA AND TURNER SPORTS EXTEND AND EXPAND MEDIA AGREEMENTS THROUGH 2019

Turner’s Cartoon Network Enterprises Named Youth Licensing Agent To Focus on PGA’s Presence Among Youth Fans

The PGA of America and Turner Sports have extended their broadcasting and interactive media agreements covering the PGA Championship, PGA Grand Slam of Golf and PGA.com through 2019. The new agreement between the two organizations will also expand to include licensing, with Turner’s Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) serving as the PGA’s licensing agent in the youth marketplace. In addition, Turner and the PGA will collaborate on a number of new media and consumer marketing initiatives to increase awareness and brand recognition of The PGA of America among key audiences, as well as introduce new, younger audiences to learning, playing and following the game.

For each PGA Championship, TNT will continue to provide comprehensive television coverage for the Thursday and Friday rounds, as well as early coverage for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Turner will also provide complete coverage of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which is the hardest event to qualify for in the game. Additionally, Turner will continue its management of PGA.com, the official Web site of the PGA of America.

CNE, in its new role as licensing agent, will use its strengths to create an extensive consumer product and retail program for the PGA with the youth marketplace through a range of licensing agreements and co-branding partnerships across all product categories. This new product line will increase the PGA’s presence with the next generation of fans and also broaden the PGA’s scope of retail offerings.

“The PGA of America, Turner Sports and Time Warner have been longtime partners in presenting state-of-the-art digital media coverage of the best in championship golf to millions of fans, elevating the stature of our more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals,” said PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Joe Steranka. “While Turner will continue to showcase the PGA’s tradition of dramatic championships, we’re especially excited about new initiatives in the company’s licensing division and the creation of social media platforms that will help us make the game relevant and interesting to the next generation of golfers.”

“Turner’s partnership with The PGA of America reflects our continuing strategy to provide the most compelling television sports content, as well as managing the best digital content. Our expanded relationship will create opportunities to better serve golf fans around the world,” said David Levy, president of sales, distribution and sports for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. “This expanded partnership takes advantage of Turner’s expertise in licensing, digital media and event marketing. Our broader relationship should provide growth and create new opportunities to enhance the PGA brand.”

The partnership extension also features:

• Turner’s continued oversight and responsibility of advertising sales for PGA.com and new mobile offerings and applications;

• Turner will create actionable media and marketing that extends the PGA of America brand at the regional and local level and builds “conversations” with consumers through media and promotions that enhance PGA Professionals, golf and the Association as contemporary to young families and young adults;

• Development of an enhanced PGA.com community where users will be able to connect with friends, family, other golfers and PGA Professionals to organize a round, schedule a lesson, track their playing statistics and plan their next golf vacation;

• Exploration of a virtual learning experience where users would be able to interact with a PGA Professional online to receive game tips, analysis and feedback.

Examples of recent new media innovations by The PGA of America and Turner Sports:

• First major golf event to have live hosted coverage during the broadcast window (2003) and first major golf event to have live hosted coverage available all four days (2004);
  

• First golf event to be available across five platforms – TV, Web, video-on-demand, mobile and Podcast (2005);
  

• First golf event to offer multiple live video streams – PGA.com Pipeline (2006; nominated for an Emmy in 2007) – and first major golf event to use Turner’s Mosaic video player with multiple simultaneous video streams (2008);
  

• Development of the innovative PGA.com Value Guide, the national standard for used golf club valuation, and the PGA Trade-In Network. Together, these two programs have made it possible for golfers to find the value of their golf clubs, trade them in at over 6,000 PGA Professional-staffed facilities and use the value toward the purchase of new equipment.

CBS currently has third and final round coverage and I’m sure it will do all it can to retain those rights.

Lost Season 5 Finale Untangled

I forgot to post this earlier in the month. Maybe it was because ABC which usually posts the “Untangled” webisodes right after each Lost episode took longer than normal to put this together. No matter, we have it now. Always funny how the guy imitates each character, especially Sawyer and Locke. So without further ado, here’s “Lost Untangled”, the season finale.

I still want the final season to premiere tomorrow so we can find out what happens to everyone. And this just makes me sad all over again that Juliet is probably not coming back. I preferred her to be with Sawyer than that whiny Kate. Anyway, I don’t want to get riled up again. Back later with linkage.