Fang's Bites

A Fast Wednesday Sports Media Notebook

In lieu of linkage which has been sorely lacking, my sincere apologies, I give a sports media notebook which includes some links for you. Life has gotten in the way and you’ve responded by not visiting the site. It tells me you want fresh content so I’ll do my best to provide that to you as often as I can.

• John Ourand of Sports Business Journal tweeted on Tuesday that Fox Sports 1 will be unveiled to advertisers in an upfront presentation on March 5. I expect a full press release and perhaps an embeddable video to place on this site. Fox Sports 1 will take over Speed’s infrastructure on many participating cable and satellite providers in August and its companion channel, Fox Sports 2 will bump Fuel TV from existence.

  The new Fox Sports networks will certainly change the sports media landscape almost immediately.

• Also from Ourand with Michael Smith in this week’s SBJ, we find the Big East looks like it has deals in place with NBC Sports Network for football and basketball and CBS for basketball as well. ESPN does have the right to match the offers, but for now, let’s assume that NBCSN has its first pickup of a major college conference, content it desperately needs.

  I do expect NBCSN to be a major player for the second half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season and to perhaps take the Nationwide Series. NBCSN does have some summer holes to fill and NASCAR would fit the bill.

• In the Chicago Tribune, Robert Channick reports that the Cubs have exercised a clause to renegotiate its media rights deal with WGN-TV. The Cubs and WGN have been together since 1948 and has had a national following since the 1980′s when ‘GN followed WTBS and became a Superstation on cable. Since then, WGN’s parent company, Tribune Co. has split the station into two feeds, WGN America which is on many cable and satellite providers across the country and WGN, Channel 9 in Chicago.

  Earlier this week, Paul Sullivan in the Tribune reported that the Cubs may choose to leave WGN after the 2014 season and opt to go all-cable, however, it appears the two sides will at least discuss a new contract and Tribune Co. says it wants to keep the Cubs. Major factors in these new talks are the recent megadeals by the New York Yankees, Cleveland MLB Team and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs also need money to help offset costs for renovations to Wrigley Field.

  The Cubs are also on Comcast SportsNet in a deal forged with the White Sox, Bulls and the Chicago NHL Team.

  We’ll be keeping an eye on what transpires. No matter what happens, the Cubs will be getting more money. A whole lot more.

• I’m saddened to hear that Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Sara Ganim is being harassed by the Paterno “Truthers”. The Philadelphia Magazine blog, the Philly Post reports that Ganim is being subjected to sexist taunts on Twiiter by the people who refuse to believe the Freeh Report. Ganim did very solid reporting on the Jerry Sandusky case and her stories led to the downfall of the former Penn State football defensive coordinator, coach Joe Paterno and the football program, but it does not allow for people to use Twitter to harass and threaten. C’mon, now.
• A Phoenix Coyote fan who is a pediatrician for an Arizona network of hospitals got angry at Adrian Dater, the Colorado Avalanche beat reporter for the Denver Post and told him on Twitter to “go catch a movie in Aurora” and “join Jessica for all I care.” That is in reference to last year’s movie theater shooting in Aurora, CO that left 12 people dead including Jessica Ghawi and 58 others injured.

  After outrage from Dater and others, the pediatrician made his account private and then subsequently deleted his account. In addition, his employer has released a statement saying the actions are under review.

  I understand getting emotional over your team, but is it necessary to tell a reporter to get shot and wish him dead? Is this what we have become? The last two stories about trolling reporters through Twitter almost leaves me no hope for humanity. Luckily, I remain an optimist, but stories like these make it tough.

We’re done here for now.

Two Interviews and Lots of Questions Still Remain

This week has been Bizarro World in sports. First, there was word that Oprah Winfrey had interviewed disgraced cyclist and admitted PED user Lance Armstrong, a two and a half hour interview that would air over two nights. Then mid-week, we learned through Deadspin about Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o's girlfriend hoax that was perpetuated for two years. And no matter how far the story progressed, the more confusing it became.

Eventually, Te’o agreed to an interview, however, no video cameras were allowed, hampering any chance of discerning his emotions, his reaction to questions, any inflection. While some audio excerpts were released, they certainly were not the same as video.

But let’s backtrack to the Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah Winfrey. If Armstrong thought he would regain the respect of the American people by doing the interview, he was certainly mistaken. In the first 90 minutes that aired on Thursday, Armstrong came off as wooden, unfeeling and unemotional. Winfrey did her best to draw him out, but as we have seen in the past, Armstrong wants to have control of the situation and he looked as if he had rehearsed his answers, trying to keep to a script and not allowing to himself to be human.

In addition, when asked about the people he had hurt along the way of winning seven tainted Tour de France titles, Armstrong did not seem remorseful. He didn’t seem to be apologetic to his former masseuse whom he branded a whore and a drunk. And he also failed at an attempt at humor in saying he did not call Betsy Andreu, the wife of a former teammate, fat.

In the second hour that was unveiled Friday, Armstrong finally showed some humanity and remorse, especially in discussing how he had revealed his lies to his son and twin daughters. However, any chances of forgiveness quickly dissipated when he lied about being clean in the 2009 and 2010 Tours (refuted by evidence from the US Anti-Doping Agency) and denied a claim from USADA that Armstrong tried to donate money to the agency despite evidence to the contrary.

Winfrey did reasonably well. She showed that she had done her research on the subject and did maintain control throughout the interview. There were times when she could have asked some follow-ups to Armstrong, but overall, I thought she handled the entire interview decently.

Reaction to Armstrong has not been kind. Of course, Betsy Andreu on CNN’s Anderson Cooper said she didn’t see any remorse from him. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called Armstrong’s interview “a big mistake” and wondered what exactly he was trying to accomplish.

While many supporters will still point out what Armstrong has meant to the cancer survivors, any positives he has done have been outweighed by the immense negatives to the people lives he has destroyed and the lie he maintained for so many years. Plus saying he deserved to have the USADA competitive ban lifted won’t win him much support. Overall, Armstrong gave us more questions to the answers he gave and left viewers with a bad taste in their mouths.

Now, onto Manti Te’o whose first interview came late Friday night with ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap. While Schaap called Te’o credible in his denials that he was not in on the girlfriend hoax, we have only seen various pictures released by ESPN and a few pieces of audio. And while Te’o sounds convinced that he’s wasn’t part of the scam, the inconsistencies of his answers to the timeline and questions about Lennay Kekua only raise more doubt.

The idea not to bring cameras to the interview came from Te’o's camp which is being led by the Creative Arts Agency, not Notre Dame. It left Schaap having to recap what was said in two long rambling segments, a 16 minute block at 1 a.m. ET on  ESPN’s SportsCenter and 13 minutes at 2 a.m. ET. And while Schaap did his best to try to provide information as best as he could remember, three ledes were buried. One, that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo apologized to Te’o via Twitte, two that Te’o didn’t believe Kekua was a hoax until this week and three, Te’o tailored his stories about Kekua to the media to fit whatever they wanted.

Schaap was left in a difficult position in trying to recap everything as best as he could. But Te’o's people did not do him any favors by allowing a camera in the room. If the interview were done strictly for print or online, this would have been a different situation, but for a TV network, by not having video, it makes Te’o look as if he’s hiding something. Schaap is a credible reporter and by saying he believes Te’o, that gives the young man a decent leg to stand on, but it still leaves doubt for those who want to believe him.

I understand ESPN capitulating to Te’o's request in wanting the interview, but they were handicapped in not having a camera and not by not having the ability to record the entire interview on audio tape. By being allowed to release only various audio excerpts, it makes it appear as if Te’o's PR team was in control. Certainly, Te’o's team did not do him much good by not advising him to go on-camera to make his message more credible.

The answers from the 21 year old NFL hopeful only leaves more questions behind and until he gives an on-camera interview, people will remain skeptical.

It’s been a strange week for sports journalism. We need some more perspective on this before we see the true impact of what these interviews have meant for the sports media.

Wringing Out Some Thursday Linkage

This has been a rather bizarre 24 hour period trying to follow this Manti Te’o story.

I’m going to provide some linkage for you.

Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey at Deadspin provide some information on what the media missed on the Manti Te’o fake girlfriend story.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says it’s time for the sports media to stop putting athletes on pedestals.

TMZ is on the case of the Manti Te’o fake girlfriend. You know what it did with Tiger Woods.

Jackie Pepper talks with a Notre Dame player who acknowledges that the team knew that Manti Te’o's girlfriend was a lie all along.

In Outkick the Coverage, Clay Travis chronicles how Manti Te’o's fake girlfriend broke the internets last night.

Ed Sherman in The Sherman Report praises Deadspin’s story on Manti Te’o, but with one caveat.

Jim Romenesko has statements from the South Bend Tribune’s executive editor in response to readers’ questions in regards to its story on Te’o back in October.

Todd Spangler of Broadcasting & Cable says the Oprah Winfrey Network will stream tonight’s interview with Lance Armstrong as will several cable and satellite providers.

Juliet Macur of the New York Times has several questions that Oprah should have asked Lance Armstrong.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the New York Islanders pending move to Brooklyn hasn’t affected the team’s broadcasters. Yet.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says YES generates the ratings.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with CBS Sports Radio’s Doug Gottlieb.

Sports Media Watch notes that Fox scored with Seattle-Atlanta.

SMW says last Saturday’s Packers-49ers game was the lowest-rated NFL Divisional Playoff game on Fox in four years.

SMW tells us that last Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos scored for CBS, but was still down from last year’s comparable NFL playoff game.

That will conclude the linkage for now.

Some Quick Midweek Links

I keep getting bogged down with family stuff. I’m going to try and provide some linkage now.

Deadspin’s Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey have the story of the day exposing the inspirational Manti Te’o's girlfriend story as one huge hoax.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has Twitter reaction to the Te’o girlfriend hoax.

Michael Hiestand talks with ESPN’s Stuart Scott about his cancer recurrence.

Michael asks who has to more to gain from this week’s interview, Lance Armstrong or

Scott M. Gleeson at USA Today’s Game On blog notes that Brent Musburger’s favorite Miss Alabama, Katherine Webb, will cover Super Bowl XLVII for Inside Edition.

Speaking of Brent, TMZ caught up with him as he was at an airport to talk about ESPN’s apology over his comments on Ms. Webb.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN Deportes is venturing into social media.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News says Google says Time Warner Cable is withholding its Metro Sports network from Google’s TV service in Kansas City.

David Gianatasio of Adweek writes that Nike’s new ad featuring Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods taps a familiar theme.

Simon Dumenco from Advertising Age facetiously speculates on what Lance Armstrong revealed to Oprah Winfrey.

Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group says NBC and local regional sports networks are scrambling to hire crews and production trucks for a hastily scheduled National Hockey League season.

ESPN.com’s Kristi Dosh, the Sports Biz Miss, says NHL teams are offering perks to lure fans back to the arena.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the TV networks are glad to see the National Hockey League back.

Jerry Barmash of FishbowlNY writes that MSG Network is ramping up for the 2013 NHL season.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Daily Gazette says thanks to the scheduling, there will be no New York Rangers blackouts in the Capital Region this season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has compiled the 2013 NHL TV schedule for the Capital Region.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun notes that this weekend’s Ravens-Patriots AFC Championship Game will get Super Bowl treatment from CBS.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog has the transcript of WaPo columnist Sally Jenkins sitdown with PBS’ Charlie Rose about Lance Armstrong.

For her part, Jenkins says she’s not mad at Armstrong.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams has ESPN’s Chris Evert being bullish on Serena Williams’ chances to sweep the Grand Slams this year.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says a long-time local sportscaster ends his TV tenure tomorrow.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says the AFC Divisional Playoffs topped the local ratings.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a local sportscaster leaving for Chicago.

Danny Ecker of Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the Chicago NHL Team has renewed its radio deal with WGN.

Joe Flint from the Los Angeles Times reports that Fox may convert Fox Soccer into an entertainment channel.

And that’s going to do it for now.

SiriusXM to Simulcast Oprah’s Interview with Lance Armstrong

This site is not on the radar of Oprah’s people thus I did not receive the press release announcing the interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. I’ll be watching the interview, but I will not be recommending it in the Viewing Picks for Thursday nor Friday.

Anyway, SiriusXM’s Oprah Radio will premiere the audio portion of the interview that will be seen on the Oprah Winfrey Network starting on Thursday.

Here’s the press blurb from SiriusXM.

“Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive” Two-Part Event to air on SiriusXM’s Oprah Radio

Oprah speaks exclusively with cyclist Lance Armstrong in Austin, Texas in his first no-holds-barred interview addressing the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating and use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career for a special two-part episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter.

“Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive” will premiere on SiriusXM’s Oprah Radio (XM channel 111 and Sirius channel 206 with Sirius Premier) on Friday, January 18.

This is Armstrong’s only interview since the seven-time Tour de France winner was stripped of his titles and dropped from millions of dollars in endorsement deals after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released an extensive report accusing the renowned cyclist of doping throughout his career. Armstrong was given a lifetime ban on competing professionally. Late last year, Armstrong resigned as chairman of the foundation he created, Livestrong, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in the fight against cancer.

“Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive” premieres Thursday, January 17 on OWN.

That’s all.

Our Monday Linkage

Time for some Monday links. Let’s get to them.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with CBS Evening News anchorman Scott Pelley about interviewing President Obama for the network’s Super Bowl coverage and also reviews the performances of the NFL “B” analysts during the weekend.

Michael Smith and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal note that the Atlantic Coast Conference is exploring the potential of a new league-owned network.

Chris Chase of USA Today’s Game On blog reports that tennis superstar Maria Sharapova has joined Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Hannah Storm about returning to SportsCenter this week after the holiday season grilling fire that left her singed.

Hiestand also talks with Michelle Beadle about her upcoming show on NBC Sports Network.

UK journalist David Walsh who was the first writer to investigate disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong after his first Tour de France “win”, has an article in the Sunday Times looking back at his long journey.

Ed Sherman in The Sherman Report notes that the Times placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune calling on Oprah Winfrey to ask certain questions to Armstrong when they tape their “interview” this week. Here’s a closeup look at the ad courtesy of Deadspin.

Ed interviews Dana Jacobson of CBS Sports Radio.

Philiana Ng of the Hollywood Reporter says USA Network and the NFL will team up for their second annual special that will air after the Super Bowl.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the NHL is back.

Christopher Heine of Adweek writes that Lincoln has shot a social media-driven spot that will air during Super Bowl XLVII.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age says social media might be spoiling Super Bowl advertisers’ suspense and full impact.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Emrick calling a girls’ 12-and-under game last week.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wants to know why Lance Armstrong thought he could cheat and get away with it.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says no one is happier about the end of the NHL Lockout than NBC.

In an upset, David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun actually has some praise for CBS’ Dan Dierdorf from Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos game.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the much-maligned Vinny Cerrato is part of CBS Sports Radio’s weekend lineup.

Dan notes that Fox Sports Radio’s Steve Czaban has quit Twitter cold turkey.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about ESPN2′s Australian Open coverage which will run late into the night.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has a review of the weekend in sports TV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Texans-Patriots drew big numbers in H-Town.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable is picking up college basketball games from Sports Time Ohio.

Bob Wolfley with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL playoffs played big in Sudstown.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Comcast SportsNet is tapping a Milwaukee sports reporter to fill a position.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders writes that Ravens-Broncos got big numbers in the Rocky Mountain region.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s SoCal sports calendar.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Americans shouldn’t expect to see small market NHL teams on NBC.

Brad Gagnon of Awful Announcing has the grades for the NFL’s top broadcasting teams.

Because I’ve been in and out today, I’m finally getting the links to you after 6 p.m. I have been trying to get these up since before 11 a.m.

Late Night/Early Morning Linkage

I’m going to provide a few links during this overnight period. Trying to make up for the lack of links over the last week or so.

The Smoking Gun has the court documents filed earlier this week alleging that convicted stalker and scumbag Michael Barrett not only was following Erin Andrews, but apparently 30 other female sports reporters and TV personalities. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes for the Indiana University National Journalism Center regarding the perfect storm that led to record ratings for the Super Bowl.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel News reports that Disney Company CEO Robert Iger is going to seek higher cable fees for ESPN. Here’s a story that will bear watching as cable providers may balk at higher prices to carry the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that the dispute between DirecTV and Versus could prevent subscribers from seeing the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says CBS set a record for Super Bowl ad time by cramming in almost 48 minutes of commercials during the game.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Sunday’s Penguins-Capitals game on NBC drew very good numbers for the NHL.

From the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, Olympics reporter Philip Hersh says Vancouver’s natural beauty makes it hard for him to do his job.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says it’s no surprise that Brooklyn Decker was chosen to adorn this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Eric Lacitis of the Seattle Times writes about the local NBC affiliate which is treating the Vancouver Olympics as a local story and is spending the resources to do so.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says it should be no surprise that the Super Bowl did well in Canada on Sunday.

In Truth & Rumours, William Houston writes that NBC will have its share of Canadians in its on-air staff.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media would like the posturing between DirecTV and Versus to end.

I’ll end there for now. Back tomorrow morning with more linkage. Enjoy your snow day.