Fang's Bites

Some Sunday Sports Media Thoughts

I need to be posting more. I’ve been busy during the day and find myself trying to catch up on Viewing Picks at night and it’s been a losing proposition. I’ll do my best to update more often here in the coming weeks.

Let’s do some thoughts while I can. As usual, they come in bullet form.

• CBC’s Don Cherry, the King of Media Firestorms, has another one on his hands after he said CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada that female reporters should not be allowed access to locker rooms. Cherry was defending Chicago’s Duncan Keith who snapped at a female reporter in Vancouver last week. Keith has since apologized and said he was not singling out the woman in particular. However, it did not stop Cherry from advocating for women to be excluded. Ron MacLean’s reaction to Cherry’s diatribe is perfect.
  

  Courtesy Steve Faguy, Montreal Gazette

  While some may agree with Cherry, we’re past the point of banning people from the locker room. Jeff Blair at the Toronto Globe and Mail correctly points out that many sports have specific rooms for postgame interviews and some teams have separate changing areas that are off limits to all reporters.

  I’ve liked Don since he was a Bruins coach in the 1970′s and have always enjoyed his Coach’s Corner segments, but he’s managed to survive many controversies whether it’s been for previous comments about women, European players, environmentalists, writers or the Iraq War. While Cherry has stayed at CBC while analysts at other media outlets in the United States and Europe have been fired for less controversial remarks, Canada’s public broadcaster may be seeing the moment that provides the excuse to let “Grapes” go at the end of the season. Coach’s Corner is one of the highest rated segments in Canada and Cherry has become one of the most popular Canadians to the point he was listed in the Top Ten of CBC’s series “The Greatest Canadian” last decade.

  I can’t see Cherry apologizing for his remarks because he truly believes what he says. We’ll see if the story grows legs over the next week.

• The 2013 NFL Draft is over. I concentrated my viewing solely on the first round on Thursday night and on NFL Network. While it was the network to watch in 2012, something was a bit off this year. Rich Eisen and Mike Mayock were solid. However, it appeared Michael Irvin who normally is animated was muted. Steve Mariucci whom I always like also seemed off. The ratings for NFL Network on the first day was up 23% from last year, but I really can’t put my finger on what was different for its coverage this year.

  One aspect that was definitely missing was the tweeting of draft picks by ESPN insider Adam Schefter. Under orders not to “spoil” draft picks prior to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s announcement, the Draft was actually quite dull. And you add that to the fact that neither ESPN nor NFL Network showed any draft picks on the phone prior to their selections, you have productions that were not compelling at all.

  Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports did tip off picks and while some of his followers got angry at him for doing so, I thought his tweets added to the experience. However, he was in the minority. I’m hoping the NFL changes this policy next year.

• Bob Socci replaces Gil Santos as the Voice of the New England Patriots. Socci just joined the Pawtucket Red Sox this season and he’s been one of the college basketball announcers on CBS Sports Network as well as being the long-time voice of Navy football. He’ll team with Scott Zolak on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
• Got to hear Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle’s debut on WEEI. Her first Saturday afternoon show was yesterday on the station. While I missed it in real time, I had the chance to listen on its website. She’s the first woman to host a regular show on the station since Janet Prensky co-hosted a midday show with Glenn Ordway in the early 1990′s. Glad to hear her and I’m hoping it leads to bigger things for her in Boston.

That will do it for now.

A Couple of Mid-Week Sports Media Thoughts

I haven’t done a sports media thoughts post in quite some time. You’re owed some, so lets not waste any time. Two thoughts today with a promise I’ll provide more with some regularity down the road. They’re in bullet form as always.

• Bizarre story that broke on Tuesday through Boston Sports Media Watch that Red Sox Radio Network host and fill-in announcer Jon Rish is leaving later this month. It’s a sad story that Rish has to leave a dream job over a proposed 30% pay cut by flagship station WEEI. As Rish told the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn, he could see the writing on the wall and started preparing for the future. Rish has four children and wants to plan for the future so he’s getting out of the radio business and becoming a software developer.

  It’s too bad that Rish had to make that decision, but with WEEI in dire straights, I can understand his thinking. As someone who has worked in radio and seen all types of cost cutting through personnel, salaries, benefits and other measures, it’s the rank and file who suffer, not the executives. Rish leaves just as the season begins, but as I wrote on Tuesday, the behind-the-scenes jockeying by management can be taxing on the workers, no matter what the job is. Rish says he had to think of his family and he’s at peace with his decision. Not many people have the opportunity to leave radio on their own terms. It seems Rish has done exactly that. Here’s wishing him nothing but the best as he goes on a new career path.

• The NCAA Tournament is over and as CBS/Turner Sports crow over a successful three week period that brought the highest viewership in almost two decades, there are some items upon which the CBS/Turner consortium can improve.

  First, cut down on the clutter in the studio. Charles Barkley told the New York Daily News that he’s overexposed during the Tournament and would like to cut his workload especially during the Second Round games. I wholeheartedly endorse this. In fact, let’s jettison Chuck out of the Tournament altogether. The Charles Barkley-Kenny Smith experiment on the NCAA Tournament just isn’t working. Keep Ernie Johnson, Jr. in the Atlanta studio and have him work with coaches and Steve Smith. In New York, reunite Greg Gumbel with Greg Anthony and Seth Davis. That trio works well together.

  Do not, do not, do not, do not bring Doug Gottlieb back to the studio. If he has to have a role, keep him on game analysis. It’s the lesser of two evils for the American people. If the viewing public has to be subjected to Gottlieb, then keep him at game sites where he can do less damage.

  If TBS is going to air the Final Four in 2014 as reported, let’s hope Turner won’t place Reggie Miller at courtside with Marv Albert and Steve Kerr. And I wouldn’t mind having Craig Sager and Rachel Nichols as reporters if Turner plans to put its stamp on the event.

  And why not bring Bill Walton over from Dial Global as a studio analyst?

That’s it.

Developing: Red Sox Radio Announcer Resigns Amid Pay Cut

This broken by the very well-connected Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen. Jon Rish, the studio host on the Boston Red Sox Radio Network and fill-in announcer when Dave O’Brien is away on his ESPN duties, has resigned and will leave as of April 24. Rish has been part of the Red Sox Radio Network since 2006 and its flagship station, WEEI, since 2005. In 2008, he was appointed as the third announcer in the booth to fill in for either O’Brien or Joe Castiglione.

Rish was heard on Spring Training broadcasts in March and started the season with Castiglione for the Red Sox season opener against the New York Yankees as O’Brien called the game on ESPN and also this weekend in Toronto as O’Brien was in New Orleans calling the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

It is rare for an announcer to leave a baseball team while the season is underway, even more so just as the season has begun. However, Bruce Allen at BSMW reports that Rish has decided to leave WEEI, the Red Sox and the radio business altogether after being asked to take what is said to be “a significant pay cut.”

WEEI has been having ratings and revenue issues since being overtaken and surpassed by rival 98.5 The Sports Hub last year. Long-time afternoon drive host and station original Glenn Ordway was sent packing from the station earlier this year and sources have told Fang’s Bites that another host is in danger of losing his job.

The upheaval in the radio business is often cutthroat and the firings can come without warning. To see an announcer leave one of the most coveted positions in Major League Baseball shows that the behind-the-scenes jockeying can be taxing no matter what the market or the team is.

[Boston Sports Media Watch]

UPDATE, 3:55 p.m.: Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that Rish was asked to take a 30% pay cut. He tells Finn: “It wasn’t fair to me and it wasn’t workable for my family.”

No word on a replacement for Rish at this time.

A Monday Sports Media Notebook

Let’s get cracking on some fresh content on this Monday afternoon. Plenty of stuff to go over.

• Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch’s Monday column discusses Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed reporting on the Red Carpet at The Oscars and reviews Fox’s Daytona 500 coverage. 
• The man who started SportsGrid, ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams, the site has been sold to RotoExperts.
• I’m getting a lot of reaction to my post on whether Fox can find the proper role for Erin Andrews.
• Randolph May at Multichannel News talks about a case over Comcast’s refusal to move Tennis Channel off a dreaded sports tier.
• To Sports Business Daily where Richard E. Lapchick laments the lack of hiring diversity in the sports media.
• Overseas, ESPN is getting out of the UK television business, selling its channels to BT Group which beat it out for the rights to the English Premier League. ESPN will continue to maintain its digital UK assets and also kill ESPN Classic in Europe and Africa in separate decisions.
• USA Today’s Michael Hiestand feels Fox got off to a fast start with the overnight ratings for the Daytona 500.
• Hiestand also looks at the other sports overnight ratings from the weekend.
• David Lieberman at Deadline says News Corp.’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch (son of Rupert) says even with Fox Sports creating new all-sports cable channels, the company plans to be pennywise and not pound foolish over rights fees.
• In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with Golf Channel’s David Feherty about the season premiere of his weekly interview show.
• Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch looks at a preposterous argument put the forth by WEEI’s Gerry Callahan regarding the Daytona 500 and Danica Patrick.
• Bill Carter at the New York Times notes how NBC has had a precipitous fall into the ratings basement after starting off so well when Sunday Night Football was on.
• Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels the Federal lawsuit against Lance Armstrong wreaks of hypocrisy.
• From Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog reports that MASN’s Kristina Akra who was the Nationals’ on-field reporter is leaving the network. No word on where she’s going or who’s going to replace her.
• Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says David Feherty will reveal a different side of golfing legend Jack Nicklaus tonight.
• Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times says Fox didn’t do itself any favors during its Daytona 500 prerace coverage.
• The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron notes that a local sports anchor is leaving his station after more than 20 years of service.
• Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Cardinals fans will be able to see and listen to their team throughout Spring Training.
• Dusty Saunders in the Denver Post writes about a Rocky Mountain TV veteran who wants to return to his sports roots.
• Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the SoCal Sports Calendar for this week.
• Tom has the five things he learned from the weekend.
• Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail makes clear of his disdain for CBC’s Don Cherry.
• Paulsen of Sports Media Watch says opposite the Daytona 500, the NBA on ABC took a big ratings hit.
• To Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing who looks at what Joe Buck plans to do with the St. Louis Cardinals if he manages to get the team and Fox Sports Midwest to sign off on his idea.
• Michael Shamburger at The Big Lead says Katherine Webb is 1st Round talent.

Ok, I’m going to end the linkage/notebook there.

A Thursday Sports Media Notebook

Let’s provide a few items that need to be recognized on this busy Thursday in sports. Updated the Viewing Picks to include Entertainment, MMA, NASCAR and the revised start time for the WGC Match Play Championships. I work over an hour compiling the viewing picks for you, so peruse them and let me know that you’re reading them.

Before I start, I spent Wednesday night catching up with friends from the Providence Clear Channel radio station cluster as we got together to remember Mike Gonsalves, known as Dr. Metal on 94HJY. Throughout the 1990′s and into the 21st Century, Doc (as we affectionately called him) hosted “The Metal Zone” on HJY and was recognized by the metal community for being the only program in the region devoted to the genre.

On February 20, 2003, Doc introduced the hair band Great White at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, RI. At 11:07 p.m., pyrotechnics were set off and the walls and ceiling caught fire. With no sprinklers in the building, the fire quickly spread and the people were trapped inside. Most of those in attendance got out, but 100 people including Doc lost their lives. Four other people who were working for HJY managed to get out alive . It is a tragedy that still affects those of us who have a connection. But last night, a group of us who either worked at WHJY/WHJJ/WSNE and B101 at the time and knew Doc got together to remember him and talk about the good times and our memories of Doc. It was great to see everyone and we gave a toast to Mike. I hadn’t seen many in years, but the dynamics we had quickly came back. There’s something about radio people that binds us together. While the business side is awful, the grunts who worked on the mic and behind the scenes are all of quality. I’m truly blessed to have worked with so many good people and am proud to call them my friends. Thanks to John Laurenti for organizing our get together and thanks to all of the people who attended. I can’t mention them all here, but they all know who they are. And we all miss Doc. Rest in Peace, Mike.

Now to some of the stories that are happening in sports media.

• In his weekly media column, Richard Deitsch has news about Ray Lewis joining ESPN, Gus Johnson critiquing his soccer debut, ESPN’s Il Capo di Tutti Capi, John Skipper denying that SportsCenter is ignoring hockey and a whole lot more. 
• Continuing with ESPN, The Big Lead’s Jason McIntyre reports that Bob Knight appears to be on the way out from the Alleged Worldwide Leader. While no one can deny that Knight has an excellent basketball mind, it really hasn’t translated on television. Plus there have been times when he’s appeared aloof on TV or even fallen asleep, traits that don’t endear one to the viewer. Knight originally joined ESPN in 2008 to contribute to its Final Four coverage, but was later signed to a full-time contract. Throughout his tenure at ESPN, Knight has refused to wear ties, refused to call Kentucky by name and really hasn’t distinguished himself as an analyst. If this season is the end for Knight, I can’t see CBS/Turner hiring him nor Fox. I think Knight would probably be happy fishing or hunting and conducting coaching clinics.
• We learned yesterday that baseball legend Joe Garagiola was retiring from broadcasting. Since 1997, Garagiola has been part of the Arizona Diamondbacks television team. He began his broadcasting career in 1955 after being a catcher with the St. Louis Cardinals. After joining the New York Yankees broadcast booth and being on the Today Show, he joined NBC Sports in 1974 on Monday Night Baseball with Curt Gowdy. He became the “A” team play-by-play man in 1977 with analyst Tony Kubek. Moved to the analyst’s chair in 1983 when Vin Scully joined NBC and left the network after the 1988 season. Garagiola always poked fun at himself. He had his own 15 minute pregame show before Monday Night Baseball called “The Baseball World of Joe Garagiola” which showed the humorous side of baseball including bubble gum blowing contests and groundskeeping tips. In the Baseball Hall of Fame Broadcasters Wing, Garagiola certainly has had a celebrated career on TV whether it be in the broadcast booth, working in morning television or hosting the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
• A University of North Dakota hockey radio announcer got suspended for using the phrase “choke job” in a postgame interview.
• I hope this doesn’t get removed from YouTube. This is truly some interesting broadcasting history. This 16 minute clip is believed to be the only footage that still exists of Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese calling a CBS Baseball Game of the Week. It’s from 1961 between the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds at the old Crosley Field. Dizzy and Pee Wee were a very popular broadcast team. Dean was known for his malapropisms and in this clip, you can hear him attempt to pronounce Joe Amalfitano and Matty Alou. Dean called the Game of the Week for CBS from 1955-1965. At one time, Dean was bored with the game he was calling and suggested viewers change the channel to a game being broadcast on NBC and even mentioned NBC. He did a couple of Monday Night Baseball games on NBC with Curt Gowdy as a guest announcer. Dean was truly a character as a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, as well as a broadcaster. Some interesting features of the broadcast, no video replay, it wasn’t invented yet and on-screen graphics were few and far between. Do not take it down, MLB.
• Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that sports radio station WEEI is making changes to its weekday lineup once again. Kirk Minihane will join the station’s right wing morning show, Dennis & Callahan as a third host. Dennis & Callahan, once a ratings juggernaut, has been trailing Toucher & Rich on CBS’ 98.5 The Sports Hub in the latest Arbitron ratings. This comes after Glenn Ordway was let go last week. I’m hearing that Jen Royle will host a weekend show on the station giving Boston sports radio its first female-fronted show.
• NHL on NBC studio analyst Mike Milbury has once again made a splash. He referred to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins as “crack addicts” as their play is “addictive.” Awful Announcing has a recap and a video clip.

That’s the notebook for today.

WEEI Officially Announces Mike Salk To Co-Host Afternoon Drive Show

This in from WEEI. It has officially announced the worst-kept secret in the Boston area that Mike Salk will be leaving his post as morning drive co-host on 710 ESPN in Seattle and join Michael Holley as co-host of WEEI’s afternoon drive program starting in mid-March. Salk who has been on top of the ratings heap in the Great Northwest with Brock Huard will try to duplicate his success with Holley in Boston.

Salk replaces Glenn Ordway who was let go last week.

Here’s the official announcement from WEEI.

WEEI names Mike Salk as new afternoon drive co-host

BOSTON – WEEI 93.7 FM announced Tuesday that Sudbury native Mike Salk will join Michael Holley in afternoon drive, weekdays from 2-6 p.m., beginning in mid-March. Salk joins WEEI from 710 AM ESPN in Seattle, where he’s co-hosted the midday “Brock and Salk Show” since April 2009.

Salk helped grow the “Brock and Salk Show” exponentially the last four years. As of this past September, the show ranked No. 1 with the station’s core demo of men 25-54. Salk also was a frequent contributor to 710 ESPN’s website and will do the same, in a variety of ways, for WEEI.com. He also has been a part of the ESPN Radio network since 2007, hosting “SportsCenter Saturday” and serving as a regular fill-in host over the past few years.

Salk is no stranger to the Boston sports talk radio scene, having worked at 890 ESPN Radio Boston from 2005 until 2009. He primarily served as co-host of the station’s midday show with Bob Halloran, and he also was the station’s Red Sox beat reporter, covering every game of the team’s run to the 2007 World Series.

“For a kid who grew up rooting for Boston’s sports teams, I can’t wait to get behind that microphone and connect with the most avid sports fans in the country,” Salk said. “From the best play-by-play in radio to their breakthrough work with the Jimmy Fund, WEEI is still the gold standard in sports talk radio.

“I’m especially excited to talk Bruins hockey. I grew up a rabid Bruins fan and have great memories from the old Boston Garden. My wife might not know it yet, but our 1-year old daughter will be wearing a lot of black and gold in the future.”

Added Salk: “Teaming up with someone as hard-working, gifted and passionate about his craft as Michael Holley makes this situation even better for me returning home. I can’t wait to get to work.”

Said Holley: “Mike is energetic, has a tireless work ethic, and believes in having a show that is accessible to all audiences. I’m looking forward to sharing some of the talks we’ve had with our listeners. I think that they’ll find the new show to be fast, fun and smart. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a tremendous blessing it was to work with Glenn Ordway for nearly three years. It didn’t take us long to develop a bond, and I believe that mutual respect could be detected on the air. I anticipate a similar connection with Mike.”

Said Jason Wolfe, VP of Programming for Entercom Boston: “Mike Salk has a proven record of success, and I couldn’t be more excited to bring him back home to Boston. He’s a very skilled broadcaster, a fun personality and a passionate sports fan. I’m really looking forward to the new dynamic that he and Michael Holley will provide on a daily basis.”

That is all.

Long-Time Boston Sports Radio Host Glenn Ordway To Depart WEEI

At one time, Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show” on WEEI in Boston had the highest ratings for any local sports radio show in the country. Ordway’s influence on the market over an 18 year span on WEEI is immeasurable. He helped to launch the radio careers of several personalities including Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, and current rivals Michael Felger and Tony Massaroti.

Ordway helped to launch the station when WEEI flipped from an all-talk format to all-sports in 1995. He wore several hats at the station including afternoon drive host, program director and Voice of the Boston Celtics. He brought in several writers from the Boston Globe and Herald to be on his show, then when the Globe refused to allow its writers to appear on WEEI, Ordway turned to ex-jocks to fill the void and gained even more popularity.

WEEI and Ordway were able to fend off two sports radio challengers over the years, but when CBS Radio decided to launch the Sports Hub on FM, Boston finally had a rivalry, but it became one-sided when the Sports Hub began drubbing WEEI in the ratings. And while WEEI got a brief reprieve last when Ordway’s show, now co-hosted with Michael Holley beat Felger and Massaroti. But that changed in the latest Fall ratings when the Sports Hub beat WEEI like a drum.

The news broke about Ordway’s departure through the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn when it was reported that current 710 ESPN host Mike Salk in Seattle would replace Ordway.

WEEI gave Ordway the opportunity to say goodbye to his fans today and he will be able to finish out the week, a rarity in the radio business these days.

WEEI has released this statement:

WEEI has decided to part ways with Glenn Ordway, co-host of “The Big Show”.  Ordway made the announcement on-air Wednesday, February 13 that his last day will be this Friday.  Michael Holley will serve as host of “The Big Show” for the foreseeable future and WEEI expects to make an announcement in the coming days about Michael’s new co-host.

“Glenn and I have been together since day one. He is an icon in this business and he helped build WEEI into arguably the most successful sports station in history,” said Jason Wolfe, VP of programming and operations for Entercom Boston. “I am so thankful to have been able to work alongside Glenn for the past 20-plus years and I hope that all Boston sports fans realize how important his contributions have been to this station, to the market and to this industry. He’s a true professional and that was clearer than ever in his comments today.”

As Finn reported, Mike Salk from Seattle, a Massachusetts native and a man who knows the Boston area, is expected to replace Ordway. Hoping to get some reaction to Salk’s potential departure. He currently co-hosts a popular morning drive show with Brock Huard on 710 ESPN.

Back For Some Tuesday Links

Let’s do some linkage. I need to do this more than twice a week.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch looks at the potential replacements for Jon Gruden in the Monday Night Football booth should he decide to leave as rumored.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal has a plethora of subjects in his latest media column.

Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal says the expansion of the Big Ten to the Atlantic seaboard is purely for television.

Andy Fixmer and Scott Soshnick at Bloomberg report on a story that bears watching, YES Network will retain the media rights to the New York Yankees through 2042 which opens the door for News Corp. to buy a stake in the channel.

Andy and Alex Sherman from Bloomberg write about Fox opening the door for Fox Sports 1.

Alicia Jessop at Forbes writes that the NBA will stream D-League games on YouTube.

Anthony Crupi at Adweek tells us that NBC is garnering big ad rates for its Thanksgiving Night NFL game.

A story from the weekend, Awful Announcing’s Joe Lucia notes that CBS/Sports Illustrated/Turner’s Seth Davis apologized for calling UFC “homoerotic”.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News notes that ESPN has rebooted its “Watch ESPN” Xbox 360 app.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says NBC’s Sunday Night Football killed the competition in primetime.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report says the NFL game experience doesn’t compare to watching it on your TV.

Jordan Rabinowitz of SportsGrid has video of NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Brad Keselowski drinking on SportsCenter after celebrating his win.

The lovely Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com says both Rutgers and Maryland are in desperate need of the TV money that both institutions will receive as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Ryan Hannable of Boston Sports Media Watch speaks with WEEI’s Glenn Ordway.

Tony LaRoce in the Providence Journal talks with Providence College basketball radio voice John Rooke about a book he’s written about Rhode Island radio.

Richard Sandomir and Amy Chozik of the New York Times write that News Corp.’s stake in YES could value the network as high as $3 billion.

Nate Silver of the New York Times looks at the geography of college football fans across the country and delves into the crazy conference realignment.

Newsday’s Neil Best checks on the progress of Madison Square Garden’s “transformation.”

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says Time Warner Cable airs an AHL game on Friday.

David Zurawik in the Baltimore Sun writes that the Big Ten’s TV acumen will help Maryland in the long run.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, a noted Maryland alum, weighing in on the Maryland to the Big Ten move.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with Jim Rome about his new Showtime series.

Stephen F. Holder of the Tampa Bay Times says the Bucs have a long way to go if the team wants to sell out its game against Atlanta and avoid a local TV blackout.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says former Astros analyst Jim Deshaies is a candidate for the Cubs TV job.

David says overtime helped push the Texans’ ratings upwards in Houston.

The Indianapolis Star transcribed some of the things ESPN’s Bob Knight said during last night’s Indiana-Georgia game. It marked the first time Knight had called an Indiana game for ESPN.

The Chicago Tribune has an infographic on how many TV viewers each school in the Big Ten can bring to the table.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says Altitude has had to make a programming adjustment without the Colorado Avalanche this season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has five things he learned from the weekend.

SportsRantz looks at the reported morning show for CBS Sports Radio.

Classic Sports TV and Media explores when was the actual first college football primetime broadcast.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page notes that this week’s Sports Illustrated cover is basically an ad for adidas.

Sports Media Watch says CBS saw rating increases for its NFL windows on Sunday, but the late games are the second-lowest rated for this season.

SMW notes NBC’s Sunday Night Football wasn’t as big a draw with Ravens-Steelers.

And that will do it for today.

Doing Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do some Friday megalinks. Haven’t done any in a couple of weeks.

The Weekend Viewing Picks have all of your sports and entertainment TV needs.

Time for the linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes the rising rights fees for the college football postseason.

Michael writes about Today show Executive Producer Jim Bell coming home to NBC Sports to oversee all Olympic broadcasts.

Chris Chase from USA Today has 60 Minutes responding to Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers’ complaints about a recent profile.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the Outdoor and Sportsman Channels plan to merge.

Will Leitch at Sports on Earth says the Rick Reilly experiment at ESPN has not worked.

Bryan Curtis of Grantland notes that last night’s Celtics-Nets game was the first game that Brooklyn native Marv Albert got to call in the borough.

Alex Weprin of TV Newser reports that Keith Olbermann will be back on sports television next week by doing a guest stint on a league-owned network.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing feels ESPN has lost its viewers trust.

The Big Lead speculates whether Sports Illustrated’s Peter King will remain with the magazine or leave when his contract expires.

Sports Media Watch says despite a fight, ESPN’s ratings for the next-to-last Sprint Cup race of the season finished down from last year.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz who’s back on the Patriots beat this week.

Chad has five questions with Nantz.

Boston Sports Media Watch Fearless Leader Bruce Allen speculates in SB Nation on who might become the Flash Boy or Girl for WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan show.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has NESN’s Jack Edwards becoming increasingly skeptical about playing hockey this season.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir notes that a new Broadway play will delve into the history of the Yankees.

Amy Chozick and Michael Cieply of the Times write about Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. buying a stake into the YES Network.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about Mike Emrick calling college hockey tonight.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick conducts a character assassination on ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for New York Knicks radio voice Spero Dedes.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks with Dottie Pepper who’s leaving NBC Sports for a position with the PGA of America.

Ken McMillen of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Darrelle Revis’ comments to NFL Network’s Andrea Kremer about his season-ending injury for the New York Jets.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the ratings increases for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals reflect their successes on the field.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has some thoughts on the NFL Network’s documentary on John Riggins.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN’s NASCAR voice Allen Bestwick about the last race of the season.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that most CBS stations across the country and even in Texas have chosen to air the Dallas Cowboys over the Texans.

David has a few viewing picks for the weekend.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel doesn’t agree with Aaron Rodgers’ complaints about 60 Minutes.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch notes that the NCAA has removed one-third of the media’s courtside seats at the Final Four™.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about a local sports radio host who lost his job after making remarks about African Americans.

West

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at a new documentary on the UCLA-USC rivalry.

Tom wonders why it took so long for DirecTV and Time Warner Cable SportsNet to make an agreement.

Tom has stuff that didn’t make it into today’s sports column.

And that’s going to do it.

Some Monday Sports Media Thoughts

Time to provide some sports media thoughts as we begin another workweek. Of course, they will be in bullet form.

• What was once the place for sports networks to convene to put pressure on cable has suddenly become the place to hold out. DirecTV was once the provider to pick up sports networks before anyone else. It was one of the first providers in the country to pick up NFL Network, the Big Ten Network, the mtn., CBS Sports Network (when it was known as CSTV then CBS College Sports), Outdoor Life Network and others. Now, it has become a holdout like Time Warner Cable which was the last major cable provider to pick up NFL Network and still refuses to carry MASN in North Carolina.

  Now, DirecTV has refused to pick up the Pac-12 Networks and Time Warner SportsNet citing fiscal responsibility. It has not talked with the Pac-12 lately and has no new talks scheduled for Time Warner, thus preventing West Coast fans from seeing college sports and the Los Angeles Lakers. DirecTV says it does not want to pick up all of the Pac-12 Networks (it has seven overall) and wants to charge an extra fee for anyone who wants to watch it. And the satellite provider is balking at Time Warner’s price per subscriber ($3.95) for the Lakers channel.

  DirecTV appears to have drawn its line in the sand. The Athletic Director at Cal-Berkeley changed her TV subscription from DirecTV to Comcast so she can watch Pac-12 Network and the Lakers training facility changed its subscription from DirecTV to Time Warner Cable as ESPN LA’s Arash Markazi tweeted on Sunday.

  Not a great sign that the Lakers’ practice facility switched to TWC from DirecTV this week. They probably wouldn’t if a deal was imminent.

  — Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 4, 2012

  So whenever DirecTV decides to pick either or both of the channels, it could very well be at its own terms.

  Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times reports that Cox Cable is the latest to agree to carry Time Warner SportsNet’s English and Spanish channels. It leaves DirecTV and Dish as the last remaining holdouts and of those two, only DirecTV would probably pick up TWSN as Dish has not been willing to carry sports networks as freely as DirecTV.

• NFL Network’s A Football Life has scored touchdowns in each and all of its episodes this season. From the season premiere on Ray Lewis to the look at the final year of the Cleveland Browns 1.0 to the Los Angeles Rams Fearsome Foursome to the latest edition on Chris Spielman, the documentaries from NFL Films have been of high quality. This all began last year when it spent one season with Patriots coach Bill Belichick and showed viewers some humanity behind the man inside the hoodie.

  The access NFL Films has received with each of its subjects, plus the archival footage it has culled through its own library or through news footage or personal home movies, A Football Life has become appointment viewing. The next one on coach Jimmy Johnson during his Dallas years should prove to be quite compelling television.

• There’s been 10 weeks of the college football season and I can now provide a review of the Fox College Saturday pregame show. I’ve been waiting for improvement since Week 2 (Week 1 was pre-empted in most of the country by a Fox Saturday Baseball overrun), but it hasn’t been there. Erin Andrews is not suited to be a studio host. She’s been better on the sidelines, although the MLB Postseason in October wasn’t her best work.

  There is no chemistry between Erin and analysts Eddie George and Joey Harrington. They struggle to get through highlights and there’s doesn’t appear to be any real energy. Oddly, when Patrick O’Neal is teamed with George and Harrington on FX, they have much better chemistry and energy.

  I have a feeling Fox will try this studio team for one more season before making any changes. Fox has too much money invested in Andrews to take her off the show after one season, however, the show remains a train wreck.

• Heard Friend of Fang’s Bites, Jen Royle on WEEI in Boston auditioning last week to become the update anchor for the station’s morning show, Dennis & Callahan. I felt she had the best chemistry among all those trying out. Here’s hoping she gets a gig out of it.
• I wish there was a way to get KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See” off ads and TV shows. This song is the bane of my existence. And as it was pointed out on the old “Best Week Ever” on VH1 that it was overused on a slew of ABC’s shows as a female empowerment song in 2006. And don’t ask me why I can remember these references off the top of my head.

  As I digress, if the song can be removed from commercials and movies, it would make me very happy.

Ok, I’m done.

Bringing Back The Friday Megalinks

It’s been too long since I’ve done a links post and why not do this with a Friday megalink post.

Your Weekend Viewing Picks have all of my sports and entertainment suggestions.

Now to your linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with Fox’s Erin Andrews about her being put under a bigger microscope now that she has higher profile gigs.

John Ourand & Michael Botta from Sports Business Daily handicap the bidding for the US rights to the English Premier League.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the EPL bidding is going to a second round.

At Sports on Earth, Will Leitch makes no bones about being a Joe Buck apologist.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy looks at the ratings for three KHL airings on ESPN2.

To The Godfather, Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina who notes that in Hot Clicks, ESPN’s Samantha Steele is taken. Sorry, fanboys.

Jim Romenesko notices that ESPN.com is trying to play eye doctor.

Jane McManus of espnW looks at MLB’s new dress policy for reporters.

Sports Rantz explores the revamping of the 6 p.m. ET SportsCenter that could lead to more appearances for Lindsay Czarniak.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks with CBS’ Doug Gottlieb about his first job in broadcasting.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos says reporters should throw objectivity out the window when it comes to social media.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group says YES Network is finding a TV-friendly environment at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says ESPN is trying to expand the SportsCenter brand beyond television.,

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has today’s New York Post cover involving the Yankees.

Kristi Dosh as ESPN.com says GoDaddy’s hiring of a new ad agency could lead to the dropping of spokesperson Danica Patrick.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell says it’s good that the Chicago White Sox listened to their fans and dropped ticket prices for next season.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the worst sports tweets of 2012 to date.

Leah Goldman of the Business Insider’s Sports Page has what you need to know about ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

Joe Favorito looks at the Battle for the Big Apple, NBA style.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth takes a look at Joe Buck’s rare NFL/MLB doubleheader on Sunday.

Bob’s Blitz talks about CBS Sports Radio giving writer John Feinstein a daily show when the network launches in 2013.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal and Maine Hockey Journal have formed a partnership on local sports coverage.

At the Boston Globe, Chad Finn reviews Comcast SportNet New England’s NFL Pregame Live show.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with a former WEEI morning show personality.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Time Inc. has tapped a Sports Illustrated web editor to head its entire sports portfolio.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick wants everyone to be like him.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that the Yankees and Giants top the local TV ratings.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union compares and contrasts Fox and TBS in the MLB Postseason.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that a local sports talk show host is no longer employed at his radio station.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com has Baltimore Ravens voice and local sports anchor Gerry Sandusky explaining why he won’t change his name.

Also in Press Box, Dave says the Washington Nationals are seeking a bigger rights fee from MASN.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the City Paper will not mention the DC NFL team by its regular name.

Dan says Fox was filming a spot regarding DC NFL team QB Robert Griffin III this week.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the Nationals’ brand is seeing more attention after its regular season success.

South

Rick Stroud at the Tampa Bay Times says Sunday’s game involving the Saints and Bucs did sell out in time.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has some college football announcer pairings and a few local news and notes.

In his media notebook, Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman looks at Bill Simmons making the dangerous move to television.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable picks up three local high school football games this weekend.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich handicapping the Big Ten.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune says the Cubs, WGN and Comcast SportsNet will quickly decide on a replacement for Bob Brenly who left and took his talents to the Southwest.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders why the Sun-Times would hire Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy to be a columnist.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that the local Fox TV station had to juggle severe warning alerts while airing the Cardinals in the NLCS.

West

Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the Diamondbacks have named their new TV broadcasting team.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes on a former San Diego Charger who’s deciding whether he wants to play in the CFL or pursue broadcasting full-time.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star explores the cast changes to ESPN’s NBA Countdown pregame show.

In his media notebook, Jim says the Pac-12 Network can be found online for subscribers of participating cable and satellite providers.

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News is fed up of cable carriage disputes.

Tom has some stuff that didn’t make it into his column.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks with former NHL coach and TV analyst Mike Keenan on how to survive the lockout.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog has some of the local sports radio ratings.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says MLB got a rare ratings win over the CFL last Friday.

And that will conclude the megalinks. Enjoy the sports weekend.

ESPN Radio Gets New Full-Time Boston Affiliate

ESPN Radio and Entercom Boston have signed an agreement to air its programming full-time on WEEI-AM. Last year, Entercom began a simulcast of WEEI and placed the programming on 93.7 FM. Today, Entercom announced that WEEI-AM will become a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate starting on Friday, October 5 at 6 a.m. with a special live broadcast of Mike and Mike in the Morning from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.

In addition to picking all of ESPN’s talk shows, WEEI-AM will air ESPN’s live sports programming including Major League Baseball and the entire MLB Postseason, College Football with the Bowl Championship Series and the NBA.

We have the joint press release from ESPN Radio and Entercom.

Entercom and ESPN Radio Join Forces to Launch “ESPN on WEEI” 850 AM

WEEI to provide the best in local and national sports talk and play-by-play

BOSTON, MA – Entercom Boston and ESPN Radio today announced that starting on Friday, October 5, WEEI will split its AM/FM simulcast and begin broadcasting ESPN Radio on 850 AM. “ESPN on WEEI” will air ESPN’s entire national lineup, including the entire upcoming Major League Baseball postseason schedule, the NBA, and college football and college basketball. ESPN Radio on 850 AM will debut with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, of “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” broadcasting live from Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium beginning at 6 a.m. ET on October 5.

WEEI’s legendary local lineup of “Dennis and Callahan,” “Mut and Merloni,” “The Big Show with Glenn Ordway and Michal Holley,” and “Planet Mikey with Mike Adams” will now be broadcast solely on the 93.7 FM frequency. In addition, 93.7 FM will be the exclusive home of Red Sox baseball, Celtics basketball, Patriots’ Monday and Friday, NFL football and the NFL playoffs.

As part of this expanded partnership, listeners will be able to access 93.7 WEEI’s live audio stream through the popular ESPNBoston.com website. At the same time, ESPNBoston.com’s video channel will now power WEEI.com’s video player with the most up-to-date ESPN video content.

“Since 1991, WEEI has been the gold standard in sports radio. This strategic alliance with ESPN allows WEEI to deliver to the most passionate sports fans in America the very best in local sports talk and play-by-play on WEEI FM and the very best in national sports talk and play-by-play with ESPN on WEEI AM,” said Jeff Brown, Entercom Vice President and Market Manager. “WEEI 850 AM is a proven sports brand. Joining forces with ESPN provides advertisers an additional touch point to connect with a highly valuable and sought after consumer.”

“We’re pleased to team with Boston’s preeminent sports radio outlet and one of the nation’s best radio broadcasting companies in Entercom to bring the number one national network into New England,” said Traug Keller, ESPN Senior Vice President, Production Business Divisions. “This move coupled with the existing presence of ESPNBoston.com provides Boston’s passionate fans the best of ESPN’s national and local coverage and analysis.”

“We are excited to be expanding our partnership with ESPN in such a meaningful way,” said Entercom President and CEO David Field. “Combining Boston’s leading sports station, WEEI-FM, and the new ESPN on WEEI 850 AM, together with our ability to cross promote content through our existing mobile and digital platforms, gives passionate Boston sports fans the very best in local and national sports content.”

Beginning Friday, October 5, the new ESPN on WEEI 850 AM ESPN lineup will be:

6 a.m. to 10 a.m.                      “Mike & Mike in the Morning”
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.                     “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.                       “The Scott Van Pelt Show with Ryen Russillo”
4 p.m. to 7 p.m.                       “ESPN Today”
7 p.m. to 10 p.m.                     “Hill and Schlereth” / ESPN Play-by-Play
10 p.m. to 12 a.m.                   “SportsCenter Tonight”
12 a.m. to 6 a.m.                      “SportsCenter All Night”

That will do it.

Bobby Valentine Tells Talk Show Host “I Would Punch You Right in the Mouth”

In his weekly spot on WEEI in Boston, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine had a rather contentious interview with Big Show co-hosts Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley. Valentine got worked up about one particular issue, about the reporting that he had arrived “late” for a game in Oakland in which the manager contends he was picking up his son at Oakland Airport and was stuck in traffic.

Ordway asked Valentine if he had “checked out” as manager to which Bobby replied, “What an embarrassing thing to say. Ya know, if I was there I would punch you right in the mouth.”

We have the interview courtesy of WEEI. The whole sequence lasts about twenty minutes. The fireworks begin at about the 2:52 mark.

Certainly made the afternoon more exciting today.

Cranking Out Some Friday Megalinks

Ok, linkage has been really scarce over the last month and a half and I apologize for that. My schedules have been quite busy and it’s been tough to sit down for the time it takes to gather the links. I hope that changes over the next month or so.

I have some National links for you right now. I’ll follow up with more stuff later.

Here are the Weekend Viewing Picks for you.

National

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with the people at the Poynter Institute who are the ESPN Ombudsman.

Nate Davis at USA Today’s The Huddle has the Miami Dolphins not so enthusiastic about being on Hard Knocks this season.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Sean McDonough who will undergo brain surgery later this year.

Ira Boudwell of Bloomberg Businessweek says ESPN is getting out of the high school sports business saying it’s not broad enough.

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says this week’s blowout between David Stern and Jim Rome proves that the NBA Commissioner needs to go.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily says Fox Sports San Diego is launching an ad campaign against Time Warner Cable which has still not picked up the regional sports network.

Good Morning America’s and former ESPN SportsCenter host Robin Roberts says she will beat the rare blood disorder that will require a bone marrow transplant.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the NBA Finals are pacing ABC to good ratings this week.

At Broadcasting & Cable, Tim Baysinger writes that this week’s Dream Team documentary gave NBA TV its best viewership ever.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says GolTV scored with this week’s soccer international friendly match between Brazil and Argentina.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life reports that NBC will debut two new sitcoms right smack dab in the middle of the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report looks at the geriatric broadcasting team calling the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that even after the winning the Stanley Cup this week, the Los Angeles Kings still aren’t getting respect from the local media.

Former Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio returns to his former stomping grounds to do a massive takedown of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

Also from Deadspin, John Koblin writes that there doesn’t seem to be a clamoring for Erin Andrews beyond ESPN.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBA TV and NBA Entertainment are appealing to the hardcore basketball fan for their Finals coverage.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Sports Illustrated could be laying off part of its staff.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people who hated Chris Berman on the U.S. Open yesterday.

Sports Media Watch notes that this year’s Stanley Cup Final did not resonate with viewers.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Brooklyn Nets gear is selling very well.

MediaRantz tells us that Sean Salisbury will be getting a new internet radio gig.

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Time for more linkage here.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that May was a very good month for sports radio station WEEI as it finished ahead of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

At SB Nation, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about golfer David Duval taking a turn in the broadcast tower at the U.S. Open.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette discusses Johnny Miller holding court for NBC at the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Petersen who will be introducing many Long Islanders to the College World Series today.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the Yankees for pricing out fans from the “Beautiful People” seats at Yankee Stadium.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that SNY will unveil the all-time Mets team at a gala event on Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the US Women’s National Soccer Team will be on TV and the web this weekend.

Ken says local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to the new Pac-12 Networks this summer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says NBC Sports Group has announced the 2012 Summer at Saratoga schedule.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union talks with Jim Rome who marks his 16th year in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete says one of harness racing’s famous races changes networks this year.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a local cable TV sports reporter who is filling a double role this summer.

Keith has more on her in his blog.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that a decision on the Washington Nationals TV rights has been delayed.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald has some NBA Finals Game 2 postgame reaction as well as Jon Barry saying he’s not a Miami Heat Hater.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Fox Sports Houston was well-prepared and staffed for Wednesday’s perfect game thrown against the Astros by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that ESPN on ABC was all over the non-foul call against the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Oklahoman rounds up what sports reporters are saying on Twitter about the NBA Finals.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says an all-star high school football game will be shown locally this weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN is dropping its high school sports operation.

Bob criticizes Jim Rome for his questioning of NBA Communist China Sympathizer David Stern.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says Cubs announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly were silent when comedian Jeff Garlin brought up trading Alfonso Soriano.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes the rare occurrence of the U.S. Open and the NBA Finals going head-to-head on TV this Father’s Day.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that viewers of Fox Sports Midwest may need a scorecard to tell who’s in the Cardinals TV booth over the next few days.

Dan notes that next week will mark a decade since the passing of Jack Buck and Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile.

West

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman says this fall’s Boise State-Southern Mississippi game will get the Fox treatment.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utahans are nervous about getting the Pac-12 Networkcomparing it to their experience with the ill-fated the mtn.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Fox Sports San Diego has set its sights squarely on Time Warner Cable.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says ESPN’s NBA Countdown show seems to work fine without a host.

Jim talks with NBC’s Johnny Miller about the U.S. Open.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times says Game 2 of the NBA Finals drew a good overnight number for ABC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former Kings voices about the Stanley Cup victory.

Tom has some more in his blog.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin blames both Jim Rome and David Stern for their ugly exchange this week.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says the NBA and NHL Commissioners are taking it on their chins this week.

And that’s going to do it.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks Again

Linkage has been scarce around the site this week, but I should be able to get a good set of megalinks in today as we head into NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday. You deserve the links and I thank you for your patience around some server problems this week.

As usual, you can check the Weekend Viewing Picks for all weekend sports and entertainment recommendations.

Let’s get to the linkage.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today profiles ESPN’s bracketologist Joe Lunardi who got a big endorsement from Louisville’s Rick Pitino this week.

Erik Spanberg at Sports Business Journal looks at Major League Soccer hoping for big returns from its new contract with NBC Sports.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch explores NBC’s new approach to airing soccer and reviews ESPN’s new documentary on Magic Johnson.

Karen Hogan at Sports Video Group looks at ESPN’s innovative plans for MLS games this season.

Lindsay Flans of the Hollywood Reporter says A-List celebrities have caught Linsanity fever.

And the Reporter provides a seating chart of where celebrities sit at Madison Square Garden to get a glimpse of Jeremy Lin.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley feels the mid-major conferences sacrifice regular season integrity in exchange for TV exposure with their post-season tournaments.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is recovering after his alma mater, Northwestern, played its way out of the NCAA Tournament this week.

Joe Favorito says even in this day and age, the little guy can make a splash in sports marketing.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

SMW notes that NBC Sports will replace the departed Wimbledon with the Tour de France this summer.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing says ESPN Films is suffering from an identity crisis.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC’s innovation in hockey production is now extending to the soccer pitch.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth isn’t a fan of speculation.

At Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog, Dan Devine says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made a gay joke at Bill Simmons’ expense with him present.

Erik Malinowski of Deadspin says Cuban has apologized for making that remark.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn looks at CBS/Turner’s plans for the NCAA Tournament.

Chad notes that a prodigal son is returning to WEEI this weekend.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen at SB Nation Boston says the Boston Herald will miss Patriots beat reporter Ian Rapoport as he departs for NFL Network.

George Cain at Sports of Boston compares and contrasts the two sports radio stations ratings.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says different generations watch sports differently.

Paul Devlin of the New Canaan (CT) Patch talks with ESPN High Grand Poobah of News Vince Doria.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with Magic Johnson about ESPN’s documentary on his HIV announcement 20 years ago.

Neil notes the opening of a new Broadway play on the rivalry between Magic and former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird.

Neil says it’s time for our annual search to find truTV for the NCAA Tournament.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the “gang mentality” in football.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that MSG Network is about to unveil a new baseball-centric show.

Chris Boyle at the Merrick (NY) Patch says two alumna of a local high school, now ESPN personalities, made a visit to their old stomping grounds.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that Buffalo Sabres games are back on MSG after a technical glitch prevented fans from seeing their games for two weeks.

Pete talks with Uncle Verne Lundquist of CBS who’s going into his 49th year of broadcasting.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times-Herald Record says a local man has been chosen to take part in this year’s MLB Fan Cave.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks with ESPN’s Mike Tirico who says he’ll miss working with Ron Jaworski every Monday Night.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner speaks with tennis Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Chris Evert.

South

Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer says for the first time, viewers in the ACC footprint can see ESPN’s coverage of the ACC Tournament.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald likes watching the ESPN/ABC NBA studio show.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Comcast SportsNet Houston is getting ready for its fall launch.

And David expands on his column on CSN Houston in his blog.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has a few Sooner State sports media news and notes.

Midwest

Jeff Moss at Detroit Sports Rag has a field of 64 to decide the Worst Detroit Sports Media Personality.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says CBS and Turner are enjoying their NCAA Tournament partnership.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviews the one week experiment of Joe Buck and Tim McKernan co-hosting a radio show that could turn into something bigger down the road.

Dan says don’t expect too many changes for this year’s NCAA Tournament coverage on CBS and Turner Sports.

West

John Maffei at the North County Times writes that if NCAA Tournament coverage ain’t broke, then CBS and Turner aren’t going to fix it.

John says Fox Sports San Diego is set to launch any day now, provided MLB approves the Padres’ deal to air games on the network.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the success of the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament consortium surprised officials at both companies.

Jim says Peyton Manning’s former coach, Tony Dungy now of NBC, feels San Francisco would be a good fit for him.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Magic Johnson’s life-changing announcement, 20 years later.

Tom explores how Time Warner Cable will present LA Galaxy games while it’s still in the process of launching its new SoCal regional sports network.

Tom has a few items that didn’t make his weekly media column.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times notes that ESPN will air next year’s Pac-12 Basketball Championship Game.

Canada

Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star says CBC’s Don Cherry and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke are acting like a couple of spoiled divas in their public spat.

And that’s going to do it for today. Enjoy your sports weekend.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Lots of things to get to today. Couldn’t do the links yesterday. Going to do a big megalink edition for you.

Let’s get cracking, but first, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks complete with a link to the busy College Basketball Viewing Picks which will be updated throughout the weekend.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Oscar-winner and ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham.

Sports Illustrated issued a statement standing by its feature story this week by George Dohrmann on UCLA’s troubles.

Yesterday, Captain Blowhard, a.k.a Bill Simmons of Grantland interviewed President Obama for his podcast. I haven’t listened to it nor read the transcript as I don’t want to be bothered. Dan Levy of Bleacher Report did and had some problems with it.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider’s Sports Page lists some writers who were most likely jealous over Simmons’ sitdown with the President.

Sports Business Daily says Captain Blowhard threw a hissy fit this week after Duke refused to issue a credential to one of Grantland’s writers for Saturday’s game against North Carolina.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable writes that NFL Today and Inside the NFL host James Brown will become a special correspondent for CBS News.

Gabriel Beltrone of Adweek writes that Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is pitching Sprint phones.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says thanks to Super Bowl XLVI, NBC won the February sweeps, marking the third straight year that sports has steered the month.

Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine writes that NBC Sports Network will be all over a French bicycle race this month.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says while we know MLB will announce expanded Wild Card Playoff games today, we don’t know which network will air them.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com writes that the competition among mainstream sports websites is very intense.

Pam Modarelli-Hegner at Sports TV Jobs writes about the types of personalities and egos journalists encounter when interviewing athletes.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder writes in Puck Drunk Love about ESPN’s failure to cover the NHL.

In his regular site, Matt says CNBC’s Darren Rovell assigned his baby daughter several social networking accounts on her first day on earth.

Brady Green at AA has video of the Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia’s very funny impression of ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian that aired on Baseball Tonight.

John Daly at the Daly Planet looks at Showtime’s Inside NASCAR program taking the spring and summer off after one episode this week.

Barry Petchesky over at Deadspin notes that ESPN came up with another potentially racist headline for an Asian-American athlete.

Rachel Margolis at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog talks with college basketball analyst Brooke Weisbrod who has a rather interesting day job that keeps her busy during the work week.

Joe Favorito says President Obama is courting sports fans through the Captain Blowhard podcast.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media reviews the new hockey movie, “Goon.”

Sports Media Watch has some of the ratings from last week’s sports action.

SMW says Jeremy Lin is helping to move the ratings needle for ABC and TNT.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says a San Diego sports anchor’s criticism of Danica Patrick shows that sexism still exists in sports.

Also in the National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos laments how social media has watered down traditional sports journalism.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan talks with ESPN’s college basketball analyst Doris Burke. High praise and I agree. Doris is one of the best.

Chad Finn of the Globe says despite having his original role reduced, Dale Arnold is remaining at WEEI.

Chad has some advice for rookie ESPN MLB analyst Terry Francona.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen writing in SB Nation Boston says Bill Simmons has had a meteoric rise to stardom.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says it was the Worcester Sharks’ radio voice who came up with the idea to have popular New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski spike a puck before a game last month.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks back at the 50th anniversary of one of the major milestones in sports that barely was covered by the media at the time.

Newsday’s Neil Best says two ESPN’ers will speak at their high school alma mater next week.

Neil says the Nets are not drawing well on YES.

Neil notes that CBS Sports Network utilizes a husband & wife team for its college hockey games.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick mocks the bracketologists handicapping the NCAA Tournament field.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NHL on NBC voice Mike Emrick.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says MSG Network continues to score with Knicks games.

Jerry reports that former WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman is back on TV in NYC.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that NBC Sports Network will air the America’s Cup next year.

Pete says YES is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NBC Sports Network is adding NHL games to its schedule for the playoff drive.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that a local service provider has snagged the rights to an incoming minor league hockey team.

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

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that a local sports anchor is recovering from a stroke he suffered last year.

David has a little more on the story in his blog.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with Fox Sports Oklahoma NBA studio analyst Stephen Howard.

Mel has more here with Stephen Howard.

Mel says NBA TV is marking the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Kiesewetter says a movie script has been written about a deaf mute Reds player who changed the way umpires made calls.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders if another network will join Fox and TBS in airing the MLB Postseason this year.

Bob says ESPN still leads the way in cable subscriber fees, meaning how much cable and satellite providers are required to pay ESPN per subscriber.

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

Ed says a Big Ten Network profile of former Indiana University coach Bob Knight will mostly focus on his achievements and hardly touches on his tumultuous exit.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes NBA TV’s documentary on Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says not many Missourians will be able to see local teams in conference tournaments next week.

West

Dan Caesar of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that BYU is better off an a football independent rather than share money and TV time with other teams when it was part of the Mountain West.

John Maffei at the North County Times says local prep basketball games will be harder to find on local TV this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says who knew that product placement would be the big winner during Fox’s airing of the Daytona 500.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says CBS and MSG Network are considering buy the Dodgers in separate bids in order to get their TV rights.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at how the media covered (barely) Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game 50 years ago today.

Tom has some news and notes this week.

Canada

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says CBC premieres part two of the movie on Don Cherry’s life this weekend.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail can’t believe how well NHL Trade Deadline coverage does in the ratings.

Bruce says social media has changed sports reporting forever.

And that will do it. Enjoy your weekend.

Tuesday Links with Some Overdue Monday Linkage

I was hoping to do links on Monday featuring reviews of the Super Bowl and the ads, but real life got in the way. Plus, a link from SI.com to my Biff Henderson post temporarily knocked my site down. Much appreciated to Jimmy Traina and Hot Clicks for the link.

The links begin with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who doles out his grades for the Super Bowl production.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today says Al Michaels was on top of his game on Sunday.

Bruce Horovitz of USA Today has the results of the paper’s Super Bowl Ad Meter. The results may or may not surprise you.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that Super Bowl XLVI on NBC set a viewership record.

Tim Nudd of Adweek lists the five best Super Bowl commercials according to the publication.

Adweek’s David Griner has the five most debated Super Bowl adverts.

Todd Cunningham at The Wrap says NBC has apologized for the now-infamous middle finger from M.I.A. during the Madonna halftime performance.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com has some off-the-field winners for Super Bowl XLVI.

Sports Business Daily notes that dogs were a favorite of the Super Bowl ads.

SBD notes that NBC’s Super Bowl pregame show was mostly praised.

Michael Smith and John Ourand of Sports Business Journal say the ACC is looking for a big payday from ESPN with two new members entering the conference.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter says the FCC likely won’t fine NBC for M.I.A’s middle appendage.

The Hollywood Reporter says Super Bowl XLVI set a Twitter record.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says the Super Bowl was the biggest event ever on social media.

John Eggerton of B&C writes that the FCC has ruled a Chicago NBC affiliate was within its rights to reject an anti-abortion Super Bowl ad.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes about the ratings and viewership standards set by Super Bowl XLVI.

Mike writes that MSG Network will air the February 11 Buffalo Sabres-Tampa Bay Lightning game on NBC affiliates in Buffalo and Rochester as an end run around Time Warner Cable.

Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age has the 10 Super Bowl ads that set social media afire.

Ad Age’s Rich Thomaselli notes that Giants Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning is now expected to equal or surpass his brother Peyton as a commercial endorser.

Ad Age’s experts break down the Super Bowl ads.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Rick Reilly making a preposterous statement following Super Bowl XLVI.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says Super Bowl XLVI lived up to the ratings hype.

SVG notes that Super Bowl XLVI garnered its highest audience ever in Canada even beating the CFL Grey Cup.

The With Leather blog has some pictures from the infamous Playboy Super Bowl party where CNBC’s Darren Rovell got into trouble with women.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead notes that Extra host and Massachusetts Maria Menounos native paid up on a Super Bowl bet and hosted yesterday’s show in a Giants bikini in the middle of Times Square.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC’s Cris Collinsworth stepped up in the biggest moment of the Super Bowl.

The Times’ Brian Stelter has NBC calling its online stream of Super Bowl XLVI a success.

Stuart Elliot of the Times says the Super Bowl ads were meh.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels NBC covered up Rob Gronkowski’s ankle injury when the game began. You’re reaching, Phil.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says WCBS-TV scored impressive numbers for its post-Super Bowl coverage.

Howard Megdal of the Journal News’ LoHud Mets Blog says the team, invoking memories of the Soviet Union, has revoked his media credential for the 2012 season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union feels Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth weren’t up to par on Sunday.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that the Philadelphia Phillies will be heard on the FM dial starting this season.

Laura Nachman has her Super Bowl XLVI highlights.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says NBC’s Super Bowl telecast rose above the ads and the halftime show.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says a local sports radio producer is getting out of the business to become a restauranteur.

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald praises NBC for its coverage of the Big Game.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times feels NBC got the job done on Super Bowl Sunday.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Super Bowl got another huge rating.

David provides his thoughts on the NBC Super Bowl production.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer lists his best and worst Super Bowl ads.

Robert King of the Indianapolis Star has the national media heaping praise on the city for hosting the Super Bowl.

King writes that the earliest Indy could host the Super Bowl again would be in 2017.

Lou Harry and Anthony Schoette of the Indianapolis Business Journal review Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime performance.

Anthony and Cory Schouten say Lucas Oil Stadium passed the test of holding its first Super Bowl.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel feels Aaron Rodgers did well in his guest stint on NBC.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his wrap of the Super Bowl.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Gateway City lagged behind the national average ratings for the Super Bowl.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes NBC did yeoman’s work and then some on Super Bowl Sunday.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune lists his favorite Super Bowls XLVI ads.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune feels NBC was good, but not Super on Sunday.

John Maffei of the North County Times for the most part enjoyed NBC’s Super Bowl coverage.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News also liked NBC’s broadcast.

Tom has a longer review on his blog.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders why the Super Bowl has so many prop bets.

Slate’s Matthew Black was stuck watching the lackluster Canadian Super Bowl ads.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes the Super Bowl did really well in Canada.

Leah Goldman at the Business Insider Sports Page keeps an eye out for ESPN’s Erin Andrews and Fox’s Troy Aikman as a potential sports media power couple.

Sports Media Watch has some other Super Bowl ratings news.

Mike Silva of the Sports Media Watchdog has suggestions on how to handle fan taunts unlike Gisele Bündchen.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that NBC Sports Network will have a hockey doubleheader on Wednesday.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing gives his bests and worsts of Super Bowl XLVI.

Matt also looks at the running feud between ESPN Radio’s Ryen Russillo and WEEI’s John Dennis.

Surviving Grady speaks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle.

And those are your links. Got them done before noon. I’m happy.

Quick Pre-Super Bowl Links

Let’s do some Super Bowl Sunday links today.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says media analysts are predicting another record viewership for the Super Bowl.

Mike says MSG Network remains off Time Warner Cable systems for the fifth consecutive week with no agreement in sight.

Kate Fagan of espnW has a look at what Super Bowl XLVI sideline reporter Michele Tafoya will deal with on the Lucas Oil Stadium field tonight.

Peter Pachal from Mashable has a look at NBC’s streaming of the Super Bowl.

Sean Newell at Deadspin says CNBC’s Darren Rovell may have lost the female vote forever.

Deadspin’s Timothy Burke tells us about a media feud between WEEI’s John Dennis and ESPN Radio’s Ryan Russillo.

Speaking of Darren Rovell, he wonders if Eli Manning can become a more prolific endorser than Tom Brady.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks about Twitter and some of the New England Patriots who use the social media service.

The New York Times’ Ritchie S. King and Kevin Quealy look at some of the clichés that have enveloped ESPN SportsCenter.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times is speaking in tongues today.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has the NBC football crew talking about today’s Super Bowl.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ John Lynch about the Super Bowl.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Super Bowl could decide the local news race.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Green Bay Packers’ Charles Woodson is doing well for the NFL Network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with NBC’s Al Michaels.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has NBC’s and CTV’s coverage plans for the Super Bowl.

Mike Silva from the Sports Media Watchdog goes over Darren Rovell’s downfall with women this weekend.

Joe Favorito has a few sports business tidbits for us.

And those are the quick links for today. Enjoy the Super Bowl. I’ll have grades on the Super Bowl ads tonight.

Friday Megalinks Or The Return of Linkage

Due to being at jobsites for the last few days, I haven’t been able post links like I’ve wanted to. I apologize for that. I have tried to be diligent in updating as much as I can.

I have quite a bit to catch up with. I may be a blogging machine as I have to post a lot of things today. Plus, I to get ready to head to New York tomorrow for Blogs with Balls 4 so I’m going to be quite busy. Let’s get to the linkage.

But first, there’s always the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment planning.

National

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal writes that ESPN will do everything it can to head off NBC/Versus at the pass.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch asks if sports broadcasting and politics should mix?

Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press says the Big 12′s TV contracts helped to keep the conference together for now.

The Nielsen Ratings Wire blog notes that among various TV programming, sports in primetime continues to do well.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy talks with CBS/WFAN/Westwood One’s Boomer Esiason on how the NFL should investigate the Dallas Cowboys’ medical staff for clearing Tony Romo to play last Sunday.

Mike says ESPN is denying any responsibility for the recent college football chaos and says the Longhorn Network doesn’t have anything to do with it. I think Texas A&M, Missouri and other Big 12 schools would beg to differ.

Bob Velin of USA Today writes that CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery program will investigate the mysterious and unsettling death of boxer Arturo Gatti.

Mike McCarthy and Michael Hiestand of USA Today debate whether schools or TV wield the power in college sports.

John Taylor of College Football Talk writes that Brett Favre gets his first taste of being an analyst next week for CSS.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the FCC has ruled that Cablevision-owned MSG Network cannot withhold its HD signal to other cable providers violating program-access rules.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that YES received its second highest rating ever for the American League East Division clinching game this week.

Mike says Golf Channel and NBC Sports are teaming up for a promotion to give a lucky viewer of “The Big Break” a chance to win a trip to see Notre Dame play in Ireland next year.

Tim Nudd of Adweek says the NFL has pulled an ad for its fantasy football product which used a picture of Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles after he was injured last week.

David Lieberman of Deadline reports that Time Warner Cable is planning to offer a low cost tier that will not include ESPN in the lineup.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown calling Cincinnati football coach Butch Jones something else.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has the sixth and perhaps final installment of New Era’s Yankees-Red Sox Alec Baldwin-John Kraskinski ads. They have been quite good. This latest one may have taken it a bit too far.

Also from SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty reviews the ESPN Films documentary “Catching Hell”, on Steve Bartman and the 2003 Chicago Cubs.

Sports Media Watch talks with the crew of ESPN’s College GameDay.

SMW says despite being on tape delay, Fox drew a decent audience for its first English Premier League game on Sunday.

SMW notes that the ratings for CBS’ 2nd game of its NFL doubleheader dropped from last year.

SMW says the NBA lockout has forced the cancellation of the start of training camp and over 40 preseason games.

And SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito looks at one imaginative marketing campaign that helped Eye Black this week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reviews “Moneyball.”

Darren has some interesting facts on sports participation in America.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group looks at how CBS Sports Network was able to bring the Tim Brando Show into a TV simulcast from his base in Shreveport, LA.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has this week’s network TV on-screen typos.

Ben Koo from AA says tomorrow is when Gus Johnson and FX get their real grand opening in college football.

At The Stir, Maressa Brown feels ESPN’s Erin Andrews is unqualified to demonstrate CrossFit.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that WEEI’s Glenn Ordway has suffered a rather severe pay cut due to lower ratings for his afternoon drive show.

At SBNation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at a busy week in local sports media news.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes that Dale Arnold is pleased to be back with NESN after leaving in 2007.

Lang Whitaker and Ian Lovett of the New York Times give us an inside look at DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel and NFL Network’s RedZone.

John Jeansonne of Newsday reviews ESPN Films’ documentary on transgendered tennis player Renee Richards.

Newsday’s Neil Best says fans seem to be buying into the New York Islanders’ future.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post has news that some Time Warner Cable subscribers have been waiting for, that the company appears to be close to a carriage agreement with NFL Network.

Phil Mushnick at the Post can’t stand ESPN’s Monday Night Football.

Justin Terranova of the Post says last month’s Russian plane crash that killed 44 members of the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl really hit home for MSG Network analyst Joe Micheletti.

And Justin has five questions for Joe.

Lou Lumenick of the Post says “Moneyball” is one of the best baseball movies of all-time.

I’ll break my self-imposed embargo on the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman for a week for this story on the Yankees’ radio rights which are in flux and so are the fates of broadcasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that MSG Network has named Steve Cangialosi to replace Mike “Doc” Emrick on New Jersey Devils games.

And Pete talks with Steve about his new gig.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette is not a fan of a new local sports talk show host.

Ken notes that NBC Sports is extending its “Summer at Saratoga” series for at least two more years.

At Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has announced its Capitals and Wizards schedules.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the college football conference merry-go-round could have some legal ramifications.

Jim says the ratings for the NFL in both Baltimore and Washington were very strong.

South

In the Miami Herald, Joseph Goodman notes the irony of ESPN possibly saving college football from massive chaos.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel catches up with ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer.

Jeff Sentell of the Birmingham (AL) News says ESPN is not ponying up to air high school games from the region.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that an Astros broadcaster is celebrating 25 years with the club.

David asks readers if they find the idea of the Longhorn Network offensive.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman says an Oklahoma State wide receiver will be profiled on ESPN’s College GameDay.

Midwest

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says Cleveland MLB team radio voice Mike Hegan is leaving he broadcast after this season.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Reds voice Marty Brennaman can’t campaign on-air for his former partner Joe Nuxhall for the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award.

Micahel Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press wonders why the DirecTV/NBC series “Friday Night Lights” didn’t do better in the ratings.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says actor Brad Pitt saw “Moneyball” as a compelling story.

Bob says the Green Bay Packers will be showcased aplenty in the late afternoon window on both CBS and Fox this season.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business writes that the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship failed to draw viewers away from the NFL on Sunday.

Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with WMAQ-TV sports anchor Paula Ferris.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders why Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin has been missing of late.

Kevin Haskin of the Topeka (KS) Capital-Journal writes that CBS Sports Network was in town to air an NCAA Division II football game this week.

West

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Big Ten Network won’t allow the local Cox system to pick up Saturday’s San Diego State-Michigan game on a one-time only basis.

The North County Times’ John Maffei writes that unless fans can find a sports bar, they’ll have to listen to San Diego State on the radio.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says it’s too bad Southern California couldn’t see the end of the exciting Oakland-Buffalo game due to silly NFL rules.

Jim says HBO will replay last Saturday’s controversial Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a bankruptcy court has given the Dodgers permission to change their flagship radio station for next season.

Tom says the NFL secondary market rule needs to be changed.

Tom also has a few notes that he couldn’t get into his Friday column.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News looks at the Pac-12′s decision to stand pat, TV’s role in the whole thing and where BYU may be headed.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC’s P.J. Stock is regretting his initial comments on Wade Belak’s death.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog is not so fast to forgive P.J.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that CBC has made some additions to its Hockey Night in Canada crew.

And there you have it for your links today.

Friday Megalinks Just For You

Let’s do some linkage.

The Weekend Viewing Picks give you everything to you need for your viewing pleasure.

Let’s do this.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that primetime is the right time for college football.

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Daily reports that ESPN has sold out its ad inventory for its new NASCAR non-stop initiative which will allow fans to see continuous race action while commercials run.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NFL Network used some creative methods in Boston to promote its Bill Belichick documentary.

If you watched the Belichick documentary, then you probably know about the best scene which was the coach yelling at the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Mason who was trash talking. Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the video.

Brandon Costa from Sports Video Group notes that Sports Illustrated has released a new Football Rivals mobile app.

Sports Media Watch says ABC is doing well with college football in its first two weeks of the season.

SMW notes that last Saturday’s Notre Dame-Michigan game on ESPN in primetime did better than the previous week’s Fighting Irish game on NBC.

SMW says last week’s NASCAR race in Richmond garnered a four year ratings high for ABC.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider Sports Page says sports bars got hit the hardest by DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket technical difficulties last week.

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media has NHL Network’s preseason schedule that begins next week.

Joe Favorito says sports brands are now jumping into the corn field maze craze.

Awful Announcing has this week’s network TV on-screen typos.

Parade talks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe writes about some ex-Patriots players who have made the transition to TV.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald talks about 98.5 The Sports Hub winning the prestigious Marconi for Best Sports Station in the country over a former winner, WEEI.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette praises the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir looks at a rare film that followed the late Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto and other ex-Pinstripers to Austria for an exhibition game in 1994.

Daniel E. Slotnick of the Times writes that former New York Jet and broadcaster Sam DeLuca has passed away.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with statistician Steve Hirdt about his career and getting to work a “home” game for this week’s edition of Monday Night Football.

Neil says SNY is fortunate to have the Jets as a partner to help viewers forget about the Mets.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is angry at everyone.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for YES analyst Ken Singleton.

Jerry Barmash in Fishbowl NY writes that MSG Network brings back its signature hockey studio show for another season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that local sports anchor Andrew Catalon gets a call-up to the NFL on CBS in October.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record talks with MLB Network’s Brian Kenny about why he left ESPN after almost a decade and a half.

Ken has more with Brian Kenny in his column.

Ken is tired of NHL Network rerunning last season’s playoffs.

South

Serena Moyle of the Tallahassee (FL) Democrat profiles ESPN’s Erin Andrews as she’s in town for the Oklahoma-Florida State game.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says you watched the NFL in droves last week.

David says ESPN is treating Longhorn Network differently than its other entities.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman writes that Longhorn Network will pick up one Oklahoma State basketball game.

Mel has some news and notes.

Gina Mizell of the Oklahoman says ESPN is keeping a close eye on Oklahoma State and Texas A&M for a potential College GameDay visit.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio expands its pregame show tomorrow to air highlights of Johnny Bench Night.

John says a local radio station has fired a long-time sports reporter and other parts of its staff.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with a long-time Division II college football radio voice.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says some local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to this Saturday’s Wisconsin game.

Bob explains why the Wisconsin game isn’t on TV.

Bob says the Brewers’ Prince Fielder will be seen in a profile on TBS Sunday.

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

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says all of the Blues games will be televised for the first time ever.

West

Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that ESPN’s deal with BYU has now become a recruiting tool for the school.

Matt Solinsky of the Desert (CA) Sun says the NFL Network documentary on Patriots coach Bill Belichick is definitely “must see TV”.

John Maffei from the North County Times tries to discover what the holdup is for the San Diego Padres’ TV and radio rights.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for California’s high school championships.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times talks with the Fox NFL Sunday crew.

T.J. Simers of the Times writes that Vin Scully can cause trouble at home.

Also from the Times, Eric Sondheimer has details of the Time Warner deal with the California Interscholastic Federation.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Jay “The Rat” Mariotti is determined to get the last word on his tumultuous year.

Tom has some media moves that didn’t make his column.

Tom says MLB Network will air a special on statistics.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says an 8 year delay will help Steve Moore in his lawsuit against Todd Bertuzzi and the NHL stemming from an incident in Vancouver.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada has finally made some moves to fill some personnel holes.

And that’s going to conclude the links for this Friday.

Let’s Do Some Linkage, Shall We?

I was in between offices yesterday and could not do the links as I had wanted. Let’s provide some now while I can.

Nate Davis at USA Today writes about ESPN extending the rights to air Monday Night Football and keep the series on cable through 2021.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that tonight’s Presidential jobs speech has forced the networks to change their schedules including NBC regarding tonight’s NFL season opener.

Marisa Guthrie of the Reporter talks about ESPN’s new MNF deal.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says ESPN is in position to air an NFL Wild Card Playoff game sometime in the future.

Adweek’s Anthony Crupi notes ESPN’s eight year NFL extension includes a whole host of digital rights.

Lucia Moses of Adweek says Sports Illustrated is tapping into younger readers’ appetites by going high-tech.

All Access notes that Boston’s sports radio WEEI announced an FM simulcast today.

Also from All Access, Fox Sports Radio nighttime host Tony Bruno is leaving to take a midday hosting job in Philadelphia.

It’s rare that I get a sports media story from Women’s Wear Daily, but I have one today. John Koblin of WWD talks with ESPN tennis courtside reporter Pam Shriver.

Hey, we link to Grantland! Jonah Keri writes that the Texas Rangers are positioning themselves to be an MLB power for the long-term thanks to its mega rights deal with Fox Sports Southwest.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says The Onion’s online parody of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption is everything its TV sports shows were not.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid examines the new ESPN/Monday Night Football deal and what it really means.

Congrats to former Yardbarker Managing Editor Alana G. who has left the company and becomes Executive Producer for the San Francisco Chronicle’s website.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group writes that ESPN’s “SpiderCam”, the overhead camera providing spectacular shots at the U.S. Open has been added to the tournament’s world TV feed.

Karen Hogan of SVG notes that NBC is pulling out all of the technical stops for Sunday Night Football this season.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that an injured Peyton Manning could cost fantasy players some money.

Darren says the University of Michigan has inserted an audio chip for this week’s game program for the Notre Dame contest.

Jorge Rivas at Colorlines says FoxSports.com has pulled the web series that made fun of Asian USC students not knowing football and also mocking their accents.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reviews the NFL Films documentary focusing on Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says WEEI is ramping up for the next phase of its sports radio war with 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Ian Rapoport of the Herald has some interesting tidbits from the NFL Films Bill Belichick doc.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks inside the ESPN MNF deal.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the particulars of the ESPN Monday Night Football contract extension.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union reports on the Fox Sports Radio show that will replace Tony Bruno.

Pete notes that MSG Network will be New York Giants-heavy this fall.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner interviews Russ Thaler who goes from Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to Versus as the host of NBC SportsTalk.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle writes about the local college football ratings.

Bob Finnan of the News-Herald (OH) talks with Cleveland Browns radio voice and sports anchor Jim Donovan about returning to work after taking the summer off for a bone marrow transplant.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has CBS’ Phil Simms and Dan Dierdorf extolling the virtues of having a running game in the NFL.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business writes about Bears games being broadcast on FM for the first time this season.

Ed says the Chicago Tribune is bolstering the Bears beat.

Scott Dochterman at the Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette says those who want to watch this Saturday’s Iowa-Iowa State game will have to do a little searching.

Robin Carlin at Mile High Sports says yesterday’s plane crash in Russia that killed all but two on board was truly a dark day for hockey.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily Herald likes the 9/11 commemorative football jerseys.

The Canadian Sports Media blog notes that Rogers is pulling out of the Canadian Olympics Broadcasting Consortium for the 2014/16 Games.

Joe Favorito says the BCS conferences might want to consider picking up one of the Service Academies.

And that’s going to do it for today’s linkage.

Report: Boston’s WEEI-AM To Begin FM Simulcast on Monday

Earlier this evening, WEEI’s PR firm sent out an e-mail stating, “WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Morning Show will make a major announcement at 8:00am tomorrow morning, September 8th.”

Speculation started churning on what the announcement would be, but it was quickly confirmed through the proverbial “industry sources” that WEEI’s parent company, Entercom will begin simulcasting the sports radio station on Mike FM at 93.7. The simulcast will begin on Monday. Mike FM will effectively be killed and WEEI will broadcast on both 850 AM and 93.7 FM.

Since CBS Radio’s 98.5 The Sports Hub came into fruition, it not only cut into WEEI’s ratings, but took over the top spot this year in key dayparts from morning to afternoon drive. And the numbers continue to lean in CBS Radio’s way as indicated in the Spring Arbitron ratings.

A move to the FM dial was the logical next step for WEEI. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn says the FM simulcast for WEEI was a natural progression.

Lance Venta of Radio Insight says Entercom applied to move the WEEI-FM call signs from its Providence station to Boston’s 93.7 FM. WEEI in Providence will take the WVEI call letters from WEEI’s Springfield station.

Entercom now feels it has a level playing field for WEEI and all of its sports properties, the Red Sox and Celtics as well as Westwood One’s NFL and NCAA Tournament packages, will be heard on the FM side as well.

Let’s Do Some Thursday Linkage

Today is going to be a busy day with the UFC on Fox press conference and the NHL TV schedule announcement. I figure now would be a good time to linkage and I hope I don’t get interrupted here at work.

The big news that broke late yesterday was DirecTV announcing that it would offer its NFL Sunday Ticket package to Sony Playstation 3 platforms. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that the package will be offered to both non and current DirecTV subscribers.

In Sony’s official Playstation 3 blog, Philip Rosenberg explains what Playstation fans will see with the NFL Sunday Ticket offering.

Kari Lipschutz of Adweek tells us what this move means for Playstation owners.

CBS Radio continues to kill off its heritage rock stations and flip them to FM sports. It killed off rock stations in Boston and Cleveland in favor of new FM sports stations. Today’s it’s Philadelphia’s turn as long-time rocker WYSP will go by the wayside for a simulcast of WIP which was the 2nd station in the country after WFAN to go all-sports. All Access says the flip to sports will occur after Labor Day.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News has the full details of the format change.

The Crossing Broad blog provides its reaction to the move.

The 700 Level analyzes what this all means for the Philly sports fan.

Back to Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds writes that the University of Hawaii will launch its own regional sports network on Friday, beating the Longhorn Network’s launch by a week.

Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com says a big payday for the Big East’s TV contract could lead to major changes in the conference.

The LPGA has announced that it’s hired long-time Golf Channel anchor Kraig Kann as its chief communications officer.

Bob Cook at Forbes.com detests ESPN’s coverage of the Little League World Series.

Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group says the New York Jets will add a 1st and 10 line to its in-house game productions.

At SportsGrid, Timothy Burke has the audio of USA Today’s Danny Sheridan backing off a promise to name the money provider in the Cam Newton scandal and then he attacked bloggers. Not a good way to go, Danny.

To CNBC’s Darren Rovell who wonders why the NFL Players Association settled for as little as it did with the NFL.

At the Business of College Sports, the SportsBizMiss, Kristi Dosh goes over why the SEC did not formally invite Texas A&M to join its conference.

Tim Walker of the Independent in the UK explores the launch of ESPN.com’s Grantland and praises the site.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says former WEEI personality Pete Sheppard resumes his duties at Patriots.com next month.

Joe Drape at the New York Times says NBC Sports will air horse racing from the Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky in October.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a look at the ACC Network schedule.

Laura Nachman notes that Vince Papale won’t be hosting Eagles Confidential this season.

Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that Root Sports will change its night for high school football programming where it can show most of it live.

Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wants to know who should be added to the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that the Grizzlies will be changing radio stations when the NBA returns from lockout.

B.J. Bethel of the Dayton Daily News says ESPN is part of the problem with college football.

James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press says Lions fans won’t be heckling Matt Millen as he’s been taken off ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown show.

The Holland (MI) Sentinel reports that Fox Sports Detroit will increase its high school football coverage this fall.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that NFL Network will air the 2010 Packers edition of America’s Game the night before the NFL regular season opener.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that a new book on the late Walter Payton will be published in October.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reviews an HBO Real Sports segment comparing and contrasting the Brothers McEnroe’s opinions on how to revive American tennis.

Tom talks with two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion Danielle Kang.

Gary Lycan of the Orange County Register writes about the New York Jets being heard on Southern California radio this season.

Sports Media Watch notes that the first preseason Monday Night Football game received lower ratings from last year’s opener.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito wonders if the NBA’s D-League can benefit from the NBA lockout.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing looks at ESPN’s reluctance to cover the Miami payment scandal that was uncovered by Yahoo! Sports this week.

Scott Christ at Bad Left Hook takes a look at boxing’s TV ratings this year to date.

I’m going to end the links there. It’s going to be a busy day here. Keep your RSS and Twitter feeds updated. The posts could get fast and furious this afternoon.

WEEI Radio Network Remains Home of NFL on Westwood One

This comes from WEEI in Boston. Its radio stations from Boston to Central and Western Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be the home of Sunday and Monday Night Football broadcasts via Westwood One Radio. Through this contract, WEEI will also be able to carry all of the NFL postseason games all the way to the Super Bowl. For the first time, the home markets for the Conference Championships and Super Bowl will not be blacked out from the national radio broadcasts. Previously, the home markets were blacked out, however, Westwood One was able to get that lifted in this new contract that begins with the 2011-12 season.

So if the Patriots reached the Super Bowl, Boston would be able to hear Kevin Harlan and Boomer Esiason call Super Bowl XLVI on WEEI as well as on flagship station 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Here’s the press release from WEEI and Entercom.

WEEI Sports Radio Network Announces Sunday and Monday Night Football Extension

WEEI will remain the exclusive home of NFL Network programming  

July 19, 2011 (Boston) WEEI announced today that it will maintain its agreement with Westwood One to carry Sunday and Monday night football which includes the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

WEEI 850 AM, WEEI 103.7 FM, WVEI 1440 AM and WVEI FM 105.5 FM will again air the full slate of games offered by the network. The regular season is scheduled to begin on Thursday, September 8^th when the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers host the New Orleans Saints.

The 2011 season is also the first year the NFL broadcast blackout restriction has been lifted in home markets for the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. Because of this change, WEEI will be allowed to air the national radio feed of those two games if the Patriots were to advance that far in the postseason. The broadcast would air on WEEI 850 AM in Boston, WEEI 103.7 FM in Providence, WVEI 1440 AM in Worcester and WVEI 105.5 FM in Springfield.

Jason Wolfe, VP of Programming for WEEI said, “The success of the Patriots in the last decade has made the NFL incredibly popular in New England and especially in Boston, and I’m excited to again, be able to offer the national games to our listeners. And since the league has modified the postseason broadcast rules starting this season, it’ll be a real thrill for Patriot fans to be able to hear Boomer Esiason on the call of the Super Bowl, should the team get there. He’s the best analyst in the business.”

That’s it.

10th Annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Telethon Airs In Late August

I can’t believe this will be the 10th edition of the Jimmy Fund Telethon that airs on both WEEI and NESN. This is a simulcast that airs from Fenway Park and raises money for the Jimmy Fund, which is official charity of the Boston Red Sox. Money raised goes to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston which is one of the leading cancer research centers in the world.

Over the years, the telethon has raised close to $26 million to aid cancer research. In the past, the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner called in and pledged to donate money. In fact, he did it a couple of years in a row. He would be watching on DirecTV from Tampa and call in to pledge his support which was appreciated.

This year’s Telethon will be held on August 30 and 31. Here are the particulars.

10th Annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon set for August 30^th – 31^st

Two day broadcast from Fenway Park to help strike out cancer

BOSTON (June 6, 2011) – WEEI and NESN are proud to announce that the 10th annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon will take place at Fenway Park on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30^th and 31^st from 6am to midnight.  The emotional two day event has become one of the biggest fundraisers of the Jimmy Fund’s year. In 2010, more than $3.1 million dollars were raised, bringing the nine year total to nearly $26 million dollars.

Donations are already well underway thanks to the 4^th Annual “Tame the Tigers” golf tournament, held this past month on May 19^th at The International in Bolton, MA. The event was the most successful to date, raising over $100,000 and was a sell-out for the second straight year.

This year’s Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon will focus on the progress that has been made in cancer research over the past decade. The 36-hour broadcast will once again feature truly compelling stories from Jimmy Fund patients and doctors, as well as celebrity guests from the sports and entertainment worlds.

Julie Kahn, VP and Market Manager for Entercom Boston said, “For the past ten years, WEEI and NESN have been allies when it comes to the fight against cancer. The generosity of WEEI’s listeners and NESN’s viewers is overwhelming and we are grateful to them year after year.”

“Our entire company is committed to this event and all of our employees are actively engaged in this two day telethon,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s President and CEO. “This collective commitment meaningfully touches all of us and hopefully makes a real difference to the people who are fighting this challenging disease.”

“It is incredible to think that this is the 10^th year for the radio-telethon. The progress that has been made in cancer research and care since we started is staggering,” said Jason Wolfe, VP of Programming for WEEI. Wolfe continued, “Patients are living longer, healthier lives, and in many cases, cancer free. These are the two best days of our year and I’m looking forward to another super event.”

To help strike out cancer during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, call 877-738-1234 toll free. For more information, to purchase tickets, or to contribute online, go to www.jimmyfundradiotelethon.org.

That’s it.

Bringing Out The Friday Megalinks

Yup, time for the Friday megalinks. As long as I don’t get interrupted, I should be able to do this all in one shot for you.

Your Weekend Viewing Picks have a whole lot of sports and entertainment programs so take a gander and see what suits your fancy.

To the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about ex-Florida coach Urban Meyer diving headfirst into being a college football TV analyst for ESPN.

Nate Davis at USA Today’s The Huddle blog notes that ex-NFLer’s and current TV analysts Michael Strahan and Warren Sapp don’t take much stock in Tiki Barber’s comeback.

Also in USA Today, Devra Maza talks with Hall of Fame baseball announcer Bob Wolff about his memories calling Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest is seeking to change his name to “Metta World Peace” while his wife, Kimsha is being cast for the new edition of VH1′s “Basketball Wives”.

Jon Weisman of Variety says David Feherty’s new show gave Golf Channel its most watched premiere in the history of the network.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that Wednesday’s Mexico-Honduras Gold Cup semifinal match was the highest rated primetime sporting event ever on Univision.

Sports Media Watch has some various news and notes.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has the new DirecTV Football Cops ad featuring the Manning brothers.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with WEEI’s Dale Arnold who had to watch the Bruins championship run while being mostly on the sidelines.

Rich Fahey of the Globe says former Bruins TV host Tom Larson followed through on a 30 year promise to shave his beard.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says with a lockout looming, the NBA Players Association is standing firmly behind its leadership.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post has praise for ESPN’s Bobby Valentine and Orel Hershiser, but has to somehow temper it.

The Post’s Brett Cyrgalis has four questions for Mets radio voice Howie Rose.

Newsday’s John Jeansonne looks at how John McEnroe was perceived as a player and perceived now as an analyst.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty says two local TV reporters were able to catch up with Jimmer Fredette after the NBA Draft.

Pete says Jimmermania kept fans watching the NBA Draft for about an hour.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at the new CBS Sports Network contract with the Patriot League.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes talks about the programming changes at one Baltimore sports radio station.

Dave says the Washington City Paper is firing back at DC NFL Team owner Daniel Snyder in his efforts to sue the publication.

South

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times feels ESPN should not be leading the charge to move the Rays out of Tampa Bay.

William Brethertont of the Marietta (GA) Daily Journal says an Atlanta Beat Women’s Professional Soccer star will be on ESPN’s Women’s World Cup coverage.

Dan Murtaugh of the Mobile (AL) Press-Register says Tennis Channel will focus on a local program that benefits young women and weaves in a tennis exhibition to help raise funds.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle recognizes one sports anchor’s longevity in the market.

Berry Tremel at the Daily Oklahoman says FX’s early college football schedule is all-Oklahoma, all the time.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Thom and Marty Brennaman don’t seem to have time to work together in the Reds broadcast booth.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk will be swinging a golf club on NBC’s celebrity golf tournament next month.

Bob says local overnight ratings for the NBA Draft on ESPN were strong.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a local sports anchor is pinch hitting on the news side this month.

And Dan has a few news and notes.

West

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune looks at Urban Meyer moving to the TV booth on college football Saturdays for ESPN.

Richard Eng of the Las Vegas Journal-Review explores the decision of former Triple Crown caller Tom Durkin to step down this year.

John Maffei of the North County Times says this weekend is a big one for soccer fans.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star notes that the Los Angeles Lakers will have different voices for next season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that Lenny Dykstra is now tweeting.

Tom also has a column on Captain Blowhard’s Grantland site.

Jack Humphreville of City Watch LA takes a look at Frank McCourt’s embattled ownership of the Dodgers and the collapse of his rich rights deal with Fox.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail has yet another mediocre media column this week. I’m close to dropping him from the megalinks.

The Toronto Sports Media blog notes the one year anniversary of a huge lineup change on one local sports radio station.

And that’s going to do it for today.

Jack Edwards Compares Alex Burrows’ Bite Of Patrice Bergeron To Breastfeeding

In yet another bizarre rant, Jack Edwards went on WEEI’s Big Show with Glenn Ordway and Michael Holley to discuss the bite of the Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron’s finger by Vancouver’s Alex Burrows. It happened just as the first period of Game 1 was ending and it was caught by NBC’s cameras as clear as day. If you didn’t see it, here it is.

Well, WEEI has asked NESN’s Bruins voice Jack Edwards to give yet his thoughts on the Stanley Cup Final and we get this analogy of Jack comparing Burrows’ bite to his 11 month old daughter biting his wife’s boob during breastfeeding. When I heard this, I almost stopped dead in the middle of the highway in shock. I really think Jack needs to increase his medication.

There you have it. I am without speech because I cannot speak. Unbelievable.

WEEI Wins Website Honor

Last week, I reported on the Fang’s Bites on Boston Sports Media Watch site that WEEI was slaughtered by rival radio station, 98.5 The Sports Hub in younger male demographics in the Arbitron ratings for the month of April. And while WEEI did beat 98.5 in the overall ratings, the loss of younger males has to be quite disturbing for the station which really is sounding old.

Even with the ratings, one bright spot for WEEI has been its website. Radio Ink magazine awarded WEEI the best radio station website for a major market. Let’s take a look at the press release.

WEEI Wins “Best Radio Station Website” Award from Radio Ink Magazine

Radio Ink Magazine presented WEEI with the award at first annual digital awards ceremony

BOSTON (May 19, 2011) – WEEI Sports Radio Network today announced they were the recipient of the “Best Radio Station Website (Markets 1-10)” Award presented by Radio Ink Magazine yesterday at an awards ceremony held in Mountain View, California.  The award ceremony recognized the people, stations, and companies that drive the industry in new media.

Tim Murphy, Vice President of Digital Strategy & Enterprise Platforms for Entercom, attended the ceremony to receive the award on behalf of WEEI, who received two nominations.  WEEI was also nominated for “Best Brand Extension Through Streaming.”

“We are continually exploring new ways in which we can provide world-class content to Boston sports fans, and new content and distribution platforms have been a huge focus of our efforts during the last three years,” said Tim Murphy. “The talented team we have put in place across platforms at WEEI is the driving force behind this award and these nominations, and everyone at Entercom is proud to have been recognized by Radio Ink for the efforts of our staff.”

Radio Ink’s 2011 Digital Awards Ceremony was their first annual digital competition to recognize the driving force behind new media in the radio industry.  The ceremony was held on May 18 and 19, 2011 at the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, California.

Added Murphy, “Starting in August of 2008, WEEI Sports Radio made a commitment to establish WEEI as the new digital benchmark for not only the sports radio format, but for the radio industry. In order to do that, WEEI hired a full staff of world-class journalists to expand WEEI’s overall coverage  of the sports scene in New England, and they have done a tremendous job establishing our brand as number one for coverage of New England Sports. In addition, we have invested significantly in making WEEI Radio programming available to consumers both live and On Demand on as many devices as possible, with mobile apps recently becoming a major driver of WEEI content consumption.”

There you have it.

WEEI.com & SB Nation Announce A New Content Sharing Agreement

Well, I didn’t see this one coming. The powerful SB Nation sports blogging network has announced a new content sharing agreement with WEEI.com, the internet arm of Boston sports radio station, WEEI. Under the new agreement, WEEI.com will provide content from SB Nation on its site. In exchange, WEEI’s content will be seen on SB Nation’s Boston sites. This is quite interesting to see this come about.

WEEI.com launched with a huge splash, but since it started, has lost writers Joe Haggerty and Jessica Camerato to Comcast SportsNet New England. This provides WEEI with more content and gives it some extra juice outside New England. The press release:

WEEI.com and SB Nation Announce Content Sharing Agreement

First of its kind content sharing & promotional partnership makes WEEI.com the exclusive in-market partner for national online sports network SB Nation

BOSTON (April 11, 2011) – WEEI.com today announced it has reached a content sharing partnership with SB Nation that will integrate content from the nation’s fastest growing online sports network with WEEI.com’s premier local coverage.  The new agreement will enhance the experience for users of WEEI.com by providing fans with relevant content and national & regional points of views on sports news. The partnership also makes WEEI.com the exclusive in-market content partner for SB Nation and its network of over 300 online fan communities.

“We are continually exploring new ways to bring the very best content to our visitors, and partnering with SB Nation furthers that mission,” said Tim Murphy, Vice President of Digital Strategy & Enterprise Platforms for Entercom.  “SB Nation is the leader in fan-driven content, opinion and analysis. It will complement our dynamic local journalism to give Boston sports fans the most complete, entertaining experience on the web.   Partnering with an emerging sports leader from a national perspective will allow our fans to see how the rest of the country is looking at our beloved teams, and follow national stories of interest from SB Nation’s unique, fan-centric POV. ”

“This is a groundbreaking opportunity that brings one of the nation’s leading sports media brands together with a new generation and form of sports content,” said Scott Langerman, General Manager of SB Nation’s local initiatives.  “We see a trailblazing spirit in WEEI.com that mirrors our own and allows us to do new things in the space together.”

The agreement, which is the most expansive of its kind for both WEEI.com and SB Nation, will blend the best of traditional media with interactive user-generated content. Highlights include:

ØWEEI.com will feature headlines and content from SB Nation websites relevant to all the Boston teams, and SB Nation will bring WEEI.com’s highly-regarded reporting and personalities to its readers in Boston and beyond.

Ø A new feature on WEEI.com called “Behind Enemy Lines” will provide news and commentary from SB Nation’s network of team-focused blogs about upcoming Boston opponents.

Ø A new, co-branded landing page will include links to SB Nation content appearing on WEEI.com as well as outbound links to national stories within the SB Nation network.

ØWEEI.com and SB Nation will integrate relevant content within each other’s coverage of Boston sports teams, offering a unique diversity of perspectives on all the local teams.

Ø Content from each partner will appear on dedicated team pages & blogs in widget form for easy-to-use functionality.

In addition to the robust content sharing elements of the partnership, WEEI.com and SB Nation will work together on sales, promotional and other business opportunities.

Added Murphy:  “This is a partnership in every way. Not only are we providing better content than ever to Boston sports fans, but our relationship with SB Nation provides new and unique opportunities for sponsors.”

More stuff to follow.

WEEI Re-Signs Dave O’Brien As Secondary Voice of the Red Sox

You may not know that ESPN’s Dave O’Brien calls Red Sox games on the radio when he’s not working for the Alleged Worldwide Leader. He’s been with the Red Sox since 2007 calling most of the games except on Wednesdays when he’s calling MLB for ESPN and early in the season when he’s calling the NCAA Women’s Tournament. But during the summer, Dave is back in his native New England calling the Red Sox with Joe Castiglione on WEEI. Well, WEEI and its parent company, Entercom have announced that it has come to a multiyear agreement with Dave keeping him next to Uncle Joe for the next few years.

WEEI Re-Signs Red Sox Play-By-Play Announcer Dave O’Brien to New Multi-Year Extension

March 31, 2011 (Boston, MA)–Dave O’Brien, one of the most accomplished and versatile play by play broadcasters in the country, has agreed to a new multi-year contract with the WEEI Sports Radio Network to continue as one of the radio voices for the Boston Red Sox. O’Brien is now in his 5^th season of calling Red Sox Baseball alongside Joe Castiglione.

O’Brien, a native of Quincy, MA, has built a national reputation as one of the country’s preeminent sportscasters. In addition to his role with the Red Sox, he serves as play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball. At ESPN he has also broadcast NBA basketball, NCAA men’s and women’s college basketball, and MLS Soccer. In 2006, he was the voice of the 2006 World Cup Soccer Tournament televised by ABC.

Prior to joining ESPN, he was the voice of the Florida Marlins from the team’s inaugural year in 1993 through 2001. From 2003-2005, O’Brien was the television voice of the New York Mets on WPIX-TV. He has also done play-by-play for the Atlanta Braves and called college football and basketball games for the University of Georgia and the University of Miami.

O’Brien says, “To be a Red Sox voice is a special honor for me, as a local guy. To know I’ll be calling the Sox for years to come, with a great partner, makes it even sweeter. I’m delighted.”

WEEI Vice President of Programming, Jason Wolfe, is thrilled to have O’Brien as part of the Red Sox radio team.  “I’ve known Dave for more than 20 years and he is, without a doubt, one of the very best play by play broadcasters in America today. He’s done a phenomenal job for us since he was hired in 2007 and I’m extremely pleased that he’ll be with us for the foreseeable future.”

Certainly good news as Dave is a very good announcer. Glad to see he’s still going to be calling Red Sox games for a little while longer.